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Ropar, July 22
In the recent past, over 550 persons have been arrested for illegal mining while 475 vehicles used for the purpose have been impounded. As many as 2,313 cases have been registered by the police against the people involved in the prohibited act, said Inspector General of Police, Bhatinda, Nirmal Singh Dhillon.

Dhillon, the chairman of the special investigation team constituted for checking illegal mining in the state, was here to convene a meeting of nodal officers of all the districts.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Ropar, Inder Mohan Singh Bhatti and Industry Department’s joint director Vishav Bandhu are the members of the team.

The IG said, “Till now 67 quarries of less than 5 hectares have been auctioned in the state. 23 quarries of 50 hectares each are also being auctioned.”€� For lodging any complaints regarding illegal mining three helplines have also been started, said Dhillon. — TNS

Fatehgarh Sahib, July 22
All the 19 complaints received through the public grievances redressal portal launched by the state government in collaboration with National Informatics Centre (NIC) has been disposed of. This portal is proving to be a boon for the citizens as the complainants get their lodged complaints redressed online within a specified period of time.

Deputy Commissioner Arun Sekhri said the web-based single window system providing online access to citizens had been designed for the empowerment of the general public.

The technical director at NIC, SK Banga, said, “All the departments concerned have been provided user IDs and passwords. The officers concerned have been made responsible to check their accounts on the website on a daily basis. They will also take necessary remedial action on the lodged complaints.”

Fatehgarh Sahib, July 22
With the term of elected councillors and president of the Sirhind-Fatehgarh Sahib Municipal Council ending today, the SDM, Fatehgarh Sahib, took over the administrative charge of the council. Gurwinder Singh Bhatti, son of a former SAD MLA, was the president. With the political scenario changing after the Assembly elections, he got the support of the Congress councillors as well.

Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra, general secretary of SAD and halka in-charge for Fatehgarh Sahib, while addressing the media persons said now a new era of development would usher in the town as the council had come under the direct control of the government.

He alleged that despite his efforts of getting a bus stand sanctioned from the state government, the council put hurdles in its development by not passing the resolution for the acquisition of land. He said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has sanctioned Rs 9 crore for water supply and Rs 44 Crore for sewerage projects.

Chandigarh, July 22
The verdict in the week-long speedy trial in German tourist rape case was today upheld by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Nearly four years after the Trial Court awarded life imprisonment to all five accused in the case, a Division Bench today dismissed their appeals.

The German woman had come to Chandigarh on September 23, 2008, to attend her friend's wedding. She was abducted from outside a five-star hotel in Chandigarh on September 28, 2008, and was taken to a farmhouse in Haryana's Samalakha area where she was gangraped.

The accused were booked for abducting the woman from outside a hotel in Chandigarh on September 28, 2008.Charges were framed against the five accused on December 22, 2008, after which the case was adjourned to January next year.

The prosecution had zeroed in on 16 witnesses in the case.

The police had also submitted a 300-page charge sheet.

On January 28, 2009, the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Raj Shekhar Attri convicted accused Pankaj Punia, Manvir Singh Jolly, Harpreet Singh Dalli, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhi and Sompal.

The accused were convicted under Section 376 (2) (g) of the Indian Penal Code and were awarded life imprisonment. The in-camera proceedings were held on January 16-17, 2009. The recording of statement and cross-examination of the girl was completed on January 17, 2009.

Priest's son seeks compensation

A day after a PCR Gypsy killed a 70-year-old priest, Babu Ram, the body was handed over to the kin of the deceased after an autopsy.

The priest, who was on foot, was run over by the Gypsy on the road separating Sectors 8 and 18 yesterday. His son Subhash Kumar said they had sought compensation from the police.

He said the body would be cremated in their native village at Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday. The police has arrested Home Guards volunteer Ashok Kumar, who was driving the Gypsy, and placed him under suspension. The mishap had occurred yesterday when the speeding Gypsy that was late in reaching an accident spot killed the priest.The PCR vehicle was chasing an auto-rickshaw ferrying an injured police head constable when it hit the pedestrian in the middle of the road. The victim, Babu Ram Pathak, who was a priest at Sheetla Mata Mandir in Bapu Dham Colony, Sector 26, succumbed to his injuries at the PGI.

Man gets 7-yr term for murder bid

The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge, SS Sahni, today sentenced a man to a seven-year imprisonment in an attempt to murder case. Another convict in the case was sentenced to a four-year imprisonment in a robbery case.The accused, Ashok Kumar and Ram Sanchi, had attacked and robbed Dinesh near Colony No. 5 on December 18, 2011.

Dinesh was on a cycle when he collided with the vehicle of the accused who then beat him up. 

Chandigarh, July 22
The Income Tax Department should impart training to its officers in drafting judicial orders. This was stated by Justice Rajive Bhalla of the Punjab and Haryana High Court while inaugurating a two-week orientation course for the newly appointed Assistant Commissioners and Income Tax officers today.

He said as the tax collectors had to draft cases of taxpayers, they should learn to write the orders in such a way that these were acceptable in the court.

He said tax collector officers should keep them updated with the latest amendments made to the tax laws.

Chandigarh Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, Jaspal Singh stated that while giving a stay in any case, the court should ask the taxpayer to pay some amount of tax to the department so that the government resources were not affected by the delay in the collection of taxes.

Director, Income Tax, Regional Training Institute, BS Sandhu said even after performing their duties honestly, the had to face criticism. He said apart from achieving the tax collection target, the officers had to deal with judicial cases and administrative work.

Panchkula Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, SK Satapathy said the officials should give a priority to the judicial cases.

Sixteen new Assistant Commissioners from across the country and 30 Income Tax Officers of Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh will be attending the programme. 

Chandigarh, July 22
A 44-year-old woman, riding pillion on a scooter, was killed after being hit by a mini-truck on the road separating Sectors 21 and 22 today. The mishap occurred at 12.30 pm when the victim, Rekha, was on her way home along with her husband Ashok Kumar on the scooter. The truck (CH-03-6403) was being driven by Sanjay Kumar, a resident of Sector 42.

The police said the accused was trying to flee after being stopped at a drunk driving naka when he knocked down the couple on scooter. The victims were rushed to Government Medical College and Hospital in Sector 32 where Rekha succumbed to her injures. The body was handed over to the family members after an autopsy.

The victim was a resident of Ambala.

The police has arrested the accused in a case of causing death due to negligence under Section 304 A of the IPC. The accused was later released on bail.

Panchkula, July 22
The Panchkula police registered a case of eve-teasing against five youths. One of the youths is reported to be an MC councillor’s nephew. The case was registered at the Sector 5 police station this evening.

The action was taken on the complaint of a 22-year-old woman, who is a resident of Maheshpur.

All the five youths are friends and reside in the same area as the woman.

The accused have been identified as Shanty, Rinku, Chunni Lal, Jaswant and Binder.

The victim in her complaint to the police said the youths constantly teased her and passed lewd comments at her when she was on her way home after work.

"When today, the victim stopped and asked one of the youths as to what was their problem, the accused tried to strip her," said a police officer.

After the victim cried for help, the youths fled, following which she called the police.

Chandigarh, July 22
Helpless, discouraging and tiring seems to be the approach of the UT Education Department, when it comes to inviting teams for participating in their own tournaments.

The latest edition of the Inter-School Football Championship for Girls (U-17) witnessed participation of only seven teams from the entire city confirming their entries in this championship. The tournament is scheduled to start from July 27.

Ironically, last year, the same tournament was organised under the same number of teams, at the Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 23. Making it more shocking and discouraging, the department is organising the inter-school tournament for girls with seven teams for the past four years.

“We have received entries from only seven schools. The tourney is expected to start from July 27. We had informed all the schools on time,” said Amarjeet Singh, state sports organiser of the UT Education department.

Notably, out of the seven participating teams, five are from private schools and two from local government schools. Chandigarh has a total of 107 government schools and these inter-school tournaments are the only major tournaments organised by the UT Education Department annually.

Last year, the department had moved a circular mentioning that all the government schools, having specialised physical trainers, will confirm their entries in the inter-school championships. But the circular seems to have failed in encouraging the schools.

“There are very few specialised teachers for team games in the local government schools. The result can be seen during the participation. The standards of the game are very low and only few students are interested in playing games like basketball, hockey and football,” said an official.

Moreover, for validity under the gradation scheme, a tournament requires to have at least seven teams. An official, seeking anonymity said, “Every year, the authorities just organise with an approach to gather only seven teams. There are over hundred government schools and how come only two schools are following the circular. Even if the department has five specialised teachers of this game then why don’t their teams participate in this tournament. The inter-school tournaments are also believed to be important when it comes to selecting probable squad for the national school games. Every year, despite conducting selection trials, the organisers shortlist players on the basis of their performance in these inter-school tournaments.

“If only seven teams are participating in the championship then the organisers should select the local team for national squad from these participating sides only. If other schools are not interested in sending their players to play in these inter-schools tournaments then why to entertain them during the selection trials?” asked an official.

Chandigarh, July 22
In the opening match of Col Balraj Sub-Junior Basketball State Championship, the Saupin’s School defeated St Kabir at 29-12, at New Public School, Sector 18, here today. For the winning side, Pranshu (16 points) and Shashank (10 points) were the main points-gatherers while for Vishesh (6 points) and Asmeet (2 points) collected points for losing side.

Results: St Xavier’s beat St John’s School by 28-20 (for winners-Inderpreet 16 points, Gurleen-4 points; for losing side-Deepit 6 points, Nidhaan 6 points); Mount Carmel beat AKSIPS by 32-5 (for winners-Pratikshir 20 points, Anuj 4 points; for losing side-Nandit 3 points, Abhishek 2points); NPS beat SGHK by 26-23 (for winners-Rupali 16 points, Vanshika 6 points; for losing side-Parminder 7 points, Harmanpreet 4 points); GNPS beat Carmel convent by 34-18 (for winners Palak 12 points, Shagun 6 points; for losing side-Nikisha 10 points, Parul 6 points); Strawberry School beat St Annes by 39-34 (for winners Tarini 26 points, Faaguni 8 points; for losing side Gunisha 10 points, Divjot 8 points). — TNS

Chandigarh, July 22
Soccer team of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 22, (GMSSS-22) piped-off Government Model High School, Sector 26, in their opening match of Inter-School Football Tournament for Boys (U-17), being held here today.

The team registered a 4-0 victory over their rivals. For the winning side, Akash opened the account of the team by scoring the first goal in 12th minute while Rahul doubled the lead in the 28th minute. In the second half, Dipanshu (39th minute) and Vikas (45th minute), scored a goal each to complete team’s winning tally.

In another match, the St Mary’s School, Sector 46, defeated Government Model High School, Sector 29, by 5-0. Neelanshu (5th minute), Sukarn (12th, 15th and 17th minute) and Chetan (20th minute) scored from the winning side.

The team of Government High School, Sector 24, defeated Sri Guru Harkrishan School, Sector 38, by 4-2 in a tie-breaker end. For the winning side, Ashish, Atul, Prabhjot and Pappu scored a goal each while for losing side Vaibhav and Pritam reduced the margin.

The team of St John’s High School, Sector 26, defeated the Shishu Niketan Senior Secondary, School 43, by 3-0. Karan Cheema opened the team’s account in the 8th minute while striking again he doubled the lead in the 15th minute. Deepak Malhotra with scoring a brace sealed the team’s victory in the 35th minute.

Other results

Ryan International School, Sector 49, beat St Soldier School, Sector 28, by 3-0 (Kshitij 7th minute), Mridul (35th minute and 40th minute), Chandigarh Baptist School beat Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 40, by 2-0 (Harjeet and Sujoy), DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, beat St Anne’s School by 2-0 (Rohit Thakur 3rd minute), Dhanraj (12th minute) and Nitin Bhandari (34th minute). 

Chandigarh, July 22
The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) has decided to enhance the prize money, allowing subsidy for maintenance of ground facilities and improving medical allowance for former Punjab players above the age of 65 years, at Dhruv Pandove Conference Hall, PCA Cricket Stadium, Mohali, here today.

In the meeting, in presence of IS Bindra, president of the association, MP Pandove, honorary secretary of the association, it was said that in view of the effects of the inflation the rates of subsidy needed to be enhanced.

The house, during the meeting, approved to increase the subsidy to the associations having own grounds with pavilion from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7.5 lakh.

The ground preparation charges per match day were increased from Rs 800 to Rs 1,600 and the prize money for best district is increased from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh during the meeting of the Punjab Cricket Association.

For the second best district, the prize money has been increased to Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh.

Moreover, the Punjab Cricket Association has decided to allow a medical allowance of Rs 1,000 per month, allowance of Rs 2,000 per month for the former Punjab players, who have crossed the age of 75 years. Howoever, the officials of the Punjab Cricket Association also decided to provide all-weather practice facilities in the districts having their own grounds.

Chandigarh, July 22
BL Malhotra, honorary secretary of the Volleyball Association, Chandigarh, has been elected as joint secretary of the Volleyball Federation of India in the general house meeting held in Chennai on July 14. Malhotra will be appointed as the joint secretary of Volleyball Federation of India for a period of one year. — TNS