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2 defy warning, fall prey to Army mortar
Panchkula, September 9 The victims, residents of Mandlai village, were hiding in bushes to “steal” misfired mortar shells to obtain brass from them and later sell it off as scrap. The police said other than the victims Ram Sharan (30) and Nar Singh (17), over 30 other villagers, mostly children, were hiding in the bushes, to collect the shells. It is learnt that a unit of the Garhwal Rifles led by Major A. P. Tripathi, was practising at the firing range today. The Army authorities had made announcements through loudspeakers about the scheduled firing, and had asked the residents of Mandlai and Bhudd to remain away from the range. However, undeterred by several accidents leading to physical deformities earlier, the villagers felt that it was a perfect opportunity to supplement their meagre income by collecting the shells, and later selling them off as scrap. Shamsher Singh, a resident of Mandlai, said, after a shell was fired, some villagers ran from their hiding place to get the shell. Just then, a second mortar was fired, and it hit Ram Sharan, Nar Singh and Karam Chand. While Ram Sharan and Nar Singh received splinter injuries and died, Karam Chand sustained injuries on his hand, but for fear of being nabbed by the Army, he ran away. The Army, immediately called for medical help, and the police. While doctors declared the two persons dead, other villagers ran away for fear of being caught.” Prem Singh, another villager, said, “The Army authorities sent missives to the village, and asked us to identify the deceased and take away the bodies.” The police has initiated inquest proceedings into the two deaths on the statement of Major
Tripathi. While the brass in the mortars is sold to grocers in villages for anything between Rs 30 and Rs 35 per kg, the grocers further sells it to scrap dealers in Naraingarh and Ambala for Rs 60 to Rs 85 per kg. For decades, the villagers have been picking up shells from the firing ranges-at Mandlai and
Bhudd. In the process, tragedy has struck most of the 250-odd houses in the two villages. Most of the families have lost a loved one in similar accidents, while over 50 persons in the two villages are suffering from some physical deformity. The Mandlai firing range had not been in use since 1997, but the Army started using it since June. The Bhudd firing range was in use till 2000, but was deserted after a boy was killed near the range. The Army authorities later said the firing practise in the range was as per the standard operating procedure. A defence spokesperson said the local police was also deputed outside the range to keep away trespassers. He said they had noticed several trespassers in the range earlier and the police had shooed them away. Later, two villagers ventured into the range unnoticed, and were killed.
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Rotational power cuts imposed on city
Chandigarh, September 9 The power allocation
for the city has been reduced from 218 MW to about 130 MW and Chandigarh has been overdrawing from the northern power grid. The Northern Region Load Despatch Centre (NRLDC), which maintains the system of power drawal from the northern power grid, had written a warning letter to the Chandigarh Administration, saying that grid discipline had to be maintained or else action would follow. Chandigarh had been heavily overdrawing power to meet its requirements and also paying fines for the overdrawal as a system of fines exists for over drawal during peak hours. Chandigarh had been
paying close to Rs 6 per unit to purchase power from various sources. The Administration has decided to impose rotational power cuts as the city is drawing close
to 225 MW of power while the allocations 218 MW. The actual availability has dropped to 133 MW and to
bridge this, Chandigarh has been buying power worth more than Rs 25 lakh daily. Sources said the power situation had dropped in Bhakra, Nathpha Jhakri, Pong and Ranjit Sagar projects. With low inflows of river waters, the hydro projects are not running to full capacity. To cover up the huge deficit between demand and supply, power to the tune of Rs 20 lakh is being purchased daily to meet the increased demand of Chandigarh.
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Power cuts in Mohali from today
Mohali, September 9 According to information given by Mr V.K. Mahajan, Additional Superintending Engineer, PSEB, Mohali circle, urban areas will have no electricity from 9 am to 11 am and from 2 pm to 3 pm daily. Power would be shutdown in Industrial Area from 6.30am to 8.30am and in the evening from 4.30 pm to 6.30 pm everyday. Mr V.K. Mahajan added that the weekly compulsory electricity off day for industries had been re-introduced as every Saturday in Mohali. When asked about the frequent unscheduled power cuts, Mr Mahajan said that unscheduled power cuts were done in accordance with the orders from the head office in Patiala. “This was mainly due to an unforeseen shortage of power supply during the day due to a wide variety of reasons,” he said.
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Auto drivers’ strike hits students, office-goers
Mohali, September 9 Over 300 auto drivers, along with their vehicles, gathered this morning at the Phase VIII parade ground in protest against the “indifferent” attitude of the Chandigarh Administration towards Punjab autos plying in Chandigarh. However, the first day of the indefinite strike met with limited success since during the course of the strike, some of union members decided not to support the cause and went back to work. As a result, in the afternoon, autos were seen plying on Mohali roads. According to members of the Sahibzada Ajit Singh Auto-rickshaw Union, the UT Administration had banned the entry of Mohali autos in Chandigarh and started impounding their vehicles. Mr Rajinder Singh Randhawa, president of the union, said since their autos were registered in Mohali they had the permission to ply within 16 km of Mohali and this would include Chandigarh. “However, instead the UT Administration does not allow us entry into Chandigarh, fines us, impounds
our vehicles and charges Rs 40,00 to release these,” he said. He added that the schism in the union had been taken care of and the strike would continue tomorrow with all 600-odd auto-rickshaw drivers in Mohali joining in. Mr Randhawa said a delegation of the drivers would meet the Punjab Governor in this regard. Mr Randhawa said the UT Administration allowed entry of Punjab autos only after the payment of the road tax. “We are ready to pay for the counterfoil voucher, but they do not allow us to pay it. We are being harassed for the past eight months and many of us have got our vehicles released after payment of thousands of rupees.” he said.
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Infighting, not fund crunch, plagues PU sports
Chandigarh, September 9 Unutilised funds, sore sportspersons and callous authorities plague sporting activity in the university. And all this because the past is casting a shadow over the future of sports. An inquiry into financial bungling by a former Director, Sports, carried out in the name of sports is taking a toll on the release of funds for sporting events. The Assistant Director, Sports, Mr Kewal Singh, says, “We have over Rs 30 lakh at our disposal. This money is charged from students by way of sports fee in the funds they pay at the time of admission. This fund is supposed to be utilised for promotion of sports all through the year. This year, I don’t see that happening at all for lack of coo-rdination at various levels.” He disclosed that he had unofficially told the coaches of the teams for the cross-country race and chess that funds from the university would not be released on time a week before the scheduled departure date. “I had even told them to make their own arrangement if they wanted to participate in their respective events. The chess team pooled in the required money and left. The coach for the cross-country event said athletes were not well-off and would not be able to chip in to meet the requirement. They chose to wait for the money from the university and could not leave,” he said. Mr Kewal Singh confirmed that the diet money for the four-day camp for team members of the cross-country race was not given during the camp. “We haven’t even paid money to the supervisory staff for the various events they are chairing. Since the Director, Sports, is a non-technical person, he does not understand the intricacies involved in organising sports events. The payment process is unlikely to be streamlined in the near future,” he added. Claiming that all financial powers were with the Director, Sports, Mr Kewal Singh said whatever and whenever he had suggested to the Director in the past with regard to organising events, was never followed, leading to mismanagement.
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Tribune employees donate blood in memory of founder
Chandigarh, September 9 While one camp was organised at the head office here, the other was organised at the Bathinda centre of the newspaper. A team of doctors led by Dr Usha Rao from the Department of Transfusion Medicine (Blood Bank), PGI, Chandigarh, conducted the camp which was supervised by Dr Neelam Marwaha, head of the department. This was the 18th camp organised by the union. Inaugurating the camp, Dr R.P. Bambah, a trustee of The Tribune Trust, said this was the best way to pay tributes to Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia. He lauded the efforts of the union in organising such camps. He said by donating blood, the employees had reiterated their commitment to the institution. He was accompanied by his wife, Dr Saudamani Bambah. Another trustee, Justice S.S. Sodhi (retd), also visited the camp. Mr R. N. Gupta, General Manager of The Tribune Trust, Mr O.P. Arora, Additional General Manager, and Mr Naresh Kaushal, officiating Editor, Dainik Tribune, also visited the camp. Mr Jagtar Singh Sidhu, president of the union, informed that a similar blood donation camp was organised at the Bathinda printing centre where 28 employees donated blood. A former president of the union, Mr Balbir Singh Jandu, inaugurated it. Mr Sidhu said employees of The Tribune were always in the forefront of contributing to national causes — be it an earthquake, the Kargil war or any other natural calamity. He said by donating blood, the employees were demonstrating their love and affection for the people of the region. About 100 employees have donated blood on more than 10 occasions each. They include Mr Arun Kaushal (62 times), Mr Raman Sharma (34), Dr Renuka Nayyar (33), Mr Rajan Raikhy and Mr Vinod Kumar (32), Mr Satinder Bedi and Mr Raj Kumar (28), Mr Ashok Kumar (27), Mr Gurdev Singh, and Mr S.S. Pathania (26), Mr Amarnath Vashishth and Mr Puran Chand Sharma (23), Mr Surinder Singh and Mr Anil Kumar Gupta (22).
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Women still victims of atrocities, abuse: Expert
Chandigarh, September 9 It's a crying shame that despite their huge presence, women are underrepresented in our country's democratically elected institutions- from gram panchayat to Parliament. Otherwise, how else would one explain why the bill on reservation for women in panchayati raj institutions, urban local bodies, legislatures and Parliament is still born? The crime against women--- molestation every 26 minutes, rape every 34 minutes, sexual harassment every 42 minutes, kidnapping every 43 minutes, female infanticide every 93 minutes are an eloquent testimony to their plight and would make any country hang its head in shame. Economic abuse and exploitation is still rampant. This grim situation calls for inculcating ``awareness'' in women and in imparting ``education'' in girl child. These views on the topic `` Empowerment of Women and its role in National Development'' were expressed by Ms Rajni Bakul Patel while delivering the P.N Haksar Memorial lecture at CRRID here today. An active social scientist, she is the former Sheriff of Mumbai. Speaking on empowerment, she listed politics, judiciary, administrations as some of the areas, which were underrepresented by women. Statistics show that at present, less than 8 per cent of parliamentary seats and less than 6 per cent of Cabinet positions are occupied by women. Less than 4 per cent of the judges in the country's High Courts and the Supreme Court are women and fewer than 3 per cent of Administrators and managers in the country are women. In fact, in all these important bodies the representation of women is far below their demographic strength and their natural capabilities. To make a point on how motivated woman makes the most effective agent for social change, Ms Bakul Patel narrated some inspiring success stories of women self-help groups like the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) and Anandi at Amul Cooperative Society- both in Gujarat- Working women's Forum in Tamil Nadu and a few others. They may just be a flash in the pan but both the government and the society should make sincere efforts to strengthen them so as to improve the lot of women in this male dominated society. The government's initiative to strengthen the panchayati raj structure is a step in the right direction. She said women's empowerment can deliver two critical advantages to the society. Firstly, it brings into the productive mainstream one-half of a nation's population. Secondly, women by their very nature are better and more effective agents for social change than men. In fact, this combination of quantity ( numbers) and quality ( empathy, responsibility and strong work ethic) that make women a decisiove factor in a nation;s economic success and overall development. Later, while answering the queries of the audience she clarified the concept of empowerment, which according to her was not static and constantly evolving and she impressed upon women, one and all to grab their share and continue to play a pivotal role in public life.
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Prof S.K. Trehan dead
Chandigarh, September 9 He had a brilliant academic career throughout. He did his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1956, under the guidance of Nobel Laureate Prof S.
Chandersekhar. The title of his thesis was “On the stability of force-free magnetic fluids”. Its results had been quoted in various sources. After his
Ph.D, he worked as research assistant at the University of California, Berkeley and Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton till 1961. From 1962-1967, he was a Reader at the Delhi University. He was Professor of Applied Mathematics in the Department of Mathematics, PU, Chandigarh from 1967-91. Professor Trehan’s career was replete with rare achievements and honours. The noteable ones were S.S. Bhatnagar Award, B.C. Roy Award, Biren Roy Award of
INSA. He was elected Fellow of all major science academies namely Indian National Science Academy, Indian Academy of Sciences (Bangalore) and National Academy of Sciences (Allahabad). He was a council member of several scientific societies and institutions. He was Dean (University Instruction), Panjab University, between 1980 and 1982 and Dean (Faculty of Science) for four years. After his retirement as a professor from the university, he continued to be associated with Department of Mathematics, Panjab University, as INSA Senior Scientist. On August 24 this year, he was bestowed with the honour of Emeritus Professorship in the Department. Professor Trehan had published more than 70 research papers in the area of Magento Hydrodynamics. Till his death, he was actively involved in the research work. The mathematics community and the Department of Mathematics have suffered irreparable loss due to his demise.
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MC told to put projects on hold following objections
Mohali, September 9 In a series of objections raised by the Department of Local Bodies, Punjab, the Director has asked the council to put on hold works worth over Rs 70 lakh. As a result of these objections, the council cannot undertake the repair of Mohali roads or their recarpeting, clear kerb channels, cut congress grass, repair streetlights and extend parks. According to the MC president, Mr Kulwant Singh, while most of the development works are being given the nod by the Local Bodies Department, almost all maintenance and repair works
proposed to be taken up by the MC in the past two months have been stalled by the
department. Sources said the department had raised objections to the amount of money that the MC had proposed to be spend on these works. In many cases, the department had asked the MC to justify the amount being asked for. The president said that no valid reason had been given for stopping these works. He said out that out of the 24 maintenance work proposals passed during the June 9 meeting of the MC, as many as 13 works had been stopped. The Deputy Commissioner Ropar, too, has also reportedly objected to some maintenance works. The DC’s office,
according to sources, had sought clarifications but no reply had yet been given. The department had also objected to works worth Rs 35 lakh passed during a meeting held in May. Other than the items that related to the clearing of kerb channels and cutting of congress grass, the department had objected to employing labour to help in the maintenance of streetlights and employing of a patrol officer to check the functioning of streetlights during the night and buying of stationery.
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Verma’s assurance on changes in building by-laws
Chandigarh, September 9 The delegation said despite best efforts on the part of Enforcement Wing of Municipal Corporation, the auto mechanics were still repairing vehicles in the parking area in front of shops, including misuse of the premises of bay shops. The Governor assured to stop these unauthorised activities. He was again apprised of the pending action for setting up of a mini sports complex for southern sectors in the open space in Sector 21. He was also requested to provide a suitable place for the office of FOSWAC. Justice Verma gave a patient hearing to the members of the delegation.
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PSEB notices to govt depts on dues
Mohali, September 9 Board officials decided to give another 15 days’ time to the defaulters to clear their dues, failing which the higher PSEB authorities would be approached for seeking approval for cutting off the power connections. Notices had been issued earlier in July but the defaulters failed to either give a reply or pay up. A sum of Rs 11.70 lakh was outstanding with the Punjab State Tubewell Corporation and Rs 5.02 lakh with the local Civil Hospital. A sum of Rs 63,000 was outstanding with the SDM’s office while the Police Department also owed a sum of about Rs 1 lakh (Rs 80,000 has to be paid up by the Phase VIII police station and another Rs 20,000 by the SP’s office). The Department of Public Health also
owned a sum of Rs 26,000 to the power board. Mr V.K. Mahajan, Additional Superintending Engineering, said he had talked to the SMO, in charge of the Civil Hospital, about the pending payment. The SMO told him that information in this regard had been sent to higher authorities. Mr Mahajan said that today he talked to Dr Harinder Rana, Civil surgeon, Ropar, in this regard. She told him that the department, as present, had no money to clear the payment. He said the SDM’s office was running in the building of the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA). But PUDA had refused to make the payments in this regard on the ground that it had shifted its offices to the new building in Phase VIII long ago.
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Plea to reserve jobs for Dalits in private firms
Chandigarh, September 9 Mr Bahadur also appealed to the Prime Minister that on the pattern of government policy of reservation of a certain percentage of licences for people of SC/ST categories while allotting petrol pumps and LPG agencies, the private companies should also reserve a percentage for Dalits while allotting dealership for two-wheelers, cosmetics, cold drinks, etc.
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Chandigarh Perspectives revamped
Chandigarh, September 9
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Bhajan sandhya held
Panchkula, September 9 Students of The Gurukul, Sector 20, and Moti Ram Public School, presented choreographies based on the Mother Goddess, and enthralled the gathering. Famous bhajan singer Asha Kiran, presented bhajans, beginning with Ganesh stuti. Her bhajan, “Dar te khadiya main fakir banke”, and “Mere sar pe gathri paap ki” were also widely appreciated. Artistes from the Public Relations Department, Haryana, too presented a bhajan programme on the occasion. They sang bhajans in praise of various manifestations of the Mother Goddess. The Administrator, HUDA, Panchkula, Mr Balwan Singh, was the chief guest. The Deputy Commissioner and Chief Administrator of the Sri Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board, Ms Neelam P. Kasni, the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr Brijender Singh and the City Magistrate, Ms Vandana Disodia, were also present.
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IT survey at Sector 28 shop
Chandigarh, September 9
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Man booked for misusing car loan
Chandigarh, September 9 According to the police, the Senior Manager of bank filed a complaint that Bharat Bhushan Aggarwal had applied for a loan of Rs 3.87 lakh to buy a Zen. The bank approved the loan on November 27, 2003, and handed over a draft for the amount in favour of Joshi Auto Zone, Industrial Area, Phase II. Aggarwal deposited the draft with Joshi Auto Zone, but after a few days he informed the auto dealer that he was no longer interested in buying a car, hence the amount should be returned to him. The dealer returned the money to Aggarwal. Since Aggarwal had not bought the car, he did not produce the registration certificate of the car, required for hypothecation in favour of the bank. The police said as per the deal he had applied for a car loan and used the money given for the same for some other purpose, which was a breach of trust. The police has registered a case against Aggarwal under Section 420, IPC.
Vehicle theft
Inderpal Singh, a resident of Sector 38, reported to the police that his Maruti car (CHK- 7672) was stolen from his residence during the night of September 7. The police has registered a case of theft under Section 379 of the IPC in the Sector 39 police station. In another incident of car theft, Mr Bharti of Sector 40 reported that his Maruti car (CH-01-C-7700) was stolen from Radha Krishan Mandir, Sector 40, yesterday. The police has registered a case of theft in the Sector 39 police station. Mr Suraj Mal, a resident of Kumhar Colony, Sector 25, filed a complaint in the Sector 11 police station stating that his motor cycle (CH-03-N-5934) was stolen yesterday. A case has been registered. Mr
O.P. Sawhny, a resident of Sector 23-B, reported to the police that his scooter (HNE-6464) was stolen from the Sector 17 parking on September 7. The police has registered a case.
Dowry case
Ms Geeta, a resident of Sector 42, filed a complaint against her husband Parkash Singh and in-laws, residents of Koayala village in Ambala district, stating that they were harassing her to bring more dowry. The police has registered a case under Sections 406, 498-A, 494 and 120-B of the IPC in the Sector 36 police station. The Women and Child Support Unit of the Chandigarh police is investigating the case.
Assault case
Mr Jai Singh Negi of Sector 27-C reported to the police that Deepak of the same locality assaulted him at his residence on September 7. The police has registered a case under Sections 325 and 34 of the IPC.
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Servant found dead
Chandigarh, September 9 According to the police, Narinder Chauhan was found dead by employees of a company in which his owner, Mr N.V. Ramnan, was working as Chairman. Mr Ramnan was away to Shimla with his family for some days. When the employees did not get any response to the door bell, they looked from a window and found a body lying there. They informed the police at 4.30 pm. The police entered the house by breaking open the lock of the house. The police said the servant was a patient of epilepsy and might have fell accidentally and died. It said the servant might have died two days ago. The police said it did not see any foul play. The body has been sent to the General Hospital, Sector 16, and a postmortem will be conducted tomorrow.
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Man dies as bus hits scooter
Chandigarh, September 9 Jatinder Sharma, a resident of Sector 38, was riding pillion on a scooter (HR-03- B-1214), driven by Chaman Lal Batra, when the bus hit the scooter. Both the injured were rushed to the PGI, but Jatinder was declared brought dead by the doctors at the hospital, while Chaman Lal is still under treatment. Jatinder Sharma was an employee of the Postal Department. His two children had also died in an accident two years ago. The police has arrested Nirmal Singh, driver of the bus (CH-01-G-5877) and registered a case of rash and negligent driving against him under Sections 279, 337, 304-A of Indian Penal Code. The accused was later bailed out.
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Five injured in road mishaps
Dera Bassi, September 9 According to the police, cyclists Ajaib Singh, Tarsem Singh and his brother Harmesh Singh, residents of Jhajjo village, near here, were injured when a Ambala-bound crammed into them from behind. The three were riding parallel when the accident occurred. The injured have been admitted to the Civil Hospital, Dera Bassi. In another incident involving a car and a motorcycle near Sukhmani Engineering College, Rajinder Pal, a motorcyclist, and Dinesh Jain, car occupant, sustained injuries. They sustained injuries when the car collided with the motorcycle. A case under Sections 279, 337 and 427, IPC has been registered against the car driver. Electrocuted A mentally challenged unidentified person was electrocuted when he tried to touch a high tension power cable of the Kalka-Ambala railway line at the Lalru Railway station, this afternoon. He fell unconscious and was taken to the Civil Hospital, Dera Bassi. He was referred to the PGI after his condition deteriorated. The police is investigating the matter.
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Scooterist killed
Panchkula, September 9 Injured: A 22-year-old woman, Reeta, received burn injuries, when an electric cable in her house in Pipliwala caught fire.
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Sector 17 shops to open at 11 am
Chandigarh, September 9 Earlier shops used to open at 10 am and close at 8 pm shopkeepers of the market contended with the administration that there was little business between 10 am while there is huge activity between 8 pm and 9 pm thus the timings be shifted.
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Trading in commodities launched
Chandigarh, September 9 Mr Sayed A. Asim, regional head (North) of MCX, Mumbai, told traders that they could now avail the benefits of modernised system of trading in commodities like wheat, sugar, rice, guar, cotton, oils, gold, silver, etc.
TNS
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Magazine launched
Chandigarh, September 9
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