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Army officer falls to terrorists’ bullets in Manipur
Panchkula, January 20 As the family put up a brave and stoic face, attempting not to shed a tear at the tragedy, well wishers and condolence messages began to flow in. The 39-year old officer belonged to 13 Dogra. “He had been tasked to cordon and search a village after hard intelligence was received by the Army about the presence of some ULFA activists there,” his father, Col J.M.L. Bakshi said. Years ago, he had commanded the same battalion, 13 Dogra, at the same place where his son fell in battle today. The operation bagan at 2 a.m. today. As the cordon was being put in place, the troops came under fire from the village. An intense fire-fight followed and as the troops advanced, Colonel Bakshi was hit in the neck. At the time of the incident, said to be 6 a.m., it was still dark. He was rushed to the nearest helipad and given first-aid, but could not be evacuated because of the darkness. Later, when the helicopter got airborne, he breathed his last. The news was broken to the family at about 10 a.m. Colonel Bakshi was commissioned into the Army in 1991 after passing out from the Officers Training Academy. He had been involved in counter insurgency operations for the past about three years and had been serving in Manipur for the past about an year. He was an outstanding sportsman. Colonel Bakshi’s grandfather, Maj I.D. Bakshi, too had served with the Army. His younger brother, Lt-Col Rajesh Bakshi, an alumnus of the Indian Military Academy, at presents posted at Kasauli. There is a difference of just months in the service of the two brothers. Besides his aged parents, Colonel Bakshi is survived by his wife, Nandita, a teacher, and two daughters, 10-year-old Arzoo and seven-year-old Amanat. They were residing in Meerut, Colonel Bakshi’s last place of posting, and left for Panchkula today after the news was broken to them.
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Young lovers commit suicide
Chandigarh, January 20 Even though their identities were yet to be confirmed, the police said the two apparently decided to die in each other's company after their failure to live together. Police is of the opinion that they came to city from Delhi. Before deciding to end their lives, the two tied the knot. Henna was there on the woman's hands. The cops on duty said in all probability the couple jumped into the lake a few days back. Due to the cold weather conditions, the bodies took some time to surface. A stroller on the lake noticed the head of the man in the murky waters of the lake near the tower and informed the police at the Sukhna Lake police post at around 3:30 pm. The police reached the spot and pulled the body out. To their surprise, another body, tied to the first with a blue dupatta, emerged out. The in-charge of the Sukhna Lake Police Post, Sub-Inspector Jaswinder Singh said no document, which could help in establishing the identity of the victims was found on the bodies. The police has recovered keys of a room of a Sector 22 hotel from the man's pocket. Besides a wallet containing about Rs 200 has also been found. A team of police officials went to the hotel. The hotel staff told the police that room number 110 was booked by a couple on January 12. According to entry made in the hotel's register, the man introduced himself as Rohit, a resident of Vishnu Garden, Delhi, and
mentioned the woman as his wife. The couple checked in at the hotel at 5 pm and mentioned Shimla as their destination. The hotel staff further told the police that the couple went out from at around 7 pm the same day without luggage. They came to the hotel in a taxi (CH-01(T)-7121). On the next day, the taxi driver came to the hotel and asked about the couple. The hotel staff went to the room and found it locked. Subsequently they reported the matter to the police, said a police officer. The sources in the Sector 22 Police post confirmed the report and said they had searched the room on January 13. The in-charge of the Sector 22 Police post, SI Dilsher Singh Chandel said a black dairy and a library acquisition slip of Khalsa College for Women, Civil Lines, Ludhiana bearing a name "Sonia Verma" on it was recovered from the room. The bodies had started to decay and were emitting foul smell. The woman was wearing a blue suit and had long hair. She was wearing a brown jacket and white sandals. The man was wearing grey jersey, cream trousers and black shoes. Both the victims were of fair complexion. The police teams have been sent to the Delhi and Ludhiana to trace the addresses of the victims.
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IT raids on, no let-up likely
Chandigarh, January 20 It could not be confirmed whether any jewellery had been found in the locker or not.
Yesterday, all six lockers of the Janta Land Promoters had been sealed by the officers. The Director-General, Income Tax (Investigations), Ms Sudha Sharma, said operating a locker was a long process as experts from various fields had to be employed in the task of accessing the value of different items found in a locker. IT Deptt would take some more days to give the exact figure of evasion of tax by the colonisers, she added. Apart from accessing the seized records, the officers were busy studying the documents to check evasion of income tax. Yesterday, IT officers had raided the office and residence of two main colonisers — Janta Land Promoter and Sunny Enclave in Mohali and Kharar, respectively. The land deals by other private colonisers, under the master plan of Mohali and other peripheral towns of Chandigarh, were also under the scanner of the income tax sleuths. Sources did not rule out the possibility of a 'search and seizure' operation being carried out on other colonisers in the region.
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Sec 17 shops raided too
Chandigarh, January 20 Officials of the Income Tax Department said the raids were being conducted on suspicion of evasion of taxes. The shutters of these shops were half down as the officials checked the records inside. About six IT officials were present in each shop. Sources said balance sheets and other accounts were being checked at these stores. Sale records of those who had purchased high end expensive luxury goods were checked. Officials stated that seizures and search would be conducted till late night. The owners of the stores were not available for comment. Workers at one of the stores claimed that no incriminating evidence had been seized.
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Wheat flour price shoots up Chandigarh, January 20 Sources said the FCI had not released wheat for small flour mills in the region for several weeks. In normal times, wheat flour sells between Rs 8.50 and Rs 9 per kg. However, now its price has gone up to Rs 12 to Rs 12.50 per kg at retail shops in Punjab, Haryana, and other parts of the region except Chandigarh, where it is selling at Rs 13 per kg. Small millers say the FCI has not released wheat to their mills for several months. “ We have reports that the FCI in Punjab in recent weeks gave some stocks to traders and big flour mills. And the traders further sold it to small flour millers at a nominal profit. However, no wheat stocks were released to small flour mills (atta “chakis”) in the countryside. Millers say that whenever the flour price starts shooting up, the FCI is supposed to release wheat stocks in the open market to check the rise. However, this time there has been an unusual delay in releasing the stocks. A senior officer posted in the Regional Office of the FCI that deals with Punjab said here today that about 10,000 tonnes of wheat stocks would be released in Punjab soon. He said the Director, Food and Supplies, had been informed in this regard. He had been requested to devise a formula for the distribution of the stocks in various districts, However, when asked how much wheat stocks had been released by the FCI in Punjab in the past two or three months, he had no information in this regard. “I recently joined here and know nothing in this regard”, he said. However, he said in the past days some stocks of wheat had been sold to traders and others in certain districts. But “A” grade stocks were not given to traders, it is learnt. This correspondent tried to get the FCI version from its headquarters in Delhi, but the General Manager (Sales) could not be contacted. Mr Harpal Singh Anand, president of the Wheat Flour Millers Association, Patiala, said the local Food and Supplies Department authorities told him that the department was working out details with regard to the distribution of stocks to be released by the FCI in Punjab. “ I got information that wheat will be released to us at Rs 825 per quintal. Actually it will cost us about Rs 860 per quintal after paying 4 per cent VAT on it. After adding the wheat grinding cost, the price would go up to Rs 10 to Rs 10.25 per kg”, he added.
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UT move on phase I of monorail project
Chandigarh, January 20 Reliable sources said the administration has decided to seek expression of interest for development, implementation, operation and maintenance of the Chandigarh monorail project on concessional basis. The administration has already worked out the basic details of the project in consultation with the Rail India Technical Economic Services(RITES), the consultancy body of the Indian Railways.. The administration has decided that in order to overcome the "increasing traffic congestion and provide reliable and comfortable public transportation system for future needs, the Chandigarh Administration intends to offer busy traffic corridors totalling 25 km for the development of the monorail system on concessional basis." It has been clearly pointed out that the corridors are extendible to Mohali and Panchkula making a system network of 35 km in Phase I". Official sources said , "The Chandigarh Urban Complex consists of the area of the city, Mohali and Panchkula. With a population of nearly 1.2 million, the city has the highest per capita income in the country. With the coming in of the information technology sector in the city and neighbouring townships and several other developments, the city needs an alternate system of mass transportation." The administration envisages a limit of three years for the implementation of the
project. The two main corridors of the project shall be planned for a minimum carrying capacity of 10,000 persons per hour in the first phase. The system will have an inbuilt facility for upgradation for a carrying capacity of at least 30,000 persons per hour. Only the international and national applicants, with proven track record in monorail development and financial capabilities, have been asked to apply. Monorail is seen as the best alternate for mass transportation system in a situation where the city roads are overcrowded with the vehicular traffic congestion. At least the major roads, including the Madhya Marg and the Dakshin Marg, showed congestion during the office hours. The mass transportation system, like the monorail, is known for punctuality which makes it the best bet for daily travellers to their offices. Mr Anil Chauhan, a pharmacist, said: "I travel from Panchkula to Chandigarh's Sector 17 daily on a straight line. There are a very large number of other people in my category as I see them daily. A monorail will definitely goad us to leave behind our vehicles and travel faster and safer ."
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Husband beating case: wife says CD is doctored
Panchkula, January 20 Reacting to the contents of the recorded CD and telecast, Mrs Komal Verma, wife of Vinod Verma, refuted the allegations levelled by her husband and his family. Talking to the mediapersons, sobbing Komal, at the Mansa Devi complex residence of her parents, denied having assaulted her husband alleging that the CD is doctored. She, however, confirmed strained relations with husband Vinod and family members due to their pressing demands for dowry and transfer of the house owned by her brother in her husband’s name. The demand was made immediately after her marriage in October 2002. However, Vinod Kumar reiterated that the CDs beamed on the
television are authentic. “We have to resort to this costly exercise as none believed my version of assaults for the past 3 years. We are quite well off and never demanded any dowry”, he said. She had been levelling allegations of cruelty, torture and harassment he said. Mr Vinod said his wife called her brother from Panchkula who, after reaching Shazadpur, called his cousin and her husband. All three gave him beating, Vinod said. Later, he was medically examined and a DDR was lodged by police but it was never converted to FIR.
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Human error responsible for UAV accidents
Chandigarh, January 20 All accidents pointed at human error of UAV operators, either as a direct cause or as a contributory factor. There was no mandatory human factor analysis during courts of inquiry, due to which human error in the outcome of a situation leading to an accident could not be commented upon, the study revealed. There have been over half-a-dozen known UAV accidents in the armed forces and in some instances UAVs were lost or rendered beyond economical repairs. This has been in spite of a sophisticated system with ample redundancy and adequate fail-safe mechanisms, the study, which undertook a critical retrospective analysis of UAV accidents over a five-year period, noted. The purpose of the study was to help define preventive strategies for safe UAV operations. It was considered important because with a sophisticated system like the UAV, errors and failures that occur become attributable to human inadequacy and fallibility. A UAV has a four-member crew - mission commander, external pilot, internal pilot and the observer and payload operator. The first three are from the flying stream, while the fourth is from a non-flying background. Stating that UAV operations require that no crew member has excessive workload, communication and decision-making are effective, stress does not deteriorate performance and situational awareness is maintained, the study added that a breakdown in one or several of these factors may lead to an accident. A court of inquiry of the accident may at times fail to analyse critically as to why an evolving situation was allowed to develop into an irretrievable accident, the study stated. Decision-making, situational awareness, workload, stress, teamwork, communication and leadership are some of the issues examined by the study. The study has stressed upon the need to develop a dedicated crew resource management training programme, with the help of human factor specialists, for UAV operators. It has also suggested that communications during each of the sorties be recorded to later analysis and corrective measures and that human factors be audited during UAV operations by carrying out field studies.
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Roadside junk dealer gets Rs 10,000 power bill
Panchkula, January 20 Mr Ram Avtar, a resident of Mauli Jagran in Chandigarh, runs a junk shop on the roadside near village Bhainsa Tibba, Mansa Devi Complex, here. “I was earlier running my kiosk in Mauli Jagran and shifted here only nine months ago. There is no meter, and I have not even constructed a kiosk. I just work on the road side,” he says. He alleged that on January 9, a team of Vigilance staff of UHBVN were surveying kundi connections in the nearby area. “They came to my shop and saw a broken television set and some bulbs. They assumed that these were functional, without realizing that they were kept on the road side and were defunct. Two days later, a bill of Rs 10,000 was sent to me,” he said. The UHBVN officials, when contacted, denied these charges and said that they had received complaints about kundi connections being rampant on the road, and thus they had conducted the raid. All squatters here and now being fined for this, they said.
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Rose garden in Sec-24 soon
Chandigarh, January 20 According to officials, a formal inauguration of the rose garden will take place in March when work on the rose garden will complete. The area was marked by the Municipal Corporation as a green belt earlier and was being developed so. In a discussion with the UT Administrator and Punjab Governor, Lt-Gen SF Rodrigues, earlier this month the decision to make it a rose garden was approved. The variety of roses to be planted will be different from the ones already planted in the Rose Garden in Sector 16. A team of MC officials will go to Bangalore in the first week of February to get the roses. KB Sharma, Chief Engineer, MC, said the work on the green belt had already begun. "Irrigation lines have been laid this month, railing and lights have been installed, and a cable path for walkers has been constructed," Sharma said. Talking to TNS, Subhash Chawla, former mayor, said they would write to the Chief Architect soon for other facilities also. "A proposal to have a musical fountain and a cafeteria is also there." Around Rs 25 lakh have already been spent on the park. An expenditure of another Rs 5 lakh is also on the cards.
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MC reconstitutes committees
Chandigarh, January 20 An official spokesman said here today that the committees under Section 42 (3) were including Roads Committee - Mr Pardeep Chhabra, Maj Gen (retd) A.S. Kahlon, Smit Lalit Joshi, Mrs Shyama Negi, Mr H.S. Lucky, Mrs Kamlesh, Mr Kuldeep Singh, Mr P.C. Sanghi and Mr Rajesh Gupta. Water Suppy and Sewerage Disposal Committee - Mrs Harpreet Kaur Babla, Mr Balraj Singh, Mr Subhash Chawla, Mrs Pushpa Sharma, Mr P.C. Sanghi, Brig Sant Singh, Mrs Geeta Rani, Mrs Harjinder Kaur and Mr Jatinder Bhatia, House Tax Assessment Committee - Mr Kuldeep Singh, Mr C.K. Sawhney, Mr Pardeep Chhabra, Mr Chander Mukhi Sharma, Mr Subhash Chawla, Maj Gen (retd) A.S. Kahlon, Mr Dildar Khan, Mrs Kamla Sharma, Mr Jatinder Bhatia. Committees under Section 41-E are including Environment and City Beautication Committee- Mrs Kamlesh, Mrs K. Atmaram, Mrs Anu Chatrath, Mrs Lalit Joshi, Mr H.s. Lucky, Mrs Harpreet Kaur Babla, Mrs Pushpa Sharma, Mr Sohan Lal Vaid, Dr B.R. Verma. Electricity Committee — Mrs Geeta Rani, Mr Dildar Khan, Mr H.S. Lucky, Mr Subhash Chawla, Mrs Shyama Negi, Mr Kuldeep Singh, Mrs Harpreet Kaur Babla, Mrs Kamla Sharma and Mr Vijay Singh Rana. Apni Mandi and Day Markets Commitee — Mrs Pushpa Sharma, Mr Sohan Lal Vaid, Mrs Anu Chatrath, Mrs Lalit Joshi, Mrs Shyama Negi, Mr Balraj Singh, Mrs Amar Kulwant Singh, Dr K.S. Raju, Mrs Harjinder Kaur. Fire and Emergency Services Committee — Mrs Amar Kulwant Singh, Brig Sant Singh, Mr Pardeep Chhabra, Mr Sohan Lal Vaid, Mr Chander Mukhi Sharma, Mrs K. Atma Ram, Dr K.S. Raju, Mr Rajesh Gupta and Mr Vijay Singh Rana. Sanitation Committee — Dr B.R. Verma, Dr K.S. Raju, Mrs Lalit Joshi, Mrs Kamlesh, Mrs Anu Chatrath, Mrs Geeta Rani, Mr Balraj Singh, Mr Chander Mukhi Sharma and Mr C.K. Sawhney.
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Manto remembered
Panchkula, January 20 The Akademy secretary and noted litterateur, KL Zakir, paid rich tributes to Sadat Hasan Manto on the function coinciding it with his birth anniversary which actually falls on January 18. Zakir said unlike his contemporary writers, Manto sculpted his creations laced with intrepid thematic content which, many a times, invited criticism. The noted writers, who presented analytical and critical appreciation of the literary works of Manto, included Dr Sultan Anjum, Dr Kamlesh Mohan, Dr Deepak Tandon, Kedar Nath Sharma and RD Taseer.
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PSEB told to refund security
Mohali, January 20 Mr B.S. Tej, president of the forum, in a letter to the executive engineer, stated that the federation had been opposing the installation of electronic meters from the very beginning but the power board installed these at its own level in place of the mechanical ones which were functioning normally.
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Sikh NGO organises religious programmes
Mohali, January 20
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Case registered in phone-tapping case
Chandigarh, January 20 A case has been registered in this regard against the unidentified person at the Sector 19 police station and the Crime Branch of the UT police has been entrusted the investigation of the case. The Crime Branch has already been investigating the case after a letter was received by Mr Arvind Thakur, a
human rights activist. It is learnt that among the list of telephone numbers being tapped by BSNL for the Chandigarh Police, according to the letter, are those of Mr Sat Pal Jain, Mr Anmol Rattan Sidhu, a former president of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Council, Mr Labh Singh, Mr Sanjeev Kumar, a district court judge, UT Law Department, and another department of UT administration. The letter further mentions that the BSNL had confirmed a payment of Rs 79,110 made by the Chandigarh Police for tapping of the above mentioned phone numbers. Meanwhile, the BSNL has termed the letter as ‘forged’.
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Man held for stealing stamp papers
Mohali, January 20 Mr Rajwant Singh, a resident of Chandigarh, had complained to the police that when he came to the tehsil office to get a registration done in connection with some land at Kurdi village. Meanwhile, a person decamped with his stamp papers. He said he had kept the stamp papers, needed for the registration work, on a table and was talking to a lawyer. Suddenly, a person took away these papers and vanished. The police had registered a case under Section 279 of the IPC in this regard. The suspect was produced in a Kharar court and remanded in the police custody for
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Police clueless about burglary
Mohali, January 20 Burglars had broken into the bank, located on the premises of Government College, and decamped with Rs 1.80 lakh after cutting the safe with gas cutters. According to sources, two police teams were sent to raid places in Patiala and Panchkula after working on vital clues but failed to achieve any success. Sources say that mobile phones were used during the time when the crime was committed. The police is gathering records in connection with these phone calls in order to trace the crime.
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Case registered
Chandigarh, January 20
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SBI loan mela begins
Chandigarh, January 20 During this loan mela, approvals of home loans, car loans, personal loans and education loans would be on the spot. Loans for business purpose with special emphasis on traders and service providers are being given on liberal terms. Besides banking products, life insurance (SBI Life), mutual funds (SBI Mutual Fund) and credit cards were also being offered.
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Amartex MD gets award
Chandigarh, January 20
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