& V I C I N I T Y
Thursday, November 26, 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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Thursday, November 26, 1998 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Rising crime exposes flaws Contractor
may be hauled up for driving licence muddle |
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Fresh summons to SHO, ASI
Forum
orders refund for defective set Protest
over withholding of money SAD
decries Administration decision |
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Rising crime
exposes flaws CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — Unmindful of the rising crime, prevalence of organised armed gangs, a gang rape besides the recent spate of fear-evoking thefts in the villages and labour colonies, the Chandigarh Police, on a regular basis, has put only 135 policemen — or just 3 per cent of its entire force — to keep an eye on these new "nurseries" of crime. Approximately 3 lakh people live in the outskirts of the city in an area covering 36 sq km, including Mani Majra and other villages. On the other hand, it's a shocking imbalance. A total of 538 policemen — or more than 13 per cent of the nearly 4000 strong police force — have been put on security duty of VIPs, civil and police authorities, totalling no more than 250 persons. And this does not include VIPs of Punjab and Haryana. The recent series of thefts and the gang rape, last week, have shown several flaws in the system of deploying policemen and a total "non-commitment" to protecting the 22 vulnerable villages in the Union Territory and the volatile labour colonies that have mushroomed all over the place. In the past senior police officials have gone on record admitting that the labour colonies had become hideouts for hardened criminals from UP, Bihar and even for J and K militants. Once the thefts began the police "panicked" and moved in an additional 200 men pulled out of various units and posted them at special check nakas. But that may not be enough as it is being seen as a temporary " fire fighting" step rather than a genuine concern to check crime in the longer run. These additional 200 men will ultimately go back to their respective units and policing in the villages and labour colonies is bound to suffer. On the other hand, thanks to the largesse of the Chandigarh Police, between 3 and 5 policemen move around even with middle level civil officials and even individuals. A majority of these policemen are posted to satisfy the ego and status of the individual concerned and are not need-based, sources said. The latest directions of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to carry out a review and prune the security have had no impact. A total of 1010 cops, including those on regular duty in the villages, are posted in the 11 police stations. Another 355 cops are on the patrolling staff. If one includes the top brass, cops in police stations, patrolling teams, or even the wireless, CID, CIA, traffic and CBO wings no more than 2000 cops are doing actual policing duty and that is about 50 per cent of the entire strength. A team of The Tribune has been going around in the villages and labour colonies after midnight for the past few days. It has found that the addition of 200 cops on naka duty has made little impact on the prevailing fear psychosis. Sources reveal that people have stopped venturing out of their homes after 8.30 pm. Those returning from late night duties move in groups of 5 to 6. The Inspector General of Police, Mr Ram Pal Singh, while admitting that the police strength was lesser in the villages explained "We do not have any specific yardstick for sanctioning of police personnel in villages." He quoted an example of Delhi where specific sanctions were being given for deployment of the police in villages. He claimed that the police was short on staff, however, he refused to comment if the security for VIPs was on the higher side or if it was being pruned. Daily the police has to
post 300 men at the roundabout at Sectors 9,10,16 and 17
to control various agitations, the IG said. The
sanctioned strengths of the police stations, barring
those in Sector 39 and 3, is based on assessments carried
out in 1966. |
Contractor
may be hauled up for driving licence muddle CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — Even as officers of the Licensing and Registering Authority of Motor Vehicles in Sector 17 are gearing up to make alternative arrangements for issuing driving licences, action against the present contractor for alleged irregularities to the tune of several lakhs is on the cards. While two enquiries by the Chandigarh Administration into the functioning of the contractor have found major lapses, the contractor suspended work yesterday following allegations of non- payment of arrears for the past nine months. People at the licensing branch today were making enquiries as to when the work would resume. Officials have been instructed to procure the printing material and make alternative arrangements so that the work is back to normal by Monday. Mrs Anuradha Gupta, Secretary, Transport, said the payment of the contractor had been held up pending the report of the two enquiries which had established certain irregularities. Moreover, the Administration was of the view that the entire process of licensing and registration should be an inhouse affair, and the necessary infrastructure was being raised. Sources revealed that the lapses included changes effected by the contractor himself without any official sanction in the process of making licences using photos taken from polaroid cameras. The digital technology installed by the contractor had brought down the charges of making a licence from Rs 12 to just Rs 3. Instead of passing on the difference of Rs 9 either to the Administration or to the people, the contractor pocketed it. The sources said that "pressures" was being brought upon the authorities to hide the matter, but officers were adamant in not only bringing the contractor to book but also recover the difference he had pocketed. The connivance of certain officers in "allowing" the contractor to change the process without inviting fresh tenders had also been investigated, and action against them was on the anvil. The sources added that
work at the branch was likely to be affected tomorrow as
well. |
VHP wants
minorities panel abolished CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) will pressurise the Centre to enact legislation in Parliament for the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya if a positive verdict was not received from the Supreme Court by 2001 or the verdict went against the construction of the temple. Stating this at a press conference here today, Mr Giri Raj Kishore, Secretary-General of the VHP, claimed that on the basis of the strong evidence submitted before the apex court, the VHP expected a favourable verdict. He said if the law could be amended in the Shah Bano case, why should it not be amended to ensure the construction of the temple. Asked why the deadline of 2001 had been fixed, the VHP leader said by then the VHP expected the stone work to be completed at Chhindwara in Rajasthan. The VHP would also form a trust to ensure that the puja was commenced at the Kashi Vishwanath shrine. Steps would also be taken that Hindu shrine at Mathura was also"liberated". Criticising the demand of Mr G.S. Tohra, SGPC president, for a separate personal law for the Sikhs, Mr Kishore said there was no need for a separate law for the Sikhs as they were virtually part of the Hindu religion. Demanding the abolition of the Minorities commission, he instead demanded the constitution of a "human commission". Answering a question whether the VHP would accept monetary assistance from the government in the construction of the temple, Mr Kishore flayed the Central and the Punjab governments for the sanctioning grants for the tercentenary celebrations of the Khalsa. He said the allegations of atrocities by VHP workers on the Christian nuns in Madhya Pradesh were "baseless and politically motivated". He alleged that after Mrs Sonia Gandhi became the president of the Congress, the Christian missionaries had stepped up their activities in the country. Alleging that the
Christian-dominated National Socialist Council of
Nagaland (NSCN) was virtually running a
"parallel" government in that state, he said
the activists of the militant outfit collected taxes from
people and were even represented at the UN under the
category of "unrepresented people". |
A
confident show by kids CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — Tinytots put up a confident show while sashaying "tutored steps" at a fashion show for children, aged between 2 and 12 here today. The show was organised by the National Institute for Fashion Design. Probably the first of its kind in the city, the show was divided broadly into nine rounds based on different festivals. These included Holi, Baisakhi, Id, Navratri and Divali. While one might debate ethical aspects in parading children garbed in a designers world of illusion for adults, parents seemed to be thoroughly at ease watching their kids do a la Sushmitas, Aishwaryas and Deepak Malhotras. Crowd giggled to innocent gestures and clapped to display of dance steps. Manpreet during the fillers between rounds was particularly impressive with dances on popular numbers. Tushar Malik as the young compere showed promise while his senior companion, Navneet Sandhu, disappointed. Rounds on Republic Day, Baisakhi and Divali were impressive but one always felt that attires in the Valentines round could have been avoided. Dresses were designed by students of the institute with an "objective of exposure in the ever expanding market of kids wear". The Republic Day round was a salute to 51 years of India’s Independence inspired by colour tones of green khaki and the Tricolour. The Id round had the kids dressed in 'gararas', 'shararas', 'dupattas' and jackets while the Christmas Round showed collection of gowns and frocks, dominated by white. Stage confidence of
children was the only highlight of the show which became
monotonous as the rounds progressed. The venue, however,
was jam-packed.
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Court
rejects Sangathan plea CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — The Judicial Magistrate, Mr Jasbir Singh, today dismissed a suit filed by the Yuv Satta Sangathan, seeking directives for restraining the Fashion Designing Institute from holding a fashion show for children. The show was scheduled to be held today. The plaintiff sangathan in
its suit had stated that the show was likely to affect
the minds of young participating children as they would
be required to act in an indecent way. |
Nigerian
national remanded CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr B.C. Gupta, today remanded Cyril Archbong, alias Tony, a Nigerian, in judicial custody. He was arrested by the local police on the charge of possessing 2.57 kg of smack valued at Rs 2.5 crore. A case under the Narcotics
and Drugs Act was registered against him. He was
subjected to custodial interrogation. |
Forgery case CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr B.C. Gupta, today referred Parminder Singh, a resident of Mohali, to the Sector 17 police station for taking necessary action against him in accordance with the law. While taking up challan cases, Mr Gupta discovered that Parminder Singh had tampered with his driving licence. He had also allegedly
committed forgery on the driving licence. |
Forum orders
refund for defective set CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — The UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum(II) has ordered a local electronics dealer to refund Rs 12,495 along with Rs 1,500 as costs for supplying a defective TV set to a resident of Shimla. Mr R.P.Bajaj, president, and Mr H.S.Walia and Mrs Kamlesh Gupta, both members of the forum, handed down the order on a written complaint filed by Mr Mehir Ban Singh. Mr Ban Singh in his complaint alleged that he purchased a television set from Pioneer Electronics, Sector 35, in October, 1997, under a special scheme. Within a few days the set developed trouble and it was repaired. In less than a month, once again, the set had to be repaired. The forum said despite removal of the fault by the dealer on two occasions the set retained the problems.These circumstances led to "irresistible conclusion" that the television sold to Mr Ban Singh was defective. Consequently the forum ordered the refund with 12 per cent interest from the date of purchase till the date of actual payment to the complainant. Mr Ban Singh has been asked to deposit the defective set on receipt of money. The order has to be
complied within a month of the receipt of the copy of the
order. |
Protest over
withholding of money CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — Members of the Action Committee of UT Employees and Workers staged a dharna to protest against the non-release of the compassion amount to the family of Mr Karpan following his death on November 21. The agitators decried the with-holding of the amount and raised slogans against the authorities in front of the office of the Executive Engineer, Horticulture Division No. II in Sector 23 today. The payment should have been made at the first instance under the provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Act, they felt. Mr Rakesh Kumar and Mr Bal Krishan, senior leaders of the committee, said they would be forced to launch an agitation in case their demands were not met.
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SAD decries
Administration decision CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — The local unit of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has condemned the decision of the Chandigarh Administration to provide power and water connections to only 1,800 houses outside the lal dora. Mr G.S. Riar and Mr H.S. Saini, president and a senior leader of the party said here today that the pick and choose policy was not foolproof and the possibility of corruption creeping in could not be ruled out. The facility should have
been extended to others as well, they added.
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Fresh
summons to SHO, ASI CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — The Judicial Magistrate, Mr Jagnahar Singh, today issued fresh summons against the SHO of the Sector 11 police station, Mr Vijay Kumar, and Assistant Sub-Inspector Ashwani Kumar for February 1, 1999, in connection with an assault case. The case was filed by Mr Maninder Singh, a cable operator, alleging that on the asking of a rival cable operator Sub-Inspector Charanjit Singh had slapped him and abused him. He alleged that ASI Ashwani Kumar also slapped him. As for the SHO, he had allegedly asked Sub-Inspector Charanjit Singh to implicate him in a suicide case. Sub-Inspector Charanjit
Singh was earlier granted bail in this case. |
Mani Majra
SHO transferred CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — The Station House Officer (SHO) of Mani Majra, Mr Om Prakash, has been transferred to the lines and Mr Mani Ram Kadina has been given the charge. Mr Om Prakash was transferred following an incident involving the Mani Majra police and the son and daughter-in-law of a serving Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge a few days ago. The young couple had made a complaint to the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ram Pal Singh, who has ordered an enquiry that is to be conducted by SP, City, Mr Baldev Singh. The report will be
submitted within a week, the IG said. |
CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — Like most seasonal vegetables, the price of carrot has started coming down in the local market. Carrot which was available yesterday for a minimum price of Rs 20 per kg in Sector markets, was priced today between Rs 14 and Rs 16 in Sectors 35 and 34. The retail price of carrot was even less in the Sector 26 market where a kg of it was priced between Rs10 and Rs12. Carrot had acquired a status of luxury during the past fortnight as it was priced between Rs 25 and Rs 30. According to traders, the
fall in the price was a result of enhanced arrivals of
fresh crop in the local market from carrot-producing
belts of Punjab and Haryana. The wholesale price of the
commodity had also come down during the past week from Rs
450 and Rs 500 a quintal. |
CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — The election of the Senior Deputy Mayor will be held on December 1. According to sources, the election to a member of the finance and contract committee will also be held along with the election to the Senior Deputy Mayor. Both posts had fallen vacant following the resignation of Mr Prem Sagar Jain. He had resigned following intra-party wranglings after the expulsion of a party councillor, Mr O.P. Goyal. The sources said that the decision to hold the election of the Senior Deputy Mayor had been taken as per the provisions of the Punjab Municipal Act, as extended to Chandigarh, which stipulates that the election should be held within a month of the post falling vacant. Mr Jain had resigned on November 2. Meanwhile, the meeting of the House of the MCC, which was adjourned earlier this month, will be held on November 30. Encroachments removed: The enforcement staff of the MCC on Wednesday removed encroachments from government land in Sector 7-C. As many as 96 encroachments, including iron gates, angle irons and hedges, had virtually extended to the road berms. The operation, which began around 10 a.m. lasted till 2.30 p.m. Meanwhile, Mr Jain had criticised the anti-encroachment drive carried out by the MCC. Terming the drive as "directionless and aimless", Mr Jain alleged that the drive was without the prior approval of the House. Saying that the decision of the House was of recarpeting certain roads in the city, he said: "I fail to understand what the drive has to do with the recarpeting of the roads". He regretted that while major violations, including building bylaws were being ignored by the authorities, law-abiding citizens were being harassed by this unplanned drive. Demanding that there should be no pick and choose policy, he wanted that the Mayor should have placed the matter in the House before starting it in haste. Meanwhile, the local BJP president, Mr Dharam Pal Gupta, when contacted said that it was the resolve of the party to beautify the city and remove encroachments. He flayed the statement of
Mr Jain saying that the resolution to remove
encroachments had been passed by the House of the MCC. He
asked Mr Jain why he did not oppose the removal of
encroachments in a portion of his ward in Sector 15. |
CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — Nearly seven months after the conduct of the annual examination of MA-I (Gandhian studies), Panjab University seems to be helpless in recovering answerbooks from an examiner. This has led to an undue delay in the declaration of the results. The chairperson says that he has written to the higher authorities on more than two occasions in this regard. Sources in the examination branch say that the examiner concerned has failed to send the answerbooks. "The episode once again reflects the fragility of the examination system which needs immediate attention", a member of the Students Campus Council said. Subsidy: Panjab University has revived the provision of providing subsidy under the improvement of the education scheme to teachers of colleges affiliated to the university. A communication in this regard was forwarded by the registrar recently. The amount is approximately Rs 60,000. This will be of help to
those teachers aspiring to attend conference and seminars
abroad. The practice was discontinued nearly three years
ago. |
CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — Mr Prem Chand Sharma, owner of a sweet shop in Mani Majra, reportedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a fan in his shop this morning. The police has recovered a suicide note in which he named a father-son duo for allegedly causing mental agony to him. Sources pointed out that Sharma was running his business from a rented shop. The landlord had won a case in court which issued an eviction notice to Sharma for November 30. Sharma is survived by his wife and two children. Five arrested: Five persons have been arrested for allegedly carrying liquor. Billu and Mannu of Mauli Jagran were nabbed while carrying 12 bottles of liquor each. The Sector 11 police nabbed Balaki Ram of Kumhar Colony and Ashok Kumar of Janata Colony for possessing 50 pouches each. Swaran Kumar, alias Bhola, was nabbed with 10 bottles. Separate cases under the Excise Act have been registered. Gamblers nabbed: Rajesh Kumar of Buterla village and Amar Singh of Sector 29 were nabbed from separate places in Sector 17 while gambling. Cases under the Gambling Act have been registered. Machine stolen: A machine used during construction has reportedly been stolen from a flat in Mani Majra while a scooter (CH-01-A-1695) owned by Ajit Vikram has been stolen from his residence in Sector 21, according to sources. 3 injured: Three persons were injured in separate incidents in the city on Wednesday. An unidentified pedestrian was seriously injured when he was hit by a truck on the Chandigarh-Panchkula road. He has been admitted to the PGI. Rohit Sharma of Kansal village was injured when his scooter skidded. In another incident, the hand of Roshan Lal, an employee of a unit in the industrial area, got crushed under a machine. PANCHKULA: Burglar nabbed: Alert occupants of a house in Sector 17, where burglars made a futile attempt on November 23, helped the police in solving the burglary which took place at a house in Sector 16 on Sunday. According to information, two women of Sector 17 returned home at around 7.30 p.m. and found some burglars in the house following which they raised the alarm. One of the thieves was nabbed with the help of neighbours, and handed over to the police. The police on Tuesday
recovered cash and jewellery worth Rs 55,000 from a
burglar, Vijay Pal which he had stolen from the Sector 16
house. |
CHANDIGARH: To tired minds it was an evening of soothing music at Ramakrishna Mission Ashram. Paying tribute to his late guru, Jitendra Kumar, Harvinder Kumar Sharma played raga "bageshwari" on the sitar. The sanctity of the place was enhanced by the simple magic of this raga of "komal gandhara and nishad" with a very simple structure of notes. Elaborating the melody of "alaap" and "jod alaap", he played the raga through "khayal ang", which is the essence of "imadadkhani gharana" of which he is a disciple having learnt under Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan. He played "gat" in madhya laya and "jhala" in drut laya. Befitting the occasion he played a few devotional tunes that included "Ram dhun". He was accompanied by Pawan Kumar Verma on the tabla. The evening began with the first stage performance of Suresh Sharma on the tabla. A disciple of Pawan Kumar Verma, he attempted "taal kokila" with nine matras which is rather difficult for a beginner. Suresh played "taal peshkar" and advancing towards kayada, rele, tukda and paran, gained confidence. Despite the shyness of strokes of a beginner, Suresh showed promise. He was accompanied by Srinivas on the harmonium. Mr Koshar, Director, Kala
Kendra, was the guest of honour. — Vandana Shukla |
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