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School bus strike spells chaos on city roads
Chandigarh, August 18 Chaos prevailed in front of all major schools as parents came to drop their wards in the morning and later to pick them up in the afternoon. More than 30,000 students were inconvenienced by the strike. The situation in the afternoon was even worse. Parents had to bear the brunt of heat and traffic jams for over an hour to pick up their wards once schools closed for the day. With parking spaces in schools inadequate to accommodate so many cars, parents could be seen waiting on roads while trying to trace their wards in the crowd, which subsequently led to chaos and traffic jams. The situation was the worst in Sector 26 where four schools are situated on one road itself. A traffic jam of over an hour was witnessed as vehicles moved at a snail’s pace. Some could be seen parking as far as Sector 7 and walking it down to pick up their wards. The situation was further compounded as parents who had parked their vehicles inside schools tried to drive out onto the road already full of traffic. The traffic police could be seen trying to control the situation, but to little avail. Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Kuljit Singh, a resident of Sector 18, said due to the traffic jam she had to wait for over an hour to pick up her daughter, a student of Sacred Heart, Sector 26. Another harassed parent, Mona Singh, a resident of Sector 21, Panchkula, said she had to wait for 45 minutes before she could find a parking space and pick up her sons. “It’s already been 45 minutes and now someone has parked behind me and I have to wait for that person to come and move his car before I can leave,” she said. The situation was, however, not so chaotic in the morning as parents came in at different times to drop their wards. However, in the afternoon as schools closed for the day at the same time, chaos prevailed. Despite the strike, schools witnessed almost full attendance. Ms Madhu Behl, Principal, KBDAV School, Sector 7, said the attendance was full as exams were going on. The buses owned by the schools were also not allowed to ply. The school authorities had already sent circulars to parents informing them about the strike in advance and to make arrangements to ferry their children to schools. Today’s strike was called in protest against the alleged indifference of the transport authorities of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula towards the bus operators’ grievances regarding the increased road tax structure and alleged harassment by the traffic police. Mr Manjeet Singh, president of the association, said their intention was not to harass parents and students, but to get their grievances addressed. “We are demanding parity. Our counterparts with Punjab or Haryana registration have to pay only Rs 840 for five years, while we have to pay Rs 24,000 per year to the Punjab Government, besides countersigning fee. Haryana is not countersigning the permit and demanding passenger tax at the rate of Rs 60 per seat, per month for nine months in a financial year,” he said. In the absence of countersigned permits, buses are not allowed to pick up or drop children in Mohali and Panchkula, and are challaned, said the association. Another issue raised by the association was the challaning of school buses by the Chandigarh Traffic Police. “The reasons of challan should be written on the back of the challan chit. There is no provision or requirement of seat belts in buses, yet buses are being challaned on this count,” he added. Mr Manjit Singh said if their demands were not met, they would be left with no choice but to increase the monthly bus fee. “The current bus fee is anything between Rs 475 and Rs 550 per month. If our demands are not met, we will have no choice but to increase it and in case parents protest, we will be left with no alternative but to take extreme steps to have our demands met.”
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Barnala in city; family says
he is unwell
Chandigarh, August 18 This is first visit to the city by Mr Barnala after the involvement of his son Ganganjit in the alleged rape of a maid. “He was examined by doctors soon after he reached his house”, said family sources. On way to the city, Mr Barnala had to halt at Sky Lark Tourism Complex when he felt uneasiness. He was on way to the city after attending a function at Bud Khalsa village in Sonepat district. Mr Barnala was said to be suffering from cervical pain.
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100 big rooms, but none for this abandoned child
Chandigarh, August 18 It has space to put in place facilities that can make growth and rehabilitation of children possible. It has several “model” nuances but none of these claims are any good because the home is under lock and key. And like volunteers of PGI Childline (free service to help children in distress) who had a tough time trying to find shelter for a child found abandoned on August 16, every social worker will have to wait till the time the home becomes operational. It was opened for a day only to facilitate the inaugural ceremony which was graced by the UT Administrator. After the event, it was closed for further planning. Recruitments are yet to take place. As for Childline volunteers, they knew nothing of the status of the home till the time they visited it on the night of August 16. The experience was harrowing. The obvious question was: “If the home was not functional, why was it inaugurated at all?” Equally baffled about the state of affairs was the Chandigarh Child Welfare Committee which had no idea that the UT Administration’s Sector 25 Home would be under lock and key when it ordered that Kannu, the four-year-old abandoned child, be lodged there. Ms Madhu Singh, a committee member who passed the orders, told this correspondent, “It was natural for me to send the child to Sector 25 which was officially inaugurated some days ago. We did not have intimation that it is not yet operational. We thought it was.” With the orders of the committee in hand and the child by their side, the volunteers happily went to Sector 25 on August 16 night hoping to leave him there, but they were returned by the watchman standing guard at the gate. Hapless, the volunteers then marched to the Sector 15 Juvenile Remand Home for children. But there too the watchman made it clear: “We only take delinquents.” With nowhere to go, the team came back to Ms Singh who tried her best to arrange a night’s shelter for Kannu, but to no avail. Finally the child, already traumatised by his abandonment and the events that followed, was taken to the PGI where the Childline has its office. It was not until 12.30 pm on August 17 that Kannu finally found a home in Pingalwara – a place that always comes to the aid of those who find no shelter in the homes being run by UT Administration.
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Civic body doesn’t care two hoots about RTI Act
Zirakpur, August 18 The long wait of Mr Nagra for information under the RTI began on January 11 when he applied for it on the provision for basic amenities in Godown Area and the action taken against unauthorised construction on the national highway passing through the township. And this despite the fact that the requisite fee had been paid by him through a cheque along with the application. Mr Nagra shot off a reminder to the civic body on May 18, but to no avail. On May 23, he again applied for information regarding the notification through which the Nagar Panchayat had been appointed and notified as the competent authority. Builders and promoters are administered and governed by the provisions of the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act, 1995, and the competent authority is appointed by the Punjab Government as the controlling authority. This application also met a similar fate as no information was received by him, Mr Nagra alleged here today. Not to be disheartened, a public-spirited Mr Nagra again tried his luck on June 19. This time, he wanted to get vital information about at least 15 housing projects in the township. In this application, Mr Nagra sought such information as the order by which the said apartments/buildings had been sanctioned. Public information, including the area of land, width of the road inside the apartments and number of towers and apartments, were also requested. “I have been applying for information in public interest to keep a check on unauthorised construction in the township, which is bursting at the seams. However, the civic body seems to be undermining the importance of the RTI and the citizens’ constitutional right to information,” Mr Nagra told Chandigarh Tribune. “The information sought by me is not classified and, in fact, is vital public information, which an enlightened citizen should have access to in a democratic set-up,” Mr
Nagra, who is exploring other options, including legal remedy, to extract information from the Nagar Panchayat, added.
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Sukhna short of water, but leaks continue
Chandigarh, August 18 When the Chandigarh Tribune team visited the regulator end today, the level of the water was EI 1154, the flood level is EI 1163. This means the lake is short of nine feet water. Dr G.S. Dhillon, an ex-consultant for the renovation and remodelling of the Sukhna dam, says the gates are in bad shape, due to which it has not been possible to make optimum use of the storage between the crest level, EI 1150, and the permissible flood level, EI 1163. This 13-foot storage capacity is lost in a matter of few days due to leaking seals. Moreover, the gates have weathered over 48 years without getting any
attention. Dr Dhillon says the Administration appointed a committee in 1989, comprising retired and serving irrigation engineers and headed by the then Chief Engineer S.S. Virdi, to suggest measures. The committee suggested a number of measures, including the remodelling of gates, which would increase the efficiency of the storage of the water. Unfortunately, till today nothing has been done in this regard. “The lake needs a rectangular sluicegate and not a radial gate like the one at present. Such a design can help regulate the flow. The present one not only allows the water to overflow but if it is opened the volume of water is very heavy,”
he adds. Ornithologists and environmentalists are worried over the leakages. The reason is obvious. The lake, which is rainfed, is a hub of both resident and migratory birds. Every year thousands of birds from far away Siberia, Iraq, Iran and Central Europe use the sanctuary as a roosting and feeding ground. The lake is also home of 30-odd species of fish, including Indian major carp and exotic carp.
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New twist to CO assault case
Chandigarh, August 18 A copy of a letter received by Headquarters Western Command, Chandimandir, from South Western Command earlier this month states that disciplinary action is to be initiated against Lt Col Yudhvir Singh for giving false statements during the court of inquiry and against Major Sandeep Ahlawat for abetting use of criminal force against his superior officer in a pre-mediated manner as well as for giving false statements. Three different courts of inquiry (COI) were convened by the Army to investigate into the circumstances under which the CO sustained serious injuries, for which he had to be hospitalised. The incident had taken place at Hisar in December 2005. A COI, presided over by Col R.S. Sidhu, Deputy Commander of an armoured brigade, was convened on December 19, 2005. This was followed by a fresh COI headed by Brig N.J.S. Aulakh, Commander of the armoured brigade, on January 8, 2006. The findings of these COIs was that the injuries of the CO were due to a road accident attributable to military service. The third COI was convened on April 2, 2006, which was headed by Brig P. Vivekanandhan, commander of a mechanised air defence brigade. The findings of this court of inquiry, which concluded in July, were that the CO was assaulted by another officer. In May, Major Ahlawat wrote a six-page letter to the General Officer Commanding (GOC)1 Corps, alleging that the COI’s convening authority and members of the COI were exerting undue pressure on witnesses to influence their deposition. In a non-statutory complaint forwarded to Army Headquarters in June, Colonel Yudhvir alleged that the GOC 33 Division had called him on three separate occasions and asked him to change his statements in order to implicate the CO. On refusal, he added, he was told by the GOC in March that he had committed ‘‘professional suicide’’. He claimed that his brigade commander had also called him twice in January, asking him to change his statements and not to antagonise the GOC.
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Youths released by Maoists yet to reach home
Chandigarh, August 18 The youths were yet to reach homes more than 24 hours after they called back home to say that they would reach home in the next couple of minutes, last night. Mediapersons waited endlessly outside the homes of Rajiv Kumar (27) and Lakhbir Singh Lucky (37) in Sector 32 and Burail village, respectively, but they did not return. Ms Asha Rani, Rajiv Kumar’s wife, said, “Our happiness was short-lived. We thought he would reach home on Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. Yesterday he called up to say that their car had developed a snag and they would get late. We are worried now as they had said that they would be reaching in 15 minutes.” Mr Vijay Kumar, Rajiv’s uncle, said, “We do not know what to do now. Even their mobile phone is not responding. We have even checked up with our relatives, but to no avail. They told us in the afternoon that their car had broken down and that they would reach soon. But before we could ask them their whereabouts, the phone got disconnected.” On the other hand, the UT police said that according to information from the Champavat police station in Uttaranchal, the duo was kidnapped by Maoists from Mona Lisa restaurant in Nepal on Tuesday. The Maoists had reportedly kidnapped them in their Maruti Zen car (HR-03-E-255). They entered in Nepal on August 12. The UT police said as Maoists had kidnapped the duo from a bar, but later released them. The Nepal police handed over the victims to the Indian police, which further informed the UT police and asked them to take the victims. However, a relative of Lucky, who lives near Dehra Dun, contacted the police and took them away. The DSP (South), Mr
K.I.P. Singh, said the police had nothing to do with the case as no formal complaint had been filed with it in this connection. He said the police only felicitated and assisted the process of their release and contacted the Dehra Dun police to look into the incident.
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Preneet’s visit may end Lalru standoff today
Lalru, August 18 In fact, a behind-the scenes “compromise formula” seems to have been worked out by the ruling Congress to end the impasse, which has virtually become a political football between the Opposition Shiromani Akali
Dal (SAD) and the ruling Congress, much to the embarrassment to the latter. Great importance is being attached to the visit of Ms Preneet Kaur, Patiala MP and wife of the Punjab Chief Minister, to the township tomorrow. It is believed that Ms Preneet Kaur could announce a relief package for the villagers to “assuage” their feelings, including compensation to families whose properties were allegedly damaged by police personnel. In fact, Ms Preneet Kaur will be the first senior functionary of the ruling establishment to visit Lalru. Sources said under the “compromise formula” the case registered against the villagers is likely to be taken back by the Administration and departmental action could also be taken against guilty police personnel. A compensation package may be in the offing. A delegation of the Congress, led by a senior Congress leader and vice-chairman of the Punjab State Industrial Development
Corporation (PSIDC), Mr Deepinder Dhillon, had brought the matter to the notice of the Chief Minister and his wife. When contacted, Mr Dhillon said justice would be done to the Lalru residents. In fact, the issue could have been resolved amicably had the SAD not politicised the issue and incited the residents to organise a relay fast, Mr Dhillon added. It may be recalled that on August 10 night, the residents of Lalru and adjoining villages blocked the Chandigarh-Ambala highway in protest against the “bias” in the supply of electricity to them as compared to industrial units. The villagers allegedly damaged public property and burnt a police Gypsy. Following this, police personnel allegedly barged into the houses of residents and vandalised their houses and injured several persons. The SAD, led by the Banur MLA and its senior leader, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, while rejecting a magisterial probe, had launched a relay fast.
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Centre for human values opened
Chandigarh, August 18 The centre, set up at the headquarters of IDS Infotech Ltd, Mohali, will be the nodal point for this unique initiative, said Mr Sekhri. The function was attended by prominent industrialists and educationists, including Dr G.P. Rao, Mr Pratap Agarwal, MD, IDS Infotech, and Dr Vipin Dewan, Director, CMTR. Spandan — Foundation for Human Values in Management and Society — is an NGO engaged in spreading human values with special focus on the corporate sector. Due to increasing competition, the business environment has become ruthless and employees are under constant stress. Due to such an environment, people are unable to relate to the organisations on a long-term basis and interpersonal relationships are also weakening. Addressing mediapersons, Dr Rao highlighted the importance of human values to create a harmonious and stress-free work environment in the organisations. Mr Pratap Agarwal shared his organisation’s experiments with human values and said it had helped the organisation to retain talent and improve the sense of belongingness. Dr Dewan talked of the benefits his institution had got due to strong focus on human values. The centre will cater to the industry needs of the region and efforts shall be made to involve more organisations so as to create a more professional and stress-free work culture in organisations.
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Much ado about nothing
Chandigarh, August 18 According to the SHO of Sector 36 police station, Inspector
Ishwar Singh Mann, the incident took place at Kaptain’s Retreat, a
hotel in Sector 35, where these women have gone to attend a kitty party.
They ordered soup and soon after having it two of them complained of
nausea. A little while later their other companions also complained of
having problem and they called the hotel staff. They had an altercation
with the staff following which they called the police and a police team
from Sector 36 police station reached there. The police rushed the
women to the Sector 16 General Hospital, from where they were discharged
later. The women have been identified as Renu Chopra of Sector 22, Renu
and Ithlesh Chandra of Sector 23, Rita and Sunita of Sector 37 and one
Parmod, said the SHO. The police said the women were kept under
observation for sometime and the doctors did not give them any medicine
saying that they just got panicky and there was nothing wrong with their
health. However, the police called Health Department officials, who
collected samples of the soup served to the women. Sources in Sector 36
police station said a daily diary report (DDR) had been written in this
regard.
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CyberQ may audit government websites
Chandigarh, August 18 Talking to mediapersons here today, Dr Rajiv Nag, President of CyberQ Consulting, said that the computer emergency response Team (CERT) had made it mandatory for all government websites hosted on the NIC, to go in for security audits. "Though most of the Central Government departments have already audited their websites, Punjab and Haryana are to follow suit," he said. "Since the two state governments are in the process of computerisation of land records, where security at the application level is required, we have offered them a portfolio of tools, methodology and checklist to ensure safety of these processes," he said.
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Quality roadmap must, say IT honchos
Chandigarh, August 18 These views were expressed by IT honchos and experts who had gathered here during a seminar organised by NASSCOM and the Chandigarh IT Club here today. Over 40 persons participated in the seminar, where experts deputed by NASSCOM addressed the participants on quality control assessments. It is learnt that NASSCOM is organising these seminars on quality processes in most of the Tier II developing IT hubs across the country. The experts, including Mr Sanjiv Gupta and Dr Rajiv Nag, said only by making the companies process-driven the 100-odd IT companies here could grow further. Mr Sanjay Tyagi, Director, Software Technology Park of India, said: “Quality has to mean business value. The foreign clientele needs quality in software processes which will help in getting you more projects. Rather than increasing the number of software companies, the emphasis has to be on improving the export potential of existing units.”
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Jain is officiating MC chief
Mohali, August 18 Mr Rajinder Singh Rana was elected president of the council, but he cannot take over the charge till a notification is issued by the authorities concerned in this regard. As such, Mr Jain will officiate as president Mr Balbir Singh Sidhu, president of the Mohali district of the Congress, and other councillors reached the office of the civic body at the time when the charge of the president was handed over to Mr Jain by Mr Amarjit Singh Sekhon, Executive Officer.
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Memo to Xen
Panchkula, August 18 According to a press note, several electric gadgets had been damaged due to the fluctuation in voltage. Repeated representations to the authorities concerned had failed to improve things. The representation urged the Electricity Department to rectify the fault immediately so that residents could heave a sigh of relief.
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Society decries lack of amenities
Zirakpur, August 18 At a meeting held here, office-bearers of the society expressed anguish over the “non-cooperative” attitude of the builder in providing basic amenities as required per rules at the time of purchase of property. It was also suggested at the meeting that bylaws of the society be amended according to the needs of the residents, a press note said here today.
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Former Tribune employee dead
He is survived by two sons and three daughters. One of his sons, Mr Vinod Sharma, is working with The Tribune. His cremation here today was largely-attended.
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Missing boy found
Mohali, August 18 The police said a complaint was lodged by family members of Lakhpreet (12), a resident of Phase X, that he had gone to his school and did not return home. Efforts of the parents to trace the child proved futile. The police today found Lakhpreet from near the building of the Punjab School Education Board.
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22-year-old commits suicide
Chandigarh, August 18 Terming it a case of suicide, the police, quoting the family members of Nitish Talwar, said he had allegedly consumed some poisonous substance at his Sector 41 residence late last night. Sources in the Sector 39 police station said the reason behind his extreme step was yet to be ascertained as no suicide note was found. Even the members of his family expressed ignorance about the reasons, which forced him to end his life. The police said the incident came to light when the family noticed Nitish vomiting. When his condition deteriorated they took him to the PGI. He remained unconscious during the treatment and was not fit to record his statement. The sources said Nitish came back home in the evening as usual and went to his room to sleep. It was only at around 12 in the night that he came out of his room vomiting. His father Prem Talwar is a government employee. Nitish was working as a photographer in a studio. The SHO of the police station, Inspector Nanha Ram, said the doctors had reserved their opinion about the cause of death. The viscera had been sent for an examination. Meanwhile, the body was handed over to the family after the post-mortem.
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19-year-old girl commits suicide
Chandigarh, August 18 “The girl consumed some poisonous substance after going to the toilet. After she came out of the toilet, her condition deteriorated”, said a police official. The police is investigating the matter.
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3 hurt in accidents
Chandigarh, August 18 Mr Jatinder Singh of Sector 16 reported to the police that his relatives Paramjit Kaur and Pavit sustained injuries when Kharak Bhadur of Sector 15 banged his car into his vehicle. They were admitted to the Sector 16 General Hospital. In another incident, a scooterist, Mr Ravinder Kumar, reported to the police that his brother, who was riding pillion, suffered injuries when his scooter was hit by an Esteem car (CH-31-B-7810) on a slip road in Sector 17. He was rushed to the PGI. The police has registered cases.
Vehicles stolen
Mr Vijay Goyal of Rori Bazar, Sirsa, reported to the police that his Bajaj Pulsar motorcycle (HR-24-G-4712) was stolen from a market place in Sector 22 on August 11. In another incident, Mr Om Prakash of Qila Mani Majra filed a complaint with the police alleging that his motorcycle (CH-03-Q8142) was stolen from his residence during the intervening night of August 16 and 17. Cases have been registered.
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Woman dead in mishap
Mohali, August 18 The injured were taken to the PGI, Chandigarh, where the sister-in-law of Mr Inderjit Singh succumbed to her injuries. The police has arrested Manpreet Singh, driver of the car, and registered a case under Sections 279, 304 A, 337 and 338 of the IPC in this regard. |
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Chandigarh, August 18