NEIGHBOURHOOD

BKU blocks traffic on NH-21

Fatehgarh Sahib, September 23
A website in memory of former SGPC member jathedar Gurcharan Singh Tohra was launched today at a gurdwara, Fatehgarh Sahib.

The website was launched in the presence of SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar, jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib Giani Gurbachan Singh and other Sikh religious leaders.

Makkar after launching the website said this was for the first time that such a website had been launched. He added that the information provided in the website will give an insight in the life of Tohra and his principles.

Makkar said a Gurmat Institute of Sikh Studies was also being set up in memory of Gurcharan Singh Tohra in 10-acre land near Bahadurgarh in Patiala by the SGPC.

Bassi Pathana, September 23
A mother along with her 4-year-old son, jumped into Bhakra canal near Khalspur Bridge with the intention to commit suicide. But luckily the forest guards who were working there saw her and jumped in to the canal and rescued both of them.

Both, the mother and son were rushed to the local civil hospital and the doctors after giving treatment declared them out of danger. The police was informed and they recorded the woman’s statement.

SHO Rajpal Singh said she had been identified as Daljeet Kaur (27), wife of Gurmeet Singh, resident of Bhambhri village near Khanna. He said in her statement she said that she was fed up with the constant taunts of her neighbours that she was physically challenged. She had complained against them at the Khamao police station in this regard but no one took heed to her complaint, so she attempted suicide by jumping in the Bhakra canal along with her son.

The SHO said that the police had not yet registered any case but was investigating the matter. He said her neighbours would be probed too.

Kharar, September 23
Here is a good news for Kharar residents and commuters frequenting the Kharar-Landran stretch, as sources confirm that ongoing widening of the road will be completed by next month.

According to sources, already 85 per cent of the project has been completed. About 1,200 metres of sewerage line needs to be shifted, while work on the bridges near Chappar Chiri and Dairri bridge, too, is near completion.

XEN Gurmukh Singh (PWD) says the major bottleneck in the project is utility shifting, which includes shifting of electricity poles, telephone poles and sewerage pipes.

The deadline of the project has been extended twice this year. Sources say the project went beyond its deadline of July 30 due to hiccups in shifting public utilities. Various departments dealing with the shifting process have caused the delay.

Most difficult part remained the construction of the road over a nullah passing through Kharar city, sources added.

Patiala, September 23
After being honoured with the Best Scientist Award during the Kisan Mela at Rakhra village, head of the genetics division at Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Dr KV Prabhu, said Punjab farmers would be given wheat seed of high-yielding HD-2967 variety before the Rabi sowings in small quantities for planting through dibbling technology.

Meanwhile, head of the centre for agri tech assessment and transfer at IARI, Dr JP Sharma, told farmers that they would be given preference for availing the benefit of new varieties developed at the institute.

“They will get the seeds through the Punjab Young Farmers Association,” he said, while urging farmers to switch over to the cultivation of Basmati rice instead of coarse varieties of paddy.

Chandigarh, September 23
The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed a Delhi-based company Advance Phototech to refund Rs 18,57,000 to a complainant for selling the wrong model of a photo printing machine.

The commission has also asked the company to pay Rs 5,500 as costs of litigation. The complainant, Mannu Colour Lab in Sector 22, filed an appeal stating that in order to earn his livelihood he purchased a photo printing machine, NORITSU 3001 for Rs 18 lakh from Advance Phototech. He paid Rs 5 lakh in advance, took a loan of Rs 8,40,000 from ICICI Bank, paid Rs 2,90,000 on June 21, 2006, Rs 50,000 on June 26, 2006, Rs 20,000 on June 29, 2006 and Rs 2,52,000 on September 18, 2006.

He said he paid Rs 19,52,000 to the opposite party by September 18, 2006, out of which, Rs 95,000 has been refunded.

Thus, the opposite party has retained Rs 18,57,000 for the said machine. He was further alleged that the complainant had ordered a dual magazine reconditioned model of the machine, but the opposite party supplied only a single magazine machine. The machine, however, developed defects, which have not been removed so far. The complainant sent a notice on October 11, 2007, to which the opposite party submitted a reply admitting that it had received Rs 57,000 in excess and wanted to refund, but the amount had been refunded. When the machine broke down on December 12, 2007, he again sent a letter, but the opposite party didn’t bother.

Chandigarh, September 23
A 40-year-old Zirakpur-based property dealer was killed in a car-bus collision at the Sectors 45, 46, 49 and 50 traffic lights point in the wee hours of today. In another mishap, one person was injured after a truck rammed into his car in Mani Majra.

The police said a Himachal Road Transport Corporation bus rammed into a car after its driver allegedly jumped the red light. The deceased has been identified as Krishan Kumar, a property dealer, who was also the co-owner of a brick-kiln. Kishan was on his way from Mohali at around 3 am when the mishap took place. The police said both the vehicles were on high speed and the bus dragged the car to a distance before coming to a halt. The bus passengers escaped with minor bruises.

Krishan sustained severe head injuries and was rushed to the PGI, where he was declared brought dead. He is survived by his wife and two children.

The police has arrested the bus driver, Suresh Kumar, a resident of Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh, after registering a case of causing death due to rash and negligent driving against him.

In another incident, Lokesh Kumar, a resident of Sirsa in Haryana, filed a complaint with the police alleging that a truck (HR-37-A-7654) rammed into his car near Bitta petrol station in Mani Majra on Wednesday. He suffered minor injuries in the mishap. Acting on the complaint, the police arrested the truck driver, Sanjay Kumar, a resident of Kangra, on the charges of causing injuries due to rash and negligent driving.

Chandigarh, September 23
An unidentified man duped a Sector 22-based jeweller of a gold chain on the pretext of checking it outside the shop in natural light on Wednesday.

The jeweller, Vinod Kumar, a resident of Sector 37-A, reported to the police that the man had visited his shop, Nikita Jewellery Sector 22, earlier also.

Yesterday, he asked the jeweller to show a gold ring and a gold chain which he did. The swindler took the gold chain outside the shop and fled, the police said.

The police said the jeweller had not installed CCTV cameras in his shop. “We have leant that the suspect had also used an ATM near the jeweller’s shop. We are trying to get a CCTV footage from the bank to identify him,” said a police official.

Zirakpur, September 23
A 45-year-old woman was killed in a road accident near Pabhat road on the Ambala-Chandigarh Highway here this morning.

The deceased is identified as Mitho Devi, a resident of Sukhna Colony, Ward No. 4, Bishanpura village. She is survived by her husband and three children.

The investigating officer (IO) said the incident occurred around 10.30 am when Mitho Devi, along with her husband Leela Singh, were going to the GMSH-16, Chandigarh, on Activa being driven by Mitho Devi.

When they reached near the Pabhat road, a speedy Punjab Roadways bus hit their scooter from behind and they fell on the road.

Mitho Devi died on-the-spot, while her husband sustained minor injuries.

The investigating officer stated that the body had been sent for autopsy at Dera Bassi Civil Hospital.

The bus driver Bhupinder Singh was arrested and a case has been registered against him, he added.

Zirakpur, September 23
A 40-year-old truck driver was allegedly electrocuted at the godown area here today. The deceased has been identified as Hardev Singh, a resident of Colony No 4, Chandigarh. However, family members had suspected foul play in the death and asked to probe the matter.

According to the police, Hardev Singh suddenly got electrocuted when he was covering his truck. The body of the deceased has been sent for a postmortem at the Civil Hospital, Dera Bassi, and investigations into the case have been initiated, said the police.

Mohali, September 23
After 15 years, Roop Chand, a former sarpanch of Nagal village, has been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act for transferring panchayat land in his name and other village members.

The Block Development Officer Majri said on the basis of a tip off, the district administration found that the former Sarpanch had fudged facts to transfer the land in his name. The 13,569 bighas of land is worth crores of rupee and many VIP have stakes in the land.

Panchkula, September 23
Local shuttler Ravinder started his campaign on a winning note in the 44th Haryana State Senior Open Badminton Championship, which started at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Sector 3, here today.

The meet was declared open by RP Chandra, IAS, FC and PS Sports department, Haryana.

A total of 250 players in various categories are participating in the event.

Chandigarh, September 23
Former union sports minister and nominated chairman of Commonwealth Games sports village committee Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa slammed the main organising committee of the Commonwealth Games for dismal conditions prevailing in the sports village.

“I have been warning the authorities concerned for the last three months that nothing is right in the sports village but none was ready to pay attention. Now the country has been facing criticism on the issue,” said Dhindsa, while demanding a high-level probe in all scandals coming out during the preparation of the Games.

“But the inquiries should be initiated only after the culmination of the Games. Being a true Indian, everyone should come forward for the success of the Games,” said Dhindsa.

Notably, the unhygienic conditions prevailing in the village had drawn flak from the participating countries and Commonwealth Games England, chairman Sir Andrew Foster admitted that a decision on his team’s participation was hanging “on a knife-edge” because of problems with the village.

Dhindsa, who is also president of the Cycle Federation of India, was in the city to support the “Cyclothron” event, being conducted by the Chandigarh Administration on September 26 to promote cycling among citizens of the City Beautiful.

Dhindsa said the involvement of too many agencies in the preparation work was the main reason behind the messy situation in CWG works.

Dhindsa also criticised officials of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) for not providing cycles in time to CWG participants. “Firstly, the cycles were delivered to the participants late. Now after the Indian Olympics Association has given the cycles, the SAI has asked its coaches to take cycles from the participants and deposit them in Delhi to preserve them for the Games.”

Chandigarh, September 23
The Chandigarh Golf Association (CGA) will conduct a golf clinic for all participants of the third CGA Junior Golf Tournament at the CGA Golf Range here tomorrow at 5 pm.

The idea behind the golf clinic is to hone the skills of budding golfers so that they give out their best during the two-day junior tournament being held at SEPTA golf course in Chandi Mandir on September 25 and 26.

Leading names in the IGU junior golf circuit, including K Raghav Bhandari, Tarundeep Chadha, Tavleen Batra, Firoz Garewal, Piyush Sangwan, Karandeep Kochhar, Jairaj Sandhu, Aadil Bedi and Vasundhara Thiara will be seen in action during the tournament.

CGA president JS Cheema said, “It will be a treat to watch the cream of junior golf in action. I hope new records are set. The CGA is trying to financially and logistically support young golfers to play on various courses in India and abroad. The prime objective of the CGA junior circuit is to provide a platform to hone the golfing skills and improve the competitive skills of the budding players.”

Prizes will be given away by Lt Gen MS Buttar, chief of staff, headquarters, Western Command, Chandi Mandir, on September 26 at 4.30 pm, according to CGA secretary Ashwani Sharma.

Chandigarh, September 23
The men squad of the forthcoming Commonwealth Games will set the city roads ablaze with their participation in the Chandigarh Administration’s ambitious cycling event, Cyclothon, which will take off on September 26.

As many as 15 top cyclists of the country, including Bikram Singh, Atul Kumar, Satbir Singh, Somvir Singh, Amandeep Singh and Vinod Malik, would take part in the “elite race” to support and promote cycling in the city.

Indian cricketer Virendra Sehwag will also be present at the event to flag off the kids ride.

For the event, the registration has already started at the Expo, Leisure Valley, Sector 10, here.

The event is being organised with the association of Hero Cycles, India, Cycle Federation of India and Sport18, the sports marketing division of the Network18 group.

Talking to mediapersons at a local hotel, Pankaj Munjal, MD of Hero Cycles, said 4,000 registrations had already been done for the event. “We are expecting an additional 2,000 registrations over the next two days,” said Munjal.

Former union sports minister and president of the Cycling Federation of India SS Dhindsa was also present on the occasion.

Each participant on the registration gets a T-shirt, a safety reflective jacket, a cycling helmet and a bag, said organisers adding that the step was taken to attract more and more participants in the event.

The Cyclothon will be kicked off at 6.30 am with a 60-km national elite race that will see the prize money of Rs 5 lakh. The other events comprises multiple categories -- the Go Air corporate ride of 20 km, the LG green ride of 10 km, the amateur ride of 20 km and the kids ride for children between the age group of 8 to 13 years, spanning 5 km.

“Cycling is a wonderful activity for fitness and also protects our environment. It is also a solution of various problems like road congestion, parking problems and health hazards. So our aim is to promote cycling in the city, which has special cycle tracks for cyclists,” said Rakesh Mahindra, general secretary of the Chandigarh Cycling Association and race director of the event.

Chandigarh, September 23
Saaniya Sharma of Chandigarh, who took a commanding seven-stroke lead over Bangalore's Sharmila Nicollet on the opening day, saw the lead margin reduced to just two strokes with the Bangalore girl firing a one under 71 card today as against Saaniya's 76 in the Hero Honda Women's Professional Golf Tour at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon today.

With the two girls in fighting form, the stage is set for an exciting finish tomorrow.

Saaniya is now overall two over par 146 with Sharmila two strokes behind at 148.

Nalini Singh Siwach (76) finished four over today and is third. The player who has shown remarkable improvement is Chandigarh's Preetinder Kaur, who is now fourth. The course played better and there were no complaints from any quarter.

Scores (after round two):

146 Saaniya Sharma (70-76); 148 Sharmila Nicollet (77-71); 155 Nalini Singh Siwach (79-76); 160 Preetinder Kaur (83-77); 164 Pallavi Jain (81-83).