Two arrested on sodomy charge
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 7 — Two youths, including an employee of the Haryana Government, have been arrested for allegedly sodomising a student of class VIII. The three are neighbours in Sector 7.

The two, Vir Singh, a student of class X, and Girdhar Singh, an employee of the Haryana Government, sweettalked their victim into accompanying them to the Golf Club nearby. After allegedly sodomising the minor boy, the duo threatened him with dire consequences if he told about the incident to anyone.

The police has registered a case under Sections 377, 506 and 34 of the IPC.

Two arrested: Two men have been arrested for allegedly trying to outrage the modesty of two women, in separate incidents.

In the first case, Sat Pal of Rohru in Himachal Pradesh was arrested for allegedly uttering words with intention to insult the modesty of a woman in Sector 21. He was booked under Section 509 of the IPC.

In the second incident, Rajeshwar of Ram Darbar was arrested following allegations of a woman that he had assaulted her with an intention to outrage her modesty. A case under Section 354 of the IPC has registered against the accused.

Tyres recovered: Three youth , including two sons of policemen, have been arrested by the police, who claims to have sorted out three cases of thefts.

Manoj Kumar, Iqbal Singh and Kulwant Singh, all of Sector 26, have been arrested and the police has recovered stolen scooter-tyres from their possession. Three separate cases of theft have been registered under Section 379 in the Sector 26 police station.

Iqbal and Kulwant are sons of policemen and live in official residences allotted to their respective fathers, in Sector 26 police lines.

PANCHKULA

Bootlegger caught: Mohinder Singh, a resident of Kadhi Kohtaha in Raipur Rani district, was arrested and 12 bottles of country liquor were seized from him, here on Sunday.

A case under the Excise Act has been registered against him.

Order on excise rebate on van
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 7 — The Assistant Collector, Central Excise, Gurgaon, has been directed to give excise rebate on a Maruti van purchased to be plied as a taxi by the UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-II.

The complainant, Mr Rajesh Bhatti, contended that he had purchased a Maruti van from a local dealer, M/s Modern Automobiles, on February 7, 1994. Since the vehicle was to be used as a taxi, as per the rules of the government, he was entitled to excise duty rebate. He, in accordance with the instructions of the Regional Officer, North-II, MUL, Chandigarh, submitted the documents necessary for claiming the rebate, who forwarded the same to the manufacturer. But since it was not paid by way of refund, he approached the Consumer Forum.

In its reply, the manufacturer stated that the documents had been forwarded to the Assistant Collector, Central Excise, and relief was to be granted by that office. But since the Collector, who was impleaded as an opposite party did not respond to the notice, the case was proceeded against ex-parte.

After perusing the records, the Forum bench, comprising its President, Mr R.P Bajaj, and its member, Mr H.S Walia, found that the complainant was entitled to the excise duty rebate and that he was plying the van as a taxi for the purposes of earning his livelihood and not a transport business. Hence, they directed the Excise Department to grant excise duty rebate towards the Maruti van along with interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum from the date of the complaint. A cost of Rs 1,000 were also imposed.

Insurance claim

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-II has directed New India Assurance Company to pay costs and interest for delaying the payment of an insurance claim towards an accidented vehicle.

The complainant, Mr P.D Mehta, contended that his car met with an accident on January 22, 1997 and was damaged. He, after getting the car repaired, submitted the bill to the insurance company for reimbursement. Despite repeated visits the claim was not settled and he then filed the complaint.

The insurance company in its reply submitted that the claim could not be settled for want of necessary documents such as the driving licence and registration certificate. During the pendency of the case, the insurance company paid a sum of Rs 3,257 on January 1, 1999.

After going through the records, the Forum bench, comprising its President, Mr R.P Bajaj, and member, Mr H.S Walia, examined the question of quantum of compensation as the complainant had asked for an amount of Rs 4,067 and the surveyor had assessed the loss to the tune of Rs 3,307. The insurance company had paid the amount after deducting the value of the salvage put at Rs 50 by the surveyor. Hence, the payment made to the complainant was in accordance with the report of the surveyor.

But since the settlement of the claim had been delayed and was paid during the pendency of the case, the Forum holding the company guilty of deficiency in service directed the company to pay interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum on the amount of Rs 3257 with effect from June 1, 1998, till January 1, 1999, besides Rs 550 as costs.

Edible oils cheaper
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 7 — The prices of a number of food items such as sugar, rajmah and black pepper have increased while edible oils have become cheaper in the local market during the past two weeks.

During a survey of the market today, it was found that if a kg of sugar was available for Rs 16 just two days back, it could be purchased today for Rs 16.50. The wholesale price of the commodity has increased from Rs 1,525 a quintal to Rs 1,600. Similarly, the price of jaggery has increased from Rs 14 a kg to Rs 16 in the retail market and from Rs 1,100 a quintal to Rs 1,400 in the wholesale market.

According to Mr Satpal Singla, a Sector 46 trader, the hike in the price of sugar is common in summer as the consumption rises manifold with people using it for making squashes and other beverages.

Similarly, the hike in the price of black pepper was considerable as a kg of the spice was available for Rs 230 just two weeks back, but it could be purchased today for Rs 280. The wholesale price of the commodity has increased from Rs 210 a kg to Rs 240 during this period.

The case was not different with ajwain as its price has increased from Rs 80 a kg to Rs 100 in the retail market, and from Rs 5,500 to Rs 7,500 in the wholesale market.

Among pulses, rajmah witnessed the maximum fluctuation in its price during this period. A kg of it, priced at Rs 32 two weeks back, was today available for Rs 38. The wholesale price of the commodity has increased from Rs 2,500 a quintal to Rs 3,400.

Likewise, the price of roungi has increased from Rs 28 a kg to Rs 32 in the retail market and from Rs 2,400 a quintal to Rs 2,800 in the wholesale market.

On the other hand, edible oils have become cheaper during this period. If a litre of mustard oil was available for Rs 44 just two days back, it was available today for Rs 40. The price of a similar quantity of sunflower oil has decreased from Rs 55 a litre to Rs 46-48. According to traders, the fall was due to arrival of new mustard crop in the market.

As far as the pulses are concerned, their prices remained largely stable during this period. A kg of moong dhuli was still available for Rs 32 a kg in retail and for Rs 2,800 a quintal. The same was the case of mah sabat as it was priced at Rs 28 a kg in the local market and for Rs 2,300 a quintal in the wholesale market.

There was a slight hike in the price of masri. Priced at Rs 24 a kg two weeks back, its current price is Rs 26 . Likewise, its wholesale price has gone up from Rs 2,000 a quintal to Rs 2,200.

Big win for Kinshuk Sharma
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 7 — The Total Tennis Tournament started at the Lake Club here today.

In boys U-10 Ist round the day belonged to Kinshuk Sharma who white washed Depender Singh 7-0 to storm into next round. In another boys U-10 match, Total Tennis trainee Jai Singh Choudhry defeated Aditya 7-1 to prove his supremacy.

In the boys U-14 section participants fought their hearts out on the lush courts of the lake. Despite the fast surface children stayed on the base line and engaged in long rallies. The match between Aditya Ahuja and Ankush Sarin lasted over one hour and both players went to tie-break where Aditya emerged winner when he took the break at 8-6.

The match between Karan Patnaik and Shubham Bhalla was also played in the same manner in which Karan Patnaik defeated Shubham Bhalla 7-5.

Following are the results.

Boys U-10: Shikhar Gadh b Rajat Kohli 7-2; Jasminder b Amit Chauhan 7-3; Aman Chibar w/o Gaurav Sharma; Mrinal Sharma b Rajat Saini 7-2; Kinshuk Sharma b Dipinder Singh 7-0; Arjun Sehgal b Gurmohit Singh 7-2; Ashutosh w/o Saurabh Sharma; Inderjot b Sohail Verma 7-3; Jai Singh b Aditya 7-1.

Boys U-14: Tushar Librahan b Simar Vir Singh 7-1; Mukul Kumar b Ivneet 7-0; Sumit Joshi b Vaibhav Jain 7-4; Dilpreet b Rajbeer 7-3; Kamal b Amit Jain 7-1; Sahil Thapa b Sandeep 7-1; Karan Patnaik b Shubham Bhalla 7-5; Sanam K. Singh b Vipul Sehrawat 7-1.

Nitin Mehta b Rohan Bhandari 7-6 (2); Raj Kanwar Singh b Dig Vijay Sharma 7-5; Bakul Khera b Gurkeerat Singh 7-1; Preetam Singh w/o Sumit; Navpreet b Inderjot 7-2; Sanjog Kapoor b Amol Kumar 7-1; Anirudh Sharma b Harmanderjot 7-2; Harneet Singh b Randeep Gill 7-3; Lovpreet Gill b Simranjit Cheema 7-4; Rohan Gadh b Amrit Pal 7-1; Aditya Ahuja b Ankush Sareen 7-6 (8-6).

Parnav Saboo b Varun Garg 7-6 (7-1), Sahil Sehgal b Anshul Garg 7-3; Divtej Singh b Lovdeep 7-0; Gursher Harika b Mehar Partap 7-1; Maninder Bajwa b Udai P. Sandhu 7-1; Kushagna Mahajan b Parvesh K. Azad 7-0, Rachit Bansal b Manjeet Singh 7-0; Gurdeet Singh b Kamal 7-0; Harman Mahal b Sahit Mittal 7-0; Sandeep b Izreek 7-2; Ardaman b Shabroz Gill 7-1.

Teams to arrive on June 25
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 7 — The Punjab Cricket Association has received communication regarding the arrival of the Indian and Sri Lankan teams for the M.P Pandove benefit match to be played on June 26. The match between the two teams will be played for the Siyaram Cup.

As already announced by Mr Pandove, Secretary of the Punjab Cricket Association and a former Ranji Trophy player and national selector, all the money earned from the match would be donated to the Dhruv Pandove trust.

The Indian team which will include Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Srinath, Parsad, and Anil Kumble and the Sri Lankan team which would include star players like Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanatha Jayasurya, Aravinda De Silva, Romesh Kulwitharna and Chamanda Vass will be reaching Chandigarh on June 25 by a chartered flight from Delhi.

This will be the first counter between the former world champions after their clash in the World Cup 99 in which India thrashed the Sri Lankans by a big margin. Both teams will be trying hard to regain their supremacy over the other in this prestigious tie. Keeping in view the early rain, a reserve day has been kept for the match on June 27.

In the meantime preparations have started for the organisation of the match. The teams will be staying at Hotel Mountview, Chandigarh. The PCA has started the sale of tickets from its own counters at gates No 5 and No 11 of PCA Cricket Stadium, SAS Nagar. There is a big response for students tickets which is being sold at the stadium counters itself after verifying the identity cards of the students. The general block tickets, member's block and tickets of the VIP block are also having brisk sale for the last two days. The organisers are hopeful that it would a full house affair and tickets will be sold out before the arrival of the teams.