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Architect among six killed in city, P’kula
Deadly Day Karamjit Singh (42), a Punjab police constable, was found dead under mysterious circumstances near the Sector 42 petrol station in Chandigarh this morning. Though blood was oozing from his nose, the police has ruled out foul play behind his death. He was deployed at the Sadar police station in Sangrur and had come to the city to hand over production warrants of a Burail jail inmate. The police recovered an empty quarter of liquor from near the body. His wallet was missing and there were no visible injury marks on the body.
Chandigarh, September 18 Meanwhile, two persons lost their lives and three others were seriously injured on the NH-73 passing through Panchkula. In yet another incident, a 45-year-old labourer, Rudra Singh, died after accidentally falling from a rooftop in his sleep at Raipur Rani last night. A 21-year-old youth died after being run over by a school bus in Sector 21, Chandigarh, this afternoon. Ram Tej of Sector 21 was going on a bicycle when a bus of St Kabir School knocked him down. He died on the spot. The police has arrested the driver, Surjit Singh. In a hit-and-run accident, a Nepalese was found dead at the Sector 9 and 17 lights last night. The architect, Jagtar Singh of Faridkot, was going to Sector 22 along with his friends Pardeep Kumar and Gurbaj Singh when a Tata Sumo (CH-02-T-1801) rammed into their motorcycle at the Aroma lights around midnight. Jagtar Singh had bought the motorcycle about 20 days ago. The impact was such that the victims were thrown about 10 feet into the air before falling on the road. Surjit Singh, one of his friends, who was coming on another motorcycle, had a narrow escape. Narrating the incident at the Sector 16 Government Multi Speciality Hospital, he said: “I rushed to the spot and found them lying unconscious and the driver of the Sumo had fled. I stopped a vehicle and took Jagtar and Pardeep to the GMSH, from where they were referred to the PGI. Jagtar was declared brought dead while Pardeep and Gurbaj sustained serious head injuries and were operated upon.” Jagtar had come to the city for a job while Gurbaj had come from Australia for his marriage. In Panchkula, Yadavinder, a resident of Manakya village near Ramgarh, was killed in a collision between his car and a Canter this afternoon. According to the police, Yadavinder and his friends Sandip and Jaswant were returning to the village when a Canter driven by Ram Kumar collided with their car. Sandip, Jaswant and Ram Kumar, who were seriously injured, have been admitted to the PGI. Subreen Chaudhary of Rajasthan was run over by an unidentified vehicle last night. He had come to meet his nephew living in Golpura village, near Raipur Rani. A study by the accident cell of the traffic police states that 108 persons have lost their lives in road accidents so far this year. Eight two-wheeler riders who died were not wearing helmets.
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Husband, in-laws tried to kill me: Shubhwant
Chandigarh, September 18 Shubhwant Kaur (35) alleged that her husband Vikramjit Singh, father-in-law Prithi Pal Singh, mother-in-law Harbhajan Kaur, sister-in-law Pooja and her husband Rajnish had conspired to eliminate her as she was not conceding their demand to sign the divorce papers. Shubhwant Kaur, who is recovering in the ICU ward, told the police: “On September 13, Pooja, along with her husband, came to my house at night and threatened to eliminate me if I did not sign the divorce papers. My in-laws were also present when the incident happened. “My husband came the next morning. He and his brother-in-law (Pooja’s husband) consumed liquor that day with another person. Vikramjit insisted that I send our children to my friend’s house, saying that their studies were being disturbed. In the evening, I was in my room when I overheard Pooja telling her husband that ‘everything is ready’. I came out of the room, but Vikramjit dragged me back in the room and forced me to sign the papers. When I resisted, he said it would not be needed now. He was carrying a bottle containing kerosene and tried to pour it on me. I snatched the bottle and threw it in the bathroom. He then set me on fire. I could not get out of the house as they had locked it. Just then, my friend came there and took me to hospital.” Vikramjit had an extramarital affair and wanted to get rid of me, she added. The police has registered a case under Section 307, IPC, against Vikramjit, who has been remanded in judicial custody. When this correspondent visited his house, it was found locked. “The family, along with the children, has gone somewhere since yesterday,” a neighbour said.
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Another ‘sport’ for city schools — table soccer!
The game is an indoor replica of football and is played on a table with figures mounted on rotating bars. The ball is served through a hole at the side of the table, or simply placed at the feet of a figure in the middle of the table and players twist the bars to kick the ball into the opponent's goal. Though the game sounds childish, it has gained popularity abroad and efforts are on to get it recognised as an Olympic sport. On its part, the administration has will introduce it in schools, much to the surprise of sports lovers and senior UT officials. The move has come under scanner even as games like kickboxing and cycle polo are still under scrutiny for being introduced in schools. Table soccer has still to be recognised by the Olympics Association of India and the School Games Federation of India. “The move has surprised me. The game is a club recreation and our department is set to introduce it in schools. Initially, they might not sponsor it. One of the schools is planning to buy a table from its own fund. If we go by sports norms, a sports should be sponsored only if national bodies recognise it, but this is not even recognised by the School Games Federation of India. The other proposals were of well recognised games.”an official said on the condition of anonymity. B.M. Walia, chairman of the Cycle Polo Federation of India, said: “We had also applied for introducing cycle polo in schools, but even though it is recognised by the requisite agencies, it is still under consideration. Moreover, the idea of ignoring a more physically active game for a recreational option is surprising.” P.S. Brar, UT sports organiser, said: “There are no fixed directions to choose a game. We aim at variety and their proposal was pending since a along time. We have not said no to anybody. Other proposals are still under consideration.” He said it had been introduced on a trial basis and would be continued on the basis of its popularity. “Video games are also popular. Does it mean I should overlook if my students play those during sports period?” a sports teacher asked.
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Ravinder wants to surrender, but on his terms
Chandigarh, September 18 In an application before UT Special Court of Jagdeep Jain, Ravinder Singh asserted changed circumstances were compelling him to give in. He has also demanded an identification parade. The application said: “In the present case, the applicant is based at New Delhi where the headquarters of the CBI are also located and even the investigation of the present case is being undertaken by the CBI unit of Delhi.” “The question of seeking police remand by the CBI will certainly depend upon identification of the applicant from the concerned witnesses. The holding of identification parade will fortify the presumption of innocence of the accused, which is already in his favour, in case the identification parade results in non-identification of the applicant.” The application will come up for arguments tomorrow. Earlier, Justice A.N. Jindal of the high court observed co-accused Sanjeev Bansal had thrice changed his statement before the investigating agencies. Justice Jindal ruled: “There is definite admission by Sanjeev Bansal that he had sent the money, but he has changed his statement thrice, which indicates his unfairness. Amongst others, one thing has come to the surface from his divergent statements that money was handed over by petitioner Ravinder Singh for onwards transmission to either of the three persons named, but his statement raises hundreds of questions to be answered by the petitioner.” Dissatisfied with Ravinder Singh’s explanation on property deal, Justice Jindal asserted: It may further be observed that the petitioner’s plea that the money was meant for the purchase of land in Himachal Pradesh stands contradicted from the sale transaction, wherein his address was not shown to be that of Delhi, where he is said to be residing”. Justice Jindal added: The price of the land, the intention and the motive for sending the amount at the residence of an honourable Judge are still to be inquired into. Referring to his previous order against the use of third degree methods while interrogating Ravinder Singh, Justice Jindal observed: Had the petitioner been fair in his conduct, he would have come out of his hideout when his human rights were protected vide order dated September 5. This conduct on his part makes serious revelation that he, being not above board in his conduct, is suppressing material facts, not cooperating and fleeing from justice”. Before parting with the orders, Justice Jindal stated: Keeping in view the fact that the petitioner has thrown dust over the judicial solidarity, it could be expected from him to surrender before the investigating agency and unfold the truth…. I am of the considered view that the petitioner does not deserve the concession of pre-arrest bail and his petition is accordingly dismissed.
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Rodrigues, Bansal tussle set to reach 10, Janpath
Chandigarh, September 18 In an apparent bid to take political mileage out of the alleged "anti-people" policies of the Chandigarh Administration in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (CTCC) today decided to approach the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the "failure" of the administration in redressing the grievances of the public. At a meeting of the Territorial Congress Committee, irate members wanted that a team comprising mayor of the municipal corporation Pardeep Chhabra, CTCC chief BB Bahl and Bansal should meet Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh for taking up people's issues with them to avoid a backlash in the poll. Though Bahl denied the decision to approach the party high command, senior party leaders attending the meeting confirmed the development to Chandigarh Tribune. Among the issues taken up at the meeting were low land compensation to farmers, high price of the CHB flats, lopsided policies of the administration and "inaccessibility" of the top UT functionaries to public in general and Congress leaders in particular. "The administration's lop-sided policies were giving a bad name to the Congress as Chandigarh was directly governed by the Central Government, a senior leader asserted. Rodrigues and Bansal do not see eye to eye on several issues of governance, including mega projects. In fact, Bansal and his protege Chhabra have vent their ire publicly against the top UT functionaries several times in the past. The latest instance has been the Congress boycott of the inauguration of the garbage processing plant by Rodrigues in Dadu Majra.
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Death of Bull
Mohali, September 18 The dharna started soon after they reached the office at 9 am. Even the SDOs and JEs participated in the protest which disrupted work till 2 pm. The protesters raised slogans against the police and also residents of Lambian village, who had allegedly beaten up the employees on duty. The protesters demanded that the police should withdraw the case filed against the employees of the civic body. After lifting the dharna, the employees, along with council president Rajinder Singh Rana, went to the office of the deputy commissioner to hand over a memorandum. Some employees of the civic body were booked by the police yesterday under Section 429 of the IPC on a complaint made by residents of Lambian village, who alleged that a stray bull was tortured by the employees catching stray animals. The animal died later. A 21-member joint action committee was formed to chalk out the future plan of action in case the demands of the council employees were not conceded to. The protesters also demanded action against the Shiv Sena activists, who had allegedly abused the council employees yesterday. They had also tried to block vehicles moving out of the council office in Sector 68. Employees said they would be able to work fearlessly only if the required action was taken in this regard. The employees demanded that they should be given some police force on a permanent basis because they had to face the wrath of the public while removing encroachments and catching stray animals.
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Sector 7 trader under IT scanner
Chandigarh, September 18 The assessment of alleged tax evasion of Hot Million continued till the filing of the report. Income tax officials today swooped down on a manufacturer of sunmica board and sheet- Golden Laminate at Sector 7, Chandigarh, and their factory at Industrial Area, phase I, Panchkula, under the supervision of G.S. Randhawa, commissioner, Income Tax-I, Chandigarh. While the officials refused to divulge details of the outcome of the survey at both places, sources in the IT department revealed that the tax evasion had been detected after examining the records of Golden Laminate. IT officials were tightlipped about the outcome of the Hot Million raids. Reliable sources revealed that several incriminating documents containing details about unaccounted income and other taxes had been found. “Unaccounted income to the tune of crores of rupees have been detected by several teams of the department,” said a highly placed IT source. The scrutiny process may take another day or so, said the officials.
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Power cut leaves GMCH-16 patients high and dry
Chandigarh, September 18 There was no electricity for nearly four hours, from 9AM to 1PM. Although there were generators to supply power to some blocks in the hospital, sources say, the diagnostic wing were badly affected as there were no alternate arrangements of power. Following the power cut patients and their attendants had to go to private labs for diagnostic services. “We have to pay extra money for lab test as doctor will start treatment only after getting the report,” said one of the patients from Barwala. The hospital authorities admitted the problems faced by the patients and their attendants on this account. Dr S.K. Bhandari, joint medical superintendent, GMSH-16, said rain water had entered the basement of the hospital. Taking precautions, the hospital authority decided to cut the power supply.
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Manhandling of JE
Mohali, September 18 A dharna was organised in which the Junior Engineers Council and the PSEB Employees Federation (AITUC) also participated. A joint action coordination committee was formed to chalk out plans to intensify the protest. Vijay Kumar, a TSU office-bearer, said on September 8 a JE of the area concerned was assigned the task of severing power connections of consumers who had not cleared their dues. However, when the JE went to the house in Phase XI to disconnect power connection, he was allegedly manhandled by the occupant of the house. A complaint was made to the police in this regard but the police failed to make any arrest. Members of the action committee have demanded the arrest of the resident for allegedly manhandling an employee on duty. They also sought legal action against him. Lakha Singh of the TSU said the protest would go on till September 20 and if the authorities concerned failed to take any action, a protest would be held outside the police station in Phase XI.
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Dengue cases on the rise
Mohali, September 18 Of the 30 patients reported so far, 25 are from Phases III A , III B1 and III B 2. Officials of the health department held a meeting with the deputy commissioner here today to apprise him of the situation. He was informed about the preventive measures being taken by employees of the health department. The deputy commissioner directed the executive officer of the civic body to carry out fumigation on a regular basis. District health officer Dr S.P. Surila said there was a possibility that cases of dengue fever could rise still further and the trend could go on till mid-October.
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Congress keen on bringing in new faces
Mohali, September 18 He added that a pilot project for enrolment was already going on in Punjab. He further said general secretary of the AICC Rahul Gandhi would visit almost all districts of Punjab and address a youth rally at Bathinda on September 23. A scheduled caste convention and girls’ convention would be organised at Jalandhar and Gurdaspur, respectively. Starting from Mohali, the AICC general secretary would visit districts like Ropar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Patiala, Sangrur, Mansa, Bhatinda, Muktsar, Faridkot, Ferozepore, Tarn Taran, Amritsar and Gurdaspur, said Tanwar. A sports programme will be organised at Mohali on September 22. The IYC chief said after the completion of the membership drive, the Foundation for Advance Management of Election (FAME), headed by former chief election commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh, would audit the process to ensure that youths with good track record only joined the organisation. The IYC would insert enrolment advertisement in newspapers so that all sections of society get an equal opportunity to participate in clean politics.
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Ban soon on illegal guest houses
Chandigarh, September 18 According to the spokesperson of the MC, about 40 plans pertaining to guest houses in various villages have been received in the planning office. Joint commissioner TPS Phoolka convened a meeting of officers and directed that the committee constituted would visit each site and verify the particulars regarding width of roads, exist and entrance of guest houses.
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13 cops reinstated
Chandigarh, September 18 According to sources in the police, the IGP reinstated inspector Jagir Singh, SI Narinder Singh, SI Manjit Singh, head constable Joginder Singh, Ranbir Singh, Dalbir Singh and Jagdish Singh, constable Mangat Singh, Varinder Singh Tajinder Singh, Najar Singh, Manohar Singh, Kuldeep Singh and Jasbir Singh this evening. Jagir Singh was placed under suspension, along with four other policemen, after Inderjit Singh of Colony Number 4, an accused, hanged himself to death at the Industrial Area police station this year. The deceased’s family laid a siege to the police station alleging that the police tortured Inderjit Singh to death.
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Hafed goes online
Panchkula, September 18 Haryana chief secretary Dharam Vir inaugurated the roll out of Hafed’s Enterprise Warehousing Management System at its corporate office here today. With this, procurement data of over 130 grain markets and around 6,000 commission agents (arhtiyas) had been generated and made online. Hafed has become the first organisation in its field to provide online services to the level of arhtiyas. Managing director Sudhir Rajpal said accounts of the corporate office and other 39 independent accounting centres of Hafed had been computerised and integrated. Accordingly, it had become feasible to access accounts of any of Hafed’s offices across the state from the head office. In addition, the computerisation would help monitor storage operations. Online data collection and real-time reporting would lead to enhanced levels of transparency and help control the scope of pilferage and wastage in the process, he said.
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Sec 2 in bad state The Sector 2 of Chandigarh cries for maintenance of park. Grass grown on roadside and stray dogs create problems for the residents. With all this, how can the sector be called a VIP sector? To give justice to the title of the sector, there must be proper care. People always make way for motorcycles and bicycles through the two entrances meant for pedestrians. This should be stopped. Opinder Kaur Sekhon Readers are invited to write to us. Send your mail, in not more than 200 words, at news@tribuneindia.com or, write in, at: Letters, Chandigarh Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh – 160 030
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438 school buses challaned in nine months
Chandigarh, September 18 With around 438 school buses already challaned in last nine months, the situation seems to get grave with every single day. A visit to various city schools by TNS was enough to bring out the reality. While most of the drivers were without proper uniforms or nameplates, most of the buses did not even have their route details. Many of them were found overloaded and openly flouting laws and the most worried lot were, obviously, parents. “The bus drivers are very rash. Most of the times, there is no uniform and they over-speed with open doors. My child fell off the bus once, and when I complained, school authorities blamed him of mischief,” said Rani Sharma, a resident of Sector 20. “They overload buses like any thing. When I pay so much fees, then is it not my right to have assurance of comfort and security? Many a times, even the police overlooks the situation,” added another parent. DSP traffic, UT, J. S. Cheema said: “The figures are truly whooping. We try our best, but the onus is on schools. It is their duty to check drivers’ records and ensure that buses are in accordance to High Court directives. They cannot just employ a contractor and go off to sleep.” However, school authorities were in no mood to have the ball in their court. “We always try our best to ensure that drivers follow safety norms, but cannot check the entire stuff. We are more in touch with contractor to ensure everything. Many buses are overloaded, but if we get large number of buses, a hike in transport fees shall affect parents. We are not government aided,” said a city-school principal. A local parent reacted with a question: “They are ever ready to hike the fees, but will she give a rebate to students, who stand the entire rout?”
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Violation of Lyngdoh Committee
recommendations
Chandigarh, September 18 According to the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations, within seven days after the declaration of election results, the student bodies are supposed to submit detailed expenses gone in for a particular candidate. Panjab University campus students’ council elections were held on September 12. However, till today, none of the student bodies have submitted the details pertaining to expenses. Dean students’ welfare, Prof Naval Kishore, said: “The students perhaps are not aware of it. I will issue a letters to them tomorrow, asking them to submit the details tomorrow itself.” According to sources, even last year, none of the student bodies declared their expenses, and ultimately the university authorities had to ask them to declare the same. Though Lyngdoh Committee permits only Rs 5,000 as the total expenditure that any candidate can spend on elections. But if the insiders are to be believed, the expenses are more than five times the prescribed limit in some cases. All eyes will be set on what is to be declared tomorrow by the student leaders, but the list of expensive freebies and junkets include sojourns for freshers to nearby hills, movie tickets in bulk, throwing dance parties, petrol on all the vehicles used in campaigning, freebies ranging from chickens to popcorns and even free lunches and booze, accommodating students in guest houses and flats in periphery areas, ferrying them in rented vehicles are just some of the worth mentioning entities. Brinder Dhillon, SOPU leader, said: “We haven’t resumed the office yet. After our elected council take charge, we will do that.” Tejpal Cheema, president, PUSU, said: “We will be declaring it in a day or two.” However, INSO leaders, who have been accused of spending much on freebies, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.
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On-campus bus service for PU soon
Chandigarh, September 18 He announced this during the courtesy meet with the newly elected students’ council on campus. He said the university had already ordered for two 32-seater buses, which would be plying on the campus throughout the day. The service will run on no-profit-no-loss basis on clockwise and anti-clockwise route for the convenience of the
students and cover all the departments. In interest of the students, the fare will be kept to minimum. It is pertinent to mention here that the students have been demanding for long, an on-campus bus service for long distances between the departments and the hostels. The hostel residents are not allowed to keep vehicles on the campus because of which they face a lot of difficulty in commuting between the hostels and the south campus in Sector 25. According to sources, the university authorities are trying their best to start the service soon and to chalk out a time schedule for the bus service, in which students will also be involved.
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PU teacher honoured
Chandigarh, September 18 Prof Manohar Lal Sharma also presented a paper ‘Gandhi's Approach To Non-Violence and World Peace’. Award was given for Prof Sharma's contribution in teaching and spreading thought, principles and teachings of the Father of the Nation and his commitment to the Gandhian ethos. Author of the book ‘Gandhi and Democratic Decentralisation in India’, Prof Sharma has been teaching for the last 30 years .
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Pbi varsity to promote classical music
Patiala, September 18 The sammelan is being organised by department of Gurmat sangeet and Gurmat sangeet chair with the object of promoting Sikh divine music. The vice-chancellor conferred Punjab Sangeet Ratan award on noted classical singer, Padma Shri Surinder Singh. The award carried a cash prize of Rs 31,000, a shawl and a citation. Dr Jaspal Singh further said holding of such functions would go a long way in transforming and establishing the singing of Gurbani in its purest form. He said it would make efforts for furtherance of Gurmat sangeet in every possible manner. Dr Gurnam Singh, head, department of Gurmat sangeet, said holding of Bhai Maradna Classical Sangeet Sammelan would be made an annual feature.
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Fresh scuffle in MCM
Chandigarh, September 18 The period of thaw ended today with the fresh incident of a scuffle between two students, where a girl was allegedly bashed up and her clothes torn off by a group of girls, who were offended by her smirks. The incident triggered the levelling of allegations between the two student groups, who had been fighting since last week over the students’ council elections. While one group blamed another for the entire incident, they also questioned principal’s role in the episode as she allegedly abstained the victim from speaking to police or media on the pretext of solving the issue herself. However, even after repeated efforts, principal of the college Punit Bedi could not be contacted to clarify the matter.
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Chandigarh, September 18