NEIGHBOURHOOD

MC POLLS PATIALA
List of candidates likely on May 22
Umesh Dewan
Tribune News Service

Patiala, May 18
The list of candidates for Patiala Municipal Corporation election is likely to be out on May 22.

While the Congress would be contesting the election, which is just three weeks away, form all the 50 municipal wards of Patiala, the Akali Dal and BJP would be fielding their candidates for 35 and 15 municipal wards respectively.

The Congress has received as many as 200 applications. Interestingly, former Mayor Vishnu Sharma has not applied for the ticket. Vishnu has preferred to stay away from contesting the election as he no more enjoys close proximity to the Moti Bagh Palace and also because it is almost certain that if the Congress gets the majority he would not get the coveted chair of mayor. Kabir Dass, who was senior deputy mayor during 2002-07, is another heavyweight who has not applied for the ticket.

In the Akali Dal, so far 217 members have applied for the tickets. Sources said in the Akali Dal, candidates are likely to be finalised by the SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on May 21 and subsequently the list is expected to be out on May 22.

Sources said that out of the total applicants about a dozen are Akali leaders who are kith and kin of senior SAD leaders. Prominent among the ticket seekers are Capt Preetinder Singh (son of senior SAD leader Jaspal Pradhan), Mayor Ajit Pal Singh Kohli (son of former Punjab Minister), Harinderpal Singh Tohra (son of former Punjab Minister Harmail Tohra) and Amarinder Bajaj (son of Patiala Improvement Trust chairman Inder Mohan Singh Bajaj).

The party insiders said since the Akali Dal is confident of making a clean sweep in the civic elections, the senior Akali leaders from Patiala want their family members to contest the election with an eye on the mayor’s chair.

However, sources close to Sukhbir Badal said that tickets would be allotted on merit basis and deserving candidates would not be overlooked.

Speaking to The Tribune, Senior Deputy Mayor Anil Bajaj said they have so far received 100 applications for the 15 wards where the BJP would field its candidates. “The list is likely to be announced on May 22,” he said. Besides Bajaj, the BJP district president Arun Gupta has also applied for the ticket.

Patiala, May 18
It is aptly said that behind every technological breakthrough there lies a dream. Such dream creates realities with students like Anant Gupta of Scholars Public School, Rajpura, who achieved triumph in not only cracking the IIT but accomplishing the rank of 7 All India Ranking.

Born in a family of doctors, his parents Dr Rajiv Gupta and Dr Seema Gupta motivated him to be an engineer and he has certainly made a great start towards the fulfillment of their dream.

While Anant bagged first place in the district, the second place has been grabbed by Anshul Bawa (178 AIR), student of Budha Dal Public School, Patiala.

His parents- Dr Rajesh K. Bawa, Professor in Departmentof Computer Science, Punjabi University, Patiala, and Dr Seema Bawa, Dean (Student Affairs), Thapar University, Patiala, are glad that their son is following their footsteps.

Both his parents are also alumni of IIT Kanpur and IIT Kharagpur and Anshul says that their exposure, experience and commitment has played a key role in grooming him.

Talking to The Tribune, Anshul said during his school days, apart being topper, he tookpart in co-curricular activities like quiz competitions, debates, dramatics etc. “I have been going to Lakshya Institute, Patiala, for specialized coaching since Class IX and since then, all I have done is focused on cracking IIT with a good rank,� he added.

His mother Seema Bawa said his focused approach, sheer hard work, right guidance andenvironment have made it possible. She informed that Anshul is an all rounder and takes interests in various sports activities.

Meanwhile, other students who got good AIR ranks are Shobit Zakhmi student of class XII studying in Blossoms Sr. Sec. School, Patiala, who got 285th Rank.

As many as 14 brilliant achievers of DAV Public School, Bhupindra Road, Patiala brought great laurels to the institution and royal city by clearing IIT-2012 examination.

Vidhem Chabbra has topped with 326 (AIR Rank) in the school whereas Gurkanwar Singh (AIR 1799), Shivanshu (AIR 2445), Shubham Sethi (AIR 2663), Gaurav Kori (AIR 2800), Yugam Singla (AIR 4152), Prabhjot Singh (AIR 4823), Namish (AIR 6556), Saurabh (AIR 6816), Anandita (AIR 6866), Sahil Garg (AIR 7831), Lavanya (AIR 8267), Arshpreet (AIR 8793) and Sanmeet Singh (AIR 9331) have proved DAV for excellence.

Principal S. R. Prabhakar alongwith the members of faculty congratulated and felicitated all 14 IIT achievers in the school.

In Buddha Dal Public School, Patiala, Kanav Singla-1409 All India Rank, Devdarsh-1787 All India Rank, Sofia, Vishal Gupta and others, who have brought laurels to the school by their exemplary manifestation of hard work and diligence and once again stating that hard work is the only key to success. 

Fatehgarh Sahib, May 18
More than 3,600 posts of teachers are lying vacant in the government-aided schools as the government has not given its approval to fill these posts since 2006. The sanction by government has to be taken to fill the posts as 95 per cent of the salary in these schools is paid by the government.

The delay has seriously affected the implementation of the Right to Education Act in the state as under the Act not more than 10 per cent of the posts can be kept vacant, whereas presently more than 50 per cent of the posts are laying vacant, said Ravinder Kumar Joshi, state press secretary of the Government Aided School Teachers Association.

He said that there are 480 such schools in the state and these schools are the backbone of pre-college education in most of the big cities and towns. He added that some of the primary schools are on the verge of closure due to lack of staff. He said that 3,600 teachers of these schools who had retired were waiting for the resumption of pension scheme which was withheld by the then government in 2003. Despite of the High Court orders and an agreement reached under the directions of the Supreme Court of India, no concrete efforts are being made by the department, he added. He said that the finance department was not giving approval to all those demands conceded by the Chief Minister during the meeting with association.

He urged the Chief Minister to intervene in the matter and to direct to the finance department to implement all the demands. He also demanded that the CM should order the education department to issue BT (Book Transfer), take up pension cases on priority, and to give sanction to fill the vacant posts. He threatened that if their demands are not met the teachers may go on strike.

Dera Bassi, May 18
Thirty-five candidates were selected during a campus placement drive at Sri Sukhmani Institute of Engineering and Technology (SSIET), Dera Bassi, today.

Apple Technology and Careco Services Pvt Ltd conducted the joint campus placement drive.

The companies offered a starting annual package of Rs 2.8 lakh. The placement drive was open for the students of BTech (IT, ME, CSE) and MCA students.

The company experts visited the campus to select candidates for the posts of software developer and marketing engineers.

Principal Dr GN Verma along with the team from the placement cell welcomed the representatives from the visiting companies. He also informed them that the institute strives to improvise on the available facilities to equip the students for the challenging and competitive corporate world.

The placement drive was inaugurated by prof Avtar Singh, chairman of Sri sukhmani Group of Institutes, and director Kanwaljit Kaur.

After the pre-placement talk, the company conducted rigorous rounds of aptitude test, group interactions, and personal interview.

More than twenty-two students from SSIET participated in the drive, along with 40 candidates from other institutions.

The students from various colleges and institutions, like the BIS College of Engineering and Technology, Sai Institute of Engineering and Technology (Amritsar), Indo-Global College of Engineering (Abhipur), SVIET, Rayat and Bahra Group, SUS Group, CEC Group of Colleges, Chitkara University, UCOE (Punjabi University, Patiala), IET (Bhaddal), PCET (Ludhiana), SUSWEC (Tangori), Apeejay Institute of Management (Jallandhar), Ambala College of Engineering, SBSCE (Ferozpur), BBSB (Fatehgarh Sahib), and RIEIT (Railmajra), visited the college for the placement drive. 

Ambala, May 18
The Ambala police has arrested Mahender Kumar, a resident of Mankaya village close to Chandi Mandir, today, on charges of raping a minor girl on May 16.

The father of the victim, a resident of Dhamoli village had filed a complaint with the Shahzadpur police on May 17, in which he alleged that on May 16 evening an unknown youth had abducted his five-year-old daughter from his house while she was sleeping.

He said that the youth took her in a field and where he allegedly raped her. The abductor dropped her near her house in the night. The girl was so afraid that she did not disclose the incident even to her mother. Next morning the girl told her mother that an uncle had taken her in the field where he raped her.

A medical examination of the victim was conducted at Civil Hospital in Ambala City, who according to sources did not rule out the possibility of rape. Deputy Commissioner of the Police, Naazneen Bhasin, said that she had personally visited the Civil Hospital, Ambala City, where the medical of the victim was conducted.

She added that she had directed the inquiry officer of the case to investigate the matter at the earliest so that the challan against the accused could be produced in the court timely.

Fatehgarh Sahib, May 18
A brilliant century by in-form skipper Daksh Aggarwal (131 runs, studded with 22 fours) helped the Fatehgarh Sahib cricket team pile up a total of 345 for 7 against Hoshiarpur in the ongoing Punjab inter-district cricket tournament for boys (U-19) today.

Opener Daksh and Karan Aggarwal (40) gave a solid start to the team, building a 75- run partnership. Devinder Singh (81) was another major scorer. For Hoshiarpur, Ikashdeep took 3 for 84.

In reply, the Hoshiarpur team scored a total of 91-runs till the end of day’s play.

Brief scores:

Fatehgarh Sahib: 345 for 7 declared in 75 overs (Daksh Aggarwal 131, Karan Aggarwal 40, Devinder Singh 81, Ajay Kumar 40 Ikashdeep 3 for 84, Ashish Ghai 2 for 75).

Hoshiarpur: 91 for 1 (Ashish Ghai 31 not out, Atul Thakur 30 not out, Karan Punj 1 for 19)

Chandigarh, May 18
In Punjab, drunkards are still raising a toast to the heady cocktail of drinking and driving. While in Chandigarh as many as 4679 were issued for drunkard driving last year, their number was just 346 for the corresponding year. This and much more became apparent before the Punjab and Haryana High Court during the hearing of a petition filed by Vikram Sharda for making the roads in this part of the region more secure.

As the traffic regulation case was taken up by Justice Rajive Bhalla, Chandigarh Administration also claimed 3776 challans have been issued for wrong parking, while another 10274 challans have been issued for the violation of mandatory traffic signals, road signs and road markings.

UT also informed the Bench that about 25 trees on Sector 10 side were to be axed by may 20 for the smooth plying of buses and heavy vehicles. In an affidavit placed before Justice Bhalla, UT Home Secretary Anil Kumar added the CCTV cameras too were zooming in on the violators. As many as 13029 challans were issued so far through the CCTV cameras this year. nothing less than 47098 challans were issued the previous year through the third eye. All cameras at the junctions and the markets, including Sector 17, 22 and 35 were functional and having night vision facility.He also made it clear that Chandigarh was pedalling towards road safely for the cyclists.

The Chandigarh Administration is also working on a plan for providing cycle paths on the Jan Marg especially with provisions on the roundabouts.

The Home Secretary also claimed: “To ensure a proper functional pedestrian crossing, traffic signals with side-walk are installed at all the major light points.” Justice Bhalla, before parting with the case, directed Panchkula DCP to ensure that vehicles were not accessing the highway from the wrong side on the Panchkula-Pinjore stretch.

Mohali, May 18
The Mohali police claimed to have busted a gang of robbers by arresting its three members here today. They recovered two motorcycles, gold and silver jewellery, a country-made revolver and live cartridges from them.

The accused have been identified as Umesh and Suresh, both residents of Amb Sahib Colony, Phase 11 here.The Mohali SSP GS Bhullar said both the accused have confessed that they along with their three other accomplices (all residents of Balongi) had been involved in several robberies in the area.

Naresh, Manoj and Radhey were still at large.

The police also arrested Rajesh Kumar Sharma aka Bheem, who is said to have been involved in several theft cases in Ropar, Mohali, Chandigarh, Ambala, Nawanshahr and Panchkula.

Chandigarh, May 18
The Panjab University’s (PU) Syndicate meeting, held last evening, brought some good news for all sports persons. It was decided during the meeting that no new guideline will be issued for admitting a player under the reserved sports quota seats in various departments of the university. After the Syndicate members raised objections against the step taken by the PU authorities, the Vice Chancellor has decided to take back the new guideline and also decided that all the admissions under the sports quota will be made as per the old criteria.

Recently, a new guideline was issued by the sports department of PU and the Vice Chancellor office under which the authorities were expected to consider only those sports persons under the sports quota who had represented the state in any national tournament. And the authorities had decided to exclude inter-college and other lower level tournaments from the sports quota reserved seats.

After the stories ‘PU sports quota rules changed’ (May 16) and ‘Experts fume at PU decision’ (May 17) were published in same columns, athletes and coaches were expecting changes in the new guidelines issued by the PU authorities.

“The inter-college tourney is known to be the base to select inter-university teams and for judging players’ performance. If these kinds of tournaments will not be considered important, then no player will take interest here and will only concentrate on national level tourneys,” said PS Gill, member, Syndicate. He further said, “During the meeting held last night the VC himself admitted that the step was taken in a hurry. Also, the admission will take place under the old criteria,” said Gill. When asked whether the step has been applied for this year or for future, he said, “The VC assured the house that in case any kind of changes are made in future, they will be made under the guidance of a high powered committee which will include sports experts,” said Gill.

On other hand, the players and coaches welcomed the decision. “We are happy that the PU authorities have taken back the decision, at least for this year. We were demanding to include inter-college in the C-category and hopefully the authorities will continue with the decision,” said a player. “The sports fraternity will welcome this decision and the authenticity of the tourneys like inter-college will remain intact,” said Gurcharan Singh Gill, director sports, SGGS College, Sector 26.

“I am yet to receive the written approval but I am aware that the new guidelines are being cancelled. The step is welcome and hopefully will be in favour of the sports persons,” said Dr Gurmeet, director sports, PU (additional charge).

“I am very thankful to the Syndicate members for allowing admissions under the old criteria. The sports fraternity will also welcome the roll back of the new rules,” said Pushpinder Sharma, president ,Panjab University Student Council.

Chandigarh, May 18
Girls from Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 56, defeated Dev Samaj, Sector 21, by 10 wickets in the ongoing T-20 cricket tournament for women here today. A fine all round performance by the bowlers helped the winning side to overcome the rivals. Bowling first, GMSSS-56 bowled out the rivals for a mere total of 40 runs in 12 overs. Vandana (90) and Lovely (17) were the main scorers for the team.

The winning team achieved the target in 7th over of the match.Openers Reena (16) and Sonia (10) remain unbeaten throughout the innings.

Chandigarh, May 18
A three-day football coaching camp kicked off at the football stadium, Sector 17, here today. The camp is being organised by the Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools (BBFS). A team of coaches from Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools, led by ex-Portuguese international Jose Tavares, is heading the camp where a total around 160 players are participating.

The camp will be followed by a new-format youth league (Chandigarh Football League) that will promote the involvement of players as well as parents. The youth league will take place from the June 1 to 30.

The Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools (BBFS) is an initiative to promote football at the grassroot level in the nation.

Panchkula, May 18
Digvijay and Harsimrat are among the eight players who have been given wild card entry into the under-18 boys and girls events for the main draw of the CLTA-AITA Talent Series Tennis Tournament to be held at the CLTA courts from May 19.

The other players who got wild card in the boys category include Rohit Kumar, Tarun Mundkur and Talin Mundkur, while in the girls category Aashima Garg, Tanya Batra and Sanjam Preet Kaur have found place in the under-18 category.

In the under-14 boys category Rahul Verma, Abir Hiranandani, Gaurav Seth and Parmeet Singh Deol have been given wild card entry while in the girls category Astha Malhotra, Akshita Singh, Sandeep Kaur and Ikshika have got the wild card.

Qualifying matches for this event will be played on May 19th and 20th. About 189 players have already signed-in for the qualifying round of the tournament. The qualifying first rounds matches will be played at the CLTA Complex and Lake Sport Complex from 8.30 am and 9.00 am respectively.

Chandigarh, May 18
The Chandigarh Golf Association (CGA) will conduct a golf summer camp from May 28 to June 6 (9:00 am to 10.30 am) at the CGA Golf range. The basics of the game, including set up, golf swing, chipping and putting, will be taught during the camp.The organisers will also conduct a competition for chipping and putting events. The camp will be conducted under the guidance of Mahesh Kumar (Class A teaching professional) who will be assisted by Akshay and Vivek Gupta.

According to the organisers, the CGA Golf Range is already running two basics golf camps and one advance camp. Interested players can contacting Mahesh Kumar (09876119536) or at the camp venue to enrol themselves.

Chandigarh, May 18
Ludhiana and Amritsar record wins on first innings in Under-19 Dhruv Pandove Trophy Tournament.Ludhiana defeated Chandigarh on 1st innings lead of 82 runs and garnered three points while Chandigarh got zero.

Resuming at 69 for 5 Chandigarh batsmen caved in cheaply in 38.1 overs for a total score of 118. Sandeep Singh with a haul of six wickets was the most successful bowler for Ludhiana. Ludhiana were bowled out for 121 in 55.2 overs in their second innings. Sunny Pandey 25 and Khushwinder 27 were the main scorers for Ludhiana. Abhilash Sharma 7 for 48, Bhagminder Singh 2 for 15 were the main wicket takers for Chandigarh. Chandigarh were given the target of 204 in 20 overs for an outright win. Chandigarh fell short by 14 runs in their heroic chase. Amritpal Singh 2 for 73 and Sandeep Singh 2 for 91 were the main successful bowlers for Ludhiana

Brief Scores

Ludhiana 1st innings: 200 all out in 77 overs Chandigarh 1st innings 118 all out in 38.1 overs (Jaskaranveer Singh 42, Abhilash Sharma 33, Anil 24 Sandeep 6 for 45)

Ludhiana 2nd Innings 121 for all in 55.2 overs. (Sunny Pandey 25 and Khushwinder Sharma 27 Abhilash Sharma 7 for 48, Bhagminder Singh 2 for 15).

Chandigarh 2nd innings 191 for 5 in 20 overs (Simranpreet Singh 117 not out, Jaskaranveer Singh 57, Amritpal Singh 2 for 73 and Sandeep Singh 2 for 91)

In the 2nd match, Amritsar declared their first innings closed at 433 for 7 in 101 overs. Mohit Handa completed his unbeaten century 101. Mohali were bundled out for 148 in 74.3 overs. Shine Sharma 45 and Suber Hayer 15 were the main scorers for Mohali. Left arm spinner Rahul Kanojia had a rich haul of 7 for 61 as he ran through the Mohali innings. Following on Mohali were 43 for 1 in 11 overs at close of play. Amritsar got 3 points for their first innings lead while Mohali got zero

Brief Scores

Amritsar 433 for 7 in 101 overs (Karan Sharma 61, Abhinav Sharma 84, avneet Singh 86 and Mohit Handa 101 and Jatin Rana 34. Maninder Singh 4 for 88, Anmoljeet 2 for 89 and Gurpreet Singh 1 for 59).

Mohali 1st Innings 148 all out in 74.3 overs. (Shine Sharma 45 and Suber Hayer 15 Rahul Kanojia 7 for 61)

Mohali 2nd Innings 43 for 1 in 11 overs at close of play. ( Suber Hayer 31 not out)

In the 3rd match Jalandhar started their innings from the overnight score of 263 for 6 in 96 overs and declared their first innings closed at 347 for 8 . Replying Patiala scored 222 for 4 67 overs. Their innings was bolstered by an opening stand of 113 between Prabhjot Singh 66 off 110 balls and Manpreet Singh 46 off 89 balls. Another enterprising unbeaten knock of 62 off 83 balls with 9x4s by Vicky Sharma embellished the Patiala innings.

Since the first innings could not be completed both the teams failed to collect any point. Jalandhar 347 for 8 (Mansab Gill 41, Mandeep Singh 35, Karan Bhargav unbeaten on 50, Bhupinder Singh 103, Arun Chohan 55 Karan Kaila 3 for 81, Vishek Chawla 3 for 45).

Patiala 222 for 4 in 67 overs (Prabhjot Singh 66, Manpreet Singh 46 ,Vicky Sharma 62 not out)