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Cong sweeps Mayoral polls
Chandigarh, January 1 In a direct contest between the Congress and BJP-SAD alliance, Congress candidate Subhash Chawla was elected as 19th Mayor of the city by defeating BJP-SAD candidate Arun Sood by a margin of 12 votes.
For the post of the Senior Deputy Mayor, Congress candidate Rana Kashmiri Devi defeated the BJP-SAD candidate Rajesh Gupta by a margin of 10 votes. While Kashmiri Devi got 23 votes, her opponent Rajesh Gupta got only 13 votes. After the results, Rajesh Gupta took blessings from Kashmiri Devi. Similarly, for the post of the Deputy Mayor, Congress candidate Satish Kumar Kainth defeated the BJP-SAD candidate Malkiat Singh by a margin of six votes. While Kainth got 21 votes, Malkiat bagged 15 votes. It is for the second time that Kainth had defeated Malkiat Singh. In the last Mayoral elections, Kainth had defeated Malkiat Singh by a margin of 10 votes. The elections were presided over by nominated councillor Babu Lal. Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Shayin, CITCO MD DK Tiwari and Joint Commissioner, MC, Rajiv Gupta, were also present. Senior leaders of political parties, including Congress president BB Bahl, BJP president Sanjay Tandon and BSP leader Haffiz-Anwar-Ul-Haq were present in the visitors' gallery of the MC House during the election. Member of Parliament and Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, who is ex-officio member of the MC House, was the first to cast his vote.
Poll roll
As the BJP objected to the use of mobile phones, councillors were not allowed to carry mobiles inside the polling booth On the demand of the BJP, presiding officer Babu Lal shuffled the ballot papers after signing the same While the polling for Deputy Mayor’s post was under way, Pawan Kumar Bansal pointed out that the ballot box’s lock was open. Following which the authorities locked the box Before giving Mayor’s seat to Subhash Chawla, former Mayor Raj Bala Malik held the seat for a few seconds Subhash Chawla refused to accept sweets and cakes as a mark of tribute to the Delhi gang rape victim
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Thin margin worries Cong camp
Chandigarh, January 1 Before elections, the Congress leaders were claiming that they would get 25 votes (12 Congress, one local MP, nine nominated, two BSP and one Independent), but for the Mayor’s post they got 24, for the post of Senior Deputy Mayor they got 23 and for the Deputy Mayor they got 21 votes. Whereas, the BJP-SAD alliance, who had 11 councillors in the House, got 12 votes for the post of Mayor, 13 for the Senior Deputy Mayor and 15 for the post of Deputy Mayor. It was the first Mayoral elections after Pawan Kumar Bansal became the Union Railways Minister. After the election results, the Congress leaders were a worried lot as they had won the elections by a thin margin. A senior Congress leader said that they would analyse the elections results and would try to find out as to why the Congress candidates did not get 25 votes. When Union Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal was asked about the victory margin, he said that there were 13 votes of Congressmen and all voted in favour of the Congress candidates. Regarding votes of the nominated, BSP and Independent councillors, he said that it was their votes and they exercised their voting rights according to their wish. But the BJP-SAD leaders were happy that they got more votes. A senior BJP leader said that they got support from those councillors, who were not Congressmen.
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Differences within Congress come out in the open
Chandigarh, January 1 It all started on the day when the nominations were filed. A woman had a bet of Rs 10,000 with Satprakash Aggarwal over number of votes to the Congress for the Mayoral elections. At that time, Bhupinder Singh Badheri was also present there. Aggarwal had claimed that Congress would get more than 25 votes in the elections. Eyewitnesses said that today when the Congress did not get 25 votes, Badheri asked Aggarwal to pay the bet money to the woman. Earlier, both were talking to each other in lighter vein, but suddenly they began shouting at one another. Within seconds, a scuffle ensued and ultimately other Congress leaders and supporters who were present there had to intervene and separate them. Requesting anonymity, a Congress leader said that even before the incident took place there were no cordial relations between the two. For the post of Mayor, Bhupinder Singh Badheri was lobbying for Subhash Chawla’s name and Sat Prakash Aggarwal, who was also one of the contenders for the Mayor’s post, was aware of it, the leader added. When contacted, Badheri said that he was just requesting Aggarwal to give the money, as he was also one of the witnesses to the bet. On the issue of manhandling, he said that he did not want to comment on it. Sat Prakash Aggarwal said that nothing major happened and he too did not want to comment on the issue.
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Congress supporters vandalise Mayor’s room
Chandigarh, January 1 The Congress leaders and supporters, all gathered in the Mayor’s room to meet Union Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and newly elected Mayor Subhash Chawla. They were trying to get their pictures clicked with the senior Congress leaders. In the process, the supporters pulled down curtains, damaged the incumbency board and engagement board in the Mayor’s room. The supporters were even seen standing on the chairs, sofa sets and tables there. They threw empty sweet boxes on the floor of the room.
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MC will not impose house tax, says Mayor
Chandigarh, January 1 In the advisory council meeting on November 30, 2012, the UT Administrator had told former Mayor Raj Bala Malik and MC Commissioner Vivek Pratap Singh that it was the duty of the civic body to impose the tax. Patil had said that if the MC did not impose house tax, it would lose out on the inflow of matching grants from the Union Government. When Chawla was asked that the UT Administration had already issued directions on house tax, he said there was no need to impose the tax and they would convince the UT officials. He added they would also take the help of Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on the issue. A senior UT official said if the tax was not imposed, the city would lose around Rs 400 crore under the JNNURM and the administration and the MC would not be able to seek more funds under the scheme for future projects. The Planning Commission had also told the administration to impose house tax. The commission had told the administration to raise funds from all sources, including house tax, to fund its plan.
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Thieves strike on New Year’s Eve
Chandigarh, January 1 The residence where the theft occurred belonged to proprietor of Sector 22-based jewellery store Zaira Diamonds. The owner of the house, Manoj Jain, proprietor of the Sector 22-based Zaira Diamonds, told the police that he along with his wife and son had left home for the New Year celebrations around 9.30 pm and returned at 1.30 am. They were shocked to find the front door of the house open. The thieves had opened the cupboards and ransacked the house before leaving. Manoj Jain claimed the thieves decamped with jewellery and valuables worth Rs 25 lakh, including Rs 2 lakh and digital cameras. The thieves also took away an iron safe containing gold and diamond jewellery worth over 18 lakh and other household items, including electronic goods worth around Rs 1.8 lakh. The iron safe weighted over 60 kg and the police said it was the job of more than three persons. The family suspected the involvement of its staff in the incident. “We suspect some known person to be behind the theft as it is difficult to believe that our pet dog kept mum as the thieves ransacked the house,” said Jain. Jain also suspected his former domestic help, Shekhar, behind the theft. They had sacked Shekhar some years ago after he was caught stealing. Alleging slow police action, the complainant said though the theft took place at night, the dog squad and the CFSL conducted the investigations in the morning. “The PCR reached on time but the cops of the Sector 36 police station and the dog squad visited the spot in the morning,” he said.
Two more thefts
In another incident of theft on New Year Eve, Ashish Kalsi, a resident of Sector 45, reported that someone took away gold jewellery, cameras and cash from his house. A case has been registered at the Sector 34 police station. In a separate incident, thieves broke into a cabin at Sector 22 and decamped with mobile phone sets. A case has been registered.
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Robbers hold 6-month-old at knifepoint in Panchkula
Panchkula, January 1 The two unidentified masked youths pressed the doorbell on the pretext giving a New Year’s gift to the family and forcibly entered the house by pushing Madhvi, who was holding her six-month-old baby girl. Her husband, Rajesh Kashyap, who works as an accounts assistant with a club in Chandigarh was out at the club when the incident took place. Madhvi also suffered injuries on her head after the robbers banged her against the wall. “Two youths pressed the doorbell and said that someone had a sent a New Year’s gift for them. My wife, who was holding the baby, opened the door and the youths pushed her inside and snatched the child from her,” said Rajesh. He added: “After taking the infant at knifepoint, they asked my wife to give whatever she had.” Meanwhile, Madhvi’s two-year-old daughter, who was sleeping, got up and started crying. The miscreants switched on the television at full volume so the neighbours don’t hear her cries.Fearing threat to her daughter’s life, Madhvi gave the money and jewellery to the robbers. “They asked for more money and banged my wife against the wall. Later, my daughter was thrown on the sofa and the robbers fled with the jewellery worth Rs 1.2 lakh and Rs 43,000,” said Rajesh. Surprisingly, the station house officer of the Mansa Devi police station registered a case under Section 380 (theft) and Section 458 (trespass to hurt somebody) to weaken the case. However, after the intervention of DCP Nazneen Bhasin, the SHO of the Mansa Devi police station visited the house of the victim and jotted down the statement of the complainant and introduced the relevant section of robbery.
Past incidents
January 2012: An elderly couple, Rani Garg and RK Garg, was attacked by four miscreants in Sector 6,
Panchkula, when one of them pressed the doorbell on the pretext of delivering a letter January 21, 2012: A gold chain was snatched from a 60-year-old resident of Sector 7,
Panchkula, when two youths pressed the doorbell seeking a rented accommodation March 15, 2012: Cash and jewellery amounting to around Rs 40 lakh were looted by three robbers who struck at the house of Modis at Sector 7,
Panchkula, after pressing the doorbell April 29, 2012: An attempt to loot was foiled in Sector 11,
Panchkula, at an elderly couple’s house. The miscreants had pressed the doorbell to strike, but the police opened the door
DCP intervenes
When contacted, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Nazneen Bhasin who is holding the additional charge of Panchkula, said: “We are making efforts to trace the criminals through the criminal networking system.” When she was told about the SHO downplaying the incident and not including relevant sections of the IPC in the case, she immediately spoke to the complainant to know the truth.
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Heaps of garbage dot residential areas of Ward Number 5
Chandigarh, January 1 Residents said that sanitation was a major cause of concern in Ward No. 5. In Sector 25 and
Dhanas, garbage was seen scattered all over the area. In a residential area at Sector 25, there is a 300-metre stretch alongside the road where garbage is
scattered. Rajiv Singh, a resident of Sector 25, said that the garbage was not lifted regularly in their area. Since the garbage bins were broken the residents threw garbage in the open. Even sweepers too did not come regularly on duty to clean the roads and green belts. In
Dhanas, work on widening of roads has started in many parts, but there too, sanitation is a major issue. Sunder Sharma, a resident of
Dhanas, said that they were happy that work on widening of roads had started but sanitation again was a major problem there. Advocate Jagdish Sharma, a resident of
Dhanas, said that as their councillor had become the Mayor of the City Beautiful, so now, they were hopeful that pending work in their ward would get started. Challenges ahead Parking problem Parking is a major problem in the city. The Mayor will have to find a solution to the problem. He will have to complete work on the first multi-level parking in Sector 17 soon. Water shortage
This summer, there was an acute shortage of water in the city. During winters, the MC failed to start the afternoon water supply.
Encroachment
Encroachment is a major cause of concern, in markets, green belts and public land. The MC has failed to deal with the problem.
Primary education and health
The condition of primary schools and health centres are poor. The two departments were recently transferred to the MC. There is staff shortage at the primary health
centres.
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Mohali youth missing since Dec 24
Mohali, January 1 Piara Singh Heer, a resident of Phase 7, in a complaint lodged with the Matour police here, said his son, Prabhjot Singh (32), left Mohali on December 24 for a meeting in Dehradun in a Safari car, but did not attend it. Heer said he tried to contract his son on his cellphone that day, but it remained unattended. His son was working as a distributor with a private company. He said the Uttarakhand police informed him on December 25 that a Safari car was found in a gorge near Shivpuri, close to Rishikesh, and asked him to reach the police station. Heer said as he was not fit enough to travel that distance, he asked his son-in-law to go there. He said the gorge was about 25-ft deep and a rope had to be used to reach the spot where the vehicle was lying. Nearly 20 persons searched the area, including 15 ft on both sides of the spot, for his missing son, but all in vain. The distressed father said two cellphones and two stamp papers were found in the vehicle. His son-in-law told him that no blood stains or any piece of cloth were found anywhere at the spot. Heer, who retired from the office of the Punjab AG (Audits) in 1995, said the stamp papers found in the vehicle were probably meant for the use in connection with the sale of two cars by Prabhjot.
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Campaign raises concern over safety of women
Mohali, January 1 The awareness campaign, named SMASH (Society’s Movement Against Street Harassment), started from Amritsar on December 20 to coincide with International Day for Human Solidarity. The Mohali leg of the walk started yesterday from the Phase 3 market and crossed the main bazaars. Kanwar Manjit Singh, CEO of the Patiala-based foundation, said a signature campaign was also launched on the sidelines of the walk, which would culminate in Delhi where a joint appeal by hundreds of thousands of citizens would be made to the Chief Justice and other judges of the Supreme Court. The appeal would highlight the need for the quick disposal of cases pertaining to atrocities and harassment of women and for putting in place some special and dedicated women-specific courts /benches headed by women judges. Similar appeals would also be submitted to the Chief Justices of the High Courts in the country. He said the recent incidents in some parts of the country, including Delhi, Haryana, Mumbai and Punjab, had raised concern over the status, safety and security of mothers, sisters or daughters. He further said the movement would enlist the support of eminent social activists, members of civil society, intellectuals, human rights activists and right-thinking political organisations and individuals. A brochure distributed among participants and supporters carried an outline of the ideology behind the movement. Its introductory passage declared that “your family and your daughters, sisters, mothers and wives could be next in the line of assault. You could be the next father or brother or son to be shot and killed by brazen gangs of molesters roaming on the streets of your town or village. If you do not wake up today, you might die in sleep or disgrace." — OC
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New Year showers blessings on them
Chandigarh, January 1 Considering themselves fortunate to have been blessed with babies on the day, the families shared their excitement and glee. "My baby's birthday will be remembered by everyone since it is a rare date. It was a C-section delivery. Though, we did not plan the delivery date in advance, we certainly prayed for January 1. Our prayers have been heard," said Hardeep Singh, a city-based businessman, who was blessed with a baby girl at Dr Mangla Dogra's clinic in Sector 19 on Tuesday. The happiness was witnessed at other city hospitals as well. Naveen Kumar Gupta, who works as a government contractor, was blessed with a baby boy at Chaitanya Hospital, Sector 44, on Tuesday. "From today onwards, our family will have double celebrations. Nothing could have been as wonderful as receiving this gift on the first day of the year. It was a normal delivery and my wife will be discharged from the hospital in the evening. We will have a grand celebration at home at night," said Naveen. At the three government hospitals, including Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, Government Multi-Speciality Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, and PGIMER, 49 deliveries were conducted on Tuesday. Of the total 16 babies delivered at GMCH-32, 10 were males and six were females. At the GMSH-16, meanwhile, 10 out of 14 were females and four were males. A total of nine deliveries were conducted at the PGI on Tuesday. Of these five were females and four males.
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The best way to squander public money
Chandigarh, January 1 It is spending Rs 16 lakh on the laying of paver block on roads at Burail. The paver blocks are being laid on metal roads. The work was started four days ago and is nearing completion. "The roads needed repairs, therefore we thought of laying the paver blocks. The MC's road committee approved the project and we started the work," said Vijay Rana, the son of councillor Rana Kashmiri Devi. When asked why the paver blocks were being laid on metal roads, he said the roads were not levelled in the area which was why the blocks were being laid. "We faced a great difficulty in parking vehicles as the roads were not levelled. The work will put an end to the inconvenience," said a resident. Former sarpanch and former secretary of the Congress committee said even though the move lacked planning, something was better than nothing. "The roads should have been re-carpeted. Certain inner areas of the village need planned development," said Satpal Gupta.
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City reels under cold wave
Chandigarh, January 1 Meanwhile, the UT Education Department has decided to change the timings of the local schools in view of the extreme weather. The department has extended the holidays for up to class V to January 6, and has changed the timings of other classes uptil January 15. While single shift schools will remain open from 8.30 am to 2 pm, timings for double shift schools are 11 am to 5 pm.
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Flights grounded at Chandigarh airport on New Year too
Chandigarh, january 1 Sources said the airport management had suffered losses to the tune of Rs 40 to 50 lakh for not receiving the passenger service fee on account of the cancellation of flights. "The airport lost over Rs 5 lakh per day whenever the entire traffic operations were called off,” said an official. MR Jindal, station manager, Air India, said it was difficult to calculate the per day loss because there were many factors involved, including shifting of passengers, taxi facility and overtime of the staff; however, the losses must be running to the tune of crores of rupees.
Airlines demand upgrading of equipment
Facing pressure from the passengers as well as large revenue losses, several airlines are demanding the upgrading of airport’s instrument light system that has failed to handle the air traffic during bad weather. An official said that since the air traffic at the airport had increased tremendously, it was high time to equip the airport with all the latest technologies. He said that the recent cancellations had discouraged the passengers wand it was not good for the overall growth of the airport. Since the runway is controlled by the Indian Air Force, better coordination between the airport officials and the Indian Air Force is also being sought, so that the pending issues are addressed.
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Welfare board apprises NGOs of schemes
Chandigarh, January 1 Representatives of the NGOs informed the chairperson that they were facing problems while completing the documentation for various schemes introduced by the authorities. The chairperson assured them that the board will provide them with assistance during documentation. The representatives from the Social Welfare Department, Canara Bank and the State Bank of India also gave presentations on the schemes being offered by them.
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Jyoti Murder Case: Sister to join investigations
Panchkula, January 1 “Jyoti’s sister will join the investigations. We want to know how Chaudhary introduce himself at the wedding,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Virender Sangwan. Meanwhile, the Panchkula and Baddi police are conducting raids at potential hideouts and residences of Chaudhary and his accomplices. The Baddi police claims to have information regarding his whereabouts on the basis of the interrogation of his family members. Chaudhary’s counsel, meanwhile, withdrew his anticipatory bail application filed at the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
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Teachers raise demands
Chandigarh, January 1 Dr Vinod Sharma met Upkar Singh, DPI (Schools), and submitted a charter of demands. They demanded that a meeting regarding the promotion of lecturers, fixation of notional pay, regularisation of the SSA teachers should be held. The DPI assured the teachers of doing the needful.
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PU to restrict entry to outsiders
Chandigarh, January 1 A high-powered committee meeting attended by deans of different disciplines and hostel wardens took this decision in the wake of Delhi gang rape case in order to ensure safety of girl students on the campus. Dean Student Welfare (DSW) AS Ahluwalia said that the proposal to restrict the entry of vehicles owned by outsiders to the roads leading to the girls’ hostels from no. 3 to 7 was being considered, while patrolling would be beefed up in the evening on both the campuses from tomorrow. “The main aim is to restrict the unwanted entry of outsiders after 5 pm, the closing time of all the offices and departments. After 5 pm, outsiders will be allowed to enter the campus on the submission of registration certificates of their vehicles at the entry gates,” the DSW said. Yograj Angrish, a Senator and warden of boys’ hostel no. 7, who was part of the committee that took the decision, said in the evening, vehicles belonging to outsiders will not be allowed to ply on the stretch of road from PU’s construction office roundabout to Ankur School. “This is the favourite route among the outsiders and witnesses a huge rush in the evening. This route, therefore, will remain open only for the residents and students,” he said. Student Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) president Manoj Lubana said the university should immediately implement the decision to restrict the entry of outsiders to roads near the girl’s hostels. “There have been instances of eve-teasing near girls’ hostels and the university should ensure that nothing untoward happens on the campus,” he said. PU Chief Security Officer (CSO) PK Dhawan said initially patrolling will be intensified, while the modalities to restrict the entry of outsiders were being worked out.
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VC favours regularisation of daily wagers at PU
Chandigarh, January 1 Panjab University Staff Association (PUSA) president Deepak Kaushik said: “We have demanded that while regularising the jobs, the number of working days should be counted as 2,400, instead of 3,650. It’s impossible for an employee to continuously work for 10 years without leave.” Applications for 130 vacant non-teaching posts have been invited, while around 290 are lying vacant. PUSA has demanded that the daily wagers fulfilling the eligibility criteria be regularised against these vacant posts.
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Out of 36 votes, Subhash Chawla bagged 24 votes, whereas his opponent, Arun Sood, managed only 12 votes. After the results, both Chawla and Sood hugged each other. There were no invalid votes and 100 per cent voting was recorded. 
“For the last 10 days, the airport has not functioned for over a week now, which has led to a financial loss to both the airlines and the airport authorities, besides harassment of passengers,” said a senior official of a national carrier.