Accident victim dies
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 27 — A domestic servant, Dev Bahadur, who was injured in a road accident last night, succumbed to his injuries at the PGI this morning.

Dev Bahadur was walking to his residence in Sector 34 when a motorcycle collided with him. No arrest has been made so far.

One injured: Mr Arun Thakur of Sector 37 was injured when his moped ( CH-01-A-6605) was hit by a car ( CH-01-6782-T). The car sped off. A case under Sections 279 and 338 of the IPC has been registered.

One stabbed: An employee of a liquor vend in Sector 22 was stabbed by car- borne persons following an altercation over rates of liquor they wanted to purchase.

Manish Kumar was allegedly stabbed by the occupants of Tata Estate ( DL-9C-0209).

A case under Sections 307, 506 and 34 of the IPC has been registered.

Car stolen: A Maruti car ( DL-3C-8238), owned by Mr Didar Singh of Sector 22, has been stolen from his residence.

Signature forged: The owner of a local trading company — Paragon Industrial Corporation — based in Industrial Area Phase II, — has been booked for allegedly forging the signature of the landlord to obtain a power connection.

Mr Sampuran Singh, owner of the plot, lodged a complaint with the police.

A case under Sections 420, 467 and 471 of the IPC has been registered.

PANCHKULA

Woman booked: Ms Indu Sharma of Sector 7 has been booked by the police for allegedly stealing electricity from a supply line.

The police has registered a case under Section 39 of the Electricity Act against her on a complaint lodged by the SDO (Operation), Mr R.K. Bhardwaj.

Beaten up: Mr Arun Oswal of Sector 7, in a complaint lodged with the police, alleged that Rakesh Tuli entered his home and beat him up over an issue of construction of a house in Sector 8. He further said Rs 6 lakh was pending against the suspect.

The Police has registered a case under Sections 148, 149, 323 and 452 of the IPC.

Maruti stolen: Mr Ved Pal Gupta of Sector 12, in a complaint lodged with the police, alleged that his Maruti car was stolen. It was parked outside his house.

The police has registered a case under Section 379 of the IPC.

SAS NAGAR

One killed: One person was killed after he was hit by a speeding truck in Phase VII.

According to the police, the deceased was identified as Mewa Ram, a migrant labourer from Bhopal. He was killed when the motorcycle he was riding was hit by a speeding truck near Godrej factory. Jeewan, the pillion-rider, escaped unhurt.

The truck (PB-12-A-3437) was impounded by the police. The driver of the vehicle managed to escape.

A case under Sections 279 and 304 of the IPC has been registered against the accused.

Drycleaner to pay sari cost
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 27 — The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-II has directed a drycleaner to pay a sum of Rs 3,000 towards the cost of a damaged sari along with costs of Rs 1,100.

The complainant, Lt-Col. A.S Verma, has alleged that he had given three saris for ironing ( charak) to Snowhite Dry Cleaners, Sector 17. However, at the time of the delivery, one of the saris was not only improperly ironed but also damaged. While he took the delivery of the other two saris, he left the third with the dry cleaner who assured him that he would remove the defects. But the defects were not removed and repeated visits only proved futile. The disputed sari was of silk and valued at Rs 3,000.

In its reply, the dry cleaner contended that the quality of the sari was sub-standard and there was no guarantee of colour, cloth and zari. And in the process of ironing, it was bound to get damaged.

After pursuing the records, the Forum bench, comprising its President, Mr R.P Bajaj and member, Mr H.S Walia, held the dry cleaner guilty of deficiency in service for having damaged the sari of the complainant. They further observed that mere denial of the value of the sari by the dry cleaner without giving any version of the value could not hold ground. They directed him to pay the complainant Rs 3,000 as full cost of the sari which was damaged soon after its purchase, without having been used. A cost of Rs 1,100 was also imposed as costs of the case, including compensation for harassment.

Cost of fridge refunded

The UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-II has directed a Mumbai based refrigerator company to refund a sum of Rs 16,400 to a complainant as price of the refrigerator purchased by him along with interest at the rate of 10 per cent per annum. A cost of Rs 1,100 has also been imposed, including the compensation for inconvenience.

In his complaint, Mr Parveen Kochhar had averred that right from the time he purchased a 240 litres Godrej refrigerator in July, 1996, he had been facing difficulty in its working.

He said that the refrigerator was dogged with defects soon after its purchase and its compressor had to be replaced in March ,1997, and the same was replaced again in May, 1998. A fan motor was also changed and the complainant paid a sum of Rs 575 .

In the reply filed by the local office of the company, it was pointed out that in its two years of working, the refrigerator stopped only once. The complaints were also set right by the mechanics and payment for fan motor was taken because it was repaired beyond the warranty period. The company had also offered replacement of the refrigerator, which the complainant refused to accept.

The complainant pointed out that the replacement was offered to him after the filing of the case in the Forum and not earlier.

The Forum bench comprising its President, Mr R.P Bajaj, and member, Mr H.S Walia, observed that the company sold a refrigerator which was defective. The defect came to surface soon after its purchase and persisted for a long time. Even the repeated repairs proved ineffective. The offer to replace the refrigerator was given at a very late stage and the complainant's refusal was also justified as he did not want to under- go another bitter experience by going in for the same kind of refrigerator.

Local grapes enter market
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 27—Grape lovers must be happy as the local variety of grapes have entered the market, thus offering a cheaper alternative to the costly variety of the fruit coming from Maharashtra.

During a survey of the market today, it was found that while the consumer had to pay a high price between Rs 60 and Rs 80 for a kg for grapes coming from Sangli and other parts of Maharashtra, the local variety was available for Rs 20 a kg in different parts of the city. The variety of the fruit has started pouring in from Bathinda and other parts of the Malwa region of Punjab during the past two days.

According to traders, the taste of the local variety was still sour, but it was a good bargain as far as the price was concerned, which is one-fourth as compared to the Maharashtra variety. "The price will go down as the arrivals were expected to pick up in the coming week, " said a Sector 22 trader.

Meanwhile, the prices of pomegranate and melon have increased while litchi has become cheaper in different city markets.

A kg of pomegranate, priced at Rs 25 just two days back, was available today for Rs 40 a kg. The wholesale price of the fruit has increased from Rs 90 to Rs 120 per four kg pack during this period. According to traders, the hike was due to lesser supplies of the fruit from Maharashtra.

Similarly, a kg of melon, priced between Rs 5 and Rs 7 just two days back, was available today for Rs 10to Rs 12 a kg today. The wholesale price of the fruit has increased from Rs 20 to Rs 35 per five kg during this period. There was no fluctuation in the price of watermelon as it was still available for Rs 7 a kg in different parts of the city today.

There was no fluctuation in the prices of most other fruits during this period. A kg of 'safeda', 'totapari' and 'sandhuri' varieties of mango were still priced at Rs 15 to Rs 20, Rs 15 and Rs 30 a kg, respectively, today. Similarly, a kg of plum could be purchased at the old price of Rs 20 a kg . a similar quantity of cherry was available today between Rs 40 and Rs 50 a kg. There was no change in the price of apple as a kg of delicious variety was available for Rs 50, while the 'kinnauri' variety was priced between Rs 60 and Rs 80 a kg in different markets today.

City boys enter tennis finals
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 27 — The boys' under 14 and under 16 events in the Adidas Junior Circuit Zonal Tennis Tournament being played at the Tennis Stadium, Sector 10, here, were a completely Chandigarh affair.

In both sections, boys from Chandigarh reached the finals. In the under 14 event, there was a tough competition between Yuvraj of Chandigarh and D. Rohit K. Raju of Delhi. Ultimately, Yuvraj managed to win the match 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. In the second semi-final, Tushar Liberhan won in straight sets against Gurneet Singh, also of Chandigarh, 6-3, 6-1.

In the boys' under 16 event, Amanjot Singh had an easy victory over his rival, Dhrub Kumar of West Bengal, 6-3, 6-1. In the second semi-final, Chatwinder Singh had to fight hard against Nipun Gupta of Delhi, but won the match, 6-2, 6-4.

In the girls under 14 section, Sania Mirza of Andhra Pradesh beat Anuja Parikh of Maharashtra, 6-2, 6-1. Ankita Bhambri of Delhi beat her younger sister Sanna Bhambri, 6-4, 6-3. In the semi-finals of the girls' under 16 section, Sanna Bhambri of Delhi beat Sania Mirza of AP, 6-4, 6-1. In the other semi-final, Rani Smita Jain of Rajasthan beat Anikita Bhambri of Delhi, 7-5, 6-3.

The results of boys' under 14 (semi-finals): Yuvraj (Chd) beat D. Rohit K.Raju (Dli), 6-4, 2-6, 6-2; Tushar Liberhan (Chd) beat Gurneet Singh (Chd), 6-3, 6-1.

Boys' under 16 (semi-finals): Amanjot Singh, seed 1 (Chd), beat Dhrub Kumar (WB), 6-3, 6-1; Chatwinder Singh (Chd) beat Nipun Gupta, seed 2 (Dli), 6-2, 6-4.

Girls' under-14 (semi finals): Sania Mirza (AP) beat Ahuja Parikh (Mah), 6-2, 6-1; Ankita Bhambri (Dli) beat Sanna Bhambri (Dli), 6-4, 6-3.

Girls' under 16 (semi finals): Sanna Bhambri (Dli) beat Sania Mirza (AP), 6-4, 6-1; Rani Smita Jain (Raj) beat Ankita Bhambri (Dli), 7-5, 6-3.

Abhinav shines

National champion and international rifle shooter (ISSU category), Abhinav Bindra, has qualified with the minimum qualifying score, laid down by the International Olympic Committee as the qualifying standard for Sydney 2000, at the recently concluded World Cup in Munich and Milan.

To qualify and obtain a wild card, a shooter has to participate in minimum four tournaments or recognised international competitions and display consistency. Abhinav shot a score of 576/600 at the World Shooting Championship in Barcelona 1998. He shot a score of 579/600 in Munich on May 24 and a score of 575/600 in Milan on May 26. He will join the Indian squad at Atlanta, USA, to participate in the final World Cup. He hopes to display this consistency at Atlanta to enable him to qualify for the wild card for Sydney 2000.