NEIGHBOURHOOD

Nomination raises eyebrows
Our Correspondent

Ambala January 14
The Mini Secretariat that houses the offices of SDM, District Revenue Officer, Tehsildar, Taxation, CID, and a few others has not deposited electricity bills for the past six years and the arrear has now reached Rs 29 lakh.

The administration knows that its power supply connection cannot be disconnected whether it pays the bills or not. As per HBVN norms, a connection is disconnected if the bill is not deposited within the period of 15 days of its issuance.

HBVN authorities have written a number of letters to the Deputy Commissioner in this regard. The Mini Secretariat is not the only defaulter, a number of other government offices are also included on the list. The lift irrigation department has to pay Rs 37.13 lakh while Rs 149 lakh is pending against the municipal corporation. The PWD has to pay Rs 98 lakh as arrear. The electricity department has outstanding dues of Rs 3.13 crore against various government offices.

Sources in HBVN said an arrear of Rs 838.19 lakh was pending against the private consumers in Ambala City, out of which Rs 349.81 lakh had to be recovered from those consumers whose power connections were disconnected. There are around 90,000 power connections in the city, out of which 8,650 are the defaulters.

When contacted, Ambala City division Xen (operation) VK Khurana said a campaign against the defaulters had been launched.

Fatehgarh Sahib, January 14
The NGOs especially, youth clubs, sports club, social, religious and other people oriented organizations should come forward to create awareness among the people to caste their vote without any influence or allurement, said Deputy Commissioner Yashveer Mahajan while addressing the meeting with various representatives of NGOs.

DC added that it is unfortunate that certain so called high society families, intellectuals and certain businessmen do not caste vote. To caste the vote is a dire need to save the democracy, added DC Mahajan.

He called upon the representatives to create awareness among the people by organising seminars, door to door campaign and to distribute the literature of the Election Commission of India regarding value of casting votes. January 25 would be celebrated as National Voter Day in the district and seminars, painting competition, quiz competition and declamation contests would be organised in the schools and colleges on that day. A district level function would be organised at Mata Gujri College, Fatehgarh Sahib, where the winners of various competitions would be honoured. He added that district education officer (secondary) and elementary have been directed to ensure that up to January 30, the school heads in the morning assembly must encourage the students to caste vote as well as to aware their parents in this regard.

Fatehgarh Sahib, January 14
Didar Singh Bhatti, sitting MLA and PPP’s candidate from Fatehgarh Sahib Assembly Constituency, today filed a defamation case against SAD(B) candidate prof Prem Singh Chandumajra, his supporter Satnam Singh Brass, chairman Block Samiti Khera and Sher Singh former president municipal council Sirhind, in the court of Ranjan Khullar. The case has been registered under Sections 499, 500, 501, 502 of the IPC and 120 B. Didar Singh Bhatti and his witness had appeared in the court today.

In his complaint, Bhatti said as he is contesting on the PPP ticket against prof Chandumajra in the Assembly Election from Fatehgarh Sahib. He alleged that all the three accused are supported by conspiring with prof Prem Singh Chandumajra for his success and they had hatched a conspiracy in order to defame him and his son, Gurbinder Singh Bhatti, president municipal council Sirhind. In order to lower their reputation, they published a news in Daily Ajit dated January 5 this year in which they alleged that Bhatti had misused his power being the MLA, hence, the people cannot hope betterment in the hands of Bhatti and his son. He also mentioned that they had organised a press conference and levelled allegations that Didar Singh Bhatti had possession of Shamlat Land and cremation ground, forcibly and further sold it.

Chandigarh, January 14
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-II has slapped a fine of Rs 30,000 on National Insurance Company Limited for its failure to pay Rs 5.10 lakh for a stolen vehicle.

The forum, comprising president Lakshman Sharma and members Madhu Mutneja and Jaswinder Singh Sidhu, observed that even if the case was closed as “no claim”, the matter should have been revived and reconsidered in the light of the documents submitted by the complainant, which was sought by the opposite party. Thus, the repudiation of the claim for the reasons mentioned is uncalled for and amounts to deficiency in service. The forum also directed the respondents to pay Rs 7,000 to complainant institute Swami Devi Dayal Hi-Tech Education Academy as costs of litigation.

The complainant ML Jindal, an authorised representative of the institute, submitted that Bolero SLX, bearing temporary registration No.PB-65-D(T)-5582, was comprehensively insured with the opposite party after paying a premium of Rs 13,641 on July 1, 2009. He said the vehicle was stolen on the night of July 6. It was parked in front of the house of Dr RN Nauhria, director of the complainant educational academy. An FIR was lodged on July 7 with the police station concerned. Intimation about the theft and a claim was lodged with the opposite party, which demanded some documents for processing the claim, vide its letter dated August 22. However, despite completing all formalities, the opposite party did not settle the claim and finally closed the file on July 2, 2010, for want of non-traceable certificate under Section 173 Cr PC. He said the non-traceable certificate was put up by the police before the Illaqa Magistrate for the first time on October 28, 2009, and subsequently on January 3, 2011. He further submitted that the non-traceable report was submitted to the opposite party on January 6, 2011 and requested the opposite party to reopen the claim file, but to no avail.

The counsel for the opposite party pleaded that the complainant was asked several times to provide necessary documents along with the untraced report. However, it was asserted that the complainant failed to submit the final investigation report and the non-traceable report and the opposite party sent a final letter on June 22, 2010, to the complainant for supplying these two required documents within seven days. The complainant failed to supply the requisite documents and the file was closed as “no claim”.

Chandigarh, January 14
Hour after a robbery bid at gunpoint was reported in Sector 28 today, a petrol station was reportedly looted in the same sector late in the evening. The incident took place at 9:45 pm. One of employees Rajesh alleged that a CTU employee who is a regular customer at their petrol station got petrol worth Rs 250 filled in his vehicle and after paying his bill, snatched Rs 50,000 from him and fled from the scene.

Sector 26 SHO Parkash suspected that the story was being cooked up by Rajesh, as besides him, no other employee came to know about the incident. As he had not raised the alarm after the robbery, the police stated that it raised the doubt over the incident.

The police failed to get any clue from CCTV cameras as these were not functional for the last two days.

He further said that the team took the employee for questioning. Till the filling of the report, no case was registered by the police.

Chandigarh, January 14
A 21-year-old youth committed suicide at his residence in Maloya on Saturday.

Zishu Thakur, a BA first year student of Khalsa College, Sector 26, committed suicide after he was accused of committing a theft.

It was written in an SMS in his mobile phone that he had committed the theft. However, it could not be ascertained whether it was sent to someone.

The body was first seen by his father Dinesh Thakur, a labourer, who informed the police about the incident. A case was registered.

Chandigarh, January 14
Five unidentified assailants attempted a gunpoint robbery at a petrol station in Sector 28 near Himachal Bhawan on Saturday.

The police said two workers Laxman Singh Rawat and Dinesh were sleeping inside the station when the armed assailants entered the petrol station.

It said while Laxman was gagged by the accused, Dinesh was beaten up by the accused, who asked him to handover the keys of the locked drawers. However, they failed to take away cash from the petrol station.

The police said the accused had come around 4.30 am.

A case under Sections 394, 34 IPC and 25-54-59 Arms Act was registered against the unidentified accused.

Chandigarh, January 14
Unseeded Hyeon Chung of Korea and top seeded Ching-Wen Hsu from Taipei claimed the boys and girls singles, respectively, in the ITF Junior India-1 (Grade 3) Tennis Tournament held at CLTA Complex, here today.

Chung lifted the boys’ singles final as he outclassed top seeded Rishab Agarwal of India in two straight sets 6-0, 6-3 while top seed Ching Wen Hsu and second seed Oleksandra Korashvili of Ukraine fought a neck-neck battle for every point before the former registered a hard fought 7-5, 7-5 triumph in 121 minutes.

Rishab, who will be appearing in Class XI exams in Hyderabad, was under pressure. He struggled with his first serve in the opening set and was broken. He was again broken in the third game as Chung established a commanding 3-0 lead. Yet another break in the fifth game, Chung was on top take an unassailable 5-0 lead. The fast serving and hard-hitting Chung then retained the serve to pocket the first set without losing even a single game.

Rishab committed a double fault in the first game of the second set but managed to win for 1-0 lead. With kicking serve, Chung won the second game on his serve to make it 1-1. The set moved with the serve till the sixth game (3-3). Chung had won the sixth game. Rishab was broken in the seventh game as Chung led 4-3 and retained his serve for a 5-3 lead. The top seed from Korea broke Rishab again in the ninth game and sealed the fate of the Indian top seed in just about one hour tussle.

In the girls’ event, the top seeded Hsu made shaky start as she was broken in the first and third games of the first set by Korashvili who led 3-0. By breaking Korashvili in the eighth game, Hsu bounced back into the set as she made it 4-all Korashvili was again broken in the 10th and 12th games. The Ukraine player committed a double fault in the 12th game. The Taipei girl won the set at 7-5.

Hsu was again at sea as he lost the first and third games on her own serve in the second set. By breaking Korashvili in the fourth and sixth games, Hsu levelled the score at 3-all. Hsu was also broken in the seventh game. Then Korashvili committed two successive double faults and lost the opportunity as Hsu won the second set with an identical 7-5 margin.

Adviser to the Chandigarh Administrator, KK Sharma, was the chief guest in the prize distribution ceremony. Speaking on the occasion, the CLTA chief patron, Rajan Kashyap, announced that the CLTA will now host the $ 10,000 ITF Men's Futures from February 20 and also bid for the ITF Junior Circuit (Grade 2) tournaments.

Brief Results:

Boys’ singles (final): Hyeon Chung (Korea) b Rishal Agarwal (Ind) 6-0, 6-3.

Girls’ singles (final): Ching Wen Hsu (Taipei) b Oleksandra Korashvili (UKR) 7-5, 7-5.

Chandigarh, January 14
Vivek High Asian Cricket Academy routed St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, by 5 wickets in the finals of 4th Vivek Trophy Cricket Tournament that concluded at Vivek School grounds here today.

After winning the toss, St Stephens School elected to bat first and scored 157 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in their stipulated 20 overs. Gaurav Singh 61, Talwinderjit Singh 36 and Karan Aggarwal 23 were the main scorers. For the Vivek Academy, Simram was the pick of bowlers who scalped 2 wickets giving away 24 runs.

In reply, Vivek High Asian Cricket Academy achieved the score in 19.4 overs, scoring 160 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. Simran 71, Shivam Bhamri 36 and Karan Khosla 26 were the main scorers. For St Stephen’s, Gaurav Singh and Sukhraj Singh took two wickets each giving away 21 and 23 runs, respectively.

Brief scores:

St Stephen’s School, Sector 45: 157 runs for 4 wickets in 20 overs (Gaurav Singh 61, Talwinderjit Singh 36, Karan Aggarwal 23, Simran 2 for 24).

Vivek high Asian Cricket Academy: 160 runs for 5 wickets in 19.4 overs (Simran 71, Shivam Bhamri 36, Karan Khosla 26) Gaurav Singh 2 for 21, Sukhraj Singh 2 for 23).

Man of the series: Gaurav Singh (St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, Chandigarh)

Best Batsman: Shivam Bhamri (Vivek High Asian Cricket Academy)

Best Bowler: Sukhraj Singh (St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, Chandigarh)

Best Wicket Keeper: Lovish Bansal (St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, Chandigarh)

Best Fielder: Talwinderjit Singh (St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, Chandigarh).

Chandigarh, January 14
Man of the match performance by Amandeep Pannu (87 and 1 for 24) enabled Laser Sharp Cricketer beat Carriers India Chandigarh by 57 runs in the Drug Free City Cricket Cup held at Divya Public School, Sector 44, here today.

After winning the toss, Carriers put the opponent to bat. Amandeep and Rahul Sharma opened the innings and had a partnership of 78 runs before Rahul departed for 39 runs. Amandeep kept on till 18th over and scored 87, well supported by Rahul Kumar 28. Laser Sharp Cricketer scored 185 runs with loss of 5 wickets in 20 overs. Vikas Thakur was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped 2 wickets giving away 29 runs. Mitesh Bhatia, Manish Jangra took one wicket each for 33 and 28, respectively.

In reply, Carriers buckled under pressure and felt behind the run rate from the beginning. Manish Jangra 40, Updesh Sharma 22 and Kuldeep 21 were the main scorers. Vinay Bansal’s 5 wickets for 18 runs in 3 overs wrecked the Carriers ship. They folded up for 128 runs in 19.5 overs. Amandeep for his excellent 87 was declared the man of the match.

Brief Score:

Laser Sharp Cricketer: 185 for 5 in 20 overs. (Amandeep 87 , Rahul Sharma 39 , Rahul Kumar 28, Hitesh 14 not out, Vikas Thakur 2 for 29, Mitesh Bhatia 1 for 33, Manish Jangra 1 for 28. Carriers India Chandigarh: 128 all out in 19.5 overs. (Manish Jangra 40, Updesh Sharma 22, Kuldeep 21, Vinay Bansal 5 for 18 and 1 wicket for Rahul Sharma, Amandeep, Shubham, Hitesh for 12, 14, 24, 18 runs.

Tomorrow fixture- Laser Sharp Cricketer vs Gallant Cricket Club at 1 pm. 

Ambala, January 14
A district level kick-boxing tournament was organised in Police DAV Public School, Ambala City, here today.

In 40-45 kg group, Nishan achieved gold medal while robin and Akhlish won the silver and bronze medals, respectively. In 45-50 kg, Sidarth, Ankit and Abhishek secured gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively. Gourav achieved gold medal in 45-60 kg while silver medal was secured by Praveen. Vishal and Priyank won bronze medals.

In 40-45 kg girls’ group, Harlin won gold while Urvashi secured silver medal in the tournament.

Chandigarh, January 14
Left arm spinner Vinay Chaudhary came up with a haul of five wickets for 118 off 60 overs including 20 maidens for Punjab against that of Maharashtra in Cooch Behar Elite Group quarter-final match, here today. Out of the seven wickets that fell, today, Vinay Chaudhary captured five.

Continuing from their overnight score of 222 for 3, the Maharashtra team lost its first wicket of JS Pande after he was caught by Ankit Pursharthy off left arm spinner Vinay for 141 inclusive with 21 boundaries with the team’s total reading 310 for 4. Pande and SS Ranjne had added 150 runs for the 4th wicket. Meanwhile, Ranjne also went on to complete his century by scoring 113 inclusive of 11 boundaries and three sixes before he was caught by Sachin Sohal off left arm spinner Vinay with the team’s total reading at 350 for 5.

NS Naik, who joined Ranjne after Pande’s departure, continued to hold one end while wickets fell regularly at the other end. He was finally cleaned up by Gurkirat Singh for 57 inclusive of six boundaries and one six. Maharashtra innings folded for 399 off 157 overs.

In reply, the Punjab team U-19 was 41 for 1 off 23 overs at close of the day. The team received an early set back when their skipper and opener Manan Vohra was run out after he took off while playing a ball to backward point and a direct throw caught him short of crease at his individual score of 9. At the close of play, Ankit Pursharthy 18 and Sachin Sohal 5 were at the crease.

Brief Scores:

Maharashtra: 399 for all in 157 overs (JS Pande 141, SS Ranjne 113, NS Naik 57, AA Salvi 53 Vinay Chaudhary 5 for 118, Gurkirat Singh 2 for 122, Sandeep Sharma 2 for 89)

Punjab: 41 for 1 (Manan Vohra 09, Ankit Pursharthy 18 not out, Sachin Sohal 5 not out).