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Lalru residents want guilty cops booked
Chandigarh, August 12 Residents complained that the police entered their houses and beat people which led to several residents getting injured. The Lalru Mandi and shops were closed in protest against the alleged police brutality. The victims who were thrashed in their house compounds well past midnight included Mr Prem Singh, Ms Rekha Rani, Ms Kusum Lata, Ms Shimla Devi, Mr Jasbir Singh, Mr Jai Prakash, Mr Ved Pal, Mr Amar Das (a mahant) and Mr Sanjeev Kumar. The irate police personnel are said to have entered the house compounds and thrashed the residents, including women, senior citizens and children. The residents are demanding a high-level inquiry into the issue and booking of the culprit police personnel under the relevant provisions of the IPC. Ms Satwant Kaur, a housewife, said, “I was sleeping with my child when suddenly there was a loud thundering on our door. My father-in-law opened the door and he was slapped. When I interfered, even I was violently pushed aside.” Residents also pointed out that a number of television sets, electricity appliances and other household material were shattered by the raiding party. Certain vehicles, particularly motor cycles and cars, were also smashed. The police has booked some residents under Sections 307, 353, 332, 186, 434, 323, 283, 341, 506, 148 and 149 of the IPC. Addressing a dharna, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, former Minister of Finance in Punjab, said, “In case the Congress government does not book the guilty by August 13, and suspend them, the Akalis will launch a statewide agitation from August 15 under the banner of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal). Captain Kanwaljit Singh said, “The magisterial inquiry announced by the Punjab Government is mere eyewash. If the police can register cases under Section 307 of the IPC against youth on baseless grounds why were the police personnel not being booked on the same grounds?” Several other Akali leaders present on the occasion included Mr Jasmer Singh, Mr Amrik Singh and Mr Rana Roop Singh besides BJP leaders, including Mr Rajeev Sharma and Mr Som Chand. No senior police officer could be contacted despite repeated efforts.
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Property drew Malaysian fugitive to city
Chandigarh, August 12 The former Malaysian magistrate, who had jumped bail in October 1987 to escape being prosecuted for corruption, remained in the city for few days to appoint a General
Power of Attorney (GPA) holder for her properties. On March 17, she appeared before the Sub-Registrar, Chandigarh, to present the GPA bequeathed in the name of her Malaysia-based sister, Dr Parkash Kaur. A family friend, Mr Sukha Singh, who lives in a Sector 21 house owned by Balbir Kaur’s family and a local advocate, Rajinder Singh Raj, had appeared as witnesses before the Sub-Registrar. Inquiries reveal that the 48-year-old woman had been arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption agency in October 1987 for allegedly accepting bribe as inducement to acquit three Indonesians facing charges under the Customs Act. Following which she jumped bail and disappeared. Though there had been reports that Balbir Kaur had assumed a new identity and was living either in Australia, New Zealand or India, there were reports that Balbir Kaur was living under the assumed name of Daljit Kaur. But her presence was confirmed after 19 years when she presented herself at the Sector 17 office of the Sub-Registrar on March 17. Her presence at Chandigarh raised eyebrows when the GPA presented in April, 2006, in the Penang High Court, Malaysia. The GPA (which is in possession of The Tribune) contains a Malaysian Identity (NRIC no. 5248224) and her photograph along the photograph of her sister, Dr Parkash Kaur. The document mentions that she entitled to one-fourth undivided share of all the properties in India and Malaysia (including the immovable properties from which income is derived at regular intervals) and to the income and profits of all such properties under the last will of late Sadhu Singh, father of Balbir Kaur. Talking to The Tribune, Mr Rajinder Singh Raj, a lawyer practising at the local district courts, said, “The lady approached me through Sukha Singh. She had brought along a draft of the GPA. I typed it and presented it before the Sub Registrar. I did not know that she was a fugitive as she presented a Malaysian passport before the Registrar.” He said he came to know from newspapers in August that the lady was wanted in a case of corruption in Malaysia. “I was about to destroy the photocopy of the GPA when I read the news. The news was first picked up by a Malaysian newspaper New Straits Times”.
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Estate Office under RTI scanner soon
Chandigarh, August 12 The forum is sending three letters to the national commission seeking intervention following failure by the concerned office and the first appellate authority to give the required answers. At least half a dozen questions are with the first appellate for a reply and another half a dozen questions are in in front of state public information officers waiting for a reply. At least three questions have also been directed to the municipal corporation, including details of administrative approvals to all works given since January 2005. The Act says that any person who does not receive an answer within 30 days from the Central Public Information Officer can appeal to an officer senior to the Central Information Officer. A second appeal against this decision can be made after 90 days of the due date with the Central Information Commission. Talking to The Tribune, Mr Chandermukhi Sharma, the president of the forum for public affairs, said: “we have not got any reply to a majority of the questions and even the ones that we have got are not satisfactory.” Citing an example Mr Chandermukhi said: “we sought information for a number of showrooms, sites and buildings resumed, reasons for non-compliance with resumption orders and pending appeals. “We got the reply that the relevant information was available on
www.sampada.com which is absolutely false. We are now appealing to the appellate authority”, he said. He said “the forum has 18 members. Under the system, the answers that we were receiving were very sketchy and kept public in the dark. There is negligible accountability and transparency. We will soon be organising camps for public awareness so that public knows its rights and gets the expected answers. During interaction with the public, we found that certain questions which might seem personal
were infact relevant on a large scale. We will make all our queries and replies public so that every individual knows his rights”. The latest appeal which has put the Estate Office on the alert for correct answers is a query dated August 9 which asks “names and designation of officials with whom certain applications (put more than two months back) were lying pending, the period and what action has been taken by the concerned officers during this period, proof of receipt and dispatch of requests in the concerned desks; the days it should have taken; the officials guilty for not replying; and action that can be taken against the guilty officials” The questions here have been put in context of the unanswered questions which were posed by Mr Girish
Kapoor, Mr Rajesh Sharma and Mr Chandermukhi. The forum has sought information on May 29 about the number of building violation notices issued since Jan 2000 and in how many cases the construction continued despite notices. The forum has also sought information on a number of property misuse notices to occupants and owners of commercial property.
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Jan sampark centres to have new facilities
Chandigarh, August 12 The facility available at about 70 jan sampark centres, which will be installed all over the city, is seen as an important addition for public seeking information about the particular blood groups to make alternate arrangements in case of an emergency. The kiosk is ready and only needs installation of the computers on the already laid down cables. Some of the important facilities which a common man can avail on a payment of a fees of Rs 2 includes current status of availability of seats on different trains including the waiting list. People can also know the current status of their passport forms and the expected date of delivery. The BSNL directory and latest notifications by the administration are some other features for public interest. Most importantly, detailed information regarding all the government departments has been plugged on to the system. At least 30 government departments have been listed on the site which can be accessed by the public through the centres. “Computers are not used by a vast majority of the public who could have otherwise availed the facility on the internet. The forms will be available at these centres”, a senior official said. One important facility at the centre is that the general public can ask the name, contact number and address of the official in the department where they wanted to exercise their right to information. “A common man often does not even know the official he should contact for filing his question under his right”, the official said. It will be possible for the general public to learn about the correct procedure in different police cases. One of the information pertains to the lodging of an FIR. The FIR is lodged by the Station House Officer(SHO) of a police station on the basis of receipt of information of a cognizable offence. No FIR is lodged with regard to a non-cognizable offence. One can also book police band, seek information about stolen vehicles and download servant verification forms besides several other facilities. On the front of health, people can get forms and procedures for medical reports, disability certificates, I-cards, forms or licenses for food stalls, family welfare programmes and other health related forms. The site has a detailed information about the legal aid cell. An arrangement has been made for providing applications, phone number of officials who can be contacted and also the mode of service under different requirements. One of the best covered sites on the system is the Estate Office. For example the centre will provide service for fresh building applications, annexures, grant of electricity, sewerage and other aspects. Specifically relating to electricity, the centre will then provide for detailed application forms, procedure for filling forms, the offices to contact and the fee. The hallmark of the entire format of the jan sampark centre is simplification of the official language for the common man to under-stand. Mr M.S. Brar, Director, Information Technology, said: “The site is dynamic. The data will be daily updated for customer care and new innovations will be attempted”.
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Debate on significance of ration card held
Panchkula, August 12 The meeting to urge people to submit forms for making ration cards was held under the chairmanship of Mr Chander Mohan, Deputy Chief Minister-cum-Food and Supplies Minister, Haryana, to redress grievances of the public pertaining to his department. A number of speakers contested the need for a ration card, maintaining that while it was not recognised for identification, they were not even given kerosene on the basis of the card. "We have to buy a bottle of kerosene on the black market and that too from Zirakpur. The city needs a kerosene pump of its own. Also, funds are a constant problem with these depot owners who never have enough stocks to cater to the needs of the public," Mr M.S. Wadhawan of the House Owners Association, Sector 21, stated. Mr U.S. Sharma of the Residents Welfare Association, Sector 11, raised the demand that 5 to 10 litres of kerosene should be issued even to the income-tax-payee-ration-card-holders at least once a year. The Deputy CM assured the gathering that the matter would be taken up with the Central Government to increase the quota of kerosene for the district.It was also demanded that a kerosene-pump, on the pattern of Chandigarh , should be allotted and opened for public use, which is under consideration with the department. The president of the Citizens Welfare Association, Mr S.K. Nayar, stressed on the need to form state, district, sub-division level Food Advisory Committees in Haryana. The Deputy CM said the department was already working on the formation of such committees which would be expedited shortly. Mr K.K. Jindal of the Sector 20 Association said the department should widen the scope of attestation for applying for ration cards. "Under the present system, the application forms can be attested by councillors of the area. However, the presidents of the associations or any gazetted officer should be allowed to attest the forms so that the public is saved of harassment," he said. Mr M. S.
Cheema, chief advisor, and advisor of the CWA were also present at the meeting and also stressed on the installation of a telephone in the local department office. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Brijendra Singh, said it would be done at the earliest. He urged people to come forward and submit their forms before the September 15 deadline set by the Administration. In the concluding remarks, Mr Chander Mohan sought the cooperation of the public. "As many as 57,000 forms were distributed, of which 15,000 have not come back so far. While all colony residents have submitted these, the urban areas have been left way behind. The ration card is an important document and all your problems will be addressed in the coming days," he stated.
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PR Dept launches website
Chandigarh, August 12 With the inauguration, UT PR Department has joined select league of states/UTs like Kerala and Meghalaya to have independent websites. Speaking on the occasion, UT Home Secretary also announced many media friendly initiatives. Chandigarh Administration will establish a media center for the journalists in which four well equipped computers, fax, telephone, library and other related facilities will be available. Mr Mohan also informed about the Administration’s proposal to appoint two more APRs for the Department. Rest house facility for the accredited journalists on concessional rates is also under active consideration. Joint Secretary Finance, Ms Raji P. Shrivastava, Director Public Relations, Mr Vivek Atray, Director IT, Mr M.S. Brar, and the State Informatics Officer, Mr Ajay Rampal, were also present on the occasion. Besides the expected input of daily press releases, the website will also have space for advertisements, messages of the officers and important forthcoming events. In an endeavour to facilitate the privilege of Right to Information, Chandigarh Administration has asked all departments to appoint Nodal Officers for maintaining liaison with the Department of Public Relations. The dealing hand should be a gazetted officer.
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Health Dept’s vehicle gheraoed
Mohali, August 12 The vehicle was gheraoed near the village around 7.30 am and later the driver was asked to take the Tata Sumo vehicle to the village. The vehicle was returned only after the police intervened. According to information available, the incident happened when the District Health Officer, Dr V.K. Jain was going towards Kansal to inspect the state of sanitation in that village . Dr Jain said he got out of the vehicle near Nada village for sometime. He said a milk vendor coming from the opposite direction presumed that officials of the Health Department were coming to the village to collect milk samples for testing. He gathered some persons from the village and gheraoed the jeep. Dr Jain said the matter was brought to the notice of the police, which soon reached the village and got the vehicle released. Dr M.S.
Toor, Civil Surgeon, said Dr Jain was going to Kansal village as the department had received a representation from residents of Kansal and Mullanpur regarding poor sanitation in the area. The milk vendors got panicky after presuming that the team had come to collect milk samples, but it was not so.
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Electric clothing for Armymen soon
Chandigarh, August 12 Scientists of the PGS College of Technology, led by Dr Murugan of the Textile Technology Department, have successfully designed and manufactured these electric sweaters which will be supplied to soldiers only. These sweaters are currently undergoing trials, which are in advanced stages, following which they will be produced in bulk and handed over to
the Army. A senior Army official said soldiers had evinced a keen interest in the sweaters as they were lighter and effective, thus reducing the burden of luggage primarily consisting of bulky woollens and other extreme winterwear. Made of cotton and interspersed with filaments of Nichrome, an alloy of nickel and chromium with a high-heat quotient, these sweaters offer strong resistance to chilly
weather. The sweaters are light in weight, unlike the usually heavy winter
clothing, offering easy manoeuvrability to soldiers which is quite important at high
altitudes. As the Army spends about Rs 3.5 crore a day to retain hold on sectors like Siachen, this novel invention can lead to a big save on extreme-winter clothing and also a cut in fuel costs. The surplus funds could then be used on weaponry or some welfare scheme. Though the research on the electric clothing was going on for quite a long time, yet it was only recently that scientists were successful in manufacturing the same
without any compromise on quality.
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Police officers’ training concludes
Chandigarh, August 12 During the course, the participants were trained on the advances made in scientific investigations. The methodology of investigations was explained through different models, said Inspector Gagandeep Singh. The participants were also taken to various police stations and were shown a post-mortem in progress. The winners of different contests were given prizes by Mr K.C. Verma, IGP-cum-Director of the Jawahar Lal Nehru Police Academy, Madhya Pradesh, and Mr Rajesh Kumar, Principal of the
CDTS.
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Traffic restrictions on I-Day
Chandigarh, August 12 The road stretch from roundabout of Sector 16, 17, 22, 23 up to small rotary, near Gurdial petrol pump, Sector 22 A; on Udyog Path up to the roundabout of Sectors 16, 17, 22 and 23 on Jan Marg; and from light point, near Lyon’s Restaurant, Sector 17 to the Parade Ground will remain closed to traffic from 7 am onwards till the function. Parking will not be allowed in front of shops in Sector 22 markets from 7 am onwards till the end of the function. Similarly, all roads leading to the Raj Bhavan will remain closed to general public from 2 pm onwards on August 15 for the “At Home” function.
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Chandigarh Heritage Festival on Oct 7
Chandigarh, August 12 The day happens to be the anniversary of the formal inauguration of the city in 1953. The Director Tourism, Mr Vivek Atray, today said the festival would comprise of a heritage walk in the Capitol
Complex area in collaboration with INTACH, lighting of all the key buildings, a session on heritage tourism with special emphasis on Chandigarh as a modern heritage city during the tourism conference
at CII. Mr Atray further said during the festival, seminars, competitions and other functions would also be organised in
various colleges and schools. The main function would be held at the College of Architecture and the Chandigarh Museum and it would be celebrated every year to promote the heritage of the City Beautiful, he added.
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CITCO celebrates Teej with kids
Chandigarh, August 12 More than 100 children joined the festivities of Teej, celebrated during sawan and considered an auspicious festival by the people of this region. According to Mr J.S. Bir, Managing Director, CITCO, the initiative had been taken to bring forth the colourful festivities of joy to the underprivileged children, who were given colourful chunnis along with bangles. The children were thrilled when mehndi was put on their hands and a few of them got their faces painted by a beautician. They participated in the cultural activities by singing songs and performing gidha. The children were served ghaver, malpua and rabri.
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Fun time for children
Chandigarh, August 12 Children are also free to pick up skills in dancing, drawing and singing. The highlight of the event will be the presence of Punjabi singer Gursewak Mann and Prince, who was rescued from a pit in Haryana. The carnival will be held at DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, here on August 13.
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MC clerk's plea to police
Mohali, August 12 Mr Avtar Singh, who wrote a letter to the SSP today, said that a case was registered against Mr Amrit Lal in 2000 under Sections 323 and 506 of the IPC, but the latter had sought bail. Later , Sections 3 and 4 of the SC Atrocity Act were added to the case of Amrit Lal. In spite of this, the clerk had not been arrested. He said Amrit Lal had come to the court here today in connection with a court hearing but the police took no action. He alleged that he had been threatened by Amrit Lal, and as such he and members of his family were under constant fear.
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Sectt staff seek retirement at 60
Chandigarh, August 12 Led by Mr Roshan Lal Goel and Mr B.B. Sethi, 31 officers met the Chief Minister today. They also sought the promotional scale on completion of four, nine and 14 years of service. They reminded the Chief Minister that a promise in this connection was made by the Congress in its election manifesto, released before the last Assembly elections in Punjab.
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Cyber security centre for UT
Chandigarh, August 12 A recommendation to this regard has been made by a committee comprising senior officers from Punjab, Haryana and UT. The meeting was presided over by Mr N.K.Sarvade, Director of the Cyber Security Centre of Nasscom, Mumbai, reliable sources said. Gen S.F. Rodrigues (retd), Governor of Punjab and UT Administrator, had recently expressed the need of a cyber crime vigilance centre.
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Banur resident killed in S. Korea
Chandigarh, August 12 The 30-yr-old victim was engaged in the farm sector and had been working in South Korea for the past two years. He was going home on a tractor when it overturned, crushing him under it. He is survived by
two children and his wife, Parminder Kaur.
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CBI probe sought into power rates
Chandigarh, August 12 Mr Gian Chand Gupta, president, said big industries were saving thousands per month compared to the small and medium scale industries, paying higher charges. — TNS
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Grid system gains acceptance
Chandigarh, August 12 The business of the CTU on the local routes in February this year was Rs 83.90 lakh while in July it was Rs 1.26 crore. The figures for March were Rs 97.88 lakh for April Rs 1.04 crore; May Rs 1.06 crore; and June Rs 1.08 crore, reliable sources said.
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Shobha yatra today
Panchkula, August 12 The procession will begin from Shri Radha Madhav Mandir, Sector 4, at 2:30 pm. It will go through Sectors 11, 12 A, 14, 15, 16, 8 and 9 before concluding at the Sector 10 temple at 6:30pm, the president, of the Mandir Committee, said.
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50 booked for Nada attack
Mohali, August 12 The residents have been booked on charges of attempt to murder, causing hurt to deter a public servant from performing duty, rioting and causing damage to government property. Among those booked are Dayal Fauji, Parvati, Prem Chand, Sukh Ram, Sanju, Shiyam Lal, Mansa Ram, Joginder Singh Panch, Seri Devi, Saroj Devi Panch and Salochna Devi. The residents of Nada village had injured two PUDA employees and damaged four vehicles when a demolition drive was carried out in the village.
CPO beaten up
A CPO, Gurvinder Singh, complained to the police that when he was standing in the Phase IX market, he was allegedly beaten up by Rana Sodhi. The police registered a case under Sections 341, 323 and the 355 of the IPC in this regard.
One killed
A resident of Kharar was killed near the telephone exchange in Phase IV here today. According to information available, Rakesh Kanwal, who was going on a scooter, died in a collision between vehicles.
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One booked for cheating
Chandigarh, August 12 The car was sold to Paramjit Singh for Rs 4.25 lakh. The car had been financed from the Union Bank of India.
Snatching case
Meena, a resident of Sector 36, reported to the police that two scooter-borne persons snatched her mobile phone from near the Fragrance Garden, Sector 36. A case under Sections 356 and 379 of the IPC was registered.
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Workshop for investors
Chandigarh, August 12 Mr Surinder Verma, chairman of the Citizens Awareness Group, said that the objective of the workshop was to make the investors aware of their rights and responsibilities, risks involved and remedies for the problems they might encounter relating to their investment and returns in the securities market. The participants were also enlightened on the procedures relating to the trading and transfer of securities, risk of theft or fraud in holding securities in depository system and availability of loan from the bank against the shares in depository system by pledging them in favour of a bank of his choice. |
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