NEIGHBOURHOOD

Punjab to go organic way
Parmod Mehta

Storage Technique

Ambala, May 9
Janchetna Foundation, a local welfare organisation, has threatened to file a PIL against the district administration for failing to move out over 250 dairies operating in populated residential areas of the town.

Foundation president Prashant Misra said plots were allotted to the dairy owners at subsidised rates and loans for the construction of sheds were also arranged from banks.

He said the Deputy Commissioner had sent a final notice to dairy owners on April 7, directing them to move out of the town within two weeks or face legal action and lose plots allocate at subsidised rates, but to no avail.

The Deputy Commissioner had asked the dairy owners to halt their activities in the town’s residential areas and shift to a facility at Khatauli village, where plots for setting up dairies had been allotted at subsidised rates.

According to sources, around 110 dairy owners had been served final notices for allegedly violating the district administration’s directions to shift their dairies outside the town. However, the notice had failed to move dairy owners.

Misra said insanitary conditions prevailed in the town, with the threat of epidemic outbreak looming large on the town.

He said if the administration failed to implement its orders effectively, the foundation would move the High Court against the administration.

Ambala, May 9
Thieves broke into the factory of a senior Congress leader of Haryana and took away six quintals of copper-made electronics components worth Rs 7 lakh late last night at Ambala City.

HPCC organising secretary Balwant Gupta, who runs a Bakelite factory in Ghas Mandi area at Ambala City, said there was an off in the factory on Sunday. When he came this morning to open the factory he found that the locks of the godown were tempered with.

Later it was revealed that the thieves entered in the factory through the roof of the building by breaking a cemented sheet. The main entry gate of the factory was found locked, which indicated that the thieves transported the copper components through the roof of the building.

Gupta said around five months back a similar theft incident had occurred in his factory and the thieves managed to take away the copper components of worth Rs 2 lakh. He said he had filed a written complaint with the police at that time, but the police did not lodge an FIR in this matter.

He said he had informed the Chief Minister in this regard who assured him that he would direct the police authority to take the matter seriously. However, the police has registered a case under Section 457 and 380 of the IPC.

Ambala, May 9
The Ambala police claims to have unearthed a gang of women involved in cheating women passengers offering them lift in their car and robbing their gold ornaments.

According to police sources, the CIA staff on a tip-off arrested two members of the gang near Ambala City main bus stand late last night. They were involved in several robbing cases in Ambala, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Chandigarh and Rajpura.

Their area of operation was usually the main bus stop and national highway. They used offer lift in their cars at night. Three cases of such robberies were reported at Ambala recently.

Those arrested were identified as Simro, alias Goga, a resident of Nabha, and Shilo, a resident of Sangrur. Both were produced before the Duty Magistrate and were remanded to the police custody for two days. During preliminary investigation they admitted to involvement in several cases of robbery and selling gold ornaments to jewellers.

The police has also appealed to car owners to be alert while driving on the GT road at night and inform nearby police stations if any suspicious person asks them to stop their vehicles.

Chandigarh, May 9
The UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (I) has directed New India Assurance Company to pay Rs 78,476 to Allena Auto Industries, Mohali, for repairing an electric oven, which was insured under a fire and special perils policy. The forum has also directed the company to pay Rs 20,000 as compensation and costs of litigation to the complainant.

In its complaint, Allena Auto Industries stated that it had taken a standard fire and special perils policy of one year, from April 2009 to April 2010, after paying a premium of Rs 83,070. On March 3, 2010, the electrical oven got damaged as fire broke out in it.

The complainant informed the insurance company, which appointed a surveyor for assessing the loss. During the inspection, the surveyor clicked pictures of the damaged oven and submitted his report.

The insurance company repudiated the claim on the grounds that it was based on surmises and conjectures and fell under the exclusion clause 7 of the policy.

In its reply, the company admitted that the complainant purchased the insurance policy after paying the premium of Rs 83,070 and intimated the breaking out of fire in the oven on March 3.

The surveyor, who was appointed by the insurance company, assessed the loss to the tune of Rs 78,476 and concluded in his report that the claim was not payable as the loss fell under the exclusion clause 7 of terms and conditions of the policy, stated the insurance company in its reply.

The forum, comprising its president PD Goel and members Rajinder Singh Gill and Madajit Kaur Sahota, observed that the surveyor had not conclusively observed that due to sudden temperature variation, vapours of paint had accumulated to such an extent that it blew off and ripped the walls of the oven.

Thus, the surveyor was not sure that the incident had occurred on account of some paint catching fire or excessive heat and resultant pressure leading to an explosion, it observed.

The forum stated that the report of the surveyor, which was based on probability, was not sufficient to prove that the claim was not payable.

Therefore, the repudiation of the claim was unjust and illegal and the insurance company was liable to pay Rs 78,476, along with compensation and litigation costs of Rs 20,000.

Chandigarh, May 9
The UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (I) has directed Taneja Developers to refund Rs 6.87 lakh to a Mohali-based couple for cancelling the registration of their plot without intimation. The forum has also directed the builder to pay them Rs 25,000 as compensation and Rs 5,000 as costs of litigation to the complainants.

In their complaint, Dr Navjot Singh and his wife, Dr Maininder Kaur, stated that they had applied for the registration of a residential plot of 250 sq yards in an upcoming project, TDI city, Phase II, in Mohali on March 27, 2008. They had attached a cheque for Rs 6.87 lakh (25 per cent cost of flat) with the application form.

The complainants were allotted a plot of 250 sq yard as per a letter sent by the builder on September 18, 2008, and asked to further deposit Rs 5.50 lakh, failing which the allotment would be cancelled.

On November 28, 2009, the complainants enquired about the development and asked the tentative time by which the project was likely to be completed, but instead of replying to their queries, it sent a letter on January 15, 2010, cancelling the registration of their plot, without mentioning any reason.

The complainants stated that the land on which the plots were to be located had not been acquired so far and there was neither any road to the site, nor any sewerage material at the site.

The builder, in its reply, disputed this contention, but did not produce any document to suggest that it had purchased any land for this project. It stated that the registration was cancelled as the complainants had not paid the outstanding amount despite reminders.

The forum, comprising its president PD Goel and members Madanjit Kaur Sahota and Rajinder Singh Gill, stated that collecting money from the public on the assurance of allotting plots, when neither had land been acquired, nor any permission obtained, amounted to an unfair trade practice, by which the developer was unjustly enriching itself.

Chandigarh, May 9
A woman was burnt alive while her husband was battling for life after sustaining burn injuries following fire at their residence in Bapu Dham around 9 am here today.

The deceased, identified as Sugandhi Devi, aged around 38 years, and her husband Jugal Kishore (42) were at home while their three children, two sons and a daughter, were away to school when the incident happened.

Sugandhi Devi was declared brought dead by doctors at the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, while Jugal Kishore, who sustained burn injuries on several body parts, including face, arms and legs, was critical.

Earlier, seeing flames coming out of the house, a neighbour informed the fire brigade. Narrow lanes in the colony posed a big hurdle for fire tenders in reaching the spot.

With the help of long water pipes, firemen managed to control the fire. The in charge of the police post of the area, Jaspal Singh Bhullar, said the reason behind the fire was yet to be ascertained.

“During preliminary investigations, it seemed that sparking in the television could be the reason behind the incident. We have called a CFSL team for further investigations,” he said.

Mohali, May 9
The upcoming international-level hockey stadium in Phase IX (opposite the PCA Stadium) will be completed by September, said Punjab Sports director Pargat Singh after inspecting the construction site here today.

The stadium will act as the venue for the four-nation and six-nation hockey tournament being hosted by the state government in September. He said fresh earth was being laid to create the facility.

Apart from setting up an international-level hockey stadium having synthetic turf, the 20-acre site would be utilised to develop an ultra-modern swimming pool and other sports facilities.

The total funding for the project, around Rs 35 crore, was being borne by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA).

While major funding was being done by GMADA, the sports department would bear the cost of sports equipment.

A piece of four-kanal land had given to the complex for an Olympic Bhavan. Though the land has been handed over to the sports department, the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) had appointed consultants to plan out the activity.

There had been an inordinate delay in finalising the consultants and designs of the complex.

Panchkula, May 9
Vandana of Government Model School, Mani Majra, and Karan Sharma of The Gurukul School, Sector 26, Panchkula, were adjudged best fighters among girls and boys, respectively, in the Tricity Sub-Junior Sqay Championship at the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex in Sector 3 here yesterday.

Vandana clinched a gold in the girls’ +35 kg category. Karan Thapar displayed some great skills to capture a gold medal in the -20 kg boys’ section. Naveen of Government High School, Sector 7, emerged champion in the boys’ +40 kg category. Sushmita of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, won a gold in the girls’ under-25 kg class.

Results: Girls: -25 kg: 1 Sushmita (GMSSS-8, Chandigarh), 2 Aditi (CRB-7, Chandigarh), 3 Khushi Chauhan (The British School-8, Panchkula) and Preet Kaur (Govt High School, Daffarpur).

-30kg: 1 Meena (GMSSS-8, Chandigarh), 2 Rajbir Kaur (Govt Model Sec Secondary School, Mani Majra), 3 Deepali Thakur (Alpine School, Pinjore) and Sarabjeet Kaur (Govt High School, Daffarpur).

-35kg: 1 Pooja (Govt Model Sec Secondary School, Mani Majra), 2 Sona (The British School-8, Panchkula), 3 Aprajita Naryal (The British School-8, Panchkula) and Mehak Verma (The Gurukul School-26, Panchkula).

+35kg: 1 Vandana (Govt Model Sec Secondary School, Mani Majra), 2 Kiran (Govt High School-7, Chandigarh), 3 Siwani (DAV-8, Panchkula) and Neha Bemal (The Gurukul School-26, Panchkula).

Boys: -20kg: 1 Karan Sharma (The Gurukul School-26, Panchkula), 2 Sahil (Govt Senior Sec School-8, Chandigarh), 3 Ashrey Sharma (The British School-8, Panchkula) and Abhishek Chouhan (The Gurukul School-26 Panchkula).

-25 kg: 1 Harsh Rana (The Gurukul School-26, Panchkula), 2 Lovepreet Singh (The British School-8, Panchkula), 3 Kartik Saroya (The Gurukul School-26, Panchkula) and Naman (The Gurukul School-20, Panchkula).

-35 kg: 1 Bhanu Partap Rana (The Gurukul School-26, Panchkula), 2 Pawan (Govt High School-7, Chandigarh), 3 Aakash (The Gurukul School-20, Panchkula) and Vineet Rana (Alpine School, Panchkula).

-40 kg: 1 Gagandeep Singh (The British School-8, Panchkula), 2 Harpreet Singh (Govt High School, Daffarpur), 3 Ritvik Kanwar (The British School-8, Panchkula) and Pranshu Rana (The British School-8 Panchkula).

+40 Kg: 1 Naveen (Govt High School-7, Chandigarh), 2 Neeraj Malik (Panchkula Sqay Club), 3 Ankit Sharma (Sukhmani School, Dera Bassi) and Gurwinder Singh (The Gurukul School-26 Panchkula). Col SS Deswal (retd) distributor medals to the winners. Gold medal winners were presented with a cash award of Rs 5,000 each, while silver and bronze medal winners got Rs 3,000 and Rs 1,000 each, said Harish Kumar, general secretary, Sqay Association of Haryana.

Chandigarh, May 9
Himal Gusain of SD School, Sector 32, emerged champion with 5½ points in the 22nd Chandigarh Chess Championship, which concluded at the St Xavier’s Senior Secondary School, Sector 44, here today. The second position was bagged by Abhinandan Vohra, while the third position went to Naveen Bansal and the fourth to Piyush Manuja. The four will represent Chandigarh at the 12-day National Challengers Championship to be held at Aurangabad, Maharashtra, from June 15.

Final results: Gusain Himal (5½), Vohra Abhinandan (5), Naveen Bansal (4½), Piyush Manuja (4½), Pardeep Singh Negi (4½), Sanjeev Biswas (4), Satbir Singh (4), Nivedan Bhardwaj (4), Anil Raina (3½), Tarini Goyal (3½), Jaskeerat Singh (3½), Nitin (3½), Nirankari Ashwani (3½), Vibhushit Singh (3½), Karan Bhatti (3), Sunil Bansal (3), Shweta (3), SK Banerjee (3), Dhanwinder Singh Jus (3), Rahul Arora (3). — TNS

Chandigarh, May 9
Defending champion Tarundeep Chadha of Chandigarh will face stiff competition from Bangalore’s second-ranked Syed Saqib Ahmed and many more top-ranked players in the Toyota Etios Junior Golf Tour’s opening tournament over four days at the tough par-72 Golden Greens Golf Club, Gurgaon, starting tomorrow (May 10).

The Toyota IGU Haryana juniors will be played in four categories (A, B, C, D) for both boys and girls and will see a playing field of over 100 junior golfers for the top position.

These junior and sub-junior golfers, who travel from all corners of the country, will see some stiff competition amongst themselves as they will face a tough test at the Golden Greens, the only links style course in the country.

Apart from the 2010 All-India Junior runner-up Saquib and defending champion Tarundeep Chadha, other golfers to watch out for are Delhi Golf Club’s Honey Baisoya and DLF Golf Club’s Manu Gandas in category B; Gurgaon-based Piyush Sangwan and Jaipur’s Prakhas Asawa in category C; Kshitij Kaul and Aadil Bedi in category D.

Among girls, Bangalore’s Aditi Ashok from category A and Vrishali Sinha of Delhi from category B will be the golfers to watch out for.

“It’s tougher this year. Last year, the course was playing easy but things are different this time. The difficult course will add to the competition and I hope to repeat my performance this year too,” said Tarundeep Chadha, while practicing a day before the start of the tournament.

“It’s a great opportunity to see young talent at their best. These kids started as sub-junior golfers and today they are getting ready to compete against the best in a few year’s time. The IGU, like always, is committed towards developing golf at the grassroots and it’s just a wonderful experience to see these kids growing up to become fine golfers,” said Maj-Gen A Parmar (retd), director general, Indian Golf Union.

The Toyota Etios Junior and Sub-Junior Golf Tour is part of company’s commitment to help in the growth of junior golf in the country under the aegis of the Indian Golf Union, the governing body for junior, sub-junior and amateur golf in India.

Chandigarh, May 9
St Anne’s Convent School, Sector 32, and Saupin’s School, Sector 32, will clash in the final of cricket tourney for St Kabir Trophy, being organised by the St Kabir Public School, on the school premises, here today.

In the first semifinal, St Anne’s beat The Millennium School, Mohali, by six wickets, while in the second match, Saupin’s beat St Kabir by three wickets to secure their berth in the final.

Batting first, The Millennium School scored 86 runs for 6 in the allotted 20 overs with the help of Abhinav’s 19 runs and Satyam’s 15 runs.

Utkarsh and Mandeep took a wicket each giving away 8 and 10 runs, respectively.

In reply, St Anne’s achieved the target in just 16.2 overs losing four wickets in the process. Kanishk chipped in with 13 runs. For St Anne’s, Satyam claimed 3 for 11.

Brief scores: Millennium: 86 for 6 in 20 overs (Abhinav 19 n.o, Satyam 15; Utkarsh 1 for 8, Mandeep 1 for 10).

St Anne’s: 87 for 4 in 16.2 overs (Kanishk 13, Anmol 13; Satyam 3 for 11).

In the second match, which also turned out to be a low-scoring affair, St Kabir set a 77-run target to Saupin’s team.

With his unbeaten 48 runs, Prabhjeet helped Saupin’s team reach 78 runs for 7 in 17 overs.

The most successful bowler was Shivang, who took 4 for 14, while Shivam claimed 2 for 20.

Brief scores: St Kabir: 76 all out in 19.2 overs (Gurkaran 14, Chirag 14; Prithvi 2 for 11, Varun 2 for 16).

Saupin’s: 78 for 7 in 17 overs (Prabhjeet 48 n.o; Shivang 4 for 14, Shivam 2 for 20).

The final match will be played at 8.30 am at the same venue tomorrow.