62 cases of liquor seized
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 14 — In a major haul of smuggled liquor, a team of the Chandigarh traffic police , on a routine check near Dhanas village has nabbed a truck carrying 62 cases of Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) and country-made liquor.

Yesterday afternoon a party led by Inspector Karam Singh was on duty near Dhanas village when a truck (PB--11--H--4557) coming from Mullanpur stopped several yards away from the police party. The truck driver started reversing the vehicle . The Inspector got suspicious and went ahead to inspect the truck. He found that the front number plate of the truck had been deleted. Further checking revealed that 62 boxes had been loaded on to the truck.

The driver of the vehicle, Jasbir Singh of Ropar, could not produce any valid documents or permit for transportation of the liquor in his vehicle. The truck was detained, the liquor was seized and the driver was arrested.

Meanwhile, in a separate case a resident of Garhwal in Uttar Pradesh, Manoj Kumar, was arrested by the police while carrying 12 bottles of liquor.

Injured: An unidentified woman was seriously injured upon being hit by a Maruti Gypsy reportedly attached with the escort party of a senior Punjab Minister. Police sources confirmed that the woman had been hit by a gypsy in Sector 40. No arrests have been made but the vehicle had been identified. The woman was admitted to the PGI.

In a separate accident, Rahul of Mani Majra was injured when a scooter hit him while he was walking.

Stove burst: A resident of village Badheri, Geeta Devi, who was admitted to the PGI following burn injuries last night succumbed to her injuries this afternoon. She had been injured in a reported stove burst.

Arrested: A man has been arrested for allegedly trying to outrage the modesty of a Sector 11 based woman. Seema of Sector 11 alleged that Rajesh of Sector 41 forcibly entered her house and attempted to molest her. Rajesh was arrested and booked under Sections 452 and 354.

Caught: Jasbir Singh, of Sector 36 , allegedly caught Sunil Kumar red-handed while stealing a vacuum cleaner and six cassettes from his house. Sunil was arrested and booked under Sections 454, 380 and 411 of the IPC.

Car stolen: A Maruti car (CHK-2063) owned by Mr Surinder Pahuja of Sector 16, Panchkula, was stolen from the Sector 17 market, here today.

Manpreet disappoints

CHANDIGARH, April 14 — Celebrations are an expression of joy Commemorating 300 years of Khalsa, the U.T. Administration and the N.Z.C.C. have also jumped into the fray having jointly organised a three-day-long cultural programme.

On the second day of the programme, it was a disaster all the way. To begin with there was hardly any audience, the singer Manpreet Akhtar came to perform in a glaringly empty auditorium. Once the music began it was only a deafening noise, it was hard to segregate music from this noise. The orchestra resembled a cheap marriage band, out of harmony, and a young lad kept bashing up the drums. To top it all the synthesizer player was in his pajamas and slipper. Celebration of this magnitude would be better, if the organisers kept in mind the bare minimum decorum to be observed in a stage performance.

The singer chose to sing the famous composition of Guru Gobind Singh ‘Deh Shiva Var Mohe De’, the emotion of the lyric and the style of presentation were moving in diverse directions. She followed with another composition of the Guru, ‘Guru Baja Wale Nu’ without modifying her tone or style. She also sang a few popular Sufi compositions and Punjabi folk songs. Despite a full throated voice, the performance failed to impress.

The evening was a total disaster.

— Vandana Shukla

Prices of uniforms stable
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 14 — Parents of school-going children can take it a little easy on their household budgets as prices of school uniforms have not registered any increase this year. However, with certain schools asking students to make purchases from certain specified shops and stalls within the school, harried parents often land up paying 10 per cent 20 per cent more than in the open market.

A visit to some of the shops dealing with school uniforms in Sectors 17 and 22 revealed that prices of uniform vary from shop to shop depending on the quality of clothing used. Mr Nilabh Jain, owner of a popular shop in Sector 17, explained that since the price of cloth had not shown any increase, the prices of all uniform items had remained stable during the past one year.

For instance a good quality shirt with 67 per cent cotton is priced between Rs 70 to Rs 160 depending on the size in two popular uniform shops in Sectors 17 and 22. But shirts in century cloth, which have more acrylic material, are available for anything between Rs 55 and Rs 110. Mr Jain revealed that parent whose wards were studying in good convent and public schools normally went in for good quality shirts as they knew it was for regular daily use.

The prices of shorts, which are normally prescribed by schools till Classes V or VI vary between Rs 80 and Rs 110 in some of the leading shops due to the quality of the suiting used. In certain other shops the prices vary between Rs 70 and Rs 105. The price range of trousers which are stitched in matty cloth vary between Rs 150 and Rs 260 and the others stitched in cotton vary between Rs 110 and Rs 220 depending on the size.

The prices of skirts and tunics for the girl students vary between Rs 100 and Rs 250. While the price range of skirts is between Rs 100 and Rs 180, those of tunics vary between Rs 110 and Rs 250. Mr V.V Seth, owner of a uniform shop in Sector 22 , said that `` we charge Rs 10 to Rs 15 extra for putting embroidered school badges on the shirt or the tunic. In cases, where due to non-availability of a particular size we supply the uniform on order, we charge a little extra for the cloth and stitching,'' he added. Even though the emphasis is constantly improving the quality of clothing, prices have not been increased for the past two to three years.

Even the price of a small item like a pair of cotton socks varies between Rs 22 and Rs 30 in different shops. While those in the small sizes are priced between Rs 20 and Rs 27, those in large sizes with long legs are priced between Rs 27 and Rs 30. Cotton socks which have an inner of cotton and double elastic is the current choice of parents.

Similarly, the price of school ties varies between Rs 10 and Rs 20, the belts are priced between Rs 15 and 20. Mr V.V Seth maintained that school directives regarding authorisation of certain shops for uniforms was only to ensure uniformity and to facilitate parents to purchase everything from one place. In fact, most of the shopkeepers were of the view that "we do get in touch with schools only to know their demand so that we are in a position to cater to their exact requirement and stock ".

On the other hand, Mr Pramod Sharma, a shop owner in Sector 22 catering mostly to the government schools in the city, lamented that shops having ``connections'' with elite schools start drawing buyers even before the results are out and even as their prices were slightly on the higher side.

Sources further point out that in some cases, huge amounts are paid as commissions to get their shop approved from a particular school. The leading shops, which cater to a majority of elite schools in the city deny paying any commission and attribute their popularity to quality and better customer service.