& V I C I N I T Y
Friday, September 4, 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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Friday, September 4, 1998 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Panel holds three teachers
guilty Residents
complain |
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 Streetlights in name only DSP
released on bail |
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CAT
awards 30 days’ jail, fine for contempt Fast
food complex to be opened Monsoon
effect recreated Villagers
raise demands at open darbar Three
dropsy cases in Panchkula |
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Panel holds three teachers
guilty CHANDIGARH, Sept 3 — An enquiry committee of the Chandigarh Administration has held three teachers of Government High School, Sector 38, guilty of handing down corporal punishment to two girls in the school, 11 days ago. The teachers were placed under suspension this morning by the Education Secretary, Mrs Anuradha Gupta. The enquiry said that Ms Ravinder Kaur, Mr Bhagirath and Mr K.P. Singh, all teachers in the school, were guilty of beating up two girls. One of the girls, Pinky, (12), reportedly committed suicide in her house the same day while the other girl, Seema, testified that they were beaten up in the school. The beating up and the subsequent humiliation had led to depression for Pinky, Seema had then said. The issue had snow balled with parents and various political parties demanding action against the teachers. The enquiry committee headed by Mr Prithi Chand, Director, Social Welfare, and having Mr Brahmjit Kalia, District Education Officer and Mrs Prithipal Kaur, Assistant Director (Vocational), as its members, has concluded that corporal punishment did take place in the school on August 22. A charge sheet will be issued to these teachers for action that will attract major penalty, sources said. The maximum penalty can even mean dismissal from service under the service rules, the sources added. The enquiry panel was set up only for the purpose of the Chandigarh Administration to know if any corporal punishment was meted out in the school or not. It was not meant to investigate why the girl subsequently committed suicide in her house. The education secretary said the teachers had been suspended as corporal punishment had been banned in the union territory, and it had nothing to do with the subsequent suicide of the girl. The enquiry did not have any legal standing and has nothing to do with the police case, if any. The police will do its own verifications and the Administration has not asked the police to wait for this report before registering a case, the education secretary, who is also the Home Secretary, clarified. Meanwhile, sources said the enquiry committee had stated that some money of a girl was stolen in the school. It was recovered in parts from Seema and Pinky. Seema had admitted before the enquiry that the money was meant for Pinky, who was to repay a loan to an STD owner. Pinky required the money as she used to frequently make calls to her brother- in-law in Shimla, the enquiry had found out from Seema's statements. Seema is said to have
changed her statements a few times during the course of
the enquiry. |
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Teachers resent colleagues'
suspension CHANDIGARH , Sept 3 — Teachers working in government schools in the union territory have reacted sharply against the suspension of three of their colleagues and have decided that no teaching work will be carried out in any of the schools tomorrow. Teachers have also decided to boycott functions on Teachers Day on September 5 and observe it as a "black day" by holding a rally. Another rally will be held at 5 pm tomorrow in Sector 20. A press note of the Government Teachers Union condemned the action of the Chandigarh Administration saying this would have serious consequences on society as this would lower the prestige of the teachers. Union leaders while
talking to media personnel alleged that the report of the
enquiry committee was one-sided. They questioned why a
medical examination was not conducted to ascertain the
extent of Seema's injuries if she had alleged that the
teachers had beaten her up. |
Streetlights in name only CHANDIGARH, Sept 3 — Residents of City Beautiful, especially those living in the lesser-privileged southern sectors, are being virtually made to grope in the dark as nearly half of the streetlights in these areas have been out of order for a couple of months. According to a study conducted by the TNS, almost all roads falling in the southern sectors or the ones leading to outer Dakshin Marg or the roads leading towards Mohali remain dark in the night as these roads are either devoid of proper lighting units or these such as tubelights or sodium lamps are lying 'dead' for want of repairs for long. As a result, the situation contributes to rising number of accidents and petty crimes in these areas. During the course of survey it was found that almost none of the street-lights were working on roads dividing Sector 24 and the Janata Colony, and the road dividing Sectors 11 and 12. Same was the case with the road leading to the outer Dakshin Marg from Attawa Chowk and all of its parallel roads leading to the outer Dakshin Marg from Sector 35 and Sector 32, having underground cable network, the responsibility of which lay with the electricity wing of the municipal corporation. The civic body spends nearly Rs 2.5 crore on maintenance and payment of electricity bills of street lights annually. The condition of the streetlights on the inner areas of the sectors, which are being maintained by the engineering department of the Chandigarh Administration, are bad. Hundreds of the streetlights in these areas remain out of order due to the callous attitude of the officials of the MC and the engineering department. According to official sources, nearly 40 per cent of the streetlight points of the 14,000 points and about 20,000 points being maintained by the municipal corporation and the engineering department, respectively, are out of order for the past one year, but nothing is being done by the authorities concerned to solve the problem. In some cases, certain areas have been without streetlights for two to three years. In certain other areas no repairs have been carried out to rectify faults such as replacement of bulbs and tubes. Mr Jugraj Singh a resident of Sector 36, said that though a large number of streetlight points on the road leading to Mohali have been out of order for long, no one has bothered to remove the fault despite complaints. Underlining the problems being faced by the residents, he said the situation was getting worse. Similarly, Mr Rajesh, a Sector 35 resident, said besides resulting in accidents during night, the absence of streetlights was creating a peculiar problem for motorists, who have to switch to high beamlights, resulting in getting challaned at the hands of the traffic police. He demanded that police officials should not resort to challaning drivers using high beam lights on roads, which were without streetlights. Another factor which contributes to the problem is the uncontrolled growth of branches of trees along the roads, which obstruct light. When contacted, the Mayor, Mr Gian Chand Gupta said the problem had arisen due to shortage of staff in the electricity wing of the MC, which at present was being headed by a Junior Engineer officiating as a Subdivisional Officer (SDO). According to the official sources, the actual requirement of staff was double that of the present strength. A senior officer of the MC admitted that the situation was grim as far as streetlights were concerned. Mr Gupta said in addition to getting more staff for the wing the electricity committee of the house had already recommended setting up of a separate subdivision for handling electricity related problems. Mr VP Dhingra, Xen of the
engineering department, admitted that from nearly 20 per
cent of light points were out of order, due to shortage
of material such as tubes or holders. |
Residents complain of muddy water CHANDIGARH, Sept 3 — Residents of Sector 29-D have complained that they have been receiving muddy water for the past two months. They alleged though the problem of muddy water had been persisting, the problem had now become acute. It was only after a few buckets of muddy water that they got clean water. The residents urged the
Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh to do the needful so
that they could get clean water. |
CHANDIGARH, Sept 3 — Panjab University is likely to scrap the two-year course in Bachelor of Laws from the current session. The change in the existing provisions has been proposed by the Regulations Committee and will feature in the coming meeting of the Senate. Following the decision, there will be provision for a three year degree course. The committee has, however, proposed transitory regulations for students who have obtained Bachelor of Laws (Two years) degree from PU. The candidate will be allowed to join the fifth semester if he has passed papers from first to fourth semester according to the current syllabi. The candidate will be exempted from appearing in those papers of fifth and sixth semester in which he has appeared earlier . Candidates of the Bachelor of Laws (two years) will have to surrender their degree in case they wished to take up the remaining papers of the three-year course. In the regular three-year course promotion from one semester to another will be allowed for students who fulfil attendance and other requirements even if they fail to appear or qualify in the prescribed semesters. Promotions or admissions in second year will be allowed to a student who has passed in five out of 10 papers prescribed in the first year; and to third year in case he has cleared 10 papers out of 20 of the first and second years. A student will have to appear in all the semesters within three years of his joining the department. In case a candidate has exhausted all chances of LLB, he may re-appear as a late college student within two years of the exhaustion of his chances. During this period, the candidate will be allowed to take papers which he could not clear earlier. The medium of instructions will continue to be English. SOPU move: If teachers are willing to take classes, Students Organisation of Panjab University will join them in their dharnas and rallies after the classes. This was stated by Dyal Pratap Singh Randhawa, president of SOPU, while addressing a press conference here on Thursday. Randhawa said his organisation would not support the move of the ABVP to launch an agitation against teachers' strike. Members of the organisation would meet faculty members to convince them about the harm being done to the interests of the students. Lallan Singh, vice president of the campus unit of the All-India Students' Federation, condemned the insensitive attitude of the government and said the organisation supported the demands of the teachers. A similar statement was made by Sham Sunder, another office-bearer of the AISF. Randhawa also criticised the local police for not arresting those named in the FIR of the shootout incident of August 21 in which Mr Kuljit Singh Nagra, a Senator of the university, was involved. He said no independent enquiry should be constituted into the incident. Let the court decide whether those named in the FIR were guilty or not, he said and added that the "university authorities should clean the campus of 'goonda elements' and action should be taken against all those convicted in incidents of violence of any kind in the past one year on the campus. Randhawa also demanded that if any provisions existed in the university calendar for action against the senator's participation in acts of violence then Mr Nagra should be removed from the seat. Dharna: Members of the Panjab University (Non Teaching) Employees' Federation raised slogans and organised a rally during morning and evening sessions on Thursday to press their demands. Employees are demanding release of the arrears and medical allowance on a par with the Punjab Government employees. At an executive meeting
here today the employees who have been protesting for a
couple of hours daily since August 17 have decided to
intensify their agitation from Monday in case their
demands are not accepted. |
CHANDIGARH, Sept 3 — A case of cheating has been registered against an Inspector of the Punjab Police for allegedly submitting a fake date of birth certificate. The Inspector, Bachhittar Singh, is posted in the vigilance cell and he has been booked under sections 420/467/471 of the IPC. An Additional DGP of the Punjab Police, lodged a complaint with the Chandigarh Police, and a case has been registered in the Sector 17 police station. 14 booked: A total of 14 persons from various parts of the city have been booked for allegedly possessing liquor without a proper permit. Cases have been registered against Dinesh Kumar of Jammu, Rania of Mauli Jagran, Vikram Singh and Rakesh Kumar of Sector 52, Nanka of Nehru colony, Babu Ram of iron market, Ram Dulare, Moti Ram and Natwar Lal of Labour colony Sector 31, Badal, Krishna and Roshni of Sector 29, Shiv Kumari and Suman of Colony No 5. The police said simultaneous raids were conducted at various places in the city, and liquor in varying quantities was recovered from these persons. Motor cycle stolen: A motor cycle (HR-01-F-(T) — 1364) owned by Mr Sanjay Raman of SAS Nagar was stolen from the Sector 22 market. Meanwhile in a separate incident, Nagmeet Chopra of Sector 19 has been arrested for allegedly indulging in eve-teasing in Sector 19. Two booked: The local police has booked two persons for allegedly cheating a private company manufacturing pipes at Dappar village in Dera Bassi. According to the information available, the managing director of Deepak Pipes Ltd, Mr A.S. Dhugga, in a complaint lodged with the police said that two persons — Manjeet Singh and Ravinder Singh — of a private firm had supplied them some material for which they were issued a cheque for Rs 1.50 lakh in December, 1996. After some time the suppliers demanded cash in lieu of the cheque and some cash was paid but the latter did not return the cheque. The police has registered
a case. |
CHANDIGARH, Sept 3— With traders, government employees and political parties intensifying the agitation against the imposition of a parking fee in Sector 17, the paid parking process remained suspended for the third day today. It was almost the repeat of the story of the past two days with certain contractors issuing parking slips in the morning and protesters stalling the process. There was tension at the parking lot in front of the Bata shoe store up to the traffic light point. As many as 22 persons were detained by the police. They were, however, let off in the afternoon. Prominent among those detained were the president of the SJP, Mr Devinder Singh Babla, the president of the Samajwadi Party, Mr Shivi Jaiswal, the spokesman of the Congress, Mr Rajiv Sharma, traders' leaders, Mr Subhash Kataria and Mr Jagdish Pal Singh, and an employees' leader, Mr B. S. Gill. The Sector 17 market remained closed for the whole day today in protest against the imposition of the parking fee. The protesters threatened that the agitation would continue till the Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh (MCC) withdrew the decision to impose the parking fee. A spokesman of the joint action committee of the bank and insurance companies termed the decision to levy parking fee as "unwarranted" and urged the MCC to withdraw it. The Janata Party has also called for scrapping of the parking fee. The Congress has termed the decision to levy the parking fee as "an unnecessary" burden on the residents of the city. A press note of the joint action committee of the Punjab and UT Government Employees said the employees would hold a rally tomorrow in protest against the MC decision. Later, talking to mediapersons, the Mayor, Mr Gian Chand Gupta, reiterated that the MC decision would not be reviewed as it was the decision of the elected civic body. He said the decision had been taken with a view to generating more resources for developmental works in the city. He claimed that the rates fixed by the corporation were among the lowest in the country. Calling the agitation as "politically motivated", Mr Gupta clarified that in case of theft of a vehicle the responsibility would lie with the contractor. He said the earlier parking slips had been withdrawn, and in the new slips it was clearly mentioned that in case of theft of a vehicle the contractor would be responsible. While dubbing the decision of the municipal corporation to levy parking fee as "anti-people" and "anti employee", the Trade Union Council, Chandigarh, has described the parking fee as "just another unnecessary burden on the salaried class of the city." Mr Raghubir Singh and Mr Rakesh Chopra, president and general secretary of the organisation, respectively, in a press note said that the decision would adversely affect a large number of office-goers, who visit Sector 17 daily to attend their offices. Mr Chopra said the council
was holding an emergency meeting to formulate a strategy
and to hammer out an action plan on September 4. |
DSP released on bail CHANDIGARH, Sept 3 — The Additional Sessions Judge, Mr G.S. Sandhu, today ordered the release of DSP Jagjit Singh, one of the suspects in the Sector 17 district courts firing incident, on bail. During the course of arguments, defence counsel told the court that no offence under Section 307, IPC was made out. One person who was stated to be injured was not supported by his medical report. Counsel further told the court that the DSP was on leave and had come to the city in his own vehicle in connection with personnel work. He also contended that the DSP had not incited anyone to firing. He brought to the notice of the court that the DSP had been behind bars for more than two months. The police had arrested as many as 18 persons in connection with the incident. Two of them, Harcharan Singh and one driver had already been released. With the release of the
DSP, three persons have been bailed out till today. |
CAT awards 30 days’ jail,
fine for contempt CHANDIGARH, Sept 3 — The local Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal, comprising Mr S.C. Vaish and Mr J.S. Dhaliwal, has sentenced Puran Singh, a retired government servant (68), to a fine of Rs 1,000 and 30 days’ imprisonment after finding him guilty of contempt for making disparaging remarks against the tribunal during hearing of the case for issuing a legal notice to a former member of the tribunal, Mr N.K. Verma, asking him to pay compensation for alleged defamatory remarks made in an order passed by him. The contenmner had earlier filed an O.A. levelling charges against his wife, a former employee of Telecom Department at Patiala. He had alleged that his wife had illicit relations with someone else, moved to USA, where she gave birth to two children, and had since died. He sought a correction in her pension papers and questioned the genuineness of her certificate. His O.A. and a review application were rejected by the tribunal. He again filed an O.A. His case was listed before the Bench but he did not appear on three different dates and the case was finally fixed for December 8, 1997. However, before that date the applicant-contemner issued a legal notice to Mr N.K. Verma and others demanding compensation of Rs 50,000 and threatened to move court. During the December 8 hearing the attention of the applicant was drawn to his notice against the member. He made disparaging remarks against the tribunal and misbehaved in court while the Bench was dictating the order. He was issued a suo motu contempt notice for lowering the dignity of the court and threatening it. In reply, the contemner while justifying his conduct tendered an apology. The Bench found that the acts constituted criminal contempt, besides the applicant had acted in the open court in such a manner and used words which lowered the dignity of the court. It was held that the applicant had not only committed one act but a series of acts which amounted to criminal contempt of court. The court, however,
suspended the sentence for 30 days to enable Puran Singh
to file an appeal against the order. |
Fast food complex to be opened CHANDIGARH, Sept 3 — A new fast food joint on the banks of the Sutlej on the Chandigarh-Jalandhar national highway juncture at Ropar will be inaugurated tomorrow. Built on 1 acre of land by the Punjab Tourism Development Corporation at a cost of Rs 31 lakh, is the latest addition to the fast food outlets run by the corporation. According to Mr P.R. Luthra, Chief Architect, Punjab, the design has been directed towards creating a complex without affecting the natural setting. Punjab Tourism Minister
Jagir Kaur will inaugurate the complex. |
Monsoon effect recreated CHANDIGARH, Sept 3 — Songs and dances depicting the splendour of rain and forests marked a function organised by the Engineering Department of the UT Administration at Sector 47 here today. The function, which was organised under a plan to make southern sectors green, started with a group song rendered by school children. A "saawan nritya" (rain dance) performed by girls of Sector 32 Government Senior Model School recreated the effect of monsoon on village belles. Earlier, the local MP, Mr Satya Pal Jain, who was the chief guest, said planting trees had been part of our culture. He said trees were treated as living beings, which was evident from the ritual of offering prayers to tulsi and peepal. The Adviser to the UT Administrator, Mr Jagdish Sagar, said the Engineering Department had been directed to provide tree guards. The Chief Engineer, Mr
R.K. Jain, said 300 trees have been planted by the
department. |
Villagers raise demands at open
darbar PANCHKULA, Sept 3 —Residents of Mattawali, Koth, Dhabkori, Jaswantgarh, Billa, Boonga and Khangesra villages took part in an open darbar organised by the district administration at Koth village in Barwala block, near here, today. The sarpanch of Kot village, Mr Naresh Kumar sought construction of the boundary wall of a government school in the village. A sewing machine centre was also demanded. Posting of a teacher for
Punjabi in a government school and upgradation of the
school to the matriculation- level was demanded by
residents of Billa village. Repairs of village bylanes
and strengthening of the bus services was demanded by
residents of other villages. |
Three dropsy cases in Panchkula PANCHKULA, Sept 3 — Atleast three dropsy cases have come to light from Sector 15 in this township. According to the information available, the three victims — Mrs Prem Lata (35), Sanjay (14) and Ajay (16) — had purchased mustard oil 15 days ago from a shop in the same sector. They belong to one family. The cases came to light after one of the victims, Sanjay came to a local hospital with swelling on his legs.The CMO, Dr H.C. Nagpal, said samples of mustard oil consumed by the family members had tested positive. He said raids were
conducted at suspected shops and at other places in the
district but no traces of the dropsy toxins were found in
the spot tests of the samples taken by men of the
department. The samples have been sent for laboratory
testing, he added. |
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