2 held for prostitution
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 31 — The police today arrested two residents of the city on charges of prostitution.

According to the police, 30-year-old Laddi and her companion, 21-year-old Sangeeta, both residents of Maloya colony, used to go about in the city soliciting customers. They had reportedly been active for many years. Today they were apprehended by a police party from the Sector 36 police station when the were soliciting customers on the road facing the new S.A.S. Nagar roundabout.

On interrogation, they revealed that they used to solicit customers and would also undertake to arrange for “other girls.”

A case under Section 4\5\7\8, Suppression of Immoral Trafficking Act, has been registered at the police station.

Two injured: Two persons were injured in two separate cases in the city on Saturday. Rajesh Kumar, a resident of Milk Colony in Dhanas, was injured in an accident between a scooter and a cycle here. In another case, Pooja, a student of Senior Secondary School, Sector 23, was injured after she fell from the boundary wall of the school. Arrested

The police have arrested the owner of a guest house in Sector 36 for allowing drinking and serving of liquor on the guest house premises.

Jatinder Mohan, the owner of the guest house, and his guests — Ashwani Dass, Navin, Om Parkash and Bhajan Singh — have been arrested and a case registered under Section 61-1-14 of the Excise Act.

In another incident, Rajinder Singh, a resident of Maloya Colony has been arrested for possessing 70 pouches of illicit liquor. A case has been registered under Section 61-1-14 of the Excise Act.

Booked: Balwant Singh and Surinder Kumar, residents of Janta colony were arrested in front of Batra cinema for selling tickets at a premium.

Cases under Section 7\C of the Punjab Cinema Act, have been registered against them at the Sector 39 police station.

14 held: As many as 14 persons have been arrested under various offences in the city.

Four persons have been arrested under Section 41(2)\109, Cr PC, for roaming under suspicious circumstances.

Six persons have been arrested for creating nuisance under the influence of liquor at a public place. A case under Section 34-5-61, Police Act, has been registered. Four persons have been taken into preventive custody.

Assault case: Mr Surinder Singh, a resident of Motor Market, Manimajra reported to the police that he was assaulted by Biri, a resident of the same locality and some unknown persons.

A case under Section 325\34, IPC, has been registered at the Manimajra police station.

KHARAR

One murdered: One person Mr Santokh Singh was murdered in Parol village of Kharar subdivision on the night of July 29. According to the police, Santokh Singh was murdered by four persons at about 9.30 p.m. at his residence with some sharp-edged weapons. The Kurali police has registered a case under Section 302, IPC, against Sadhu Singh, Jagdeep Singh, Jaspal Singh and Balwinder Singh.

PANCHKULA

Two killed: Two persons have died in two separate accidents in the district in the last 48 hours.

Sanjeev Kumar, a resident of Sector 16, who was driving a scooter, died after his vehicle was hit by a tractor-trolley near Fun City, Ramgarh, here this evening.

In another case, a cyclist, Sunil Kumar, a resident of Haripur village in Raipur Rani, died after being hit by a Haryana Roadways bus near Khari village in Raipur Rani. The Raipur Rani police has registered a case against the bus driver under Sections 279 and 304-A of the IPC.

SAS NAGAR

Labourer killed: A labourer was killed after he was hit by a truck near PTL chowk here on Saturday.

According to the police, Ganesh, hailing from Kala Patti village in Madhuban district of Bihar, was crushed to death when a truck hit his bicycle. The driver of the truck fled from the scene. A case under Section 279 and 304 of the IPC was registered against the driver of the truck.

A play woven around food
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 31— What happens when theatre uses hot ‘jalebis’ and ‘pakodas’, and even feeds these to the audience, and also ‘besan’ along with pomegranates and papayas to weave a story? This is what Neelam Mann Singh’s latest Punjabi play, ‘Kitchen Katha’ is all about, a play woven around food, and a play which would now be worked into a film by Bollywood director Govind Nihalani.

‘Kitchen Katha’ would incidentally be Nihalani’s latest production, now that his film ‘Takshak’ has been completed. The script of the play, which has been written by well-known Punjabi poet, Surjit Pattar, who has written for most of Neelam’s productions, is now being planned along with Deepa Mehta, of the ‘Fire’ fame. The music of the film plans to rope in both B. V. Karanth, who has also provided music for this play, along with A R Rehman. In fact, even the cast of the film would remain the same, which would have Neelam’s troupe, ‘The Company’ playing the main leads.

The script of the play, an original script penned by Pattar, has been inspired by ‘Like Water for Chocolate; a popular book written by a Latin-American writer. “The play was commissioned by LIFT, London, and the book acted as a catalyst. But since I could not make it to London to perform the play, I opened the play at Bangalore at the National Festival Theatre this year”.

The protagonist of the play is Ramandeep, who was last seen even on the 35mm, in a cameo role in Deepa Mehta’s ‘Fire’. The ‘naqqals’ of ‘The Company’ also feature in ‘Kitchen Katha’ as the kitchen hands, who sing and toss around ‘roomali rotis’ throughout the play. ‘Tar Dey Kadahai’ and ‘Alu Kat, Gobi Kat’, songs based on kitchen recipes, feature in the play!

But was working with an original script, a response to the critics who always alleged that Neelam is always working with the translated works “of mainly the European dramatists”? “I do not even want to respond to that, because my critics have always stopped at this allegation, without really evaluating even the aesthetics of my play. But yesterday I certainly could not have done a ‘Fida’ or a ‘Yerma’ yesterday. When I found that passion was running out of my life, I did ‘Fida’, and then came a time when I thought I had to eat less. Of course eventually I became hooked to food, because conciously I was telling myself that I needed to eat less. So out came, the ‘Kitchen Katha’”.

While talking about her latest play, Neelam also added that for the last three or four years she had been wanting to do something between women and food. “I have in fact used the vegetables as vegetables, fruits as fruits, and then as metaphors. Like the squeezing of the pomegranate has been used in this play to show de-flowerment. Then ‘besan’ has been used not only to make ‘pakodas’, the protagonist also applies it all over her body to beautify herself”.

Chandigarh theatre lovers would obviously recall Maya Rao’s productions last year in the city, in which she had used cold-coffee and water-melon! Said Neelam, “When I was invited to London to perform on the stage, it was to perform along side two other women, who would also ‘play’ with food. So sometimes it is like the wind blowing that has to touch everything and everybody.

Which is why, one could think of many women in theatre yesterday using food as a metaphor on stage. Food in my play has been used as erotica, as a ritual or simply as feelings. With beautiful metaphors like a woman being likened to a betel leaf, which releases fragrance only when it is rubbed or the body being like a dough, she said it was natural for women to turn to the kitchen to sometimes find their own language.

Vegetable prices increase
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 31— A number of commonly used vegetables have become costlier in the local market during the past two days.

During a survey of the local market, it was found that vegetables, particularly those coming from Himachal Pradesh, have become costlier, mainly due to the rain affecting arrivals in the local market.

A kg of cauliflower, priced at Rs 30 just two days ago, was selling at Rs 40 in different sector markets today. The wholesale price of the vegetable has jumped from Rs 130 to Rs 170 per 5 kg. According to traders the arrivals of the vegetable in the market were virtually nil during this period. There was no change in the price of cabbage as it could still be purchased for Rs 16 a kg in retail and for Rs 60 per 5 kg in the wholesale market.

Carrot was another vegetable the price of which registered a big rise during this period. A kg of the vegetable, priced at Rs 30 just two days ago, could be had today for Rs 48. The wholesale price of the vegetable increased from Rs 120 to Rs 200 per 5 kg.

Cucumber has also gone the same way. A kg of the vegetable, priced at Rs 16 just two days back, could be had today for Rs 20. The wholesale price of the vegetable has increased from Rs 60 to Rs 80 per 5 kg. The same was the case with brinjal as a kg of it, priced at Rs 16 yesterday, was available today for Rs 20. In the wholesale market, the price of the vegetable jumped from Rs 60 to Rs 80 per 5 kg due to low arrivals from parts of Punjab.

The price of squashgourd has also jumped during this period. A kg of the vegetable, which could be purchased for Rs 24 just two days back, was available today for Rs 32. The wholesale price of the vegetable has increased from Rs 100 to Rs 120 per 5 kg.

The increase was considerable in the case of capsicum. A kg of the vegetable, priced at Rs 24 two days back, could be purchased today for Rs 32. The wholesale price of the vegetable has increased from Rs 100 to Rs 130 per 5 kg. Peas, too, have become costly as the price of a kg of the vegetable has increased from Rs 30 to Rs 40 in retail and from Rs 130 to Rs 170 per 5 kg in the wholesale market.

The only vegetable to witness a drop in price was beans. A kg of the vegetable priced at Rs 24 two days back, could be purchased today for Rs 20.

There was no change in the price of a number of vegetables, including tomato and lady's finger as a kg if these could be had for Rs 20 in retail and for Rs 75 per 5 kg in the wholesale market. Onions and potatoes were priced at Rs 10 a kg and Rs 5 a kg, respectively.

Sub-jr soccer begins
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 31 — As many as seven matches were played on the opening day of the Chandigarh State Sub-Junior (under-16) Football Championship here today.

The tournament was inaugurated by Mr Ravinder Talwar, President of the Chandigarh Football Association. A total of 24 teams are taking part in the championship.

The inaugural match was played between Government Model High School, Sector 28, and City Club.

City Club beat Government Model High School-28, 3-2 in tie-breaker after both teams were locked in a 1-1 draw at the end of the stipulated time.

In the second match, The Tribune Model School, Sector 29, beat Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 33, 3-1. Right striker Ranjit scored two quick goals for The Tribune boys in the 12th and 20th minutes. Left wing Ajay scored the third goal for the team in the 36th minute.

In the third match, DAV Model School, Sector 15, beat MDAV High School, Sector 22, 5-4 in a tie-breaker. Both teams failed to score any goal in the stipulated period.

St Xavier's Senior Secondary School, Sector 44, beat Guru Nanak Khalsa Senior Secondary School, Sector 29, 3-0. Right-striker Bhupinder of Xavier's boys opened the account for his team in the sixth minute with a solo effort. He was fallowed by his teammate left-half Peter who scored the second goal in the 10th minute with a powerful shot. Bhupinder added the third goal in the 40th minute with a solo effort after dribbling past two defeaders.

Royal Greater Club beat DAV Public School, Sector 8, by a solitary goal. The important goal for Royal Greater was scored by Sukhbir in the dying minutes.

Blue Star Team, consisting of young players of government schools, beat Manav Mangal School, Sector 21, by three goals to nil.

Right striker Narinder Thapa scored two quick goals in the 10th and 15th minutes of the first half. In the second half, Jatinder scored the third goal. On Sunday, the matches will start at 8 a.m.

TT tourney

Manav Mangal School, with the cooperation of the Chandigarh Table Tennis Association will organise the Manav Mangal Open Table Tennis Tournament at Table Tennis Hall, Sector 23, from August 12 to 14.

In the tournament, competitions will be held in the events of cadet boys' and girls' singles (under 12 years), sub-junior boys' and girls' singles (under 14 years), junior boys' and girls' singles (under 17 years) and men's and women's singles.

City marathon

The first Chandigarh International Marathon will be organised by the National Adventure Club on February 6, 2000, a week before the sixth National Adventure Festival. This marathon is proposed to be organised of the pattern of London and Pune marathons. Celebrities like Milkha Singh and PT Usha will be invited to patricipate in the event.

This was decided in a meeting of the Organising Committee of the Chandigarh International Marathon presided over by Mr R.S. Verma, Chief Secretary of Haryana and President of the National Adventure Club.