NEIGHBOURHOOD

Tiny tots enthral audience

Patiala, October 11
The junior section of Yadavindra Public School, Patiala, participated in the annual cultural programme today. The chief guest for the evening was Amrit Gill, ADC.

While a musical fairy tale wove its magic, a Hindi skit, ‘Eidgah’, portrayed a boy’s affection for his grandmother. No show is complete without a fairytale, ‘The Elves and the Shoemaker’ entertained all, followed by an English play based on the movie, ‘The King and I’. Dance performances by the tiny tots enthralled the audience. Amrit Gill released the junior school magazine ‘Fledglings’ on the occasion. — TNS

Patiala, October 11
Punjab is in comfortable position in the four-day finals of third All-India U-19 Invitation Tournament for the Dhruv Pandove Trophy in Patiala Cricket Stadium.

From the overnight score of 112 for 3 in 33 overs, Punjab went to take lead of 105 scores before getting all out at 247 in 69.3 overs in the first inning. Anmolpreet Singh 56 off 68 balls with nine boundaries, Nikhil Choudhary 37 off 78 balls with 4 boundaries, Harsaroop Singh 54 off 100 balls with six boundaries and Arpit Singh 24 off 53 balls were the main scorers for Punjab.

Rajasthan, however, began his second inning well and was at 105 for 2 in 31 overs at the end of day’s play. Yash Kothari unbeaten 44 off 89 balls with 8 boundaries and Rajat Chhaparwal unbeaten 30 off 69 balls with 4 boundaries were the main scorers for Rajasthan.

Brief scores:

Rajasthan first innings: 142 all out in 56 overs, Rajat Chhaparwal 38, Karan Kaila 5 for 32 Sunny 2 for 24 and Arpit Singh 2 for 30.

Punjab first innings: 247 all out in 69.3 overs. Anmolpreet Singh 56, Nikhil Choudhary 37, Harsaroop Singh 54 Arpit Singh 24, Nathu Singh 6 for 80 and Shubham Singh 2 for 36.

Rajasthan second innings: 105 for 2 in 31 overs at the close of second day’s play. Yash Kothari unbeaten 44 and Rajat Chhaparwal unbeaten 30, Siddharth Sharma 1 for 56 and Karan Kaila 1 for 17.

Ambala, October 11
Angry over the non-procurement of paddy by agencies, citing high moisture contents, hundreds of farmers today blocked the Ambala-Hisar NH 65 this noon for two hours. The farmers parked their trollies in the middle of the highway.

The permissible limit of moisture content in paddy is 17 per cent. The maximum paddy being brought to the grain market is containing moisture content around 20 to 25 per cent following the cloudy weather and light rain in the region. Thousand of bags of paddy kept in the open area in city grain market got wet last evening in rain shower.

The farmers alleged that they were not being given MSP of their produce as rate was being reduced on the pretext of high moisture. Some of the farmers said that they have been camping in the grain market for last four days but their paddy was not purchased. The farmers Sukhbinder Singh, Mewa Singh and Raghubir Singh said that they were very much disappointed as they had no option but to sell their produce in fewer rates. Later, on the assurance of ADC Mukesh Ahuja that their produced would be purchased by tomorrow, the farmers lifted the blockade. They also burnt the effigy of the state government on the highway. —OC

Chandigarh, October 11
The Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge, Preeti Sahni, awarded a 10-year imprisonment to a mother and son duo in a dowry death case.

The convicts have been identified as Sunil Kumar (25) and his mother Punnu Devi (54), residents of Mauli Jagran. The duo was booked after Parwati Devi committed suicide on May 9, 2012. The two were arrested in May 2012 on the complaint of Amarnath, the father of the deceased, following the registration of a case under 498 A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and 304 b (dowry death) of the Indian Penal Code. The court also awarded a three-year jail term to the convicts under 498 A. Parwati Devi had committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan.

Chandigarh, October 11
Aggrieved by the inordinate delay caused by the Chandigarh Housing Board in launching the self-financing housing scheme, 2008, around 20 retired employees of the Chandigarh Administration yesterday moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

In their petition filed before the Bench headed by Justice SK Mittal, Phool Kumar Saini and other petitioners claimed that 3,900 employees were victimised by the Chandigarh Housing Board. They contended that the scheme had failed to even start, despite lapse of more than five-and-a-half years, while the process of allotment of flats made at the same time under the general housing schemes had already culminated. The projects have been completed and the possession is on the verge of being offered. They added that the board had failed to sensitise itself to the needs of the people and to live up to the objectives sought to be attained by the CHB. They were made to suffer physically, mentally and financially.

"The case in hand is an excellent example of high-handedness of the bureaucracy, wherein a step-motherly attitude has been adopted by the Chandigarh Administration and Chandigarh Housing Board towards their employees, like the petitioners, who have devoted their lives serving the Administration," they çontended.

The petitioners added that directions be issued to the Administration and other respondents to implement the self-financing housing scheme, 2008, on a leasehold basis for 99 years for the employees of the Chandigarh Administration in true letter and spirit.

Chandigarh, October 11
The police today arrested a juvenile on a charge of robbing a security guard of cash and important documents on October 4.

Four robbers had attacked Satbir Singh a security guard at the GMCH, Sector 32, when he was going home on a bicycle. 

When he was about to reach Zirakpur, the robbers attacked him with a knife and snatched his wallet containing documents and cash. In the meantime, they attacked two other persons and took away their mobile phones and wallets.

The police recovered Satbir's wallet and documents.

The accused told the police that three more persons were involved in the crime. The police is on a lookout for the accused. The accused was presented in the juvenile court of Parvesh Singla. 

Chandigarh, October 11
The Sports Department, Chandigarh Administration, is organising the All-India Invitational Handball Tournament (women) from October 14 to 17 at the Synthetic Handball Court at Sports Complex, Sector 42, Chandigarh.

To be held under the aegis of the Handball Federation of India, there will be 8 teams participating in the tournament from different states. They will further be divided into Pool-A (Chandigarh, Haryana, Kerala, J&K) and Pool-B (Punjab, Delhi, UP and Chhattisgarh).

Home Secretary, Chandigarh Administration, will be the chief guest in the opening ceremony. The tournament will be declared open on October 14 at 5 pm and will conclude on October 17.

Patiala, October 11
Second Dussehra Cup Cricket Tournament will be organised by the Black Elephant Cricket Club from October 12 to 16 in the host ground and YPS, Patiala. The tournament will be played on league-cum-knock out basis and all the matches will of 50 overs.

Boys born as on 1 Jan 2000 or onwards and up to class VIII can take part in the tournament. Only eight team from Delhi, Haryana and Punjab have been shortlisted to participate in the tournament and teams have been divided in two pools. — TNS

Chandigarh, October 11
The recent controversy of “overage players” in the Chandigarh Football-Hockey Academy and lethargic approach of the UT Sports Department in handling such cases has finally woken up the top officials of the UT Administration. Sources informed that the UT Sports Secretary has marked an inquiry against Joint Director Sports UT Sports Department on the issue. The inquiry has been marked on a complaint by parents of a player, Barnala native, who raised question over the functioning of these state- run academies and favouritism policy adopted by the officials of the sports department.

Also, the parents have raised questions over the overage players selected in the hockey academy during past few years. According to sources, the inquiry will be handled by the SDM south, Kashish Mittal. — TNS