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Fake tickets flood market
Chandigarh, March 27 “The fake ticket look almost original. But it is printed on thin paper and the hologram does not bear any authority’s name,” said Rajiv Gupta, a resident of Chika in Patiala district, who was offered such a ticket by a motorcyclist standing at a bus stop near the PCA stadium in Mohali. “When the person was asked to show the ticket, he refused. But later when he showed me the ticket, I specifically asked whether it was original. He then snatched the ticket from my hand and went off,” added Rajiv. Officials maintain that they are maintaining a strict check on tickets. “We have installed machines to check the authenticity of the tickets. Anyone with a bogus ticket will not be permitted to enter the stadium,” said PCA honorary general secretary GS Wallia. He said every original ticket has a secret code, which is available only on the valid tickets.
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VVIPs to fly to city for ‘mother of all battles’
Mohali declared ‘no fly zone’ Mohali has been declared a ‘no fly zone’ on March 30. No flights will be allowed to fly over the PCA Stadium. All flights would be diverted through Chandigarh on that day, an official said. Airfares shoot up Airfares to the city have jumped four-fold. While the likes of Mukesh Ambani want landing rights, cricket aficionados from Mumbai may have to shell out around ` 22,000 for a ticket to Chandigarh instead of the normal ` 6,000 fare.
Chandigarh, March 27 “Yes, they’re packing their bags and will be in the city on March 30 to watch the semi-final,” said a family confidante. Two of their children, Akash and Isha, will be accompanying them, but son Anant will be staying back,” the source said. According to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials, it got requests from the country’s at least 15 VVIPs to fly in and out of city for the big India-Pakistan semi-final
on March 30. Big corporates like Mukesh Ambani, liquor baron Vijay Mallya, some high-profile politicians and film celebrities such as Priety Zinta, Shah Rukh Khan, Shilpa Shetty and tennis star Sania Mirza, etc to fly to city before the match. The number is likely to grow as the D-day approaches, said the AAI officials. The names of politicians, who are landing in the city, cannot be disclosed due to security reasons, they added. The officials said that there is a mad scramble among cricket lovers and jet-setters to get to the Chandigarh suburb for Wednesday’s India-Pakistan encounter. The AAI is choked with requests for private Boeings to fly in and park at Chandigarh airport. But AAI authorities 'advised' the jet-setters that their planes drop them at Chandigarh; fly to some nearby place like Amritsar or Delhi and return to pick up them up late at night with the defence ministry's nod! But in case they do not get permission to operate civilian plane at night, they will have to stay in Chandigarh till morning and fly back, AAI authorities said. "Chandigarh is a defence airport used for civilian flights. There are three parking bays - two for A-320/Boeing 737 type planes and one for ATR - for passenger flights. Some planes used for schedule flights remain parked there at night. Also commercial aircraft movement happens till 8 pm and operating a flight after that requires IAF clearance," said an AAI official. "We are advising all those sending their requests to fly in private jets to either get dropped or send planes elsewhere or speak to defence ministry for parking planes in the military area of the airport."
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Red alert in Mohali after bomb hoax
Mohali, March 27 Though the Chandigarh police denied having received any hoax bomb call, Punjab police officials were seen thoroughly scanning the premises for any explosive devices. Superintendent of police (city) Harpreet Singh said as part of standard practice the entire stadium was being checked for the past three days. However, in the evening the police completely ruled out the presence of any explosive device in the stadium. Taking no chances the red alert was sounded. Special devices to detect explosive devices from a distance have been pressed into service in the inner and outer cordon around the stadium. To review the security arrangements an IG rank officer of the SPG attached with the Prime Minister’s Office chaired a meeting of the police officials. Two Punjab police deputy inspectors general of police, MF Farooqui and Parmod Bhan, along with four senior superintendents of police rank officers have been specially deputed to enforce full proof security. Mohali SSP GPS Bhullar said 2,000 policemen have been deputed for the conduct of the semifinal match between India and Pakistan on March 30. Apart from capturing video footage of the residents living around the PCA stadium, sharp shooters would be deputed all along the route being finalized for “VVIP” movement. “Till evening police officials were involved hectic parleys to decide upon the routes to be taken for “VVIP” movement and accordingly the traffic diversion plans would be announced”, said a senior police official.
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Eateries roll out special World Cup menus
Chandigarh, March 27 And for that matter cricketer Mahender Singh Dhoni, who loves to eat ‘naan; and chicken butter ‘masala’, would not have ever thought he would have to swap his favourite food with ace batsman Sachin Tendulkar’s love for seafood.
However, this week when the flavour of the country is just cricket no one really cares, especially the city’s restaurateurs who have picked every possible word from the game’s dictionary to coin innovative, albeit sometimes misleading names, for their dishes. While one will usually expect ‘Dhoni dhamaka’ to mean a fiery innings with lots of boundaries and sixes, in the cricket crazy ‘menu’ parlance it is golden fried prawns with pickle. Similarly ‘Sachin straight
drive’ is not his classic boundary shot to long on but chicken with peanut sauce, and ‘chak de India’ is not the war cry of the Indian team but a plate of vegetarian ‘seekh’ kebab with mint chutney. To ensure that they do not miss out on the cricket frenzy that grips the nation at large and the city in particular as all the action will take place at the Mohali’s PCA stadium, restaurant and bar owners have worked overtime with their chefs to cull out special dishes match the game’s flavour. For those thousands of cricket fans who will not make it to the PCA stadium in Mohali, what could be a better option of watching the match on large screen with a ‘googly’ (not the ball but a cool mocktail) in you hands and ‘Yuvi (ke sholey)’ on the plate? “Yes, we’re ready to give the cricket flavour in our menus”, says Rishi Talwar, general manager of Kawa restaurant, of Sector 26. With a bat shaped menu the restaurant has introduced 12 starters for cricket that includes ‘Dhoni’s dhamaka’ and specials like ‘full toss’ and ‘bouncer’ for the main course. And when it comes to desserts, what better can describe the mouth watering dark chocolate brownie with that extra chocolate sauce than the word “hooked”? Jagan Bains, senior manager, food & beverages, Mountview hotel, Sector 10, says they have introduced a dozen mocktails, ten cocktails and special snacks with catchnames for cricket lovers. Their list goes as 'LBW', 'ILA India', 'hit wicket' and 'body line' for cocktails and ‘googly’, ‘magic spell’, ‘hatric cola’ and ‘champions ka champion’ for mocktails. The snack menu has on it dishes like ‘stump kebab’, ‘fish square cut’ and ‘PCA pizza’ at prices ranging from Rs 200 to Rs 500. At Piccadilly hotel, Sector 22, executive chef Chandrashekhar has drawn up a special menu for the semifinals and as a special tribute to the Pakistani team has dishes like ‘Afridi lofted shot’ dedicated to them. “We’ll offer the mix and match dishes that will have Indian, Italian, Chinese and continental touch. This will include four types of salads, two of soups and four desserts along with main course”, he said. At home-grown fast food chain Hot Millions and multinational Pizza Hut, special menus with interesting combos have been planned for the World Cup. At Hot Millions there is a ‘cricket combo’ of one pizza (vegetarian or nonveg) with one pastry (black forest/chocolate truffle/butter scotch/pineapple) and a cold drink. The price varies from Rs 185 to Rs 218. Pizza Hut is offering a ‘hatric deal’ in which on purchase of two medium pizzas, two bottles of Pepsi (500ml) and one garlic bread (veg cheese/ veg spicy) comes free. So for the cricket crazy fan and food lovers there could be no better time than now to have a feast.
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8 held for black marketeering
The Police Control Room wing of the police arrested three youths, including a BA-I student of SD College, for selling two same-value tickets (worth Rs 250 each) and a third valued at Rs 500 for a total Rs 55,000. The trio arrested in Chandigarh - all aged around 19 and 20 - were caught selling the student ticket valued at Rs 250 for Rs 15,000 and the ticket valued at Rs 500 for Rs 25,000. All three were nabbed together on the IT Park road after the police set up a trap by deploying a decoy customer on the basis of secret information. While the BA-I
student has been identified as Jasmeet Singh, the two others - both working as marketing executives with Reliance Telecommunications - have been identified as Hemant Kumar, a resident of Sector 47, and Rohit Sharma, a resident of Burail village. In a separate case, a fourth person, identified as Aslam, a resident of Mani Majra, was caught selling a ticket valued at Rs 500 for Rs 18,000. Late in the evening, the UT police arrested another student Yogesh Sharma, a Sector 22 resident, from Sector 17 while making a deal of two Rs 250 value tickets for Rs 20,000. A case of cheating has been registered in the Sector 17 police station. In Mohali, the police arrested three persons, including a student, for black marketeering. In all three tickets were recovered from their possession. SP City Harpreet Singh said Manish Nagal, a college student, was arrested near gate number 5 of the PCA stadium while selling a ticket valued at Rs 250 for Rs 18,000. He was found contacting tickets-seekers on their mobile phones. In the second case, Rashid, who works in a Salon in Phase XI, was arrested along with Amardeep Dutt (employment unknown) while trying to sell tickets of the student chair block in black. The tickets priced at Rs 250 each were being sold for Rs 20,000 each. On Saturday, the Crime Branch of the Chandigarh police had arrested Naresh Garg, a resident of Sector 46 and working in a department store in Burail, for selling a Rs 250 ticket for Rs 25,000.
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Special passes for hotel mgmt students
Chandigarh, March 27 These are students of Dr Ambedkar Institute of Hotel Management (IHM), Sector 42, which is ranked as the country’s fourth best, as they will be present to promote Chandigarh as a key tourist destination. This forms a part of a promotional campaign of the Union Ministry of Tourism with IHM being roped in as a partner for this project, said sources. With a convoy of VVIPs scheduled to make a beeline for the match on Wednesday, IHM students have been tasked with distributing publicity material to the guests, along with being roped in for hospitality. IHM officials today said the strategy for Chandigarh tourism campaign would be discussed at a meeting with delegates from the Union Tourism Ministry, one of who has already arrived. “The literature for promotion would be decided once the meeting is held with the delegates. We will be preparing print material for publicity to be distributed to the guests. Electronic media and other channels are also being explored for the campaign to promote Chandigarh as tourist destination. Students will be the front runners in the entire promotional campaign,” said Naveen Nanchahal, director, IHM, Sector 42. Officials said a final decision on the mode and execution of this promotion campaign would be done tomorrow.
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Channels of passes dry up
Mohali, February 27 A number of well-connected officers -- who in the past have used the matches as a prominent occasion to oblige politicians, senior bureaucrats and other VIPs with “a nuisance value” at the government’s expense -- are this time caught in a piquant situation. With limited passes in hand, they are in a Catch-22 situation on whom to oblige and whom to leave out. “Since the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Board of Control for Cricket In India (BCCI) are in control of the situation, the channels of complimentary passes have gone dry. With limited passes it has become very difficult to oblige everyone,” confided a senior official in Punjab Government. Another officer disclosed that since the beneficiaries are often several senior officials, tickets had to be bought in advance. The complimentary passes are delivered at the residence of VIPs. A number of officers are upset over being given denied complimentary passes by the PCA. Interestingly, senior bureaucrats, police officials and top politicians are on board of the PCA management.
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india-pak encounter With three days to go, the “big game” between archrivals India and Pakistan, cricket mania has gripped city residents like never before. “CRICKET” is all that families and youngsters are talking about. Tribune reporter Neha Miglani and lensman Pradeep Tewari meet some city youth and residents at their favourite cafes and restaurants
Family affair
Ila Joshi and Shubhi at a restaurant
in Sector 22
For us, it’s a WC final
On projector screen Café, coffee, cricket! ‘Bharat Bandh’, the tagline of IPL (Indian Premier League), is the most suitable line to describe the sentiments attached with March 30, the day of the semifinal between India and Pakistan. “My friends and I plan to meet at a common place, most probably at a bar, and cheering for India from 2 pm to 11 pm,” says Gurpreet Singh, a student of UIET department, PU. “Even though we will not be present at the PCA Stadium in Mohali to cheer for Team India, my group of friends and I have decided to root for the team from far away — the Panjab University campus. We will be watching the action on the big screen that is likely to be put up at the Student’s Centre especially for the match,” says Sonakshi Babbar, student of School of Communication Studies,
PU.
And, Deepankar Sharda speaks to some prominent Indian sportsmen, who are residents of Chandigarh, to know their plans for this Wednesday. — Rajpal Singh, captain, Indian Hockey Team — DP Azad, coach of former Indian captain
Kapil Dev — Dara Singh, former wrestler and actor — ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh
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Singh Dwar Sanjay Bumbroo Tribune News Service
Panchkula, March 27 The steel girders have been put under the gate on the left side of the road and the artisans from Rajasthan are working on the project to complete it before the forthcoming Chaitra Navratra fair starting April 4. Confirming the same, chief executive officer, Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board, DP Dattana said work on the project was started by HUDA and they were hoping to complete the same by the end of this month or in the first week of April. The ambitious project was proposed in a meeting chaired by the Chief Minister in August 2006 to construct a huge ceremonial gate of Mansa Devi temple, conforming to the architect of the temple at the main approach road as done at the entrance of Kurukshetra. The Chief Minister on January 4, 2007, laid the foundation stone of the gate and the HUDA had submitted an estimate of the construction amounting to Rs 53.70 lakh. The contract was awarded to M/S Shakti Construction on March 30, 2007. On February 4, 2008, one half of the portion of the gate had collapsed, resulting in the death of a labourer. Since then the estimate of the construction had been revised, touching the total cost of the gate to be more than Rs 1 crore. The authorities had also shelved the gold plating of minarets on the gate in view of the escalating cost of the labour and raw materials. Earlier, BJP leaders, while criticising the half-hearted approach of the district administration in completing the project, said more than three-and-a-half years had passed and the project had still not completed and the construction cost of the project had escalated to Rs 1,49,34,000.
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Role of healthy society highlighted
Chandigarh, March 27 Ashok Saxena, former general secretary, ISCA, released a souvenir and scientific programme of the congress. RK Mutatkar in his keynote address emphasised that there was a wide variation between the perception of targeted health and disease programme. Organising secretary of the event RK Pathak highlighted the role of a healthy society. He added that health and health practices were part of social existence, permeating the domain of politics, economics and religion. Contexts of health are themselves undergoing changes and are influenced by transformations in environment, science and technology and in society itself.
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Residents face MC, admn apathy
Chandigarh, March 27 There is not even a single inch of greenbelt. While there is no community centre, dispensary and heaps of garbage to be seen all around, the authorities have been turning a blind eye to their problems. The water also does not reach first floors in the summers, a press note alleged. The residents threatened that they would be forced to “gherao” the MC office in Sector 17 if the area was not developed.
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Five women police officials felicitated
Chandigarh, March 27 Madhu Bansal, wife of Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Science and Technology and Earth Sciences; Prema Cariappa, chairperson, Central Social Welfare Board; and Lalit Joshi, chairperson, Chandigarh Social Welfare Board, felicitated Inspectors Harjit Kaur, Gurjeet Kaur, Poonam Dilawari, Jaswinder Kaur and Gurdarshan Kaur, all Inspectors with the Chandigarh Police. Earlier, Rinku Kalia, playback singer and winner of Zee TV’s reality show “Sa Re Ga Ma” mesmerised the audience with selected Bollywood and Punjabi numbers. Over 700 children from the labour colonies of Chandigarh enjoyed the two-day fair.
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Vocal recital mesmerises audience
Chandigarh, March 27 After Ram Niwas welcomed chief guest Urvashi Gulati, chief secretary of Haryana, who honoured the artistes, the invincible maestro, Rashid Khan took the centrestage only to spell magic. He opened up the recital with the exposition of raga puriya dhaneshari through a reposeful alaap melting into a bada khyal, “Ab tum sangg” in ek tal followed by fast paced chhota kayal “Paylia ki jhanakr”. Next he bared the melody of raga ghorakh kalyan through a composition “Gori torre nain” in vilambat as also its fast paced (drut) version. A thumri titled “Bedardi dard naa jaane” in raga pahadi enraptured the audience before he concluded the most absorbing recital with a chhota kayal “Lagi lagan sakhi” in raga
hansdhawani.
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Sulabha Deshpande to return to theatre
Panchkula, March 27 Talking to the media, Deshpande said: “Theatre is my first love and I want to pursue the same now, as my health does not permits me to perform for long shooting sessions.” She said she would also work for TV serials and added that whatever role came her way she would perform by heart. Earlier, addressing a seminar organised by Raffels Hospital, under the auspices of Punjab National Bank Officers’ Association, Haryana, Deshpande said she had once lost hope of walking and faith of independent living and squatting became a dream for her due to arthritis pain. “But thanks to new techniques and procedures, which helped me get rid of the pain,” she added. “I am active once again in theatre programmes and in social life, as the new joint replacement surgery has changed my life and given me a new lease of life,” said Deshpande.
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His cremation took place at Sector 25 crematorium here today, which was largely attended by his colleagues and relatives.
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300 checked at eye camp
Panchkula, March 27 Twenty-six eye operation cases were detected during the day-long camp. The spokesman of the RWA said free eyewear would be supplied to the operated patients.
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247 conferred degrees
Mohali,
March 27 Sewa Singh congratulated the students and inspired them to work hard and achieve greater heights in life. He advised the students to keep away from drugs and utilise their energy towards constructing a healthy society. Kharar: A total of 340 students of Indo Global Colleges, Abhipur, were presented degrees during the annual convocation function held on the campus here today. Dr GD Pandey, ADGP-cum-commandant general, Punjab Home Guard and Civil Defence, Punjab, was the chief guest. Dr GD Pandey said technical institutes were playing an important role in improving the standards of higher technical and professional education. College principal Dr Promila Kaushal presented the annual report.
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6,500 register for job fest
Panchkula, March 27 College chairman Om Prakash Aggarwal addressing the media here today said about 40 recruiters from the field of ITES/BPO, banking, insurance, manufacturing, FMCG, consumer durables, stock broking and education were expected to come and select the students. He said students could apply online to register their name for the mega placement fair on the website tpoemax.blogspot.com. He said notable companies, which had given their consent to participate and select the desired candidates were Blue Beacon Electronic Security Systems Pvt Ltd, HB Entertainment Pvt Ltd, ICICI Bank, Money Matter Inc, SLR Infotech, Tech Mahindra, Idea Foundation, Amar Ujala Publications Pvt Ltd, Unicom Telelinks Limited, Good Morning India Media Pvt Ltd, HCL Infosystems, IBM, Omega Maritime Services Pvt Ltd, HDFC Bank, Ultra Tech Cement, NIIT, Tata AIG and Cheema Boiler Ltd. Secure-Net Technology would also visit the campus during the placement drive.
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Workshop on camera operations
Patiala, March 27 Thirteen students of MA final of the department of journalism and mass communication, Punjabi University, Patiala, along with two faculty members, are participating in the workshop at FTII, Pune. Elaborating upon the schedule of the workshop, workshop coordinator Ashwin Sonone said the workshop was aimed at providing hands-on practical experience of camera operations like camera shots, movements, shot composition lighting, recording and editing to the students. Besides, sessions on make up for TV anchor, on-location news story and shooting of panel discussion would also be conducted during various sessions. In the first technical session on the opening day, Jagdeeswaran, faculty of camera department of FTII, held theoretical and practical classes on camera shots and composition and each participant framed composition of different shots, which were evaluated by experts.
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Exhibition on history of pharmacopoeia
Mohali, March 27 The exhibition inaugurated by Dr Nitya Anand, chairman scientific body, Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, was based on the collection of Professor Harkishan Singh, emeritus professor, Panjab University, Chandigarh, and is first of its kind in the history of pharmaceutical sciences. Pharmacopoeia is the official drug compendium of India, which gave complete information of medicines, vaccines and biotechnology products manufactured or sold in India. The exhibition highlighted the pharmacopoeia history of India since 1824 when London Pharmacopoeia (edition 1809) was first translated into “Hindustanee” for the use of students of the Native Medical Institution founded in 1822 at the Presidency of Fort Williams, Calcutta. The exhibition also exhibited a variety of tools, mortars, grinders and number of other things, which were used in the ancient times for making medicine in India and elsewhere. An annual cultural meet “Spandan-2011” was also organised on the occasion.
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‘Writing scripts a social activity’
Chandigarh, March 27 Indian theatre department chairperson Neelam Mann Singh Chowdhary and Atmajit interacted with avid theatre lovers and members of CSA. Narrating his experiences, he said on certain occasions, it was extremely difficult to feel what one wanted to depict in the play. “People tend to follow a particular formula for successful plays. These formulae are used and re-used by the playwright. But I have been consciously making an effort to bring something new in what I wrote. In fact it was not for the sake of experimenting that I wished to do so. I wanted to add a freshness to it,” said Atmajit. He shared that on several occasions from a real life story, it was hard to choose whom to actually portray the hero and villain of the act. Stating that one thing he could not do was depicting Sikh history and mythology through his plays. “Despite this, I made an effort to cull out a chapter from the Sikh history, which would depict that the basis of Sikh history was secular,” he added.
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Fellowship for Dr Raj Bahadur
Chandigarh, March 27 Rotary International president Ray Klinginsmith presented the fellowship to Dr Raj Bahdhur at a function here yesterday. According to a press note, Dr Raj Bahadur has been given the fellowship for “tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among people of the world.”
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Conference on biological science
Chandigarh, March 27 Dr Rakesh Tuli, executive director, National Agri-Food
Biotechnology Institute, Government of India, elaborated on the need for
more innovation in the existing curriculum as per the need of the
industry and society. Tuli also released the official journal “Biospectrum”. College
principal Mani Bedi appreciated the activities of the association for
maintaining the academic standards of biological science. Association
president Dalip Kumar said the association would provide financial
assistance of Rs 21,000 to its members as seed money for research-based
activities. The association will also conduct national Olympiad in the
field of biology from the next session.
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‘Improve education of physically challenged’
Panchkula, March 27 The distinguished educationists, including Dr Puran Singh, Dr Rita Chopra, Dr Satish Badwal, Dr Nain Singh, Dr Amender Behra, Dr Jasbir Kaur Chahal, Dr Kuldeep Puri and Dr Kulvinder stressed on the need to improve the education of physically challenged and backward classes. They also urged the government to sort out the problems of physically challenged, besides introducing a common curriculum for them throughout the country. Justice (retd) SK Jain, Punjab and Haryana High Court, distributed prizes and mementos to the participants and resource persons in the valedictory function. College principal, Dr Anurag Dhiman read the annual report of the college.
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‘VYOM’ ends
Chandigarh: On the third and final day of annual technical fest of PEC University of Technology “VYOM”, a workshop on “Ethical Hacking” was organised by Ankit Fadia, a computer security consultant based in Silicon Valley, the USA. Warren Noronha, member of the FSF India Working Group, delivered a lecture on “Open-Street Map System”. An eco-friendly event, “e-waste” was also held. The fest was concluded with a laser show. To mark its third anniversary, Youth United, an NGO, organised ‘smiling future-4’ at the open-air theatre in Panjab University. Smiling future is an initiative of the NGO to create an opportunity for underprivileged and special children to join professional dance groups and music bands . The event began with a Ganesh Vandana
by Aishna, from Prayaas, who is also a Bal Shri award winner. Various college groups performed bhangra and western dance. Jhankar-2011 begins
Jhankar-2011, the annual cultural event of Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC), today kicked off at the gymnasium hall. Events like poem writing and poetry recitation were held. In the evening, students participated in a fashion show hosted by the UIFT and a rock night by Ice and Fire Band.
— TNS
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Meanwhile, 120 commandos of the National Security Guard (NSG) have been deputed in the outer cordon of the stadium. Orders have been issued to put up shifting nakas around the city and carry out anti sabotage checking at public places, hotels and Paying guest (PG) accommodation. As part of strengthening the security around the stadium, 24 horse-mounted policemen, four quick reaction teams, six tear gas squads and 20 squad equipped with night vision devices and bullet proof bunkers have been deputed on the day of the match. Several CCTVs have been installed at all gates and zoom camera have been installed at the main gate for recording minute details.
Chandigarh/Mohali, March 27
“I have a final examination of my bachelor’s degree from 9 am to 5 pm on
Wednesday. It is bad luck for me. But I plan to get back home and catch up with the match on the telvision,” says Ila. Her sister, Shubhi, adds that since both their parents have sought leave from the office especially to watch the match, they have no option but to watch it along with their parents on the television. “I have been playing cricket from childhood and have been an avid follower of the game. But watching the Indian team play against Pakistan is a different thing all together,” she adds.
“We have read news about tickets having been sold out. We have no option but to watch the match at home. Is there still a way of getting tickets? Everyone is a cricket fan and are really excited to watch the upcoming semifinal match. In fact, this is a World Cup final for us,” says
Raina
“We really wanted to watch the match at the stadium but failed to get tickets for the family. Although we did manage a few tickets, there was no point going to the stadium without friends and family. We have now planned to hire a projector and watch the match at home with the family. Our relatives, who had been expecting to get tickets at the last moment have already arrived home in the anticipation of watching the match at the stadium,” say Shashant Srivastav and
Karan Chabbra.
“We tried very hard to get tickets but in vain. In fact we have been asking our friends if they could manage tickets for us even at a higher price. Now that nothing seems to be working out, we have decided to watch the match at a café in Sector 35, which is our favourite hangout. Be it inside or outside the stadium, the aim is to cheer for India. So we’d rather sip coffee and watch the match comfortably there,” say Jugan, Imran, Arun, Jerry and Harry.
Ticket no bar!
Big match, big screen!
Even though I am scheduled to attend a national hockey camp at Delhi, I will watch the match on the television as India-Pakistan clash in any game is a must-watch. The whole team plans to watch the match after our practice session
I will go to the stadium to watch the match live on Wednesday. This match is crucial. We must repeat the 1983 win. I am confident that the young lads will win this time, as we are doing well in all three departments — bowling, batting and fielding. This only goes on to show that we are the favourites for the match.”
I have never seen a cricket match live in a stadium so far. I prefer to watch the match on the television in the comfort of my home. I played cricket for the first time in Madhya Pradesh in 1960s. Clueless about how to go about batting, I smashed every ball that came my way. I ended up making a great score.”
I am really excited about the match as it is important for them to enter the final of the world cup, especially when it is taking place in the sub-continent. All we can hope is that the ‘young brigade’ will give it their best shot and win the match” 
Chandigarh,
March 27