9 of family killed in accident
Rahul Das and Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Ambala/Ludhiana, September 30
Nine persons belonging to a Ludhiana family were killed and three, including a Shiv Sena leader, critically injured when a Tata Sumo in which they were travelling collided head-on with an LPG tanker at Shambu, near Rajpura, this morning. The dead included two women and two children.

Tragedy struck the family of Mr Sandeep Mittal, a Ludhiana resident and president of the district unit of the Shiv Sena (Bal Thackeray), when his nine family members died on the spot. While the names of the victims could not be known, Mr Pawan Sharma, a leader of the Shiv Sena, said the dead included the parents of Mr Mittal, his two brothers, sisters-in-law, two nephews and another relative. Mr Mittal and two other unidentified persons were rushed to the PGI, Chandigarh. Their condition was said to be serious.

According to Mr Sharma, the victims were heading towards Hardwar and had left the city this morning in a Tata Sumo car. The tanker with which the vehicle collided was also damaged. However, the driver escaped unhurt. He later ran away from the spot.

The accident took place on a stretch of the road which was rendered one-way by the police.

A large number of activists of the Shiv Sena, relatives and friends rushed to the accident site and the PGI. Mr Pawan Gupta, state president, Shiv Sena (Bal Thackeray), said the condition of the injured was serious.

According to an Ambala report, those who died on the spot included two men, two women and a child. The child was taken to the Ambala City Civil Hospital where the child was declared dead. The remaining victims were first taken to the Ambala Civil Hospital, which referred them to the PGI, in view of their serious condition. Four of them later succumbed to their injuries in the PGI.

Those who died in the accident are: Jai Prakash, his wife, Lajwanti, and his daughter-in-law, Vineta. Driver of the ill-fated Sumo, Charanjit, who also died on the spot. Another injured, Babloo, was taken to the Civil Hospital, Ambala, succumbed to his injuries.

Four other seriously injured namely Suman Lata Mittal, Ashok Mittal, Sanjeev Mittal and one child succumbed to their injuries at the PGI. Sandeep Mittal, Pooja, Nishu and one other person who are also seriously injured are being treated at the PGI.

Harsh Soni cremated
Our Correspondent

Panchkula, September 30
Gloom descended on Sector 11 soon after the body of Dr Harsh Soni, who was strangulated to death allegedly by his colleague near doctors’ hostel of the Pt B.D. Sharma Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) in Rohtak, yesterday, reached his home this morning.

A heart-rending scene was witnessed as the body was placed in his house to perform the last rites. The body was cremated at noon.

The mother of the deceased, Sumitra Verma, and sisters, Reena and Nidhi, were in a state of shock and being consoled by family members and other relatives.

Son of Mr N.D. Verma, Personal Secretary, Financial Commissioner, Cooperation Department, Haryana, Harsh was doing internship and was to be awarded MBBS degree in December.

Family members complained that the college authorities and the Rohtak police did not inform the parents of the victim about the incident. They received a call from one of Harsh’s colleagues in the same college who also belongs to Panchkula. The college authorities did not inform the police about the murder.

Moreover, neither the college authorities terminated the accused nor the police arrested them. Family members, who had gone to Rohtak to get the body, had a tough time to get the post-mortem examination done from the same hospital.

Harsh was strangulated to death allegedly by Yatinder Pal, one of his colleagues, after giving him laced juice at a restaurant of Haryana Tourism on Friday night.

According to the Rohtak police, Yatinder Pal offered dinner to Harsh and Mohit Singhal and took them to the restaurant in a car (CH-01-5966) owned by Mohit. After having beer outside the restaurant, Yatinder allegedly served Diazepam (a drug)-laced juice to Harsh and Mohit following which the medicos fell unconscious.

The police said Yatinder took the car and room keys from Mohit and drove back to the hostel. He assisted Mohit to his room No. 16 and made him sleep on the bed and locked the room from outside. It was about 12.30 am on Saturday.

After that Yatinder allegedly strangulated unconscious Harsh with a plastic string which he had already taken from his own room. He further strangulated Harsh with the stethoscope. Later, Yatinder dragged the body to Mohit’s room.

While talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Mr Verma said the accused confessed the crime and narrated the sequence of the incident to him at Rohtak.

Mr Verma said to confirm if the medico was dead, Yatinder cut pieces of flesh near his naval and both shoulders in the hostel room.

After the accused switched off the light and locked the room from outside, he made telephone calls to the Deputy Commissioner, the Superintendent of Police and the District and Sessions Judge, but to no avail.

But the police reached the spot after locating the telephone number on identity caller at the police control room.

The accused also informed Mohit’s father, Mr Giani Ram Singhal, at Gurgaon saying that a doctor was found murdered in his son’s room.

He also told Mr Singhal to bring Rs 1.25 to get the matter settled.

Mohit regain consciousness and found Harsh murdered on the floor and the door locked from outside.

He than raised alarm and the neighbouring doctors opened the door and the matter was taken up with the college and police authorities.

A case under Section 302 of the IPC has been registered by the Rohtak police on the complaint of Mohit and against Yatinder. However, no arrest has been made so far.

Beware kids, policeman is watching you!
Geetanjali Gayatri
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, September 30
Students whizzing to schools everyday on two-wheelers is not an unusual sight that would invite uncomfortable stares from passers-by.

Most of these students do not have proper licences. In case of those who possess a licence, the age mentioned on the licence and that shown by the birth certificate submitted in school, generally differs.

This, the police discovered the last time it carried out a special drive to check such violations by school-going children outside educational institutions. They were left after a stern warning and asked to mend their ways.

With the schools having done their bit by checking papers and licences of the students bringing vehicles to schools in consonance with instructions issued to their heads by the police after the last drive, the police is ready, yet again, to launch a drive against such violators.

“We have given the school authorities nearly a month to check the documents of students driving to schools on vehicles. After the schools reopen on October 3, we will go back to the schools for a follow-up to ensure we have achieved the purpose of discouraging young drivers,” says Ms Bharti Arora, ASP in charge of traffic in the city.

“We have verified licences and papers of all students using their own vehicles to come to school. Those found flouting the rules have been asked to discontinue the use of vehicles and entry of all such vehicles in the school has been banned,” says Dr Rajni Thareja, Principal, Hansraj Public School, Sector 6.

However, such restrictions on the woe of parking space in schools has created a new problem. Now market places in the vicinity have graduated to being the favourite haunt of “vehicle-friendly” students availing themselves of the facility of parking space.

“Despite having warned students against bringing vehicles to school, we are aware they are bringing their vehicles to school which remain parked in the vicinity during school hours. I have parents coming to me asking for permission to let their wards park vehicles on the school premises, says Mr Krit Serai, Principal of Satluj Public School, Sector 4.

Now, in an effort to ensure safe driving in the city, the police has planned a crackdown on such traffic violators soon after the schools reopen on October 3.

Modernised bus queue shelters
Rajmeet Singh
Tribune News Service

SAS Nagar, September 30
Poorly maintained bus queue shelters will soon be a thing of the past. After Ludhiana, the town will be the second place in the northern region to have world-class bus queue shelters.

Costing around Rs 1.65 lakh, a modern bus queue shelter will be made of steel and pre-fabricated light weight structure. To start with, a bus queue shelter in Sector 69, along the Chandigarh, Sohana road will be constructed by a private firm, More Group India. A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of PUDA, chaired by its Chief Administrator, Mr K.B.S. Sidhu. The private firm has already constructed such bus queue shelters in Ludhiana.

Ms Sidhu said the firm would be given complete rights of advertising at a particular slot for a specific period. Of the three visible sides of a bus queue shelter, PUDA was likely to be allowed to put its advertisement and the space on other two sides would be sold to various advertisers by the firm. However, the final terms and conditions of giving the rights of advertising was yet to be finalised.

He said if the bus queue shelter constructed by the firm was found suitable, more sites would be allotted through the process of competitive tendering. He said the Senior Town Planner, PUDA, would identify the sites for the bus queue shelters.

The Senior Town Planner, Mr Jeet Gupta, said maintenance of the structures would be the responsibility of the firm. He said the structures would be allowed at the sites where there was a requirement and the volume of traffic was more. During the night hours, glow signs of advertisers would be an added attraction.

Since most of the sectors developed by PUDA had been transferred to the SAS Nagar civic body, a strategy to coordinate with the officials of the civic body was being worked out. It may be pertinent to mention that the civic body had already approved an agenda item in its meeting to allow a private firm to raise modern bus queue shelters.

The PUDA officials were contemplating to identify sites in the developing sectors where the private firm could be allowed to raise the structure. Viability of the project of construction and maintenance of public toilets by private firms was also being explored by the authority. 

PU Senate discusses conduct of officials
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 30
Questions on conduct of the university officials ranging from a former Vice Chancellor to clerks remained central to the senate meeting of Panjab University held here today.

The allegations ranged from tampering with the university results to misappropriation and misutilisation of university funds.

An important item under discussion pertained to misappropriation of funds during the tenure of Prof M.M. Puri as Vice Chancellor.

The university senate decided to postpone the discussion on a former Finance and Development Officer, Mr M.G.Sharma, currently under suspension, because the case was still under study. The senate also deferred discussion on flaws in the construction. Mr R.P.S.Josh said that the role of the audit officer was also questionable.

On the issue pertaining to Prof Puri it was decided that the university identifies questionable expenditure and sends a communication to Professor Puri asking for his reply. The issue was raised by Mr Satya Pal Dang.

Members pointed out that the matter be forwarded to the Chancellor first. However, this was not accepted. The Editor of The Tribune, Mr Hari Jaisingh, said the comments of the concerned official under question should be taken before initiating any action. The university infact needed to identify areas where there was scope for the misutilisation of funds and steps should be initiated to do away with the ills.

In case of Dr B.B.Goyal, University Business School, facing charges of result tampering the senate decided that his five increments be stopped. He has been found guilty in a case where marks of a students were increased from zero to 42. It was also decided that no promotion be accorded to him and he be withdrawn from the university examination work.

Mr Pawan Bansal MP, said that there was need for a CBI enquiry into the case because there were certain points made by Dr Goyal which needed study.

Mr Hari Jaisingh said that not accepting committee reports was making a mockery of those. The issue has been discussed in two committees and even the university house earlier.

The university senate decided that show cause notices be issued to university employees found indulging in unfair practices in the result preparation.

The issue of giving a third chance to clear compartment cases in the university examination has been referred to a committee. Dr Keshav Malhotra said change in the rules needed to be deliberated seriously.

The house was also divided on the issue of making 75 per cent attendance compulsory for appearing in a university examination. The university will stick to existing rule of 66 per cent for the current session till modalities for future were worked out. Prof Charanjit Chawla said that ensuring maximum attendance was in academic interest of the university. Mr Gopal Krishan Chatrath said that first the teachers should ensure attendance on their behalf.

The senate agreed to a minimum 30 working hours of teachers in a week in colleges. Prof Charanjit Chawla said that this was in academic interest of the colleges.

The university senate took a note of the seats of NRI quota filled in the engineering courses before regular counselling. Dr R.P.S.Josh said that the admission had been done in contravention to the usual practice of filling the general seats before the NRI quota. Even the Public Relations Department of the university was not informed properly.

Mr Satya Pal Jain pointed out that 40 seats had been added in the engineering course at Delhi. Due to this PU was going to lose certain students. The university should postpone its second counselling to make an effort to fill all seats which would otherwise remain vacant for four years. The VC will look into the matter.

Members also raised the issue of creation of 60 additional seats in the Law department.

The senate decided that question hour and zero hour will be introduced before commencement of the regular agenda of the senate.

The university will also look into the issue of reservation.

Prof K.N.Pathak, the Vice Chancellor, said that the university was gong through a tough phase in the financial matters. However, certain steps had been initiated to minimise the spending.

The issue of a lecturer from Dev samaj College, Ferozepur, who is under suspension, was raised by certain members. Mr S.S.Hundal highlighted the details of the issue. The senate authorised the VC to take charge and initiate a process for a quick decision.

The senate decided to work on the Centre for Defence Studies in particular reference to Pakistan and Afghanistan. The issue gains importance in the wake of the current global developments.

The issue was taken up Mr Hari Jaisingh who repeated the demand for study in particular reference to the neighbouring countries raised in the in the last meeting. This was an important global issue where significant contributions could be made, the emphasised.

Prof K.N.Pathak, the Vice Chancellor, assured the House to look into the issue seriously. Mr K.A.P. Sinha said that the university should make provisions for a proper budgeting to get maximum results on the issue.

PU report on research an eye-opener
Chitleen K Sethi
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 30
While Panjab University prides itself as having been chosen as one of the top 10 universities in the country by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and having managed to attain for itself the five-star status from the National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC), a brief survey of last year’s annual report of the university is quite an eye-opener as far as the research performance of the university faculty members is concerned.

The faculty of the Departments of Mass Communications, Indian Theatre, Physical Education, Ancient Indian History and Archaeology, Hindi, French, German, South Indian languages, Urdu and Music have not contributed even a single research paper for publication in the past one year.

Then there are poor performance. These include the Department of Laws, which with a strength of 34 faculty members has published only four research papers in the past one year. Similarly, the Department of Chemical Engineering has 35 faculty members and only five papers published and the University Business School has 32 faculty members and just six papers published.

The low performing departments include the Department of Education with 17 faculty members publishing two papers in one year; Department of Economics with 13 faculty members publishing four papers; the Department of Mathematics with 25 faculty members contributing 15 research papers; the Department of Public Administration with eight faculty members producing five research papers.

The departments which break even include Computer Science and Applications with eight faculty members producing eight research papers; Chemistry with 4 faculty members producing 40 research papers; Biophysics with 12 faculty members publishing 12 papers; Microbiology with 16 faculty members publishing 14 papers; and Statistics with 12 faculty members publishing 12 papers in an year.

The departments which have been performing well include Physics with 37 faculty members producing 94 papers; Zoology with 20 faculty members publishing 43 papers; Biochemistry with 13 faculty members producing 21 papers; Biotechnology with six faculty members producing 15 papers; Psychology with nine faculty members producing 24 papers; and Geology with 20 faculty members and 28 papers.

The Department of Gandhian Studies is one of the most well-performing departments of the university with six faculty members having produced 24 papers and one book in the past one year, followed by Political Science with 14 faculty members having published three books and 34 papers. History is one of the better departments with 14 faculty members having published eight papers and two books, followed by Anthropology with 17 faculty members published two books and nine research papers, English with 17 faculty members having published five papers and two books last year, Sanskrit with six faculty members producing two papers and a book, Philosophy with 10 faculty members producing five papers and one book in the year.

Auto-lifting racket: PU student held
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 30
The Operation Cell of the city police has achieved a major success with the arrest of two youths. These arrests have helped to solve an inter- state auto- lifting racket , being run with an overt and covert support of the underworld.

According to information, Tejinder Singh Narwana, a leader of the Panjab University Students Union and student of the Department of Ancient Indian History and Archaeology, was arrested by the cell on September 27. He was arrested on grounds of driving a car with a fake registration number (HR-51F- 0216).

It was also found that the car was a stolen one. Following this, the police registered a case under sections 379, 411, 420, 467, 468, 419 and 471 of the IPC against Tejinder Singh.

The accused led the police to Karamveer Singh, a son of an Inspector in the Punjab Police posted in Jalandhar, who had sold off the car to him.

Subsequently, Karamveer was arrested on September 28 and was sent to a 14-day judicial remand. It is learnt that Karamveer was in close association with Vikas alias Vicky, a notorious underworld don operating in Uttar Pradesh.

Karamveer’s elder brother, Hriday Pal Singh, who is in Tihar Jail, had come in contact with Vikas, who was also lodged in the jail there. Hriday Pal had introduced Karamveer to Vikas and the duo had begun operating together. Vikas was allegedly involved in at least 70 cases of extortion, assault, attempt to murder and murder, it is learnt.

They were involved in stealing cars, scooters and motor cycles from Delhi and Haryana. However, after Vikas was reportedly killed in gang rivalry in Ghaziabad six months ago, Karamveer was operating on his own.

Nepalese delegation meets City councillors
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 30
A Nepalese delegation comprising members of a local body and its officials met Councillors and officials of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) today.

The nine-member delegation headed by Mr Surendramohan Sharma, Chairman of the District Development Committee (DDC) of Lalitpur, held a joint meeting with members of both the local legislature and the executive headed by the City Mayor, Ms Harinder Kaur, and MCC Commissioner, Mr M.P. Singh, respectively.

The Mayor was impressed with the provisions of the Women Empowerment Committee of the Lalitpur DDC. Mr M.P. Singh informed the delegation about the organisation, scope and financial position of the corporation and said the city corporation was spending the highest amount on development in the region after Delhi. He said 90 per cent of the city was managed by the MCC which had an annual budget of around Rs 155 crore.

The Commissioner, however, added that around Rs 105 crore to Rs 110 crore was being spent on the non-plan expenditure to maintain the establishment and only Rs 30 crore was spent on development.

The Nepalese delegation comprised seven members of its local body besides two officials. The members of the DDC were from the Communist Party Marxist-UML, the CPM-ML and the United People’s Front.

They said the focus of the DDC was the development of the villages and emphasised on transport and road network.

The delegation said the DDC was more powerful than the local self-government in India and had wide ranging powers.

They said their local bodies there was a provision for reservation for women and Dalits.

The delegation stressed the importance of Indo-Nepal relations and there was a need to maintain a constant vigil against irritants between the two nations.

CHANDIGARH CALLING

WHILE the IAF’s much hyped Presidential Review has been postponed indefinitely in view of the changing threat perceptions following the terrorist strikes in the USA and the possible involvement of neighbouring Afghanistan, the construction and repair activities here will continue, albeit at a slower pace.

Though the localities may not get a chance to witness the IAF’s strength and skill, it certainly has done a lot of good for the air force station. Even though the review is unlikely to take place, the station will be getting a complete facelift, including a completely redesigned entrance, renovated officers’ mess, ATC complex and wider, newly paved roads. The station had received a grant of about Rs 4 crore for the purpose.

Though the order to postpone the review had been received last week, there had been speculation for quite some time here that the event would get postponed or cancelled. Just two days before the order came, the Vice Chief of Air Staff had categorically stated that there were no plans to re-schedule the event and had reportedly even told officers here to carry on with the ongoing works.

Several aircraft from other stations had already been brought here for the review, while hundreds of airmen and officers had started rehearsals for the parade.

Genome dance

He calls it the “dance of two genomes”. Dr Rudy Balling, Director, German Research Center for Biotechnology, who was in the city recently in connection with a Indo-German workshop on “genetic basis of Host-pathogen interactions, has coined a rather interesting phrase to explain why certain people have infections and others escape it, despite the fact that all have a close working association with the bacteria.

Giving the relationship between the host, that is the human being, and the pathogen, or the bacteria, a rather artistic expression, he says there are millions of bacteria who live in perfect harmony with their host. Living together, genomes of the two — host and the pathogen — dance together in perfect synchronisation, step with step together. Problem arises when one of them, due to a genetic mutation or some other reason, steps out of this “synchronisation”. And when synchrony is out so will be the individual. Besides, reaction of each individual to a mutation or a change is also different, also one of the reasons why a disease adopts different mechanism in different people. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

Floral welcome

A Shatabdi passenger reaching Chandigarh on the World Tourism Day had his hands — and mouth too — full (see photo).

The man carrying luggage in both hands could not have refused the welcome gesture offered by students of a local tourism training institute on the World Tourism Day on September 27.

The floral welcome was part of the four-day World Tourism Day celebrations launched in the city on the occasion of Swami Vivekanand’s historic Chicago speech.

Green Corps

The National Green Corps (NGC) launched during last month at Panchkula has gained momentum. A central team headed by Mr R. Mehta, Director, Ministry of Environment and Forest, visited the CL DAV Senior Secondary School, Panchkula and was very much impressed to see the awareness cum action activities of the Sparrow Eco-Club. For example, on first Saturday, the club members not only planted saplings but provided life to the young plants by fixing the drip water plastic bottles by the side of the plants. Next Saturdays were devoted to setting up vermiculture unit, collection of plastic bags and uprooting of Congress grass in the adopted area around the school campus. This eco-club has a set of 10 types of garden tools and has put up exhibition, nursery and bird baths.

Mr Mehta said that Andhra Pradesh was the first state in the country to launch the NGC. This state also observes Saturday. School Environment day. Haryana is at no 2. But it is the first state in the country to prepare its State. Action Plan and added many innovations to give impetus to NGC.

“Sister’s keeper”

Female infanticide and domestic violence are on a rise. And the latter is not confined to India only. In the USA, domestic violence crimes account for up to 40 per cent of all calls to the police. According to the FBI, domestic violence claims the lives of four women each day.

Female foeticide over the past 20 years has distorted sex ratios in several Asian countries. Foetal sex determination clinics have been established in India and despite a ban by the government they continue to do roaring business. More than 40 delegates from the YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) centres of the Northern region gathered for a convention in the Chandigarh’s YWCA hall to hold a workshop on such topics last week.

Premindha Banerji and Pam Rajput were the prominent speakers to speak on the theme “Am I my sister’s keeper.” Another speaker, Oshima Rekhy, outlined the need to curb cruelty towards women.

Masked appreciation

Masks have suddenly surfaced on art circuit of the city like never before. So much so that during the past week, there were two exhibitions on the theme of masks alone. One opened at the Indus Ind Bank art gallery and another at the Punjab Kala Bhawan art gallery. Interestingly, the works drew quite an appreciation not only on the day of opening but also on the following days.

Unlike on the previous occasions when most of the works go in the repertoire of the artist himself, this time it was a little different. Some visitors even purchased art stuff. One among the many art connoisseurs commented, “Well, things close to the human heart sell well. We never saw abstract or realistic works exhibited earlier have so many takers. Perhaps people have finally garnered the courage to sport real masks.”

Meek response

Haryana Cultural Welfare Department’s recently concluded workshop on women empowerment concluded well. This was for the first time that the department was holding its annual painting workshop on a particular theme, like that of women empowerment this year. While the creative energies flowed without any inhibitions with the women bringing out the best in them, there was one problem with the show.

As expected, it did not get many participants. In all there were about 15, whereas the targeted participation was of about 30. The director of the department had reportedly sent across invitations to many budding painters, but only about 15 responded, and out of these too, not all were from Haryana. Many hailed from the West Bengal and other regions. May be the Haryanavi women respond better on some other occasion!

Drive is on, off

Shock therapy seems the latest way to educate the masses who care little for their own selves, believes the Panchkula police. In a major offensive, the police carried out a drive against helmetless women drivers whizzing through the city much to everyone’s surprise.

Challaned at various spots in the city, the women returned home wiser but angry for having had to hand over their licences or documents for not wearing helmets. Some of them even argued with the personnel, claiming no official announcement had been made by the police.

However, as luck would have it, the police announced that all women challaned for driving two wheelers without helmets could have these cancelled the next day. “The idea of issuing challans was only to drive home the point that the women don’t need to wear helmets for the police but that it is very essential for their own safety,” the ASP, Ms Bharti Arora, heading the drive, said.

Phone shock

Mr Gurmail Singh, a telephone subscriber of Sector 41-A here, was shocked when he received his telephone bill this month. This bill was, hold your breath, 25 times more than the bills he ever received previously.

He says his telephone bill never exceeds Rs 1500. This amount was within his paying capacity. This month, however, he received a bill for Rs 24516. He had lodged a formal complaint with the Bharat Sanchar Nigam saying that his telephone has been misused by someone.

On screening the details of STD/IST calls he found that various numbers which he never used were dialled from his telephone. He said he made calls to these telephones from another telephone and found that numbers were published in advertisements for astrology or know your future or for friendships.

Each one of these calls lasted 25 minutes to half an hour. His apprehension is that his telephone has been misused. The details of the bill also reveal that some IST calls were also made. And the telephone junction box installed near his house has been used by miscreants.

A close shave

Different people distinguished themselves in different fields to get their names entered in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Mr Rup Chand Angrish, an official with the M.E.S, however, has created a novel record by using a single shaving blade, 7 O'clock super platinum , for 13 months and 25 days . And the blade is still in use. He intends to use it for two to three more months. He revealed that he shaves four times a week.

Asked how does he do his shave, he remarked that he invariably uses hot water. After his shave he carefully cleans the blade with a towel and packs it.

He purchased the blade on August 4, 2000. It means he used the blade for 220 shaves. He sent the details of the blade to the manufacturer, Gillette UK Limited. The company wrote back to him expressing its thanks and also sent him a packet of five new blades as a gift.

Mr Angrish was, however, disappointed by the gift . He said he thought that his name would be entered in the Guinness Book.

Unfriendly yours

In less than a week after an item appeared in Chandigarh Calling on rude behaviour by Chandigarh Police personnel, several residents called up The Tribune office with more such complaints. According to a motorcyclist, a cop from nowhere abruptly stepped in front of his vehicle near Sector 16, 17, 9 and 10 roundabout on Tuesday last.

As soon as his bike came to a screeching halt, the cop started hurling abuses at him for not noticing a VIP motorcade cutting across Madhya Marg. All efforts to calm down the irate cop by the innocent rider failed as the man-in-khaki continued screaming and shouting at him. Well, Mr Inspector General of Police, can you please tell us something more about your concept of people friendly policing!

Burnt rendezvous

Knight riders on macho 350 CC bikes and their lady loves in jaunty jalopies, cutting across the shady tranquility of the pine trees dotting the narrow road leading to the museum and art gallery in Sector 10, are in for a surprise. On Monday, when the colleges reopen, they will not be able to sit under the little hut just behind the CITCO sale counter. It was burnt down by miscreants on Saturday morning. Hard luck, young lovers.

Tags, at last

Reacting to an item appearing in Chandigarh Calling regarding the failure of Chandigarh Police personnel to wear name tags, a senior police officer has reportedly issued orders directing that the names of the officials would be embroidered on the uniform.

The decision is significant as it would not only help the residents in identifying the erring cops, but is also in compliance with the directions issued by the Supreme Court of India. Good work, indeed.

— Sentinel

COMMUNITY

Jacob shocked at Scindia’s death
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 30
The Punjab Governor and Administrator, Chandigarh, Lieut-Gen JFR Jacob (retd), today expressed shock over the sudden death of Madhavrao Scindia who died in a plane crash near Manipuri in UP.

In a condolence message General Jacob said Scindia would be remembered as a young, dynamic and visionary leader who was loved not only by the people of Gwalior, but also by the whole of the country.

He expressed sympathy towards the bereaved family and prayed for the departed soul .

The Governor also expressed shock over the tragic death of a team of journalists of various newspapers and TV channels who also died in the crash.

Meanwhile, Mr Pawan Bansal, Congress MP, and Mr B.B. Bahl, President of the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee also mourned the death of Scindia in the air crash.

In a joint statement, they said it was a great loss to the nation, particularly to the Congress.

“We convey our heart felt condolences to Scindia’s family and the families of the journalists who were travelling with him”, they said.

The statement further said Scindia was the backbone of the Congress and had remained associated with the Gandhi family for decades.

“The CTCC joins millions of people in the country to pay last respects to the departed soul”.

Mr Chaman Lal Sharma, a senior Congress leader, and Mr Amarjit Singh Sethi of the Chandigarh Nagrik Sabha, also condoled the death of Scindia and said the void created by his death would be difficult to fill.

Mr Ajay Jagga, President of the Chandigarh unit of the Janata Party, also expressed his shock over the incident.

In a condolence message, Mr Jagga said Scindia was a non-controversial and a dedicated politician. In his death the country has suffered an irreparable loss.

He also expressed his condolences to the bereaved families of Scindia and the journalists. Who died along with him in the crash.

INTERACTIVE
‘I did everything for my ward’
Tribune News Service

Sanitation — Visible improvement 
Roads — Need repair
Water situation — Comfortable
Streetlights — mixed scene

Supply line bursts in Mohali house
Tribune News Service

SAS Nagar, September 30
An occupant of a house in Phase 7 here woke up in the morning today to see a huge fountain gushing out of the front courtyard of his house.

It was only after a close scrutiny that he realised that a water supply pipe passing below the courtyard had leaked.

Fearing that the leaking water supply line would damage the foundation of his house, he called up public health officials.

Lamenting that it was the third time the water pipe and leaked at that particular point, Mr Sohan Singh, owner of the house, said he had recently laid a new floor in the front courtyard after the leaking pipe had damaged the surface in February last.

He said the public health officials, instead of finding a permanent solution, always made temporary fixtures. A plastic pipe line had burst due to high water pressure which led to the leakage.

Mr Sohan Singh said the pipe had leaked at the same point last year also.

PU shopkeepers want uniform rent
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 30
Shopkeepers of the Panjab University market have resented non-uniform hike in shop rents, alleging that the university has unduly favoured certain shopkeepers in this deal.

Mr Rajiv Gupta, a shopkeeper, said owners of a big restaurant and a big book store on the campus had been spared from facing the brunt of the hike. “While we are being asked to pay 40 per cent of the proposed price, owners of these two establishments have been asked to pay only 30 per cent of the proposed price, which is unfair,” he said.

Another shopkeeper said, while some shopkeepers paid charges for residential premises, the others were being made to pay commercial charges for shop premises. “There is a need for having a uniformity in rents,” he said.

Owners of Ama Ram and Sons, said, “Owners of the Ginza restaurant was paying only about Rs 1,000 per month, though the proposed rent was about Rs 1 lakh per month. Even at the rate of 30 per cent, the rent comes out to be Rs 30, 000, which is an astronomical hike. Owners of most other shops have faced a three-to-five-time hike only, but the hike in our case is still significant at the rate of 30 per cent.”

He said the campus shopkeepers could not be compared with usual shopkeepers because the campus shopkeepers had long lean periods in a year when the academic session was not in progress.

Another shopkeeper said the university was right in hiking the rents, but the increase should have been gradual. Sources said the university would look into the issue.

Mr Gupta said, “We would like the university to further reduce the already revised rates. We want the five per cent annual increase in the rent to be changed to 15 per cent over three years for the renewal of lease deeds. We would like to have a lease deed instead of a licence.”

He also said, “We would like to be allowed to have shutters of certain shops close to the main road. The university should charge a uniform rent.”

Special phone facility for police awardees
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 30
The Ministry of Home Affairs has formally announced a concessional telephone facility to all awardees of the President’s Police Medal for gallantry.

According to information available, the ministry has issued letters to all Director Generals of Police in the states and the administrations of various Union Territories, announcing the decision of the Department of Communications to extend the facility to police awardees.

The awardees can get a residential telephone registered under the Non — Own Your Telephone — special category. The telephone will be available without any registration or, installation fee and there will be no monthly rental.

A letter (No 11026/3/2000-PMA) dated September 5, from the Ministry of Home Affairs has already been received by the Director General of the Punjab Police. The letter says that instructions for the telephone facility have been issued to the telephone districts and the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited.

The letter further states that the Department of Telecommunications is also approaching the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) to allow same facility to the recipients under their jurisdiction.

It is worthwhile to mention here that other than the Ministry of Railways , no other Central department offers sops to these awardees. It is learnt that this is for the first time that the Department of Telecommunications has extended any facility to the awardees in the Police Department. According to sources in the department, they have so far received at least five cases for installation of telephones under the new category.

While there is only one recipient of the President’s Police Medal in the Chandigarh Police, the rest of the applicants under this category belong to the Punjab and Haryana Police.

3 mud houses collapse in rain
Our Correspondent

Lalru, September 30
Three kuchcha houses collapsed at Sarseeni village due to heavy rain on the Chandigarh-Ambala highway, about 10 km from here, this morning.

According to sources, the mud houses owned by Jarnail Singh, Ram Singh and Satpal Singh collapsed when the rain water accumulated in the area. The owners were outside their houses when the incident took place.

Mr P.S. Johal, SDM, Dera Bassi, reached the site after getting information. He distributed Rs 2,000 to each of the victims as preliminary relief. The money was donated by the Arhati Association, Lalru, Mr Chuhar Singh and Mr Raghubir Singh Juneja.

New NGO to be launched on Oct 14
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 30
The local unit of the All-India Movement for Seva, a non-government organisation (NGO) instituted by the Acharya Sabha, will be launched on October 14.

According to acharya sevak Navneetji, the organisation will act like a conduit of connection between the mainstream society and the people considered as remote. The local wing will be inaugurated by Swami Dayanandaji, coordinator of the Acharya Sabha.

The seva has established five bal vidyalayas in the slum areas of Chandigarh where the main aim was to improve the quality of people’s life through education, he added.

Nirankari mandal holds function
Tribune News Service

SAS Nagar, September 30
Construction is more difficult than destruction and peace is more complex than war, said Baba Hardev Singh of the Sant Nirankari Mandal at the Manav Ekta Sammelan organised by the Mandal at Dasehra grounds in Phase VII here today. A large number of people from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh gathered on the occasion.

Addressing the gathering, the Nirankari chief said the road of violence and terror lead to the hell. Pointing to the menace of terrorism, he said the entire humanity is God’s own family. 

Train flag-off postponed
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 30
The flagging-off 4319\4320 Dehradun-Kathgodam Express train by the Union Railway Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, tomorrow has been postponed as a mark of respect to the former Railway Minister, Mr Madhavrao Scindia, who died in a plane crash.

A spokesman for the Northern Railway, said the new date for flagging of the train would be announced later.

Tribune employee bereaved
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 30
Mr Janam Singh, father of Mr Attar Singh, Senior Proof Reader, The Tribune, died at Ambala this morning. He was 80.

His cremation, held at Ambala, was largely attended.

Importance of tulsi
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 30
The East Chapter of the Bharat Vikas Parishad yesterday organised a function to highlight the importance of tulsi in our day-to-day life.

A press note issued by the Bharat Vikas Parishad stated that tulsi in Ayurveda Shastra was called Tridoshnashak, which meant vaat, pit and cough. It was useful in all types of fever, cold, kaas, shir-shool and ear pain.

SHO accused of manhandling
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 30
A resident of Sector 20-A has accused an Inspector of the city police of manhandling and abusing him.

In a complaint to the UT Inspector-General of Police, Mr Rupinder Singh has alleged that he was manhandled by the Station House Officer of the Sector 19 police station, Mr B.S. Chaddha, while he was roaming there.

CRIME

Fraud case: Director arrested
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 30
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the city police has achieved major success with the arrest of one of the directors of the Swarn Bhoomi Group of Companies , allegedly involved in defrauding hundreds of investors across the country on the pretext of earning them huge profits.

According to information available, Tejveer Singh was arrested by a team of the EOW from Karnal yesterday. He, along with six other directors and the Managing Director, Mr Kuldeep Sharma, had been absconding since May last year.

It may be recalled that a case of cheating, breach of trust and criminal conspiracy had been registered against the company at the Manimajra police station on May 17, 2000. The company had promised huge returns to investors in their agricultural land development projects. It had land in Ambala, Yamunanagar and Sonepat districts of Haryana.

The accused company began its operation in 1995 and had set up offices all over the country. Thousands had invested their savings with the company from 1995 to 2000. It was only when the investors did not get their returns in due time that they began to ask for them and that the company closed shop and disappeared. 

Robbery near railway station
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 30
In a daring case of robbery, miscreants looted Rs 3,800, a bicycle and a tiffin near railway station last evening.

According to an FIR registered under Sections 392 and 34 of the IPC, Ram Yadav has alleged that he was threatened by three persons on the unpaved road between railway station and Colony No. 4 at 5:30 pm. The miscreants later snatched his money, bicycle and tiffin, he said.

Assault:- Mohinder Singh and his nephew, Gurdeep were reportedly assaulted by Gagan Deep, Navdeep Singh, Pankaj Nagpal and two others at Sector 37 Rehri Market on Saturday. A case has been registered under Sections 147, 148, 149, 323 and 324 of the IPC.

Scooterist hit:- A scooterist, Jagjit Singh, was reportedly hit by a Maruti car (CH-01S- 6634) being driven by Rajan Jain near the Sector 42 petrol station. The victim was later admitted to the GMCH, Sector 32. A case under Section 279 and 337 of the IPC has been registered.

Theft:- A colour television, besides Rs 1,000 and some clothes have been stolen from the Sector 27-C residence of Ms Santosh Bhardwaj. A case under Sections 454 and 380 of the IPC has been registered.

Cyclist killed: An unknown cyclist was crushed to death by a truck near the State Bank of India branch in Dadua, here on Sunday.

It is learnt that the man was crushed by the rear tyre of the truck ( PB-11D- 4892) near the bank . The truck driver, Avtar Singh , absconded from the spot, leaving the truck behind. The truck was impounded by the police and a case under Sections 279 and 304- A of the IPC has been registered. 

BUSINESS

BIZ CLIP
Sale depot
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 30
Bombay Dyeing today opened their exclusive Vivaldi sale depot at Manimajra. At the depot, they will be selling readymade shirts, khakis and T-shirts. This was stated in a press note issued here today.

The sale depot had been set up at Manimajra to cater to the need of the people of the region. This was a part of the company’s expansion programme, the note added.