NEIGHBOURHOOD

Crowds throng Mango Mela on last day
Over 1,825 varieties of mangoes were displayed; cultural event marks closing ceremony
Our Correspondent

Kalka, July 8
The two-day Mango Mela at Yadvindra Gardens, Pinjore, organised by the state Horticulture department, in association with the Haryana tourism department, concluded today.

Geeta Bhukkal Hon’ble Education and Languages, Industrial Training, Social Justice and Empowerment, Women and Child Development, Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes, Archeology and Museums and Archives Minister, Haryana declared the 21st Mango Mela closed.

She was the chief guest in prize distribution-cum-closing ceremony. She was received amidst drumbeats of Banchari Dhol Nagadas in a traditional style reminiscent to the ancient Mughal Empire.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister appreciated the continued efforts in improving the standards of Tourism in the state of Haryana. She lauded the efforts of Haryana Tourism for maintaining the ancient Mughal Gardens with sustained conservation work to make it one of the major Tourist destinations. She further complimented tourism and horticulture departments for making this event a grand success.

Her message to the farmers was to popularise the commercial importance of mango to prospective farmers so that India gets pride place in mango production and exports in the world.

She further stated that the state had been benefited many folds by these kinds of efforts and it had already popularised the Haryana State not only in the other parts of India but also in abroad. She appreciated the rural tourism and involvement self help groups in various activities for promotion of Tourism in the state.

A large number of visitors reached these gardens and witnessed spectacular event. The response of the visitors was so promising and encouraging that it had given further boost to the various organising agencies.

Over 2,848 entries of mouth-watering mangoes from all across the northern part of India were displayed. The highlight of the display section this year was the presence of total varieties of 1,825 mangoes were displayed. The display also had a range of 386 entries of mango products such as mango chutney, aam ka pana, aam papad, mango squash etc, besides 605 special display entries of 5 participants and 32 entries in the category of best growers.

To enthrall the tourists and to make the mela more attractive, various contests like face painting competition, folk dances by school students, mehandi competition, mango eating competition, demo for preparation of mango products for ladies were held during the two-day event.

Various street dance and cultural events like Haryanvi dance, Punjabi bhangra, kachhi ghori of Rajasthan, puppet show-Jaipur, dhol nagara-hodel banchari been sapera (Rajasthan), long man bamboo walker-Delhi and bioscope-Delhi were called to give a comfort zone to all age groups.

The mela left the visitors thrilled and amused. Heavy rush of visitors from Chandigarh and Panchkula was witnessed at the mela. The seven step gardens wore a festive look on the occasion. The magnificent lighting and illumination of the gardens was so attractive that tourists passing through Pinjore en-route to Himachal were compelled to stop over for a while to have a look at the glory of these ancient gardens.

Naeem Ajmeri enthralls audience

Naeem Ajmeri brothers on the closing evening of the Mango Mela today enthralled the audience by their Sufi Kalams. They commenced the programmed with all time favourite chhaptilak sab chheeni, of hazarat Amir Khusaro followed by another sufiana item “ Mai to Khwaza ka Malang”, c “Tu to Pyar kiye ja “Piya Ne pakda Hath Kangan Toot Gye”. Naeem amazed the audience by producing the sound of ghungrus from his mouth much to the surprise and delight of audience. They regaled the audience with more numbers and wrapped up the programme with the recital of “Dama dam Mast Qalander”

As soon as the chief guest left the mango mela stalls of the visitors and locals including women and children immediately, picked up the mangoes and other items displayed on the stalls. The private security of Haryana Tourism and the police personnel remained silent spectators during the looting of mangoes. Notably, for the past three years, to pick up the mangoes and other eatables from the displayed stalls have become the routine affair in the mango festival, which shows the entire security failure.

Result of Solo Dance (junior category): 1. Tejasvani 2. Kanak.

Solo Dance (senior category): 1. Shravya 2. Abinay 3. Navneet.

Result of dance (junior category): 1. Dream dance Academy, Pinjore (Naulakha) 2. Sayam Academy of arts (bhangra) 3. Vasant Valley Public School.

Result of dance senior category: 1. Dancing Den Pinjore 2. Dream Dance Academy 3. Basant Valley Public School (Sufi).

Result of Face Painting (junior category): 1. Mohit from Govt Senior Secondary School, Pinjore 2. Simran of Vivekanand Millennium School, HMT 3. Gunjan of Sophia Public School.

Result of face painting senior-junior category: 1. Sachin of Manav Mangal School 2. Parkash of Vivekanand Millennium School 3. Simran of Govt Senior Secondary School, Basaulan

DC goes strict on illegal land dealing
Umesh Dewan
Tribune News Service

Patiala, July 8
To ensure that no more illegal colonies come up on the outskirts of the city, the Patiala District Administration has ordered that for any kind of sale or purchase of a land outside the MC limit, one has to submit an affidavit mentioning that the deal purely pertains to the colony that is not illegal.

Patiala Deputy Commissioner GK Singh said that not even a single land deal should be allowed in any of the colonies that are unauthorised.

The DC said the instructions in this regard have already been issued to all sub-registrars of the various sub-divisions of the district. "Any laxity on part of the official would not be tolerated," he said while adding that both the seller and buyer have to submit affidavits on the lines mentioned above.

Notably, sometime back, perturbed over the haphazard urbanisation and the mushrooming of the illegal colonies, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had ordered a survey of the illegal colonies in the entire state. Sukhbir had categorically said that strict action would be taken against them who are developing illegal colonies.

COURTS

Forum slaps Rs 25,000 fine for refusing fee refund

Chandigarh, July 8
District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-I has slapped a fine of Rs 25,000 on FIITJEE Limited (opposite party) for refusing to refund the fee to one of its student. District forum comprising president PD Goel and member Rajinder Singh Gill directed the opposite party to refund the fee of the complainant, excluding the service tax, for the remaining course period, during which the complainant did not avail the services of opposite parties.

The forum also directed the respondents to pay Rs 10,000 to the complaint as cost of litigation.

The complainant Shubham Vij, a resident of Sector 22 in a complaint filed through his father Vijay Kumar submitted that he took admission in Pinnacle 2 years integrated school programme for IITJEE and paid a total sum of Rs 70,058. It has been further stated that the opposite parties had some arrangements with Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, Chandigarh, as the space for the studies to be undertaken by the students were to be provided by the said school and as such, the school also charged a sum of Rs 14,350. He started attending the classes from April, 2011 and later, he came to know that the Shivalik Public School has been granted provisional recognition till March, 2012 by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Vijay Kumar approached the said school to verify about the affiliation with CBSE but the school authorities as well as the opposite parties gave no satisfactory answer.

It was alleged that he was compelled to leave the school due to its non-affiliation with the CBSE and his father also approached the school authorities as well as opposite parties for the refund of the amount besides making a request to the opposite parties to allow his son to participate in All India Test Series, but all in vain. The counsel for the opposite parties submitted that they had arrangements with Shivalik Public School for the purpose of providing the space. It has been pleaded that the complainant received the wrong RTI Information from Public Information Officer, as it did not commensurate with the final order of May 25, 2011 of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. It has been further pleaded that as per the terms and conditions of the enrolment form, the complainant is not entitled for the refund of fees.

While referring to the Apex Court order in such cases, the district forum observed that the opposite parties could not have charged full advance fees for two years and could have charged prescribed fee for one semester/year. Thus, the complainant is entitled to get refund of the fee after deducting the non-refundable service tax for the unattended period of the course, the forum order said. — TNS