Chandigarh, July 12
The UT Consumer Forum has directed New India Assurance to settle the Rs 9-lakh accident claim of a widower, Nazir Singh Bhullar, whose wife Harinder Kaur had died due to electrocution.

The insurance company had declined to settle the claim on the grounds that neither the post-mortem report nor the documents submitted by the complainant established the cause of death as accidental or intentional.

The forum comprising its president Lakshman Sharma and members Madhu Mutneja and Ashok Raj Bhandari ruled that the denial to pay the claim amounted to deficiency in service, as the insurance company had reached the conclusion without waiting for the final report.

The forum ruled that in the final report submitted by the forensic department of the GMCH-32, there was not even an iota of doubt that the policyholder had died due to “electrocution”, which is clearly covered under the definition of accident.

In his complaint, Bhullar had stated that he had purchased a personal accident policy for Rs 9 lakh after paying the premium and extension fee for medical expenses in the name of his wife for one year from November, 2008. Under the policy, the couple were covered for personal accident and accidental injury. However, his wife died in March, 2009 due to electrocution.

The police registered a DDR on the spot and after completing the formalities took the body to the GMCH-32, where the doctors declared her brought dead.

The complainant filed a claim with insurance company, which appointed an investigator, who submitted his report in September, 2009 in which he stated that the exact cause of death could not be ascertained as the final report was to be released only after the viscera report was received from the pathology lab.

Later, the department of forensic medicine and toxicology, GMCH-32, issued its final opinion, pointing out electrocution as the cause of death. In its reply, the insurance company stated that the exact cause of death was not mentioned in the post-mortem report, therefore the claim was rejected as per the terms and conditions of the insurance policy.

Another plea taken by the insurance company, that there was no supporting document attached by the complainant showing the death of the policyholder from accident caused by external violence, was also rejected.

Panchkula, July 12
In connection with the graft case registered against Gymkhana Club manager SK Kaushal, his aide Virender Kumar, a clerk in the club’s canteen, moved a bail application in the court here today.

Virender Kumar, who is lodged in Ambala Central Jail, stated that he had not played the role of middleman, as alleged by the Vigilance

officials. He said he had nothing to do with the case, adding that his name was not mentioned in the complaint filed with the Haryana Vigilance Department.

He added that the Haryana Vigilance Department couldn’t slap a case under Sections 7,8 and 13 of the Prevention of

Corruption Act on him, as he was not a government employee. After hearing the counsel of Virender Kumar, the court issued a notice to the Vigilance department, seeking its reply.

Kaushal and Virender were arrested on July 7 from Gymkhana Club in Sector 6 for demanding bribe from swimming pool contractor Harjit Singh. The Vigilance officials said Kaushal had demanded Rs 20,000 from Harjit Singh for not serving a notice on him. Following which, Harjit had filed a complaint with the Vigilance. A trap was laid and Kaushal was caught red-handed.

Ambala, July 12
The local court here today sentenced two-year rigorous imprisonment (RI) and a fine of Rs 2,000 to a conductor of a bus of Haryana Roadways, Ambala.

According to sources, a case was registered against Ram Chander, a conductor in the Haryana Roadways at Ambala in April 2003 by the then general manager Arvind Sharma on the complaint of Hardev Singh.

The sources said Hardev Singh, sub-inspector in Haryana Roadways, in his complaint to the general manager stated that Ram Chander allegedly issue fake receipts to staff belonging to the Punjab and Himachal Roadways.

The general manager caught the accused red-handed and also seized a fake receipt book from his possession. 

Panchkula, July 12
Thieves strike a house in Sector 15 and decamped with cash and jewellery worth Rs 1.5 lakh from the residence of a retired bank employee, Pramod Vadhera here this afternoon.

According to information, Pramod Vadhera had gone to Chandigarh to drop his wife Anita, principal of Bal Niketan School, Sector 37, Chandigarh. According to the information, family had amassed a large amount of gold, electronic goods and other valuables, as they were planning the wedding of their daughter this winter.

Dipin Vadhera, son of Pramod Vadhera, said they were suspecting their maid behind the theft, as she was not coming since Monday.

According to the information, when Pramod Vadhera returned at 4.30 pm, he found the lock of the house to be broken and things scattered in the house. — TNS

Chandigarh, July 12
DP Azad Cricket Academy (DPCA) defeated Banyan Tree School (BTS) in the final of St Stephen’s Junior (U-12) Cricket Championship being held at St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, here today.

Earlier in the match, BTS set a target of 72 runs before getting all out in 18 overs. Sachin contributed the most 15 runs in the team’s total. For DPCA, Ritik took five for seven, whereas Arjun Aggarwal took two for 14.

In reply, the host achieved the target in 21 overs with four wickets in hand. Yash remained unbeaten on 40 runs, whereas Arjun Aggarwal contributed 12 runs in the team’s total.

Manan Chadha was declared the man of the series, while Ayush Sikka affirmed as the best batsman. Ritik Shukla bagged the best bowler prize, whereas Feroz Chabra declared the best wicketkeeper of the tournament.

Brief scores:

BTS: 72 all out in 18 overs (Sachin 15, Sunny 12; Ritik 5 for 7, Arjun Aggarwal 2 for 14).

DPCA: 73 for 4 in 21 overs (Yash 40 not out, Arjun Aggarwal 12; Sachin 2 for 8).

Chandigarh, July 12
Seeing the enthusiasm generated by the Chandigarh Golf Association (CGA) in projecting Chandigarh as a golf tourism destination, the Union Ministry of Tourism has come out with guidelines to promote golf tourism in a big way.

Union Minister of State Shelja, who was a special invitee to the sixth Chandigarh Golfing Tour in December, in which more than 100 NRIs participated, showed keen interest in promoting golf as a tourism destination.

Taking a leaf out of the CGA’s Golfing Tour, the minister got into action. Tourism Ministry Additional Secretary Sanjay Kothari was asked to constitute a preliminary committee. A series of meetings and a full-fledged workshop followed.

The meetings were also attended by CGA president JS Cheema. Barely five months after the formation of the preliminary committee, the ministry came out with its set of guidelines to promote golf tourism.

Admitting that there had been a surge in interest for golf among the youth the world over, the government felt that this was the right time to tap the growing interest in golf tourism.

According to the guidelines, it was crucial that steps be taken to coordinate closely all aspects of golf tourism under an institutional framework.

What started as a Tour projecting Chandigarh as a golf tourism destination had become a national issue, said a delighted Cheema.

According to the ministry, the objectives were promoting India as a golf tourism destination, earning additional foreign exchange, generating employment and creating additional world-class golf infrastructure. The Centre also planned to pool in with financial help for the conduct of golf tourism events. 

Chandigarh, July 12
The city may be proud of its enhancing sports culture, but when it comes to producing senior players at the national-level, it somehow fails to catch the ‘Pleasing Eye’.
There is no doubt that the city teams are performing well, but the performance is limited to only junior and sub-junior levels of any sport. No efforts are being put in to organise tournaments or competitions at the senior level.

Following which, colleges in the city find it difficult to form teams for senior-level football and hockey tournaments.

Even in the state-run sports academies, players are asked to leave after they turn 20. The authorities spend crores of rupees on honing a player’s skills, but still they do not get the required results. One of the reasons behind it can be that Chandigarh-based players fail to take full advantage of the infrastructure provided here, whereas players from neighbouring states prefer the city to polish their skills and after a certain age they leave for their home towns.

As one cannot find even a single city-based player in these state-run academes, experts are of the view that there should be a specific quota for these academies, so that players remain in the city to represent it in various competitions.

Instead of exploring talent here, the authorities go to other states in search of players. States like Punjab and Haryana have academies which are more beneficial for players of the region,” said YP Vohra, secretary, Chandigarh Hockey Association.
Unheeding the fact that most of the players who represent the state in various national-level tournaments (except football and hockey) are from the city-based government schools, the authorities fail to find any talent here. At present, 1.5 lakh students are studying in government schools, but it is shocking that among all of them, no one has been picked up as yet.

Experts said exposure to senior players would suddenly boost participation in the international-level events and also help teams win top honours at the national-level.

On the other hand, Finance-cum-Sports secretary VK Singh was of the view that the city-based students were not keen on playing games, as according to him, they devoted their time to studies and other activities.

“The academies run by the administration attract players from almost every part of the nation” said VK Singh, when asked why students in the city showed less interest in games, he added, “Children here concentrate more on other activities rather than sweating it out on the field. We never discourage anyone from participating in trials, but what can we do if experts fail to get what they want,” said VK Singh.

Chandigarh, July 12
The Chandigarh Chess Association (CCA) will organise Chess Championship for Boys and Girls (U-25, U-13) at St Xavier’s Senior Secondary School, Sector 44, on July 16 here.

During the competition, four boys (U-25) and two boys and girls each (U-13) will be selected to represent the city in the National Games to be held at Indore (U-25) from August 21 to 26 and Delhi (U-13) from October 2 to 11.

The interested candidates can confirm their entries with the authorities before July 15.