NEIGHBOURHOOD

100 students get study visas
Our Correspondent

Patiala, August 7
DAV Public School, Patiala, celebrated Haryali Teej today. Different activities were organised for different classes to extend an insight of the students to conserve environment and plant more trees.

Students of kindergarten celebrated it as ‘green day’. The students were dressed in green attires and brought green fruits and vegetables packed in their lunch-boxes. Vegetable printing and thumb printing activities were organised for the little ones while nursery students took pleasure in colouring pictures. For Classes VII to IX, mehndi competition was also organised.

Meanwhile, to celebrate Teej, Scholar Fields Public School organised a function in Baran village in which students, teachers and the village folks participated. Girls performed Giddha. Students were acquainted with all the Punjabi cultural heritage items such as Charkha, Dhol, Toomba, Chimta, Bugcha, and Kato. 

Ambala, August 7
Special judge, Fast Track Court, Vimlesh Tanwar, sentenced 10 years of imprisonment each to four persons convicted in a rape case today in Ambala.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each on Gagandeep, Narender, Kamaljeet and Parvinder. According to the prosecution, the victim, a resident of Nenolla village was returning after visiting Peer Baba on June 25 last year, when the accused forcibly took her on a motorbike. The woman was raped in a village near Haryana-Punjab border. — OC

Panchkula, August 7
In a relief to farmers having land in Sectors 27, 28 and 30 of the Pinjore Kalka Urban Complex , the Supreme Court today quashed the land acquisition notification issued by the state government.

A bench comprising Justice GS Singhvi and Justice Gopala Guara pronounced the verdict today.

Eighteen farmers had moved the Supreme Court after the Punjab and Haryana High Court had failed to provide them relief when they had questioned the land acquisition by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).

HUDA had decided to offer 350 plots in Sectors 27, 871 plots in Sector 28 and layout plans for Sector 30 were being worked out. HUDA had decided to construct 31 sectors in the complex. It had decided to allot the plots by year-end.

Some of the farmers, who had refused to take compensation and had been fighting for the past seven years are Gyan Chand, Balbir Singh, Shiv Charan, Bhaag Singh and Krishan.

The notification was issued in 2006.

Following which, the farmers filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High court in 2008, but the same was dismissed in 2010. They then moved the apex court.

"Justice has been delivered, we have got our land back," said Bhaag Singh, a farmer. The orders have jolted HUDA which had big plans.

Eighteen acres have been released to the farmers.

Objections

The Ministry of Environment had raised objections to the layout plans of Sectors 27 and 28.

Pinjore-Kalka Urban Complex project

Under the project, spread over 12,000 acres, residential sectors (from Sectors 1 to 31, Sector 31-A and Sector 32) were to come up in 34 per cent of the area on both sides of the National Highway (NH)-22.

Mohali, August 7
Fed up with the slack approach of officials towards development works, village residents have started knocking at the door of permanent lok adalats.

Sources said the lok adalats had received 800 cases this year.

Most of the cases are related to sanitation problems and waterlogging.

Shingara Singh, a resident of Nayagaon, who had moved the court against the Municipal Corporation, said sanitation workers lifted garbage at whims. They rarely showed up in the area, he added.

"Our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. We were left with no option but to move the lok adalats which directed the civic body to get the area cleaned up," said Shingara Singh. The lok adalats even directed the officials to complete the construction of a bridge and an approach road to a local government school on Nayagoan-Tanda Tandi Road within six months.

In another order, the adalats directed the officials concerned to remove the construction material from the link road of Madanpura village, Mohali.

Karan Singh, a resident of the village, said they had asked the authorities to remove the construction material a number of times, but to no avail.

"Finally, I had to knock at the door of permanent lok adalat to get the problem solved," said the petitioner.

Gopal Arora, secretary, Mohali District Legal Service Authority, said they had organised various seminars and awareness campaigns. "Now, village residents have started approaching the lok adalats," said Arora, adding that the authority provided speedy justice and free legal services to the poor.

Chandigarh, August 7
Recording his statements in the rape on wheels case of 2002, businessman MK Jain told the court today that he had been falsely implicated in the case. Jain, during the cross examination also leveled allegations against former UT Home Secretary NK Jain and said he was initially framed in the case owing to a business rivalry.

He also said that the victim was known to NK Jain and thus he used her to falsely frame him in the case. He also said that he was present at the Golf Club and was playing golf when the incident was reported.

The Chandigarh Police had first registered the case in August 2002, against former UT Home Secretary NK Jain and four others, for hatching a conspiracy to frame Jain in the rape case. The Shimla-based girl had alleged that MK Jain had picked her up from a Sector 20-based computer centre, saying he would give her a job. On their way to Panchkula, she alleged that MK Jain gave her a cold drink laced with drugs and later raped her, before dumping her near the Sector-33 petrol pump.

However, after investigations conducted by the UT police, it came to light that the victim had not been raped by MK Jain, but by former UT Home Secretary, who hatched a conspiracy to falsely implicate the businessman. On August 7, 2010, the court framed charges against NK Jain, Ram Lal, Surinder Sharma, Baldev Kumar and Narvir Singh.

Mohali, August 7
The police today booked two persons in a murder case. The accused, Surinder Singh and Satpal, both residents of Sante Majra village, for killing Jai Singh, who resided in the same village.

The police said Jai Singh (46) had illicit relations with Surinder's wife.

Mohali SSP Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said the body was recovered from Ansal Mega Project near Chappar Chhiri village on August 4.

"The deceased's son Rahul had identified the body. During investigation, it came to light that the victim and Surinder's wife had illicit relations following which he, along with Satpal, murdered Jai Singh," said Bhullar.

Chandigarh, August 7
Softball team of Sacred Heart School, Sector 26, defeated Government Model Senior Secondary School for Girls, Sector 20, (GMSSS-20) by 33-16 during a match of ongoing Inter-School Softball Championship for Girls (U-17), here today.

In other matches, Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 10, beat Government Model Senior Secondary, School, Sector 40, by 10-0.

Results

Girls (U-17)-Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, beat Carmel Convent School, Sector 26, by 8-2; Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 35, beat Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 15, by 15-1; girls (U-14)-Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 15, beat Government Highs School, Sector 11, by 11-1; Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 10, beat St Anne’s School, Sector 32, by 10-0.

Chandigarh, August 7
In the ongoing Inter-School Fencing Competition for Girls (U-19), the fencers of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 10, (GMSSS-10) continue to win top spots, held on Tuesday, here. The fencers of the GMSSS-10 won first position in the girls (U-19) category with 45 points. The team of Sacred Heart School, Sector 26, secured second place with 23 points while the Carmel Convent Schools, Sector 26, attainted the third spot with 16 points.

Results: Foil-Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 10, Sacred Heart School, Sector 26, Carmel Convent School, Sector 26, and SGHPS, Sector 40; Epee-Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 10, Carmel Convent School, Sector 26, Sacred Heart School, Sector 26; Sabre-Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 10, Sacred Heart School, Sector 26, Carmel Convent School, Sector 26, and SGHPS, Sector 40; Individual-Foil-Tara (GMSSS-10); Gunjan (GMSSS-10); Harleen (Carmel Convent) and Radha (GMSSS-15); Epee-Divya (Carmel Convent); Mehtab (Sacred Heart); Tara (GMSSS-10) and Ayushi (Sacred Heart); Sabre-Gunjan (GMSSS-10); Mehtab (Sacred Heart); Baljinder (GMSSS-10); Gurkiran (Sacred Heart).

Chandigarh, August 7
St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, will face DAV Public School, Sector 8, (DAV-8) in the final of the Inter-School Football Championship for Boys (U-17), to be held at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 22, here tomorrow.

In the semifinals played today, DAV School defeated DPS while St Stephen’s trounced St John’s School, Sector 26.

St Stephen’s School defeated St John’s School by 2-0 with Chirag Kasnwar opening the account in the second minute while Jitinjot Singh scoring the final goal in the 42nd minute. In another match, DAV Public School, Sector 8, drubbed DPS by 5-4 via tie-breaker. After a 1-1 draw in the stipulated time the match fate was decided in penalty-kicks.

Dhanraj put the DAV team ahead in the 54th minute while Gurcharan levelled the score for DPS before the final whistle. In tie-breaker, Nishant Negi, Ankit, Rhul Cheetri and Nitin Bhandari scored a brace each while Gurcharan, Himaat and Pritraj scored a goal each for DPS.

Chandigarh, August 7
In the ongoing inter-academy cricket matches for girls (U-19), the local cricketers defeated the Combined Districts XI by 10 wickets at the Blooming Buds School, Moga, here today. With this win, the local team secured 5 points, including a bonus, while the team Combined Districts ended their day on 1 points.

After electing to bat first, the Chandigarh side restricted the rivals on a mere total of 39 runs in 20 overs. For the bowling side, Priyanka Guleria remained the pick of the day with claiming 4 for 10 while Rajni Devi claimed 3 for 5. Monika Pandey was the other successful bowler with taking 2 for 9.

In reply, the Chandigarh side posted 40 runs with losing no wickets in 7.4 overs. Taniya Bhatia guided the team to victory with her unbeaten 26 off 35 balls (studded with 3 boundaries) contribution.

In other match, the Moga team registered a thumping 122 runs victory over Amritsar and 5 points in their kitty. The visiting side, opting to bat first, posted 201 runs with losing losing 7 wickets in their slot of 50 overs. Opener Kamaljeet Kaur provided the team a good start and scored an unbeaten score of 51 runs with 10 boundaries in her kitty. Sukhraj Kaur remains the other main contributor with chipping 49 runs, including 5 boundaries and two sixes. Score of the team was later polished by a 37 run contribution by Amarpal Kaur. For the bowling side, Neelam (3 for 40) and Neha (2 for 26) shared the wickets. Chasing the target, the Amritsar side pilled up their innings on a plain total of 79 runs in 33.5 overs. Neelam (15 runs), Neha (13 runs) and Priyanka (11 runs) were the only players to score double figures. For the host side, Roshna Bai with claiming 3 for 17 remained the main wicket taker.

Chandigarh, August 7
The 20th edition of All-India JP Atray Memorial Cricket Tournament will be held from September 25 to October 6, at the PCA Stadium, Mohali, Cricket Stadium, Sector 16, Chandigarh, Tau Devi Lal Cricket Stadium, Sector 3, Panchkula, LIC Cricket Academy of GMSSS-26, Chandigarh and St John’s School-26, Chandigarh. Sushil Kapoor, organising secretary said a total of 16 teams will take part in the tournament and the matches will be played under league-cum-knock out basis of 50-over format.

The final will be played at the Cricket Stadium-16, on October 6 under flood lights. The winners of the competition will be awarded with a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh while the runners-up will win prize money of Rs 1 lakh.

The participating teams will be divided in four pools and top two teams from each pool will qualify for the quarterfinals. — TNS

Chandigarh, August 7
Defending champions, Carmel Convent, Sector 9, proved their mettle again by winning the title of Inter-School Chess Championship for Girls (U-14), being concluded on the premises of Govt High School, Sector 38, here today.

The team comprising of Aditti, Manvi, Edha, Nehal and Anahat won the top honors for the consecutive second year. — TNS

Chandigarh, August 7
The Chandigarh Cricket Association (CCA), affiliated to the Punjab Cricket Association, will organise trials to shortlist the local women’s senior team at Guru Nanak Public School-36, on Aug 22 (3pm), here.

The selected team will participate in the Women Senior District Cricket Tournament to be held in Barnala and Moga. — TNS