NEIGHBOURHOOD

Ropar administration posts lie vacant
Megha Mann
Tribune News Service

Ropar, December 21
The key positions in district administration Ropar have been lying vacant hampering working of various departments. While some officers have been loaded with additional charges, other posts are lying vacant.

ADC (general) post has been lying vacant since January. After Arshdeep Singh Thind joined as Deputy Commissioner Barnala, ADC (development) Kavita Singh and later ADC (D) Manishvi Kumar were given additional charge of ADC (G). ADC (G) is next to DC in district and holds revenue courts. In absence of a permanent ADC (G), such land records have either remained pending or have taken longer time than usual.

Similarly, the post of ADC (D) has been lying vacant for past ten days after ADC (D) Manishvi Kumar joined as commissioner excise and taxation department at Patiala.

The post of general assistant to DC too has been lying vacant since last December. After the then GA RK Tripathi was transferred, district transport officer was given additional charge. Outgoing DTOs Balbir Singh and Kiranbir Singh Mann have shouldered this additional charge.

Patiala, December 21
The 27th Indo-Tibetan Border Police (NDRF) organised a defense awareness camp on protection from natural calamities like earthquakes, floods etc at Dhudial Khalsa Senior Secondary School here today.

Batallion inspector Srinivas and 20 defense personnel organised the camp for making students aware of various disaster management techniques.

School manager Mann Singh Sethi inaugurated the function and thanked the Home Ministry, GOI, for organising the camp.

ITBP personnel demonstrated various techniques to save victims. They also demonstrated the technique of protecting an injured person at the third floor of an earthquake-affected building through ropes.

Patiala, December 21
MM Modi College has won Punjabi University Inter-College Lawn Tennis Championship (Men) held on Punjabi University Campus here.

The college team defeated the Punjabi University team. The college has won the championship for fifth time in a row.

The winning team comprised Gaurav Sharma, Sourav Sharma, Gaganjeet Gill and Inderjot.

College principal Dr Satish Bhardwaj and college sports committee chairman Dr Rashpaul Singh welcomed the team members and appreciated team in-charges Prof Nishan Singh and Mandeep Kaur.

Patiala, December 21
A seven-day NSS camp was inaugurated at MM Modi College, Patiala, by principal Dr Satish Kumar Bhardwaj on the college campus. Dr Bhardwaj emphasised the need to educate youth about the challenges faced by modern society. The camp was organised under the guidance of NSS programme officers Prof Balvir Singh, Dr Rajeev Sharma and Prof Harmohan Sharma.

Dr Rajeev Sharma said to meet the objectives of the camp, special emphasis would be laid on health issues like swine flu, cancer, AIDS, allergy, nutrition and personal hygiene.

Prof Harmohan Sharma said 150 volunteers and 20 non-students were attending the camp and experts would be invited to spread awareness related to theme among students and society. The camp would facilitate the overall development of students through lectures and activities, he added.

Kalka, December 21
Resentment prevails among doctors of government hospitals falling in Panchkula district, including Community Health Centre (CHC), Kalka, CHC, Raipur Rani, and General Hospital, Panchkula, over the failure of the Haryana health department in releasing the salaries of most doctors for over 10 months.

Consequently, a majority of doctors have been deprived of their monthly salaries, increments and PG increments of specialist doctors for over 10 months.

On the condition of anonymity, aggrieved doctors said the higher authorities of the health department had unnecessarily delayed the release of salaries, especially of those who had joined in the recent past.

The doctors further alleged that in spite of their repeated requests, the authorities concerned had taken no initiative to release their pending salaries, increments and PG increments. As a result, they have been facing inconvenience due to government apathy.

They have urged the higher officials of the health department to take note of the problem and release their salaries at the earliest.

Chandigarh, December 21
The Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Mukul Mudgal, is in favour of filling up vacancies of high court judges.

Talking to the media after administering an oath to Justice Alok Singh as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court pursuant to his transfer from the Uttarakhand High Court at Nainital, Mudgal said at present, there were 20 vacancies and he would be filling them up. The task of forwarding the names involved great conscientiousness, the Chief Justice said, adding that he had just arrived, but was already on the job. As of now, the high court has 48 judges against the sanctioned strength of 68. One of the judges, Justice Nirmal Yadav, is at present not holding the court following the surfacing of her name in the cash for judge scam.

Though the CBI, looking into the scam, has submitted a closure report, it is believed that Justice Yadav is under transfer and is expected to be shifted to the Uttarakhand High Court.

Mudgal’s assertion on filling up the vacancies is significant, as the Punjab and Haryana High Court has not seen the elevation of advocates as judges for about one-and-a-half years, but now has the infrastructure required to accommodate additional number of judges.

The High Court had earlier decided not to go ahead with the process of recommending names for elevation in the absence of requisite infrastructure. In fact, a section of high court judges was of the opinion that the high court was not having adequate facilities to put up more judges. There were not enough courtrooms, besides, the staff was not enough.

About a year back, a senior judge-cum-member of the high court collegiums had penned down his reservations against recommending additional names for elevation on the same grounds. 

In April 1993, Justice Alok Singh shifted to New Delhi and started appearing before Supreme Court of India, High Court of Delhi, State And National Consumer Commission, Delhi, beside other courts and tribunals.

After creation of Uttarakhand, he started to appear and conduct cases before the High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital. He also appeared for the Central government as senior panel advocate. He was elevated to the High Court of Uttarakhand on October 12 as a judge.

Chandigarh, December 21
The police has arrested a Bihar resident with 3.5 kg ganja and two persons from different parts of the city for carrying liquor illegally.

The police arrested Parduman Parshad of Bihar near the cremation ground in Sector 25 yesterday and recovered 3.5 kg ganja from him.

Mohali, December 21
The police today arrested three persons, including a dismissed constable of Chandigarh Police, and solved four major cases of theft of cash. The recent case being a theft of Rs 50,000 from the car of Jaspal Singh, a resident of Kharar, in Phase V market on December 15.

According to the police, Dilbagh was arrested on the basis of whereabouts given by Jaspal from a naka near the Phase I barrier. His two other accomplices were arrested following his arrest. However, according to sources the youth had been arrested from Zirakpur last morning.

They have reported to have confessed stealing Rs 18 lakh in four different cases. Three of the incidents took place in Mohali and one in Zirakpur.

Interestingly, a high drama prevailed at Preet Colony in Zirakpur yesterday where a police team reportedly arrested the three accused and took them in Balero jeep. Sources did not rule out the possibility of the youth being the same named in the theft of Rs 50,000 from the vehicle of Jaspal.

Sources said on Saturday evening the three youngsters had reached Zirakpur and were searching for rented accommodation in Preet Colony. They took one room accommodation in Preet Colony on Rs 200 rent and after few hours they had left for a market on their car.

Yesterday around 8 am the residents of the locality saw that the Mohali police had raided the house and took the accused with them.

The police also seized their vehicle and luggage, sources added. A weapon had also been recovered from them.

Breakthrough in 7 more cases

The police today claimed to have solved at least seven cases of theft worth lakhs of rupees. SSP, Mohali, GPS Bhullar, said the cases pertained to Khaar and Sohana.

The stolen items included eight gold rings, four gold chains, six sets of silver ornament, one gold necklace, a laptop, two generators, one air compressor, sets of copper and aluminium wires. All stolen items, valued at several lakhs, have been recovered from the thieves.

Mohali, December 21
Cash and saving documents of depositors at the Phase V post office were saved when burglars were unable to steal the safe in which the documents were lying.

The unidentified burglars broke two doors to reach the safe. But apparently could not open the same or lift it.

The burglary attempt was noticed this morning when the post office staff opened the office after a holiday. The in charge of the post said around Rs 5,000 and some documents were lying in the safe. He said nothing was found missing from the safe.

Interestingly, a guard of a private hotel remains posted near the post office. He did not notice any activity.

The police has registered a case and is investigating the matter. 

Chandigarh, December 21
St John’s High School, Sector 26, are pitted against emerging Ashiana School, while hosts St Kabir Public School will cross swords with New Public School (NPS), Sector 18, in the St Kabir Football Tournament for Under-13 being played at the St Kabir Public School ground in Sector 26 here.

In pool A, St Kabir Public School outclassed Ajit Karam Singh International Public School, Sector 41, 5-0 in the first quarterfinal match played today.

St Kabir made their intentions clear right from the beginning as they opened their account in the first minute through Manveer. He doubled the margin with a goal in the 10th minute.

Manveer continued to display his fine scoring skills as he struck yet again in the 29th minute for his third and team’s fifth and final goal of the match.

In between, Udey (18th) and Camveer (25th) added one goal each to steer St Kabir into the semi-final.

In pool C, New Public School stormed into the semifinals with an effortless 3-0 victory over St Peter’s School, Sector 37, in the second quarterfinal.

Group leaders Doon International withdrew from the tournament after qualifying for quarterfinals. They were replaced by St Peter’s who failed to capitalise on the opportunity. NPS scored through Gurpreet (7th) and Abhishek (10th, 30th minutes).

In pool B, St John’s High School, Sector 26, outscored Vivek High School 3-0. They opened their account in the second minute when Krishna found the target. Karan and Lalit scored in the 15th and 30th minutes, respectively.

In the last quarterfinal encounter, Ashiana School ended the challenge of St Xavier’s School, Panchkula, by two first-half goals. Sankalp Kanwar gave proof of his talent when he got the better of a defender before unleashing a calculated shot in the 27th minute.

The lead was confirmed by Nischal with a fine goal in the 27th minute.

Tomorrow’s fixtures (semi-finals): St Kabir versus NPS (10 am); St John’s versus Ashiana School (11 am). 

Chandigarh, December 21
A deadly bowling spell by Shubham (5 for 22) helped AICF Haryana beat AICF Delhi by 87 runs in the opening match of the Champions Trophy being organised by the All-India Cricket Federation at The Banyan Tree School ground in Sector 48-B here today.

Batting first, Haryana won the toss and elected to bat. A 98-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Jasmeen and Hargunpreet paved the way for Haryana to pile up a massive 212 for 7 in the stipulated 20 overs.

Jasmeen’s half century (50) contained 10 boundaries and one fiver. Hargunpreet slammed a strokeful knock of 46, studded with 10 fours.

Opener Arun also contributed with a valuable knock of 48. During his stay at the wicket, Arun reached the fence six times. He also hit two sixes.

Chasing a victory target of 213 runs, Delhi were bundled out for 125 in 15 overs. Sachin played a defiant knock of 31 (3x4s, 2x6s). Kamal (13), Ankit (17) and Sukhwinder (13) were their other main scorers.

Other Delhi batsmen failed to face some accurate bowling by medium pacer Shubham who broke the backbone of Delhi with a spell of 4-0-22-5. Sonti bagged 2 for 10.

In another match, AICF Chandigarh defeated Punjab by 21 runs. Batting first after winning the toss, Chandigarh scored 185 for 8 in the allotted 20 overs.

Krishna top-scored with 40 runs, which contained six fours and two sixes. Aman’s unbeaten 31 was laced with five boundaries. Openers Pardeep and Avish contributed 13 and 20 runs, respectively.

Punjab medium pacer Karan bagged 3 for 26. Shiv Kapoor captured 2 for 30.

In reply, Punjab openers Piyush and Mohit gave their team a sound start by putting on a 107-run partnership.

Piyush played a brilliant innings of 70 with the help of seven fours and two sixes.

Mohit hit seven fours in his knock of 35. He hit seven fours. However, after this partnership was broken, Punjab innings fell like a pack of cards as their innings was terminated for 164 in 18.5 overs. Aman got three wickets for 25 runs.

Earlier, Chandigarh Olympic Association general secretary Ravinder Kumar Talwar inaugurated the tournament.

AICF general secretary Deepak Kumar and other federation members welcomed the chief guest.

Brief scores: first match: AICF Chandigarh: 185 for 8 in 20 overs (Avish 20, Baljit 26, Krishana 40, Aman 31; Shiv Kapoor 2/ 30, Karan 3/ 26).

AICF Punjab: 164 all out in 18.5 overs (Piyush 70, Mohit 35; Aman 3/25).

Second match: AICF Haryana: 212 for 7 in 20 overs (Jasmeen 50, Hargunpreet 46, Arun 48, Sunil 12; Ankit 2/20, Devand 2/20).

AICF Delhi: 125 all out in 15 overs (Kunal 13, Sachin 31, Ankit 17, Sukhwinder 13; Shubham 5/22, Sonti 2/10). 

Chandigarh, December 21
The V Hanumantha Rao All-India Under-19 four-day Twenty-20 National League Cricket Championship will be held from January 12 at Hyderabad, while the Cricket Federation of India Under-19 tour to Dubai will be held from February 1.

Releasing the calendar here today, Amarjit Kumar, honorary general secretary, Cricket Federation of India (CFI), said the first All-India Inter-Zonal Under-16 and Chaudhary Ranbir Singh Hooda All-India Under-17 National Cricket League Cricket Championship would be held at Panchkula and Chandigarh from April 26 and June 1, respectively.

The camp to select the under-17 team to participate in the Bangkok (Thailand) Cup to be held from July 1 would be held from June 27 at Panchkula.

He said the second All-India Inter-Zonal Under-15 Twenty-20 National League Cricket Championship would be held from October 1 at Tata Nagar (Jharkhand).

The four-day camp for Under-15 and 19 (men) would be held from November 3 at Chennai, he added.

Also, under-15 and under-19 teams would participate in the Cricket Carnival at Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and Triangular Cricket Series at Singapore from November 7 to 14, respectively.

The four-day Shri Sigaram Pillay All-India Under-13 National Cricket Championship would be held from December 24, he added.

The CFI also planned to organise international matches in India and had opened two national academies in Chennai and Panchkula for the training of men and women players, respectively.

He added that the federation also planned to conduct tests and seminars for umpires, scorers and coaches in the country.

Chandigarh, December 21
GN Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana, thrashed SDP College for Women, Ludhiana, by 10 points in the Panjab University Inter-College Baseball (women) Tournament held here today.

In the second match, GGS College for Women, Chandigarh, beat GN Girls College, Ludhiana, 4-2 in the tournament being played on league basis at the Panjab University grounds. 

Chandigarh, December 21
A fine knock of 89 runs by Jai Rathi helped Prudential Cricket Club (PCC) beat Estate Club by 25 runs in the final of the 28th Prudential Cricket Tournament held at the Cricket Stadium, Sector 16, today.

After winning the toss, the PCC elected to bat and scored 183 runs in their stipulated 20 overs.

Jai Rathi 89 and Sandeep Singh 25 were the top-scorers for the PCC, while Hare Ram (2 for 22) and Sameer Khan (2 for 29) were the main wicket-takers for Estate Club.

In reply, Estate Club scored 158 runs in 20 overs. Rajnish Chapi (40), Razat Khan (40) and Soni (29) were the top-scorers for their team, while Mukesh (3 for 21) and Anil Joshi (2 for 1) were the main wicket-takers for the PCC.

Brief Scores: Prudential Cricket Club: 183 in 20 overs (Jai Rathi 89, Sandeep 25; Hare Ram 2/22 and Sameer Khan 2/29).

Estate Club: 158 runs in 20 overs. (Rajnish Chapi 40, Razat Khan 40 and Soni 29; Mukesh 3/21 and Anil Joshi 2/1).