CN & heard: Embarrassment?

It seems that the purpose of organising gully cricket tournament by the Chandigarh police,who wanted to connect with youngsters,is working well. The tournament,which is in progress for the past one month,has not only generated interest among youngsters,but also apprised them about the working of Chandigarh police.

During breaks,cricketers talk to the police about their work schedule and how they take up different cases. Sub-inspector Kaptan Singh,who is in-charge of conducting cricket matches at Government Medical Senior Secondary School,Sector 19,said the tournament had provided a perfect platform to make rapport with the younger generation.

Hopeful

Keeping in view the recent incidents of athletes turning to performance-enhancing drugs,officials at Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports,Patiala,seem to have found a temporary solution. A poster with a warning ‘Do dope,lose hope’ pasted on the wall outside the boys’ hostel,seems to be the final solution they are resting on. But how conspicuous the poster will be and how much desired impact it will have on athletes remains to be seen.

Star and MP

On Tuesday,as master blaster Sachin Tendulkar was practising at the nets on his 39th birthday,a lot of police officials let their relatives and friends get closer to the nets to get Sachin’s autograph and pictures. Only after Sachin requested his fans to calm down,did they make way for him. Later,police officials were seeing taking autographs.

Blank space

Even after two months of Vivek Pratap Singh taking charge as the Municipal Commissioner,his picture has not been uploaded on the civic body’s website. The space for the picture remains blank.

City residents,who were complaining about not receiving replies to their e-mails or complaints registered on the facebook page of MC,said if the Commissioner’s picture had not been uploaded in two months,then to hope for answers to their complaints was expecting too much.

Cricket and heels

Chandigarh Mayor Raj Bala Thakur’s sartorial tastes are undisputed. At the match between Mayor’s XI and the IGP’s XI during the Chandigarh Police Gully Cricket League at the Sector 16 stadium on Saturday,the Mayor faced the ball in a crisp white suit and matching heels. The Mayor may be facing heat both from within the party and the opposition,but stepping on to the cricket field in heels and facing the bowler requires more courage than the councillors know. Ask the Mayor.

Ignorant Mantriji

Ignorance is bliss. But not in the case of a union minister when questioned about her ministry. It happened with Union Minister of Science and Technology Vilasrao Deshmukh was inaugurating the CSIR directors’ conference at CITU. A reporter asked him about how more research scholars could enter the CSIR research programme,to which the director general of CSIR said one could apply through CSIR NET examination. Just then the minister,who was busy signing the visitors’ book,added ‘dekho kitna bada hai CSIR ka net’ (See how big is CSIR’s net (work)). It left the media persons laughing at the minister’s ignorance.

Sorry,no chief guest!

Authorities of Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research might not have had even imagined that this time at the institute’s convocation they will have to cut a sorry figure with regard to inviting VIPs was concerned. The authorities seem to have ran out of luck when UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi refused to accept the invitation.

Later,the officials decided to invite Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil. Hoardings were put up at the entrance of PGIMER to welcome him and invitations with his name printed were also sent out. Unfortunately,Patil could not turn up for the event as he had to go to Bathinda where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was to inaugurate an oil refinery.

Undue advantage

oN Students at Panjab University (PU) and its affiliated colleges seem to have discovered a new way to temporarily get away from examinations. Sources say that on both the occasions when the university had to reschedule certain examinations following rumours of paper leak,students had deliberately spread rumours of paper leak two days before each examination. This compelled the authorities to postpone the exams as a precautionary measure.

Admirable

The anti-drunken drive carried out by the Chandigarh police have found surprise admirers in the form of Army officers’ wives. The information was shared by UT Inspector General. Wonder what the officers had to say about the drive?