Girl killed in road mishap
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, June 2 — One person was killed and two others were injured in two separate road accidents in the district.

A girl, Nisha, died on the spot after being hit by a truck near Raipur Rani here yesterday. The police has registered a case against the truck driver, on the basis of a statement given by Mahipal, a resident of Raipur Rani.

In another accident three scooter-borne persons were injured after being hit by a tractor. The police has registered a case against the driver of the tractor under Sections 279 and 337 of the IPC.

CHANDIGARH

Three booked: Three persons have been booked for allegedly smashing the car (CH-01-D-0507) of a Sector 11 resident and assaulting him near Kaimbwalla village located north of the Sukhna Lake.

Mr Ravneet Singh has alleged that his car was smashed by two scooter-borne persons. Accoring to sources, Ravneet Singh and Hari Singh Mann, who is one of those booked by the police, are having a long-standing land dispute. The complainant has alleged that he was going in his car to the village when he was attacked by Mohan Singh, who is an employee of Mann, and another unidentified person.

The police has registered a case against Hari Singh, Mohan Singh and Ram Swarup. They have been booked under Sections 308, 341, 427, 506 and 34 of the IPC.

Trespass: Two persons, including a woman, have been booked by the police for allegedly trespassing into a house in Sector 9. Mrs Balwant Kaur of Sector 9 and Mr Gurmeet Singh of Phase X, SAS Nagar, have been booked. Mr Parminder Singh, who lives in the same house as Mrs Balwant Kaur, has alleged that the duo criminally trespassed and threatened his wife with dire consequences. A case under Section 448, 452, 341, 354, 506 and 34 of the IPC has been registered.

House burgled: A house in Sector 23 was burgled as thieves broke into the house and decamped with gold ornaments, Rs 12,000 and clothes. A case uder Sections 454 and 380 of the IPC has been registered on a complaint logdged by Mr Rakesh Arora.

2 youths arrested: Two youths have been arrested for allegedly stealing a scooter. The stolen scooter (CH-01-W-4281) was recovered from the possession of Sandeep Singh of Sector 20-C and Gurpreet Singh of Sector 45. The scooter owned by Mr Sanjeev Kumar was stolen a couple of weeks ago.

DERA BASSI

Car thief nabbed: The local police has arrested Ashoki of Lohgarh village, near Zirakpur, for allegedly stealing a Maruti car from Sector 17, Chandigarh, about six months ago, here toady. The police has also recovered the stolen vehicle from his possession.

In a press note, the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mr H. S. Bhullar, said that the suspect was nabbed on a complaint lodged by a local resident regarding his car theft, three months ago. During interrogation, the suspect disclosed that about six months ago, he had stolen a Maruti car from Chandigarh and not from Dera Bassi. The number plate of the stolen vehicle was changed and a forged RC made in the name of Mr Satvir Singh, resident of Alanabad.

He further disclosed that along with his two accomplices he had also snatched two Jeeps in Haryana and Rajasthan.

The police has registered a case under Sections 379,411,467 and 468 of the IPC against the suspect who is in police custody till June 3.

Stolen: Instruments worth Rs 25,000 were reportedly stolen from the LML Vespa showroom, situated on Dera Bassi-Barwala road, on Tuesday night.

According to sources, the thieves trespassed the showroom by breaking open the shutters and took away two compressors and some tools from the shop owned by Mr Satnam Singh.

by Priti Verma
From paintings to sculptures

CHANDIGARH: A group show of paintings, drawing and sculptures is being held at Indus Ind Bank Art Gallery till June 7. The artists exhibiting their works are Dr. Anand Agarwal from Delhi, local artist Satwant Singh Sumail and Dr. H.R. Dhandi of Shimla.

Dr. Agarwal has shown woman in various facets. In one he has shown mother and child, in another it is about the deeds of life still another depicts one lady doing her hair.

Satwant Singh Sumail is displaying his works after a long time. This time his subject is “Meditation”. Through his works he has tried to show the enlightenment a person achieves through meditation and how deep he has to go into his inner self to reach that concentrating point.

Dr. Dhandi’s wooden sculptures are quite impressive and they have Lord Shiva and Ganesha as their subjects. The remarkable thing is that he uses waste wooden pieces to carve out his sculptures.

Co. told to pay back principal
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 2 — The UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-I has directed the Sagar Suri Estates, a finance company, to pay back the principal amount invested by a consumer in the firm, along with an interest for its failure to pay back the amount by the date of maturity.

The company has been directed to pay the principal amount of Rs 15,000 along with an interest of Rs 2,411, making it an aggregate amount of Rs 17,411. Since the amount was not paid by April 20, 1998, the date of maturity, the interest on this amount would also be paid at the rate of 12 per cent per annum till the date of repayment.

In his complaint to the forum, Mr Rakesh Gupta had stated that he had deposited Rs 15,000 in the company, pusuing its invitation seeking investments. The company had issued two post-dated cheques for the principal amount and the interest on payment of maturity. He further alleged that the cheques were dishonoured and the payments were not released to him even after the maturity date.

While no reply was filed by the company, the complainant had brought on record a duly signed affidavit confirming the averments made in the complaint.

After going through the records, the forum bench, comprising its President, Mr H. Modi, and members, Mr R.K Behl and Ms Shashi Kanta, held that it was incumbent duty of the company to keep sufficient funds in their accounts so as to pay back the investor in time, but it failed to do so. They further imposed costs of Rs 1,000 for deficiency in services on their part.

Bitter dose of local tax hike
From a Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, June 2 — The 100 per cent increase in the local tax on allopathic medicines, from 4.4 to 8.8 per cent, and alleged misuse of the central sales tax (CST) by some distributors, have been creating hardships for patients and retailers here.

The local tax levied by Chandigarh Administration is on par with Punjab and more than Haryana. Due to this, revenue collection has decreased because unlike earlier, retailers of Punjab and Haryana have stopped purchasing medicines from Chandigarh, an official on the condition of anonymity alleges.

Mr Prem Sagar Jain, President of the Chandigarh Chemists Association says, "Distributors who have their godowns in the city, charge 4 per cent CST from retailers." Mr Jain added that till January 1999, revenue collection was up to the mark as dealers from neighbouring states used to purchase drugs from Chandigarh due to less local tax on these than their states .

"On the pretext of not having stocks of allopathic medicines in their godowns, some distributors charge 4 per cent CST from retailers. Retailers face difficulty in convincing customers on the reason behind the increase in the prices of medicines," Mr Kulvinder Singh , a medicines-shop owner alleges.

Unlike rates of ayurvedic medicines, rates printed on about 80 per cent of allopathic medicines are exclusive of the local tax, says Mr Santokh Singh of Rahmand Medicos. He further opines that allopathic medicines' packs should have printed rates inclusive of the local tax so that hardships faced by customers and retailers can be ended .

The increase in the number of drug addicts has compelled majority of medicines-shops owners to sell only prescribed medicines. A strip containing 10 tablets of Crocin costs Rs 6.39, while Disprin (10 tablets) is priced at Rs 2.79. Ten tablets each of Cyclopam, Combiflam, Paracetamol, Becosules cost Rs 8.70, Rs 7.82, Rs 7 and Rs 12.62, respectively.

Prescribed painkiller injections such as Fortwin and Calmpose are available at Rs 10.99 and Rs 9.92, respectively, while Neurobin costs Rs 5.47. Envase and Atenolal injections, used by high blood pressure patients, cost Rs 39.98 and Rs 22.95, respectively. Injections for diabetics such as Daonil and Glynace are priced at Rs 5.44 and Rs 9.79, respectively.

A strip of eight Proxyvon tablets, costs Rs 9.22, while other painkillers such as Walasegic and Carisoma are being sold in packs of 10 tablets each, at Rs 13 and Rs 30.46, respectively. Cough syrups such as Phensedyl and Corex could be bought at Rs 40.93 and Rs 37.67, respectively. Ten tablets of anti-allergic Avil costs Rs 2.85, while Calmpose and Ativam tablets are available at Rs 10 and Rs 9.82, respectively.

The prices of life-saving drugs have nosedived. The maximum retail prices of 400 ml each of Dextrose, Normalsaline, Ringer Lactate have crashed. The price of Angised has been lowered to Rs 18.50.

Dealers of ayurvedic medicines have a different tale to tell. They do not face the agony of customers, because unlike in the case allopathic medicines, rates printed on these medicines are inclusive of all taxes (local tax, surcharge on local tax and central sales tax).

Safi's 200 ml bottle costs Rs 37.65, while Zeal cough syrup (100 ml) is priced at Rs 25.50. Syrups, available in 200 ml bottles such as Livomyn, M2 Tone and Ojus cost Rs 42 each, while Kofol (100 ml) is priced at Rs 26. Lavan Bhaskar (120 gm) and Kayam Churan (120 gm) fetch Rs 28 each, while Trifalla Churna (120 gm) costs Rs 16. Bottles Hajmola and Hangoli can be bought at Rs 17 and Rs 12, respectively.

Dealers and customers hope that one day allopathic medicines' packs will have printed rates inclusive of all taxes and the misuse of CST will not be allowed.

Nadia, Amit win TT titles
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, June 2 — Nadia Saini, a fifth class student of the DAV Public School, Sector 8 and Amit Kumar, a seventh class student of Manav Mangal School, Sector 21 emerged victorious in the cadet girls’ and boys’ section of the Chandigarh Junior Knockour-cum-League Table Tennis Tournament which began here today at the Sector 23 TT Hall. Nadia overpowered Sandhya of Government Model School, Sector 22 in straight sets at 21-13, 21-12. Amit was involved in a tough batle against Sumit Kinger of Shishu Niketan School, Sector 22 before the former could win, 21-10, 15-21, 21-18.

Earlier, in the draw of 32 , in both boys and girls section, four players in each category were selected. These players were given a chance to prove their mettle in the main league from which the finalists were decided.

Results: Cadet boys (Under 12) — First round: — Vaibhav b Sameer Singla, 21-7, 21-3; Tarun Kapoor b Harmanpreet Singh, 21-14, 21-18; Jaya Surya b Chander Mohan, 21-8, 18-21, 22-20; Amit Kumar b Divya Saini, 21-16, 21-13; Varun Saini lost to Umang, 8-21, 10-21; Pankaj Goel b Laksh, 21-12, 21-13; Nitish Rana b Mayank Tiwari, 21-5, 21-11; Sumit Kinger b Mohit Sharma, 21-10, 21-8; Umang Sharma b Balbir Singh, 21-16, 22-20.

Second round: — Sumit Kinger b Nitish Rana, 23-21, 14-21, 21-17; Viabhav b Tarun Kapoor, 21-19, 21-15; Amit Kumar b Umang Sharma, 21-15, 21-16; Pankaj b Jaya Surya, 17-21, 21-12, 21-17.

Cadet girls (Under 12) — First round:— Guneet b Ankita Kassal, 21-14, 21-18; Jasleen b Jayanti, 21-7, 21-14; Sandhya b Preeti Jain, 21-10, 21-19; Ravneet b Madhu, 21-4, 21-16.

Second round :— Sandhya b Aanchal, 21-6, 21-13; Ravneet b Gur Amrit, 21-17, 21-5; Nadia Saini b Jasleen, 21-18, 21-17;

Cadet boys (Main league) — Amit Kumar b Pankaj Goel, 21-6, 21-11; Sumit Kinger b Vaibhav, 21-17, 21-13; Vaibhav b Pankaj Goel, 21-9, 17-21, 21-10; Sumit Kinger b Pankaj Goel, 21-13, 21-8; Amit b Vaibhav, 21-11, 22-20.

Final Amit Kumar b Sumit Kinger, 21-10, 15-21, 21-18. Cadet girls (Main league) — Ravneet b Guneet, 18-21, 21-18, 25-23; Nadia Saini b Ravneet, 21-12, 21-13; Sandhya b Guneet, 21-17, 19-21, 21-16; Sandhya b Ravneet, 21-17, 21-13; Nadia Saini b Guneet, 21-8, 21-9;

Final — Nadia Saini b Sandhya, 21-13, 21-12.

Neha in semis

Neha Singh of Chandigarh has entered the singles semi-finals in the under -14 girls section in the fourth and the last leg of the Adidas Junior Tennis Tournament at Amritsar, reports reaching here said today.

Daughter of city’s tennis coach, Baldev Singh, Neha beat Naina Kasaulia of Uttar Pradesh, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the quarter-finals. Two city boys, Gurneet Singh and Ripudaman, in the under -14 section, have also made it to the last-four stage in the tournament.

Two boys in the under-16 section, Chatwinder Singh and Amanjot Singh, have also cruised into the semi-finals of their respective section today.

Carrom tourney

The St Stephen’s Carrom Ranking Tournament will begin tomorrow at St Stephen’s School, Sector 45. This four day tournament will be organised under the aegis of the Chandigarh Carrom Association. The events to be conducted include men and women singles, sub junior and junior boys and girls singles.

A total of 135 participants are taking part in this tournament.

Best talent

Rajinder Kaur (left front), Captain of the Chandigarh team, cornered glory for the city when she was declared the best upcoming player in the just concluded 19th Sub Junior National Ball Badminton-championship at Allahabad.

Rajinder is a Class X student of government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 18.

In this championship UT girls and boys secured seventh and ninth position respectively. Kerala boys and Andhra Pradesh girls finished firsts.