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| Saturday,
May 11, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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Robbers get active again Naya Gaon, May 10 Going by the circumstantial evidence, the police suspected the robberies to be work of professionals. One of the victims, Ashok Kumar said, ‘‘The robbers were eight to 10 in number and they had bolted the nearby houses from outside before forcing entry into our house’’. He was severely beaten up resulting in a fracture in his left arm. The assault left him with 10 stitches on forehead and bruises on the rest of his body. The younger brother of
Ashok, Mr Vijay Kumar, also received minor injuries. The robbers took away gold rings, gold ear rings and a chain of
Surjeet, wife of Ashok. According to Surjeet, the robbers also decamped with Rs 12,000, a VCD player and other items. There were signs of forced entry and the entire house had been ransacked. The telephone wire was also cut.
Ashok, who is an employee at the PGI, Chandigarh, said the robbery took place at around 12.45 am. The robbers pulled down entry door of the house using a stone. Vijay, who made a futile effort to stop the door from giving way to the robbers, received injuries on his wrist. After entering the house, the robbers thrashed
Ashok, who lost consciousness. The robbers, who were speaking in Punjabi, thoroughly searched the entire house and took away with them whatever ‘‘valuables’’ they could found. Surjeet said, ‘‘They spent over 20 minutes in the house and even searched pockets of trousers and shirts hanging on pegs’’. Another robbery incident took place in the house of Mr Balbir Singh
Sandhu. The thieves decamped with bridal clothes, Rs 3,000 and some other valuables. At the time of the incident four occupants of the house were sleeping in the open. It is suspected that the same gang, which struck at Ashok Kumar’s house, also committed the theft at Sandhu’s house. ‘‘The thieves must be more in number as two or three persons cannot dare to enter our house because 10 persons stay in the house,” claimed Mr
Sandhu. According to him the thieves entered his house sometime between 12.30 am and 2.30 am. ‘‘We could have also been attacked by the robbers had anyone of us had woken up’’, said Mr Satnam Singh, another occupant of the house. The occupants came to know about the theft only after when wife of Balbir woke up at around 2.30 am and found the doors open. |
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Landlords who assault, cops who ignore
Panchkula, May 10 It is alleged that, though a case was registered on the charges of criminal intimidation, assault, trespass and rioting against five persons, one of whom is named Pritam Singh, the police provided the accused with enough time to obtain anticipatory bail. While two of them — the person who works in the office of the Advocate General and his son — were denied bail in a local court, the police did not arrest them. These two persons, then, moved the High Court, where they got a stay on the arrest of the official, but not his son. Ms Sonalika Dubey, eldest daughter of Mr Y.K. Dubey, the harassed tenant, said: “The police has refused to arrest them because they enjoy the patronage of a local INLD office-bearer. Though top police officials of the district have been helpful (the case was registered only after the Superintendent of Police and the ASP had intervened), policemen at the local post are going out of their way to help the accused.” The family — Mr Y.K. Dubey, who retired from the Haryana State Electricity Department, and his seven children — has been living in fear. Mr Dubey had taken a house in the village on rent from Pritam Singh, one of the accused, five years ago. Things got on well between them till March, when the landlords, reportedly, demanded Rs 34,000 from Mr Dubey as dues. Mr Dubey said: “After I got my pension, the landlords borrowed Rs 98,000 from me on different occasions for buying a car. It was then decided that the Rs 600 monthly rent would be deducted from this sum. Later, when I demanded my money back, they alleged I owed them Rs 34,000. It was then that our nightmare began.” On April 8, the landlords “assaulted” the wife and two daughters of Mr Dubey when they were alone at home. Later, they “waylaid” Mr Dubey and beat him up, too. On April 10, about 20 odd “henchmen” of the landlords “barged” into the house, threw out their belongings and asked them to leave. The Dubeys say that they visited the local police post several times to seek help, but to no avail. It was only when they approached the SP that a case was registered on April 24.The landlords have locked the only toilet in the house and disconnected their power supply. As they issue threats to the family each day, the women of the family take shelter in the neighbours’ house when the menfolk are away. When contacted, the SP, Ms Charu Bali, said she would ensure that the case was taken up on merit and no injustice was done to the Dubeys.  |
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Heat wave keeps residents in Chandigarh, May 10 According to weather experts, severe heat wave conditions are likely to prevail for the next 24 hours. Sources in the Metrological Department said, the temperature, could even touch 46° C. Meteorologist Surinder Kumar asserted that rain was unlikely to bring relief even though pre-monsoon season continued from March to May. ‘‘However, the possibility of a low pressure over the area leading to rainfall next week cannot be ruled out,’’ he added. Giving details, Mr Kumar said, ‘‘Due to excessive heat, a low pressure is sometimes created over the area resulting in inflow of winds leading to dust storms and even rainfall’’. Regarding the onset of monsoons, he said that it was likely to hit the city and surrounding areas by mid-July. Meanwhile, the markets wore a deserted look in the afternoon. Those who did go to markets in Sector 17 and 22 could be seen rushing to the air conditioned showrooms with their hands shielding their heat-wilted faces. For rickshaw-pullers, it was a day of disappointments. Throughout the day, they kept on waiting for customers, but there were none. As a result, they kept on sitting idly under the shade of thick trees, gulping water from time to time. The fast food joints too remained deserted as many youngsters were not allowed to move out of their residences. Those still left in the hostels could be seen restlessly shifting in their seats as the creaky fans threw gusts of hot air, doing nothing much to prevent the heat. Some of the students did go to the main library in Panjab University but not without dabbing their faces with a thick layer of sunscreen lotion. Some others preferred to carry umbrellas for protecting themselves from the attack by the ruthless sun. As a result of the severe heat wave conditions, the number of commuters travelling on the long-distance buses too was less. ‘‘The number of passengers was today down by as much as 30 to 40 per cent,’’ revealed an official of Haryana Roadways. He added that the residents usually preferred not to visit their relatives in the plains when it was ‘‘so hot until or unless there was some emergency. And even in cases of emergency, the residents preferred to go by train particularly if they were going to New Delhi,’’ he added. The travel agents, meanwhile said, that booking for hotels in hill stations like Shimla and even Kullu&Manali were on the rise. ‘‘This is the time people escape to hills after renting houses in the hill stations,’’ said travel agent Vineet Sharma. |
Janata Colony residents block Sector 25 road Chandigarh, May 10 A large posse of police force was deployed to prevent a repeat of violence witnessed in Colony Number 5 last month when the demolition squad of the Chandigarh Administration started to remove encroachments. The protest, however, remained peaceful. The angry protestors ‘humiliated’ an effigy of the Deputy Commissioner, Mr M. Ramsekhar, who had served a notice to them to vacate the land and shift to their rehabilitation place by today. In an apparent bid to prevent the Chandigarh Administration deciding to demolish their tenements today on a Friday when the residents could not approach the court for at least two days because of Saturday and Sunday, a large number of residents gathered on the road to lodge a protest and drum up political support for their intransigence. The Chandigarh Administration had set a cut off date of December 8, 1996 for the rehabilitation of slum dwellers and had decided to remove encroachments. The Administration claimed that the bona fide residents of the colony had already been given plots and there was no way they should not shift to these places. Led by the DSP (Central), Mr R. S. Randhawa, the police played a psychological role for these protestors with a large number of police personnel present as well as a Vajra van to control riots and even the Fire Brigade was called. A Congress councillor, Ms Shyama Negi, came to the spot and tried to take a delegation of the people to appeal to the Administration not to carry out its threat. Protestors, however, could not decide whether they would like to go to any authority. They also did not inform about their next course of action. |
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Punwire staff union welcomes Supreme Court order SAS Nagar May 10 Talking to mediapersons here today, Mr Shahid Ahmed, president of the employees’ body, said that certain union representatives had filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court demanding justice and action against corrupt officials. The union leader also thanked the Punjab Government for setting up a committee under the chairmanship of Mr A.S. Chatha, a former Chairman of Punwire, for the revival of the company. He said that all employees of the factory would cooperate for the revival of the unit. He alleged that Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal was interested in buying the unit and certain officials who were close to the Badal family were trying to make matters easy for him by showing that the company was running into losses. The union leaders alleged that the officials of the company used to spend sums of money on the cricket stadium (PCA). All communication arrangements were looked after by Punwire. He said Punwire was set up in 1975 and till March 1999 it kept giving huge profits. But thereafter certain officials allegedly started embezzling and showing the company to be running at a loss. He said even at present the company had orders to the tune of Rs 140 crore. The Army had been adversely affected by the closure unit because Punwire got a lot of work orders from it. Mr Shahid said the employees hoped that the Punjab Chief Minister would make all efforts to start the company at the earliest because before the elections he had promised that if his party came to power Punwire would be made functional at every cost. |
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No-confidence move against Kesar Singh Chandigarh, May 10 The Congress councillor and vice-chairman of the committee, Mr Kuldeep Singh, has signed the no-confidence motion along with BJP board members of the committee, Mr Desraj Gupta, Mr Gurdeep Singh, Mr Ramvir Bhatti, Mr Om Prakash Chawla, Mr Rattan Chand, and BSP member Mr Gurdev Singh. The motion that will be taken up on Monday has also brought out fissures in the BJP-SAD alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal president, Mr Gurpartap Singh Riar, threatening to reconsider relationship with the BJP. Mr Riar has accused the former BJP MP, Mr Satpal Jain, of ‘’souring the relationship of the two parties.” He said the BJP duo had also done the same thing by supporting two candidates each from two groups of the party in the last Municipal Corporation elections. The District Congress (Rural) president, Mr Bhupinder Singh Badheri, threatened to call a meeting of the rural unit to expel Mr Kajheri for joining hands with the BJP. He said the party was not behind the move but an individual might have taken a decision for his ‘’self-interest.’’ Mr Riar said Mr Kajheri had been supporting Mr Kesar Singh, but now seemed to have been lured with an assurance of making him the chairman. He warned that the real motive of the BJP was to install Mr Desraj Gupta and Mr Kajheri would be dumped. |
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Barista brews single-origin coffee Chandigarh, May 10 A scrabble-playing duo on one table, a group enjoying the hot beverage topped with heart-shaped, leaf-shaped and bird-shaped frothy mixture in one corner all looked up as the beautiful Fair and Lovely and Rexona girl Aparna explained the salient features of the new brew to them. As the name suggests, Colombia Supremo coffee comes from the Andes mountains of Colombia in distinct aromas like caramel, toast, dark chocolate, roasted coffee, malt etc. Barista also added some scrumptious snacks and desserts to complement the gourmet beverage. These include choco mousse cake, cheese and tomato and chicken rolls, veg and non-veg croissants, all in the range of Rs 15 to Rs 60. Justifying the high cost of the coffee, Mr Sandeep Vyas said Barista was a specialty coffee retailer offering fine espresso based beverages in bars that recreated the aura of Italian neighbourhood bars. He added that their barmen were trained by Italian experts to brew the rich aromatic drink on Italian machines that were the “Rolls Royce” of such gadgets with beans whose quality was equivalent to “basmati”. With a four-fold rise in turnover in one year from Rs 25 crore to Rs 100 crore and 82 outlets in the country, Mr Vyas claimed to be the leader in the coffee retailing sector. To reinforce its presence, the company realised the importance of moving up the value ladder. Hence, the launch of new products and sharing knowledge with customers. And what is single origin coffee? Coffee normally is blended with different varieties of beans, each having a unique characteristic of body, taste, aroma and acidity. However, single origin coffee is made of beans plucked from plantations, rarely found, that have the ideal combination of all these features in a single bean, he explained. |
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Panel seeks powers to check public spending Chandigarh, May 10 If the committee gets these powers, it will go a long way in keeping a tight check on the MC finances, as the system will bring in transparency. The Legal Affairs Committee found itself ideal for bearing this responsibility and this recommendation had been forwarded to the House for its decision, said members of the panel. The members of the committee — Mr Surinder Singh, Ms Anu Chathrath, Mr Chander Mukhi Sharma, Ms Harpreet Kaur — and its vice-chairperson Ms K. Atmaram, were told that the committee had not met in the past. The Law Officer, Mr K. K. Moga, is the member secretary of the committee. The audit report of the corporation has also not been presented to the House as the corporation has a system of pre-audit instead of post-audit. The committee also decided to review about 800 lawsuits against the MC. The committee also recommended that all bylaws should be first scrutinised by it for legal loopholes. It said it was not being asked to do so, in violation of an earlier decision of the House. The committee also sought all legal documents of the MC for scrutiny. |
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Jacob condoles death of
Kaifi Azmi Chandigarh, May 10 In a condolence message, General Jacob said that in the death of Kaifi Azmi, the last living link of modern generation to the golden era of Urdu poetry had been snapped. General Jacob said that the poetry of Kaifi Azmi would continue to haunt the minds of people in times to come and would act as motivating force for younger poets. The Governor expressed sympathies to her wife, Shaukat Azmi, and her daughter, Shabana Azmi, and prayed to God to give peace to the departed soul. |
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Autorickshaw driver killed
in accident SAS Nagar, May 10 The victim, Happy, a resident of Phase XI, was declared brought dead at Silver Oaks Hospital here. According to information available, the autorickshaw (CHV-2117), coming from Phase XI, was hit by the madator coming from an inner sector road of Phase IX. However, there was no other occupant in both the vehicles. The police has registered a case against the Madator driver. |
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Gandhinagar looks up to Chandigarh Chandigarh, May 10 The capital city of Gujarat, which is being administered by a Notified Area Committee, wants to follow in the footsteps of Chandigarh in having a full-fledged local government body. This was revealed to the Municipal Commissioner, Mr M.P. Singh, when a three-member delegation of the Gandhinagar NAC had a meeting with him here yesterday. The delegation, after studying the functioning of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, will go to examine the New Delhi Municipal Corporation’s working. The Gandhinagar delegation was surprised as to how could a city like Chandigarh be run with meagre resources vis-a-vis its responsibilities. The delegation showed a keen interest in the administrative setup of the Municipal Corporation and was impressed with the powers of the nominated members. |
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Awareness camp for rural women Chandigarh, May 10 The objective of camp would be to encourage rural women to talk about their problems, to analyse these problems and initiate action to tackle problems. The topics of discussion would be status of women, women and law, women and health, community health and hygiene, women, technology and environment, women and economy, women and state government, religion, culture and women, women and social action. According to Mr Surinder Verma, chairman of the group, resource persons from government departments and voluntary agencies had been invited to talk on these subjects. |
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Motor market inaugurated
in Sec 48
Chandigarh, May 10 This was announced at the inauguration of the Sector-48 Motor Market today by the Adviser to the Administer, Ms Neeru
Nanda. With today’s inauguration of the market having 236 shops, 850 of 1,307 mechanics identified for shifting, will be rehabilitated. All senior officials of the Chandigarh Administration were present on the occasion. Ms Nanda said remaining mechanics would be rehabilitated soon. |
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Police clueless in robbery cases Dera Bassi, May 10 Earlier also five persons were seriously injured by masked robbers when they had struck at Preet Nagar Colony and Gazipur village on the Chandigarh - Ambala highway on February 19 night. |
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600 visit coins
dissemination mela Chandigarh, May 10 At the mela, the main rush was that of traders from city and also from the surrounding townships. The bank gave new coins of the denomination Re 1, Rs 2 and Rs 5 in exchange of currency notes. A large number of people also exchanged soiled notes with coins. Coins worth Rs 10 lakh were brought in the mela and coins worth Rs 4 lakh exchanged hands. |
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Working of MCC
Mayor criticised Chandigarh, May 10 They also charged Ms Joshi with the failure to get funds for development of the city. A former BJP Councillor, Mr Rajinder Kumar, also trained his gun on Ms Joshi saying after getting votes from Colony No. 4, Ms Joshi was letting loose official machinery to repress the people. He was referring to the corporation officials impounding certain material of tent house for using the public space without permission and digging pits on the road. The two former Mayors, Ms Kamla Sharma and Ms Harjinder Kaur, said Ms Joshi had flouted the healthy tradition of calling councillors’ meeting during an hour of crisis. |
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GIC, LIC employees protest Chandigarh, May 10 The employees assembled before the Divisional Office of the LIC in Sector 17 to lodge their protest under the leadership of Mr Sudarshan Sharma, the general secretary, Chandigarh Regional General Insurance Employees Association, and Mr Rajeev Sehgal, Joint Divisional Secretary, North Zone Insurance Employees Association. They accused the Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, of going back on his word of not splitting the company. They said with the split, the insurance companies would be weakened against foreign companies. |
Illicit liquor seized, 2 held Chandigarh, May 10 Assaulted 1 booked Stolen In another case, a Ram Darbar resident, Ram Bilas, has reported that a sony stereo deck, two bags, some clothes and Rs 6000 in cash have been stolen from his residence during day time. The police has registered cases. Vehicles stolen PANCHKULA Gamblers held Purse snatched Shopkeeper duped |
British official visits local showroom Chandigarh, May 10 Mr Dennis went around the store and was briefed by Mr Arun Grover, MD, Amartex, on ‘direct manufacturer to consumer’ marketing ethos of Amartex. The distinguished guests were impressed by the range and amazing prices, specially when converted in pounds. Mr Dennis extended business invitation to Mr Grover for trade partnership in UK. Mr Dennis said partnerships would definitely help stengthen Indo-British trade relations. |
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14th Nestle
cook ‘n’ serve contest held Chandigarh, May 10 The show began yesterday with a Nestle cook ‘n’ serve meet demonstrating two recipes — suji cutlets and maggie Chinese noodles. The same were later sampled to the ladies who were also treated to three games of tombola with a host of prizes from Nestle. The ladies were also treated to Freppe cold coffee. The cookery contest was timed with the occasion of introduction of the new team of the Thursday Ladies Club for 2002-2003. |
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