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| Sunday, October 29, 2000, Chandigarh, India |
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Introduce prepaid taxi
service, MRTS: council CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — Make rules for plying of taxis, autorickshaws and rickshaws in the city. There should be accommodation in the budget for visitors to the city; Make a policy on the conversion of industrial plots from leasehold to freehold. Keep a check on organisations that are not depositing the PF of employees. These are some of the suggestions made by various subcommittees of the Administrator’s Advisory Council. The subcommittees on transport, urban development, industry and tourism and labour have submitted their suggestions to the Chandigarh Administration. The suggestions were presented to the Administration at a meeting of the council on October 24. The future of the city is being discussed. The committee on industry and tourism says that, in the absence of budget accommodation, owners of illegal guest houses give rooms at cheaper rates to visitors. It also says that prepaid taxi service should be available at the airport because a syndicate seems to be controlling taxi services in the city. The committee has said that owners of a number of food joints and farmhouses where parties are organised do not pay the sales tax. This was causing a loss of revenue to the Administration. The committee has also stressed the need for building an amusement park here. The subcommittee on industry says that the rates for the conversion of industrial plots from leasehold to freehold should be reasonable. The subcommittee on labour laws says that there are a number of industries where even the minimum wages are not paid to workers. Workers do not get benefits of provident fund and insurance as well. The subcommittee on urban development says that there are signs that the city is decaying gradually. It has said that growth should be seen in the context of “greater Chandigarh”, keeping in mind the fast-developing spheres of influence in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. The subcommittee on transport wants improved and different-sized buses on various routes. It also want that there should be an alternative mode of public transport like the Mass Rapid Transport System. It says that such a system should run on an alternative source of energy. The age-limit for heavy commercial vehicles in the city should be fixed, says the committee. It says that a number of trucks and buses on city roads are rather old. Another drive to check pollution due to diesel vehicles and autorickshaws should be carried out and noise pollution should be controlled, says the committee. Half-body trucks that carry bricks and the other construction material should not be allowed to be driven in the city if the material is not covered. Particles of sand and the other construction material often fall in the eyes of drivers of two-wheelers on the road. (To be concluded) |
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‘Sell scattered PU property’ CHANDIGARH,
Oct 28 — The issue of the management of the property of Panjab University located outside the campus came up for discussion in a meeting of the Syndicate here today. The demand for this has often been raised in the House in the past couple of years. The property includes 625 acres in Chandigarh. PU also has properties in Dalhousie, Shimla, Panipat and Amritsar. Mr Gopal Krishan Chatrath, Dr Deepak Manmohan and Prof V.K. Bansal said this scattered property of the university should be disposed of. They said the university should instead look for space in Delhi. Meanwhile, Prof Charanjit Chawla sought the appointment of a special Estate
Officer to manage this land assets. He said even the rents of shops on the campus needed to be reviewed. Ways to improve the examination system were also discussed. Earlier, the House passed the plan to hike payment rates for the branch. Prof Chawla said computerisation was necessary in the present scenario, but members of the branch should be consulted before bringing a change. The university thanked the UT police and the Administration for their help in the smooth conduct of recent student-body elections on the campus. On the issue of vacant seats in the B.Ed courses, Prof Bansal said these seats should be
offered on merit to candidates who were on the waiting list. Dr H.R. Gandhar stressed the need for a regular Director at the Muktsar Regional Centre. Dr R.D. Anand said the university had not bothered to implement a scholarhship scheme that was passed by the House. He said students should judged only on the basis of merit for receiving financial aids. Members raised the issue of continuation of payment of salaries to 19 persons despite their superannuation from the date of the order of the House. Prof Chawla said the issue of non-payment of salaries to the staff of GNG, Ferozepore Cantonment, for the past half-a-year needed immediate attention of the university authorities. The Vice-Chancellor, Prof K.N. Pathak, has reportedly assured the members that a high-power committee would be constituted to look into the matter. Mr Satish Kumar raised the issue of alleged harassment of teachers of Dev Samaj Education College at Ferozepore. The VC said he would constitute a committee to look into the matter. The Syndicate is learnt to have cleared a proposal for having 30 seats in the Bachelor of Information Technology course that is to begin in the current session. As many as 30 seats have been allotted to Punjab Engineering College and the admissions will be on the basis of the CET. Students of the other courses have the option of joining the BIT course if they are on the merit list after the test. The course has been approved by the AICTE and the UT Administration. The house is understood to have accepted the decision to cancel admissions of 118 students who sought admissions on the basis of fake certificates. Prof Chawla and Dr Raghuvir Singh said the Justice P.H. Vaishnav report, that had held a teacher responsible for helping a student in re-evaluation, should be accepted. A student has been barred from appearing in a university examination following his conviction in a copying case. The House also approved the Punjab Government recommendations on recruitment of teachers and principals. At the end of the
meeting, there was a heated exchange of words between Dr Ram Prakash and Mr Chatrath. The issue was of changes in the dates of birth in some certificates. Dr Prakash said the provision was often misused to suit “those in power”. Mr Chatrath objected to this remark. |
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Theft of car stereos on the rise CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — Listen to this. In just a week, five car stereos were stolen. Three on a single night. Figures do not lie. The theft of car stereos in the city is on the rise. The patrolling on the streets at night has been intensified. Traps are being laid to apprehend the culprits, but all in vain. The residents are facing the music as the light-fingered thieves are eluding the cops in the silence of the night. "They will be behind bars soon," says the UT Assistant Superintendent of Police, Dr Sagar Preet Singh Hooda. "The police is in the process of establishing their identity. We are keeping a strict vigil and are carrying out the verification of tenants and servants. Very soon we will be able to apprehend the guilty". Believe to be youngsters dependent on drugs, the miscreants are active in the southern sectors. In most of the cases, the stereos were pulled out of the cars parked outside the residences in Sector 44, 45 and 35. This, senior police officials maintain, is due to poor lighting of the streets in the southern sectors, besides because of improper space for parking the vehicles. The modus operandi is not so complicated. In some cases, the culprits come in a car, break the window pane of the parked vehicle with a brick and push off only to return after a few minutes. If the noise of the shattering glass fails to wake up the owner, they take away the stereo costing on a average between Rs 3,500 and Rs 10,000. Otherwise, they whizz past the gathered crowd. "In other cases, the thieves open the lock with a duplicate key to take away the stereo," says the ASP. "We have also seen that the culprits simply open the boot, left unlocked by the owner, to enter the car". The theft can be prevented to a large extent, says the ASP. "All you have to do is to ensure proper locking of the car.” |
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Inquiry ordered in harassment case SAS NAGAR, Oct 28 — The Punjab Human Rights Commission has asked for an inquiry in the case of alleged harassment of a 60-year-old resident of Phase VII here by the local police. The victim, Gurmeet Singh, had said he was living under threat of being implicated in a false case by the local police. The complainant said he had visited the Central police station on August 27 to know the progress in a case registered against his tenant who had allegedly misbehaved with him. He was told by a Sub Inspector, Satnam Singh, that he was under arrest for theft, trespassing and intimidation. An FIR in this regard had been lodged by the tenant of the victim, Amrinder Singh. No progress had been made in the victim’s case that had been registered a few days ago. The victim owns a showroom in the Phase VII market and Amrinder Singh was a tenant on the premises. The victim alleged that he and his two sons, Manjit and Harminder, were arrested by the police and kept in the lockup for one night. The next morning, the father and his two sons were released after three persons of the Phase VII market, Mr Manjit Singh, Ms Amarjit Singh and Ms A.S. Khurana visited the police station. The victim was then forced to compromise. However, a police official said Gurmeet Singh had broken the furniture of his tenant. The section of theft was, however, deleted from the FIR. Meanwhile, acting on the complaint of Gurmeet, the commission has directed the ADGP, Mr A.P. Bhatnagar, to depute someone to hold an inquiry into the allegations and submit a report within six weeks. |
Govardhan Pooja performed PANCHKULA, Oct 28 — Devotees thronged Sri Sanatan Dharam Radha Vrindavan Chandra Mandir in Sector 12 to offer prayers to Lord Krishna on the occasion of Govardhan pooja here today. As soon as the celebrations began in the morning, the devotees queued up to offer milk and flowers. A discourse on the lord Krishna was followed by a
Kirtan. Later, a community lunch was also organised. Nearly 3000 devotees visited the temple during the day. |
2 held for selling
tickets on black market CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — Cashing on the craze for Aditya Chopra's blockbuster Mohabbatein, two persons were today caught "red-handed" by the Chandigarh Police for allegedly selling the movie tickets on the black market. According to sources in the Police Department, the two have been identified as Navin of Phase VII in SAS Nagar and Satpal of Dadu Majra. They were allegedly selling the balcony ticket, costing Rs 45, for Rs 100. The duo, booked under the Punjab Cinema Act, were later bailed out. The sources add that further investigations into the matter were on for establishing their connections with the co-accused. |
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SI injured in mishap CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — Sub Inspector Naresh Pal Verma sustained minor injuries after the scooter he was riding was rammed into a Jeep near the Sector 26 police lines. According to sources in the police department, the SI was posted at the Sector 19 police station. They added that the SI was discharged after first aid from the General Hospital, Sector 16. Woman injured Case registered Woman attacked Scooter stolen Eve-teaser held Four arrested Liquor seized |
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Poppy husk seized CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — The Chandigarh Police today reportedly seized 14 kg of poppy husk, valued around Rs 40,000, after arresting a Naraingarh resident from Sector 17 Inter-State Bus Terminus. According to police sources, the accused has been identified as Shiv Kumar. He was allegedly carrying the narcotic in a bag. The police, add sources, were keeping a vigil at the bus stand following secret information. Senior police officials, when contacted, confirmed the arrest of the accused under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
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One more held in murder case PANCHKULA, Oct 28 — A resident of Samastipur in Bihar and the second accused in the murder of Gulab, a servant in Sector 4, was arrested by the police from the Gorakhpur railway station yesterday. It may be recalled that the accused was absconding after murdering Gulab in February. He was allegedly strangulated to death by the accused along with his accomplice, Varinder Singh, while the house owners were out of station. Varinder was arrested on October 14 and admitted that the two hatched a conspiracy to commit the crime. A case in this regard was registered in the Sector 5 police station. Ramu was today sent to police custody till November 4 by the Chief Judicial Magistrate. |
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Jeweller
duped of gold sets CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — A Sector 34 jeweller was today duped of three gold sets of about 18 tolas each, by a person posing as a customer. According to sources, a middle-aged man came to the shop and asked the jeweller to show some sets for his daughter. He then requested a servant to call his son, who he said was sitting in a car outside the shop. Later, he asked his “son” to take the sets outside and show these to his “wife” who was sitting in the car. After a few minutes, he left the shop on the pretext of giving the jeweller’s visiting card to his wife, but did not return. The police has registered a case. |
Goods damaged
in godown fire LALRU,
Oct 28 — Goods worth lakhs of rupees were destroyed in a major fire which broke out in the godown of a thread industry, near here, on Thursday. According to sources, the fire broke out in a raw material godown of the unit at about 9.30 p.m. As the flames went high, security personnel on duty made calls to Dera Bassi Fire Station for fire engines. Then the local police was informed about the incident. Eyewitnesses say that the fire broke out in a godown, destroying a number of cotton bales stored. The security personnel used the water from hydrants to control the blaze. Over 25 firemen and several police personnel had a tough time in controlling the flames. The cause of the fire could be some fireworks, said Mr B.S. Sandhu, Fire Officer of the fire station. Mr G.B. Singh, Managing Director of the unit, said that the exact cause of fire and loss of property could not be ascertained yet. In another incident, crackers worth Rs 5,000 were gutted in the Lalru mandi on Thursday. Sources said that the crackers were placed before a shop, near the grain market shed, while they caught fire. Sound of crackers and smoke filled the area. The owners of the adjacent shops closed their shutters and vacated the site. |
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