IAF officer injured, wife killed
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Aug 6 — The wife of an officer of Indian Air Force (IAF) died while he was injured when the car in which they were travelling was hit by a speeding bus near the intersection of sectors 2, 4 and 5 here last evening.

The couple, Mr Rajesh Kumar Arora and Ms Alka Arora, were going to Command Hospital at Chandi mandir in their car when the bus coming from the local bus stand hit the car.

The injured officer is a resident of Officers Quarters at Air Force Station, High ground, Chandigarh. The police has registered a case against the bus driver under Sections 279 and 304-A of the IPC.

Dowry demanded: Four members of the family of the in-laws of a woman, including her husband, have been booked by the Raipur Rani police for allegedly demanding dowry from her. All the suspects live in Mubarikpur in Dera Bassi.

According to the information available, Salinder Devi of Bhagwali village was married to Darshan Lal in October, 1992, at Bhagwali village. After her relations with her husband soured, she went to her parents' house, where she stayed for about two years before returning to her in-laws' house.

Last month, when she returned to her in-laws' house, she was allegedly beaten up and told to bring dowry. The police has registered a case under Sections 323, 406, 498-A, 506 and 120-B of the IPC.

Scooters stolen: Two scooters were stolen in two separate cases in the town on Thursday. Mr Puneet of Sector 11 complained to the police that his scooter was stolen from Apni Mandi in Sector 4.

In another case, Ms Santosh Kumari of BEL colony complained that her scooter was stolen from Yavanika garden in Sector 5 here. The police has registered cases under Section 379 of the IPC.

CHANDIGARH

Four held: The police arrested four persons for forcibly taking away the car of a city resident.

According to the police, Mr Ashwani Mittal of Sector 22-C said he had financed a car from a city-based financier. He had been paying the instalments regularly but could not do so for the past some time.

When he was on his way to work, he was stopped by the financier and his companions Raj Kumar, Sarbjit Singh, Gamdoor Singh and Harcharan Singh. His car was driven away. The car has been recovered from their possession and the police has registered a case under Section 342\383, IPC.

Fake money orders: Mr S.P. Jain, Senior Superintendent of Post Offices, lodged a complaint with the police that the postal department had been receiving money orders from Patna, which had been found to be fake upon verification.

The net worth of the money orders was Rs 2.10 lakh. A case under Section 420\467\471, IPC, has been registered at the Sector 17 police station.

Cop hurt: Head Constable Ranbir Singh, posted with the traffic police, lodged a complaint that he was hit by a car (PB-12-A-3236) near the Sector 16\17 turning.

The car driver reportedly did not stop his vehicle. A case under Section 279\337, IPC, has been registered.

Pickpocket caught: The police arrested Rajbir Singh, a pickpocket from Kumhar Colony, near a cinema here. His accomplice, Vijay Kumar of Sector 29, managed to escape. A case under Section 379\34, IPC, has been registered.

Landlord nabbed: The police arrested Gurdev Singh, a landlord of Attawa village, for not supplying information about his 15 tenants.

A case under Section 188, IPC, has been registered at the Sector 36 police station. The accused was produced before the court.

14 arrested: The police arrested 29 persons for committing various offences in the city. Fourteen persons were arrested for roaming under suspicious circumstances, nine of whom were taken into custody from the jurisdiction of the Sector 36 police station.

Three persons were arrested for creating a nuisance at a public place under the influence of liquor. Two persons were taken into preventive custody.

Woman killed: Sumita of Uchana in Jind district was run over by a bus at the ISBT. According to sources, the driver was backing his vehicle when she was crossing the area in front of the counter meant for Delhi-bound buses.

Hit by train: An unknown man was injured when a train hit him while he was crossing the railway level crossing near Mani Majra last night. His leg had to be amputated, sources said.

Painting exhibition opens
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 6 — An exhibition of paintings, titled 'Of Black or White and Any Other', of Delhi-based artist Neeraj Mittra opened at Art Folio, Sector 9, here today.

The paintings, largely charcoal-based, are interesting compositions of forceful yet smooth curves of human faces. Mittra, known more for his sculptures, is this time showing only his paintings in the city. This young sculptor-artist, a product of the College of Art, New Delhi, has exhibited thrice here.

The present collection of his 29 recent works, most of which seem to start off with a line to emerge into a formless human face, have a highly sculpturesque quality about them. A feeling of movement sometimes appears to emerge from some of his works.

Says Mittra, "Figures are of prime importance to me. I handle them in such a way that they seem to retain a rhythm, a flow, in a manner so delicate as to almost being fragile." Maybe this is the reason why most 'faceless heads' of his charcoal paintings give the suggestion of merging with the background, without trying to accentuate lines of the form.

A few paintings by Mittra have a dash of bright colour added to them, which break the monotony of moving around a 'black and white' exhibition. He has also worked in the medium of metal castings, terra cota reliefs and fibre glass. His skills seem to complement each other.

He will be one artist to watch out for in the future. He has also been involved in the making of the relief mural of Haryana Tourism Department, Chandigarh.

Theme of Kargil dominates
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 6 — An exhibition, titled 'Tribute to the Kargil Heroes', opened in the hall of Punjab Kala Bhavan, Sector 16, today evening. This exhibition is a result of a week-long workshop held at the same venue.

The exhibition was predictably dominated by the theme of Kargil soldiers and blood-shed on the canvases. Whether it is Jarnail Singh's portrait of an Indian soldier with a gun, or Satwant Singh's soldiers atop a mountain or even Parkash's illustrative painting that shows a head splattered with blood, the exhibition seems to talk only about Kargil and may be its aftermath. A canvas by Rajinder Pasricha even shows a family receiving letters from a battlefield. And to throw in a message of peace was Madan Lal's canvas, which had a row of birds painted on them. In fact, the interesting exhibition seems to be a showcase of Kargil stories!

Some not so recent works have also been included in this exhibition. Raj Kumar's illustrative work, with its trade-mark patterns is arresting. And so is another canvas by Satwant Singh, from his popular bull-and-woman series. A colourful composition, by Subhash Chander, which has a riot of colours thrown in, though seemingly hurriedly, provided another interesting diversion in the exhibition.

The workshop which was kicked off on July 28, was inaugurated by Justice (retd) Ajit Singh Bains. The sale proceeds of the exhibition will be donated for the benefit of the Kargil victims.

After the inauguration of the exhibition, a Punjabi play, 'Shahid Di Wapsi', was staged. The play, directed by Sudesh, dwelled on the values of patriotism and nationalism.

Cleaner told to pay cost of sari
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Aug 6 — A local dry cleaner has been ordered by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum to pay a customer the cost of a sari which had been damaged in the process of dry cleaning.

The order was passed by the forum on a complaint filed by Ms Sarita Sharma, a resident of Sector 17. In the complaint Ms Sharma alleged that she had given a silk sari to Super Dry cleaners of Sector 7 on July 9, 1998, for dry cleaning. When she went to take delivery on July 19, she found that the sari had been discoloured, which, she said, had been caused by excessive use of some chemical.

The forum in its order observed that the dry cleaner by his negligence had discoloured the sari. While trying to repair the damage, the dry cleaner further damaged it. Holding the dry cleaner guilty of negligence, the forum ordered him to pay Rs 1500 as cost of the sari and Rs 500 as costs of the proceedings.

The order has to be complied within one month from the date of communication of the order.

Leaking water floods roads
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 6 — It seems the Public Health Wing of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) cares two hoots for the leakage of water if flooding of certain parts in the Phase I of the Industrial Area following the rupturing of a water supply line is any indication.

Entrepreneurs of the CITCO sheds in the area alleged that several roads in the area had been flooded for the past one week putting the motorists and the passers-by to a lot of inconvenience.

Though the matter had been brought to the notice of the Public Health authorities, yet nothing had been done so far, said an entrepreneur.

Mayor’s visit: The Mayor, Mr Kewal Krishan Addiwal, during his visit to the Police Lines, Sector 26, expressed concern at the drainage facilities in the area. The drainage system needed to be upgraded so that there was no stagnation of rain water, he said.

He also inspected the public health store in Sector 26.

Bhavan Vidyalaya, GNPS win
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Aug 6 — Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 16, Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36, Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 18 and Bhawan Vidyalaya, Sector 27 won their respective matches against Dev Samaj Junior Model School, Sector 21, Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, Carmel Convent School, Sector 9 and Shishu Niketan School, Sector 22, on the second day of the Shriman Ishwar Singh Memorial Basketball tournament for girls at the IS Dev Samaj Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 21 here.

In the first match played in the morning, Gayatri of GMSSS, Sector 16 played a stellar role in bringing victory for her school over Dev Samaj Junior Model School. She netted 13 points. Her team mate Navjot scored four points. The Dev Samaj Junior Model School girls lost the match by 5-27. For them Niti remained the top scorer with five points. Half time score was 10-4 in favour of GMSSS.

Guru Nanak Public School had to exert itself in beating the team of Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, by 25-15. Half time score was 12-10 in favour of GGSSS, Sector 8. In the beginning it appeared that GGSSS, girls would take away the match but Mandeep Kaur of GNPS turned the tables for her team. She scored eight points and Pradeep scored six points. For the losers Vandana scored six, Kavita five and Urmila four points.

In the third match of the day, Carmel Convent School, which had won their match yesterday, today succumbed to Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 18, team at 6-32. The half time score was 10-6 in favour of GGSSS.

In the last match of the day, the match between the teams of Bhavan Vidyalaya, Sector 27 and Shishu Niketan became interesting. At half time the score was 10-5 in favour of the former. Rajita netted 14 points out of total 16 points. Two points were scored by Komal. Sandhya of Shishu Niketan secured eight points for her team.

Top seed wins: Top seed Kabir Dixit of Yadavindra Public School, SAS Nagar, sailed into the next round of the under-12 section of the Ranking Squash tournament, which commenced here this afternoon at YPS. Kabir made short work of Devanshu Narang, of the same school, 9-0, 9-1, 9-2.

The boys drawn from six schools of the region are participating in this three-day tournament. The participating teams are, Lawrence School Sanawar (HP), Army School Dagshai (HP), Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, St John’s School, Sector 26, St Stephen’s School, Sector 45 and the hosts YPS SAS Nagar.

Matches washed away: The second day of the ongoing Chandigarh Football tournament for Shivalik Trophy (under-12 boys) was washed away by heavy rain. The matches which were to be played at Panjab University grounds today, could not be conducted. The organisers have decided to add one day to the tournament.

Kochhar fires eagle
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 6 — An eagle on the 13th hole by Dr G.S. Kochhar was the highlight of the quarter-final matches of the Independence Cup Golf Tournament organised by the Chandigarh Golf Club.

Dr Kochhar and Alamgir Grewal defeated SPS Matharoo and Cdr J.V. Singh in a tough match. They were halved till the 12th hole. But on the 13th (par 5) Dr Kochhar scored an eagle — the first of the tournament. Then they halved the 14th and won the 15th by par and finally won the match on the 17th hole being two holes up.

Gurbaaz Maan and Nitin Mittal defeated Tarun Lehal and B.S. Sandhawalia. In spite of an elbow injury Capt Sandhawalia gave a good fight to Gurbaaz Maan till the 16th hole. There were halved till the 16th hole and on the 17th (par 4) hole Gurbaaz scored a bridie. They won the match on the 18th hole by two holes up.

The third quarter-final was an easy match for Col B.S. Shergil and Grp Capt A.S. Dhadli. They defeated Sanjit Singh Bala and Kabir Singh. Col Shergill’s team was four holes up after nine holes and won the match on the 16th hole being three holes up.