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Saturday, November 21, 1998
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C H A N D I G A R H & V I C I N I T Y |
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Saturday, November 21, 1998 |
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Two petrol pumps fetch Rs 4 cr CHANDIGARH, Nov 20 — Two of the six petrol pumps allotted by a former Union Petroleum Minister, Capt Satish Sharma, from his discretionary quota have now been auctioned for Rs 4.10 crore. The original allotments were cancelled by the Supreme Court which also directed oil companies concerned to auction them. Ruskin says simple is beautiful CHANDIGARH, Nov 20 — "I lead a simple life", said Ruskin Bond known for his writings for children and adults during an interaction here today. |
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 Mother of two gangraped CHANDIGARH, Nov 20 — The wife of a farm worker was gangraped by six drunken miscreants at a farm house in Khuda Lahora village early this morning. |
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'Mitti
Rudan Kare' bags first prize Cabbage,
raddish prices fall Rs 2 lakh sanctioned to beautify town Ban on polythene to be discussed DD to telecast Nov 22 function
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Two petrol pumps fetch Rs 4 cr CHANDIGARH, Nov 20 — Two of the six petrol pumps allotted by a former Union Petroleum Minister, Capt Satish Sharma, from his discretionary quota have now been auctioned for Rs 4.10 crore. The original allotments were cancelled by the Supreme Court which also directed oil companies concerned to auction them. One of the petrol pumps auctioned on November 15 belongs to the Bharat Petroleum Corporation and is located on the Chandigarh-Panchkula border, near Dhillon Theatre.It fetched a record Rs 2.35 crore. The other petrol pump auctioned a day later and located in Sector 46 belongs to the Indian Oil Corporation. It fetched for Rs 1.75 crore. Though the IOC also planned to auction another petrol pump in Sector 27 on Madhya Marg but a litigation stood in the way. The Bharat Petroleum Corporation also auctioned another pump, which has been functional at Darla Ghat in Solan district for Rs 50 lakh. The third oil company, IBP, is yet to decide about auctioning one such petrol pump, original allotment of which was cancelled following Supreme Court orders. The IOC has two more pumps, including one in Sector 27 and the other in Sector 56, which came under the purview of Supreme Court verdict in Captain Sharma's discretionary allotment case. In all the six cases, the pumps originally allotted by Captain Sharma have been functional. After the apex court verdict, the oil companies cancelled original allotments and allowed dealers from their erstwhile network, to run these on purely ad hoc basis until a final decision to transfer the dealership by auction or otherwise is taken. Sources in the Bharat Petroleum say that the company had only two "disputed" pumps in the entire Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Chandigarh. Both these pumps have now been auctioned. They, however, refuse to talk about future allotments as to whether a new policy of auctioning such stations or pumps would be pursued or not. One of the officials of an oil company, however, maintained that auctions have been conducted because of the Supreme Court directive in case of these "freak allotments". He said that there was little possibility of any major change in the present policy of allotment of petrol pumps through Oil Selection Boards. In case of petrol pumps in Chandigarh, the sites are allotted by the Chandigarh Administration on lease to the oil companies. "The auction was basically of the licence to run an outlet," a senior official of an oil company said. He maintained that
"mind boggling prices fetched by both Mani Majra and
Sector 46 outlets was because of their strategic
locations. The Mani Majra petrol pump basically serves
highway traffic to both Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
Besides, petrol being slightly expensive in neighbouring
Panchkula, even retail consumers use this station. About
Sector 46, he said, traffic moving to various parts of
Punjab from Chandigarh made it a paying preposition. |
Mother of two gangraped CHANDIGARH, Nov 20 — The wife of a farm worker was gangraped by six drunken miscreants at a farm house in Khuda Lahora village early this morning. The same gang also allegedly looted two liquor vends in the village. The rapists locked up Mr Ram Singh, husband of the victim, her two kids and two neighbours — Mr Nagina Singh and Mr Sunaiya — in a room before raping her in another. According to sources, the trauma of the woman, aged about 32 years, lasted around an hour while a police patrol motor cycle was stationed just 100 yards away. The rapists had their faces covered. The woman, probably fearing for her life, did not scream. The farm house is located around 300 metres from the residential area of the village. Ram Singh and his wife were employed by the farmhouse owner, a doctor, to look after the place. The terrified woman told the police that five of the assailants talked in Punjabi while the sixth spoke Hindi with a Bihari accent. They were carrying iron rods and lathis and threatened the woman with dire consequences. The couple was sleeping in the verandah when the miscreants arrived at the farm house with an injured Nagina Singh and his son Sunaiya in tow. Nagina and his son live on a poultry farm near Ram Singh's place. The father was sleeping in the verandah when he was hit with an iron rod by the miscreants. Sunaiya, who was sleeping inside, came out on hearing the screams. He was also slapped and hit on the face. The attackers then asked the two to accompany them to the farmhouse nearby, where they raped the woman. The modus operandi of the gang was the same as when thieves had lifted iron shutters from the middle and entered shops in Dhanas, Raipur Khurd and Dadu Majra during the past fortnight. The DSP, Central Division, Mr Surjit Singh said that "going by the modus operandi of the crime, the gang seems to be the same as has been committing thefts in the past few days." The gang uses an iron road shaped like the handle of a hand pump to open shutters, the police said. A case has been registered
under Sections 376, 382, 342, 307, 392 and 34 of the IPC. |
Ruskin says simple is beautiful CHANDIGARH, Nov 20 — "I lead a simple life", said Ruskin Bond known for his writings for children and adults during an interaction here today. The function was organised by a local book depot and Penguin Books. Ruskin turned the heavy worded queries from the audience into aphorisms. He said one must never let go of one's sense of humour. It is all the more important during our trying times. The writer known for more than often treading into shoes of a child in his writings had naturally a lot of questions on his front. When asked about using the brain of an adult while writing about childhood, he beamed and said that he had internalised lot from his own childhood. Good literature inspires him. He said he picked the habit of reading from his father. The escapades of his childhood, which sometimes landed him into trouble, worked as great resource to craft stories from. Some of the prominent works of Bond include: "Room on the Roof", "Delhi is not far", "Rain in the Mountains" and "Stranger in the night", which has two novellas titled 'handful of nuts' and "The Sensualist". His latest work "The Lamp is Lit" is likely to be released next month. To a few mothers who were
keen on inculcating reading habit among their children,
Ruskin said both the teacher and the parents should set
an example by reading themselves. The famed writer also
read out excerpts from his poetry. |
Power for 1100 houses outside
‘lal dora’ Chandigarh, Nov 20 — The Chandigarh Administration will provide power connections to 1100 houses built outside the lal dora in various villages of the Union Territory by December end. Work on the project, after initial preparations will begin in the coming days. This was announced by Mr Jagdish Sagar, Adviser to the Union Territory Administrator at a meeting of members of the Zila Parishad, Panchayat Samiti and Sarpanches of 15 villages at the UT Guest House here today. Mr Satya Pal Jain, MP, was also present there. This announcement comes in wake of a decision, taken in principle, by the administration on November 18 that the houses constructed outside the lal dora but adjacent to main "abadi" area would be provided basic amenities. The decision was taken on the basis of the recommendations of the three committees set up by the Administration in May to identify houses, built long time back, to be provided facilities in accordance with the New Capital (Periphery) Control Act. Talking to The Tribune after the meeting Mr Jain and Sarpanches of various villages said that basic amenities would be provided to 1800 houses in two phases. As the erecting of power lines and ensuring power supply was possible in a short time, it had been decided that work in this context would begin in the first phase. Laying of water supply lines and sewerage would also be taken up later on. Same facilities would be provided to rest of the houses in second phase. Other issues discussed at the meeting pertained to revising the price of acquisition of land and reviving the scheme to provide houses to those whose land had been acquired. On this issue, the administration assured that the rates would be revised and the scheme would also be revived. The scheme had been stopped for the past many years. To overcome the growing need for houses, more units for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) would be constructed. It was decided that these houses would be auctioned through draw of lots in future rather than allotting them. Mr Jain said that the Adviser assured them that no demolitions would be carried out. An inquiry would also be ordered into the demolitions, carried out without serving the requisite notices, at Raipur Kalan, he added. The Adviser, however, appealed to the people not to be misled by unscrupulous developers and property dealers into buying land and constructing houses outside the lal dora. Regarding the issuance of notices under the Periphery Act, he said the Adviser had assured that a final decision, as per norms, would be taken on the basis of the replies regarding the date of construction and other aspects submitted by the people. Other issues discussed at the meeting were the status of ongoing projects, including the laying of a road to Kaimbwala, adequate water supply to villages besides the construction of unloading and loading platforms at the Railway Station. A committee comprising the Chief Engineer and the Deputy Commissioner would coordinate to get the projects completed on time. The holding of Panchayat elections at the earliest was also discussed and the Adviser assured that these would be held soon, they added. On the other hand, members of the Action Committee for the Development of Villages alleged that although the meeting was scheduled to be held with a deputation of their committee, they were not allowed to attend the initial proceedings. The members were, however, invited to present their case later on. Meanwhile, the Gaon
Sangarsh Samiti has called off its agitation following
the acceptance of its demands by the administration. Mr
Jain visited the venue and addressed the protesters near
the Railway Station. |
Encroachments removed CHANDIGARH, Nov 20 — Continuing with its anti-encroachment drive, the enforcement staff of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) today removed encroachments from government land in Sector 39-D. Hedges, barbed wires and angle irons and two temporary huts, which had virtually reached the road berms were among the encroachments removed by the enforcement staff. Initially, a JCB was pressed into service, but when it had some technical problem, the workers of the MCC completed the operation manually. The operation started around 11 a.m. and lasted for over three hours. A strong police contingent prevented any untoward incident. Corporation sources said the anti-encroachment drive was likely to continue as the civic body had decided to recarpet the remaining V-6 roads in the city. All encroachments on the road berms would be removed so that the road recarpeting work could be completed as per schedule. The sources said the drive
was likely to be resumed on Monday when encroachments on
road berms in Sector 40-D would be removed. |
'Mitti Rudan Kare' bags first
prize CHANDIGARH, Nov 19 — The second day of the P.U. Zone `A' Youth Festival being held in GCG, Sector 11 opened with a poetry recitation contest. It was followed by a contest of debate. On ``India should not become a nuclear power'' which saw teams of all six colleges putting their view. Later a quiz was
organised. There was an audio round also and the audience
participation added zing to the contest. Two teams were
eliminated in the preliminary rounds. The morning session
was presided over by Mrs. Meenakshi Ghosh, Chairperson of
the Chandigarh Housing Board. |
Govt clarifies about IT scheme CHANDIGARH, Nov 20 — The Government of India has issued certain clarifications regarding one-to-six scheme formulated by it with a view to widening the tax net. Mr Ashwani Luthra, Commissioner of Income Tax, Chandigarh, said here today that the non-resident Indians(NRIs) were not required to compulsorily file the return in Form No 2-C on the basis of occupation by way of ownership and tenancy of immovable property and on the basis of being a member of a club where the membership fee was more than Rs 25,000. He said senior citizens over the age of 65 years but not engaged in any business or profession were also not required to file return on Form 2-C compulsorily if they satisfied the conditions regarding the possession of house or telephone. Similarly, travel to places of pilgrimage such as Saudi Arabia on Haj pilgrimage, organised by the Central Haj Committee, Mumbai, and travelling to China on pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar, organised by the Ministry of External Affairs, would not be considered as foreign travel for the purpose of income tax under the above scheme. He said the travel to a
foreign country under the scheme would not include
travelling to the neighbouring countries —
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri
Lanka. |
Cabbage, raddish prices fall CHANDIGARH, Nov 20 — Prices of vegetables continue to fall in different city markets. Cauliflower which was priced yesterday at Rs 20 in Sector 46, was available for Rs 15 in the Sector 41 today. Likewise, cabbage which had perched at Rs 25 a kg during the past fortnight, was priced at Rs 15 and Rs 18 in Sector 41 and Sector 40 markets, respectively. The minimum price of
carrot has come down from Rs 20 to Rs 14 today in Sectors
40 and 41. Raddish, which was priced yesterday between Rs
7 and Rs 10 a kg, was available today for Rs 5 a kg in
Sector 41 market. However, there was not much difference
in the prices of other vegetables. |
Rs 2 lakh sanctioned to
beautify town SAS NAGAR, Nov 20 — The local Municipal Council has sanctioned Rs 2 lakh for the beautification of the town in connection with the tercentenary celebrations of the Khalsa in Anandpur Sahib. Mr Amrik Singh Mohali,
senior vice-president of the Ropar district unit of the
Shiromani Akali Dal, said today that a five-member
committee of municipal councillors had been formed in
this regard. It had been decided to beautify the
roundabouts and the entry point to the town from Balongi
village. He said 20 ceremonial gates would also be
erected and sanitation work undertaken. |
More funds for MNES sought CHANDIGARH, Nov 20 — To give a thrust to the new and renewable sources of energy (NRSE) programme, a state level review meeting was held here today by the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES). The meeting was presided over by Mr C.R. Kamlanathan, secretary, MNES. A high level team of officers from the MNES discussed NRSE projects with senior secretaries and officers and stressed Punjab should allocate more funds for this sector in the State plans so that necessary infrastructure base was set up for exploiting the energy. Mr Y.S. Ratra, Principal
Secretary, Science, Technology, Environment and
Non-Conventional Energy Sources, said that Punjab has
biomass power potential of 1580 MW and cogeneration
potential of 150 MW, through the efficient use of
available agro-residue and baggasse in sugar mills. |
‘Chandrawal’ heroine summoned PANCHKULA, Nov 20 — The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Panchkula, Mr V.P. Gupta, has summoned Usha Sharma, heroine of Chandrawal Haryanavi film, in a defamation case filed by Mr Ram Pal Malik, Director, Haryana State Seed Certification Agency. Mrs Sharma proprietor of Chandrawal Kunj, Balag, Morni, has been summoned to appear before the court on December 12, 1998, after the complainant in his application stated that he had been allegedly described as a ' land grabber'. He alleged that Ms Sharma, in written complaint dated September 24, 1998, copies of which were sent to the Chief Minister, state Forest Minister, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Haryana, Superintendent of Police, Panchkula, and District Forest Officer, Pinjore, apart from naming the Forest Ranger, Morni, Mr M.S.Malik, had also held him responsible for instigating the officials of the forest department. In his application to the
court he said he was holding a responsible government
position and the complaint had damaged his reputation in
his department. |
DD to telecast Nov 22
function CHANDIGARH, Nov 20 — The Chief Executive Officer of the Anandpur Sahib Foundation, Mr Jasbir Singh Bir today said that Doordarshan had decided to telecast live the unveiling ceremony of the foundation stone of the Khalsa Heritage Memorial Complex being held at Anandpur Sahib on November 22, Sunday. The Doordarshan network
would telecast the proceedings of the occasion from 11.15
am to 1.15 pm, capturing the launching of the
celebrations to commemorate the tercentenary of the birth
of the Khalsa. |
Ban on polythene to be
discussed CHANDIGARH, Nov 20 — The possibility of imposing a ban on the use of polythene would be discussed at a meeting of the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee which is scheduled to be held at the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation on November 24. According to sources in
the committee the meeting was expected to be stormy as
some members want the administration to impose a blanket
ban on the use of polythene as a voluntary ban would
serve no purpose.While another group and the plastic
lobby feel that a ban on the use of ' ungraded' plastic
in the first phase would be more effective as polythene
has almost become a 'necessity'. |
CHANDIGARH, Nov 20 — Prof K.N. Pathak from the Department of Physics in Panjab University has been conferred the prestigious Mehgnad Saha Award. He is the first professor in the department to receive the coveted prize. Professor Pathak has been given the award for research in theoretical sciences for 1996. His outstanding contribution in the understanding of atomic motion in liquid matter, liquid helium, electron liquids, two dimensional quantum charge fluids, phonon dynamics and atom-metal surface interaction has received the recognition in the form of the award which carries a cash prize and a citation. Born on July 30, 1941, Professor Pathak did his M.Sc from Allahabad University in 1962. He did his Ph D from IIT, Kanpur, in 1966. Professor Pathak is a recipient of the National Research Council of Canada Fellowship Award in 1967. He received the Alexander von Humboldt Senior Fellowship Award in 1977. In 1983 he became a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences. Professor Pathak received the UGC national lecture award for 1986-87. He is a founder member of the Society for Scientific Values and also a recipient of the UGC National Fellowship Award. Blood donation camp: More than 100 students from Dev Samaj College of Education, Sector 36, and Panjab University donated blood at a camp organised by the Yuvsatta, a social organisation at Students Centre in PU on Friday. The camp was organised in association with the Vir Deva Foundation to mark the martyrdom of Lala Lajpat Rai. Brig Kuldip Singh Chandpuri, the hero of Loungewala Battle against Pakistan, was also present on the occasion. Oration: The Panjab
University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences will
organise pharmaceutical sciences oration on
"pharmacopoeias during the colonial period" on
November 23, an official press release said here today.
The orator for the occasion is Prof Harkishan Singh. |
CHANDIGARH, Nov 20 — A Nigerian national living in the Modern Housing Complex, Mani Majra, was arrested last night by the Chandigarh Police, which has seized 2.570 kg of smack from him. The consignment is estimated to be valued about Rs 2.50 crore in the market. The Nigerian national, Cyril Archbong, alias Tony, was nabbed last night following a tip from two youths. A patrol party of the police had intercepted two Patiala-based youth going on a Bullet on the night of November 18. The patrol party was verifying the antecedents when they realised that the youth were high on some drug. Upon interrogation they disclosed that they purchased smack from Cyril. A search party led by DSP, East Division , Mr Vijay Pal Singh, nabbed the drug peddler last night. The police searched his house and found computers and music systems. The peddler came to India as a student but stayed on and was married to an Indian woman. He even has a son from her. A case of overstaying in the country without valid documents was earlier registered against him but he jumped bail. He was jailed in Patiala earlier also for allegedly selling drugs. The main suppliers of smack are said to be in Delhi. The Nigerian has been remanded into police custody till November 23. Electrocuted: A labourer, Surjit Singh, was electrocuted at an under- construction site in Kajeheri village on Thursday. The landlord of the site, Shiv Dev Singh of SAS Nagar, was arrested and booked under Section 304-A of the IPC for negligence. Surjit Singh (25) hailed from Anandpur Sahib. The incident occurred when he caught hold of iron rod to haul himself up. An overhead power line had been touching the rod and it was instant death for him. Raids on hotel: A hotel in Sector 22 opposite the Inter State Bus Terminus in Sector 17 was raided by the police on Wednesday night. Seven persons, including two hotel employees, were arrested for allegedly consuming and serving liquor without having a licence for a bar. This is the second such incident in Sector 22 in the past one week. The arrested persons are Avtar Singh, Joginder Singh, Rajinder Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Ashwani Kumar, Charan Singh and Pratap Singh. Thief held: With the arrest of Subhash Sharma of Sector 22, the police on Thursday claimed to have solved five cases of burglaries in the city in the past few days. He hailed from Nurpur in Kangra. He allegedly stole a television and LPG cylinders from a house and two wrist watches from another place. He also allegedly stole two LPG cylinders from Sector 25 and taps from two houses in Sector 14 and Sector 24. Student held: Two college students — Gaurav Chopra of Sector 40 and Amit Dutt of Sector 39 — were nabbed for allegedly passing indecent remarks at women outside a college in Sector 10. A case under Section 294 of the IPC in Sector 3 police station has been registered. Four injured: Four persons have been injured in separate road accidents in the city within the past 24 hours. Pedestrians Guru Lal, Guru Dev and Daya Lal were hit by a vehicle at different places in the city while scooterist Gurdial Singh was hit by a bus just outside the PGI main gate. Husband booked: Acting on the directions of the court, the Sector 17 police on Thursday registered a case against a Sector 22 resident, Parvinder Singh, for allegedly harassing and cheating his wife Ms Bhanu Bagga. A case
under Sections 406, 498 and 420 of the IPC was
registered, according to sources. |
CHANDIGARH, Nov 20 — The matter regarding the election of the president of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana, today, again came up for hearing through an application filed by Mr Amol Rattan Sidhu who, inter alia, sought the appointment of another Returning Officer for the conduct of the election. Earlier the election of the president of the Bar Council was stayed by the High Court because of the controversy on whether the Advocate-General had the right to contest the election or not as he was an ex-officio member of the council. It was contended on behalf of the application that under Rule 38 of the Unamended Rules, under which the election was being held, the Advocate-General had the right to vote as well as the right to contest. Even as per the amended rules, the Advocate-General had the right to contest since the right to vote included right to contest, council argued. The Bench comprising Mr Justice H.S. Brar and Justice K.S. Kumaran fixed the writ petition filed earlier for December 3. In the meanwhile the stay on election for the post of president would continue. Earlier by an order dated October 6, the High Court had appointed Mr R.L. Batta to conduct the election of the president and vice-president of the council. Mr Batta filed an application before the court to clarify whether the Advocate-General had the right to contest or not under the rules. Mr H.S. Mattewal, Punjab Advocate-General, had filed the nomination papers to which objections were raised to his candidature. Counsel for many respondent did not comment on the Returning Officer, a senior member of the Bar. According to them, he had done nothing wrong by seeking a clarification on the issue. Notices to Punjab, DPI on appointments Mr Kapil Kakkar, an advocate of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, challenged in a public interest litigation the action of the Education Department appointing 11 teachers in primary schools by flouting rules and without issuing any advertisement. A Division Bench comprising Mr Justice R.S. Mongia and Mr Justice S.S. Sudhalkar issued notices to the Punjab Government, the DPI (Primary) and the DEO, Nawanshahr, for February 24. It was submitted by Mr Kakkar, who appeared in person, that as per a news report on a scam the education department, which appeared in a section of the press on November 19, certain teachers were appointed in primary schools violating norms and rules, and among them there were also three relatives of a minister in the Punjab Government. Such appointments were against the spirit of the democratic government and the manner in which the appointments had been made (without any advertisement) deprived eligible candidates from the right of consideration. It was further submitted by Mr Kakkar that on one hand the teachers who were earlier appointed on 89-days' basis were starving on roads because of non-availability of posts, while on the other such appointments were being made which belied the government's claim regarding transparency in its functioning. "The right to run the
government does not create a fiefdom in favour of the
persons who are doing so nor does it gives them the
licence to make any order by an executive fiat", he
pointed out. |
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