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Ban on smokeless tobacco products remains ineffective in Ambala
Ambala, April 1 The state government had issued strict instructions to the officials to implement and enforce a blanket ban on manufacture, stock, sale and use of all tobacco products in the state. The ban was imposed under the Food Safety and Standard Act of 2006. However, the sale of gutkha and other tobacco products still goes on unabated and these products can easily be bought at small vends operating on streets and outside the Ambala railway station. Ironically, while the ban failed to bring down the sale of tobacco products, it helped sellers of these products earn handsome profit as the cost of one pouch of gutkha rose by almost five times after the ban. With the gutkha lovers not hesitating from paying dearer prices to get their daily dose of tobacco, the business seems to be flourishing like never before. The officials, however, maintain that strict action was taken against the defaulters in the cases that were brought to their notice, but the reality is far from it. Balbir Singh, a local resident, said the officials concerned had failed to conduct regular surprise checks to keep a tab on the sale and purchase of gutkha. “If they had done so, there would have been no sale of any tobacco products in the district,” he said. He said it was not without a reason that the country was topping the list of smokeless tobacco users in the world with nearly 83 per cent consumers. Local retailers in the city said the ban had resulted in black marketing of the tobacco products and there had been no reduction in its use. One of the retailers, on the condition of anonymity, said the wholesalers were providing them with tobacco products at an inflated rate on the pretext that exorbitant prices was being paid to top officials to keep the business running. While some retailers do not display the product for the fear of being caught by the authorities, there are others who show no fear of the law and display the tobacco products (see picture) openly. Another retailer said he continued to sell around 2,000 to 2,500 packs of gutkha per day and there was hardly any shortage of the stock. |
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Rayat-Bahra Group holds sarpanches’ meeting
Patiala, April 1 More than 100 sarpanches and panches from the neighbouring villages participated in this meet and shared their experiences with each other. The meet was inaugurated with the chanting of “Shabad Gayan” by students of the Rayat Bahra College of Education. Talking about the Neighbourhood Development Plan, under which the group has adopted about 100 government schools of Punjab for their betterment and maintenance, Gurvinder Bahra, chairman, Rayat-Bahra Group of Institutes, said its focus was on educating rural youth and making them successful entrepreneurs through the entrepreneurship-cell where individuals were trained to establish enterprise. Dr Piush Verma, campus director, Patiala, welcomed invitees and praised their contribution in the development of the region and higher education in particular. He said there was a need of greater degree of cooperation between the
local system and institutions of the region for all-round development at a faster pace. |
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Elderly run over by truck, dies
Ambala, April 1 According to information, Pratap Singh was coming on his Activa scooter after withdrawing his pension from the
SBI. He was hit by a truck near the Aggarsain Chowk. The police arrested the truck driver. The body of the deceased was handed over to his relatives
after the postmortem examination. After getting information, Rajbir
Deswal, Commissioner of Police, Ambala range, along with Ashok Kumar,
DCP, Ambala, reached the spot. The deceased was a close relative of former Himachal Pradesh Governor late Suraj
Bhan. His son, who is a DSP-rank officer, is deployed at the Haryana Chief
Minister's residence in Chandigarh. |
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Students display latest fashion trends at fest
Ambala, April 1 The event included items like solo dance, group dance, solo singing, instrumental music, fashion show and skits. Student danced to the tunes of famous songs. Fashion show was the major attraction of the event. Participants came in different dress styles and patterns to exhibit the recent fashion contemporary to varied segments in the men's, women's and youth wear. "GOONJ-13" provided an opportunity to students to unleash their latent talent. While addressing the students, the principal of the MMIM lauded the role of cultural events. He said participation in such events instilled confidence and a sense of responsibility in individuals.
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Theme Park
case
Chandigarh, April 1 The CBI had filed the second closure report in the case last month. The complainant, Vivek Aditya, had filed a series of complaints with the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) pertaining to the allotment of multi-crore amusement-cum-theme park project. During the hearing on Tuesday, the court will decide whether to accept or reject the closure report. The CBI had filed a closure report saying that there was no evidence against former top bureaucrats of the Chandigarh Administration regarding alleged corruption in the controversial project.
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CAT reserves judgment in Dr Raj Bahadur's case
Chandigarh, April 1 The petitioner, Dr Jagdish Chander, from the GMCH, has challenged the extension given to Dr Raj Bahadur last month on the grounds that "the latter has exceeded the maximum period of deputation from his parent institution and was given eight extensions without the competent authorities' consensus." Dr Raj Bahadur had joined as DP, GMCH-32, in 2008. His three-year deputation period ended in January 2011. Dr Raj Bahadur, a professor in orthopaedics department of the PGIMER, assumed charge of his deputation post on December 1, 2007. He has been given 10 extensions so far.
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Court summons to Admn on lawyers’ petition
Chandigarh, April 1 The court has issued the summons to the Home Secretary, UT Chief Engineer (Electricity), and the Executive Engineer, Division 9, to respond to the petition on April 18. The petition was filed last week by Arvind Thakur, Mandeep Saini and three others. There are a total of 440 chambers at the new district courts complex.
— TNS
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Auto driver gets jail
Chandigarh, April 1 The 21-year-old victim had boarded an auto-rickshaw from the Hotel Aroma light point in Sector 22 and the accused, Sunny, took her to a desolated place near Sector 39 and sexually assaulted her. On seeing the passerby, the accused threatened the girl with dire consequences if she reported the matter to the police, and fled the spot.
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Nigerian gets 11-year RI
Chandigarh, April 1 The accused, Alex, was held in 2009 with 5 kg heroin. He was arrested near a wine shop in Sector 23 after a trap was laid in the evening. During the investigation, 39-year-old Alex had admitted that he carried the heroin for the purpose of smuggling. The court of Addition District and Sessions Judge Shalini Nagpal had held him guilty last week.
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Rape victim accuses police of inaction
Panchkula: A rape victim from Yamunanagar today visited the DGP office at Sector 6, Panchkula, accusing the Station House Officer concerned of not taking any action on her complaint against her uncle who allegedly raped her. The victim alleged that no police official was listening to her.
3 convicted of fraud
The court today convicted three persons for allegedly duping jewellers by posing as bank officials. In 2011, the convicts, Sonu, Hari Om and John, were arrested after it was found that they used to visited jewellery shops posing as band officials and claimed they were there to install a debit card machine for taking cancelled cheques. They used to remove the cancellation and fill in an amount. In one such case, they duped a jeweler of Rs 4.21 lakh. The punishment will be pronounced tomorrow.
— TNS
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Thief held with stolen goods
Chandigarh, April 1 The DSP (South), Surjit Malik, said the accused, who has been identified as Rohitash, a resident of Faidan village in Chandigarh, was arrested here
on yesterday. The DSP said the accused was riding a motorcycle, which was stolen from Sector 52, and was on his way to sell a laptop, which was stolen from Sector 51. The police stated that a total of eight cases of burglary and theft had
been solved. Two motorcycles, one three-wheeler, three bags of cosmetic items, one laptop, one CPU, one water filter, one DVD player and one juicer mixer have been recovered from
his possession.
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Three arrested with poppy husk
Zirakpur, April 1 The police stopped a Delhi to Nawanshahr-bound Punjab Roadways bus on Sunday evening. After searching the bus, 5 kg of poppy husk was recovered from the custody of the driver. The accused was identified as Surjeet Singh, a resident of Sibalmjara, Nawanshahr district. The police also recovered over 6 kg of poppy husk from the driver of another Punjab Roadways bus. This bus was going from Meerut to Nangal. The driver was identified as Jaswant Singh, a
resident of Darouli, Ropar district, and the conductor was identified as Harmeek Singh, a
resident of Mannan, Hoshiarpur district. The police had registered cases against the bus drivers and the conductor.
— OC
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Bid to break open ATM
Chandigarh, April 1 The police stated that the security guard deputed at the ATM, Sanjay Kumar, a resident of Mohali, stated that an unknown person tried to break the ATM. “When the security guard noticed the man breaking the ATM, the accused fled the spot,” the police said. The police has asked the bank to provide it the CCTV footage. A case has been registered at the Sector 31 police station and an inquiry initiated.
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Official apathy hits sports facilities
Chandigarh, April 1 Among the latest sporting facility to be affected by this official apathy is the all-weather swimming pool where the work to repair the underwater tiles is yet to start. Every year, the pool starts functioning around April 13, but due to the delay in work it is not expected to open till the next month. The swimming pool is facing the problem of leakage due to the deep-rooted trees adjoining the wall of the pool. “The department has conducted a survey to look into the shortcomings and asked the engineering department to start the repair work soon. The work has been handed over to a contractor after floating tenders,” said KS Bharti, district sports officer. According to a source, the delay in repair work will affect the trainees who need to undergo swimming practice sessions. “The authorities could have finished the work during the vacation after the examinations. But now the delay will make trainees suffer consequences without any fault of theirs. It will take at least a month to come over this problem,” the source said. The engineering department has also failed to hand over the basketball courts of Sector 7 and Sector 42 to the UT Sports Department. The work of laying down synthetic courts at the basketball court of the Sector 42 Sports Complex is under way since 2009.The work to level the synthetic layer at the Sector 7 basketball court is yet to begin. An official of the engineering department said, “The official formalities take time, delaying the whole project. The department is on the verge of completing the construction of the basketball courts at Sectors 7 and 42.” Last year, the engineering department was told to return the fund allocated for building two badminton courts at the Sector 42 Sports Complex. In 2009, the UT Sports Department submitted around Rs 24 lakh to the engineering department to come up with the two courts, but the latter failed to complete the project even after a period of three years. “The month of April is the best time to take your children for swimming. The pool is equipped with modern facilities and good coaching staff, but that turns to be of no use if the place is not ready to serve the children. The authorities should act swiftly, otherwise once schools begin next month children would not get any time to practice,” said Virin Mittal, a local resident. |
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Young achiever: Making the right moves in judo
Chandigarh, April 1 “I have represented the city in three different Nationals and bagged the top honours. After winning the first medal for the city, I was shortlisted by the Indian Judo Federation for the Asian Junior Judo Championship, my first international event,” said Renu. Renu is currently practicing at the coaching centre of NIS, Patiala, and nurturing her skills under the guidance of experts there. The ace judoka has also represented the nation at the World Cup after competing in the Asian Championship. “I have won one gold, two silver and four bronze medals at national championships, but failed to duplicate the performance at the international events. Now, I am working hard to bag laurels for the nation at the international-level under the guidance of professional coaches. It might take time, but I will work hard to make a name in the world of judo,” said Renu. Presently competing in the under-57 kg category, Renu is practising according to the new rules of the game. Not only in judo, Renu is working hard in studies too. She is currently studying in Class XII in the medical stream. She secured 78 per cent marks in her Class XI examination. In Class X boards, she secured 89 per cent marks. “My family members wanted me to become a doctor and so I am trying my best to do well in studies too. Being a player, it’s difficult to handle both studies and games. My post-practice sessions are dedicated to my studies and I am currently taking tuitions form a local tutor. Hopefully, I will score well in my Class XII boards as well,” said Renu. “She is among the brightest players. I am confident she will represent the nation in all the major tournaments. She started her career at a very young age and has already tasted success. Hopefully, she will continue to work hard and perform well to win the confidence of national selectors,” said Nariender Singh Thakur, secretary of the Chandigarh Amateur Federation and joint secretary of the Indian Judo Federation. |
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Kings XI Punjab rest high hopes on young guns
Chandigarh, April 1 Showing full confidence in the squad, the chief operating officer, while addressing the media at the Dhruv Pandove Hall of PCA Stadium, Mohali, said shortcomings in terms of non-availability of players, injuries to players, choosing the wrong combination and performing badly at home will be addressed. Powered by the availability of all the players and a new support staff Kings XI Punjab is rearing to prove its mettle during the tournament. The management is showing full confidence on the new comers recruited from the region. This year, the management has signed Manan Vohra of Chandigarh and Sandeep Sharma of Punjab. It is a golden chance for the budding cricketers to create a niche in the domestic arena, while getting identified in the international circuit. It will also help both of them to regain their form. Vohra ran out of luck when he was dropped from the U-19 World Cup--winning squad after he fractured his finger during a practice match. The ace opener was a part of the India (U-19) squad during the quadrangular series in Australia and the Asia Cup hosted by Kuala Lumpur last year. He was involved in a 164-run partnership with Unmukt Chand while chasing. The team won, with Vohra remaining unbeaten on 79 off 35. Sandeep was India's highest wicket taker in the same series with eight wickets from four matches. He was also a part of India (U-19) squad for the 2012 World Cup. He took four wickets in the final match and remained the highest wicket taker with 12 wickets from six matches. “Manan has been practicing with the squad for the past many days, and I hope he will get a place in the final eleven. He has been performing well in both batting and fielding. During the last edition, we found a bunch of strong performers like Gurkeerat, Mandeep and Parvinder. With enough talent in kitty, everyone will be given an equal chance. I hope will perform well in this edition as well,” said Adam Gilchrist, captain of the squad.
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Saket clinches two golds in cycling
Chandigarh, april 1 Results BMX Junior Boys — 10 points: Anuraag of DPS-40, Rishav of St Joseph’s-45; 9 points: Pranav Mohindra of Ryan International-49; 5-km Mass Start Race for Boys (U-15)—Krishan Malhotra of Gyandeep School, Pranav Mohindra of Ryan International School, Anurag of Bhavan Vidyalaya-27; 10-km (U-17)—Saket Malhotra of GNHS-20, Ashish Kadian of Dev Samaj-21, Harsimran Singh Cheema of Delhi Public School; 10-km (U-19)—Ravssharan Singh of CCET-26, Prince Preet Singh of GGKS-35, Jasbir Singh of CCC; 20-km for Men—Man Singh of GCM-11, Darshan Singh of CCET-26, Rahul Aul of CCC; 5-km for Girls (U-17)—Preneet Kaur of Sacred Heart-26, Aditi Mohindra of Sacred Heart-26, Urvashi Khurana of Tribune Model-29; One Lap XC MTB Race (U-15)—Pranav Mohindra of Ryan International School, Shamit Baga of Saupin’s-32; One Lap XC MTB Race for Boys (U-17)—Saket Malhotra of GNHS-20, Ashish Kadian of Dev Samaj-21, Lakshay of Delhi Public School-40; 4 Lap XC MTB Race for Men—Darshan Singh of CCET-26, Madaan of CCC, Nigal Studley of CCC; One Lap XC MTB Race for Girls (U-17)—Urvashi Khurana of Tribune Model-29, Preneet Kaur of Sacred Heart School- 26, Aditi Mohindra of Sacred Heart School-26. |
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200 golfers take part in tourney
Chandigarh, April 1 Golfers IK Sama, Brig PPS Dhillon, S Thakur, S Randhawa, Capt GS Bajwa, Vaibhav Mehan and Karandeep Kochhar won the top honours in the competition. 10-day camp concludes
The budding golfers of The British School honed their skills at the Chandigarh Golf Club. Students in the age group of six to 16 years attended a ten-day golf camp. Basics of golfing including chipping, putting, stance, posture and hitting were taught to the young aspirants.
— TNS |
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