NEIGHBOURHOOD

Dera Bassi man hits jackpot
Tribune News Service

Shashi, who won a Mercedes car in a lottery, along with his wife and son, in Dera Bassi on Saturday. Tribune photo: Nitin Mittal

Dera Bassi, June 15
Perseverance for over 15 years finally bore fruits for a 57-year-old postal assistant from Mubarakpur. Shashi, who has been trying his luck with lottery tickets for all these years, finally hit the jackpot today.

He won a Mercedes car in the Punjab State Mothers’ Day Special Bumper 2013 lottery draw.

Shashi, however, has decided not to accept the car, and claim money instead. After deduction, he will get Rs 75 lakh.

Talking to The Tribune, he said, “I will donate some money to a gaushala, and the remaining will be distributed among my six daughters and a son, all of whom are married.

Fatehgarh Sahib, June 15
Bringing pride to the research activities in the field of engineering and technology in Punjab, Dr Niraj Bala and Dr Manpreet Kaur of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Engineering College, Fatehgarh Sahib, have received research grants of over Rs 30 lakh from the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi.

Dr Niraj Bala has received the grant of Rs 22 lakh from the AICTE under its Research Proposal Scheme to carry out research work on “design and development of magnesium metal matrix composites by stir casting technique”. The grant will help in developing research lab for the fabrication of MG composites, which includes furnace stirring arrangement casting equipment and extrusion system.

Dr Manpreet Kaur, Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department, also got a research project entitled “Development of Thermal Spray Coatings to Control Wear during High-Temperature Applications” from the DST under the SERC proposals worth Rs 8.50 lakh.

Congratulating the faculty members, Dr Lakhwinder Singh, principal of the college, said: “Research in technological fields needs to be proactive to offer viable solutions to the industry. It is a matter of honour for the college that the faculty is showing so much of dedication and resolve to undertake research activities”.

Avtar Singh Sampla, secretary of the College Trust, congratulated the faculty members for putting their best in academia and research with a goal to produce professionally groomed engineers possessing academic excellence and research-oriented mindset.

Fatehgarh Sahib, June 15
Over Rs 2 crore have been directly deposited in the accounts of nearly 10,000 beneficiaries of the Dhan Lakshami and Post Matric SC Scholarship schemes in the district through recently introduced Aadhaar Payment Bridge System (APBS).

The banks should also ensure direct transfer of payments of various other welfare schemes to the accounts of beneficiaries through electronic bank transfer (EBT) scheme, said Baljit Singh Sandhu, Additional Deputy Commissioner (D) while presiding over a meeting to review the progress of welfare schemes with the members of district standing committee and SGSY committee.

Sandhu said of 40,342 beneficiaries of various schemes, 36,000 beneficiaries had opened their accounts in banks, and of these 10,555 had been attached with Aadhaar cards. He directed the banks to link more accounts with Aadhar Cards. He said at present 12 of the 34 schemes were being rolled out under the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme.

He directed the bank officials to provide loans under the SCC, GSS and DRI schemes to the needed beneficiaries. He said pensioners would be facilitated with one district-one bank scheme, under which they would receive pension from branches of one bank in the district. He directed the bank DCOs to coordinate with their head offices to implement the scheme.

Sandhu instructed the bank officials to clear the pending cases of self help groups and farmer clubs and to deal with other government schemes on priority. He said that 50 farmer clubs would be opened in this financial year. He also asked the banks to appoint business correspondent agents (BCA) to provide the services of opening of accounts and depositing small amounts of money at the doorsteps besides establishing 40 common service centres. Sandhu said 40 ATMs would be installed in the district, of which 25 had been installed already.

Kalka, June 15
Toy trains running on Kalka-Shimla Heritage Rail Track have become the favourite mode of transport for tourists visiting the erstwhile summer capital these days.

Due to this huge demand, all the trains plying on the route are running beyond capacity. The unreserved compartments are jam packed all the times. The Kalka railway station officials said the heavy rush, which is due to the summer holidays, is beyond the capacity of the running trains.

In general compartments, many passengers can be seen sitting and standing near the doors. Officials said the overloading could also lead to serious accidents. Last year, some students, who were standing at the door of a train, sustained injuries near Shogi and Tara Devi Station.

Vinay Arora, station superintendent, said drivers and guards of all the trains had been told to ensure safety of passengers. He said two holiday special trains had been started to cope with the rush of tourists arriving to the town on the Delhi-Kalka Shatabdi and Himalyan Queen trains.

Meanwhile, hundreds of passengers from Delhi, Haryana and Punjab today were disappointed on not getting a seat in any of the trains. They had to travel by road instead. Some of the passengers said the Railways should increase the number of general compartments, so that tourists wanting to travel on toy trains could enjoy the journey.

Dera Bassi, June 15
The local truck union elected its new office-bearers today. Baldev Singh was elected president after winning the poll by a margin of 153 votes. He defeated Pardeep Rana and Mahesh Saini.

Baldev Singh got 265 votes, while Pardeep Rana and Mahesh Saini could garner only 112 and 30 votes respectively.

Jasbir Singh Raju, who belongs to the same group, was elected to the post of vice-president. He defeated his Rajiv Sharma.

Harbans Lal, also from the same group, was elected the cashier, after beating Bachitar Singh. aAs many as 409 of 501 members cast their votes. 

Panchkula, June 15
A 17-year-old girl committed suicide after consuming pesticide at her residence this afternoon. The victim, Kusum, was rushed to the General Hospital, Sector 6, where doctors referred her to the PGI, but she died on the way.

“The reason behind the extreme step is yet to be ascertained,” the police said. The victim was stated to be under depression. The police has sent the body for an autopsy. 

Chandigarh, June 15
A gang of five women hailing from Nepal stole two gold bangles from a jewellery store in Sector 37 today. The police said the women entered the store (SCO No. 164) at 1.30 pm.

The two kept asking questions related to the purity of gold from salesgirls and the remaining three made away with the gold bangles from the counter, said the police.

The police procured the CCTV footage and has circulated the same. The police said before targeting the jewellery shop, the women had tried to enter another shop in the same sector, but the shopkeeper did not allow them to enter. A case has been registered.

Foetus recovered

Panchkula: A four-month-old foetus was recovered from Saketri this evening. The foetus was wrapped in a cloth.

Man thrown off train

A resident of Bihar died after he was thrown out of a moving train near the Chandimandir railway track. The victim, Chandan, was rushed to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

Chandigarh, June 15
The Molon Labe team today won both their matches during the ongoing six-a-side soccer championship for AR Rajendernath Dhawan Memorial Trophy at the Sector 17 football stadium. In their first match, the club defeated Black Swans 2-1 in the tie-breaker. In the stipulated time of 40 minutes, both the teams had failed to score a goal.

In the second match, Molon Labe (A-team) pipped Panjab University Youngster Club 1-0.

In other matches, Africa United outdid DAV Football Club 2-1; Rajeshwar Football Club routed Football Club, Sector 5, 3-0; Crazy Football Club defeated Kartik Club 1-0; Panchkula beat TCA, Sector 20, 1-0; and Ludhiana Football Packers beat SD Football Club 3-2.

Chandigarh, June 15
Continuing with their good form in the local circuit, Goyal sisters led at the end of first day of Chandigarh Open Chess Championship for boys and girls (under-19 and under-11).

Games in progress during a chess championship at St Xavier’s Senior Secondary School,  Sector 44, in Chandigarh on Saturday. Tribune photo: Parvesh Chauhan

The meet commenced at St Xavier’s Senior Secondary School, Sector 44, today. In the under-19 category, Tarini Goyal and Arunima Goyal are leading the points table with three points each. Simranjeet Kaur too ended the day on three points.

In the under-11 category, Anhat Singh, Shishir Lamba, Ayush Raj Kapoor and Surbhi lead with 2.5 points each at the end of the third round.

The championship is being organised by Chandigarh Chess Association. A total of 53 players, including eight international players, are participating in the championship.

The winners will be selected to represent the city in the national championship at Lucknow (under-19) from July 10, and Delhi (under-11) from September 1. In the under-19 category, four boys and four girls will be selected, while in under-11 category, two boys and girls each will represent the city.

Point position

Youth (under-19) category, third round—3 points: Tarini Goyal, Simranjeet Kaur, Arunima Goyal; 2.5 points: Jaskeerat Singh, Ishan Singh; 2 points: Archit Gupta, Arjit, Kashish Kaushal, Anubhav Tuknayat, Aditya Bedi, Dilpreet Singh, Gagandeep Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Shubham, Gunjanpreet Singh; 1.5 points: Manish Mandal, Navrattan Randhawa, Akshit Khungar, Prateek Munjal; 1 point: Gurfateh Singh, Yash Yakhmi, Diya Sharma, Deepkiran, Lakshay Munjal, Yash Raj Kapoor, Rishabh Jain, Navmanchanda, Tanmey Rawal; 0.5 point: Kulrattan Singh, Udai Nanda; 0 point: Gursahib Singh, Nivedita Chand, Apoorav Mahajan.

Open (under-11), third round—2.5 points: Anhat Singh, Shishir Lamba, Aayush Raj Kapoor, Surbhi Singh; 2 points: Jasmine, Jaspreet Singh, Manav, Arnav Khushwaha, Pratyaksh Goel, Saumya Lamba; 1.5 points: Saksham; 1 point: Jashanpreet Singh, Raghav Prinja, Naman Kaushal, Akanksha Gupta, Shivom Sood, Akshat Mittal; 0.5 point: Eaklvya Taneja, Krisha; 0 point: Rohan Chand.

Panchkula, June 15
Chi Kwang Do Martial Art Association today organised an inter-club tournament. The event was held under the guidance of Shiv Raj Gharti, a fourth degree black belt from the USA.

Around 115 students from 12 martial art clubs of Panchkula participated in the tournament.

Winners

Ridhi, Ravi Gharti, Vanshi, Ayan Chatterjee, Harkirat Singh, Mehul Bansal, Nandini Bahu Khandi, Krish Kumar, Vasvi Kapil, Shashank Goutam, Devanshi Maleri, Mayank Chug, Reeva Sandhu, Rachit Ahuja, Rijul Chaddha, Goma Darjee, Bhavya Kumar, Shikha Maurya, Shivam, Arpit, Khushi, Simran, Kanav Bhardwaj, Khushi Garg, Yashwardhan, Saanch, Ranbir Sandhu, Monika Nag, Kavya Bhardwaj, Neeraj Thapur, Paras Kumar, Tanmay Latka, Virender Kaur, Prabhpreet, Vishal Pun Magar, Tika Gharti, Suraj Singh, Mehak Arora, Suyash Arora, Abha Goel, Tarun Jain, Sonali, Manav Gharti, Kamaldeep, Lokesh Yadav, Chandni, Ashish, Hridayesh, Prerna Negi, Shivang Kumar Singh, Anam, Janardhan Singh Jadon, Radha Negi, Hemank, Tanishq, Yash Sharma, Akash Rajput, Chaitanya Goel, Siya Budhiraja, Shaunak, Rihit Singla, Kanwar Pratham Singh, Paras, Kashyap Kallia, Jaswinder Kumar, Sumrit Kumar, Ajad Kumar, Ajay Sharma, Sunil Kumar, Chand Mohd, Dipendra Giri, Hari Rana, Prakash Magar, Tanubhav Sharma, Karan Pahwa, Amandeep Negi, Ek Raj Bhandari, Baljit Gupta and Vikas.