NEIGHBOURHOOD

Koshalya dam likely to be operational by Sept
Hemant Kumar

Kalka, January 20
Residents of 154 villages of Kalka subdivision falling under the new capital Periphery Control Act have demanded the implementation of the Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control (Haryana Amendment Act, 2003) to enable the extension of 60 per cent of red line (“lal dora”) of the existing village “abadi” area.

The residents said a notification published in the official gazette of Haryana, under the Haryana Act no- 22 of 2003, provided for the extension of “lal dora”. However, the Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control Haryana Amendment Act, 2003 had not been implemented so far, they rued.

They demanded immediate demarcation of village agricultural land and extension of “lal dora”.

They rued that due to the non-implementation of the Act, the department of town and country planning, under a special campaign, had demolished residential houses in the area, including Tipra Colony of Kalka, creating panic among residents.

In the past two decades, numerous new colonies have mushroomed, with over 20,000 houses falling outside the “lal dora”. Residents feared demolition of such houses by the department of town and country planning.

In November, 2008, Vijay Bansal, a local lawyer, had served legal notice on the state government and the department of town and country planning in this regard.

Bansal said he would soon file a PIL in the court. Area residents have also written to the Chief Minister and the revenue minister of Haryana urging them to carry out early demarcation of the village land in Kalka subdivision.

Bassi Pathana, January 20
Basant Panchami was celebrated with religious fervour and enthusiasm by the Sant Namdev Mandir Sabha at historical Sant Namdev Mandir here today.

Thousands of disciples of Sant Namdev attended the annual function. People from various walks of life came to pay their obeisance at the temple.

A majority of disciples belonged to Tonk Khashtryia community, which organises its annual function-cum-family get-together on the day here every year.

District Congress Committee president Lakhbir Singh Rai was the chief guest at the function. Religious ceremonies were performed to mark the festivities.

Rai appreciated the efforts of the committee in organising the annual function, which presented a picture of communal harmony.

He called upon people to follow the path shown by great Gurus and work for the humanity and the down-trodden.

Sabha president Kulwant Singh called upon the community to spread the message of Sant Namdev and educate children so that they served society in a better way.

Secretary Roshan Lal Aulakh highlighted the achievements of the sabha and gave a report of the projects initiated by it. Senior vice-president Krishan Chand also addressed the gathering.

A havan yajna was performed followed by a community kitchen.

Basant Panchami was also celebrated at the local Baba Vishavkarma Mandir here.

Religious functions were organised under Ashok Dhiman, president, Dhiman Brahmin Sabha. A community kitchen was organised.

Also, the followers of Baba Budh Dass organised a community kitchen at old Anaj Mandi.

Children were seen flying kites braving chilly weather.

Fatehgarh Sahib, January 20
The local police has arrested a man for hitting policemen on duty with a Tavera car at a roadblock in Mandi Gobindgarh.

Police sources said roadblocks had been set up across the district following an alert late in the evening.

The policemen had been deployed to check the credentials of vehicles on the GT Road.

They said a speeding Tavera car was signalled to pull over on the Amloh road but it broke the barricade and sped away.

However, the driver lost control of the vehicle and rammed it into a median near the traffic lights at Mandi Gobindgarh.

While some police officials received minor injuries in the incident at the roadblock, others had a close shave as they had to jumped away to save their lives.

The driver, identified as Gaurav Sharma, a resident of New Janta Nagri in Ludhiana, was later arrested.

The police recovered a PAN card from the possession of the accused. While the PAN card bore Gaurav’s photograph, it carried a different name - Vishal Sharma. The police is investigating the matter.

A case under Section 307 of the IPC has been registered against the accused and the vehicle has been impounded.

Chandigarh, January 20
Ahead of the hearing on his appeal challenging the orders of the trial court and for suspension of his sentence, former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore today sought a reinvestigation into the alleged fabrication of documents for implicating him in the Ruchika Girhotra case.

Rathore asserted that his earlier application for looking into the matter was dismissed by the trial court on December 22, 2009.

Going into the background, Rathore stated the application was initially filed six years ago at the Ambala sessions court, claiming that he had been implicated in the case. He had alleged that Madhu Parkash had fabricated an affidavit, accusing him of molesting Ruchika and harassing Ruchika’s family.

The application was filed today in the court of district and sessions judge KK Garg and would be committed to the appropriate court tomorrow.

The special CBI court, which convicted Rathore on December 21 for molesting Ruchika Girhotra and sentenced him to six months’ RI, had dismissed this application a day after his conviction.

The court of J Sidhu had dismissed the application, stating that it had become null and void after he was held guilty of the offence. Interestingly, Rathore had also filed an appeal against the orders of the trial court, for which the court of additional district and sessions judge RS Attri fixed February 8, 9 and 10 as the dates for taking up the final arguments.

Meanwhile, the CBI was also expected to file a counter appeal for the enhancement of his sentence in a day or two.

Legal experts believed that both the appeal and the counter-appeal would be clubbed together and heard concurrently.

Rathore was on baIl till February 8 and he had also surrendered his passport, as per the orders of the court.

Chandigarh, January 20
Less than a fortnight after a single Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the state of Haryana to conduct and complete the election process of the Panchkula municipal council president within four weeks, a Division Bench today ordered stay on the judgment’s operation.

The Division Bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Jasbir Singh also issued notice for February 1 on the petition, throwing a challenge to the single Judge’s order, filed by municipal council’s former president Ravinder Kumar Rawal.

Refusing to grant relief to Rawal against the setting aside of his election as the council president, the high court had dismissed his petition.

He had challenged the order, dated May 4, 2009, by the Panchkula election tribunal, and June 8, 2009, by the Panchkula district judge. The orders were on the setting aside of Rawal’s election.

After hearing rival contentions and going through the documentary evidence placed on the record of the high court, the single Judge had expressed the opinion that the entire process of Rawal’s election to the post was illegal, as the provisions of Haryana municipal rules were not followed during the poll process.

Rawal’s counsel had maintained there was no violation of rules. It was also argued that the election of the vice-president of the municipal council had also been held under the same procedure, but the same was not questioned, indicating that the procedure was fair.

Senior counsel Satya Pal Jain, appearing for the rival side, on the other hand, had argued that the procedure adopted for the election violated the secrecy of the ballot, as stipulated in election rules. Rawal’s election was set aside solely on this ground.

Rawal was elected president on May 13, 2008, defeating VK Sood of the BJP. Civil judge (senior division) and the judge of municipal election tribunal, Panchkula, Anshu Shukla, declared Rawal’s election void on May 4 last year.

Subsequently, an appeal against the tribunal’s orders, filed by Rawal, was also dismissed by the appellate authority, the district and session judge, Panchkula, on June 8 last. Thereafter, Rawal had approached the high court for quashing both the orders.

Chandigarh, January 20
With the arrest of two persons, the police today claimed to have solved six cases of theft. The police said the accused would steal valuables from cars after breaking the windowpanes.

DSP (South) Jaswant Singh Khaira said the accused, Sanjay Kumar of Una and Amar Singh, alias Sunny, of Solan, were nabbed during a naka on the road separating Sectors 48 and 49 on January 14 while travelling in a stolen car. They had put a fake registration number on the car. The police seized chilli powder from the accused and it was found that the car was stolen from a taxi stand in Sector 8.

The DSP said the accused were habitual offenders and had been released from jail recently. They had stolen a laptop, an ATM card from a car at PEC, and some articles from another car in Sector 12. They admitted to having stolen a bag containing artificial jewellery from a Santro car parked at Rose Garden, Sector 16, and a bag containing documents from Sector 9, besides a briefcase containing cash and documents from a Toyota Corolla in Sector 12 of Panchkula. They had also committed a theft in similar fashion at Sohana. The accused would be in police custody until tomorrow.

Chandigarh, January 20
A splendid 100-run partnership between Vikrant and Rohit helped The Tribune XI beat Hindustan Times XI in a league match of the Inter-Media Cricket Tournament held at the Sector 26 cricket ground here today.

Batting first after winning the toss, Hindustan Times were restricted to just 128 runs by The Tribune bowlers. Hindustan Times batsmen gave away their wickets easily and were victims of poor shot selection more than bowling.

The bowlers on their part were wayward at best as there were as many as 19 wide deliveries bowled during the inning. The running between the wickets was sloppy as the last three wickets of Hindustan Times fell through run outs.

Abhinav Khanna was the chief run-getter for Hindustan Times, as he scored 44 valuable runs for his team and remained unbeaten till the end. He together with Rajat Sharma put together a partnership of 54 runs to try and steady their team's rocking boat.

None of the bowlers were impressive with the ball as each of them went for almost six runs an over and picked up one wicket each. Anjiv gave away only 15 runs in his four overs, but could not get any wicket.

In reply, The Tribune received an early blow, as they lost their opener in the first over itself after the openers started in an explosive manner picking up 10 runs in the first over. The other batsmen kept the tempo and scored at more than six runs per over.

Vikrant and Rohit put together a partnership of 104 runs to get their team close to winning before Rohit was retired hurt, as he took a body blow from a sharply rising bouncer. The Tribune team was at 118 and was comfortably close to winning.

Vikrant completed his half-century, as he hit over long on for a six and got his team to victory. For Hindustan Times, Vikas Sharma was the only bowler to pick up a wicket.

Brief scores:

Hindustan Times: 128 for 7 in 20 overs. (Abhinav Khanna 44 no, Rajat Sharma 36, Ashwani Sharma 15, Sanjay Kalia 1/24).

The Tribune XI: 129 for 1 in 18 overs. (Vikrant 55 no, Rohit 50, Vikas 1/26).

In the second match of the day played between Future Express XI and Dainik Bhaskar XI, wayward bowling by the Future bowlers and a good bowling spell by Pawan for Dainik XI ensured Dainik Bhaskar’s victory.

Batting first after winning the toss, Future Express XI batsmen managed to pile up 136 runs largely due to some fine batting by opener Gurharminder, who made 70 runs off just 63 deliveries. He played some beautiful shots during the course of his stay, including nine boundaries and one six.

Pawan was the pick of the bowlers, as he picked up three important wickets and gave away only 18 runs in his four overs.

In reply, Dainik Bhaskar did not have the best of starts, as they lost their opener on the first ball of their inning itself. But later on, Om Parkash partnered with Pawan to get the team closer to the total.

The Future Express bowlers were wayward with their bowling as they gave away 21 wides. Although they did put up a fight back led by Saurabh who picked up three wickets, but it was too late, as Dainik Bhaskar reached the target in 18.3 overs.

Brief scores:

Future Express XI: 136 for 7 in 20 overs (Gurharminder 70, Deepanshu 16, Saurabh Acharya 15, Pawan 3/18, Sanjeev 2/28).

Dainik Bhaskar XI: 137 for 8 in 20 overs (Pawan 33, Om Parkash 1, Hemant 19, Jasvir 12, Dharminder 7, Surender 9 no, Mesh 1, Sanjeev 1).

Chandigarh, January 20
Adding another feather in the cap of Panjab University, the university shuttlers emerged as the overall champion in men category during the All-India Inter-University Badminton Championship, which concluded at Mangalore University on January 17.

Earlier, the championship was won by PU badminton (men) team about 20 years ago and the same team had won the silver medal in the All-India Inter-University Championship. In the final, the PU team beat Calicut University by 3-2, while in the semifinal, it had emerged winners against Pune University (winner of west zone) 3-1.

In the first singles match, Saurav Kapoor beat Bennet Anthony by 22-20, 21-16, while in the second semifinal, Oscar Bansal beat Sunjith by 21-19, 21-19.

In doubles match, Prerak Sharma and Sunil Kumar lost straight games by 11-21, 13-21 and in the third singles, Tushar Badechha, PU, lost to Arun Vishnu (India team’s player) in three games by 21-17, 13-21, 18-21.

In the final tie of doubles, Oscar Bansal and Saurav Kapoor beat Ram C Vijay and Mithlesh (India team’s players) by 21-16, 23-21.

Dr CS Grewal, director physical education, PU, congratulated coach Surinder Mahajan, SAI coach, and the players for their hard work.

The players thanked the Vice-Chancellor for his direction and unending support and assured him to repeat the same performance in the coming years.

The team members who were awarded the trophy and gold medals included Oscar Bansal, Sunil Kumar and Prerak Sharma (all PU campus, Chandigarh), Saurav Kapoor, Tushar Badechha and Aman Sethi (all SGGS College, Chandigarh), and Vishal Mehta, MGKM SS College of Physical Education, Samrala, Ludhiana.

Chandigarh, January 20
Quick fire 104 by Harman enabled DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 15, beat Tender Heart School, Sector 33, by 228 runs in the Times NIE-Cremica Inter-school Knockout Cricket Tournament held at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 19, here today.

DAV school put up a modest total of 262 runs for the loss of two wickets in their stipulated 20 overs.

Man of the match Harman 104 of 53 balls, which included 15 fours and four sixes and Anurag 77 were the top scorers.

In reply, Tender Heart School batsmen failed to face the tight and accurate bowling of DAV team and were bundled out for 34 runs in 10.1 overs.

Brief scores:

DAV School: 262 for 2 in 20 overs (Harman 104, Anurag 77).

Tender Heart School: 34 all out in 10.1 overs.

In the second match of the day, quick fire 59 of 38 balls by Udit Hari Mehta helped St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, beat St Soldier School, Sector 28, by 131 runs.

St Stephen’s scored 205 runs by losing seven wickets in their stipulated 20 overs. Man of the match Udit Mehta’s 59, including two fours and five sixes, and Rishu Chopra (38) were the main scorers.

In reply, St Soldier School could not face the tight bowling of St Stephen’s bowlers and could score only 75 runs in their stipulated 20 overs by losing eight wickets.

Prabji was the only batsman who faced the bowlers with some courage and scored 30 runs.

Tomorrow’s matches: 1st match: Little Flower Convent School, Sector 14, Panchkula, v/s CL DAV Senior Secondary Public School, Sector 11, in Satluj Public School, Sector 4, Panchkula at 9 am.

2nd match: Satluj Public School, Sector 4, Panchkula, v/s New India Senior Secondary School, Sector 15, Panchkula, at 1 pm on same grounds.

Chandigarh, January 20
In spite of Shourey’s excellent performance with bat and bowl, the Punjabi Tigers were defeated by Rihalz Warriors by 38 runs in the First U-13 Tricity Premier League Cricket Tournament held at Banyan Tree School ground, Sector 48, here today.

After winning the toss, the Punjabi Tigers elected to bowl first. The Rihalz Warriors put up a modest total of 164 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. Man of the match Rizul scored quick fire 49 of 44 balls, including six fours, Aruman 26 of 22 balls and Amrit 19 of 17 balls were the top scorers.

For the Punjabi Tigers, Shourey two for 31 and Ayush two for 23 were the pick of the bowlers.

In reply, the Punjabi Tigers failed to achieve the target and could score only 126 runs for the loss of six wickets in their stipulated 20 overs. Shourey 53 of 47 balls, including six fours, and Mayank Sidhu 30 of 22 balls were the only batsmen who faced the Rihalz Warriors bowlers with some courage and continued to hold the wicket on one end, while their other partners lost their wickets without putting any show.

For the Rihalz Warriors, Amrit two wickets for 10 runs and Abhey one for 14 were the main wicket takers.

Brief scores:

Rihalz Warriors: 164 for 7 in 20 overs (Rizul 49, Aruman 26, Amrit 19, Shourey 2/31, Ayush 2/23).

Punjabi Tigers: 126 for 6 in 20 overs (Shourey 53, Mayank Sidhu 30, Amrit 2/10, Abhey 1/14).

In the second match of the day, Jaswinder’s fine performance with bat and bowl helped the Modgill Challengers beat Sunfire Rockets by eight wickets.

After winning the toss, the Sunfire Rockets elected to bat first and was all out for 82 runs in 17.4 overs.

In reply, the Modgill Challengers achieved the target in just 9.3 overs by losing only two wickets. Sherry’s unbeaten knock of 34 for 27 balls and man of the match Jaswinder 19 not out were the top scorers.

For the Sunfire Rockets, Shubham was the only bowler who impressed with his bowling figures of two wickets for 23 runs.