NEIGHBOURHOOD

School bus overturns

Kharar, March 19
The staff of Pine Grove School at Bassi Pathana, Fatehgarh Sahib, has a narrow escape when the schoolbus, carrying them overturned on Mohali-Kharar highway near Mundi Kharar, here today.

Around 10 teachers and a 10-year-old boy were in the bus. Kulwant Singh, the bus driver said he had given side to a car following which one of tyres of the vehicle went into a deep pothole.

The driver lost control over the vehicle and after hitting the railing of road divider, the bus overturned. Fortunately, all the passengers escaped unhurt. — TNS

Kalka, March 19
Bhagat Singh, who had contested as an Independent candidate from the Kalka constituency in 2009, was awarded a sentence of one year and fine of Rs 4,000 by the local court for offering money and liquor to attract voters during the elections.

The sentence was pronounced on Tuesday in the court of Amit Sahrawat, Sub-Judicial Magistrate, Kalka.

Notably, during the election campaign, on the complaint of Gafoor Mohammad, a resident of Islam Nagar village of Pinjore Block, the Pinjore police during the patrolling had recovered money from the procession of Bhagat Singh, son of Late Lachhman Singh, a former minister of Haryana.

A case was registered against Bhagat Singh, who tried to influence the voters by giving money and liquor in violation of code of conduct. The Court found him guilty for the commission of the offence punishable under Sections 171-E, 171-F and 188 of the IPC.

Chandigarh, March 19
Unidentified people have been booked for kidnapping a 24-year-old youth on his mother’s complaint at the Sector 36 police station.

Complaint Sarita Bansal, who hails from Dehradun, told the police her son, Vishal Bansal, had arrived in Chandigarh along with his friend Rishu Hinduja on March 11.

The two were reportedly staying at a hotel in Attawa village. On March 13, Vishal had informed Sarita that he would be returning by evening. His mobile phone had been switched off since then, the mother said.

Chandigarh, March 19
Some miscreants stole a laptop, wristwatch and camera from a car parked in parking of Fun Republic, Manimajra, on the intervening night of March 17 and 18.

Rishu in his complaint stated that he had gone to watch a movie. On returning back he found the driver side windowpane of the car was open and the valuable items were missing. — TNS

Chandigarh, March 19
Four special children, Akshit Kallia, Jatin Kashyap (of Bhavan Vidyalaya, Sector 27), Nancy and Priya (from SOREM- Society for Rehabilitation of Mentally Challenged Children) made the city proud, in the recently concluded National Athletics Meet for Mentally Challenged Children, held in New Delhi, from March 13 to 16. All the participants were selected for the national meet, on the basis of their previous performance. Among them, Akshit claimed maximum medals followed by Jatin, Nancy and Priya. Also, while teaming up, the same batch claimed a silver medal in the 4X100m relay race.

Akshit Kallia, were the best performers from Chandigarh, had won a silver medal in 800m walk and a bronze medal in 400m walk. Jatin Kashyap, won a silver medal in 200m race while Nancy claimed a bronze in 100m race. Priya, while participating in relay race claimed a silver medal, along with other team members. These children participated in different groups based on their IQ level. The team was accompanied by coaches Ravinder Singh and Madhu.

“These are our medals” said Nancy, whereas others replied to the queries, with a smug-smile. “They were well-prepared for the competition. They were punctual for practice and were keen to learn more. We have enjoyed our stay with these kids and also happy that they won medals. Their winning-smiles encouraged us every time,” said the coaches. Neelu Sarin, area director, Special Olympics Bharat Chapter, said “These kids performed really well and made the city proud. It’s tough to make them understand things. One can imagine their courage of participating and even winning, despite facing such a problem in life. They are real motivators for the society.” She also informed that the children’s performance, in this tournament, would help them in getting short listed for World International Athletics Meet for Mentally Challenged Children, scheduled to be held in June 2015, in Los Angeles, USA.

Chandigarh, March 19
After waiting for three years, the city cagers can officially use the basketball court of Sports Complex, Sector 7, which was under construction since 2011.

The UT Engineering Department has finally constructed the basketball court and will hand it over to the UT Sports Department, for its further use, after installing basket-boards. The local basketball players were facing a harrowing time in practicing on routine basis, as only one basketball court under the sports department at Sports Complex of Sector 46 was available to them. The basketball court at Sports Complex, Sector 7, was under constriction since long while the first indoor basketball of court, of City Beautiful, at Sports Complex, Sector 42, is still waiting to get over with final touch up.

“The construction work is almost over. The centre, already running at the DAV school due to construction work at the Sports Complex, Sector 7, will be shifted here and the players can enroll after the consent of the appointed coach. The players can practice on routine basis. And like other coaching centers, all the facilities will be provided,” said KS Bharti, district sports officer, UT Sports Department.

The court was under-construction for laying a synthetic- hard base, a new score board, basket-boards and flood lights. Due to lazy behaviour of the officials of the UT Engineering Department, the construction took three years. Many times, it was reported in same columns that the cagers have only one stadium to play and practice, here. An official of the UT Engineering Department asking anonymity said process of tenders for purchasing material was the main reason for the delay. “There are many reasons behind delay in construction however the process of allotting tenders for purchasing construction material was the major cause. Nevertheless, the court is handed over to the sports department and is tested under various conditions,” said the official. “We are ready to shift the centre to the newly constructed courts of Sector 7.

Mohali, March 19
Students of the Chandigarh Group of Colleges (CGC), Divyangi Barthwal and Tej Singh, were named as Best Athletes, in girls’ and boys’ category respectively, during the concluding day of 2nd Annual Sports Meet of the college, held today. Divyangi Barthwal was named as best female athlete with claiming first place in 100 m race, 50 m race and shot-put event while Tej Singh claimed the honour with bagging first position in long-jump and shot-put events.

Events including volleyball, basketball, table-tennis, badminton (men), badminton (women), track events comprised of 100m race, 50 m race (girls), three-legged race, long jump (boys) were held.

Chandigarh, March 19
PGIMER is going to organise “2014 Transplant Games” for recipients and donors of organ transplant on March 23 to motivate them to play sports. While over 200 persons have registered for the event, an array of games will be host such as cricket, badminton and lot more; there will be on the spot registration facility for some of the games. The participation is open for transplant recipients and donors.

The games are scheduled to be held at the Sports Ground (Near Advanced Cardiac centre), PGIMER Campus.

The spirit of the games is to encourage individuals to be involved in sports, and to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Many of the organ failure patients previously may not have been able to engage in any sort of sporting activity due to their illness. But the gift of organ donation enables these patients to maintain a normal life style and live their life to the fullest, said officials.

The principle aim of the games is to raise public awareness regarding the benefits of organ donation by demonstrating the health benefits that can be achieved through physical activities and sports after organ transplantation. Games will include cricket, 100m race, 400 m relay race, badminton, 400m walk, javelin throw, shot-put, carrom and cycling.

Chandigarh, March 19
The Chandigarh Cricket Association (CCA) affiliated to Punjab Cricket Association will conduct selection trails to shortlist local players for the non-residential cricket academy of boys (U-12 to14 years).

The trails will be conducted at the cricket grounds of Guru Nank Public School, Sector 36, on March 24 (12pm). According to the general secretary of the association, the players born on or after September 1, 2000 can participate in the trails.