NEIGHBOURHOOD

Man ‘electrocuted’ at Sartaj concert
Tribune News Service

Fatehgarh Sahib, August 30
A 42-year-old man from Pandrali village in Fatehgarh Sahib reportedly died following electrocution during a Satinder Sartaj concert at Green Valley Resorts here this evening.

According to sources, the man was found unconscious soon after a short-circuit in the VIP block. The short-circuit caused panic among the audience seated in the middle rows of the venue.

“Lights on three power poles went out and the show stopped abruptly after an announcement. Satinder Sartaj’s shows normally continue for at least four hours,” said Ranjeet Singh from Khanna.

Ranjeet, who was part of the audience along with his friends, said the show, which started around 8 pm, stopped around 10.30 pm soon after the short-circuit.

He said over 5,000 people, way over the capacity of the resort, were in attendance.

Several people who had purchased tickets for Rs 2,000, Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 were allegedly not allowed to enter the venue as it was already full.

They were turned away by private bouncers, even as some were allegedly manhandled.

Fatehgarh Sahib SDM Gurpal Singh Chahal, who was also part of the audience, confirmed the death of the man.

He said relatives of the deceased told the police that the man had a heart ailment and that he could have died due to heart attack.

He pointed out that senior police functionaries, including the area SHO, the DSP and the SP, arrived at the scene to take stock of the situation.

Chandigarh, August 30
Providing relief to several contractual lecturers, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) today pronounced orders on an application filed by seven lecturers of Government College of Arts, Sector 10, directing the Home Secretary to make regular appointments of contractual employees.

The tribunal came down heavily on the policy of “hire and fire” and the practice of engaging teachers on fixed terms at the start of the session and relieving them for vacation only to re-engage them after vacation.

Passing the orders, the tribunal held: “The respondents are directed to make regular appointments as per rules applicable at present and until regular appointments are made. The applicants who have been appointed on contract basis may be allowed to continue as per the requirement of their services by the respondent.”

The CAT further observed: “This tribunal has ordered time and again, in view of the numerous decisions given by the High Court as well as the Supreme Court, that the contractual employees should not be relieved till regular appointments are made and that they may be paid even for vacation periods.”

The applicants — Neeti Joshi, Neha Soni, Preeti Sharma, Gurpreet Dhiman, Hardeep Singh, Charanjit Singh, and Charu Dhiman — had appealed before the tribunal in 2009 wherein they had stated that their appointments on fixed term and fixed salary were illegal and unconstitutional.

The applicants stated that they were not paid dearness allowance and salary for vacations. They had sought to be allowed to continue till their posts were filled on regular basis.

Chandigarh, August 30
Disallowing a student to appear in class X examination as promised has cost a school dearly. The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed ERC Public School, Sector 45, to pay a compensation of Rs 26,000 to a complainant whose daughter was not permitted to take class X examination, though the school had assured the same.

The school had offered to give direct admission to class X to those who had failed in class VIII and wanted to appear in the matriculation examination.

The complainant, Radhey Shyam, a resident of Colony No. 5, claimed that in 2005 she saw a pamphlet of ERC Public School with the offer.

She deposited Rs 11,000 with the school and got her daughter, who had failed in class VIII examination, admitted to the school.

The complainant stated that her daughter attended the school regularly and worked hard for the examination but in the first week of April, 2006, the authorities concerned informed her that her daughter was a weak student, so she would not be allowed to appear in the class X examination.

Radhey Shyam added that on further inquiry, it came to light that the school was authorised to admit students till class VIII and not class X. She alleged that her daughter lost a year due to this and had to be admitted to the Government Hospital Sector 32, Chandigarh, due to the trauma.

The school argued that the complainant had approached the school for coaching in some subjects of matriculation to her daughter and denied giving admission to her daughter.

Chandigarh, August 30
The eyewitness in the financier Harjinder Singh Dhillon murder case stood by the prosecution in a local court today.

During cross-examination in the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge GC Garg, Simi Sharma identified prime accused Davinder Singh Whiskey and five others.

She stated in court that she was working at the Sector-20 office of Dhillon, who was into the business of car finance.

In 2007, a red Ford Fiesta was purchased by him on the basis of documents of the accused, Davinder Singh.

A dispute was going on between them over the car. On the evening of November 25 last year, Davinder along with five or six other persons entered his cabin and started quarrelling.

She stated that Dhillon called her up and asked her to inform the police. The accused entered into a scuffle with him.

Davinder asked Dhillon to hand over the vehicle and fired a shot on the left side of his chest.

She raised the alarm and broke the windowpane, while Davinder along with his accomplices fled.

The accused have been charged under Sections 302 (murder), 392 (robbery) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC along with Sections 25, 27, 57 and 59 of the Arms Act.

Chandigarh, August 30
Additional District and Sessions Judge GC Garg today rejected the application seeking narco-analysis test of accused Baljinder Singh, alias Talla, and sub-inspector Amanjot Singh in the Anuradha murder case.

Talla had moved the application seeking narco-analysis test on October 3, 2009.

In the application, Talla had stated that he wanted to undergo the test and also sought SI Amanjot Singh to undergo the same test.

Talla had further claimed that the sub-inspector had allegedly implicated him in the case, as there was a property deal between the two.

Amanjot had allegedly struck a property deal with him in which a friend of Amanjot, Vikram, was also involved. The deal had led to rivalry between them and he had been fabricated in the case, Talla had claimed in his application.

Talla had also stated that he was moving the application to reveal the truth behind the case in the interest of justice.

Talla was in the realty business and the sub-inspector was in partnership with him in various deals in July, 2007.

Talla had also sought the examination of his phone records between May 11 and June 30, 2007, and those of SI Amanjot’s mobile phone.

He had claimed that just before the deal was finalised, he had made 40 phone calls to the sub-inspector, while the latter had made 17 calls in return.

Further, he had stated that he was a complainant in the case and was made an accused at the behest of the sub-inspector.

He had alleged that the sub-inspector had been threatening his daughter.

Anuradha Sandhu (35), a boutique owner and wife of Baljinder Singh, a property dealer from Mohali, was found murdered in her Sector 38 (West) residence on the intervening night of May 17 and 18, 2008.

Just hours after the discovery of the murder, the Ropar police had found the body of her servant, Vijay Pal Singh, alias Nikku, who was initially suspected to be behind the killing.

Chandigarh, August 30
The police has booked three Uttar Pradesh residents on charges of kidnapping and raping a 17-year-old girl, a resident of Mani Majra.

The victim’s father had lodged a complaint at the district courts in this regard. A case of kidnapping, rape, criminal intimidation and criminal conspiracy has been registered against Bugai, Chottu and Malik Ram, all residents of Saraswati district in UP, following court’s directions.

A team will be dispatched to Lucknow, where the girl is lodged in Nari Niketan there.

Mani Majra police station SHO Partap Singh said the victim’s father had lodged a missing person’s complaint with the police on February 17 reporting that his daughter had gone missing.

Later, he came to know from his contacts that his daughter was lodged at Nari Niketan in Lucknow.

The police said the victim’s father went to Lucknow and approached the local authorities there to take custody of his daughter.

The girl was produced before the area SDM, in whose presence the girl refused to go with her father.

He returned to the city and lodged a complaint at the district courts that his daughter had been kidnapped and raped.

The SHO said a team would be sent to Lucknow to recover the girl. The girl’s age would be confirmed by ossification test and further action would be taken as per the provisions of the law.

Chandigarh, August 30
As part of its ongoing drive against underage drivers, the Chandigarh traffic police today booked 15 minor offenders besides issuing challans to another 40 violators.

The police said special checkpoints were set up outside five schools in different parts of the city during which 15 youngsters were booked for driving vehicles without having the dirver’s licenses.

The police also booked 25 motorists for driving two-wheelers without wearing helmet, six for driving without seat belt, five for using mobile phone while driving and four for other miscellaneous offences.

The police also impounded four vehicles after their drivers failed to produce valid documents.

Mohali, August 30
Burglars broke in to a mobile shop in Phase XI here last night and decamped with mobile handsets worth Rs 1.25 lakh. The burglars gained entry to the shop located at the first floor of the SCO after breaking the main door. The CCTV footage of the shop has revealed that there were two burglars. Face of one of the burglars was clearly seen.

Though the shopkeeper had given IMEI number of 50 mobile handsets, the police failed to trace any of the mobile.

Chandigarh, August 30
More than 100 top professional golfers of the country will tee off from the par-72 greens of the Chandigarh Golf Club here tomorrow, when the four-day Aircel-PGTI Players Championship gets under way.

To be played from August 31 to September 3, the PGTI event boasts of a prize money of Rs 25 lakh with the winner taking home over Rs 4 lakh.

Ranjit Singh, who won his first professional event earlier this season, and seasoned Harmeet Kahlon will lead the Chandigarh challenge as they rub shoulders with the cream of Indian golf such as Mukesh Kumar, Himmat Singh Rai, Rahil Gangjee, Ashok Kumar, Gaurav Ghai, Shamim Khan Digvijay Singh, Gaurav Pratap Singh, Gurki Shergill, Vishal Singh and Australia’s Kunal Bhasin.

Big-hitter Gurbaaz Mann, Harendra Gupta and Ranjit Singh are another threesome from Chandigarh who can upset the applecart of any of the top-ranked players.

Amandeep Johl who clinched the last PGTI Players Championship held in Chandigarh in September last year is not among the entrants. Amandeep outclassed Ashok Kumar in a playoff in that event.

Conspicuous by his absence will be Gaganajeet Bhullar of Kapurthala who is playing on the Asian Tour.

PGTI director Padamjit Sandhu said: “We have always witnessed exciting golf at the Chandigarh Golf Club and it is very encouraging to see the depth of local talent coming through. We thank the Chandigarh Golf Club for partnering with us in holding this event and continue to work with them for the growth of professional golf in the region.”

Chandigarh Golf Club course captain Harjinder Singh Kang said: “We are delighted to host the prestigious PGTI Players Championship. The tournament promises to be a treat for golf fans in Chandigarh as they will witness the top professionals in the country go head to head. Our endeavour is to get the course in great shape despite the constant rain in the area and one can expect another nail-biting finish this year as there is a lot of depth in the field.”

Chandigarh Golf Club has been the cradle of Indian professional golf, having produced many top-class players over the years. It is known for its tight fairways and thick rough. The lush green fairways are bounded by groves of trees, which funnel out onto the green. 

Chandigarh, August 30
Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 10, won the overall championship in the Inter-School Fencing (Girls) Championship at GMSSS, Sector 10, here today.

Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 15, were second while Sacred Heart School, Sector 26, finished third.

Other results: U-14 Foil Team: GMSSS-10 first, GSSS-15 second, GMSSS-MHC(MM) and Sacred Heart-26 third; Foil Individual: Kajal (GMSSS-10) first, Nancy (GMSSS-10) second, Asha (GSSS-15) and Harnoor (Sacred Heart-26) third; Epee Team: GMSSS-10 first, GMSSS-MHC(MM) second, GSSS-15 and GMSSS-33 third; Epee Individual: Nancy (GMSSS-10) first, Tanya (GMSSS-10) second, Devika (GMSSS-33) and Shallu (GSSS-15) third; Sabre Individual: Kajal (GMSSS-15) first, Kajal (GMSSS-10) second, Mehtab (Sacred Heart-26) and Harnoor (Sacred Heart-26) third; Sabre Team: GMSSS-10 first, Sacred Heart-26 second, GMSSS-33 and GSSS-15 third.

Chandigarh, August 30
Barinder of hosts PMLSD Public School, Sector 32, knocked out Rahul of DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, in the final to win the top position in the 57-kg category of the Pandit Mohan Lal Memorial Boxing Championship here today.

The event, in which pugilists of about 15 local school participated, saw the hosts winning the overall championship with 25 points and Guru Nanak Khalsa School, Sector 30, finishing as runners-up with 17 points.

Dr CK Jerath, general secretary of the Chandigarh Amateur Boxing Association, thanked the host school for its efforts to promote the game.

Finals’ results: 30 kg: Vipin (GMSS-23) b Saurabh (PMLSD-32), 40 kg: Lalit (PMLSD-32) b Mansoor (GNK-30), 44 kg: Kamal (PMLSD-32) b Madhav (SNS-22), 46 kg: Himanshu (PMLSD-32) b Mohsin Khan (GMSS-32), 48 kg: Amandeep (PMLSD-32) b Lakshay (GMSSS-40), 50 kg: Rishavpret (PMLSD-32) b Narinder (GNK-30), 54 kg: Arvind (PMLSD-32) b Rahul (GHS-38), 51 kg: Vijay Kumar (GSS, Maloya) b Sunil (PMLSD-32), 57 kg: Barinder (PMLSD-32) b Rahul (DAV-8), 60 kg: Sagar (PMLSD-32) b Prabhjot (SD Club).

Chandigarh, August 30
A fine innings by Rabteshwar (52 off 48 balls) steered AKSIPS-41 to a 41-run victory over Stepping Stones, Sector 37, in the Saupin’s Gold Cup Cricket Tournament-2010 at the BTS-48 ground here today.

Put in to bat, AKSIPS scored 102 runs in the allotted 20 overs. In reply, Stepping Stones were all out for 61 runs in 17.5 overs. In the second match, GNPS-36 defeated Mount Carmel, Sector 47, by 67 runs.

Brief scores: AKSIPS-41: 102 runs in 20 overs (Rabteshwar 52, Varun 20), Stepping Stones: 61 all out in 17.5 overs; GNPS-36: 137 for 6 in 20 overs (Rizul 55), Mount Carmel: 70 runs in 16 overs.

Mohali, August 30
Punjab were handed down a 90-run defeat at the hands of Mumbai in the final of the Buchi Babu tournament in Chennai today.

Batting first, Mumbai scored 284 all out in the allotted 90 overs, with the help of a superb knock of 135 runs by skipper Abhishek Nair.

For Punjab, in-form leg-spinner Rahul Sharma returned figures of 4 for 85 in 26 overs and medium-pacer Luv Abhlish claimed 2 for 39 in 15 overs.

In reply, Punjab were bundled out for 194 runs in 72 overs, with good knocks by 65 runs by Taruwar Kolhi and 43 runs by Vishwas Bhalla going in vain.

They shared an 80-run partnership for the third wicket before off-spinner Vikrant ripped their batting line-up apart with impressive figures 5 for 46 in 10 overs.

A match between Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir under way during the Jawahar Novadaya Vidyalaya Regional Level Basketball Meet at JNV, Sector 25, Chandigarh, on Monday. Tribune photo: Pradeep Tewari

Panchkula, August 30
Giving a superb performance, budding shuttler Chavi moved ahead after drubbing her opponents in the first and second rounds in the U-10 category of the 5th Ashwani Memorial District Badminton Championship, which began today at badminton hall in Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex, Sector 3, here.

In the first round, she thrashed Aditi 21-0, 21-0, while in the second round, Chavi again impressed with her skills by beating Manya 21-2, 21-4.

While in boys’ U-13 section, Uday won both matches each in first and second round to move ahead. Uday beat Abhijay 21-2, 21-2 in the first round, then he outplayed Naman 21-6, 21-4.

Results: Girls U-10 (first and second rounds): Rashi beat Vani 21-19, 21-10; Varshika beat Devika 21-9, 21-7; Naaz beat Jaskiran 21-14, 21-10; Chahat beat Sonakshi 21-2, 21-2; Chavi beat Manya 21-2, 21-4; Palak beat Varnika 21-18, 16-21, 26-24; Chavi beat Aditi 21-0, 21-0; Manaswani beat Rashi 21-17, 21-5 and Palak got a walkover from Dixsha; Boys U-10 (first and second rounds): Abhimany beat Bhavyadeep 21-2, 21-4; Panshul beat Kushant 21-3, 21-13; Vansh beat Arit 21-16, 21-19; Rahul beat Arush 21-9, 21-2; Anusharv beat Abhimanyu 21-6, 21-14; Vardan beat Rahul 21-8, 21-10 and Shiraj beat Vansh 21-16, 21-16; Boys U-13 (first and second rounds): Naman beat Karan 21-3, 21-7; Uday beat Abhijay 21-2, 21-2; Ishan beat Anikath 21-11, 16-21, 21-15; Viraj beat Arunav 21-6, 21-10; Pulkit beat Anurag 21-9, 21-6; Vardan beat Dakshdeep 21-4, 21-7; Divesh beat Ishan 21-18, 21-3; Uday beat Naman 21-6, 21-4 and Amil got a walkover from Rohan; Boys U-16 (first and second rounds): Shivam beat Azeez 21-6, 19-21, 21-12; Hardik beat Arunav 21-14, 21-15; Abhijot beat Abhishek 21-10, 21-12 and Ayush beat Rajat 21-14, 21-6; Boys U-16 (doubles): Ayush and Abhijot beat Kartik and Hardik 21-13, 17-21, 21-13; Shivam and Lara D beat Azeez and Abhishek 21-10, 21-8.

Panchkula, August 30
The local Rolling Tigers Academy have brought glory to the district by clinching 19 medals in the Haryana State School Games, which concluded at Karnal today.

The coach of the academy, Chander Singhal, said about 500 skaters took part in the four-day competition.

“I am elated that our skaters stole the show with their performance. Anuj Sud and Navya Ohri (students of The Gurukul at Sector 20) and Aryan Pal Singh and Adhiraj Kundlas (students of St. Xavier’s at Sector 20) have been selected for the National School Games on the basis of performance in the meet,” said Singhal.

Medallists: under-11 Boys Quads: Aryan Pal Singh (gold in Rink 2 and bronze in Rink 1), Adhiraj Kundlas (gold in Rink 1 and silver in Road Race); under-11 Boys Inline: Harsh Gupta of The Gurukul (bronze in Rink 3); under-11 Girls Inline: Navya Ohri (silver in Rink 3, silver in Rink 4 and silver in Road Race); under-14 Boys Inline: Anuj Sud (gold in Rink 4 and silver in Road Race), Gaurav Bishnoi of The Gurukul (bronze in Rink 5), Shubham Aggarwal of DC Model School (gold in Road Race); under-14 Girls Inline: Chhavi Bishnoi of The Gurukul (silver in Rink 3, bronze in Rink 4 and bronze in Rink 5); under-14 Quads Girls: Priyanka of Bhavan Vidyalaya (silver in Rink 1); under-14 Boys Quads: Siddharth Jain of Shishu Niketan (silver in Rink 2); under-17 Boys Quads: Aditya Gandhi of DC Model School (bronze in Road Race), Sudhanshu Jain of Shishu Niketan (bronze in Rink 2); under-17 Girls Quads: Akrita of Little Flower School (bronze in Rink 2); under-19 Boys Inline: Anshul Sood (bronze in Road Race).