NEIGHBOURHOOD

2 commit suicide

Ambala, December 15
Sumita Mukerjee, a resident of West Bengal, committed suicide at her residence in Ambala Cantt.

Sources said she was married to Jayant Mukerjee, an Armyman. The couple entered into a heated argument following which the woman committed suicide.

The body was sent to a hospital for an autopsy.

In another incident, Rai Singh, a resident of Bivipur, committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree near his house. A suicide note was recovered from his pocket in which he had written that no one was responsible for his death. The deceased had been under depression for the past four months. — TNS

Ambala, December 15
Deputy Commissioner Shekhar Vidyarthi today held a meeting with representatives of various banks and development agencies at Panchayat Bhawan here.

The DC advised bank officials to launch a door-to door campaign to apprise residents of latest schemes launched by banks.

He said all banks should install CCTV cameras. He added that action would be taken against defaulting bank branches.

Kalpna Gupta, deputy general manager, Punjab National Bank (circle office), Chandigarh, said there was an increase of Rs 80,427 lakh in the deposit of Ambala district in September, 2011.

The total increased advances were Rs 17,058 lakh from September, 2010, to September, 2011, he added. He added that the district could not achieve the national goal of 60 per cent. However, the district has achieved the national goal set for agriculture advances by making 35 per cent agriculture advances against the national goal of 18 per cent.

The district was doing well under different schemes. He said there were 2,201 self-help groups functioning in the district and out of these, 741 had been linked with banks credit.

Satya Narayan, assistant general manager, Reserve Bank of India, New Delhi, said the target of 1 per cent of the total advances must be achieved by the district and all bank branches should finance five cases to achieve the target. He added that interest should not be levied on the subsidy portion under loan.

Dinesh Bhardwaj, district manager, Punjab National Bank, Ambala, said the district had achieved most of the national goals.

Chandigarh, December 15
A local court today awarded life imprisonment to a Colony No. 5 resident for killing his neighbour. The case dates back to March.

The court awarded life imprisonment to Vasudev, a labourer, who had murdered his neighbour Mahesh, also a labourer. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict.

On March 15, Vasudev hit Mahesh Kumar with an iron rod following a scuffle. The victim later succumbed to his injuries at the Government Medical College and Hospital in Sector 32.

The brawl took place when Mahesh intervened while a brawl was on between Vasudev and his wife. In a fit of rage, Vasudev attacked Mahesh with a rod on the head.

The police later arrested Vasudev and an FIR with charges of murder was registered against him at the Sector-34 police station.

Panchkula, December 15
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-I slapped a fine of Rs 25,000 on Go Airlines for its failure to provide connecting flight from Mumbai to Nagpur to an official of the Punjab Mandi Board.

The district forum comprising president PD Goel and members Rajinder Singh Gill and Madanjit Kaur Sahota also directed the opposite party to refund Rs 18,186 which he and his two colleagues had spent on purchasing air tickets of Indigo Flight and Rs 9,830 for three officials of the board. The forum also directed the opposite party to pay Rs 10,000 as cost of litigation to the complainants.

The complainants submitted that they had booked air tickets for their official tour from Chandigarh to Mumbai for attending the 71st Session of Indian Road Congress as official delegates. They reached the airport on time and got the boarding passes issued. Thereafter, the opposite party announced that the flight was late due to a technical fault and likely to take off at 2 pm. At 1 pm, the opposite party further announced that the flight would take off at 4 pm. They immediately approached the officer-in-charge of the opposite party and requested him to make some alternative arrangement for them to reach Mumbai through some other flight. The officer-in-charge assured them of arranging a connecting flight. But to their utter shock and surprise, when they reached Mumbai, the connecting flight had already been taken off. They averred that they had to purchase fresh air tickets of Indigo Airline for November 12 besides staying at a hotel in Mumbai at their own expenses.

The counsel for the opposite party pleaded that the flight had delayed due to some technical fault, which was beyond the control of the Airlines. The forum observed that the delayed flight had defeated the purpose of the complainants who were to attend the 71st Session of Indian Road Congress at Nagpur.

Mohali, December 15
The Mohali Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has come to the rescue of a Chandigarh resident, Raghbir Singh, by directing the ICICI Bank to return the service charges levied on him by the bank.

Directing the bank to refund Rs 6,648, along with interest to the account holder, the forum comprising BS Mehandiratta and Dr SS Dhaliwal, president and member, respectively, stated that the amount should be refunded within a period of one month.

The complainant stated before the forum that he was having a savings bank account No.005801013217 with the bank and at the time of opening the account, he was told to maintain a minimum balance of Rs 5,000 in the account which he duly did.

However, the opposite party never sent him quarterly statements of the account which was mandatory. The bank even did not inform him about any change in the conditions of operation of the account. The complainant needed some money. He checked his balance from the ATM and learnt that there was an amount of Rs 54 only to his credit. He contacted the branch officer of the opposite party and procured a bank statement which showed that deductions had been made from his account at a rate of Rs 843 after every three months for not maintaining a minimum balance of Rs 10,000 with effect from October, 2008.

The bank withdrew from his account a sum of Rs 4,800 without informing him.

Holding the bank responsible for deficiency in service, the forum observed that the opposite party had failed to place on record any guidelines or criteria of the RBI allowing it to levy service charges at an exorbitant rate. “This amounts to unfair trade practice,” stated the forum.

Panchkula, December 15
A beheaded body of a youth was found in the dense forest of Kaziyana village, Pinjore, here this morning.

The incident came to light when women went to the forest area to collect firewood. The matter was reported to the police by sarpanch of Janouli village Naresh Kumar this morning.

After receiving information, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Krishna Hooda accompanied by senior police officials immediately reached the crime scene.

A forensic team took fingerprints. The police said head of the victim was brutally crushed and was lying a few yards away from the body. The police said the incident must have occurred 15 days ago and the victim’s age was between 24 and 30. The unidentified victim was wearing a green jacket, blue jeans and sports shoes.

The ACP said the body would be kept for identification at the government hospital in Kalka for 72 hours. She said doctors at the hospital expressed their inability to conduct an autopsy, therefore the body would be sent to the PGI, Rohtak.

The police has also informed its counterparts in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh about the incident. The police is suspecting it to be a murder case. However, the a case under Section 174 IPC was registered.

Investigating officer Om Parksh said the case was being investigated.

Meanwhile, residents of the villages in Pinjore have urged the ACP to set up barriers on the lines of Morni as a large number of boys and girls visit the area. They said earlier, too, such incidents had been reported in the area.

Chandigarh, December 15
Karandeep Singh of Punjab defeated Santbir Singh to move into the final of boys’ (u-16) category of the St Stephen’s School CLTA-AITA Talent Series Tennis Tournament at CLTA courts, here today.

In a well-fought match, Karandeep routed his opponent 3-6, 7-6(4) and 6-4 to face local Kabir Manrai in the final of the category.

In the second semifinal, Kabir defeated Mritunjay Badola of Uttarakhand 6-1 and 6-2.

Local player Seerat Sidhu will face Prinkle Singh of Jammu and Kashmir in the final of girls’ (u-12) category.

In the semifinal, Prinkle Singh outclassed Nimrat Kaur Kang of Punjab 6-1 and 6-0, while Seerat Sidhu beat another local player Tanya Batra 6-4 and 7-5.

In the boys’ (u-12) category final, Rishab Sharda will cross swords with Sabrang Sandal. In the semifinal, Rishabh Sharda routed Sanchit Sikka of Uttar Pradesh 6-4 and 6-2, while Sabrang Sandal beat Abhimanyu Rozra of Haryana 6-2 and 7-6(6).

Results: Girls (u-16): Bhavya Wadhawan (Chandigarh) b Ayushi Gupta (UP) 6-0, 6-0; Nikita Bishnoi (Chandigarh) b Prinkle Singh (J&K) 6-0, 6-0.

Doubles boys (u-12): Anmol Rattan Kamboj (Chandigarh) & Abhimanyu Rozra (Haryana) b Rishabh Sharda (Chandigarh) & Calvin Golmei (Sikkim) 7-5, 0-6, 10-5; Sahej Sidhu (Chandigarh) & Akshit Chabra (Chandigarh) b Laksh Vohra & Vikshit Verma 3-6, 6-2, 10-6.

Boys (u-16): Rahul Seth (Chandigarh) & Prabhsimran Singh Bal (Chandigarh) b Santibir Singh Bhangoo (Chandigarh) & Sachit Malhotra 6-3, 6-2; Ranjeet Singh (Chandigarh) & Lakshay Bharti (Chandigarh) b Barun Singh Gill (Chandigarh) & Rohit Kumar (Haryana) 6-3, 6-4.

Girls (u-16): Bhavya Wadhawan (Chandigarh) & Gayatri Kumariah (Chandigarh) b Prinkle Singh (J&K) & Seerat Sidhu (Chandigarh) 6-2, 6-1; Nimrat Walia (Chandigarh) & Karishma Mehta (UP) b Saumya Saxena (Chandigarh) & Charvi Saxena (Chandigarh) 6-4, 7-1.

Chandigarh, December 15
A brilliant hat-trick by ace bowler Varun Khullar put Punjab team in the driver’s seat against West Bengal during a match of the Col CK Nayudu Trophy for boys (u-22) at the PCA, Mohali, today.

Bengal batsmen failed to face the bowling attack of debutant Varun Khullar, who claimed of 7 for 82, including a hat-trick.

Earlier, Bengal bowled out the hosts on a meagre 155 in 47.1 overs at the close of the first day’s play.

In reply, the visiting team scored 252 before getting bundled out in 107.1 overs.

Jayojit Basu (75), Aamir Husain (74) and Sudip Chatterjee (69) were the main scorers for the team.

On other hand, Aamir Husain became Varun’s first victim whom he trapped at 74.

Varun struck again, claiming the wicket of Abirup Gupta. On the very next ball, he completed his hat-trick, sending Alok Sharma back to the pavilion.

Varun also claimed the last two wickets of his rivals to take his figures to 7 for 82.

He was supported by Deepak Bansal who grabbed 3 for 62 in 31 overs.

Punjab started their second innings with skipper Kunwar Raina and Jeevanjot Singh but Kunwar gave his wicket to Arun Lal Yadav at the end of the day’s play.

Brief scores: Punjab (Ist innings): 155 all out in 47.1 overs.

Bengal (Ist innings): 252 all out in 107.1 overs (Jayojit Basu 75, Aamir Husain 74, Sudip Chatterjee 69; Varun Khullar 7 for 82, Deepak Bansal 3 for 62).

Punjab (2nd innings): 88 for 1 in 19 overs (Jeevanjot Singh 38, Preet Kamal Rai 33; Arun Lal Yadav 1 for 19).

Chandigarh, December 15
Golfer Ravi Verma was adjudged the gross winner during the one-day golf festival organised by the Haryana Golf Association at Panchkula Golf Club here today.

The first round of the tournament saw 84 golfers in action. The second round of the competition will be held at Tarudhan Valley Golf Resort, while the final will be held at the DLF Golf and Country Club, Gurgaon.

Results: Closest to the pin: Jessie Grewal; longest drive: Suneet Sehgal; straightest drive: BB Kaushik; ladies (winner): Sunita Singla), runner-up: Asha Chopra; Net (winner): RC Mishra, runner-up: BB Kaushik; gross (winner): Ravi Verma, runner-up: MP Singh.

Chandigarh, December 15
The teams of NPS, Sector 18, and St Anne’s School won the boys and girls’ titles, respectively, in the St Kabir Basketball Tournament here today.

In the boys’ final, New Public School, Sector 18, got the better of hosts 43-30.

The winning side drubbed their rivals riding on Abhishek and Amit’s performances.

Amit was the main contributor in the team’s win with 15 points, while Abhishek secured 10 points.

For the hosts, Garv netted 18 points, while Ekteshwar scored 7 points to reduce the margin.

In the girls’ final, in-form Kensiya Kennedy put up an excellent show to help her team defeat Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36, 57-30. Of the 57 points, the ace cager contributed 32. She was supported by Ashmita, who scored 15 points.

On other hand, Guru Nanak School players failed to even come close to their opposition’s score.

Jasmine (10) and Taranjeet (9) were the main contributors for the losing side.

Chandigarh, December 15
Continuing with his winning spree, local lad Akshit Mahajan booked his berth in the pre-quarterfinal stage of the Tata Open International Badminton Tournament in Mumbai today.

After defeating his rival from Madhya Pradesh yesterday, he outplayed Jacob Malieka of South Africa in straight sets 21-15 and 21-16. He will face Anup Sridhar in the knock-out stage. — TNS