Panchkula, April 15
A youth was awarded imprisonment of five-year under kidnapping charges while he was acquitted under the Sections 376 (rape), 366-A of the IPC and Section-4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POSCO).

The court, reportedly, also pointed out loopholes in the investigations of the police which led to acquittal under various sections.

Defense counsel Ajay Kaushik said, “There were so many contradictions in the statements of the investigating officer and the other police officials. While one said that the accused fled from the spot, the other said that he was arrested at the spot.”

Panchkula, April 15
A brawl over parking turned ugly when a few youths thrashed and pointed a pistol at a neighbour and his friends who parked their car in front of the former’s house in Sector 21 here.

According to the police, Sonu, who owns a shop in the Mansa Devi Complex, had gone to meet two of his friends who were putting up at a rented accommodation in Sector 21.

“While Sonu and his two friends parked the car outside the house of their neighbour, who were also youths, the latter called them out of their house. Both groups exchanged heated arguments,” said a police official.

“The brawl turned so ugly that one of the youths took out a pistol and pointed it at Sonu. Sonu and his two friends were also beaten up badly. They have also suffered injuries on their head,” said the official.

Till the filing of the report, the police was recording the statements of the victims.

Chandigarh, April 15
Mohali team went on to hammer 593 runs against Amritsar, on the first day of ML Markan Trophy match for boys (U-16), today. Openers Shubman Gill and Nirmal Singh smashed 587 runs for the first wicket. Skipper Shubman Gill in the company of Nirmal Singh went on to blast the Amritsar bowling attack. Shubman Gill reached his triple-century in just 272 balls studded with 49 boundaries and 2 sixes and scored 356. While other opener Nirmal Singh remained unbeaten on 231 off 335 balls inclusive of 32 boundaries. This was the highest opening partnership recorded for Punjab any age group competition. Mohali were 593 for 1 in 112 overs at close of first day play. For bowling side, Amit Sharma claimed 1 for 55.

In another match, batting line-up of Chandigarh team collapsed on a low scoring total against the Jalandhar team. Batting first, the Chandigarh team was bowled out for 177 in 80.1 overs. Talveen Singh scored unbeaten knock of 57 runs inclusive of 10 boundaries. Mandeep Singh Mann was the other noticeable scorer, scoring essential 29 runs contribution with three boundaries. For Jalandhar, Kulwinder Singh hogged the limelight claiming 5 for 40 while Prerit Dutta took 2 for 52. In reply, Jalandhar scored 19 runs in 12 overs, at the close of first day’s play.

In the third match, Ropar side posted 253 runs, till the end of first day play, against Patiala. Ishan Goel and Gagan Verma put on 75 runs for the first wicket in 32.2 overs before Ishan was ousted by Abhishek Verma for 30 runs. Resham Sharma 55 off 48 balls and Navpreet Singh 51 off 128 balls were the other notable contributors. For Patiala, Abhishek Verma claimed 3 for 44.

Chandigarh, April 15
Cricket club Live Wire Coaching Centre (LWCC) won the Corruption-Free India Cup, a T-20 cricket tournament, concluded here. In the final of the championship, the team defeated Lanmark Publicity by 61 runs.

Chandigarh, April 15
The announcement to organise much awaited annual athletics meet, in the month of April by the UT Education department, seems to have vanished in the air.The annual feature of the UT Education Department was earlier postponed thrice till April 15 but with yet another postponement, it seems that the officials are in no mood to organise the competition. The prestigious competition was scheduled to be held in January 2014, as per the annual sports calendar of May 2013. However, it was postponed till February 15 due to non-availability of grounds the officials further delayed it to April 15. But no development was announced today. According to a source, no intimation or plan of action has been sent to DPI (Director Public Instructions) office for approval.

According to sources in the DEO (District Education Officer), the step to relive the officials of sports branch to their respective parent school, has affected in announcing the new dates of the annual athletics meet. “The officials were asked to perform their duty regarding ‘sports branch’ after their school hours. But it hardly matters now as many officials are busy checking paper and other important tasks,” said a source.

The delay in organising the meet has led to the harassment of local athletes. The annual athletics meet is believed to be the platform, to win laurels for respective schools in individual category. Points attained in the meet help the respective school to win the overall trophy. But unaware of the hard work, performed by the athletes for competing in the annual athletics meet, the education department is turning a blind eye. “It was for the fourth time, in four months, that the annual athletics meet has been delayed. And, this time, without any announcement of new dates. Maintaining fitness level for such competitions is a hard thing to do but officials sitting on decision-making chairs seems to unaware of the ground reality. Now the summers are back, we have to be more cautious in adapting to the climate and perform.

The event is under annual feature of the UT Education Department’s sports calendar but it’s an apathy that they fail to keep the momentum,” said Sahil Bhatra, a local athlete.

Chandigarh, April 15
Chandigarh North and South Districts Athletics Championship will be held at the Athletics Stadium, Sector 7, Chandigarh, on April 18. The competition will be held in age categories of under-14 and 16 years for boys and girls. Students or residents of sectors up to 25 for North District and students or residents from the Sectors 26 onwards, will be eligible to take part in the competition.

The entries will be accepted on the spot and the athletes must produce original date of birth certificates and residence proof. During the Chandigarh North and South District Athletics Championship, teams will be selected for the 12th National Inter-District Championship, to be held at Haridwar, from April 25 to 27. The trials to select the Chandigarh junior team for the Federation Cup National Junior Athletics Championship will also be held at the same venue and date 3:30 pm onwards.