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| Thursday,
June 7, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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Security tents outside VIP homes to
go Chandigarh June 6 The Chandigarh Administration, at a recent high-level meeting, asked the Punjab and Haryana Governments to get tents put up outside the homes of their officials or politicians, shifted inside the homes. Wherever space constraint does not permit the removal the tents will have to be removed and the force will come in shifts from reserve locations for duty. Tents set up for use by security personnel are usually a source of irritation and discomfort for city residents. For long the Administration has been receiving complaints that cops on security duty indulge in open defecation, play loud music and in some cases even consume liquor in the tents. Most security tents have power connection through kundis. Besides this the chances of misuse of these security personnel by the children of these VIPs is quite high. This has showed up in so many cases in the past when VIP kids have used their dad’s gunmen to intimidate citizens. During the recent meeting it was pointed out that in 1998 a discussion on the subject was initiated. Then the representatives of the Governments of Punjab and Haryana and Chandigarh Administration present at the meeting had agreed to take various steps. One of the points was with regard to the removal/shifting of tents pitched outside government residences for use by security personnel. Now the Administration asked the states to follow what was mutually agreed upon up at the meeting in 1998. Then it had been decided that instructions would be issued by the Director General of Police or the Inspector General of Police concerned to the effect that the tents pitched outside government residences for use by security personnel would be shifted within the premises of the government residences concerned immediately. Wherever, because of constraint of space, this was not possible, the tent in any case would be removed and security personnel would come in the required shifts from various reserve locations. The Chief Secretaries of Punjab and Haryana and the Home Secretary, Chandigarh, were to inform each official, who has been supplied with security guards at his residence, about the decision to shift the tents within the residential premises and request for their cooperation in this regard. Since then nothing other than paper work had happened. The Chandigarh Administration issued reminders to the Director General of Police, Punjab and Haryana, respectively and also to Inspector General of Police, Chandigarh on August 25, 1998. Thereafter reminders were issued on September 7, 1998, January 15, 1999, March1, 2000 and October 6, 2000, to the Chief Secretaries of Punjab and Haryana, respectively, for getting the tents pitched by security personnel outside government residences, removed . The Chief Secretary of Government of Haryana was also reminded demi-officially on October 31, 2000, December 21, 2000 and March 14, 2001. A DO reminder was also issued to the Chief Secretary to Government of Punjab on March14, 2001. At the recent meeting which was chaired by the Punjab Governor and UT Administrator, Lieut Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd), the issued was discussed again and the governments were asked to get their act right, sources said. |
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TRIBUNE VIGIL Chandigarh, June 6 They thought that their business would improve as customers with cards would get points for shopping at their stores. Now, after the scheme has been withdrawn, they are all bitter. They have not made any money out of the scheme and, now, each of them wants Rs 2,500, that he or she had paid as an advance, back. The scheme sounded rather simple. After paying Rs 150 as membership charges, subscribers were issued temporary VFM cards. The members were to get value points on their purchases at the 75 member establishments (MEs). The points could be redeemed on a monthly basis or in groups of Rs 500 and Rs1,000 by the members. However, before more than 10,000 members (as claimed by the company in a letter to the members) could redeem the points, the firm cancelled the scheme due to “technical problems”. While the members got their membership charges back, the advance money of the MEs has not been refunded so far. Mr Jagdish Pal Singh Kalra, owner of an ME in Sector 17, said the scheme had practically lasted for about a month and it should refund his advance money for two months. “The company representatives also took away my Electronic Data Capture (EDC) machine, that was used for punching the cards, on the pretext of loading certain software on it,” he alleged. Meanwhile, Mr Devinder Sandhu, Senior Director of the Pinnacle Group, when contacted, blamed Venture Infotech, company that had developed the software and back-up support, for the failure of the scheme. “First, the machines did not work due to software snags and, later, the VFM cards supplied by Venture Infotech were not upto the mark. The Pinnacle Group was only marketing the concept,” he said. He said the company had no plans to revive the scheme because it had already suffered heavy losses for no faults of it. He said he hoped that the grievances of the owners of the MEs would be sorted out at a meeting that was to be called soon. Meanwhile, owners of the MEs are surprised at the contents of the company’s letter to the members. The letter says that the members “can still show their temporary cards at the Pinnacle Merchants and avail themselves of direct discounts”. “How is it possible when the scheme has been cancelled?” said Mr Kalra. |
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SPECIAL STORY Chandigarh, June 6 A number of persons in the city and satellite townships of Panchkula and SAS Nagar are reportedly earning a fast buck by using the financed vehicles as taxis, even as the vehicles remain hypothecated with the financial institutions. Not only this, the vehicle is reportedly left back with the financier when the latter demands his monthly instalments. But this is done only after they have recovered the sum that they had invested with the financier by plying the vehicle as a taxi for a couple of months. With quite a number of cases reported recently, most financiers in the city have now become wary of financing a select brand of cars. The antecedents of all customers getting cars like Tata Indica, Toyota Qualis, Sumo etc are thoroughly checked before a deal is finalised. Says an employee of ICICI Bank, on condition of anonymity, “Generally, the particulars of a customer wishing to get either of these cars financed, are double checked in order to avoid any problem later on.” The modus operandi used by these people is to first get a vehicle financed by submitting the correct statement of their monthly income through income tax returns etc. After the formalities are completed and the vehicle has been financed on a hire-purchase basis, they are very regular with paying the monthly instalment to the financier. After about four to five instalments, the customer suddenly stops paying instalments. “Since a minimum of 10 per cent of the price of the vehicle has to be paid to the financier as the principal along with post-dated cheques, these people start plying the vehicles as taxis in order to recover the principal as well as the instalments that have been paid. After the financiers begin to issue reminders, fearing the customer to be a defaulter and threatens them with legal action, they return the car to the financier,” informed a private car financier in Sector 20. It is also learnt that these people generally prefer to use the services of a bank rather than a private financier, as they fear the alleged use of strong-arm tactics by the latter. It is learnt that most of these companies have given contracts to henchmen for getting the vehicles back from customers, if they fail to pay their monthly instalments. Mr Prabal Anand, Assistant Manager, Bank of Punjab, said that they prefer to have an out-of-court settlement by repossessing the vehicle from such defaulters as waiting for a court case would mean losing more money. “The financier cannot auction off such vehicle till the time the case is settled in the court. This further adds to the depreciation value of the vehicle. In such cases it is desired that the vehicles be repossessed and then sold off so that the financier suffers minimum loss,” he said. Mr Shamsher Singh, Manager of Punjab and Sind Bank, Sector 47, said that fearing defaulters in the business of car financing, they prefer to finance vehicles only to people having a regular employment, in either a reputed business concern or in government service. Interestingly, it is also observed that a large number of people also dupe the financiers by selling off the financed cars, while they still remain hypothecated with the latter. Such a case had come to light recently when a Panchkula resident had got five to six cars financed from different places and then sold them off to unsuspecting people. He had reportedly taken half the amount of the cars from his customers as advance and said that he would take the balance once he had cleared his dues with the financiers and got the car registered in their names. With so many cases of defaulters, a number of banks and private financiers have now joined hands and availed the services of a private concern. A dossier of known defaulters in the city has been prepared so that other financiers become wary of them. |
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Panchkula has developed but not industrial
estate Panchkula, June 6 Located on the eastern rim of Chandigarh, Panchkula came into being in the year 1972 after the ancillary units working for Hindustan Machine Tools at Pinjore established their units here. At that time, the infrastructure in Panchkula was almost non-existent: there were no roads, no public transport, no telecommunications while power supply was grossly inadequate. Today, nearly three decades later, although Panchkula town has grown into a bustling township, development seems to have bypassed the Panchkula industrial estate. Things continue to be as bad they were, with the result that not many are keen to set up their units here. And those who are already operating from here are thinking in terms of shifting somewhere else. Things are so bad, say Mr Mehar Singh and Mr
B.N.Gupta, president and general secretary of the newly set up Small-Scale Industries Welfare Association of
Panchkula, that even distress sale of industrial plots and the units set up on them is failing to attract many buyers. “We are, therefore, stuck here,” they say. The high rate of taxation has become a major hurdle in the growth of industry in
Panchkula. Taxation in Haryana is much more than what is levied in either Chandigarh or
Mohali. Central sales tax is 4 per cent, which is uniform all over the country. But units in Panchkula also have to contribute to the Local Area Development Tax, which is 4 per cent. This tax is not charged either in Chandigarh or
Mohali. Another tax that the government is planning to impose is the municipality tax which does not exist either in Chandigarh or SAS
Nagar. High power tariff is another major sore point with the industrial units here. A tax of five paise per unit has already been imposed as municipality tax. Besides that, the cost of electricity has been fixed at Rs 200 per
PW. Instead of imposing tax on the actual power used, the charges have been levied on the load sanctioned which the units find very difficult to pay. As one industrialist put it, power has become the main disincentive for the industrialists here. It has killed almost every other small-scale unit here. And those which survive, are not running to full capacity because of the shortage of working capital and lack of orders. Truck operators have become a law unto themselves. They charge exorbitantly and do not allow anyone from outside to operate in this industrial estate. “We have to pay double the money paid by the Chandigarh industrial units for covering the same distance.” The minimum monthly consumption
(MMC) charges have been raised from Rs 60 per KW to Rs 200 some time ago. In the case of furnace industry, it has been raised to Rs 400. Seasonal units dealing with rice shelling, fruit processing, oil etc are billed round the year in spite of working for just a few months because the MMC is chargeable, irrespective of the power consumed. There are any number of cases where a given unit does not consume more than 60 per cent of the allotted power. Little wonder that many of the units have either shut down or cut back production. The condition of the road is deplorable to put it mildly. Strips of kutcha land are called roads. Most of the roads are in such a bad condition that units of the area have themselves been undertaking routine repairs, including filling of potholes and replacement of street lights. Units located in sparsely-populated areas have frequently become the target of robbers in the absence of adequate police protection. Many units have, therefore, been forced to hire private security to survive here. |
TRIBUNE
IMPACT Chandigarh, June 6 This is one of the several steps taken by Indian Railways to restore the “exclusivity”in this train launched in 1989, promising comfortable and fast inter-city travel. It had been reduced to a high-cost mail/express train, shedding in the process its punctuality, comfort and cleanliness. Chandigarh Tribune highlighted the deterioration in this “pride of Indian Railways train” on March 27as a cross-section of Shatabdi travellers had maintained that the airconditioned coaches, with piping hot snack trays and friendly ambience, were becoming a part of history. The authorities, shaken by continuous criticism in the media, have reportedly taken some steps to redress some of the grievances of regular travellers. For example, the hot water flasks have been reintroduced, thus giving the passengers the option to make tea or coffee of their choice at their leisure. Though readymade tea or coffee from Nescafe vending machine is also available on board, the major choice for passengers has been flasks. Besides, certain changes have also been made in the menu of the snacks. For example, in the breakfast, the welcome change is introduction of idli vada and sambar. Some changes have also been made in the evening refreshments and the lunch menu. Passengers are now served Bisleri mineral water bottles against the earlier supply of local bottled water. Chandigarh Tribune had highlighted among others the following complaints of the commuters :
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Challaned ‘without
violation’ Chandigarh, June 6 The vehicles of Mr Jagmohan Singh and Dr Nalini Chawla were reportedly wrongly challaned by the police personnel. Talking to the Chandigarh Tribune, Mr Jagmohan said, ‘‘I was sitting on the driver’s seat and the engine was also on. Under no rule could they have challaned me.’’ Same was the case with Dr Nalini
Chawla, who was sitting in the car with her mother. She said, ‘‘I kept arguing with the challaning officials but to no avail.’’ Her vehicle number is CHF 6948 and the challan number is 6135. The two disgruntled citizens allowed themselves to be challaned under protest. The confusion had reportedly risen so much that DSP (Traffic) Vijay Pal also reached the spot. SP (Traffic) Balbir Singh has also been posted on the matter. Meanwhile, DSP Traffic Vijay Pal when contacted said that the ignitions were not on and hence the vehicles had been
challaned. |
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Summer workshop at
Press Club Chandigarh, June 6 More than 100 children in the age group of four to 14 years are participating in the workshop. It will focus on theatre, dance and art and craft. The workshop is sponsored by the Besten Foundation. Mr Tota Singh said: "Earlier children in their leisure time used to listen to stories from their grand-parents but now most of the time they watch TV programme. Participating in such workshops helped children develop creative instinct." He contributed Rs 11,000 for the workshop. The workshop will conclude with a play and an exhibition of the art work done by the children at Tagore Theatre on June 20. |
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Bansal writes to Centre on NSCs Chandigarh, June 6 In a letter to the Union Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, Mr Bansal said a large number of persons, who had invested in the NSCs issued by the post offices in the HUF accounts in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, were being denied interest at the time of maturity. If the NSCs could not be issued in the HUF accounts that was for the post offices people to know about the rules. But once these were actually issued, the same being issued in the nature of promissory notes issued on behalf of the government, there was no justification in declining to honour the same, Mr Bansal said. |
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Jan chetna
rally in city Chandigarh, June 6 Addressing a press conference, Mr Rana said the main objective of the yatra was to give a clarion call to the masses and nationalists against the indiscriminate liberalisation policies and entry of the MNCs. He informed that the SJP leaders were touring the country in the yatras from Jaganath Puri, Ranchi, Patna, Luchnow, Muraina and Shimla to apprise the people of the fallout of the economic policies of the Central Government which had been tailor-made to suit the repressive demands of the WTO. The NDA government has put India on sale, Mr Rana said, alleging that profit-making PSUs like Modern Bakeries and Balco had been sold for peanuts and several more were likely to be sold off in the name of the disinvestment. He made a passionate appeal to the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, to allow flow of water to the farmers’ fields of Haryana. He urged the Central Government to resolve the problem of irrigation water of the Haryana farmers. The different yatras will reach Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on June 16 from where a combined yatra would start for Porbandar on June 20 under the leadership of Mr Chandra Shekhar, a former Prime Minister of India, he added. |
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Road in poor condition Chandigarh, June 6 Residents of the area, who are sore about its upkeep and maintenance, point out that constant water leakage in the pipeline during the past few months has further led to the weakening of the road. Those residing in the nearby bank colony in Sector 42 said the problem aggravates in monsoons. Surinder Raghav, a bank employee, said a woman employee of his bank sustained head injuries after falling from scooter near this roundabout. While the residents blame the MC for its apathy, a senior official said that the work was held up due to lack of funds. He said that the water pipeline often ruptures due to heavy traffic on these roads and work was being undertaken to strengthen this patch by putting RC slabs since the estimate for the same had now been approved. Once this is completed in next few days, the repair of the said crossing would be undertaken. |
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Phariwalas held for manhandling
cops Chandigarh, June 6 Meanwhile, four phariwalas were arrested under Sections 34, 5 and 61 of the Police Act for manhandling two sub-inspectors and a constable of the MC enforcement staff while they were issuing challans in Sector 17. The sub-inspectors on duty were Mr Jagmohan Lal and Mr Madan Lal Sharma. The constable on duty was also attacked. The four phariwalas who used to display belts and toys in the corridors and were being issued challans for encroaching public corridor. Besides, as many as 91 challans were issued by the staff of the MC enforcement wing. According to information available, as many as 39 challans were issued in the southern sectors of Sectors 34, 40, 44, 45, 46, Palsora and Sector 22, while 35 others were issued challans in Sectors 15, 17, 18, 19, 29 and 33. Three incomplete houses, which were coming on the MC land in the bank colony and had almost been constructed till the ceiling, were also demolished with the help of a JCB bull dozer under the supervision of the magistrate concerned. |
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Two killed Kharar, June 6 According to the police, some persons were travelling in a Gypsy (DDV-6152) and were coming towards Kharar when the Gypsy was hit by a truck (HR-08-GA-0157) coming from the opposite side. Three occupants of the Gypsy were injured seriously. They were taken to the Civil Hospital, Kharar, where Parminder Singh and Sarabjit Singh were declared dead and the third person, Kulwinder Singh, who was seriously injured, was referred to the PGI, Chandigarh. |
FENG SHUI
TIPS The influence of Yin and Yang in the practice of Feng Shui is a universal reflection of the way the Chinese view the earth’s energies. This means that every room, office, or home should be in a state of balance. If these places are balanced, things occur and run smoothly. If earth energies are out of balance problems start and troubles occur. Commercial buildings and shopping places are lively places and so these places should have a lot of Yang energy. These places can be made very Yang with bright colours, activity and music. The positive energy in such places will bring a lot of good business and luck. One can keep the front part of one’s shops well lit. Offices should not have an excess of grey steel cabinets, dark coloured walls and dark silent corners. Offices like these will never do well in their work. Offices should always be bright and airy. The energies should never be stagnant. The window of the office should have a good view as this will help the people working in the room to be more energetic as in addition to a good view the window brings light inside. I personally advise people to keep quite a few plants in offices as these add to the feeling of life and activity.
Harshna
Address your Feng Shui queries to: Postal address: C/o
F.S. TIPS |
Man duped at power bill collection
office Chandigarh, June 6 Mr Vijay Kumar, a resident of Sector 22, has alleged that he was duped by a person of Rs 1,600 when he had gone to deposit his electricity bill at the electricity office in Sector 22 yesterday. He said that an unidentified person approached him and said that his friend was working in the electricity office, so he would deposit the bill. The accused slipped away with the amount. A case under Section 420 of the IPC has been registered. Woman assaulted: Raj Devi, a resident of Colony No 4, has alleged that Chand Prakash and Anil Kumar assaulted her last night. She has been admitted to the GMCH, Sector 32. and a case under Sections 324 and 34 of the IPC has been registered. Scooters stolen:
Two scooters were stolen from different parts of the city during the past 24 hours. While one scooter (PB-65-1167) was reportedly stolen from the fragrance Garden parking lot, Sector 36, yesterday, another scooter (CH-01W-4119) was stolen from the Haryana State Cooperative Bank parking lot in Sector 17. In both cases, an FIR under Section 379 of the IPC has been registered. Liquor seized: Nintyseven pouches of whisky were seized from Rukam Pal and Bandu Ram in Sector 52 yesterday. They have been arrested and booked under the Excise Act. PO arrested: The local police arrested Madan Lal, a proclaimed offender, wanted in several cases of theft here today. According to information, he was arrested from the Inter-State Bus Terminus, Sector 17, this afternoon. He was declared proclaimed offender by the city police in 1990. Police sources said that Madan was a resident of Dadu Majra colony. He belongs to the notorious Sansi tribe. Pick-pocket arrested: The police arrested Satpal, a resident of Kumhar Colony, Sector 25, after he picked the pocket of a patient in General Hospital, Sector 16, this afternoon. He was booked under Sections 379 and 411, IPC. Fake lion hide: The police arrested two married women who were selling fake lion hide from the Sector 15 market this evening. According to information, accused Babita and Shama are residents of Karnataka, but were presently living near the Suraj cinema, Panckhula. The two were booked under Section 420 of the IPC. Arrested:
A man and his two sons have been booked by the police on the charge of manhandling a Municipal Corporation inspector and two cops when they tried to remove his roadside shop in Sector 17 today. A case under Sections 186 and 354 of the IPC has been registered against Shankar and his two sons. It is alleged that they manhandled Mr Madan Lal Sharma, inspector in MC, and two cops when they asked him to remove his wares from opposite Deepak Radios in Sector 17. Shankar has been arrested but his sons are still at large. Gold chain snatched:
A woman's gold chain was snatched by two scooter-borne youths in Sector 43 at about 8 pm today. The police has registered a case.
Dera Bassi Child injured: Legs of a four-year-old boy of Kakrali village were crushed when a truck (HR-37-4785) ran over him on the Dera Bassi-Ramgarh road here today. According to the police, the victim, Parvinder Singh, was going to his home when he met with an accident. He was rushed to the PGI, Chandigarh, where his condition was said to be serious. The truck driver fled. After impounding the vehicle, a case has been registered at Dera Bassi police station.
SAS NAGAR Burn injuries:
Kanwaljeet Kaur (26) suffered 80 per cent burn injuries when her clothes caught fire while she was working in the kitchen in her in-laws' house in Sohana. The victim was married six months ago. The Station House Officer, Sohana, Mr G.P. Singh, said the girl in her statement had said that it was accidental. She has been admitted to the PGI, Chandigarh. |
Rally by transport union Chandigarh, June 6 Workers of the union were demanding dropping of scheme of operating private air-conditioner and mini buses in Chandigarh, payment of ex gratia for the last four years, payment of “overtime” and TA, filling of vacant posts of all categories, promotions against the posts of Station Supervisor, Traffic Manager, Works Manager and ADM (T and S), appointment on compassionate ground on Punjab pattern in respect of the kids of deceased employees. |
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