NEIGHBOURHOOD

Half-naked body of don found
Tribune News Service

Ambala, May 30
Tension gripped the Kaula village area here, as hundreds of residents and farmers staged a protest against the land acquisition by the Haryana Urban Development Authority.

Residents armed with sticks and other farming instrument, staged a protest when a team of HUDA officials arrived to take possession of the 319 acres of land, which was acquired by HUDA in July 2006 near the posh locality of Model Town, Ambala.

On seeing the agitated residents, the officials of HUDA returned from the site leaving behind their two vehicles, including a car and tractor. Some of the agitated farmers said that the government officials had arrived to take possession of the land without any prior notice, moreover, the case was pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

According to HUDA officials, they were attacked brutally and were forced to hide themselves in the surrounding areas to save their lives and one of the HUDA employee was also injured in the process.

Balwinder Singh, president of the Farmers Association, said that according to one of the residents, the state government had offered a compensation of Rs 8 lakh for one acre of land along with 30 per cent interest on the acquired agriculture land. Since the market rate was in crores, the farmers moved the high court and the decision was still pending. The farmers said that prior to the last Lok Sabha polls, the administration had constituted a committee to amicably decide the compensation according to the market rate but to no avail.

Meanwhile, Balwant Singh has appreciated the action taken by the Kaula farmers and said, in case timely action was not taken by the state government to improve the policies as regard to the acquisition of fertile agriculture land, it would have to pay a heavy price.

Ambala, May 30
The search operation to recover the bodies of two youths from Chandigarh who were feared drowned two days back in the Narvana branch canal continued throughout the day. As many as five teams of divers continued their operation till evening but could not find the bodies of the youths.

SDM Mukesh Ahuja who have been monitoring the search operation said that the search would be conducted up to Kurukshetra, which was around 20 km away from the point. He said that the divers would search the 20-km area of the canal. This operation will start from tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the relatives of the drowned youths have been camping in Ambala and witnessing the search operation.

Fatehgarh Sahib, May 30
Dr Jatinder Singh Sidhu, director-principal of Mata Gujri College, today claimed to bring transparency in the examinations conducted in the college.

He said students of the college might go through their examined answersheets after due permission from the authorities concerned.

He said this was for the first time that the college, being an autonomous institute, had conducted examinations at its own level and to check unfair means through mobile phones they have installed jammers around the examination hall.

The college today declared the BSc result and Punjabi University would issue degrees.

Sidhu disclosed that three new courses at graduation level, psychology, public administration and mass communication, had also been started at the college. Semester system would be introduced for all classes in the college from next year.

The principal disclosed that after getting autonomous status, the UGC has increased its grant to Rs 1.5 crore annually.

Dera Bassi, May 30
Following the anti-tobacco campaign launched by the health department, nearly 25 smokers were fined for smoking at public places.

A health department team of Bhupinder Singh, Gurmakh Singh and Shiv Kumar had visited Dera Bassi bus stand, Dappar bus stand and Handesra bus stand and caught 25 persons smoking at the bus stands. All of them were fined between Rs 10 and Rs 50.

Rajpura, May 30
The Rajpura Sadar Police today claimed to have arrested two residents of Madhya Pradesh with 5-kg opium during a special naka laid near the Pilkhani T-Point in Rajpura.

Sadar SHO Krishan Kumar Panthe said that accused were coming from the Ambala side and entered Rajpura with the contraband in an Indica Car.

They were posing as tourists visiting Amritsar but a bag containing opium was recovered from the car during a checking.

Preliminary interrogation revealed that they had purchased the opium from Madhya Pradesh in lieu of Rs 1.5 lakh and would have tried to sell it in Punjab for more than Rs 3 lakh. The accused have been identified as Lokesh Kumar and car driver Badri Singh.

A case under NDPS Act has been registered against them and they have been sent to one-day police remand. The SHO said that they had sent a message to the police concerned in Madhya Pradesh regarding their arrest. “We will try to explore their links in Madhya Pradesh for more arrests in MP and Punjab as well”, the SHO said.

Chandigarh, May 30
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today gave some breathing space to builders and developers by asserting that conditions of licence should be adhered to unless these are impracticable.

In a significant assertion, the High Court also declared that impracticable conditions could be compounded in accordance with the rules and regulations.

Justice Ranjit Singh came out with the assertion while dealing with a petition filed by Amravati Enclave Residents’ Welfare Association.

The petitioners were seeking directions to the State of Haryana and director in the department of town and country planning to act against Amar Nath investments for not adhering to the sanctioned plans, etc. while developing the residential colony at Amravati Enclave at Chandi Mandir.

Taking up the matter, Justice Ranjit Singh also made it clear that he was in favour of an amicable solution to the issue.

Justice Ranjit Singh ruled: “It will be appropriate for the parties to sit together to amicably settle the issue with the satisfaction of the allottees.

“The conditions of the licence should be normally adhered to, unless there is some impracticability in complying with those conditions; and such conditions can be compounded in accordance with the rules and regulations,” he observed.

The case will now come up for further hearing before the Bench on August 10.

Chandigarh, May 30
Additional District and Sessions Judge Lalit Batra today awarded 10-year rigorous imprisonment to an accused who was arrested with drugs.

The court handed down the sentence to Bir Singh under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

The court also slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the convict.

Mohali, May 30
A pillion rider on a motorcycle died due to sheer negligence of contractor, Yogesh Kumar, engaged by the Mohali Municipal Corporation to repair a road near Verka Milk Plant at Phase-VI.

The victim Sant Singh, a resident of Morinda, was going towards Chandigarh, along with his son Navjeet Singh, on a motorcycle when the victim got entangled in a wire hung across the road. He received injuries after falling on the road. Later, he succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital.

The police has registered a case of negligence against the contractor.

Zirakpur, May 30
A labourer was buried alive when a mound of sand caved in while he was digging a pit for laying down the sewerage line from pumping station to Ghaggar river in Shatabhgarh village. The labourer was identified as Balbir Singh. He was hired by a private contractor on Rs 450 per day from the Zirakpur labour chowk.

The investigating officer stated that they got the information about the incident at around 4 pm when Balbir Singh was digging the sewerage line. The body was taken out from the pit with the help other labourers. The body of the deceased has been kept at the Civil Hospital, Dera Bassi, for post-mortem examination. Inquest proceedings have been initiated.

Mohali, May 30
With the help of brilliant ton (137) by Maninder Singh, Mohali team registered victory on the basis of first innings 89-run lead over Bathinda in the U-19 Dhruv Pandove Trophy at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here today.

The winning team earned two points.

Replying to Bathinda’s first innings total of 179, Mohali team made 268 for 3 in 95 overs. Overnight batsman Kinderpreet Singh missed his century by nine runs when he was caught by Kamaljeet off Gaurav after having put on 188 runs for the third wicket with Maninder Singh.

Maninder remained unbeaten at 137. His innings, which came in 235 balls, was studded with 23 boundaries.

Bathinda, in the second innings, were 35 for one in nine overs when stumps were drawn.

In the last match played at Jalandhar, Jalandhar beat Chandigarh on the basis of the first innings lead and logged two points. Chasing Chandigarh’s 309, Jalandhar scored 351 for 7 in 95 overs.

Their innings was sustained by a blistering unbeaten century by their skipper Love Kumar Singh, who blasted 158 runs off 145 balls studded with 17 boundaries and one six.

Love Kumar has been in great form in this tournament, having already scored a century against Patiala. He was helped by Anmol Luther 39, Bhupinder Singh 28 and Jagrit Singh 28.

For Chandigarh, Aman Bharti 3 for 85 and Udit Hari Mehta 2 for 23 were the main wicket-takers.

In the second match at Gandhi ground, Patiala were outplayed by Amritsar in all departments of the game. All the batsmen of the visiting team were seen struggling during their innings and the entire team were bundled out for 195 in 72.2 overs and conceded a huge first innings lead of 232 runs, which enabled Amritsar to garner two points.

Scores

Bathinda (Ist innings): 179 all out in 83.3 overs (Sangram Singh 80 and Manish 6 for 68).

Mohali (Ist innings): 268 for 32 in 950 overs (Maninder Singh 137 no, Kinderpreet Singh 91 and Gaurav Mehra 2 for 55).

Bathinda (2nd innings): 35 for one in nine overs when stumps were drawn.

Chandigarh: 309 for 9 in 95 overs.

Naveen Dhiman 100, Udit Hari Mehta 40, Sumit Huda 54 no, Vir Karan Goel 33, Aman Bharti 27, Arun Chauhan 2 for 38, Love Kumar Singh 2 for 48 and Jagrit Singh 2 for 68.

Jalandhar: 351 for 7 in 95 overs. Love Kumar Singh 158 no, Anmol Luther 39, Bhupinder Singh 28 and Jagrit Singh 28, Aman Bharti 3 for 85 and Udit Hari Mehta 2 for 23.

Amritsar (Ist innings): 427 for 7 in 95 overs (Shiv Love 71, Mohit Handa 57, Rohan Marwaha 74, Navneet Singh 120, Harmanjeet 28, Vinay Chaudhary 47 no, Vicky Sharma 2 for 62 and Mehjot Singh Sodhi 1 for 10).

Patiala (Ist innings): 195 all out in 72.2 overs (Vikrant Sirohi 55, Prabhjot Singh 30, Vikramdit 29, Kamarpal Singh 31, Rahul Kanojia 3 for 73, Ashwani 3 for 40 and Vinay Chaudhary 3 for 45).

Panchkula, May 30
Adhyan moved ahead easily after beating Karan Hooda in straight sets 6-1 and 6-0 in the U-14 of the main draw round of Dikshant AITA Total Tennis Tournament being played at the Total Tennis Academy, Dikshant Global School, Sector 12, here today.

Ritik Mahapatra upset Souhrabh Kalia of Himachal Pradesh in the first round match in boys’ U-12 section. Ritik won 6-2 and 7-5. Anmol Rattan Kamboj, too, moved into the next round, trouncing Samay Sandhwalia 6-1 and 6-3.

Results

Boys’ U-12: Rishab Sharda bt Chinoy Sethi 6-0 and 6-1; Adeesh Bansal bt Sumant Vij 6-0 and 6-2, Sarvesh Marriya bt Laksh Vohra 6-2, 4-6 and 6-2; Sahishnu Sharma bt Parth Kapoor 6-1 and 6-1; Asav Kumar bt Manveer 6-1 and 6-2; Sabrang Sandal bt Sumer Sandhu 6-1 and 6-2; Ayush Deshwal bt Udit Kapoor 6-1 and 6-0; Dhruv Sabarwal bt Shivam Vij 6-3 and 6-1; Shorabh Prashar bt Udgam Aggarwal 6-2 and 6-3; Kush Arora bt Vishavjeet Baidwan 6-2 and 6-0; Akshit Chabra bt Sahej Sidhu 6-3 and 6-4; Ritik Mahapatra bt Souhrabh Kalia 6-2 and 7-5; Daksh Marwah bt Ankush Nagpal 3-6, 6-4 and 5-3 (conceded); Surt Mohan Nagretta bt Yuvraj Singh 6-2 and 6-1; Anmol Rattan Kamboj bt Samay Sandhawalia 6-1 and 6-3.

Boys’ U-14: Adhyan bt Karan Hooda 6-1 and 6-0; Chirag Bajwa bt Adeesh Bansal 6-0 and 6-1; Rishab Sharda bt Manhar Manchanda 6-0 and 6-2; Varnit Arora bt Asav Kumar 7-5 and 6-0; Kabir Manrai bt Aditya Gupta 6-0 and 6-0; Sachit Malhotra bt Dhruv Sabbarwal 6-0 and 6-2.

Panchkula, May 30
Man of the match performance by Aman Kumar (23 runs and three wickets for 16 runs) helped Hansraj Cricket Academy (Blue) beat Chandigarh Baptist School Cricket Academy by three wickets in the league match of the first BK Black Inter-Academy Under-11 League Cricket Tournament held on Hansraj Cricket Academy grounds in Sector 6 here today.

Batting first, Chandigarh Baptist Academy were bundled out for 89 runs in 18.3 overs. Hansraj bowlers did not allow Baptist batsmen to score at will and wickets fell regularly. Aman Kumar three for 16, Akshit Garg three for 12, Veddant Sharma two for seven and Shourya Verma two for 10 were the main wicket takers. For Baptist academy, Rishav Jaitely was the only batsman who faced Hansraj bowlers with some courage and scored 42 runs.

In reply, Hansraj Blue scored 92 runs in 18.2 overs and lost only seven wickets in the process.

Aman Kumar 23 and Tanish Dhingra 16 were the main scorers. For Baptist academy, Rishav Jaitely and Sidhant took three wickets each giving away seven and 15 runs, respectively.

In the second match of the day, Baptist School defeated Hansraj (Green) Cricket Academy by 11 runs.

Batting first, Baptist scored 127 runs for the loss of nine wickets in 20 overs. Harsh Mehra 32, Ankit 28 and Rubal 22 were the main scorers. For Hansraj, Paras Kumar three for 17, Aditya two for 35 and Toshar Goyal two for 16 were the wicket takers.

In reply, Hansraj (Green) failed to achieve the target and were bundled out for 116 runs in two balls to spare. Aditya Mehta 44 and Saksham 26 were the main scores. For Baptist, Abhinav Jain four for 17, Harsh Mehra three for 22 and Lovish three for 18 were the main wicket takers.

Brief scores (Match I):

Chandigarh Baptist School Cricket Academy: 89 all out in 18.3 overs (Rishav Jaitely 42; Aman Kumar 3 for 16, Akshit Garg 3 for 12, Veddant Sharma 2 for 7, Shourya Verma 2 for 10).

Hansraj (Blue) Cricket Academy: 92 for 7 in 18.2 overs (Aman Kumar 23, Tanish Dhingra 16; Rishav Jaitely 3 for 7, Sidhant 3 for 15).

Match II

Baptist School: 127 for 9 in 20 overs (Harsh Mehra 32, Ankit 28, Rubal 22; Paras Kumar 3 for 17, Aditya 2 for 35, Toshar Goyal 2 for 16).

Hansraj (Green): 116 all out in 19.4 overs (Aditya Mehta 44, Saksham 26; Abhinav Jain 4 for 17, Harsh Mehra 3 for 22, Lovish 3 for 18).