NEIGHBOURHOOD

Thapar varsity’s contribution lauded
Tribune News Service

Ambala, November 3
The warden of Ambala Central jail who was arrested on Wednesday for possessing 250-gm opium was produced in a local court today which sent him to a one-day police remand.

DSP of the jail Sanjay Bangar had nabbed jail warden Jai Chand. The jail authorities had been receiving complaints regarding the use of phones by the inmates for long. Since then, the jail authorities had been keeping an eye on the suspected jail officials and relatives of the prisoners.

On the complaint of jail authorities, a case was registered against the jail warden. A number of hardcore gangsters and criminals are lodged in the Ambala Central jail. A few years ago, some of the prisoners had made an attempt to excavate a tunnel in the jail.

Chandigarh, November 3
Coming down heavily on Delhi-based realtors, Uppal’s Marble Arch, the UT State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed the firm to pay Rs 1 lakh in compensation to a Panchkula couple for its failure to hand over the possession of an apartment at Mani Majra.

The commission, comprising Justice Sham Sunder, and member Neena Sandhu, also directed the opposite party to pay 12 per cent interest per annum on the already deposited amount of Rs 1,42,25,700, from April 1, 2009 till the actual date of handing over of the physical possession of the apartment to the complainant. The respondents have also been directed to pay Rs 5,000 towards the costs of litigation.

The complainants - Pawan Kumar Goel and his wife Anju Goel - submitted that they had jointly applied for the allotment of a residential apartment on November 17, 2006 in the project launched by the opposite party and deposited an amount of Rs 16,92,750 with the application form.

The opposite party issued the allotment letter on November 23, 2006 and further assured that the possession of the apartment would be handed over to the allottees on or before 30 months from the date of start of construction of the residential complex.

It was further stated that the construction had already started at the time of the execution of the agreement and later the opposite party requested the complainants to deposit the remaining amount. The complainants deposited Rs 1,42,25,700 as per schedule. However, the possession of the residential apartment was not handed over to the complainants within time.

The counsel for the opposite party averred that the delay occurred on account of the circumstances beyond the control of the opposite party and as per the agreement, they were entitled to extension of time for the delivery of physical possession of the apartment.

It was further stated that the physical possession was given to the complainants after the delay of 13 months from the date committed for the delivery of the same. Yet the delay occurred on account of circumstances beyond their control.

It was further stated that there was neither any deficiency in rendering services on their part, nor had they indulged in any unfair trade practice. He further submitted that the Chief Administrator, Chandigarh, issued the completion/occupation certificate on May 31, 2010.

He further submitted that since, there was a delay in issuing the completion/occupation certificate by the Chief Administrator, UT, Chandigarh, even though the opposite party had applied for the same in time, the latter could not be blamed.

The state commission observed: “It’s a matter of common knowledge that the builders in the first instance issue attractive and fanciful advertisements to attract gullible investors/purchasers and receive enormous amount from them.

Thereafter, they do not stick to the schedule of construction. They (respondents) were required to apply for the completion/occupation certificate much before the date committed for the delivery of physical possession. If, on account of their own wrong, they did not apply for the same or they could not apply for the same, as the project had not been completed by the date committed, the complainants could not be blamed for the same.”

Chandigarh, November 3
Less than a month after Ludhiana Additional Sessions Judge sentenced Suraj Ahluwalia, state president, Shiv Sena Bal Thackeray (youth wing), to death, the latter today challenged the verdict. Ahluwalia is facing the charges of killing a taxi driver three years ago.

Challenging the orders of his sentence by filing an appeal before the Punjab and Haryana High Court through senior advocate Baldev Singh, Ahluwalia claimed that the FIR in the case was fabricated and ante-timed.

Assisted by advocates Deepender Singh, Sudhir Sharma and Anhul Singh, the senior counsel added victim’s cousin Baldev Singh was introduced as a false witness.

Moreover, the name of the appellant’s bodyguard in the FIR was mentioned as constable Sammi Kumar. But, during investigation, he was found innocent. Instead, constable Gurprem Singh was challaned, who he was also acquitted by the Additional Sessions Judge.

The appellant further challenged the judgment on the ground that as per the FIR and the version before the police during investigation, accused Tejinder Bawa, alias Happy, “fired a revolver shot on the head of victim Kamaljit Singh and the second shot was fired by the appellant Suraj with the carbine snatched from his gunman”. As such, it was a case of two fire shots. But during the postmortem, only one “entry wound” was found. The other was the exit wound. Thus, it was a case of single close-range shot, making it clear that the prosecution case was utterly false.

Ahluwalia further claimed that the photographs in which Kamaljit was shown to be fiddling with the carbine were shown to informant Baldev Singh. The senior advocate added that the appellant and others had been made scapegoats; and the carbine might have been fired accidentally.

He added that since the carbine allegedly recovered from Gurprem Singh was not linked to the crime, the conviction and death sentence was on the face of it bad. The appeal is likely to be taken by the High Court in a couple of days.

Panchkula, November 3
A joyride on a stolen motorcycle cost two teenagers dear as they were caught by a sentry and handed over to the police at Chandi Mandir here today.

According to the police, the two accused, students of Kendriya Vidyalaya, stole the motorcycle of Kuldeep Singh of Chandi Mandir and were trying to leave the cantonment.

On checking their antecedents, the sentry came to know that the motorcycle was a stolen one. They were immediately handed over to the police. The two boys were produced in court, which sent to a juvenile home.

Chandigarh, November 3
Acting on a complaint, a local court today instructed the UT police to conduct an inquiry against Lekh Raj Sharma, chairman, Bar Council of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

A criminal complaint alleging threat to kill was filed by Ravi Joshi, a resident of Sector 42. The complainant has accused Lekh Raj Sharma of intimidating him.

According to the complaint filed by Ravi Joshi, who was serving as a clerk in the Bar Council, he was inquiring into a missing file pertaining to a departmental inquiry on October 24 when Sharma came there and used offensive language against him.

The complainant has submitted a complaint against Sharma to the Chandigarh police as well. 

Panchkula, november 3
The local police has arrested Vilaiti Ali, a contractor, accused of negligence that led to 10-year-old Golu’s death. Golu’s body was recovered from a pit dug up for tube-well at Budhanpur village on October 31.

According to the police, the contractor was produced in the court, which released him on bail today.

Golu, who went missing from his house in Budanpur village here on October 28, was found buried under slush in a six-foot-deep pit dug up by the contractor.

The contractor was supposed to cover the pit to avoid such accidents from happening, the police said.

The post-mortem report also confirmed that Golu had died of asphyxiation.

Chandigarh, November 3
Khanna United Club defeated Friends Club Mohali in a boys’ (senior) category match of the ongoing 6th Kanwar Harbans Lal Memorial Football Tournament for Boys (juniors and seniors) at Football Stadium, Sector 17, here today.

Friends Club Mohali went down to Khanna Club 1-2.

Harminder Singh of AG Haryana put the team in the lead with a brace in the 28th and 32nd minutes of the game, while for the opponents Sandeep Singh reduced the margin in the 60th minute.

In the junior category, Strawberry School, Sector 26, defeated Moti Ram Arya Senior Secondary School, Sector 27, 3-1.

Ekhanbir opened the account in the 8th minute, while Ayush doubled the lead in the 22nd minute for Strawberry.

Gagan of Moti Ram School reduced the margin 1-2 in the 36th minute but Ayush sealed team’s victory after scoring a goal in the 40th minute. Ekambir was declared the man of the match.

Chandigarh, November 3
Aakanksha Bhatia beat Mehak Gupta 7-4 and 4-0, while Aakriti defeated Varinda Gupta 10-0 and 10-0 in their respective girls’ (singles) matches during the 13th Raj Kumar Babuta Memorial Carrom Ranking tournament at St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, here today. In other matches, Nidhi Gupta defeated Samiksha 21-0, 21-0, Aastha Gandhi beat Bhumika Anand 5-4, 10-5 and Pankhuri Garg defeated Sherry 8-0, 5-0.

Results: Men’s (singles): Parveen Rastogi b Tasavar Ali 19-10, 16-15; Riyasat Ali b Umeed Ali 17-8, 23-17; Ankush Taneja b Naushad Mali 07-27, 25-0, 25-0; Preet Kanwal b Mohd Yusuf 6-25, 25-12, 25-15; Second round: Gagandeep Singh b Ojhal Anand 25-10, 25-0; Ekansh Goel b Arun Kumar 25-0, 25-0; Asif b Salim Ahmed 25-0, 25-8; Ankush Taneja b Aayush Garg 25-0, 25-0; Parveen Rastogi b Pradeep Mittal 25-10, 25-03.

Boys’ singles (junior): Charan Akshay Sidhu b Aviyan Chakara 25-0, 06-0; Ayush b Harangand 25-0, 25-0; Prince Sharma b Dribjeet Singh 22-0, 23-0; Parv Verma b Lucky Thakur 14-0, 6-3; Akhil b Prashant Jain 12-03, 10-0; Rajan b Aditya Vashisht 25-0, 25-0. Boys’ singles (sub-junior): Laksh Bansal b Bharmandeep 7-0, 8-0; Anmol Bhatia b Guransh Singh 20-0, 8-0; Chirag C b Deepak Kumar 20-0, 17-0; Ayush b Mihir Yadav 18-01, 10-0; Abdul Hseeb b Kartik Arora 24-0, 8-0; Yishu Sharma b Abhishek Roy 14-03, 21-0; Dewalpreet b Aryaman15-0, 7-0; Atul Yadav b Garun Malhotra 18-0, 8-0; Varun Sharma b Azraver Singh 21-0, 16-0; Preet Kamal b Saksham Verma 25-0, 17-0; Manoj Kumar b Tarun Khanna 0-8, 8-0, 5-4; Ankush Taneja b Devinder Singh 21-0, 16-0; Second round: Mohd Arish b Laksh Bansal 21-0, 21-0; Chirag C b Anmol Bhatia 19-0, 21-0; Ayush b Abdul Haseeb 20-0, 8-0; Sahibpreet b Sajan Ahlawat 5-0, 6-0; Yishu Sharma b Dawalpreet 24-0, 13-0; Varun Sharma b Atul Yadav 25-0, 14-0; Ankush Taneja b Manraj Singh 25-0, 25-0; Third round: Mohd Arish b Chirag C 21-4, 18-0; Ayush b Sahibpreet 25-0, 20-05; Yishu Sharma b Varun Sharma 18-0, 16-0.

Girls’ singles (junior): Sanya b Samiksha Sharma 22-1, 17-3; Himanshi b Kamal Makkar 25-0, 25-0; Sherry b Gurleen Kaur 9-0, 10-0; Ashita b Astha 25-0, 25-0; Bhumika Anand b Pankhuri Garg 25-0, 9-0; Priya Gupta b Taru Mundi 9-0, 11-0; Second round: Farheen b Astha Gandhi 22-0, 20-0; Gurkiran b Sanya Chadha 22-0, 21-0; Gulshan b Himanshi 25-0, 25-0; Manu Gupta b Sherry 21-0, 21-8; Priya Sharma b Ashita 25-0, 25-0; Nidhi Gupta b Bhumika Anand 23-0, 25-0; Tuba b Asmitha 21-0, 21-0. tns

Chandigarh, November 3
Teams of St Xavier’s School and Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36, lifted the St Xavier’s Inter-School Basketball Tournament in boys (U-15) and girls’ (U-15) category, respectively, here today.

During the tournament, Kunal and Ijeoma of St Xavier’s School-44 were adjudged as best players in the boys and girls’ category, respectively.

In the final league match of boys under-15 category, the hosts defeated New Public School, Sector 18, 45-37.

Earlier in the match, St Xavier’s took a 16-9 lead in the first quarter. However, NPS staged a comeback and took the lead 19-18.

St Xavier’s School won the third quarter 11-10 and the fourth quarter 16-8 to lay their hands on the title.

Khushan (14), Sunit (10), Jaspreet (7), Kunal (5) and Gursher (5) were the main scorers for the winning side. For NPS-18, Adi (12), Yuvraj (9) and Abhishek (11) were the key scorers.

In another match, St Kabir-26 defeated St Joseph’s School, Sector 44. Gurtej (18), Ritik (12) and Garv (6) took the team to victory.

In the girls under-15 category, Anamika scored 20 points for Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36, to enable her team defeat Sacred Heart School, Sector 26, 56-31 in the final league match.

Kirti contributed 18 points and Jasmine scored 10 points to ensure their team’s victory, while for opponents, Ridhima (16), Anmol (6) and Gurleen (6) were they key scorers.

Result: Girls: New Public School-18 b St Xavier’s School 48-30.

Chandigarh, November 3
Devkaran Bhatty, a former national ranked player, has made the country proud by becoming part of New York squash team and winning US National League Squash finals in Boston.

The squash player who hails from Maharashtra is currently pursuing his studies from Chandigarh. He played the US championship finals in 2009 and won US (A)-Skill Level National Championship in 2009.

“I was offered scholarship for my academic excellence but the most exciting part was to represent the state in squash. During my stay in India, I also represented Maharashtra in the inter-state championship. The game has paid me a lot and helped me to carve a niche,” said Devkaran.

Besides being an excellent player, Bhatty also coached top three juniors girls teams during his stay abroad. He also got a bachelor’s degree in business administration from PBI College, New York.

“The infrastructure back there is very good and the players follow a proper routine. No doubt that players here are moving in the right direction, all they need is good exposure and proper planning,” said Devkaran.

“I want to further explore the sport and want to work with the Indian sports ministry to promote the sport among the youth. A lot more effort is needed to uplift sportspersons,” he said.

He claims to be the official US National Master in chess and an intermediate certificate holder in Muay Thai kickboxing from Tiger Muay Thai, Phuket, Thailand.

Chandigarh, November 3
The pair of Delhi’s Riya Bhatia and Victoria Chahal defeated local girls Karishma Mehta and Vibhuti Khullar to enter the final of the Sanjog Kapur Memorial-CLTA-AITA Men’s and Women’s-50K Open Tennis Tournament here today.

Riya and Victoria defeated Kaishma and Vibhuti in straight sets 6-1 and 6-1, while in another semifinal match of the category, Shreya Pasricha and Tarrannum Handa defeated Jasmine Singh and Komal 6-1 and 6-1.

Results: Men’s (singles): Yogesh Phogat (HSIIDC) b Advait Nitin Sadwilkar (Maharashtra) 6-4, 6-1; Kinshuk Sharma (Maharashtra) b Karan Salwan (Delhi) 7-6(9), 6-2.

Women’s (singles): Riya Bhatia (Delhi) b Ashima Garg (Chandigarh) 6-0, 6-3; Tarrannum Handa (Delhi) b Ravnoor Kaur (Chandigarh) 6-2, 6-1.

Men’s (doubles): Anwar Shahul (Karnataka) and Rynold Timothy (Kerala) b Advait Nitin Silwarkar (Maharashtra) and Bharatram Balajee (Tamil Nadu) 7-6(4), 6-4; Sachin Kumar (Chandigarh) and Kinshuk Sharma (Chandigarh) b Yogesh Phogat (Haryana) and Suraj Beniwal (Haryana) 6-2, 6-3.

Women’s (doubles): Riya Bhatia (Delhi) and Victoria Chahal (Delhi) b Karishma Mehta (Chandigarh) and Vibhuti Khullar (Chandigarh) 6-1, 6-1; Shreya Pasricha (Delhi) and Tarrannum Handa (Delhi) b Jasmine Singh (Delhi) and Komal (Punjab) 6-1, 6-1.