NEIGHBOURHOOD

Uniforms given to needy students
Our Correspondent

Bassi Pathana, December 14
Members of the Lions Club led by president KS Bhambhraw today distributed shoes, sweaters and uniforms to needy students of Government Girls’ Senior Secondary School.

Bhambhraw said if we want to develop a healthy society, we must impart quality education to girl students. He assured the school principal that the club would extend every sort of help for the cause of education.

Similarly, the panchayat of Mehdoodan village distributed sweaters and shoes to the needy students of government elementary, government primary and aanganwari centre in the village. Sarpanch Paramjit Singh along with panchayat members visited these institutions and handed over sweaters to the students.

Patiala, December 14
Stressing that people in the cities need to change their lifestyle and dietary habits for a long and healthy life, Prof KK Talwar, director PGIMER, Chandigarh, appealed to the people that they should start watching their diet. Dr Talwar was here to attend a one-day medicine CME at Thapar Auditorium held under the aegis of Doctors’ Forum, Patiala, which was attended by renowned doctors of the region.

Prof Manmohan Singh, president Punjab Medical Council, and Prof Jai Kishan, director Research and Medical Education (DRME), Punjab, were the guests of honour. More than 350 delegates attended the CME.

Dr Talwar highlighted that in the cities over 15 per cent people were suffering from heart disorders, while the ratio was far less in villages due to stress levels.

Speaking to mediapersons, the director DRME said 126 paramedical staff, auxiliary nursing and midwives (ANM) and doctors would be recruited soon to strengthen medical services in the state.

“The state government would spend Rs 100 crore for new equipment in Government Medical College, Amritsar, and Rs 61 crore to start MD course at Government Medical College, Patiala,” he added.

Forum president, Prof RS Bedi welcomed the guests and delegates. Prof Talwar delivered a keynote address on acute coronory syndrome, Prof Yogesh Chawla discussed management of chronic hepatitis C, while topic of management of congestive cardiac failure was covered by Dr Gurpreet Wander, director Hero DMC Heart Institute, Ludhiana.

Kurali, December 14
A team of health department today raided chemist shops in the Kurali area and collected around 12 samples of various medicines.Distirict drug inspector Amit Duggal, Paramjit Singh Gill, Harinder Singh, BS Randhawa and others raided the Krishna Medical Store and Chaudhary Pharmacy today.

The team conducted a recce of the medicines stocked in these shops and also checked its records. The team members collected some of the medicine samples to conduct lab tests.

Chandigarh, December 14
The Chandigarh police has virtually received a rap on its knuckles. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has found the “standby” police at fault for not only filing affidavits in routine, but also for not having in place a traffic plan.

The Superintendent of Police, in charge of the traffic, has also been asked to file a comprehensive affidavit on “unacceptable traffic chaos in the southern sectors; and entry points from Mohali and Panchkula”.

Coming down heavily on the police for non-compliance of orders, Justice Rajive Bhalla asserted: The orders passed and directions issued in the writ petition directing the police to ensure that slow moving vehicles travel in slow carriageways, that vehicles do not stop on zebra crossings, proper demarcation of zebra crossings, vehicles should not be parked on the berms or the sides of the roads, designated parking slots should be provided on the sides of roads opposite markets or within the market area and vehicles should drive in designated lanes, are not being implemented by the Chandigarh police.

“Affidavits are being filed in routine without any serious endeavour to comply with these orders. However, the Chandigarh police alone cannot be faulted. The so-called educated and enlightened residents of the city refuse to obey fundamental rules of traffic and continue to drive their vehicles unmindful of traffic rules and the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

“All rules and regulations are violated with impunity. The situation in the southern sectors, that is the sectors beyond the Madhya Marg, and at entry points from Panchkula and Mohali is alarming, to say the least, traffic jams are the rule, rather than exception.

“The police stand by as silent spectators, as motorists weaves in and out of the traffic lanes jostling for a way out of the traffic jams, thereby causing further hindrance to the free flow of traffic. The police has no traffic plan in place and only implement ad hoc measures.

“It is made clear that on the next date of hearing, two court commissioners shall be appointed to submit a report on whether orders and directions are being complied with. Counsel for the UT is also directed to seek instructions whether persons found violating directions issued by this court shall in addition to fine imposed under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, be liable for Contempt of Courts Act.

Panchkula, December 14
The police has arrested four persons for cheating.The accused have been identified as Rakesh, Vikas, residents of Sectors 4 and 12, respectively, Lalit Kumar, a resident of Sector 45-C and Trilochan Singh, a resident of Saraswati Nagar, Ambala City.

The accused used to cheat people by stealing their draft or cheques from banks and post offices and put their names on those by scanning.

After receiving a tip-off, a police team led by Sector 5 police station house officer Om Parkash laid a naka in Sector 5 and nabbed Rakesh and Vikas, who were in a Swift car (CHO-4-H-2683) on December 11. The car had a blue beacon atop. Both the accused were produced before a local court, where they were sent to police remand till December 15.The police started probing the case after branch manager of the State Bank of Patiala, Sector 12, filed a complaint that an account no 65101403730 was in the name of one Rajesh Sharma, a resident of Sector 12.

However, later it was found that the address was wrong and several cheques had been transferred to this account.

The accused revealed that Rakesh Kumar and Vikas Kumar had opened accounts by giving false residential proof and documents. They used to steal cheques and later Lalit Kumar and Trilochan Singh used to encash the same by scanning them.

Both the accused were arrested yesterday and presented before the court today, where they were sent to police remand till December 18.

Chandigarh, December 14
One hundred and fourteen NRIs from 12 countries, including 54 from the USA, will converge on the greens of the Chandigarh Golf Club, the SEPTA course in Chandimandir and the Panchkula Golf Club for the three-day Chandigarh Golfing Tour, which gets under way on December 17.

This will be the biggest gathering of NRIs from abroad for this gala event, which was launched with the idea of promoting the region as a golf tourism destination by the Chandigarh Golf Association and the Tourism Departments of Chandigarh and Haryana.

The NRI logging the best gross score in the three-day event will lift the Le Monte Championship Trophy. Besides there will be daily prizes for the best gross and best nett score.

The sixth leg of the invitation event is being supported by the Union Ministry of Tourism to promote the region as a golf tourism destination. The big event will be inaugurated by Kumari Selja, Union Minister for Tourism, at the Chandigarh Golf Club, on December 15 at 7.30 am.

A proud Jagdeep Singh Cheema, president of the Chandigarh Golf Association, said for the first time a tourism board from Spain would be one of the sponsors of the tour. Elaborating, he said Francisco Amoros, manager, golf department of the Costa Del Sol Tourism Board, would be here to give a boost to the Chandigarh Golfing Tour.

The NRIs who will tee off from the Chandigarh Golf Club greens on December 15 will be 54 from the USA, 25 from Canada, 13 from Singapore, five each from Australia and Malaysia, four from Indonesia, two each from New Zealand and England and one each from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ghana and Kuwait.

After the opening round on December 17, the golfers will move to the challenging SEPTA greens at Chandimandir for the second round on December 18. The final round will be played at the Panchkula Golf Club where Haryana Chief Secretary Urvashi Gu lati will give away the prizes on December 19 at 3.30 pm.

The tournament will be played for three days on a stroke-play basis. Besides the usual prizes, there will also be prizes for straight drive and nearest to the pin.

Chandigarh, December 14
The seventh leg of the Hero Honda Women's Professional Golf Tour began today with none of the women anywhere near the even par score. The best score for the day came from 19-year-old Sharmila Nicollet who could muster a three over par 75 card on the par-72 greens of the Chandigarh Golf Club.

One stroke behind the leader was Nalini Sinch Siwach, who conceded two double bogeys, in the front nine. Neha Tripathi from Kolkata carded a five over 77 to occupy the third slot with seasoned Smriti Mehra another stroke behind at six over par 78.

Trailing this top-four leading pack another three strokes behind at nine over 81 are Saaniya Sharma and Preetinder Kaur of Chandigarh, Nitika Jadeja and Tanya Wadhwa. Sharmila birdied the fifth and seventh and conceded bogies on the fourth and ninth to be even par 36 at the turn. She bogeyed thrice on the back nine to be thee over par 75.

Nalini Singh Siwach began with a double bogey on the first and lost a stroke on the second. After birdying the seventh, she lost two more strokes on the ninth to be four over par 40 at the turn. An even par back nine with a bogey and birdie saw her finish the day at four over 76. Smriti and Neha also landed two double bogies each.

The scores (after first round): 75 - Sharmila Nicollet; 76 - Nalini Singh Siwach; 77 -Neha Tripathi; 78 - Smriti Mehra; 81- Saaniya Sharma, Preetinder Kaur, Nitika Jadeja and Tanya Wadhwa and 86 - Pallavi Jain.