The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

CRIME

Surveillance team seizes Rs 9.27 lakh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 30
A static surveillance team headed by Parveen Mittal, Executive Magistrate, along with SI Jai Singh recovered Rs 9.27 lakh from different persons at a check point set up on the road from Zirakpur to Airport light point here.

Cash amounting to Rs 5.50 lakh was recovered from the car (DL-3CBV-5529) driven by SK Vashist, a resident of Faridabad, Haryana.

In another case, cash amounting to Rs 1.20 lakh was recovered from the driver of Indica car (DL-3CAX-2540), identified as Rajendra Kumar of New Delhi.

Rs 90,000 in cash was recovered from Gurpreet Kaur and Gurinderjit Kaur, the occupants of a Verna car. Further, the team recovered Rs 90,000 from the car (HP-11-7316) driven by Pawan Rajput of Sector 49, Chandigarh. In yet another case, Rs 77,000 were recovered from the driver of a Swift car (HR-12L-8853), identified as Sanjay Gulati of Rohtak, Haryana.

22-year-old dies in road accident
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, March 30
A 22-year-old youth died while another sustained serious injuries when their motorcycle rammed into a divider near Surajpur here in the wee hours today.

The deceased has been identified as Satish Yadav. Both of them were rushed to the Kalka Civil Hospital.

Yadav was declared brought dead at the hospital, while his friend, Manjit, was admitted to the emergency ward.

The police said both of them were not wearing helmets. Yadav was driving the vehicle.

The duo was on their way to Chandigarh. Yadav hailed from Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh and was working with a private firm in Baddi.

The body of the deceased was handed over to the family after a post-mortem examination.

SPORTS

DAV-8, HBCC-42 clinch handball titles
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 30
Senior mens’ team of Coaching Club DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, and womens’ team of Handball Coaching Centre (HBCC), Sector 42, defeated their respective opponents to lift the title of the State Handball Championship for senior men and women. The championship concluded at the handball courts of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 23, here today.

In the final of mens’ category, Coaching Centre DAV Senior Secondary School defeated Coaching Club DAV-8 (B), 40-38. The winning side registered a marginal victory. The score was locked at 20-20 till the lemon break. Manavpreet Singh contributed the lion’s share and pumped in 15 goals, while Sunil followed him and contributed 10 goals to lead the team to the path of victory. Sachin with 8 goals remained the other noticeable scorer for his team.

For the losing side, Deepak (10 goals), Sahil (8 goals) and Surinder (6 goals) reduced the defeat margin.

In the hard line match under the same category, GNKSS-30 beat Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 23, 20-18, and finished third in the tournament.

In the womens’ category, HBCC lifted the title after defeating Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 23, 24-22. Jyoti (8 goals), Deepa (2 goals) and Veena (2 goals) contributed a major share in team’s win.

For losing side, Nancy (6 goals), Kavita (5 goals), Kusum (4 goals) were the main scorers. DAV School, Sector 8, beat Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 19, 19-18, and attained the third spot in the championship. For winning side, Alisa (6 goals) and Madhu (5 goals) hogged the limelight, while Ayushi (3 goals), Sushmita (7 goals) and Jyoti (4 goals) scored for the losing side.

Results

Semifinals: Junior boys-GMSSS-23 beat GNKSSS-30, 25-23 (Winning side-Tarun 8 goals, Sandeep 4 goals; Losing side-Gurinder-7 goals, Ajay-3 goals), DAV SSSS-8 beat HBCC-42, 28-17 (Winning side-Barjesh 8 goals, Sahil 7 goals; Losing side-Sonu 6 goals, Vijender 5).

Harbhajan to lead team in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 30
Punjab’s regular skipper Harbhajan Singh will lead the side in the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The tournament is expected to begin from April 1 at the cricket stadiums of the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA), Mohali, and at Sector 16, here.

Mandeep Singh has been appointed as the deputy by the Punjab Senior Selection Committee, today. Last year’s runners-up will face Haryana in the first match at the PCA Stadium, Mohali.

In their next matches, Punjab will face Himachal (April 2), DDCA (April 3), Services (April 4) and Jammu and Kashmir (April 5).

The North Zone T-20 League will be hosted by the Punjab Cricket Association.

Team members

Harbhajan Singh, Mandeep Singh, Manan Vohra, Ravi Inder Singh, Gurkirat Singh, Gitansh Khera, Manpreet Grewal, Siddharth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma, Rahul Sharma, Gurinder Singh, Taruwar Kohli, Himanshu Chawla, Mayank Sidana, Jeevanjot Singh, Sharad Lumba

Landmark Publicity script victory by 7 wickets in quarterfinal tie
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 30
Landmark Publicity, Chandigarh, defeated NH Housing and Infrastructure Limited by 7 wickets in a quarterfinal match of the Corruption Free India Cup at Divya Public School, Sector 44, here today.

Putting to bat first, the losing side bundled out on a mere total of 62 runs in 12.2 overs. Madan Mohan Joshi (21 runs) and Mohd Aarif (18 runs) opened the team’s innings and scored most of the runs for the team. The duo put in 33 runs for the first wicket. Joshi fell was caught out by Luvpreet. Rajbir then scored 18 runs.

For bowling side, Manpreet (two for 15 runs) and Siddhartha Bakshi (two for 22 runs) were the successful bowlers for Landmark Publicity.

In reply, the winning side chased down the target easily with Nitin Ranga (33 runs) and Pranav (16 runs) guiding the team to the path of victory.

Nitin Ranga of Landmark Publicity was adjudged player of the match.

Brief score

NH Housing and Infrastructure Limited-62 runs all out in 12.2 overs (Madan Mohan Joshi 21, Rajbir 18, Aarif 12 runs, Rahul four for 3 runs, Manpreet two for 15 runs, Siddharth Bakshi two for 22 runs).

Landmark Publicity-63 runs for 3 in 12.1 overs (Nitin Ranga 33, Pranav 16 not out, Mohd Aarif two for 11 runs).

No end to hockey academy’s rendezvous with bloopers
Now, players found playing under a forged team name during a recently held hockey championship
Deepankar Sharda
Tribune News Service

Hockey players being taken to the Sector 46 sports stadium from Sector 42, Chandigarh. Tribune photo: Parvesh Chauhan

Chandigarh, March 30
In yet another revelation, the lethargic approach of officials of the Chandigarh Hockey Academy (CHA), appointed to supervise the management of the academy, has come forward. During a recently held championship, players of the academy were caught playing under a forged team name and if this was not enough, players were found playing under the supervision of a trainee’s parent.

According to the list of team members submitted by the CHA management during the recently concluded hockey tournament for Mata Parkash Kaur Cup, Satwant Singh has been appointed the new coach of the CHA. Notably, Satwant Singh is a parent of a trainee, who was a part of the playing team. He had supervised the entire match of the academy in absence of a regular coach. Satwant is believed to be a coach of a senior club team in Kapurthala. It was learnt that Satwant’s son (jersey No. 10) was given the charge of the team. The team, however, lost their match against BSNV School, Lucknow.

It was also learnt that players of the academy played under the banner of Government Model School, Chandigarh. No specific sector was mentioned. Interestingly, the senior batch of the CHA is enrolled in Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 37, while the junior batch studies in Government Model High School, Sector 42. The senior batch of the academy had played in the hockey tournament for Mata Parkash Kaur Cup.

There are around 15 Government Model Schools in Chandigarh.

“I will do whatever I feel like,” said BS Randhawa.

Randhawa further told the reporter to do the story in whichever way he wants.

It is worth mentioning that against Randhawa’s name, Satwant Singh had signed the team’s list, documents of which are with The Tribune team.

Incompetence or ignorance?

Such incidents (appeared in the same columns) have revealed the non-serious approach of officials, who have been appointed to run the Chandigarh Hockey Academy. As per the sources, the academies are being run under the supervision of handful of officials, under the name of ‘competent authority’. However, the ‘competent authority’ (Secretary Sports and Advisor to Administrator) remains unaware of the actual ground reality. Earlier, it was reported that players from outside the academy were representing the institution without the knowledge of top officials. The laidback approach of office-bearers was also reported in the same columns, when the institution had allowed overage players to hold scholarships in the same academy. On finding themselves in dock, the authorities allegedly cut down the seven years contract of the players to six years. The top officials of the UT Sports Department, have however, chosen to remain mum in these matters.

No reaction to inaction?

The authorities have failed to take any action against the tainted management and their supervisors, so far. According to sources, the coach has been asked to submit a written explanation over the issue. The department is being run in an unprofessional manner with managements enjoying a free-hand. Notably, the officiating members of UT Sports Department have decided to continue running the management with the tainted officials, under the selection committee, for induction of the new batch of the academy.

Past records

Some of the players of the Chandigarh Football Academy have left the institute, breaching their seven years contract, due to the poor condition of these academies. Nothing has been done in this regard so far. Excuse- We are here for producing good, efficient players. If players get a more rewarding offer, they should definitely grab the opportunity without any delay.

In an inquiry submitted by the SDM South, it was mentioned that the post of the Joint Director, Sports, was critical to manage the affairs of the academy. However, in the light of the findings, it was recommended that the Joint Director must perform in such situation, by shunning the self-centered approach. Reward- Facts of the report were ignored and one-year extension was given to the office-bearer.

In the same inquiry report, questions were raised over the issue of age determination, uplifting the diminishing morale of the coaches at the academy, maintaining proper hygiene in the hostel of players and purchasing kits as per the needs and sizes of the players. Action- No action has been taken in this regard yet.

Players of hockey academy were found overage after the age verification medical check-up for over three times. Action- Only a few players were chucked out of the academy, while favorite ones were saved. The contract was, however, reduced from seven years to six years leaving the players in lurch.

Some officials opted to close down Chandigarh Cricket Academy (CCA). The project was, however, dropped soon after the story appeared in the same columns. Reason- Clash of interests of top officials.