NEIGHBOURHOOD

Sewage pollutes rivulet in Kharar
In the absence of sewage treatment plant, dirty water flows into Jayanti Ki Rao
Akash Ghai
Tribune News Service

Mohali, July 18
High drama was witnessed at Mundi Kharar today when a Class IV employee of Kharar Nagar Council was beaten up by a shopkeeper and his workers following which the colleagues of the victim gathered at the spot and threw heaps of garbage in front of the shop.

The incident occurred in the morning when the Nagar Council employee Kailash Chand, who was driving tractor trolley, carrying garbage, parked the vehicle in front of Ranjit Singh's shop to have a cup of tea.

This triggered a fight between Kailash Chand and Ranjit Singh and his workers. Several Nagar Council employees turned up along with the tractor trolleys, containing garbage and threw it in front of the shop.

While Ranjit Singh claimed that Kailash Chand started the fight, the president of Municipal Employees Union of Nagar Council Kharar Bhagwant Singh claimed that the shopkeeper thrashed their colleague without any reason

"He got injuries on his head and was rushed to the Kharar Civil Hospital. We have made a complaint to the police in this regard", said Bhagwant Singh.

The police has rounded up Ranjit Singh. A case is yet to be registered.

Ambala, July 18
Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal paid a surprise visit to Government Senior Secondary School, Sultanpur, near Ambala City, this afternoon and checked the quality of mid-day meal being served to the students.

She inspected the store room where wheat, rice and other items used for cooking mid-day meal are kept. She also tasted the curry and the rice prepared for the students. She said she was satisfied with the quality of the mid-day meal.

“After the Chhapra incident in Bihar where around two dozen students lost their lives after consuming the contaminated mid-day meal, the department has directed all the education officers to visit the schools of their respective areas to check the quality of mid-day meal,” said Bhukkal.

She said to ensure the quality of mid-day meals self-help groups had been constituted in villages. Students’ guardians have also been included.

Meanwhile, DEO, Ambala, Paramjeet Sharma said no complaint from any school regarding mid-day meal had been received so far. She said the officers of the department regularly visited the schools to check the quality of mid-day meal. — OC

Dera Bassi, July 18
With the implementation of the new industrial policy in Punjab nearly Rs 2 lakh crore will be invested during the next three years and a new industrial revolution will take place in the state that will bring employment opportunities for the youth.

NK Sharma, chief parliamentary secretary, Industrial and Commercial Department, said the Punjab Government had given more facilities to industries under the new industrial policy as compared to the neighbouring states.

He said 25 per cent concession would be given in value added tax (VAT) and 50 per cent concession in central sales tax (CST) to the industries covered under the cost of Rs 10 to Rs 25 crore for the next eight years and industries which would be set up at a cost of Rs 25 crore to Rs 100 crore would get 30 per cent VAT concession and 50 per cent CST concession for the next 10 years. Industries set up at a cost of Rs 100 - Rs 500 crore would receive the benefits as 35 per cent VAT concession and 50 per cent CST concession for the next 11 years.

Fatehgarh Sahib, July 18
With the arrest of six persons, the district police has claimed to have busted a gang of looters. The police recovered .12 bore pistol, cartridges, iron rods, hammer, knives, duplicate keys, kits to open transformers and other industrial equipments from them. The accused has been identified as Vikas Kumar, Suraj, Pintoo, Manoj Kumar, Rakesh Sharma and Ramesh Kumar, all residents of Bihar.

Gurmeet Singh Chauhan, SSP, said the police had got the information that the accused, involved in several cases of theft and looting, were noticed at Mandi Gobindgarh. He said following the information, the police raided the truck parking area at Ajnali near Mandi Gobindgarh. The SSP said they tried to flee from the spot but the police party overpowered them.

He said during the preliminary interrogation, they admitted that they had formed a gang and were involved in snatching of cash, gold ornaments and vehicles. They recently stole transformers besides iron and copper from the godowns of mills.

Fatehgarh Sahib, July 18
On the directions of Deputy Commissioner Arun Sekhri, a team of district officials, led by Harjot Kaur, Assistant Commissioner (Grievances), raided on the Anmol Foundation Drug De-addiction Centre at Gunia Majri village on Thursday and sealed the centre. All the inmates were released from the centre and were handed over to the parents.

The Deputy Commissioner office had been getting regular complaints about the centre and recently a patient had died under mysterious circumstances at the centre. The Assistant Commissioner (Grievances) had recommended to cancel the licence of the centre and the same recommendation would be forwarded to the government for further action, the DC said. He said no one would be allowed to run illegal activities. He directed the Health Department officials to keep a close watch on the other drug de-addiction centres running in the district and to check their record and condition of patients.

Kalka, July 18
Two persons, including a woman, were killed in a head-on collision between a tipper and a truck carrying cement here yesterday. The accident took place near Karanpur village, Pinjore, at around 7.30 pm. The tipper and the truck were badly damaged.

Chandervati (50), wife of Ramphool of Rampur Seuri village, near Surajpur, died instantly. Meanwhile, Hari Chand, driver of the tipper, along with Tejphal, Guddu and Nirmla of the same village, suffered multiple injuries. Hari Chand was referred to the GMCH at Sector 32, Chandigarh. — OC

Panchkula, July 18
A 19-year-old youngster has been sent to jail for four years for causing death to his father but without any intention to kill, by a local court here today.

Panchkula District and Sessions Judge RK Sondhi held Manish Kumar, a resident of Pinjore, guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 (part II) of the IPC, in the death case of his father Raghubir yesterday.

Today, the quantum of sentence was pronounced and Manish Kumar sent to jail for four years. A fine of Rs 2,000 has been imposed on him.

Manish Kumar, who worked as a safai karamchari of the Pinjore Municipal Committee, was arrested by the Pinjore police in June last year on the charges of murdering his father Raghubir by hitting him on his head with a cement tile. A case under Section 302 was registered against Manish on a complaint of his landlord.

According to sources, Raghubir had beaten up his wife following which an enraged Manish hit a cement tile on his father's head. Raghubir got multiple fractures on the head and succumbed to injuries later.

During the trial, the complainant had turned hostile and changed his statement, which was similar to the statements of the accused's mother and younger brother.

Earlier, the defence had pleaded that Raghuvir died after felling off a cot at his residence. But the evidences that included the matching of the hair samples of the deceased with the hair strands found on the tile and the post-mortem report clearly indicated towards the crime.

The district attorney, Amit Parmar, said the circumstantial evidences clearly pointed towards the crime.

During the trial, Manish had confessed that he had hit his father with a tile after he saw him beating his (Manish) mother. He had also claimed that the deceased used to beat his mother every now and then under the influence of liquor.

Chandigarh, July 18
The UT police has arrested the former director and one of the promoters of Deccan Chronicle in a cheque-bounce case. The accused was arrested in Hyderabad.

The accused, MS Reddy, former director of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited (DCHL), was granted bail against a bail bond of Rs 20 lakh. The case was registered on a complaint filed by Religare Finvest.

The court on May 18 had issued non-bailable warrants against all the directors of the DCHL, including the vice-chairman and authorised signatory, PK Iyer.

The warrants were issued after the directors failed to appear in the court on May 18, after the court rejected their plea seeking exemption from personal appearance.Police officers said the arrest had been made in compliance with the non-bailable warrants. A team of five officers of the Chandigarh police had gone to Hyderabad to deliver the warrants.

Mohali, July 18
The local court has awarded seven-year sentence to Ranjit Singh, alias Topi, the kingpin of the Topi gang, and his accomplice Ramandeep Singh here today.

The miscreants were arrested by Kharar police in May 2005 and registered a case under Sections 399, 402, 465, 467 and 411 of the IPC.

Mohali’s additional district and sessions judge Manjot Kaur sentenced the duo to seven-year imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 15,000 each.

The four other members of the gang, Rajesh Kumar and Mukesh Kumar, both residents of Amritsar, and Narinder Kumar and Manmohan, both residents of Jammu, have been declared proclaimed offenders after they jumped bail.

The gang members, who were involved in various crimes, including robbery, dacoity and thefts, had been staying at Guru Teg Bahadur Colony, Kharar.

The police had recovered a 12-bore rifle, a country made pistol, five cartridges, swords, axes and other sharp weapons from their possession.

Chandigarh, July 18
A year after registering a case of fraud amounting to Rs 130 crore, the Economic Offences Wing of the UT police arrested the accused couple, Sukhbir Shergill and his wife Gurbir Shergill, after laying a trap in Bathinda late last night. The two were produced before a court today and remanded in two days' police custody.

The two had been on the run since March after their bail pleas were rejected and non-bailable warrants issued against them.

The accused Sukhbir Singh Shergill and his wife Gurbir Kaur Shergill are secretary and vice-chairperson, respectively, of the SAS Institute of Information Technology (Mohali).

Two other accused in the case, Jatinder Singh Dua and Sagar S Dua, owners of hotels at Sector 35 and Sector 8, respectively, have absconded along with five others.

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the UT police has registered a case of forgery of valuable securities, criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of company funds worth Rs 300 crore in April last year against a total of 13 accused.

The complainant, Raman Uppal, has alleged that Shergill cheated him of crores of rupees during the opening of a company, Customer Related Management Services, in Sector 9 here.

In the FIR, it was stated that in 2000-2001, Raman Uppal wanted to expand his business. He met Shergill, who, along with Jatinder Singh Dua, purchased a plot in Phase VII of Mohali.

The complainant wanted to purchase another building situated in Phase VIII of the Industrial Area, Mohali. He decided to jointly fund and promote a private limited company to be incorporated under the name of Customer Related Management Services (ICRMS).

Ramesh handed over the paper work to Shergill and the company was eventually incorporated for purchasing the said plot. It was alleged that Shergill, in connivance with his family, introduced his brother-in-law as its director.

It was alleged that the funds were being misused blatantly and properties were purchased by all the accused. A number of properties were bought by Dua in his name and those of his family members and nominees. The market value of the properties is over Rs 300 crore.

The complainant said since he was based in Delhi, he remained oblivious to the entire scam, even as the accused prepared forged documents, including the balance sheets, profit and loss accounts and other papers.

The past year was the year of performances for me. I won many trophies and really worked hard. This is the right time for me to perform and make my nation proud. I have always dreamt of attaining big in both academics and sports. — Parul Gupta, tennis player

Chandigarh, July 18
For Parul Gupta, a hearing-impaired tennis player, the world ended on June 30 when officials of the SAI (Sports Authority of India), Delhi, dropped her from the 22nd Deaflympics squad. But her year-long dedication and hard work forced the officials to select her for the 22nd Summer Deaf Olympics games to be held in Sofia (Bulgaria).

"I am really happy with my selection. My father always stood by me. On June 30, the officials dropped me, citing "no-funds" as the reason, but after getting clearance from the Sports Ministry my name emerged in the final squad," says Parul Gupta, who hails from Patiala.

Parul will represent the country in both tennis and badminton events of the games. Being her maiden international exposure, she is looking forward to win medals in the tournament. Earlier, she had won a silver medal in the 57th Lawn Tennis National Competition for Girls (U-17). She bagged bronze in the 57th Punjab State School Games for Girls (U-17), silver medal in the Punjab Women Tennis Tournament and gold medal in the 2010-2011 national-level games. Her mother, who is a teacher at YPS, Patiala, will accompany her to Sofia .

"The past year was the year of performances for me. I won many trophies and really worked hard. This is the right time for me to perform and make my nation proud. I have always dreamt of attaining big in both academics and sports," said Parul.

Last year, Parul underwent an operation but managed to hold the courts soon. After playing the 1st Dosti Cup between Pakistan and India, which was held in Chandigarh, she improved her game. During that tourney, she bagged all the top positions.She has a quality of making her own place. After failing to appear in the first list of the SAI, she never felt dishearten but worked hard for the next competition. Luckily, her hard work paid and she got selected," said Avinash Gupta, Parul's father.

A Class XI student of Scholar Field Public School, she had represented the state in the two national games organised by the SGFI (School Games Federation of India).

"She has made the school and the state proud. We are very proud to have her as our student. We will honour her on her return from the competition. Earlier, she made us proud by representing the school in various tourneys," said SS Sodhi, director of school.

Chandigarh, July 18
Parvesh Sharma and Ramandeep Singh, two local cricketers of Saupin's School, Sector 32, along with three others, have been selected to attend the probable's camp for the Indian junior cricket team for boys (U-16). The camp will be held under the aegis the School National Federation of India (SGFI).

The camp will start from July 27 at Agra. After the 5-day camp, the selectors will select the 16-member team that will represent the nation in the international tourney.

All the members were selected on the basis of their performance during the National School Games for Boys (U-16) last year. The local side finished third in the championship.

The other three selected players are Utkarsh Aggarwal, Rahul Singh and Vaibhav Kaushik. Saupin's School today felicitated Parvesh Sharma and Ramandeep Singh for their selection in the camp.

"We are very happy with our selection. We will try and give our best. The camp will also remain a good experience for us and we will try to give our best during the camp," said the duo.

Chandigarh, July 18
Local wrestler Praveen Dagar made the city proud after securing a place in the junior Indian wrestling team today. The team will participate in the World Junior Wrestling Championship, which will be held in Sofia, Bulgaria, from August 13 to 18.

According to Chandigarh Wrestling Association secretary Darshan Lal, Dagar will take part in the 96 kg Greco-Roman style competitions. The wrestler had recently won a bronze in the Asian Junior Wrestling Championship in Thailand.— TNS

Chandigarh, July 18
Swimmer Khushnoor Kaur bagged three medals during the concluding day of the UT State Swimming Championship, organised by the UT Sports Department at the all-weather swimming pool of Sector 23, today. She won the girls' (U-14) 50-mt breast stroke, 50-mt back stroke and 50-mt freestyle events. In the boys' (U-14) event, Roshan Chirag bagged two gold medals in 50-mt back stroke and 50-mt freestyle events.

The evening witnessed some parents opposing the winner's list of the girls' (U-12) 100-mt back stroke event. According to some parents, the winner made free strokes in the middle of the race. After the protest, the race was held again and the winner ended up at runners-up position. As per rules, if a swimmer is found guilty he or she should be disqualified, but the organisers held the 100-mt event again.

Winners:

Girls' (U-14) 50-mt breast stroke- Kushnoor Kaur, Nishta, Anhat Kaur; girls (U-14) 50mts back stroke- Khushnoor Kaur, Anhad Kaur, Nishtha; Girls (U-14) 50-mt freestyle- Khushnoor Kaur, Anhad Kaur, Nishitha.

Boys ( U-14) 50-mt breast stroke- Roshan Chirag, Aditya v Kaul, Gaurav Sharma; boys' (U-10) 50-mt freestyle- Shahdeep S Dhillon, Aryan Saxena, Adit Gupta.

Girls' (U-10) 50-mt freestyle- Thwisha Gupta, Tishya Kapur, Preena Kaur; girls' (U-14) 50-mt freestyle Khushnoor Kaur, Anhad Kaur, Nishitha; girls' ( U-12) 50-mt freestyle- Jasmeet Kaur, Soumya Nayyar, Simrat Kaur

Boys' (U-12) 50-mt freestyle- Asav Kumar, Gunwaris S Bhattal, Yuval Kansal; boys (U-14) 50-mt back stroke- Roshan Chirag, Samar Toor, Jastaran Toor; boys( U-14) 50-mt freestyle- Roshan Chirag, Ranjot, Singh, Samar Toor; boys (U-17) 50-mt freestyle- Tejinder Singh, Abhishek Arora, Mukesh Trar.