Industry may get nod for power generation
Ajay Benerjee
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 15
Adopting an innovative approach to deal with the growing power shortage in the city, the Chandigarh Administration may allow industrialists to set up their own small captive power generation plants to operate their units.

With the local industry needing about 35 mw of power a day, the Administration is finding it difficult to meet the requirement of the industry and day-long power cuts have become common. The Administration is now planning to change the rules to allow industrialists to set up their own generation units.

Sources in the Administration confirmed that the scheme was under consideration. Of course, a system of checks and balances and various safety precautions would be incorporated in the scheme. The fuel for generation would have to be non-polluting and pollution control devices would have to be installed. The city has 2,318 industrial connections.

The Administration hopes that several industrial units will opt for the scheme and expectations are that some medium-sized industrial units may even join hands to set up their own small power generation units. At present, power costs about Rs 3.78 per unit to large industrial consumers and Rs 3.15 per unit to medium-sized industrial consumers. The classification is based on the sanctioned load. Already some of the big industrial units have shown interest in having their own power generation capacity.

Engineers say that gas-based power generation is the cheapest. It will cost about Rs 2 per unit which is 50 per cent of the present cost. With IT sector already having made its presence felt in the city and the Administration planning to set up an IT park besides a series of institutes of excellence, power demand is expected to go up in the near future.

Chandigarh has no source of power generation and gets electricity from outside. The present allocation is about 138 mw which is expected to go up to 158 mw once the additional 20 mw is available as promised by the Union Power Ministry from May 21.

Bomb hoax forces caller ID installation
Kiran Deep

Chandigarh, May 15
A second bomb hoax in less than five days at the district courts today has forced the city police to instal caller identification — an equipment which shows from where the call has originated — in the district courts to track down the miscreants. The caller ID will be in place within two days.

It was the fourth time this year that a bomb hoax had disrupted functioning of the courts. Today a call was received at the office of the District Judge at around 11:15 am. The caller said a bomb had been planted in the courts. The office staff of the District and Sessions Judge immediately called the police. Soon after getting the information, the Superintendent of Police (City), the DSP and the bomb squad search team reached the spot.

About 30 police personnel equipped with metal detectors and a sniffer dog carried out the search operation for about one hour and a half . This was the first time the district courts authorities directed the employees not to leave the courts premises during search operations.

Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, the District and Sessions Judge, Mr H.S Bhalla, said “he had discussed the bomb hoax problem with the Senior Superintendent of Police (City) and soon the court would have identification callers. He added that the police had insured him that they would arrest the culprits soon.

The Senior Superintendent of the Police, when contacted, said the police was trying to work out the motive behind the hoax calls. They were going to work in tandem with judicial officers is zeroing is on the accused.

Senior police officials informed that the department had taken steps to solve the bomb hoax problem. Five call identification machines had been installed at the control room number 100. It was difficult for the police to nab the culprits as the calls were most often made from a public call office.

Today’s incident spread resentment among the lawyer’s association, which condemned the incident. It complained that despite the number of hoax calls, the court authorities and the police had not taken the problem seriously.

The president of the Young Sikh Lawyers Association, said there were 19 courts in the district courts and hundreds of litigants, lawyers and employees visited the court everyday”. 

Hair may help nab killer
Rajmeet Singh
Tribune News Service

SAS Nagar, May 15
Presence of strands of hair in the fist of Daljit Kaur Mangat, a 60-year-old woman, found murdered in her Phase 4 house five days ago, could hold the clue to the identity of the assailants. The hair, found during the post-mortem examination of the victim, are suspected to be that of the assailants, which the victim might have caught hold of during the scuffle to free herself.

Though the police was zeroing on the adopted son of the victim, Rajwinder Singh, on the basis of investigations, forensic experts said the deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) testing of the hair samples could identify the assailants. The DNA testing facility existed at Hyderabad and Kolkata.

A single drop of blood or the root of as single hair could be enough to identify the DNA. A police official said through a search warrant, cells could be taken from a suspect by taking hair. The DNA from the crime scene and the suspect were cut and subjected to certain process. If the bands of the suspect’s DNA match the bands of the evidence DNA, the chances of the suspect present at the site of the crime were high, said forensic experts.

Police officials investigating the murder case said a sample of the hair had been sent for examination to the forensic laboratory at Patiala. The police wanted to single out the chances of the hair being artificial. Possibility of the strands of hair being of a male or a female was also yet to be ascertained.

As per the existing DNA testing practice used in criminal cases, the genetic material from the nucleus of the cell was analysed. The genes were an amalgam of traits inherited from both parents. Mitochandrial DNA testing compares genetic material in the mitchondria, the crucial energy-producing structures in cells.

The forensic experts felt that during investigations of violent crime such as homicide, fingerprints were not the most common type of evidence recovered by the police. Traces of blood or hair were more common. Forensic scientists have been able to use a technique called “DNA fingerprinting.

In the murder of Daljit Mangat, the assailant had tried to remove the fingerprints from the weapon, a girdle (tawa) used in the crime, by throwing it in a water-filled bucket. A telephone set which the assailants might have snatched from the victim, trying to call for help, had also been thrown in the water bucket. 

Jewellery worth Rs 50 lakh seized
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 15
Sleuths of the Income Tax Department have seized unaccounted jewellery worth Rs 50 lakh from a Sector 22 jeweller, whose premises and house were raided yesterday. Meanwhile, raids continued at the Talwar Sons jewellers in Sector 22-D today also.

Also under investigation are two Amritsar-based suppliers of jewellery who were nabbed red-handed by the sleuths while delivering the goods at the shop yesterday. Sources said sleuths had been following up the case for the past several months. Acting on a tip off about the arrival of the Amritsar-based suppliers the taxmen swooped on the shop within 30 minutes.

Director Investigation, Mr C.K. Vohra, said the jeweller had no record of the seized gold. He said rough estimates of the seizures will be known in three to four days.

Public show of intimate moments
Ruchika M. Khanna
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 15
A couple huddled on a scooter in the parking of a major city hospital, unmindful of hundreds of people around them; iron benches around the regulator end of the Sukhna Lake occupied by teenagers, some in their school uniforms, indulging in varying degrees of physical intimacy; youngsters sharing private moments in the landscaping of the Leisure Valley; and couples leaning over each other and openly flirting on the road leading from Kasturba Hall and Sarojini Hall towards the Arts Block in Panjab University — these are a few of the hot spots in the city which bear testimony to the fact that there has been a gradual shift in the old value system among city residents. The growing permissive behaviour is now out in public parks, restaurants, discotheques, social gatherings and pubs.

Examples of policemen getting hold of such couples and telling them to exercise restraint are common. Says Mr Parag Jain, Senior Superintendent of Police, “If anyone is overtly obscene at a public place and sensibilities of the public are being hurt by their actions, it leaves us with little option than to take the youth to task. As long as a couple is sitting together in a park holding hands, constables have been asked to ignore them.”

The police, often accused of playing the spoilsport, can actually intervene and book anyone being overtly obscene in a public place. According to Section 294 of the IPC, anyone indulging in indecent acts can be sentenced to rigorous imprisonment upto three months, or fine, or both.

Opines Mr Manmohan Kohli, president of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Chandigarh, “This is an ominous signal. The new behavioural pattern is not just by the elite, but has pervaded all socio-economic classes. Both genders have fallen prey to glitz and glamour. They discover that to go to the discotheque is in and to speak English is to be educated. It is here that permissiveness begins.”

A city resident adds, “The youth in the city mainly comprises outsiders — who may be students, employees or trainees — living away from home. They suddenly find the freedom to live at their own terms and to flirt with liberties, forbidden back home.”

Opines Dr Vidhu Mohan, a local psychologist, “The shift in our traditions and culture has been a result of the family, no longer having the desired common goals for the young members. The youth are allowed the freedom of thought and expression without any sense of responsibility. Reared on the Internet, MTV and Channel V, their impressionable minds succumb to and adopt the behaviour exhibited on these channels, bypassing our value system.”

New technique of copying unearthed
Tribune News Service

SAS Nagar, May 15
Practice of table marking of answer sheets of the science students who appeared in the senior secondary examination as adopted by the Punjab School Education Board has yielded results. A novel way of planned copying adopted by students and the supervisory staff has been unearthed by the board authorities.

The Controller of Examination, Ms Harcharan Kaur Brar, told Chandigarh Tribune that in a specific case the marking staff had unearthed a technique adopted by a non-medical student in changing the answer sheet of chemistry paper. “As the investigations in the case are in progress it would not be right to disclose the name and centre of the candidate,” said the controller, adding that the candidate in question was a regular student from a border district.

Involvement of the supervisory staff at the centre concerned has not been ruled out by the board officials. The irregularity was noticed by a lecture of Government Shivalik College, Naya Nangal, Mr B.S. Atwal, when he noticed that the title page of the answer sheet bearing serial no 465997 did not match with the impression of serial no 29840 printed on the inside pages. Moreover, the colour of the title page had a tinge of mauve colour whereas the inside pages of answer sheets had a tinge of blue colour. Handwriting on the title page was different from that on the inside pages. Mr Brar said the examination forms of the candidate was being scrutinised to match hand-writing.

Probably the entire answer sheet barring the title page had been solved outside the centre and replaced with the forged answer sheet. Stamp of the controller of examination on the answer sheet was also missing on the inside pages. The controller said the technique adopted by the candidate could have missed the eyes of the marking staff. She said more such cases could not be ruled out.

READERS WRITE
Dungheaps on roadside

While going from Manimajra Modern Complex to the railway station, there is a railway crossing and on either side of the road near this crossing, villagers have raised heaps of cowdung on the roadside. The dung is thrown there with no regard to the road users. Scooters can easily slip on this stretch, resulting in serious accidents.

Tarlok Singh Chandigarh

Unfair billing

These days power cuts are being imposed in Chandigarh to prevent the collapse of the northern grid. That is fair enough. But I would like to know why the consumers who are saving electricity are being penalised under the policy of minimum connected load. Today, I payed an electricity bill of Rs 350 without using a single unit of power. Earlier, for the same connected load, the charges were Rs 60. Then suddenly it was raised to Rs 132 in February and now it has been raised to Rs 350.

S. Kaur Chandigarh

Garbage removal

The state of sanitation in Chandigarh can be judged from the swarms of flies in the city. The collection, removal and disposal of garbage also provide a scale to measure the state of sanitation. Garbage collection sites have been set up at four to five places in each Sector. Garbage is generally found scattered around the bins at these sites where cattle and stray dogs feed themselves and rag-pickers rummage through the garbage for anything that might interest them. These sites have thus become eyesores for the residents. These sites also emit a foul smell, besides breeding flies.

A foolproof method of garbage collection can be house-to-house removal of garbage by garbage collection vehicles. This will also eliminate the filthy collection sites. Though this arrangement will be somewhat costly, the corporation can try this method by imposing a sanitation cess on the residents.

N.C. Chopra Chandigarh

COMMUNITY

HUDA for report on quake site
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, May 15
The Haryana Urban Development Authority will procure a detailed report of the quake-hit site on the premises of the Central Soil and Water Conservation Research Institute (CSWCRI) adjacent to the Mansa Devi temple.

Stating this here today, the Chief Administrator, said they had decided to get back to the geologist, Dr Javed Malik, working at Hiroshima University in Japan, to disclose his findings of the area, determine the status of the land and the viability of construction.

He added that the HUDA would consult other geologists also in this regard and that the discovery was in no way likely to interfere in their working since HUDA had not yet formulated any plans for the area.

An officer of HUDA was entrusted with the task of establishing contact with the geologist and getting his findings while taking the opinion of others associated with the study of the crack which appeared in Panchkula extension recently.

Cable signal disrupted
Tribune News Service

SAS Nagar, May 15
Transmission of signal from local cable operators was being disrupted for the past three days after the local administration conducted raids of the cable operators who were evading fee to be paid to the Post and Telegraph Department. Violation of the Copyright Act by the cable operators while screening movies was also checked by the officials of the Subdivisional Magistrate’s office.

The defaulting cable operators were asked to shut down their operations till they renewed their licence or got themselves registered with the Post and Telegraph Department. By this evening, most of the cable operators had, resumed their operations. As per provisions of the law, initial registration fee was Rs 2500. In case of SAS Nagar, the requisite licence was issued by the General Post Office at Ropar. The cable operators had to pay an annual fee for using the government land for laying the transmission cables. Most the cable operators used streetlight poles or erected their poles to carry the transmission cables.

In the town, there were three major cable operators who had further sublet their facility. Another four Chandigarh-based cable operators, including one owned by a national-level satellite channel, were transmitting their programmes by subletting the lines. Around 15,000 subscribers were spread throughout the town, said the owner of Mohali Satellite Communications. He said the cable operators had to obtain the licence to run the facility. He admitted that the checking by the SDM office had disrupted the transmission for different periods in the past three days.

The local Municipal Council was ready to impose a certain amount of fee on the cable operators to allow erection of poles to carry their cables, said the president of the civic body.

Water blues for labourers 
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, May 15
While the district is plagued with problems of low water pressure as summer progresses, those residing in jhuggis seem to be the worst hit as they have no regular water connections.

In the Mansa Devi Complex, where construction work is in full swing and families of labourers are putting up in open spaces, the problem of water paucity is acute. Early mornings bring the jhuggi-dwellers out of their homes in search of water, with most of them converging on the two taps in Swastik Vihar with buckets and cans.

Rain lowers temperature, lifts spirits
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 15
Dark clouds accompanied by a light shower lowered the day time temperature in the city and its surrounding areas and lifted the sun-scorched spirits of the people. This afternoon rain also broke the dry spell.

The local met office predicted more rain for tomorrow while informing that the city recorded 2 mm of rain this evening. The day time temperature was recorded at 36.4 degrees celsius, which was 2 degrees below the normal for this time of the year .The local met office said upper air cyclonic circulation over Punjab has caused the rain. Today’s rain was a welcome relief for city residents.

The rain was preceded by a dust storm. The power department, switched off the supply for sometime as a precautionary measure. Pleasant weather in the evening lured several residents to Sukhna lake, the Rose Garden and the Terrace Garden.

30 sewing machines distributed
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 15
As many as 30 persons living below poverty line in Colony No 5 here were given sewing machines and certificates by the Municipal Commissioner, Mr M.P. Singh, on the completion of a vocational training programme in tailoring and embroidery.

The programme was organised by the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh in association with the Lions Club (Mid Town) under the centrally-sponsored scheme of the Swaran Jayanti Shahiri Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY).

Presiding over the function, Mr M.P. Singh called upon the trainees to take up economic ventures for improving their living standard.

Earlier, the Assistant Commissioner-cum-Project Director of the SJSRY, advised the beneficiaries to form the development of women and children in urban areas (DWCUA) groups in “quilting and embroidery’’ for which 50 per cent subsidy is admissible.

The project report for the same would be prepared by the Urban Poverty Eradication cell of the corporation, he added.

The District Manager of Punjab National Bank also offered participants loan facility for their economic activities. Later, Mr B.S. Jaswal of the Lions Club, who was instrumental in organising the training, highlighted the progress report of the beneficiaries of the vocational programme organised earlier by the MC.

Confed employees stage dharna
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, May 15
Hundreds of employees of the Confed employees Welfare Union from different districts of Haryana held a dharna in front of the Confed office here today. They were protesting against decision of the Haryana Government to close down the Confed.

The president of the union, Mr Gurupdesh Singh Virk, said, the government had taken a wrong decision despite the fact that in the last 10-years Confed had generated extra revenue for the state.

In the afternoon the union held a rally at Matka Chowk and submitted a memorandum to the Officer on Special Duty to the Chief Minister, Haryana. 

FENG SHUI TIPS
Let success come through the main door

In Feng Shui, the main door is the most important thing that is considered in a house. It is from this door that Chi enters the abode. In apartments, it is the entrance door of each flat that is considered the main door. The entrance to the building is also important as it affects everybody living in it.

There are some general factors that are to be considered. First the main door should always open inside. Inside-opening doors welcome good energies instead of deflecting them.

Poison arrows in the outside environment should never directly hit the main door. You should also make sure that your main door does not face a road coming directly to it.

Straight roads act as poison arrows and generally bifurcate the house into parts. These roads also carry bad energies with them, which might be manifested in the house. People living in such houses generally have a history of health problems and other misfortunes. 

Harshna

Address your Feng Shui queries to:
E-mail: fengshui@tribuneindia.com
Postal address: C/o F.S. TIPS
The Tribune, Sector-29, Chandigarh-160020.

CRIME

Girl abducted, alleges father
Our Correspondent

Panchkula, May 15
A minor girl staying with her parents in Indira Colony here has been missing since May 11. Her parents allege that she has been abducted by a youth of the same colony.

Sources said 14-year-old Vibha had allegedly been abducted by Dinesh Kumar, who was staying with his sister Phoolvati in the same locality, on May 11.

Mr Ram Nath, the girl’s father, complained that the police had adopted an indifferent attitude, though he had approached Sector 16 police station twice. The police had not registered a case in this case.

The chowki in charge said Dinesh and Phoolvati had been interrogated and were found innocent. The police was investigating the matter, he said. 

Chain snatched away from woman
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 15
Two scooter-borne miscreants snatched away a gold chain from Ms Anju Aggarwal while she was standing in front of her house in Sector 21-A, here today.

According to the police, the accused appeared to be in their early twenties. The scooter they were driving was without a number plate.

Theft cases
In another case of theft, Rs 4,400 was stolen from the tool box of a scooter while it was parked at the residence of Mr Mohinder Singh in Sector 27-D on Monday.

A case under Section 379 of the IPC has been registered at the Sector 26 police station.

Two scooters were stolen from different parts of the city on Monday. Mr Deepak Sharma has reported that his scooter (CH-01S 6795) was stolen from his Sector 41-D residence on Sunday night. In another case, Mr Sunil Kumar’s scooter (CH-01B-0888) was stolen from the Shastri Market, Sector 22, on Sunday.

Two booked
The police has booked Mohan Singh and Vinod Kumar, both watchmen at the PGI’s main car parking, on charge of stealing stereos from a Maruti car (CH-01R-2007) and a Tata Sierra (HR-01D-1922). The police has registered a case under Sections 379 and 406 of the IPC.

Girl abducted
Kamlesh has reported that Raj, alias Raju, a resident of Sector 52, abducted her minor daughter on May 9. A case under Sections 363 and 366 of the IPC has been registered.

One injured
A scooterist, Ms Yogini Sood, was hit by a car (CH-03A-3011) near the Garcha turn. She was admitted to the Sector 16 General Hospital. The accused car driver fled away from the spot with the car. The police has registered a case under Sections 279 and 337 of the IPC. 

35 rounded up in special drive
Tribune News Service

SAS Nagar, May 15
At least 35 persons were rounded up by the local police during a combing operation launched in the labour colonies in the town here today.

The police seized five scooters and tractors after the persons claiming ownership of the vehicles could not produce their registration documents.

The Superintendent of Police, SAS Nagar, said the combing exercise was conducted in Sectors 70 and 71, Jhota Kut Colony, Udham Singh Colony in Phase X and slums around Shahi Majra village.

Some of the persons rounded up were let off after questioning.

He said the police had focused its attention on burglaries in the town. It had been observed that in most of the thefts at night, the burglars had targeted the locked houses.

The police would soon call a meeting of the local residents welfare associations to make the residents aware about the precautions to be taken while the occupants were away. 

Youth beaten up near Panchkula
Our Correspondent

Panchkula, May 15
A 21-year-old man, Sethi Ram, working with an advocate in the district court here, was reportedly beaten up by four unidentified persons near the bridge over the Ghaggar river on the Panchkula-Naraingarh road in broad daylight here today.

The victim, working with Mr K. K. Saini, a local advocate, for the past some years, used to assist the lawyer in the temporary chamber in front of the district court complex.

According to information available, an unidentified youth approached Mr Sethi Ram to prepare documents for a pre-arrest bail of an accused who was waiting for him near Majri Chowk He was told to accompany him to the spot.

On reaching the chowk, the victim found nobody there.

The unidentified person told Sethi Ram that the accused might be nearby and took Sethi to the Ghaggar bridge, where three unidentified youth were waiting for him.

As he reached the spot, the four unidentified attacked Sethi and ran away. A DDR has been recorded by the police.

Fake signature case: one more held
Our Correspondent

Panchkula, May 15
Another accused allegedly involved in the fake signature case of transfers in the Haryana CM’s office was arrested by the police here today.

The accused, Mahanbir Singh, was employed as a clerk in the Haryana Home Department. He was allegedly getting Rs 1,500 in each transfer case.

The police has already arrested 10 accused in this case. Four accused have been granted bail by the District Courts while Dharam Pal, a resident of the Morni Hills, is still absconding.

Mahanbir Singh will be produced in the court tomorrow.