NEIGHBOURHOOD

Poet Shiv Kumar Batalvi remembered
Tribune News Service

Fatehgarh Sahib, May 13
Bhagwan Parshu Ram Jayanti was celebrated with great enthusiasm at Sirhind, Bassi Pathana, Mandi Gobindgarh and Amloh towns of the district.

Hawans were also performed in temples by the Brahmin Community and bhajans were recited.

The Brahmin Sabha, Fatehgarh Sahib, organised a religious function at Sirhind town. After performing hawan, a free ayurvedic medical check-up camp was organised. A team of doctors from Desh Bhagat Ayurvadic College examined a large number of patients.

Addressing the gathering, Varinder Rattan, president, and RN Sharma, patron, called upon the Brahmin Community to present a united face and wage a war against social evils.

They said Brahmins should play a vital role in maintaining communal harmony and curbing the menace of drug abuse, dowry and female foeticide.

The Brahmin Youth Sewa Dal organised a function at Prachim Ram Mandir at Bassi Pathana town. Sanjeev Bhardwaj, a renowned scholar, recited bhajans and highlighted the role of Parshu Ram.

An idol of Parshu Ram was installed in a temple. A langar was also served on the occasion.

Banur, May 13
Special summer care arrangements have been made for animals at MC Zoological Park Chhatbir.

After visiting the zoo, it was found that desert coolers and air circulator fans have been provided in the shelters of tigers, leopards, lions, bears and other feline/canine.

Munish Kumar, field director of the zoo, said: “The animal management cell remains vigilant all time to make sure that the houses and night shelters remain cool and dry. All windows have been covered with mesh/jali to keep mosquito-free environment. A few areas of the houses and enclosures have been shaded with 75 per cent density agro net, which helps in decreasing the surrounding temperature. Tankers and tractors are always in a standby mode to ensure the uninterrupted supply of water everywhere in the zoo in case of an emergency”.

He said tourists, who have been visiting the zoo during these days, were enjoying watching these summer care arrangements. They were keenly watching all animals living in this type of environment.

The field director said temporary shelter/hut had been made from kanna (sacram munja), wooden logs, bamboo, etc, in all enclosures of herbivores animals to save them from heat stroke and harsh sunlight. A muddy shallow pool, duly filled with water, had been made in the elephant enclosure. A concrete water pool was also being kept full of water round the clock.

Watermelons were being provided to monkeys, bears and elephants. Banana had been replaced with papaya and cabbage leaves had been replaced with spinach leaves for animals and birds during the summer, he added.

Dera Bassi, May 13
Anjali, a student of the Sri Sukhmani Group of Institutes, has brought laurels to the school by becoming one of the top-6 finalists in Zee TV’s reality show, “India’s Best Dramebazz”.

Anjali was selected in the preliminary round from among thousands of other contestants. She is studying in class VII of Sri Sukhmani International School, Dera Bassi.

The school management is all set to welcome the ZEE TV team, which will visit the campus of the Sri Sukhmani Group on Wednesday.

Prof Avtar Singh, chairman of the Sukhmani Group, said: “We take pride in the success story of Anjali, who has not only made us proud, but has also brought recognition to Dera Bassi town. I applaud the efforts of her parents and teachers, who have contributed a great deal in shaping up her personality and making her so confident.

The chairman also announced the lifetime scholarship to the girl. He announced educational sponsorship of Anjali, in any of her chosen field in the future.

Ajay Nathwani, principal of Sri Sukhmani International School, said: “I have seen all her acts on ZEE TV’s “India's Best Dramebazz”. I must say it was an emotional and an overwhelming experience for me”.

Chandigarh, May 13
A subedar with the Army was arrested for passing lewd remarks at a girl in Sector 43. The head constable was identified as Subash Chander of Ludhiana.

The girl, hailing from Nawanshahr in Punjab, reported to the police that the accused misbehaved with her while she was waiting for a bus. Chander came close to the girl and started passing lewd remarks at her. The girl initially ignored, but the accused started following her.

The police said Chander even tried to intercept her in the way, but she called the police. The police arrested Chander, who is posted at the Dehradun Army Headquarters.

Chandigarh, May 13
High drama was witnessed at Sector 10 when a prisoner arrested in a dowry case was beaten up by family members and supporters of his wife.

The police has booked five persons under the preventive measures. A red Polo car was totally damaged with rods by members of the attacking party. One person, who was in the police custody, was hurt in the clash.

The incident occurred in the Sector 10 Market when two parties involved in a marital dispute entered into a clash outside the State Bank of Patiala. Giving details, the police said the father of the girl as well as the boy had come along with sub-inspector Gian Singh for operating a bank locker in State Bank of Patiala, Sector 10.

The girl’s father, Kalu Sher Bahadur, a Sector 10 resident, had come along with his daughter to operate the locker for taking jewellery. Bahadur objected that the accused, Ishan Kataria, his daughter’s husband, should be turned out of the bank.

Ishan’s father, Vinod Kataria, and two others were also present at the spot. As Bahadur came out of the bank, a verbal scuffle broke between the two groups, including the girl’s brother, Lucky. The brother of the girl also allegedly smashed the window panes of Vinod Kataria’s Polo car parked in the market.

Soon, a clash broke between the two parties in the market and high drama was witnessed. The police booked five persons, girl’s brother’ Lucky, father Kalu Sher Bahadur, Vinod Kataria along with Gagan and Manish under Sections 107/151 of the CrPC as preventive arrest for creating ruckus.

Panchkula, May 13
Thieves struck at a local school and took away a multimedia projector from there last night.

The incident occurred at Anadale Public School, Sector 9. Kiran Bhasin, the school principal, said the miscreants fled away when the watchman of the school raised an alarm. The principal said the multimedia projector was taken on lease from a private company. The cost of the projector is yet to be ascertained.The police today sumoned the forensic team to collect finger and foot prints from the spot.A case has been registered in this connection.—TNS

Chandigarh, May 13
Teaching mentally challenged children is not an easy task to perform. But for 22-year-old Priya and other teachers of various institutes for special children, it’s more than a passion to perform.

The recently conducted State Badminton Meet for Special Children has witnessed these teachers-cum-coaches perform an incredible job in teaching them the basics of sports.

Priya, a student of psychology and a vocational rehabilitation diploma holder, is in this business for the past three years. She is teaching special children of Sadhna Vocational training institute Mani Majra and is also an in charge of a group of 10 children as a sports head. “It requires great efforts to teach them. But it becomes interesting with the passage of time. Being a student of psychology, it attracted me to opt for this profession and now, I want to teach these children as much as I can,” said Priya.

Vijaya Patel, a 38-year-old teacher at Asha School, Chandimandir, mentioned her services for these kids, as a special duty assigned by the god. Notably, her son falls under the mentally challenged category. “There are so many rules, regulations and conditions to follow in sports. Although these kids are taught in a very simple manner, it’s very difficult for them to grab the basics. To play a single tournament, they need to practice for months and should remain in regular touch with that particular game,” said Vijaya, whose 12-year-old son also studies in the same school. He also participates in badminton other tournaments throughout the year.

“For a layman, they are tough to handle. But once you indulge in their lives, you cannot live without them. They are always eager to learn everything like other normal kids. It’s all their personal effort that they are capable to hold the racket or kick a football. I am just teaching them and making them aware of this world like other teachers or guardians,” said Rakesh, who teaches at Bhavan Vidlaya.

Another teacher Vidya Kurekar Palta of Bhavan Vidalaya mentioned her job as the tough. “To teach these children is a toughest job. But their smile makes up happy. As a teacher, I appreciate their effort and their will to learn things,” said Vidya. She accompanied the special children Indian squad for world summer games held in the USA during 1999.

The Indian contingent won a total of 25 gold, 49 silver and 30 bronze medals. She was also awarded with Tara Chand Shaboo Special Jury’s Award for her contribution in teaching special children.

Chandigarh, May 13
The cricket team of Patiala recorded an outright win against Jalandhar, by 158 runs, in their ongoing campaign of Dhruv Pandove Cricket Trophy for boys (U-19), today. Resuming from 162 for 3 in their 2nd innings, the Jalandhar team got bowled out for 348 runs. Patiala garnered six points while Jalandhar got 0 points.

A 72-run partnership between M Maria (27 runs) and S Singh (84 runs) helped the Jalandhar team score the total. Singh was also involved in another fruitful partnership of 55 runs with K Kahlon (21 runs). For Patiala, S Singh and S Kumar claimed three wickets each while bowler GS Sethi claimed 2 for 45.

Brief scores

Patiala (1st innings)-307 all out. Patiala (2nd innings)-313 for 4 (declared). Jalandhar (1st innings)-119 all out. Jalandhar (2nd innings)-348 all out (S Singh 84, H Sharma 30, A Parkash 29, S Singh 3 for 123, S Kumar 3 for 47 and GS Sethi 2 for 45).

In another match between Mohali and Amritsar, at YPS School, Mohali, the match was washed out due to heavy showers. Amritsar won the match on the basis of first innings lead and attained three points while Mohali received 1 point.

Mohali in their second innings scored 100 for 4 in 36 overs needed 42 runs more in their first innings. Kinderpreet Singh (33 runs) and Abhijit Garg (28 runs) were the principal run getters for Mohali while Rohit Kumar scalped 2 for 24 for Amritsar.

Brief scores:

Amritsar (1st innings)-461 all out in 132.4 overs (Karan Sharma 226, Navneet Singh 54 Kunwar Pathak 44, Abhinav Sharma 46, Akshay Kansal 4 for 95, Harpreet Singh 3 for 92).

Mohali (1st innings)-319 for all out.

Mohali (2nd innings)-100 for 4 (Kinderpreet Singh 33 and Abhijit Garg 28, Rohit Kumar 2 for 24).

Chandigarh, May 13
Earlier this month, newly elected president of the Chandigarh Cricket Association (CCA), while addressing the media gathering illustrated a ray of hope about getting a direct affiliation from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for Chandigarh cricket.

The main man he mentioned for help was the Member of Parliament and the former Union Railway Minister, Pawan Kumar Bansal. But now that the minister has resigned from his post, following the arrest of one of his relatives in an alleged bribe case against offering a higher post in the railways, the question about the status of the affiliation has started haunted the local cricketers.

Pardeep Chhabra, president of the Chandigarh Cricket Association, said there is nothing to fear about it. But a ground reality check hinted something opposite to this.

The demand of getting affiliation has been pending for the past three decades with the BCCI. The demand was first raised in 1980 and the governing body turned down the demand mentioning that the BCCI’s constitution does not provide affiliation for any Union Territory.

But the local president says, the process of getting affiliation is already through. “The minister (Pawan Kumar Bansal), during his tenure, has already written a letter to Rajiv Shukla, vice-president of the BCCI and positively, the process of getting the affiliation has already been taken into consideration,” he said. When asked about any effect of minister’s resignation, he smartly answered, “The letter was already written and submitted to the concerned person. We are following other processes. Hopefully, we will get the affiliation soon,” said Chhabra.

On other hand, Surinder Singh Baijee, honorary secretary of the Chandigarh Cricket Association affiliated to the Haryana Cricket Association, claimed that in the year 2003, the office-bearers of the CCA had failed to achieve best from the BCCI’s helping hand.

“In 2003, during the tenure of Jagmohan Dalmiya, the BCCI offered affiliation to the local cricket association but under some conditions. The BCCI offered a non-voting affiliation rights and besides, the local authorities were asked to conduct tournaments at junior level of U-15 and U-19, for a regular period of five years. But the local authorities refused the offer and demanded a full fledge voting rights affiliation. The approach of the authorities was wrong and it was the local players who suffered. I am still asking the authorities to just get the non voting rights first, so that the local players can have their own identity. After getting temporary affiliation, we can always show our talent and can ask for the affiliation on performance base chart instead of relying on some minister in power,” said Baijee.

When contacted Rajiv Shukla, vice president of the BCCI, he was busy attending a high-level meeting. Sources back in Delhi claimed that the process is still lying for consideration.

Chandigarh, May 13
Students of Golden Bells Public School brought laurels with bagging overall championship by bagging 8 gold, 11 silver and 6 bronze medals during the All-India Table Soccer Competition, held here today.

A total of 38 students participated of the school participated in the competition. Around 1,500 students from different states including Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab participated in the championship.

Chandigarh, May 13
Chandigarh Golf Academy will conduct a Summer Junior Golf Camp from June 1 to 10, at the Chandigarh Golf Ranges, here.

The trainees will be taught the basics of the game. The camp will be held in morning from 9 to 10.30 am every day.

The organisers of the Summer Junior Golf Camp said that equipments and balls will be provided by the CGA Golf Range. Mahesh Kumar, class-A teaching professional, will conduct the camp. Moreover, a small competition will be organised on the last day of the camp. Those players who are interested in attending the camp can enroll themselves with Mahesh (9876119536).

Chandigarh, May 13
Skaters Vedant Parashar, Vivaan Sethi and Ekansh Jain won top three positions, during the 11th Bhavan Hawk Roller Skating Carnival, held at Bhavan Vidalaya School, here.

In the girls’ category (4 to 6 years), Garima bagged the top honours.

Students of the special cell also participated in the carnival in various events organised especially for them. Main events such as rink race-II and inline skating were held for the various age groups.

Winners-Rink race-I (6-8 years boys) Nitansh Singla, Rudra Sharma, Ayush Jindal. Girls-Aarushi Suri, Pranjal Sahal, Kritvee Sharma. Rink race-I (12-14 years boys)-Balkirat Singh, Milind Mago, Joy Malhotra. Girls-Runjhun Sharda, Shivani Vashisht, Somya Prakash. Rink race-II (4-6 years boys)-Chinmaya Kansal, Vivaan Sethi, Pratyush Jain. Girls-Angel Sharda. Rink race-II (6-8 years boys)-Nitansh Singla, Rudra Sharma, Smarth Malhotra. Girls-Pranjal Sahal, Kritvee Sharma and Pranvi Singh.