2 held for setting jhuggi afire
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, Nov 2 — The police has arrested two persons on the charge of setting afire a jhuggi in Gursagar Sahib colony, near the Sukhna lake, late last night.

According to police sources, Mrs Poonam, a resident of the colony reported that her jhuggi was set ablaze allegedly by Papu and Ram Naresh, both residents of the same colony. A case under Sections 436 and 34 of the IPC has been registered at the North police station.

Gambling
Sudesh Kumar, Brij Mohan, Rakesh, Amarjit Singh, Ranjit Singh and Ram Babu were arrested while gambling at a public place in Sector 40. A case under Sections 13, 3 and 61 of the Gambling Act has been registered at the Sector 39 police station.

Liquor seized
Dharam Kumar and Ram Bhawan, both residents of Bapu Dham colony, were arrested and 14 bottles of liquor were seized from them. Cases under Sections 61, 1 and14 of the Excise Act have been registered at the Sector 26 police station.

Car stolen
Mr Navdeep Chugh, a resident of Sector 38, reported that his car (CHOI-Z-0668) was stolen from Sector 17. A case under Section 379, IPC, has been registered at the Central police station.

SAS NAGAR

Commando hurt
A Punjab police commando was seriously injured when the rickshaw in which he travelling was hit by a car near Zirakpur on Monday.

According to information available, Constable Manjit Singh had boarded a Chandigarh-bound bus from Patiala. After alighting from the bus he took a rickshaw from Zirakpur.

When the rickshaw reached near Chandigarh airport a car hit it. While the commando's leg was fractured, the rickshaw-puller received minor injuries. A case under Sections 279, 338 and 427 of the IPC has been registered against the car driver.

Strike by students enters 2nd day
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 2 —The strike by students of the Department of Physics in Panjab University entered second day today, while a special committee of the department perused the case of violence on the occasion of freshers party, according to sources.

Department representative Rajiv Thakur, who was allegedly assaulted on the occasion, said Amarjot, a leader of the campus unit of the ABVP, was involved in the case.

Students who tried to make forcible entry in the department party were looking for a particular girl, Thakur said. Later, when requested to walk out, the outsiders assaulted him.

Jagmeet Sidhu, Secretary of the campus unit of the Students Federation of India, said Thakur was assaulted without provocation. The strikers were mainly not from the department, he added.

The ABVP unit of the campus, however, denied the involvement of their leader. The department decision is expected in the coming two-three days.

'Sham-e-ghazal' disappoints
From Our Correspondent

PANCHKULA, Nov 2 — The sound and music could not hold back the audiences at 'Sham-e-ghazal' by Mahima Casewa here yesterday.

The programme was organised to commemorate Haryana Day at the Gymkhana Club in Sector 6. Mr R.S. Verma, Chief Secretary, Haryana, was the chief guest. The audiences seemed to be enjoying more at bar counters than listening to the singer.

Starting from purely classical and moving to light classical and then to folk, the show was dragged till the end. The show commenced with compositions of Urdu poets Bashir Badr, Ashq Ambalvi and Qateel Shifai. The ghazals 'Sham ke sanwale chehre ko nikhara jaye' and 'Yun besabab na phira karo' highlighted the mood of the audiences.

Starting at the age of three, Mahima has done M.Phil in music from Delhi University. She has received formal training in classical, folk, thumri, bandish and kajri. Mahima said she particularly enjoyed performing in the town, away from the pollution of Delhi. She considers her mother as her first guru. She has popular releases like 'Abshaar ', 'Anjum' and 'Kaise keh doon' to her credit.

Concert with a difference
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 2 — It was a concert with a difference brought to the city by the Patiala-based organisation, Heritage Shropshire Punjab Youth Music Exchange '99, organised at the Chandigarh Press Club last night. It gave truth to the adage that music has no language and transcends all boundaries. It was jointly organised by the Punjab Arts Council and the Punjab Sangeet Natak Academy.

It had a perfect start with hymn to Lord Rama by Simon Canzon followed by a perfect ''jugalbandi'' among the Indian instruments like sitar, santoor and tabla under the guidance of renowned tabla player, Mr Pawan Kumar Verma, "Heer" by Ms Poonam Chaudhary and "Mahiya" by Ms Mamta Dhillon. The programme was effectively compered by Prof Raj Pal Singh.

The programme ended with "Sat Sri Akal", a unique composition by Ronenal, a British student. Prof Raj Pal Singh informed that a troupe of 10 Indian students would visit England next year under a cultural exchange programme. The group would be led by Mr Pawan Kumar Verma, Mr Kanwar Iqbal, a music director, and Ms Samita Bahuguna, a vocalist.

Kids perform Tagore script
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 2 — A noteworthy performance of a Tagore script by more than 250 primary class children at Vivek High School today was more than a well-deserved compliment to the school authorities.

Crowd response to another show on the master’s script for the senior wing was more than a compliment to B.V. Karanth, director of the show. The plays came up as part of the school’s fourth foundation day celebrations.

Both plays including ‘‘panjar shala’’ by students of the junior wing and ‘‘taashon ka desh’’ by the senior wing, were ‘‘rebellious’’. They depicted a breaking away from the shackles of regimentation and mechanical existence to a world that spells freedom.

“Panjar shala” was the story of a child parrot who is in the custody of a king. The king wanted him to be educated and trained to be sophisticated in ways of the world. A full team is appointed to teach the parrot English and the ways of life. Visits by academician and other institutions end in nothing more than death of the parrot.

The simple story has beautiful presentation in terms of clothes, stage settings, music and team coordination. Children have been well worked upon for dialogue delivery.

“Taashon ka desh” has a prince meandering out of his house and his father’s company because he cannot conform to routine. He sets out on a boat along with a friend. However, the boat collapses and the prince finds himself marooned on an island. The island had set rules which are followed in letter and spirit. The prince, however, introduces entertainment in their lives.

The director has paid attention to the background music which has imprints of Bengali beats expected in a Tagore production. The script, however, seems to have certain altercations from the original to invoke more laughter.

One of the students watching the performance said that the play was interesting because it presented several aspects of Indian culture which were unknown to us. Even the teamwork was laudable.

Diya prices show slight increase
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 2 — Earthenware, as usual, have started appearing on the city roadsides on account of the forthcoming festival of Divali with the difference that the prices are about 10 per cent higher than last year.

During a survey of the market it was found that makeshift stalls selling earthenware visible in almost every nook and corner of the city. But as in the case of other goods, the hike in transportation charges has affected the prices, which have gone up by about 10 per cent this time. Interestingly, a range of new Divali related items are available in the market this year giving consumers a wide scope to choose from.

The most common item which has staged an appearance this year is painted diyas, available in beautiful golden, silver and copper shades at a price ranging between Rs 5 and Rs 10 per piece. The normal diyas were, however, available at much cheaper rates ranging between Rs 35 and Rs 40 per 100 pieces. Then there are, "Divali huts", used for purpose of puja during the festival. These could be purchased between Rs 5 and Rs 50 each depending on the quality and size. Another attraction in this range in this segment was an earthen "pooja thali", with five diyas fixed on it and priced at Rs 15 each.

Another new arrival is nicely crafted terracota lion-shaped earthen lamps priced between Rs 40 and Rs 50 each. One could also go in for a bullock cart, made of terracota, which was available in the market for Rs 100 per piece. Gift "matkas" was another item which has started finding favour among buyers, who do not want to gift sweets or other gifts to their near and dear ones in ordinary cardboard boxes. The item was priced between Rs 20 and Rs 25 a piece, depending upon its size and quality of decoration cloth or paper used on it.

Other unusual items available in the market this year are huge replicas of animals like deer, elephant and horse, all of these priced between Rs 200 and Rs 250 per piece. "People are going in for idols of Lord Ganesh, which are priced between Rs 15 and Rs 200. They do not use these as gifts but to retain these in their homes," said Mr Kismat Kumar, a Sector 25 earthen-ware seller.

GMSSS-33, DAVSSS-33 in final
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Nov 2 — Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 33, will take on DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 33, in the final of the 3rd Rao Jai Singh memorial basketball tournament which entered the penultimate day at New Public School, Sector 18, here today.

In the semi-finals New Public School went down fighting to GMSSS-33 36-55, with halftime score being 20-24 in favour of NPS. Harmardeep scored 16, Sangram 14 and Sukhjeet 10 points for GMSSS-33, while Bikramjit and Brinder netted 14 and 6 points for the NPS. In the second semi final, DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, got walkover from SD Public School, Sector 32.

Earlier on the basis of group-wise position at the end of league matches, New Public School and SD Public school topped group A with 6 and 4 points while in group B, DAVSSS-8 and GMSSS-33 were at first and second positions with four and two points, respectively.

In one of the league matches played this morning, New Public School defeated MRA Senior Secondary School, Sector 27, 50-19, while DAVSSS-8 beat GMSSS-33, 34-24.

Selection trials
The Education Department, Chandigarh Administration, will hold selection trials this month for the UT team which will take part in various national school games to be held in different parts of India. The schedule is: wrestling-boys under-17 on November 3 and under-19 on November 4 at WCC,Sector 30; judo under-19 boys on November 3, under-14 girls on November 4, under-17 girls on November 5, and under-19 girls on November 6 at Sports Complex, Sector 7; basketball boys under-17 boys on November 8 and girls under 17 on November 9, at Sports Complex, Sector 7.

Table tennis under-17 boys on November 8, under-19 boys on November 9, under-17 girls on November 10 and under-19 girls on November 11, at New Public School, Sector 18; swimming boys on November 11 and girls on November 12, at swimming pool, Yoga Centre, sector 23; fencing under-19 boys on November 10 at Shivalik Public School, Sector-41; badminton under-14 boys on November 10, under-19 boys on November 11, under-14 girls on November 15 and under-19 girls on November 16 at Sports Complex, Sector 42; lawn tennis under-17 boys on November 10, under-19 boys on November 11, under-17 girls on November 12 and under-19 girls on November 13 at Lake Club; hockey under-14 boys on November 11 and girls on November 12 at Hockey Stadium, Sector 18; hockey under-19 boys on November 18 and girls on November 19 at Hockey Stadium, Sector 42; cricket under-19 and under-16 on November 18 at Cricket Stadium,Sector 16; football (girls) under-17 on November 18 and under-19 on November 19 at Football Stadium, Sector 17.

Cricket tourney
Manav Mangal High School, Sector 21, outplayed Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 20, by 44 runs while Government Model School, Sector 44, defeated St Joseph’s High School by four wickets in the first Lions cup trophy for inter-school cricket tournament for under-16 years being organised by Lions Club Chandigarh Grace regions VIII and IX, at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 32. Earlier the meet was inaugurated by Vice-District Governor, Dr NK Grover.

MMS-21 won the toss, elected to bat first and scored 135 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Yogesh , Himanshu and Sandeep scored 25, 18 and 18 runs, respectively. In reply, GMSSS-20 were bundled out for 91 runs . Rahul scored 20 runs, Daljeet 16 runs and Vinod 14 runs . Nitesh Banyal and Manjeet took three wickets each for the winners.

In the second match, St Joseph’ s High School batted first and were all out for 111 runs. K. Jolly was the highest scorer with 52 runs . Aditya, Amandeep, Kabir and Barinder claimed two wickets each. In reply, GMS-44 scored 113 runs for six wickets. Charan Kamal scored 31 runs . K. Jolly took two wickets.