NEIGHBOURHOOD

Drive against drug menace launched
Tribune News Service

Patiala, September 24
Fulfilling the promise of providing financial assistance to Parul Gupta, Punjab’s first speech and hearing impaired youngest lawn tennis player, who represented India in the Deaf and Dumb Olympics held at Sophia (Bulgaria), Bikram Singh Majithia, Information and Public Relations and Revenue Minister, Punjab, presented a cheque of Rs 2 lakh to the player at her residence here today.

Majithia visited Parul’s house to hand over the financial aid as recognition to her achievement, besides enabling her to go further for the advanced training in the field of lawn tennis, she intended to have.

Speaking on the occasion, Majithia congratulated her parents for her remarkable participation in the Olympics.

He also assured them that the state government would extend all possible help to their daughter to impart quality training in her chosen sports.

He said the young player had brought laurels not only to Punjab but also to the country at the international level and the entire country was proud of her.

Parul Gupta had participated in the Deaf and Dumb Olympics at Sophia, Bulgaria, from July 26 to August 6 this year after getting specialised training from Performance Academy, Bengaluru.

She had won gold medals in the 18th National Lawn Tennis Championship for Deaf and Dumb held in April 2013 at Aurangabad in Maharashtra and the First National Lawn Tennis Championship for Deaf and Dumb held at the NIS, Patiala, in July 2012.

Besides, she had won a silver medal at the Punjab School Women Championship in October 2011 and 57th National School Games in December 2011. She had also participated in the 4th National Deaf Women Championship held at Ajmer in April 2012 and 56th National Games at Pune in June 2011.

Now, Parul has set a target of representing the country and winning more medals in the forthcoming US World Open Lawn Tennis Championship for Deaf and Dumb to be held in 2014 .—TNS

Chandigarh, September 24
Hearing in the Burail jailbreak case involving assassins of former Punjab Chief Minister as accused was adjourned to November 8. Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist Jagtar Singh Hawara and Paramjit Singh Bheora are facing trial in this case.

The trial is being conducted through a video conference from Tihar jail where Hawara and Bheora, convicts of Beant Singh assassination, are lodged. Owing to technical glitch the video conference facility is not operational for last few days, thus the hearing was deferred.

BKI terrorists Bheora and his accomplice Jagtar Singh Hawara, convicted in Beant Singh assassination case, were shifted from the Burail Jail in Chandigarh to Tihar Jail in New Delhi for the hearing of the bomb blasts in New Delhi in 2004.

Hawara, Bheora and two other accomplices, Jagtar Singh Tara and Devi Singh, had escaped from the Burail jail in January 2004 by digging a tunnel. While Hawara and Bheora were arrested from Delhi, the Tara and Singh are still absconding.

Others who are accused in the case are jail superintendent DS Rana, dismissed deputy jail superintendent DS Sandhu and Ved Mittar Gill, dismissed assistant jail superintendent PS Rana, two former jail warders, two former CRPF constables on guard duty on the day of the incident, four inmates of the jail allegedly involved in the conspiracy, including Pakistan spy Abid Mehmood, Subeg Singh, Nand Singh and Lakhwinder Singh and Gurnam Singh. 

Chandigarh, September 24
UT district court judges today made a surprise visit at the Burail jail and inspected food and other conditions there.

SK Aggarwal, District and Sessions Judge, along with Rajneesh Kumar Sharma, Chief Judicial Magistrate Chandigarh and other Judicial Magistrates Amandeep Singh JMIC, Jaswinder Singh JMIC, Sonali Singh JMIC and Hassandeep Singh JMIC, and Rajinder Singh, District Attorney UT, Chandigarh, made a sudden visit the Model Jail, Chandigarh, today at 4 pm.

Balbir Singh Dhol AIG (Prisons), Amandeep Singh, Deputy Superintendent Jail, and other jail officials were also present during the visit. During the visit, the judges inspected the food cooked for the inmates of the jail and also heard the grievances of the inmates. He also issued directions to the subordinates judges with regard to the cases of the under trial prisoners. The District Judge also gave directions to the subordinate judges to decide the cases of the inmates who are involved in petty offences. He also directed the police to produce the chargesheet of the accused in the court well in time so that cases may be decided timely. He also directed the legal aid authorities to provide legal aid to the needy inmates.

He also had a look at the newly installed STD facility for the inmates. 

Chandigarh, September 24
A 21-year-old UK resident was sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment in a drug peddling case.

The Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge, Shalini S Nagpal, awarded two years jail term to a 21-year-old, London resident, Napper Ned O Conner Tandy, after convicting him under various Sections of the NDPS Act. The accused was arrested for possessing 40gm charas and psychotropic tablets weighing around 190 gm.

Napper was arrested by the UT police from near a taxi stand in Sector 38, Chandigarh, on July 18, 2011.

Napper had arrived in India with his female colleague on May 2011 on a three-month tourist visa. As per the prosecution, he had just returned from Manali when he was arrested by crime branch of UT police.

As per the prosecution, he was intercepted at a barrier in Sector 38 (West) from where he tried to flee after abandoning his motorcycle, which has been impounded. Three small chillams (bongs) were also recovered from his possession along with charas and tablets.

As per the prosecution, Napper had brought charas from Kasol, near Manikaran, and had also visited Rishikesh and Leh-Ladakh.

The defence had argued that he was falsely implicated in the case following a scuffle with the UT police official after he had misbehaved with him. However, the theory was not accepted by the court.

Chandigarh, September 24
Seven years after a 17-year-old youth died of electrocution, the court today directed the UT Administration to pay a compensation of Rs 3.65 lakh along with the interest at the rate of 9 per cent per annum from the date of incident to the victim’s family.

The incident dates back to December 10, 2006 when Vinod Kumar, alias Lalit, was electrocuted when he accidentally came into contact with a pole supplying power to a liquor vend. He was accompanied with his father Ram Kumar when the incident took place and died on the spot. He was rushed to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, where doctors declared him brought dead.

A suit was filed against the UT Home Secretary and officials of the UT Electricity Department by his family. However, the court has not imposed any fine on the liquor vend, which was also made a party to the case.

As per the petition, it was stated that the UT Administration was negligent in the fatal accident as they failed to check the wiring. “Negligence of the UT Administration had claimed the life of the boy,” the court said.

Chandigarh, September 24
A Class XII student of St Soldier School, Mohali, allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling fan at his residence in Progressive Society, Sector 50, this morning. The police said depression was cited as the reason for suicide.

The police said the 17-year-old girl, Takshi Mohan was found hanging from a ceiling fan in her room by her aunt. Takshi's father died a few years ago and her mother works in Noida.

The teenager was staying with her grandfather and uncle (father's younger brother) in Chandigarh. Her uncle and aunt both are doctors at the PGI.

The teenager was to take an exam at her school today. The members of the family told the police that Takshi had been under depression for the past few months. The teenager also left behind a suicide note in which she had stated that no one was responsible for her death. She further wrote that she could not come up to the expectations of her family and could not perform well. The police has initiated inquest proceedings into the matter. 

Chandigarh, September 24
In a blind hit and run case, a 70-year-old man was killed after he was hit by an unidentified vehicle at the main link road between Dhanas and Mullanpur near Panjab University last night.

The victim, Sewa Singh, a resident of Rurki Khan village, in Mohali was riding a bike when the mishap occurred. The incident occurred when Singh, who was a private security guard, was returning to his residence from Sector 36 around 1.45am. He was rushed to the PGI in a police gypsy but the doctors declared him brought dead.

The police investigated at the spot and found the screeching marks of wheels at the spot but could not ascertain whether these were of a four-wheeler or a two-wheeler. The deceased was survived by his three sons and two daughters, all are married. The body was handed over kin of deceased after postmortem examination in the PGI.—TNS 

Chandigarh, September 24
The UT Police today booked a Sector 39 resident, Ranjit Singh Panjatha, for harassing a female doctor after delivering a parcel of undergarments to her sister-in-law.

Though incident took place two months back, Chandigarh police registered an FIR today after taking legal opinion in this regard. Accused Panjatha had been a proclaimed offender of Chandigarh police and he was earlier also arrested for harassing the complainant in August, 2012.

The victim is a doctor with a leading private hospital in Mohali and residing in sector 38. In her complaint to police, the doctor stated, "My sister-in-law handed over the parcel in my hands, and I was shocked to see the stuff inside it. We both went to nearby police station sector 39 and lodged a police complaint."

Police said accused Panjatha is absconding and his previous criminal record is being checked. Cases was registered under charges of sexual harassment and outrage the modesty.

Earlier, the female doctor had accused Panjatha for accessing her call records with the connivance of a Chandigarh police inspector. Later, the inspector was given clean chit. Accused Panjatha recently filed a complaint against a DSP rank official alleging the official accepting bribe from him.

Chandigarh, September 24
Renu Sharma upset Trannum Handa in a three-set clash that lasted for more than three hours during the first round of ongoing CLTA-AITA All-India 1 Lac tournament for men and women being held here today. Renu won the 1st set at 7-5 but Trannum bounced back to win the 2nd with 7-5. In the final set Renu played solid ground strokes to name the match at 6-1. In another match, Riya Bhatia upset 8th seed Megha Sherawat at 6-1, 6-2 while Shruti Dhawan continued her winning streak by defeating Rizvi Shamreen. Gayatri Kumaraiah defeated last day’s winner Pious Mudgil at 6-0, 6-3.

Results

Men’s final qualifying round: Ajay Yadav bt Mandeep Kumar 8-2; Vikrant Dahiya bt Vilaser Khate 8-3; Rahul Seth bt Abhimanyu M 8-1; Jajbir Singh bt Yuvraj 8-4; Gurvinder Singh bt Joseph Khuma 8-0; Anush Dheer Singh bt Rahul Singh 8-3;Rohan Bhatia bt Nihit Rawal 8-5; Manav K Chakma bt Garry Tokas 8-4

Men’s main draw 1st round: Brahmjot Singh bt Raghav Talwar 6-2, 6-1; Lakshit Sood bt Keneisezotuo W 6-0, 6-1; Suraj Beniwal bt. Anubhav Choudhary 6-1; Chandril Sood bt Bharat Bhardwaj 6-2, 6-4; Vijay Kannan bt Anvit Bendre 6-4, 6-0; Rubal Shandilya bt. Raghvendra S 6-1, 6-1

Women’s main draw 1st round: Vineeta Singh bt Priyanka Rawat 6-2, 6-2;Renu Sharma bt Tarranum Handa 7-5, 5-7, 6-1; Riya Bhatia bt Megha Sherawat 6-1, 6-2;Damini Sharma bt. Charvi Saxena 6-0, 6-0; Abhilasha Ahuja bt Abhilasha Mehra 6-2, 6-0; Smriti Joon bt Kirandeep Kaur 6-1, 6-1; Soumya Vij bt Anupreet Bedi 6-2, 6-2; Gayatri Kumraiah bt Pious Mudgil 6-0, 6-3; Victoria Chehal bt Aashima Garg 6-2, 6-2; Aaryalee Chavan bt Niharika Rana 6-3, 6-4; Shruti Dhawan bt Rizvi Shamreen 6-0, 6-0;Nandini Sharma bt Steffi Sanjani 6-2, 6-3. 

Chandigarh, September 24
The team of SGGS College, Sector 26, has won the Panjab University Inter-College Volleyball Championship for Men (A-Division).

The team of Panjab University campus secured second place while SGGS Khalsa College, Mahilpur, and DAV College, Hoshiarpur, secured third and fourth positions, respectively.

Results (league matches)

PU campus, Chandigarh, bt DAV College, Hoshiarpur, 3-0(25-18, 25-19, 25-20); SGGS College,Sector 26, Chandigarh, bt SGGS Khalsa College, Mahilpur, 3-0 (25-13, 25-20, 25-20).

Chandigarh, September 24
Facing the toughest competitors of the tournament, the local team of DAV School, Sector 8, got humiliated by the Indian National Academy of the All-India Football Federation, during the 11th edition of the Administrator’s Football Cup for boys (U-17), at the grounds of the sports complex, Sector 42, here today. The visiting side drubbed down the localities by a margin of 10 goals.

For the first 20 minutes, the DAV side played well and barred the AIIF team to build attacks but once the latter started holding the ball, the former failed to match their capability. It all started in the 14th minute for the Mumbai side, when Rakesh Oram smartly placed a header over the goal line in the 14th minute. Later, Bidhyananda Singh took the team’s campaign ahead with a power pack volley shot-enough to beat DAV custodian- in the 21st minute. Just after 4 minutes, he strike again and put the team ahead by 3-0 in the 25th minute. High on three fantastic goals, the Mumbai side gave no sigh of relief to localities and pumped three more goals through Sumna Sarkar. He chipped in a hat-trick with scoring in 25th , 42nd and 59th minute of play.

After the breather, AIFF lads pulled up their socks and scored four more goals. Substitue Delbert contributed two goals in the 67th and 71st minute of play while Prashanth K (88th minute) and Delbert Fernandes (90th minute) scored a goal each to complete the goal tally.

In the second match of the day, the GTC Shillong blanked Panasonik HFA Academy Haryana by three goals. Naoba Metai, for Shillong’s outfit, scored all the three goals for the team. Delhi’s team Bhutia Football Academy registered an 8-0 win over Gujarat Football Association. Gagandeep Singh and Ikrat Singh starred in their team’s win as he contributed two goals. Ikrat Singh opened the team’s account in the 19th minute and later Gagandeep Singh (22nd minute) double the lead. Sunveer (29th minute), Ikrat (36th minute) scored a brace each to seal the first 45 minutes. In second half, Gagandeep (60th minute), Sagar Singla (68th minute), Tsewang (76th minute), Mohil (82nd minute) scored one goal each.

The tournament witnessed its first draw with, Sahayatri Football Academy playing 1-1 draw against Mahilpur Football Academy. Both theteams played a balanced game and missed equal number of opportunities. After a goalless first half, Sahayatri’s striker SK Suraj Ali placed a toe- touch over Mahilpur’s custodian in the 63rd minute. Conceding a goal, the Mahilpur’s strikers started marking power packed shots and soon attain the fruit in the 82nd minute when Manjinder Singh scored equaliser for his team from 30 yards. 

Chandigarh, September 24
The GGS College for Women defeated BKS College, Muhar, 10-0 during a match of the Panjab University Inter-College Softball Championship for Women being played on the Panjab University campus, today.

In the second match, the Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana, trounced Panjab University campus 11-0.

Results

Ramgarhia Girls College, Ludhiana, bt PG GCG, Sector 11, Chandigarh, 2-0; GGS College for Women, Chandigarh, bt BKS College, Muhar, 10-0; GN Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana, bt Bhag Singh Khalsa College, Abohar, 11-1. 

Chandigarh, September 24
In the ongoing 43rd SN Vohra's All-India Gurmit Memorial Hockey Tournament, the team of SGGS Club, Chandigarh, went down against Punjab Police team, at the hockey stadium of the sports complex, Sector 42, this evening.

The Punjab Police team registered 5-2 victory over their rivals. Simrandeep Singh sounded the wooden plank in the 11th minute for the Punjab Police team. He posted the first goal through a penalty corner. His subordinate Rajpal Singh doubled the lead in the 32nd minute by smartly dodging the custodian via penalty corner. After a gap of four minutes, Jagmeet Singh had put the team score 3-0 by marginally defeating defenders of SGGS side. With no goal in their kitty, the SGGS club made some good moves and attain the fruit through Gurjinder Singh (46th minute) and Rajan ( 48th minute). But failed to carry the momentum, the SGGS team conceded two more goals to lose the match. Satwinder Singh (52nd minute) and Rajpal Singh (68th minute) scored a goal each to declare the winners.

In another see-saw match, the team of Indian Air Force defeated Ropar Hawks 3-2.

The Hawks side moved ahead in the 6th minute when Rajot with all his stick work managed to beat rival goalie but the Air Force team levelled the score in the 13th minute through Variender. Soon after levelling the equaliser, the Air Force side made a strong grip and posted two goals. Davinder in 18th minute and Jatinder in 41st minute put the team ahead by 3-1. Later, in 55th minute, the Hawks side reduced the margin to 3-2 when Navjot posted a field goal.

Mohali, September 24
In a drought of spectators, above the pavilion end and at the terrace block, there was a group of fans painted all in red colour and waving a flag that belongs to Trinidad and Tobago. Cricket has a big fan following and a live example of this was witnessed at the PCA Cricket Stadium Mohali, here, today.

The matches of the ongoing Champions League T-20 have failed to welcome the local re4sidents, but the ‘Trini Posse’, a group of cricket fans from Trinidad and Tobago, was attracting all pleasing eyes here. A group of die-hard fans from Trinidad and Tobago are travelling across the nation just to support their favourite players representing their country.

They were also questioning over the low-turnout of audiences, “Where are the people? There is no crowd, no cheering up-nothing,” asked Dr Neil Singh, a member of the group.

“We are all here from Trinidad and Tobago just to support our team. The team is going good and we are just looking forward to extend our stay in India, if our team reaches in semi-final or finals. India is beautiful and this wonderful game is adding flavour to this beauty,” said Singh.

Of Indian origin, most of the members were seen carrying turbans and also a few of them learning Hindi at the stands.

“We all are from the Indian origin. Our forefathers were mostly from Uttar Pradesh and some other cities of the country. We still follow the Indian culture, prayers and festivals,” said Sarma Persad, another member of the group.

When asked about their choice of players, Kahansaram, another member, said: "All our players are in form. We are here to cheer for them. Along with supporting the team, we are also enjoying the game, a new city and its environment. We have been to Hyderabad, Ranchi and now, after Mohali we will go to Delhi."