NEIGHBOURHOOD

Stamp Duty On Land Purchased
Colonisers resent govt move
Our Correspondent

Dera Bassi, March 17
Residents of Pandwala village today protested against the shortage of drinking water in the village for past two days. They alleged that despite being given information regarding the problem in the village, the department concerned was not taking any action.

The motor being used for supply from the tubewell was defective and officials of the public health department had assured them that the problem would be resolved soon.

The residents, including women and children, held a demonstration to press for an early solution to their problem.

Fatehgarh Sahib, March 17
An awareness camp was organised today by the Central Groundwater Board at Mandi Gobindgarh, near here, in which speakers expressed concern over the depleting water table and contamination of groundwater. Board’s Regional Director AK Bhatia said polluted water was being injected underground by various industries, contaminating groundwater.

The district administration should probe this and initiate action against erring industries, he said, adding that rainwater harvesting should be made mandatory.

Deputy Commissioner Yashvir Mahajan said the problem could be tackled through awareness and concrete steps with the help of the public. He suggested that farmers culd save groundwater with the use of drip irrigation and sprinkling methods.

Kalka, March 17
A committee consisting of three officers of the local administration has been formulated by Kalka SDM Vandna Disodia to inquire into embezzlement of crores of rupees in the Municipal Committee, Pinjore.

Official sources said that Prem Singh, a retired Forest Range Officer of ward no-7 of Pinjore, had recently made a complaint to the Director , Urban Development, Haryana, in which he alleged that in 2008-2009, the officials of MC, Pinjore had embezzled government revenue of crores of rupees by making bugus bills in various construction works of the MC, Pinjore.

In his complaint he had also sought action against the Secretary and a clerk of Pinjore MC.

The Department of Vigilance is already investigating the matter. The Sources further added that following the directives issued by the higher authorities in this context, the SDM, Kalka, has formulated the Inquiry Committee, which comprises Naresh Kumar , Tehsildar, Ravi Kumar, BDPO and Madhu Sudan, SDO, PWD, B& R. Prem Singh said that he would not hesitate to file, a public interest litigation (PIL) in Punjab and Haryana High Court, if he did not get a fair and impartial investigation in the case.

Kharar, March 17
The Kharar Municipal Council today passed budget of Rs 42 crore to be spent on various developmental works in the town.

MC president Gurprem Singh presented the budget in the MC House today.

The MC president said the MC had to pay Rs 80 lakh as bank loan, which was borrowed in 2005. “We would pay the entire amount to have a clean record,” he said.

The major works to be undertaken include setting up of a fire-fighting department and buying fire tenders for which Rs 1 crore has been allocated in the budget.

The MC will soon start the construction work of its building for which Rs 5 crores have been earmarked. Besides, MC would spend Rs 4 lakh on lining of city nullahs, Rs 2 crore for a community hall, Rs 1.5 crore for the construction of two stadiums and Rs 5 crore for buying generators for newly dug tubewells.

The MC would earn revenue from government land worth Rs 13 crores, Rs 23 crore from ETC charge, Rs 18 crore from map passing, Rs 20 lakh from house tax, Rs 65 lakh from water bills, Rs 30 lakh from sewerage bills, Rs 4.90 crore from VAT and Rs 2 lakh from tehbazari.

Chandigarh, March 17
Taking the Union of India to task for filing a “frivolous appeal” and “misusing the process of the court” by presenting incorrect facts in a case relating a soldier’s disability pension, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has imposed costs of Rs 50,000.

The Bench also ordered that the said amount, to be paid to the soldier, is to be recovered from the officers who had pleaded a false ground in the affidavit, after holding an inquiry and fixing responsibility thereof.

Earlier, a single Bench of the high court had allowed the grant of disability pension to ex-recruit Sukhjinder Singh on grounds that his disability was attributable to military service. The government had thereafter filed an appeal against this order. The single Bench order was based on an earlier order by a Division Bench on a similar issue of law.

Disposing of the appeal, the Bench expressed “amazement” at the conduct of the appellant and its officers and observed that the perusal of the appeal showed that a false plea had been set out which was simply against the records. In the original proceedings of the medical board, it was categorically found that the disease was aggravated by military service, whereas the proceedings of the board were misquoted in the appeal to show that the disease was not aggravated by military service.

The Division Bench also observed that the National Litigation Policy framed by the Central Government had been completely overlooked by appellants. The policy states that in service matters, no appeal would be filed in cases where the matter pertained to individual grievance without any major repercussion, or the matter pertained to a case of pension or retirement benefits without involving any principle and without setting any precedent or financial implication.

Holding that filing an appeal by the appellants in this case was wholly unwarranted as the matter was already decided in respect of the issues concerned, the Bench ruled that the appeal was an illustration of frivolous litigation initiated at the instance of the Union of India and its officers.

Indians in Libya
HC: Executive to decide on evacuation
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 17
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has left it open to the executive to decide how Indians in Libya are to be evacuated.

A Division Bench of the high court has ruled: “The matter (of evacuating Indians trapped in Libya) pertains to an area where the executive must be left free to decide as to how the said process is to be executed / implemented”.

The Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Augustine George Masih asserted: “The Courts, in our considered view, should not enter into the same”.

Dismissing the petition, the Bench asserted: “We, therefore, decline to entertain this Public Interest Litigation”.

The petition in public interest against the Union of India and another respondent was filed by Punjab and Haryana High Court advocate Hari Singh Nagra. The Bench observed: “This Public Interest Litigation has been filed by an advocate seeking a direction to the respondents to expedite the evacuation of the stranded Indian citizens from Libya due to disturbance /lawlessness in the said country.

“Judicial notice can be taken of the fact that Government of India has started a process of evacuating its citizens”.

Chandigarh, March 17
On-song boxer Amarjeet Singh defeated Butada Tulshi in the light flyweight 49-kg category of the ongoing 18th All-India AK Mishra Boxing Championship being held at the Skating Rink, Sector 10, here today.

Amarjeet beat Butada Tulshi after referee stopped the contest (RSC).

Similarly, Manoj beat Abhishek, Umesh Yadav beat Vijay Kumar, D Mathiazhangam beat Aman Shaw, Pawan Singh beat Saroj Kumar, T Prem Kumar beat Sandeep and Jatinder Singh beat Ravindra Singh in the same category.

In the bantamweight 56kg category, Naveen Kumar beat Prahalad Kumar and Virender Gill beat Bikram Mallik.

In the lightweight 60kg category, Kamal Singh beat Rohit Kumar, Shahanshar beat Karamvir Yadav, Amit Joy beat G Yelleji, and Rajesh beat Biswajeet Keshari.

In the light welterweight 64kg category, D Saravanan beat Rahul Kumar, Dheeraj beat Mohit Sharma, Bikram Jeet Singh beat Rashmi Ranjan, Nabin beat SK Iliyash and M Karthick beat Krishna Negi.

In the welterweight 69kg category, Naresh Kumar beat Saajan Malkat, Narender Singh beat Shrikant, H Akabr Ali beat Ravindra Chawriya, Harish Mehta beat Rajan and Ashish Kumar beat Kaushal Sharma.

In the middleweight 75kg category, Sunil beat Laldeep, Devanshu beat Tirthraj and Ajmar Singh beat Prashant.

In the flyweight 52kg category, Mahimainathan beat Rajindra Singh, Rajesh Kumar beat Rohit Singh, Dheeraj Kumar beat Monu, Sunil Kumar beat Vijay, Ashrap Ali beat Rajan Negi, Naveen Kumar beat K Chinna Rao and Sunil Shukla beat Bhoraj Singh.

Chandigarh, March 17
Sportspersons who represented the city in the 56th National School Games held last session in various states across the country brought laurels by winning top honours in both team and individual events.

The city, known for producing good players in various disciplines, proved its mettle through some sterling performances by its players in the national championship.

The girls’ teams excelled in the tournament by bagging top positions and medals in nine events.

Local players won top positions in 22 disciplines out of 38 organised during the tournament.

In hockey, girls’ U-19 team won gold in the national championship held at Khargone (Madhya Pardesh), while the boy’s U-19 team stood second in the competition.

The football team, with players chiefly drawn from the Chandigarh Football Academy (CFA), that had recently won the Subroto Cup in Delhi, claimed the U-14 national title.

The girls’ U-19 and U-17 lawn tennis teams bagged second place in the national championship, while in the individual category, players from both age groups bagged second and third places, respectively. Similarly, the boys’ team managed to attain third place in the championship.

The fencing team brought laurels by winning the overall championship in both team and individual events.

The girls had recently bagged bronze medal in the recently held 34th National Games at Ranchi, Jharkhand. Several players from the team made it to the probables’ list of the junior India fencing team.

In softball, girls’ U-14 and boys’ U-17 teams bagged third place in the championship, while in dodge ball, the girl’s U-19 team finished second in the tournament.

In individual category, the squay martial art players bagged three gold medals and two bronze medals in different categories, while in wrestling, the local players bagged two silver and two bronze medals in the championship.

Also, city skaters bagged two bronze medals in the championship, while boys and girls from kick boxing bagged two silver and one bronze medal in the tournament.