Chandigarh, March 17
Outgoing MP Pawan Bansal’s driver was allegedly beaten up today by a shopkeeper in Mani Majra main market. A section of businessmen in the market, however, claimed he had hurled abuses at them and threatened them along with a group of persons.

The incident took a political turn with Mr Bansal and BJP President Yashpal Mahajan and General Secretary Purushottam Mahajan marching to the Manimajra police station.

Mr Bansal’s driver, Mewa Singh, complained that he had been beaten up in the market by some shopkeepers while Mr Sanjeev Goel and others complained that the driver had got a group of Mr Bansal’s supporters to threaten them even after the latter had apologised for his behaviour.

Mewa Singh said, he had parked his car in the market in front of Mr Sanjiv Goel’s shop as Mr Bansal held a meeting in the market.

Mr Goel asked him to park his car elsewhere. When told it was the MP’s car, the shopkeeper “abused” him and “slapped” him.

Mr Goel maintained that it was the driver who had abused him. He said the driver called the gunman of Mr Bansal. The matter was resolved when the shopkeepers took the driver to Mr Bansal, who apologised for his behaviour.

Mr Goel said a few minutes later, a group of people, identified as Mr Bansal’s supporters, came to the market, threatened the shopkeepers and abused the policemen trying to intervene in the matter.

The police said the driver of Mr Bansal had a swelling on his face.

A section of shopkeepers have threatened to down the shutters tomorrow if the police fails to arrest those who allegedly threatened them.

They have threatened to block traffic on the Chandigarh-Kalka road.

The police has yet to register a case.

The Congress leader and Senior Deputy Mayor Pardeep Chhabra alleged that Mr Geol was a stooge of the BJP candidate, Mr Satyapal Jain. Mr Chhabra said the BJP upset over a successful public meeting of Mr Bansal had indulged in this “desperate” act.

Chandigarh, March 17
A Mohali resident was allegedly caught within hours of his stealing a Maruti car from a Sector 34 house in the wee hours here today. He was allegedly trying to steal another car in Sector 22 when the first one developed a snag.

Joginder Singh allegedly stole the car (CH-01E-5269) from house No. 1505 in Sector 34 last night. Around 2 am today, while he was moving around in the car in Sector 22, the car developed a snag. He made a futile effort to start it, but when he could not do so, he tried to steal another car from the area.

Chandigarh, March 17
The entry of Mr Harmohan Dhawan, a former Union Minister, in the electoral arena as a nominee of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) led by the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, has upset the calculations of both the BJP and the Congress party, the main contenders for the Chandigarh parliamentary seat, and forced them to revise their poll strategies.

Mr Dhawan is no longer the political force he was when he entered power politics 20 years ago as a nominee of the Janata Party and lost his first parliamentary election to late Congress leader, Jagan Nath Kaushal. Five years later, he was elected from Chandigarh and went on to become a Minister at the Centre. His political fortunes have been on the decline ever since, even though he continues to command considerable influence in UT villages, labour colonies, rehri markets and poorer and backward sections and certain Sikh voters.

This is what makes him invaluable to both the BJP and the Congress which have been trying to do their best to woo him to their side. As a matter of fact, leaders of both the parties were “sure” till late last night that Mr Dhawan would prefer to join them instead of contesting the poll on his own. Even this morning, when the news about Mr Dhawan’s decision to contest the election as an INLD candidate became common knowledge, leaders in both the camps tended to view it with disbelief and preferred to adopt a wait and watch approach.

Significantly, Mr Dhawan has claimed the support of not only Mr Chautala but also that of SAD chief, Mr Parkash Singh Badal. This means that local unit of SAD will be asked to support him. This is, however, contested by the BJP which says that the SAD has an all-India electoral alliance with the BJP. Therefore, there, is no question of Mr Badal supporting the candidature of Mr Dhawan in Chandigarh. His presence in the electoral arena has, therefore, forced both the BJP and the Congress to redraw their poll strategies.

Ideology has never been a strong point with Mr Dhawan. He started out in the Janata Party before joining the Janata Dal, then followed Mr Chandra Shekhar into the Samajwadi Janata Party before finally joining the Congress party in 1999, only to quit it after some time to form his own Chandigarh Vikas Manch. The BJP was, therefore, sure that Mr Dhawan cannot go back to the Congress. Hence, its attempts to lure him into the BJP through Union Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandez.

But as Mr Dhawan put it in an interview with TNS here today, it was his support for the Congress party in 1999 which largely ensured the victory of its nominee, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, by a small margin of less than 6, 000 votes against a powerful opponent like the BJP stalwart, late Krishan Lal Sharma.

Chandigarh, March 17
The Union Government has directed the Border Security Force (BSF) to earmark 250 companies for undertaking security duties during the forthcoming general election.

According to BSF sources, the force will be deployed in 17 states during the election period. The deployment, to be done in phases, will involve over 32,000 BSF personnel.

The BSF, which is country’s largest central police organisation, will have greater presence than the Central Reserve Police Force, which has been directed to deploy 225 companies. One BSF company comprises about 130 personnel.

BSF officers said that the exact deployment pattern would be worked out near the elections and meeting with representatives of the state police forces were to be held shortly.

Besides the north-eastern states, the BSF will provide security cover for polling booths in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Orissa, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.

The force, which has a sizeable presence in Jammu and Kashmir recently de-inducted eight battalions from counter insurgency duties in the state and these have been re-deployed to their original locations. BSF officers said that some of them might also be mobilised for election duties.

Chandigarh, March 17
As many as 718 Punjab farmers affiliated to the Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta) were taken into preventive custody after they blocked traffic, near the Sector 16 cricket stadium roundabout here this afternoon. All of them were later, let off.

The farmers today threatened to disrupt movements of train on the Kalka-Chandigarh route but they were pacified after the senior police officials intervened. However, they marched to the roundabout and blocked the traffic. The chaos near the roundabout continued for 20 minutes. When they did not lift the blockade, they were taken to the Sector 17 police station. While the police was carrying out its paperwork, the farmers held a rally near the police station.

Chandigarh, March 17
Residents of various parts of the city today complained of low water pressure since Monday evening. Residents of certain areas in Sectors 38, 38(West), 36, 35, 34 and 21 have complained of problems in water supply.

Mr Atul Moudgil, a resident of Sector 38, said “I live on the second floor and there has been no water since morning”. Mrs Neelam Gupta, a resident of Sector 28, said the residents had not been warned of water crises. “We have learnt that there will be water scarcity for another day. The corporation should have informed us and made alternative arrangements.” Mrs Neelu Kaur, a resident of Sector 38(West), said the water pressure had been low in the entire area.

A councillor said “ water scarcity now is a warning for the trying times during summer. The MC has made big claims about having increased the timing for water supply which will be best tested during summer”.

Panchkula, March 17
Over 30 physically challenged candidates, who appeared for an examination for the post of patwari about three years ago, are still waiting for the result.

The candidates alleged here yesterday that repeated representations to the authorities concerned had been of no use. The candidates met the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, and the Revenue Minister, Mr Dhirpal Singh, yesterday. However, they failed to get any assurance on the declaration result, said Mr Netarpal Singh, a candidate.

In 1999, 33 persons had undergone one-year training at Patwar Training School, Hisar, at their own cost.

However, in the subsequent examination held at the Lajpat Rai Bhavan, Chandigarh, only one of the candidate was declared successful and the rest were found “ineligible”.

Again in 2000, they were asked to undergone one-year field training to become eligible for taking the examination. The examination was held from March 26 to 27 in 2001 at Chandigarh. Since then, they have been running from the pillar to post for the declaration of the result.

Dera Bassi, March 17
Two local policemen have locked horns over one's interference into another's territory. The SHO of Dera Bassi police station has allegedly been abused by his junior who happens to the in charge of Lohgarh police post in Zirakpur.

Sources said Gurjeet Singh, an ASI, allegedly misbehaved with G.P.Singh, SHO, on the issue of conducting an inquiry into a land dispute at Nabha village.

On the complaint of the SHO a daily dairy report (DDR) has been registered with the Dera Bassi police station against the ASI. A complaint has also been lodged with the SSP, Patiala, in this regard. In his complaint the SHO stated that the ASI misbehaved and abused him on the night of February 28 in an inebriated condition.

Mr Manmohan Kumar, DSP, Dera Bassi, while admitting that the incident had taken place, said the complaint had been sent to the SSP.

When contacted Mr A. S. Rai, SSP, Patiala, expressed his ignorance saying that no such complaint has been received by him as yet. He made it clear that cops found indulging in any criminal activities or helping land grabbers and encroaches, would not be spared.

He, however, added that after receiving the complaint an inquiry would be conducted and stringent action would be taken against the guilty.

Mr Kuldeep Singh, a resident of Nabha village, in a complaint to the DSP and the SSP had alleged that the ASI had been shielding a villager, Sukhdev Singh, in constructing a boundary wall on his land.

The DSP had marked the complaint to the SHO, who in turn, had visited the village for an on-the-spot inquiry on February 28. In the meantime, Kuldeep and Sukhdev had a scuffle on March 16.

Chandigarh, March 17
Talks and demonstrations on creating awareness about AIDS and HIV, besides malaria control, adulteration and immunisation, were organised during an eight-day awareness camp at Dadu Majra village. Employment opportunities and steps essential to preventing suicides were also discussed.

The camp, which concluded today, was aimed at elevating the social and mental status of rural women. It was sponsored by the Chandigarh Social Welfare Advisory Board (CSWAB) and conducted by the Young Women Christian Association (YWCA).

According to the project secretary, Ms Brijinder S.D. Singh, the residents were also made aware of income-generating projects, including mehndi application, soft toy making and supply of tiffin boxes.

She added that special attention was paid to AIDS /HIV awareness and need for strict imposition of ban on female foeticide. Social worker Veena Sharma said village women were made aware of their rights, including right to be born, to nutrition, education, employment, marriage and property.

Panchkula, March 17
Following the directions of the Election Commission, the district administration has started removing the hoardings highlighting the achievements of the Chautala government.

The action of the administration follows the orders from the state government. A huge hoarding on the Zirakpur-Kalka road was removed by officials of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).

There are over 100 such hoardings in the district, which will be pulled down in the coming days.

Chandigarh, March 17
To ease traffic congestion at the Piccadilly chowk on Dakshin Marg here, the UT Administration has installed traffic lights on the chowk. The lights became functional from this evening.

“The lights have been installed on an experimental basis,” said an official in the UT Engineering Department and added, “There is no proposal to remove the roundabout in the near future.”

Chandigarh, March 17
An American, Ruta Singh, lands in India to meet her Indian e-friend Deepak Singh and marries him in a gurdwara in Dehra Dun in December, 2001, little realising that post 9/11, visa clearance stood between their union.

Mrs Ruta Singh’s two children studying in a school here want to go back to the U. S. but the U.S. Embassy has doubts about her second marriage to an Indian. It has to refuse her husband a visa.

Mrs Ruta Singh says objections by the U. S. Embassy are flimsy.

Chandigarh, March 17
Two city residents are part of a delegation which will go to Pakistan on motorcycles through the Attari-Wagah border to watch a one-day cricket match between India and Pakistan on March 21 at Lahore.

Mr Balbir Singh Saini and Mr Pradeep Chakravarty will ride their Enfield motorcycles from Delhi to Lahore. The duo left the city today for Delhi.

A group of about 40 Indian motorcyclists will go to Pakistan. Mr Saini, a banker, said he and Mr Chakravarty, who is an executive with an information systems company, were members of a Chandigarh Bullet club called Road Survivors.

Each motorcyclist will be riding single.

Chandigarh, March 17
For officers who had passed out from the Officers Training Academy in March 1979, it was a memorable trip down memory lane as they congregated in the city to observe the silver jubilee of their getting commissioned into the Army.

About 40 officers and their spouses attended the function. Besides serving officers, those who were released from the service on the completion of their engagement period were also present.

Several of the officers, who are now at the rank of Colonel or below had made it a point to come down from operational areas in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere to attend the get-together. Others came in from different parts of the country.

Chandigarh, March 17
The local wing of the Mahila Morcha of the Bharatiya Janata Party organised an awareness camp for women voters of the city at Mauli Jagran here today. Mrs Asha Verma, Mrs Sashibala Jain, vice-chairmen and Mrs Renu Arora addressed the gathering.

Mrs Jain claimed the NDA government had introduced a number of reforms for welfare of the women.

Chandigarh, March 17
The Spring Fest-2004 began at the Bhargava Auditorium here today. The five-day annual cultural festival is being organised by the Association of Resident Doctors, PGI. The festival began with a “press conference” in which participants were questioned by the audience.

Mohali, March 17
Five days after the incident, the police here today arrested a person for running over a daily-wage labourer, Kishen Lal, and dumping him at a secluded spot to die.

Mohali, March 17
With each passing day, more skeletons are stumbling out of the extraordinary life led by suspected hawala operator with three identities caught by the Mohali police on March 10. Sources stated that Balhar Singh, alias Dalbara Singh, alias Avtar Singh, in fact got married thrice and had wives in the USA, the UK other than the first one he married in India but divorced her once he went to the UK.

According to sources in the police, Balhar Singh had managed to reach USA by forgoing the documents. He was arrested and jailed for three months. He continued to live in the USA and got married to an American woman. But he left her and went to the UK where he remarried. But he deserted his third wife also. Following, the jail break in the UK, Balhar Singh fled to Canada where he met a Punjabi Jarnail Singh.

Chandigarh, March 17
The Income Tax Department, Chandigarh, will organise a half-day seminar on March 22 at 2.30 p.m. at CII to educate tax payers on various aspects of tax deduction at source (TDS).