Chandigarh, November 22
The teacher accused of the alleged molestation of Class XI girl student of GMSSS-16 here reportedly tried to commit suicide by consuming some insecticide at his Dadu Majra Colony residence this afternoon.

Vinod Kumar was admitted to the Emergency Ward of the PGI, Chandigarh, in the evening.

Mr Pawan Kumar, Vinod’s brother, said that he came to know about the incident at around 4.40 p.m.

Police sources said that Vinod was not in a condition to record his statement, but a case against him for attempting suicide would be registered.

The sources further said that Mr Vinod Kumar had told his family members and friends that he was feeling mentally pressurised by the allegations of sexually harassing one of his students. He had been pleading not guilty ever since the matter came to light almost 10 days ago.

Taking cognisance of the case, a committee headed by Ms Kamla Bains submitted the investigation report to the DPI (S), Mr Ashwini Sharma. It was being understood that the report has some ‘vital evidence’, enough to fix the accused teacher. Under the preliminary disciplinary action, the department shifted the teacher to the DEO office.

Vinod, however, did not submit his reply to the 48-hour showcause notice. The teacher had to submit his reply or appear personally before the committee at 2.30 p.m. today.

Ms Kamla Bains said, “ Yes, I did not find him in the office in the afternoon. On being asked, I was told that he has left a message before going on leave, which was never sanctioned.”

Although the DPI(S), Mr Ashwani Kumar could not be contacted once the news of Vinod’s attempted suicide came to light this evening, in the morning he had said, “After going through all the aspects, the final action would be taken by the week-end.”

Chandigarh, November 22
The rickshaw puller, who took Lairenmayum Albestron Singh, the Manipuri student, who was found dead on the roadside in Sector 15 on Monday, on his last ride, may provide the police with vital clues regarding his death.

The rickshaw puller had dropped Albestron and had produced his wallet for claiming money from Sanjay on November 20. The rickshaw puller told Sanjay’s sister, who opened the door, that Albestron had given him his wallet saying that he had no money and told him to get the money from Sanjay Singh. The police was making efforts to trace the rickshaw puller in order to make the things clear.

Sources in the police said in an attempt to dispel the mystery shrouding the death of Albestron, the investigating officials were reconstructing the sequence of events by examining eight acquaintances of the deceased. No foul play has emerged during the investigations so far, they added.

The SHO of the Sector 11 police station said the police had recorded the statements of the persons known to Albestron, whom he visited after being expelled from school on November 17.

The SHO added that Albestron had no money with him and he was borrowing it from his acquaintances. Moreover, it was also found during the cross examination of his acquaintances that the victim was addicted to drugs and his behaviour was found to be abnormal. Due to his addiction, they also avoided giving him money and he was denied shelter because of his “wayward” behaviour.

The police said after being expelled from the school on November 17, Albestron went along with Sanjay Singh to his residence at Sector 37. Albestron stayed with them till the evening before he went to his Sector 15 guardian.

As his guardian Mallemnganba was not there, he stayed with other boys from Manipur — Rogger, Sidartha and Pritam.

Next day, he came back to Sanjay’s place and stayed there for a night. On November 18, he went to Shanta Singh in Sector 37 and demanded Rs 3000 from him.

New Delhi, November 22
Promoting medical tourism in Chandigarh is one of the highlights of the UT pavilion at ongoing India International Trade Fair (IITF-2006) at Pragati Maidan here. The administration has listed at least 12 hospitals and clinics whose facilities can be availed as a part of medical tourism.

The administration has listed 20 nursing homes, 24 dispensaries, three blood and eye banks, three homeopathic clinics and centres of acupressure and yoga. The list of hospitals includes the PGI, Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, Apollo Clinic, Bedi Nursing Home, Sector 33, Dr Batra’s Clinic, Sector 8, Grewal Eye Institute, Jindal IVF and Sant Memorial Hospital, Mukat Hospital and Dr Vivek Mohan’s clinic.

The list of private nursing homes includes: Abhilasha Hospital and Infertility Care Centre, AG Nursing Home, Arora Hospital, Bhargava Nursing Home, Indu Nursing Home, Chetanya Nursing Home, Mamta Health Clinic, Pandhi ENT Centre, and Sekhon Nursing Homer, besides others.

All hospitals can be accessed at chandigarhtourism.gov.in

Official sources said that at an Indian medical tourism exposition abroad, 25 per cent of the visitors came seeking information on medical treatment in India. “Many of native Americans, British, Canadians and other nationals have started visiting Chandigarh for surgeries with a greater confidence at much lower a rate”, the official said.

The areas of specialisation have been spelt out as cardiology, cardio thoraic surgery, joint replacements, spinal surgery, neurology, neuro-surgery, endocrinology, dermatology, psychiatry, pediatric surgery and dentistry, besides several others.

“The idea is to review the response after some time and introduce changes to make the system more effective”, the official added.

The theme of Chandigarh Pavilion is “Small and medium enterprises and tourism”. Seventeen stalls have been installed this year, which include 13 for display only.

Last year, 11 stalls were installed. The covered area has also been increased to 350 square metre from 300 metre. The Tourism Department stall is getting enormous queries regarding Chandigarh’s recent inclusion in UNESCO tentative list of modern heritage sites.

Various private small and medium enterprises of the city have also put their stalls, which are also getting quite good response. Entrepreneurs has also shown interest in the Rajiv Gandhi Information Technology Park.

Chandigarh, November 22
Meandering its way through hazards, the stretch between Sukhna Lake and Chandigarh Club continues to lead to disaster. In the absence of regular challaning by the men-in-white, especially in the evenings, accidents on the road due to overspeeding and high-beam driving are not uncommon.

Only on Tuesday evening, a Honda zipping on the fast track of exhilaration at breakneck speed rammed into a rickshaw before colliding with a roundabout between the Rock Garden and the Civil Secretariat. The vehicle’s speed can still be gauged from the 50-meter-long skid marks on the road.

Eye-witnesses say the smell of burning rubber due to friction created by the tyres rubbing against the road continued to hang for over 20 minutes. This is not all. Smoke billowing out of the engine created panic among the passersby as they apprehended the blowing up of the vehicle. Eyewitnesses add that the rickshaw-puller escaped injuries just because he managed to jump to safety in the nick of time.

The sources in the police headquarters admit the mishap is not an isolated one. Quoting rough figures, they assert that so far this year 437 accidents have been reported to the police as against 555 last year. Out of the total, a substantial number of mishaps occurred on the killer stretch between Chandigarh Club and Sukhna Lake.

A senior police officer says they are aware of the gravity of the situation and are chalking out plans to solve the problem. “So far the police have carried out surprise checks and special challaning drives on the road,” he asserts.

Raj Rani, a student of Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26, will display her skills to pierce the defence line of Manipur and Amritsar teams in two matches of the All-India Inter-University Hockey (Women) Tournament at Imphal (Manipur) on Thursday.

An ace forward, Raj Rani is an integral part of the hockey team of the Sports Authority of India, Sector 18. She is representing Panjab University in the ongoing tournament.

Ranna Gill’s newest collection crafts traditional Ikat into contemporary designs. In the city to showcase her work at the Blenders Pride Fashion Tour 2006, this designer, having completed an associate degree from NIFT, New Delhi, in 1991, augmented it with a bachelor’s degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York.

Ranna’s formative years as an intern were well spent under the tutelage of some of the leading lights of the fashion industry, both in India and abroad. She started with Rohit Khosla, before going on to do a stint with Donna Karan.

Her learning curve emerged with her experience at the respected and exacting fashion house of ‘Polo’ Ralph Lauren — the women’s wear division at Madison, New York. But Ranna was keen to establish herself in India and Fall 1996 saw her launch her own label under her name.

This is your second visit to Chandigarh. What brings you here this time?

My visit this time is to focus on forging new partnerships with Indian institutes as well as launching new admissions for students seeking to enrol for session 2007 in Normandy Business School, France.

What are the courses that foreign students can enrol for?

Foreign students can get themselves enrolled for double awards programmes taught in English while residing in France and acquire two degrees from two different countries i.e MA and MSc in Tourism Management from France and UK, MA in Event Management from France and UK, MCom and MSc Supply Chain and Logistics Management from France and Australia and BA in European Business from France and UK. Under all programmes students are offered free optional courses in French language as well. — Smriti Sharma

Chandigarh, November 22
A group of drivers working for Mega Cab Service, a radio taxi provider, today alleged that they were being harassed in the name of working overtime and not being given leaves as per the labour laws.

Irritated over the alleged behaviour of the local managers of the service provider, the drivers parked their taxis near the district courts here to lodge their protest.

In a written complaint, the drivers alleged that they had not been given job letters and were not being given due holidays. Undue deductions from the salary, and being forced to work overtime are some of the allegations made by the drivers.

The Assistant Labour Commissioner, Mrs Anuradha Lamba, said she had not received any complaint so far. " I will look into the matter if any complaint was made to me", she added.

The local manager of the Mega Cab, Mr Maninder Singh, claimed that the allegations were baseless. "Some of the drivers are not able to perform. To encourage the performance, our company offers incentives to the performers", he said.

He further claimed that since another new entrant was “poaching” on its drivers, such baseless allegations were surfacing. He said all norms like minimum wages, provident Fund and leaves were being given.

Chandigarh, November 22
UT Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Shanti Kumar Jain has instructed police officers not to indulge in third degree torture while solving crimes and advised them to adopt more scientific methods to solve crimes.

The IGP issued the instructions along with a slew of measures to improve the functioning of the police during a meeting on crime on Saturday.

In a press note issued by the Chandigarh police, it was stated that the IGP called upon his officers to display exemplary conduct while discharging duties so that public should look up to them for help.

He also instructed the officers to make sure that all cops on duty wore proper uniform along with headgear.

He further warned that consumption of alcohol while on duty would not be tolerated and stringent action would be initiated against those found guilty.

Asking his men to desist from indulging in third degree methods to extract evidence, he emphasised on the collection of forensic evidence from the scene of crime. While directing senior police officers to spend sufficient time at the spot, he asked them to ensure proper collection of evidence before leaving the spot.

He said tests like polygraphy and brain mapping should be put to use to detect the crime.

Among other things, he asked his force to gear up for the forthcoming municipal corporation elections by conducting special drives and keeping an eye on the activities of bad characters to ensure peaceful elections. He further instructed the men-in-khaki to not to interfere in civil matters and to act as per the law.

At the same time, he asked them to adopt a courteous attitude while dealing with weaker sections of society. TNS

Chandigarh, November 22
The Chandigarh BJP has made a complaint to Mr S.P. Marwaha, State Election Commissioner, UT, Chandigarh, against the Congress. This is the first complaint made after the code of conduct has been implemented in the city for the upcoming municipal corporation elections.

In a letter to the Election Commissioner, the BJP has requested Mr. Marwaha to intervene personally in the matter. They have asked him to prevent the Administration from going ahead in the implementation of the mega projects announced.

The BJP activists have alleged that Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, Union Minister of State for Finance, was luring the poor people living in colonies and the minority communities by making announcements for setting up mega projects through General SF Rodrigues (retd.) Administrator, UT Chandigarh.

They stated that these announcements were just an election stunt for securing votes The BJP spokesperson, Mr Kehar Singh Koundel, stated that these announcements made by the UT Administrator were an infringement of the election code of conduct enforced in Chandigarh. According to the code of conduct, neither the MCC nor the UT Administration can make any new announcements in respect of the projects, which could effect the voters. TNS

Chandigarh, November 22
Depressed by not being able to clear her matriculation examination, an 18-year-old girl ended her life by consuming some poisonous substance at her Bapu Dham Colony residence here this afternoon. Though no suicide note was recovered, the police, while quoting the family of the girl, ruled out the possibility of any foul play behind the death.

Sources in the Sector 26 police station said Radha consumed some acid at around 12 noon, when her parents, working as helpers in the UT Housing 
Board Department, were not at home.

The incident came to light when Radha’s sister-in-law saw her lying listless on bed. When Radha did not move on being stirred, she raised an alarm.

Radha was rushed to the Sector 16 General Hospital, where she was declared brought dead. Meanwhile, the police has initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Chandigarh, November 22
The Indian Army’s oldest armoured regiment, 1 Horse, will be hosting a royal visitor this month. The King of Jordan, Abdullaha II bin Al Hussein, is scheduled to visit the regiment at its location in the western sector on November 30.

The King is the Honorary Colonel of the British Army’s Light Dragoons, a cavalry outfit which is affiliated with 1 Horse. Regimental sources say it is in this capacity that he is 
visiting the regiment. He is no ordinary royal, but a trained special forces officer.

He will be briefed on the regiment’s history and traditions by the commanding officer. He will also be taken to the Quarter Guard and shown around the unit followed by lunch in the Officers’ Mess. An advance party is already at the unit’s location to co-ordinate the visit. He will be flown to the regiment from Delhi and will return the same day.

The regiment, also known as the Skinner’s Horse, was raised in 1803, by Col James Skinner. It celebrated its bicentenary in 2003 which was attended, besides old officers from Britain, by Ms Margaret Skinner, great grand-daughter-in-law of Colonel Skinner, born in 1778 at Kolkata to a Scot father and a Rajput 
mother.

Since its raising, the Skinners Horse has seen action in Afghanistan, France, Baluchistan, North-West Frontier Province, Italy and Abyssinia. During the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars, it was deployed in Punjab where it played an instrumental role and won the Battle Honour Harar Kalan.

Its affiliated regiment, the Light Dragoons traces its origins to the middle of the 18th century when it was raised for reconnaissance and patrolling. The Dragoons have seen action all over the world, which included a stint in India in the middle of the 19th century. The regiment was mechanised at the beginning of World War - II.

King Abdullah, who ascended the throne in 1999, is a qualified frogman, attack helicopter pilot and free-fall paratrooper. He trained at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, from where he was commissioned in 1981. He attended the Armoured Officers Advance Course at Fort Knox, USA, and the Royal Staff College, Camberley, UK.

Besides serving as the commander of the Jordanian Special Forces, he has attended several advanced study and research programmes and has represented Jordan in diplomatic and economic forums.

Chandigarh, November 22
From the time of their docking in a Sector 17 hotel to their sailing into the lobby for interacting with the media, the two Norwegian honchos with a shipping giant hardly take five minutes, unlike most Indian tycoons who keep you marooned on the island of uncertainty for hours.

And as they talk about the availability of good qualified youngsters in this part of the region, anchoring a preparation centre for training seafarers here and the need for being with the families of so many North Indians and others working for them, you realise it’s this efficiency that helps in making seafaring on the rough waters smooth for the sailors.

In Chandigarh for attending “Tesma-Selandia Officer’s Conference”, the Vice-Chairman of Norway-based organisation “Camillo Eitzen”, Ms Nina Eitzen, and CEO of Eitzen Maritime Services Annette Malm Justad say they are here not just for encouraging young talent to navigate into the lucrative shipping business, but also to spend time with the seafarers and their families.

“Over 70 per cent of the seafarers working with us from India are from this part of the region and they are doing extremely well,” says Ms Justad. “The business needs good people to take care of the hard assets, including the vessels and the youngsters here have the potential. They are hard working and are qualified to handle the job”.

Agreeing with her, Ms Eitzen says: “We already have training offices in Mumbai and Delhi, but the company plans to open another centre in Chandigarh for training seafarers joining us from this part of the region”.

In full sail, she says: “The shipping business is cruising on the high tide in India also for the past three or four years. Basically, the growth of the Indian and the Chinese economy is encouraging the expansion of the trade. As such, the industry will need more and more people.”

Flashing a broad smile, she adds: “As of now, we are here to meet the seafarers while they are at home with their families. That is why we chose Chandigarh for the conference. The intention is to tell their families that we not only share a warm relationship with our people, but also care for them and that they are in safe hands while at sea”.

Ms Justad agrees that missing sailors have given rise to a flood of apprehensions in the minds of the people, but insists there is nothing to worry as long 
as you are joining a 
good company.

“There are good players in the industry since long, and several small players who tend to disappear after a short duration. Unlike us, some of the small organisations do not lay emphasis on the safety aspect. As such it is imperative to join a company that enjoys a good reputation,” she cautions before signing of. 

Chandigarh, November 22
In the haste to proceed against three students accused of assaulting shopkeepers in Sector 15, the Chandigarh police may have booked them for offences they never committed.

Two days after the case of attempt to murder and other offences was registered by the police, sources in the police headquarters have now said that the students may have been at the receiving end.

The police today registered a case of rioting and causing hurt against the mob for assaulting youngsters on the basis of medical reports and a statement recorded by Harpreet Singh, one of the youngsters.

The SHO of the Sector 11 police station, inspector Puran Chand said that efforts were on to identify the accused involved in assaulting the youngsters.

The sources said that preliminary investigation into the matter has revealed that injuries sustained by the shopkeepers were not “grievous in nature”. As such, a case of attempt to murder was not made out against the accused.

Rather, the injuries sustained by the students were “much more serious”. All this has now led the police to believe that the attack on the shopkeepers was not premeditated and that swords, along with rods, were never pulled out.

Sources in the police said that during interrogation one of the accused, Harpreet Singh, a student of DAV College, said that his friend Amandeep, a student of ETT in Jammu, went to a shop to buy something while he was waiting outside along with his friend Kamaljit.

They were surprised to notice that a fight broke out in the shop and saw Amandeep being attacked with a baton. They rushed into the shop to intervene with the intention to cool down the situation. But instead of listening to them, soon other shopkeepers reached there and began beating them up.

Harpreet received several stitches on his head and eye. Amandeep got his arm fractured during the melee and he was today operated upon in the Sector 32 Government Medical College and Hospital. Kamaljit also suffered injuries on his head and parts of his body.

Amandeep is still in hospital while Harpreet and Kamaljit have been discharged after treatment. A local court today sent Kamaljit and Harpreet to judicial remand.

A police officer on the condition of anonymity said a constable who was on duty at a beat box in the Sector 15 market also corroborated with statement of Harpreet.

The constable told the investigating officials that when he tried to intervene the shopkeeper caught hold of him and did not allow him to intervene. He further alleged that some of the shopkeepers even tried to assault him, when he tried to snatch a baton from one of the shopkeeper beating the boys.

Another police officer said that had the youngsters assaulted the shopkeepers in a planned manner as it was alleged, the other party must have suffered some serious injuries, which were amiss in this case, raising doubts over the allegations levelled by the traders.

Chandigarh, November 22
An 18-year-old cyclist, Shukat of Colony Number 4, was allegedly crushed to death by a rashly driven Army truck in the Industrial Area, here this evening. The truck driver sped away from the spot after the mishap.

According to the police, the accident took place at around 7.30 pm when the victim was run over by an unidentified Army truck. The accident took place on a slip road near the railway bridge. The victim was admitted to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead. A case has been registered.

Panchkula, November 22
The police today booked nine persons for cheating and committing fraud in connection with the sale of property of an NRI, here today.

On the complaint of NRI Ramesh Chander, the police has booked property dealer Alvin John, Sector 15 resident Manoj Kumar, advocate Sanjeev Kumar, Nada Sahib resident Satnam, Advocate Ajay Sangroha, Rohtak resident Jeewan kumar, Notary (public) Sanjeev Gupta and stamp vendor Bani Singh Yadav and a district clerk for their alleged involvement in the case.

In his complaint to the police, Mr Ramesh Chander said that before leaving for Canada where he is permanently settled, he had decided to give his 10-marla three-storey house in Sector 21 on rent for which he had placed an advertisement in the newspaper.

Alvin John, a property dealer, had contacted him and had even visited him with a couple of clients. “We finalised the deal with Bangalore-based Interface which wanted to run a guest house from the premises. Company manager Manoj Kumar came to me and the deal was finalised at Rs 6000 per month after which they demanded a rent deed for the guest house,” he said.

The NRI was told that Personnel Manager Jeewan would stay at the guest house. “They even got my signature on the rent deed and my picture clicked at the tehsil office. They deposited rent for the first eight months and then asked for the first floor of the house which we wanted to rent out,” he explained.

Two months back, the NRI was asked if he wanted to sell his property since it had become disputed. Alarmed, he wrote a letter to the Haryana Urban Development Authority saying that forged papers of his property were being circulated and its ownership should not be changed. HUDA replied that the property ownership had been changed in consonance with his general power of attorney (GPA).

It was then that Mr Ramesh Chander realised that he had been defrauded of his property and came back to India to pursue the case and registered a case with the police.

“In fact, while they prepared the rent deed, they also prepared a GPA and submitted it to the office concerned. Now, the police has booked everybody involved in the plan under Sections 419, 420, 465, 466, 467, 468, 471, 120 B of the IPC,” the NRI stated.