The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

JEWEL IN CITY'S CROWN: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan leaves for Ludhiana from a hotel in Chandigarh on Sunday. Tribune photo: Parvesh Chauhan

Despite ministry nod, city-Dubai flight may take time to take off
Chandigarh, September 22
The Chandigarh domestic airport has inched closer to having an international flight with a private airline, Spicejet, getting permission from the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation to fly on the Chandigarh-Dubai route. However, the latest development is not enough. Given the "watch hours" constraint at the domestic airport here, starting an international flight seems to be an uphill task.

Coloniser encroaches on land meant for Kajauli pipeline
Mohali/Morinda, Sept 22
The ambitious Rs 150-crore project of the Punjab Government to pump additional water to Mohali from the Kajauli waterworks by laying a new pipeline has hit a roadblock, thanks to an illegal colony that has come up on the land acquired for the project. A private coloniser at New Morinda has constructed shops (a full-fledged market) on the land acquired by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) for lying the Phase V and Phase VI pipeline. The coloniser, who has raised the colony, Darpan Enclave, at New Morinda, has constructed 11 booths, with each booth having encroached upon 5 ft of GMADA land. This means that about 600 sq ft land, meant for the pipeline, has been encroached upon by the coloniser.

Auto driver sets example of honesty
Chandigarh, September 22
Sneha, a relative of Pankhuri (who forgot her bag in an auto), takes back the bag from a pre-paid booth in Sector 22 on Sunday. Setting a perfect example of honesty, an auto driver returned a bag of a passenger, who had forgotten it in the auto. The driver ensured that the bag, containing cash and a mobile phone, was delivered to the owner. On September 20, Pankhuri Arora, a student of the PEC University of Technology, hired an auto-rickshaw from PEC to Sector 17 from where she had to take a bus to her hometown Kurukshetra. In a hurry, Pankhuri forgot to carry one of her bags from the auto and left for Kurukshetra.

Sneha, a relative of Pankhuri (who forgot her bag in an auto), takes back the bag from a pre-paid booth in Sector 22 on Sunday. Tribune photo: Pradeep Tewari

11 kV live wire falls in backyard of house, triggers blasts
Panchkula, September 22
Residents show a portion of the house that was damaged in blasts triggered by a live wire in Sector 12-A, Panchkula, on Sunday. Just 10 days after a man suffered an electric shock from a wire hanging loose, two blasts in Sector 12-A this morning shook the area when an 11 kV live wire hanging loose snapped and fell in the backyard of a house. Interestingly, officials of the Electricity Department, who visited the spot after the incident, left the live wire coiled around a tree on the main road.

Residents show a portion of the house that was damaged in blasts triggered by a live wire in Sector 12-A, Panchkula, on Sunday. Tribune photo: Nitin Mittal

COMMUNITY

Open house suggestions
Proper planning need of the hour
Although we can't stop the VVIP movements in the city, however, the administration should make sure that the general public doesn't face the heat during such visits which led to traffic snarls in the city. Proper planning by selecting routes that witness less traffic and deploying enough number of traffic personnel should be kept in mind".

Chandigarh scan
Blood donation camp
The Vishvas Foundation and the Chandigarh Computer Association organised a blood donation camp at the Main Plaza, Opposite Neelam Cinema, Sector 17. Suchet Sachdev and his team from the Department of Transfusion Medicine, PGI, Chandigarh, rendered their valuable services. The camp was inaugurated by Neelima Vishvas, general secretary of the Vishvas Foundation, and Sanjeev Walia, president of the Chandigarh Computer Association & MD of Jetage Computer Traders. As many as 355 volunteers, including the members of the Vishvas Foundation, donated blood.

Visitors gather outside a showroom to have a glimpse of actress Sonam Kapoor in Chandigarh. Tribune photo: Pradeep Tewari

Reporters’ Diary
Wife catches police official in the act
It was a bad day for a senior police functionary of the tricity when he was caught red-handed by his spouse late night with a girl in a room of a known hotel in Panchkula. Nobody knows the purpose of their meeting but it became too embarrassing for the official when the spouse knocked at the door just 20 minutes after the duo had locked the door. Seeing his wife as a visitor, the official was stumped and his friend rushed out of the room..

Geetanjali’s parents meet her daughters
Panchkula, September 22
Following the orders of the CBI court, Geetanjali's parents today met the victim’s daughters at the house of Chief Judicial Magistrate Ravneet Garg's counsel for the first time after her murder. Ravneet Garg himself brought the two daughters, Aasma (4) and Adiva (3), for the meeting. Though after coming out, the parents claimed that the children were fine and it was a peaceful meeting, noises could be heard during some argument going on with Garg about the allegations on killing their daughter. The court had given three-hour time to three members of Geetanjali’s family to meet the children. The family claimed that the elder daughter was unwell.

Ravneet Garg, along with his daughter, comes out of the house of an advocate in Sector 12, Panchkula, on Sunday. Tribune photo: Nitin Mittal

Wake-up call for Panchkula police
Panchkula, September 22
Twenty orders of either suspension or sent to lines in just one month should be a wakeup call for the police officials in Panchkula. There are many out stationed officials who say that they don't want posting in a station like Panchkula after learning about the strictness.

Committee members seek possession of plots
Mohali, September 22
Members of the Sky Rock Hit Bachao Committee today staged a protest against the Sky Rock City Welfare Society for not giving them plots at Phase X. Raising slogans against Navjeet Singh, president of the society, the members alleged that they were being kept in dark about the activities of the society. “The president has neither called on any general body meeting, nor is he apprising the members of any details about the society’s activities. He had promised to give us possession of plots in two years. Over three years have passed, we are still in dark,” alleged Sucha Singh Kalaur, a member of the committee. The protestors said that they would intensify their agitation after October 26. — TNS

Rajnath skips LS candidate issue
Chandigarh, September 22
On his first visit to the city after assuming charge as the BJP chief, Rajnath Singh kept the party workers guessing as he did not hint the name of the party candidate from the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat. Though all three main leaders of the local unit of the BJP, Sanjay Tandon, local BJP chief; Satya Pal Jain, former MP from Chandigarh; Harmohan Dhawan, former Union Minister, were sitting on the dais with the other party leaders, the party chief chose to speak about the need of unity only. “Instead of pulling each other’s leg, work with unity and dedication to strengthen the party,” he said. Addressing the party workers, he said the BJP was a different party. “It was the only party that managed to built a political stature on a par with the Congress,” he said. — TNS

NGO to launch crusade against drug menace in Punjab
Chandigarh, September 22
To control the menace of drug addiction in Punjab, Nirmar International, an NGO, has announced a campaign, "drug free Punjab" which they would start from Anandpur Sahib on September 24. Parmveer Singh Mavi, general secretary of the NGO, said the campaign would be flagged of by the Jathedar of Takht Anandpur Sahib and before that a play would be staged by college students. Under the campaign, awareness campaign would be undertaken in schools and colleges in Ropar district. — TNS

EDUCATION

SSA funds
Govt schoolteachers or clerks?
Chandigarh, September 22
Over 100 schoolteachers virtually work as clerks in the city’s government schools, courtesy the burden of managing the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) funds on them. Even as a recent letter by the district education office has directed the school heads not to assign any non-teaching job to the teachers, the practice is still rampant.

From schools
Educational trip
Students of SMD Little Champ School, Sector 2, during a programme “Baby’s Day Out” in Panchkula on Sunday. Chandigarh: The students of class II of Sacred Heart, Sector 26, were taken on an educational trip to different places of worship. They visited a church, a temple and a gurdwara. The trip was organised to inculcate a sense of pride in our secular framework and the beauty of varied culture that the school believes in. The students were briefed about the different religions and the fact that “God is one.

Students of SMD Little Champ School, Sector 2, during a programme “Baby’s Day Out” in Panchkula on Sunday. A Tribune Photograph

Illuminating life of the visually impaired
Chandigarh, September 22
With an aim to illuminating the life of those who also have dreams and aspirations but are visually impaired, students of the Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology, Sector 26, have launched an eye donation campaign, "Drishti". Through this campaign, the students have been successful in getting over 2,000 pledges for eye donations by visiting various colleges in the city and holding awareness rallies.

CBSE-i accreditation for Mani Majra Gurukul
Chandigarh, September 22
A view of Gurukul Global School, Mani Majra. A Tribune photograph Gurukul Global School, Mani Majra, has become the first school in the tricity to get the CBSE-i (International) accreditation by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The CBSE, in its effort to attract Indian Diaspora and to help Indian learners to pursue higher education abroad, has begun the CBSE-I accreditation for domestic schools.

Walkout by PU Syndics leaves important issues pending
Chandigarh, September 22
The walkout staged by the Syndics on Saturday before the Syndicate meeting started has left some important issues pending. The online system for the submission of examination forms for postgraduate courses was to be introduced from September 26 after the approval from the Syndicate. With the meeting being rescheduled for September 28, the launch of the facility is expected to get delayed.

SSA teachers: Assn finds anomaly in appointments
Chandigarh, September 22
The SSA Teachers Welfare Association (SSATWA) claimed anomalies in their appointment. Nearly 1,300 primary and upper primary teachers, appointed under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, are working in the UT Education Department. The association said the posts of SSA teachers were sanctioned to the UT Education Department, but the local administration recruited these teachers under the UT SSA Society on a contractual basis.

Union parts ways with teachers' JAC
Chandigarh, September 22
The UT Cadre Educational Employees Union parted ways with the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of UT schoolteachers saying that their core issues were sidelined after joining the committee. The president of the union, Swarn Singh Kamboj, said this decision was taken in the executive meeting attended by 21 members.

NEIGHBOURHOOD

Expectant woman dies
The victim’s husband and his mother mourn her death at the Civil Hospital in Ambala City Ambala, September 22
An expectant woman died today morning at the trauma centre in Ambala City while she was about to be taken to the PGI, Chandigarh. The agitated relatives of the deceased protested and broke the windowpanes of a ward. The relatives alleged that the negligent attitude of a lady doctor caused the death of their patient. According to information, Tarsem Kaur, a resident of a nearby Laharsa village, had gone to the Civil Hospital for examination on September 17 as she was pregnant for eight months.

The victim’s husband and his mother mourn her death at the Civil Hospital in Ambala City on Sunday. Photo by writer

Bomb scare at Kalka rly station
A dog squad at the Kalka railway station on Sunday. Panchkula/Kalka, Sept 22
A letter triggered a bomb scare at the Kalka railway station late this evening. It was after the train examiner saw the letter in a toilet of the general compartment of the Kalka-Barmer train, just before the train was to start its journey, that all the passengers were asked to get down and intense checking was carried out.

A dog squad at the Kalka railway station on Sunday. A Tribune photograph

RIMT Group of Institutes to plant 5,000 saplings
Fatehgarh Sahib, Sept 22
Management, staff and students of RIMT Group of Institutes, Mandi Gobindgarh, organised a function to mark the beginning of Vanamahotsava week. Jagdeep Singh Cheema, District President SAD (B) was the chief guest.

Heritage trolley to stage a comeback
Kalka, September 22
The heritage inspection trolley, which had been lying discarded since 1994, became functional recently and would now run on the Kalka-Shimla rail section again. Jitender Singh, Assistant Mechanical Engineer (AME), Diesel Shed, Kalka, said the inspection trolley, which had been used for inspection since the British rule on the Kalka-Shimla rail track, was damaged in an accident in 1994. On the directions of Ashwani Lohani, Chief Mechancal Engineer (CMC), of the Northern Railway, Ambala Division, its maintenance was carried out at the Kalka diesel shed. Two trials of the trolley had been conducted successfully on August 29 and 31, respectively, between Kalka and Dharampur.

Colourful cultural function marks freshers’ party
Kharar, September 22
Kashish Kaushik and Varsha Prashar have been selected as Mr Students of Guru Gobind Singh College of Modern Technology, Kharar, perform during a freshers’ party. Fresher and Ms Fresher in Rendezvous 2013, a freshers’ party, organised at the Guru Gobind Singh College of Modern Technology here. The function was held to welcome the students who have enrolled for undergraduate BTech and postgraduate courses in the college. In the colourful cultural function, a skit performance, singing and dance performances and ramp walk were presented by the students. — TNS

Students of Guru Gobind Singh College of Modern Technology, Kharar, perform during a freshers’ party. A Tribune photograph

Man held with 11 kg of poppy husk
Dera Bassi, September 22
The Lalru police has seized 11 kg of poppy husk at a check point on Sunday. The police said a man, who was walking from Lalru to Tofanpur village tried to flee when he was asked to stop. The police caught him and after found 11 kg of poppy husk from his possession after searching his bag. The accused has been identified as Sona Singh, resident of Naharpur, district Siwan, in Bihar. He was booked under Section 15-61-85 of the NDPS Act. The accused would be presented before the court, said the police.

CRIME

Two arrested on charge of eve-teasing
Chandigarh, September 22
Two girls were teased and subjected to sexual harassment in separate incidents in the city on Saturday night. A 25-year-old girl was teased by three youngsters near the Sector 22 market while she was returning home on foot. The girl raised an alarm, following which one of the suspects, identified as Nirmal Singh, was apprehended by passersby. The other two suspects, identified as Chander and Prince, escaped. The three suspects reside in a paying guest (PG) accommodation in sector 22.

Burglar arrested
Chandigarh, September 22
The Chandigarh police has arrested a burglar, identified as Rakesh Kumar, and solved two cases of theft reported earlier this year. A team of the crime branch, acting on a tip-off, arrested the Rajesh, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, near Government School in Sector 45 on September 17. The police said with his arrest, two cases of burglary registered at the Sector 34 and 31 police stations had been solved.

Youth booked on charge of abducting minor girl
Zirakpur, September 22
The local police has registered a case against a youth for abducting a 16-year-old minor girl from Zirakpur. The accused has been identified as Sohan Lal, a resident of Muradabad in Uttarpardesh.

3 of a family killed in road mishap
Panchkula, September 22
In a tragic incident, three members of a family were killed after their car accidentally fell into the hydel link channel in Yamunanagar this evening. The bodies were fished out by a team of divers in a five hour long operation by the rescue team. The victims, residents of Sector 8, Panchkula, have been identified as Ashok Joshi (55), his wife Shalini Joshi (50) and daughter Shefali Joshi (25). The family was on their way to Panchkula from Hathnikund Barrage when the incident took place. — TNS

SPORTS

Administrator football cup
Mohan Bagan Academy log win
Chandigarh, September 22
Players in action during a match of the Administrator Football Cup at the football stadium, Sector 17, Chandigarh, on Sunday. The 11th edition of the Administrator Football Cup kicked off at the football stadium of Sector 17 this evening. In the opening encounter, the team of Mohan Bagan Football Academy edged past Thou Academy Manipur 3-1. The Bagan side started their tournament’s campaign on an exciting note. Building attack from the very first minute, strikers of Bagan team held the game and started penetrating rival’s defense.

Players in action during a match of the Administrator Football Cup at the football stadium, Sector 17, Chandigarh, on Sunday. Tribune photo: Pradeep Tewari

Speed Sprint: City biker rides to glory
Chandigarh, September 22
Chandigarh biker Mohit Verma clinches the 'Fastest Overall' trophy during the 5th edition of Speed Sprint event, held near Sarangpur village, today. The Team Terrain Tigers (TT), Delhi, bagged the overall team’s trophy. In the 'Zip' category (cars and SUVs), Bobby Bhogal ranked first while Anil Wadia of Hoshiarpur and Harvinder Bhola of Chandigarh ranked second and third, respectively. In the 'Zap' category (rally-prepared vehicles), Akhil Ghai of Team Terrain Tigers ,Philipose Mathai of Team Thunderbolt and Sanjay Sikand claimed the top spots. Over 140 speed enthusiasts from Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh competed in the event. — TNS

Bikers take part in an event at Sarangpur village on Sunday Bikers take part in an event at Sarangpur village on Sunday. Tribune photo: Pradeep Tewari

CLTA tournament
Nitesh thrashes Ravinder 8-0
Chandigarh, September 22
Nitesh P today defeated Ravinder Dhiman 8-0 while Abhilash Anand trounced Mohit Sangwan 8-7 (5), in the CLTA-AITA Chandigarh Open 1 Lakh Men's and Women's Tennis Tournament. CHART trainee Vikrant Dahiya moved to 2nd round by defeating Amaldev VP 8-4 while another CLTA trainee Krishna Rajput faced some resistance from Mayank Valecha. Krishna won 8-7 (1).

A player returns a shot during a match of the CLTA-AITA Chandigarh Open 1 Lakh Men's and Women's Tennis Tournament in Chandigarh on Sunday. Tribune Photo: Pradeep Tewari

KATOCH shield
Mohali score 246 runs against Chandigarh
Chandigarh, September 22
The Mohali team scored 246 runs against Chandigarh team during a match of the Katoch Shield, being held at YPS School, Mohali, today. Opener Sunny Sohal initiated the team’s innings by scoring 91 runs off 159 balls inclusive of 15 boundaries. Mayank Sidana contributed 79 runs off 152 balls inclusive of 10 boundaries. For Chandigarh, off-spinner Gaurav Gambhir claimed 3 wickets by giving away 69 runs while Jaskaran and Gurinder Singh claimed two wickets each.

Atray tourney from Sept 26
Chandigarh, September 22
The 20th edition of the JP Atray Memorial Cricket Tournament will start from September 26. Matches will be played at PCA Stadium, Mohali, Cricket Stadium, Sector 16, Chandigarh, LIC Cricket Academy, Sector 26, Chandigarh, St John's School, Sector 26, Chandigarh and at Government College, Ropar. A total of 16 teams including, Baroda Cricket Association, Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, DDCA President's XI, Air India Delhi, Reliance Industries Mumbai, All India FCI Delhi, MRF Chennai, PCC, PCA Colts, State Bank of Mysore, CAG Delhi, ONGC Delhi, DASCB, Canara Bank Bangalore, BSNL Delhi, Players ITC and Income Tax-XI, have confirmed their entry for the tournament.

Vivek Atray, convener, JP Atray Memorial Cricket Tournament, addresses a press conference in Chandigarh on Sunday. Tribune photo: Parvesh Chauhan

Academy to hold golf camp
Chandigarh, September 22
Academy of golf at Chandigarh Golf Club will organise a one-month junior golf camp for children aged between 6 to 18 years (members and non-members) from September 29, at the Chandigarh Golf Club. The camp will be conducted by Manjit Kochar, director, Junior Golf Development Programme, ICGA, Canada. During the training programme, all the participants will be taught basic fundamentals including putting, chipping, long and short irons and bunker. — TNS

SD College, PGGCG-42 win kayaking titles
Chandigarh, September 22
Team of GGDSD College, Sector 32, won the PU’s Inter-College Kayaking and Canoeing Championship for men. Teams of SGGS College, Sector 26 and DAV College, Sector 10 finished as first and second runners-up, respectively. In the women's championship, team of PG Government College for Girls, Sector 42 won the championship while MCM DAV College for Women secured second place. Team of PG Government College Sector 11 attained position. — TNS