Agro-forestry company man held
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 1 — Ramesh Chander Kaushik, one of the directors of Marigold and Alpine Floritech Limited, an agro-forestry company, was arrested by the police here today. He surrendered in a city court, which remanded him to police custody for four days.

Kaushik and Rajesh Syal, another director, were wanted by the police for allegedly duping hundreds of investors to the tune of lakhs. Syal is still at large and is believed to be hiding somewhere in England. The help of the Interpol has been sought for his arrest by the local police in this matter.

Liquor seized: The police has arrested Pardeep Kumar and Harpal Singh, both residents of Panchkula, from near the Faidan village barrier and seized 82 pouches of liquor from them.

A case under Section 61 - 1 - 14 of the Excise Act has been registered at the Sector 31police station.

Suicide attempted: A 16- year-old resident of Bapu Dham Colony reportedly tried to commit suicidehere today by setting herself afire following an altercation with her neighbour.

Seema, a student of class eight, got annoyed after she had a tiff with her neighbour over the dumping of garbage. After that, she went inside her house, sprinkled keroseneon herself and set herself afire. She was rushed to the PGI where her condition is stated to be serious.

Car stolen: Mr R. K .Garja, a resident of Sector 21, reported to the police that his car (CH-OI-L- 3098) had been stolen from his residence. A case under Section 379, IPC, has been registered.

Scooter stolen: Mr Ravi Attwal, a resident of Dhanas, reported to the police that his scooter CH-OI-R-9360 had been stolen from the Sector 22 market. A case under Section 379, IPC, has been registered.

7 held: The police has arrested one person for roaming under suspicious circumstances.Five persons have been arrested under preventive action. One person has been arrested for driving under the influence of liquor.

PANCHKULA

Complaint lodged: Ashok Kumar, a resident of Sector 4, has registered a complaint with the police that the driver of a Maruti Esteem, HR-41-4808, hit his scooter, HR-03-4588, in the maket in Sector 4. He was injured while the driver of the car managed to flee from the scene. A case under Section 279 and 337 has been registered at the sector 5 police station.

Arrested: Kiran Pal, a resident of Mauli, was arrested with 50 pouches of liquor from the Sector 6 and 7 Kalka road. a case under the Excise Act has been registered.

Held: The police caught Kamal Singh, a resident of Kangra, while he was trying to lift a cycle from Sector 5. A case under Section 379 of the IPC has been registered.

Where vegetables are cheaper
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR, Oct 1— All commonly used vegetables are cheaper in the local markets when compared to their corresponding prices in markets of Chandigarh. However, the price difference was little. The dearest item in the local markets was lemon, which was being sold around Rs 32 a kg.

The better quality of lemon was being sold by a vendor in the Phase 7 market for Rs 35 a kg. Onion was available for Rs 10 a kg. It is being sold in Chandigarh for Rs 12 a kg. In the Phase 4 market a vendor was selling capsicum at Rs 30 a kg.

Brinjal, another commonly used vegetable, was available for Rs 10 a kg . The vegetable is available in Chandigarh markets for Rs 16 a kg. In the Phase 5 market a vendor was selling bittergourd for Rs 20 a kg. Similarly, cabbage and cauliflower was being sold for Rs 12 a kg and Rs 10 a kg, respectively, in the Phase 9 market here.

A vendor in the Phase 7 market was selling lady's finger for Rs 12 a kg. There was variation in the price of arbi in the local markets. While it was selling for Rs 10 a kg in local markets, it was selling for Rs 20 in Chandigarh.

While 'pahari' potato was selling for Rs 10 a kg, the local variety was selling between Rs 3 and Rs 4 a kg. Another commonly used vegetable tomato was available for Rs 8 a kg while ginger was selling for Rs 32 a kg.

Ex-Director's plea on PGI head rejected
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 1 — The Punjab and Haryana High Court today declined the writ petition preferred by Prof B.N.S. Walia, a former Director of the P.G.I. praying for restraining the PGI's Institute Body from selecting new Director of the P.G.I. at its meeting held this morning.

Mr Justice Jawahar Lal Gupta and Mr V.M. Jain, before whom the petition came up for hearing, ruled that they did not find any infirmity in the proposed action. Therefore, they found no ground to interfere and dismissed the petition in limine.

The judges recorded the contention of the counsel for Prof Walia that the institute had no power to authorise the president to constitute the selection committee.

The Bench observed that Parliament had enacted the PGI Act in 1996. By this statute the institute was declared to be one of national importance. Under Section 5 the position of the institute had been laid down.

The Director under the provisions of the Act and Rule 7 has been appointed by the institute with the approval of the Central Government, observed Mr Justice Gupta speaking for the Bench.

Admitting that the present incumbent has to continue in office till November 30. Keeping in view the fact that the vacancy was likely to occur and continuity was to be maintained, the institute took a decision at its meeting held on June 22, that the selection committee should be constituted for making recommendation for the appointment of new Director.

The contention of Prof Walia was that the president of the institute, Mr Dalit Ezhilmalai, did not constitute the special selection committee, presumably because a no-confidence motion had been passed against the government and it was only a caretaker government. On August 14, Mr Ezhilamalai resigned as Minister of Health and Family Welfare as a result ceased to be president of the institute.

On September 9 Mr A.K. Patel, Union Minister of Petroleum and Chemicals, was given additional charge of the Health Ministry and appointed President of the Institute.

He had also contended that the Institute Body had no power under the Act, rules or regulations to authorise the president of the institute to constitute a special selection committee to make recommendations for the appointment of Director.

Contempt notice to Chief Secretary: Mr Justice V.S. Aggarwal today issued a contempt notice to Mr R.S. Mann, Punjab Chief Secretary, for December 3 on a petition filed by Mr Jagdev Singh for allegedly not considering his case for appointment as Under-Secretary with the Punjab Public Service Commission despite the orders passed by the High Court to this effect.

The petitioner had stated that in a writ petition filed by him, the High Court on June 4, 1998, had directed the respondent to consider him for the post of Under-Secretary in case he was qualified and had requisite experience. However, instead of considering him for the post, the respondent at a meeting on July, 20, 1998, decided to fill the post by bringing an officer from the Punjab Civil Secretariat, which was a clear case of contempt and that the contemner deserved to be punished for disobeying the High Court’s orders.

Show cause notice to PML Directors: Dr A.S. Bindra, and Mr G.S. Virk, Managing Director and Executive Director respectively of Punjab Meats Ltd. Dera Bassi, were today issued show cause notice on why proceedings for contempt may not be drawn against them for violating the order passed by the High Court restraining them for removing or otherwise the meat plant, machinery and raw materials, except with the permission of the Central Excise Department.

The contempt petition was filed by Deputy Commissioner, Central Excise, Chandigarh, which came up before Mr Justice V.S. Aggarwal who issued the show cause notice to the above said contemners for October 12.

It was the case of the petitioner that the restraining order was earlier passed by the Central Excise Department, which was allowed on September 9 by the High Court to continue against the respondents.

The Deputy Commissioner, Central Excise had alleged that despite the court the respondents had carried out production and other activities, which was clear case of contempt.

DAV-8 retain handball title
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Oct 1 — DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, retained the sub-junior boys' handball title in the Chandigarh State Championship which concluded at DAV School today. In the final, DAV-8 defeated Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 21, 20-8. The halftime score was 13-3.

Parduman and Manoj scored six goals each, while Vicky, Sanjay scored three goals each and Lakhan scored two goals. Harsimran scored four goals and Nandlal two for the losers.

The 'B' team of DAV School, Sector 8, got the third place after beating GMSSS-19, 15-8.

In the girls' section, GNPS-36 won third position by defeating GMSSS-21, 6-3.

Cricket trials: The Chandigarh Cricket Association (affiliated to the Haryana Cricket Association) will hold trials to select the UT under-16 cricket team at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 19, on October 4 at 3.30 pm, according to Mr Surinder Singh, Secretary of the association. The team will further take part in the Haryana Inter-District Cricket Championship for the Rajinder Goel Trophy to begin on October 8. The players must be born after September 1, 1983, to be eligible for the trials.

TT tourney: The third CBSE Cluster Table Tennis Tournament began here today at New Public School, Sector 18, with its inauguration done by Mr D.S. Bains, an IAS officer of Punjab.

The results of today's matches are as follows: Girls (under-17) — Laureate Public School, Shimla b Air Force School, sector 31, 3-0; AKSIPS-41 b MRA-27, 3-0; Manav Mangal-21 b DPS Jakhri, Shimla, 3-0.

Boys under-17 — MRA-27 b LPS, Shimla, 3-1; GAV Kangra b AKSIPS-41, 3-2; DPS, Shimla, b Delhi Public School, Jakhri, 3-0; DAVPS-8 b Air Force-31, 3-1; Shishu Niketan-22 b MRA-27, 3-0; DPS Shimla b NPS-18, 3-0; Bhawan Vidyalya-27 b GAV Kangra, 3-0; Manav Mangal-21 b DAV-8, 3-0.

Under-19 — LPS, Shimla, b MRA-27, 3-0: DPS, Shimla, b SDP-32, 3-1; girls under-19 — MRA-27 b NPS-18, 3-2.

Kho-kho meet: A kho-kho tournament for under-17 boys and girls of the city schools began here today at the Sector 42 Sports Complex with SGGS-35, GHMS-38, GHPS-40 and GHS-32 winning their matches in the boys' section.

In the girls' section, GHS-35, SGGS-35, GHS-32 won their matches. The quarter finals and semi-finals will be played tomorrow.

Inter-school cricket: DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, defeated Shishu Niketan School, Sector 22, by 77 runs today in the UT Inter-School Cricket Tournament being played here at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium.

Brief scores: DAV-8 — 161 runs for seven in 20 overs (Shekhar 48 n.o., Rahul 42, Manpartap 22, Vinay 2 for 21); SN-22 — 84 runs for four wickets in 20 overs (Vikramjeet 31, Vipul 2 for 13).

Ball badminton: Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 33, in the boys' section and Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 21, in the girls' section, today bagged third place each in the Chandigarh Senior Ball Badminton Championship beingplayed here.

The finals will be played tomorrow at 1 pm at Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, and prizes will be distributed at 4 pm by the chief guest, Mr S.S. Dhindsa, Rajya Sabha MP and President of the Punjab Olympic Assocaition.

Panchkula team: Trials to select the Panchkula district cricket team for the Rajinder Goel Trophy tournament will be held on October 2 at Hansraj Public School in Sector 6 of Panchkula at 3 pm, according to Mr Sandeep Moudgil, Secretary of the PDCA. Panchkula will play its first match against Ambala on October 8.