NEIGHBOURHOOD

Two drug peddlers arrested
Our Correspondent

Fatehgarh Sahib, August 19
The police has arrested two drug peddlers and recovered 2,400 tablets from their possession. It also arrested two snatchers and recovered a vehicle and cash that the two took away from an NRI.

SSP Gurmeet Singh Chauhan said Gurcharn Singh, alias Charna, resident of Brahman Majra, Sirhind, was held with 1,200 intoxicating tablets that he used to sell to students. The police also arrested one Jarnail Singh, a resident of Sirhind, and recovered 1,200 tablets from.

A case under the NDPS Act has been registered against the two.

The SSP said Rajanbir Singh, an NRI, complained to the police that he was on his way to Wazirabad village when two persons stopped him near Malakpur and took away his vehicle. When he tried to resist, the two beat him up and fled with his car and Rs 5,000 in cash. Passersby rushed him to the Civil Hospital.The accused have been identified as Rachpal Singh, alias Sabi, a resident of Malakpur. His accomplice Yatin Kumar is yet to be arrested. The SSP said the police had recovered the cash and was on a lookout for the other accused.

2 snatchers held

Sirhind: The police has arrested two persons for snatching Rs 5,000 from a resident of Vazirabad village a few days ago.

The complainant, Rajanvir Singh, told the police that he was returning home when two youths stopped him and started bashing him up near Malikpur Chanalonwala village.The duo snatched Rs 5,000 and an Aadhaar card from him.

The police took him to a hospital in Patiala. The accused have been identified as Rachpal Singh, a resident of Malikpur, and Yatin Kumar, a resident of Sirhind, and recovered Rs 2,500 and the card from them.

Two persons were arrested with 2,400 capsules. The two accused have been identified as Jarnail Singh, a resident of Sirhind, and Gurcharan Singh, a resident of Brahman Majra Sirhind. A case under relevant sections of the NDPS Act has been registered against them.

Woman commits suicide

Mohali: A 26-year-old woman allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself at her rented accommodation in Phase XI today.

The deceased, identified as Jagdeep Kaur, worked with Immigration Consultancy Service at Phase IIIB2.

Mohali DSP (City II) Ajinder Singh said there injury marks on the victim’s left arm. “We also recovered a Marlboro cigarette pack from the room," said DSP Ajinder Singh. The victim was staying with a friend, who was away to Shimla.

The body has been sent to the Civil Hospital at Phase XI for an autopsy. The parents of the girl, who reside at Kila Raipur, Ludhiana, have been informed about the incident.

Ropar, August 19
A three-member committee, set up by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), to look into the complaints of illegal mining of sand and other minerals visited the district today.

The committee comprising GC Meena, Deputy Controller of Indian Bureau of Mines, Sonu Singh and Surinder Singh, both officials of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests visited the mines at Kakrala village near Bharatgarh and Rael Baramad.

Though the team did not interact with mediapersons or any local official at the sites, they clicked photographs of mines at Real Baramad village.

They asked a contractor to show them his authority letter which he failed to do.

Tippers loaded with sand and stones remained off-road today. Owners of the crushers observed a holiday.

The team members said they would submit the report to the ministry. 

Chandigarh, August 19
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today set a month’s deadline for the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to finalise the prices of 33 anti-cancer drug formulations. It was also directed to give wide publicity to the decision of bringing the prices of those drugs under price control.

As the petition filed by Faridkot-based Bhai Kanahiyia Cancer Roko Society came up for hearing, a reply filed by the authority was placed before Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Augustine George Masih.

It stated anti-cancer drugs were not covered under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 1995, (DPCO), and were treated as non-scheduled drugs. The manufacturers were at liberty to fix the prices themselves without seeking the approval of the government/NPPA. Besides, there was no control over the launch price of the non-scheduled formulations. Further, trade margin was not specified in respect of non-scheduled formulations under the DPCO.

The authority further stated the government has notified DPCO on June 15; and 33 anti-cancer medicines were now covered under the DPCO. The action for fixation of prices of these medicines in specified dosage and strength has been initiated by the NPPA.

At this stage, the Bench directed the authority to finalise the process in a month. The Bench also accepted the request of advocate HC Arora, appointed as amicus curiae or the friend of the court, and further directed the respondents to give wide publicity to the fixation of prices of these 33 anti-cancer medicines after their prices were finalised.

Chandigarh, August 19
Visibly displeased by the veil of secrecy thrown over the process of rejecting tenders by the Centre, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed it to compulsorily inform the parties in future the reasons for rejection of complete bids even if instructions to the contrary have been issued.

“We direct the respondents that in future whenever a bid process is complete and such a bid is rejected, they must mandatory inform the parties about the reasons for the rejection of the bid, even if there is a discretion as envisaged under the instructions,” the Bench asserted while taking up a petition against the Union of India and other respondents.

The Bench also made it clear that the ground has to be disclosed, even if the instructions issued by the respondents categorically say reasons do not have to be assigned. The directions came on a petition filed by Bikramjeet Singh.

He told the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Augustine George Masih that tenders for four-tonne parcel space in a train were re-floated on July 15 through a fresh advertisement, though he was the highest bidder. Alleging non-disclosure of reason, the petitioner said he was told the railway administration reserved the right to reject or accept a tender without assigning any reason, in response to an RTI query.

The counsel for the petitioner added the clause could not give a licence to the respondents to cancel the tender without recording the reasons. “We must note with regret that the respondent-authorities have not cared to answer the queries of the petitioner with the result that the petitioner is in dark about the reasons for non-acceptance of his highest bid. The result is that there are two rounds of litigation - first one to find out as to what the reason is and the second one to assail the reasoning, if so advised,” the Bench observed.

The Bench asserted: “We call upon the respondents to disclose to the petitioner the reasons for rejection of his highest bid, within a period of three days of the receipt of this order”.

Panchkula, August 19
A woman who tried to set herself afire by pouring kerosene on herself in front of Panchkula Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Ashwin Shenvi alleging police inaction in a brawl case, landed in a soup, here this morning. A case under Section 309 (attempt to suicide) was registered against her, following which she was produced in court. The police also registered a case in the brawl case, the complaint of which had been pending since the past six months.

This morning, the accused, identified as Ritu, a resident of Kharag Mangoli, came to the DCP Office at the Mini-Secretariat, Sector 1, drenched in kerosene with a match box in her hand. She began crying and shouting outside the office about police inaction in a brawl case and how she was constantly being troubled by her neighbours.

Shenvi rushed outside to see what had happened. “Seeing the DCP, the woman took out the matchbox and was about to set herself ablaze when other police officials overpowered her and snatched the matchbox from her hand,” said a police official.

Shenvi then asked Inspector Mukesh Kumar, Station House Officer of Sector 5 police station, not only to register a case in the complaint made by the woman, but also to lodge an FIR against her for trying to set herself ablaze.

Inspector Mukesh Kumar said that the brawl was over water problem and the police had initiated action against both the parties, including eight women, in the locality. Interestingly, Ritu was put behind bars, but the women against whom she had filed a complaint were yet to be arrested.

Panchkula, August 19
A lawn tennis tournament began today at Manav Mangal School, Panchkula, with the main matches in the Under-14 boys singles category. In the opening match, Rishabh Sharda defeated Udit Kumar 8-1. In other matches, Satykin Kohli defeated Aaryav Rathore 8-6 while Neeraj Yashpal defeated Chaitanya Choudhary 8-1.

Abhimanyu Rozra defeated Siddharth 8-4, Bhavdeep Singh defeated Tarish Dhingra 8-4, while Siddharth Thakran defeated Manvir Sohi 8-4.

Vatsal Chouhan defeated Yiuvraj Singh 8-5, Udgam Aggarwal defeated Saurav 8-1 and Chiraz Dandona defeated Sehaj Sidhu 8-1.

Shrut Mohan Narget defeated Jagta Arrora by a margin of 8-7 while Anmol Rattan defeated Sehaj Punj 8-4.

The tournament is being organised jointly by Manav Mangal School and Ideal Tennis Academy till August 24 at Manav Mangal School, Sector 11, Panchkula. Tomorrow, main draw matches for girls under-14 will start at 8 am at the same venue.

Chandigarh, August 19
Members of the local cricketing fraternity and people from other walks of life paid homage to the late legendary cricket coach, DP Azad, at his bhog ceremony, here today. Addressing the gathering in a community hall at Sector 27, Sushil Kapoor, spokesperson of the PCA, Mohali, and his close friend, said he (Azad) would be best remembered when today’s youngsters emulate his sense of dedication, devotion and discipline.

Kapoor said Azad was hardworking, disciplined and played a vital role in uplifting the standards of cricket in the region.

Many old friends and colleagues attended Azad’s bhog ceremony, including legendary athlete Milkha Singh and noted sports journalist Pradeep Magazine.

PCA secretary MP Pandave and Milkha Singh said an era has come to end with Azad’s death. His efforts produced many international cricket players who changed the cricket scene in the country. His legacy would always be remembered, they added.

Chandigarh, August 19
In the first GRB League Cup 2013, Minerva Youngsters beat Khalsa College, Sector 26, 3-2 to lift the trophy in an exciting final played here at the Sector 17 Football Stadium, here today.

Earlier in the day, in the first semifinal, Khalsa College beat Minerva Academy 2-0 in a close encounter to reach the final. In the other semifinal, Minerva youngsters beat Molon Labe FC 
4-1 to reach the final.

Sunny of Minerva Youngsters opened the account in the seventh minute of the match with a wonderful strike from the top of the box. Ten minutes later, Billy doubled the lead with a perfectly executed curling shot into the top corner which left the goalkeeper stunned. The first half-ended 2-0 in Minerva's favour.

In the second half, the Khalsa played at a higher tempo and managed to score and reduce the deficit. With just 12 minutes till full time, Sanjeev Maria of the Minerva Youngsters, scored with a sublime header to make its lead to 3-1. The Khalsa College team did not give up till the end and managed to score another consolation goal before the final whistle was blown with the score reading 3-2 in the Minerva Youngster's favour.

Chandigarh, August 19
Chandigarh Baptist Cricket Academy (CBCA) entered the final of fourth Under-14 Vivek Trophy Cricket Tournament defeating the Mount Carmel School by two wickets, here today. Organised by the Vivek High Asian Cricket Academy, the match was played at Vivek High School, Sector 38-B, Chandigarh.

Mount Carmel School won the toss and elected to bat first. But it could not handle well and were bundled out for 77 runs in 20 overs. Anveet Mandeep and Bheem took two wickets each and helped the winning team to restrict the opponent team.

In reply, players of Chandigarh Baptist too had problem chasing the target but it managed to romp home and won the match with 2 wickets and 2 balls to spare.

Now the final match of the tournament will take place between the Vivek High Asian Cricket Academy and the Chandigarh Baptist Cricket Academy on August 24 at 10.30 am.

The man of the match was Mandeep (Chandigarh Baptist Cricket Academy) who scored 26 runs and took 2 wickets.

Brief scores

Mount Carmel School: 77 runs for all out in 20 overs. Sarab 29 runs, Prabhjeet 19 runs, Avneet 2 wickets for 17 runs, Mandeep 2 wickets for 11 runs, Bheem 2 wickets for 9 runs.

Chandigarh Baptist Cricket Academy: 78 runs for 8 wickets in 19.4 overs. Mandeep 26 runs, Monark 22 runs, Anshul 13 runs. Prithvi 2 wickets for 19 runs, Prabhjeet 2 wickets for 9 runs, Divya 2 wickets for 7 runs.