Two-day heritage fest gets going at Pinjore gardens
Our Correspondent

Kalka, November 30
The two-day 8th Pinjore Heritage Festival organised by the Department of Haryana Tourism began at the Pinjore gardens this evening. Chakrvrty Sharma, chairman, Haryana Tourism, inaugurated the festival. Lauding the efforts of the Haryana Tourism for popularising the state’s heritage, he stated that such festivals go a long way in promoting culture and sensitising youth to their cultural roots.

The inaugural day of the festival saw a large number of visitors from Chandigarh, Panchkula, Mohali and its surrounding areas besides from various parts of Himachal Pradesh.

Children were excited about various competitions organised on the occasion, including face painting, henna and group dance. A team from Government Girls Senior School, Barwala, won the group dance competition. Mehak Bakshi of Hansraj Public School, Sector 6, Panchkula, won the solo dance contest in the 4-8 years age-group while Vaishali of Noble High School, Pinjore, bagged the top position in the 9-14 years category.

About 400 differently abled students from across the state were allowed free entry, who also presented a cultural programme. Folk dance and other cultural items presented by school students regaled the visitors.

‘Brij ki Holi’ and Haryanavi dance were performed by artistes from the Northern Central Zone Cultural Centre (NCZCC), Allahabad, and the National Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC), Patiala, respectively.

Craftsmen from across the country showcased their products. The Anarkali bazaar, a reminiscent of the Mughal era set up at the venue, was a crowd-puller. Another attraction of the festival was a food court where students from the state Institutes of hotel management from Rohtak, Panipat, Kurukshetra and Faridabad rustled up spicy, mouth-watering treats for visitors.

The evening also saw performances by renowned classical vocalists Rajan and Sajan Misra of Banaras Gharana, who made the evening memorable for the audience by rendering various classical Ragas. Kathak artistes from the Rashtriya Kathak Sansthan, Lucknow, also performed. 

Kids’ carnival at Dera Bassi

Dera Bassi, November 30
A two-day kids’ carnival organised by one of the North India’s major and exclusive furniture brands, Glass Palace, started here on Saturday at the Palm Valley Lawns and Banquets, Dera Bassi (Punjab).

‘My World of Mythology’is the central theme of the event. Around 150 schools took part in it. The event started with ‘Ganesh vandana’. On the first day of the carnival, a fancy dress competition for the children in the age group of 3 to 6 years and a story telling competition for the children in the age group of 7 to 9 years were held. Also, a drawing competition for the children in the 7 to 12 years age-group was also organised.

Meanwhile, Vikram Gupta, director, Glass Palace, said the ninth edition of the carnival was fully dedicated to children.

Mouth watering food stalls and various fun games are among the main attractions of the event. — OC

HC upholds relief to house owner
Saurabh Malik
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 30
Virtually admonishing the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority for demolishing a regularised house in Kansal village, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has upheld the orders of the payment of compensation to the owner.

A Division Bench of the High Court has also ruled that the house owner could not be penalised for the mistake of PUDA officials. The ruling by the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Augustine George Masih came on a petition filed by PUDA against Baldev Raj and another respondent.

Baldev Singh had approached the Punjab Human Rights Commission after the demolition of his house in Kansal village on the plea that the government had decided to regularise the houses constructed till December 9, 1998.

He told the commission that his house was demolished by PUDA staff on June 23, 1999, despite the regularisation decision. Alleging undue harassment and loss, he had added that some household goods lying in the house were damaged when it was demolished in his absence.

In its defence, PUDA produced aerial surveys to show that only a boundary wall and a small structure stood on the disputed plot as on March 27, 1998. The commission, on the other hand, asserted that the cut-off date for exemption of the houses from the provisions of Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control Act was March 31, 1998.

It added that the construction carried out by the complainant stood exempted and awarded Rs 35,000 as damages for demolition of construction on the basis of bills submitted. Taking up the matter, the Bench asserted: "We fail to appreciate as to how while checking the menace of unauthorised construction, the construction which is protected on account of the own acts of the petitioner could have been demolished." Even assuming that it was a mistake, Baldev Raj should not suffer as a consequence thereof which may have occurred on account of the own acts of PUDA officers. The compensation is also not very large which could be said to be disproportionate to the damage done especially when it is based on the documentary evidence. Dismissing the petition, the Bench ruled: "We are, thus, not inclined to entertain the petition, though we are inclined to leave the larger question open as to the jurisdiction of the Punjab Human Rights Commission to go into this aspect."

Samjhauta Blast case
Court rejects Swami Aseemanand’s bail plea
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, November 30
In the Samjhauta blast case, the court today rejected the bail plea of Swami Aseemanand here today. In his bail plea, Aseemanand had stated that already four agencies have investigated the case and he was nowhere involved in the matter.

It may be mentioned that on November 19, 2011, Swami Aseemanand, a member of right-wing Hindu group ‘Abhinav Bharat’, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from Haridwar in Uttarakhand for his alleged role in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad in which 14 persons were killed.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had questioned Aseemanand about his role in the Samjhauta Express blasts on Feburary 18, 2007, at Diwana village in Panipat, 160 km from here. The bombing took place in two bogies of the Samjhauta Express, a train between India and Pakistan.

The train was going from Delhi to Attari, the last station on the Indian side. The passengers were scheduled to board the train to Lahore in Pakistan the next day (February 19).

City golfer clinches 2 national titles
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 30
Local golfer Vasundhara Thiara attained No. 1 ranking in the D category in the Indian Golf Union circuit with bagging two back-to-back titles. She won both national tournaments concluded recently at Tollygunge Club, Kolkata, and Bombay Presidency Golf Club, Mumbai.

She kept her lead on both days and won the tournament with a margin of 11 and nine strokes, respectively. Vasundhara played against the top players of the West, South and East India zones. She hit a lot of quality shots and kept her lead on all days of the tournament to emerge as a clear winner. She played five qualifying tournaments as part of the North India feeder tour and won five of them. Vasundhara stated that it feels good to be at the top spot.

She will now focus on international tournaments. She has qualified to play the US kids European Championship in Scotland and a world championship in North Carolina. She will also be playing the Callaway World Championship in the US, along with a few other prestigious tournaments in the Asia.

“This has been an exceptional year for me. I have won all tournaments in which I had participated. I am ranked No. 3 in Europe and No. 17 in the world in the US Kids Tour and I hope to improve my good form and better play next year, she said.

Coaches Jesse Grewal and Irina Singh, who have a lot of confidence in her mature play, applauded the golfer’s ability to win the competitions at the right time.

Badminton Meet
Air India boys win title
Tribune News Service