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| Friday,
May 24, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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IT raids on wine trader’s house, shops Chandigarh, May 23 Even as it would take a few days to collate the exact records on how big the catch was for taxmen, initial reports said thousands of bottles of liquor of various brands were found be unaccounted from about 16 kiosks owned by the company across the city. Raids had been carried out till late at night and sources said since there was no hard cash or gold to be seized it would take some time to tell what was the modus operandi and nature of tax evasion. The Director General, Investigation, North Western Region, Income Tax, Mr C.K. Vohra ,while confirming the raids, said huge discrepancies had been found in stocks. The variation in inflow of liquor and actual sales indicated discrepancies. The gap in thousands of bottles indicated evasion of taxes and that was the target, a source said. The UT Excise and Taxation Department had been informed about the raids as the Income Tax teams would not be looking into the aspect of liquor, its origin, its authenticity or its quality. Mr Vohra said it was important to act and tell the Excise Department as it was their domain to take action under the Excise Act. Sources in the Excise Department confirmed that the income tax teams had informed the department about the sale and purchase of liquor. Samples of liquor would definitely be lifted in case income tax searches indicated such huge quantities of unaccounted liquor could be of poor quality. Income tax teams started simultaneous checking of stocks at all kiosks, conducted searches in the Sector 8 residence of the proprietor. The company was owned by Mr Taranjit Singh, who died a few years ago and now the business affairs were managed by his wife. She was also questioned. It may be recollected that about two years ago a kiosk in Sector 24 was looted. Two employees of the kiosk were murdered and Rs 64 lakh was taken away in cash. This kiosk was also owned by M/s Ladda Liquor. It was this sum lying in cash which had set the Income Tax Department on the trail of the liquor merchant and this concluded in today’s action, another source in the Income Tax Department said. |
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Entrance test for Ph.D to monitor quality Chandigarh, May 23 Prof K.N. Pathak, Vice-Chancellor, has forwarded a proposal to this regard to the Syndicate where a new clause will have to be added to the excising regulation. “Before enrollment of candidates for Ph. D in faculties of arts, languages, education, science and design and fine arts, the university will hold a written test in order to satisfy that the applicant has necessary aptitude, qualifications and calibre for research”. The university will conduct the entrance examination twice in a year (in August and in February). The examination will be conducted for those who have not qualified in the University Grants Commission (UGC)-conducted NET. The rule will come into force from the forthcoming academic session. The move is seen as a positive development to make the research exercise more ‘decent’. There is no denying the fact that in many cases Ph.D enrollments were a mere formality and no path-breaking research was being done as acknowledged by a cross-section of faculty members. In many cases the research was left mid-way. The aptitude examination before enrollment is envisaged to gauge the merit and ability to pursue doctoral research. Under the existing norms, cases of plagiarism are plenty in research documents of majority of the fields. The ‘theft’ is more pronounced in languages and arts, it is felt. A senior professor said instead of a mere formality of reproducing from available research material, candidates must show originality of idea or proposal before being allowed to take up the research. Dr Praveen Rathee, a doctorate in the faculty of Commerce and Business Management, said aptitude of an aspirant needed to be checked before being allowed to take up any project. This was important in the context that research was different from normal classroom teaching and required a special bent of mind for the subject. Any quality research should meet minimum standards that could be better gauged by entrance papers, Dr Rathee said. Rajesh Phogat, a student, said there was a need for a practice of an orientation exercise before taking up the actual research project that should be made compulsory in all subjects. In management courses a student usually undertook a couple of projects before taking up the research project which was in the academic interests to maintain standards of research. This should be extended to all subjects. In fact, there should be orientation courses in research. Dr R.P.S.Josh opined that university had taken a right step in giving concessions of entrance test to people who had cleared their NET. In fact any teacher who had an experience of teaching for certain years should be allowed the same concession. A proposal by Mr Satya Pal Dang also featured in the Syndicate in the direction to prevent duplication of research. It reads “Starting of new Chairs in PU and neighbouring universities should be decided by the universities through mutual co ordination”. The proposal has been made to avoid duplication and to ensure that chairs are started for research that is really needed and ‘not for extraneous reasons’. |
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Admn consults ‘War Book’ on civil defence Chandigarh, May 23 This the first time that the ‘War Book’ was consulted after the Kargil conflict. The ‘War Book’ has records of all happening on the civilian front of the previous wars. This was just the first of the meeting in a series of meetings which will be held in the coming few days to finalise the overall plan, which has already been prepared by the Civil Defence Department of the Chandigarh Administration. Today’s meeting was not attended by any defence official. While refusing to divulge specific details due to security constraints, sources said the plan included managing of the city’s power system. This included providing back up to run emergency medical services to treat casualties at the PGI, the Government Medical College and Hospital and the General Hospital, Sector 16. Resources of private hospitals could also be tapped if the needed. Besides this the plan also talked about, who would manage what, in case of a crisis and who would form the back up. The city has 30 wardens, who are trained in handling crisis, as they are ex-servicemen. They have been through the drill and they know where the relief supplies are and who is to be contacted in case of war. Sector-level managing committees would also be formed. The plans also included procuring and providing for enough food grain as well as ensuring that nobody hoarded anything to sell in the black market later. No decisions were taken to close educational institutions in case of a war. This would be an on-the-spot decision, a source said. In 1971 when Pakistani aircraft had reached the Indian air space even then colleges and schools were open. Largely the plan would ensure that normal life was not disrupted and all facilities were provided to city residents. The Director Health Service would be asked to ensure that supply of essential drugs and other requirements, would remain available, said a source. |
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Blame game on as water consumers suffer SAS Nagar, May 23 Complaints of water shortage are pouring in from many parts of the town. The pressure is often low and the supply inadequate for the summer months. On many occasions the water is muddy in certain areas. The worst hit are occupants of first and higher floors. Residents of Phase IV have complained that water does not reach beyond the first-floor level and overhead tanks seldom get filled up. While the consumers face a tough time, PHD officials and the council are engaged in a duel over the reason for the crisis. Officials of the PHD allege that the council has not been taking the problem seriously and its president has not been presenting the “true picture” at council meetings. They say the civic body had been requested over the years to sink new tubewells in place of those that had become non-functional, but so far only a few have been sunk. The PHD says that even though the population of the town has been rising steadily, the number of tubewells has not increased. As such, the gap between demand and supply is widening. The officials say that the water demand in the areas under the PHD is 18 mgd during normal times, but rises one and a half times in the summer (27 mgd). The water discharge of the tubewells in the summer also decreases by about 20 per cent. The department further says that the availability of canal water is 7.35 mgd. The total tubewell discharge in summers is 4 mgd. Therefore, the supply is only 11.35 mgd in the summer. The officials say PUDA had sunk four tubewells in Sector 70 three or four years ago, but these have not been handed over to the PHD so far for operation. In December, 2000, it was decided at a meeting between the council president and PHD officials that before the summer of 2001 five new tubewells would be sunk. These were to be located in Phases I, II, IV, IX and XI. However, only one tubewell (Phase IX) has been sunk so far. Rejecting the arguments of the PHD, the Municipal Council president, Mr Kulwant Singh, says that the availability of water in the town in 13 mgd. On the basis of figures provided by the PHD, the availability is 93 gallons per day per head. This is “far above the norms” laid down in this regard. However, the council has estimated that the availability is in fact 106 gallons per day per head. The president says that if one goes by the demand calculated by the PHD (27 mgd), the figure works out to about 221 gallons per day per head. The figure is “unreasonable” and such a large quantity of water is not available in similar towns elsewhere in the region. Accusing the PHD of making “unjustified” demands for additional tubewells, Mr Kulwant Singh says there is no shortage of water and the real problem is the “inability” of the PHD to run the supply system properly. Besides, the PHD’s enforcement staff are not taking effective steps to stop the wastage of water. He says it is difficult to understand under what norms the PHD is demanding the sinking of as many as 22 new tubewells. “Does the department want a flood in the town?” He says. These tubewells will also entail an unnecessary financial burden on the council. Officials of the PHD, he further says, are reluctant to put in hard work to ensure that the system is well regulated and the water currently available reaches every consumer. He says the tubewells in Sector 70 have been taken over by the council and will be handed over to the PHD soon. |
Shoeshine boys packed off with good wishes Chandigarh, May 23 So taken in by the moment was the UT Administrator that he expressed a desire to build a hostel for slum children in the city itself. He said that the Administration was planning to allot a piece of land to construct a hostel, adding that the local NGOs would be invited for the purpose. The occasion was a farewell function organised by General Jacob for the three kids of Sector 25 slums who proceeded for “Aim for Sewa”, the hostel being run by Navneet Brahmachari at Solan. The children, accompanied by their parents, were greeted by the Adviser, Ms Neeru Nanda. Impressed with the hard work of these kids, General Jacob could not help remarking, “We will work to have a hostel in the city so that such kids did not have to leave home in order to pursue studies.” The Administrator also talked about the successful operation of night schools meant for working kids. These schools are running in 17 government schools. General Jacob stated, “These schools are meant for children of slum areas.” He appealed to the voluntary organisations to mobilise support in favour of these schools. In all, Rs 18,000 has been collected for meeting the expenses of kids. The donors include Ms Neelu Tuli, Ms Sheela Garg and Mr Munish Johar. They were also honoured by General Jacob this morning. Interestingly, the UT Administration has given Rs 6,000 to the children, apart from three beautiful packs presented to the kids by General Jacob himself. Meanwhile, the parents of kids wore a sad look and naturally so. For them, parting with kids is like parting with essential income. It has, in fact, been very difficult to press upon the parents of these kids to send them to Solan for studies. Finally, however, they came round. Furloos and Mundro, parents of Arun are overwhelmed with the success of their son. They said, “We wish them success.” Buddho Ram and Kelo, parents of Arjun, were excited but apprehensive. Only Sahil’s parents were more than willing to be a party to their son’s success. They are even shifting base to Solan to help their son.  |
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Zoo to have incinerator Chhat Bir, May 23 This will also stem the practice of tree felling and consumption of fuel-wood for burning dead animals and hospital waste. Sources in the zoo revealed that the incinerator was being set up as per the directions of the Central Zoo Authority, which had issued directions to various zoos in the country to set up incinerators for the quick disposal of hazardous hospital waste, protection of environment, eradication of infection and contamination-spreading sources besides maintaining a clean and healthy pollution-free environment. Setting up of an incinerator in the zoo will also put at rest the allegations of trafficking in skin, bones, teeth, claws of tigers, lions, bears and leopards. Moreover, it will also prove helpful in preventing underground water pollution caused due to the burial of dead animals in the zoo premises. Dr Vinod Sharam, Chief Warden (Zoos), Punjab, confirmed the setting up of the incinerator. He said an incinerator with a capacity of burning 50 kg of waste material in an hour would be installed. “The machinery would cost Rs 27.24 lakh. Half of the cost had been sanctioned by the CZA while the remaining amount would be borne by the state government. In addition to this the CZA had also sanctioned Rs 12.15 lakh for the extension of the lion houses in the Zoo Lion Safari and Rs 3.49 lakh for re- fabrication of old designed cages in the bird aviary, he added. |
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No respite from heatwave in sight Chandigarh, May 23 People in and around Chandigarh braved another hot day, with today’s maximum temperature being close to the season’s highest of 44°C so far, which was recorded on May 11. The ongoing heatwave has so far claimed 29 lives in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.
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Reduction in stamp duty demanded Chandigarh, May 23 These were some of the points raised by the local Property Consultant Association while demanding several changes in the rules during a press conference. The association, in a signed statement, said at present stamp duty was payable at 6 per cent in Punjab whereas in Chandigarh it was 12.50 per cent. In all such matters Chandigarh follows Punjab, however, in this case it is not following this principal. Similarly there should be no charge of stamp duty when property is transferred in case of blood relations. At present, even if father gives property to son he has to pay 12.50 per cent stamp duty. A nominal transfer fee should be fixed and this charge should be done away with. To avoid complications, a latest photograph and address of the owner be attached in the property file. And all records be computerised. Under a new information booklet prepared by the Estate Office,
irrevalent affidavits are being obtained from the person not concerned with these anomalies. Highlighting how the issuance of a no objection certificate causes problems, the association said any misuse or violation in the building is being linked to the NOC. At present the office of the sub-registrar is in shambles, said the association while demanding better facilities. There should be drinking water, more fans, more space and toilets. There is no sitting space in the office. Since visitors to the office are giving revenue to the Administration. In case of budgetary problems, the association has promised to give Rs 50,000 as grant. The association also highlighted an anomaly in implementation of scheme to transfer of property in case of general power of attorney (GPA) cases. The Chandigarh Housing Board is allowing conversion directly in favour of GPA holder. In case of plots, the Estate Office does not allow direct conversion. The rules prevailing in the CHB should be implemented in Estate Office. In view of the space crunch, Bay shops (single storey shops) be allowed to build the first floor. Construction of first floor be allowed in booths also. The Administration will gain by way of taxes collected to grant permission for the first floor, the association said. Several multi-national companies (MNCs) want to open shops in Chandigarh , however, they are restricted by way of space. To allow more freedom adjoining showrooms be allowed to amalgamate by breaking down dividing walls. Such big spaces are required by big food chains and entertainment houses. The association said on lines of the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA), members of the association be issued identity cards by the SDMs. This will enable the property dealers to see property files with permission and in an presence of the record keeper. Already property dealers are paying service under the Government of India guidelines . If any member enters into malpractices his registration be cancelled. The association has also sought that all wine shops and ahatas opened up on the encroached land be closed down. The Administration should change its policy and permit only those contractors who will run their trade from legal shops. |
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Labour Dept pays hefty rent for bureaucrat’s SCO SAS Nagar, May 23 About two years ago, the Punjab Labour Department went out of the way to hire a shop-cum-office (SCO) of a senior bureaucrat in Phase 3-B 2 market here to accommodate the office of the ALC at a monthly rent of Rs 11,500 — a fact denied by officials of the labour department. Now the rent has been increased to Rs 12,050. The bureaucrat was then the Secretary Industries, Punjab. The showroom is in the name of the bureaucrat and his wife. Interestingly, before shifting to the Phase 3-B2 accommodation, the office of the ALC was being run from an SCO in Phase-5 market and the rent was just Rs 3500. Mr Harinder Pal Singh, owner of the Phase-5 SCO, told the TNS that in 2000, the labour department vacated the premises without any prior notice. He claimed that he had never put pressure on the department to vacate his showroom. However, the Additional Labour Commissioner, Mr Hardyal Singh, does not see any irregularity in renting the new premises. He claimed that after the owner of the earlier showroom gave in writing to get his premises vacated — a fact denied by the owner — an advertisement for taking accommodation on rent was inserted in newspapers. He said the case of taking the Phase 3-B 2 showroom on rent was approved by the government committee concerned. Interestingly, the bureaucrat enjoyed a senior position in the previous Akali government. |
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More GBA workers
face action Chandigarh, May 23 It was further stated that the management was in touch with the workers who had always been explained to come back to work and follow the law. |
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Anniversary special caravan Chandigarh, May 23 Amidst much fanfare, the anniversary caravan comprising 10 motor-cyclists accompanying a decorated van with DJ was flagged off by Mr Sarabjeet Singh Pandher, President, Press Club, Chandigarh. The caravan will move across the city and distribute more than 5,000 invitations and discount coupons for the anniversary special among Chandigarhites at their doorstep. It will also distribute special offer coupons in the most happening market places of Chandigarh. |
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Tibetans contest validity of accord Chandigarh, May 23 “Every effort has been made by China to undermine the authority of the Dalai Lama. Hundreds of religious leaders and thousands of innocent monks and nuns have been killed,” the release said. “Since September 11, 2001, the Chinese Government has not only branded freedom movement, religious movement and separatist movement as terrorist acts, but also made amendments to the criminal law of China to empower the Chinese police to accuse and arrest indiscriminately under the cover of global war against terrorism,” the release added. |
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Juvenile Welfare Board meeting Panchkula, May 23 Under the chairmanship of Ms Jyoti Arora, Deputy Commissioner, the status of the 11 children to whom the certificates were issued earlier was reviewed. Of these 11 children, 3 were adopted by suitable families and the cases for 5 children for adoption purpose were pending in the court. |
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Autorickshaw overturns Chandigarh, May 23 |
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Labourer electrocuted Panchkula, May 23 |
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Power supply disrupted Chandigarh, May 23 In the case of Sectors 34 and 35, one of the transformers was shut down resulting in a powerless day for residents and also in the commercial areas. In Sector 44 also power supply was erratic throughout the day. |
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Ex-employee of Tribune bereaved Chandigarh, May 23 She is survived by two sons and three daughters. |
Pickpocket caught red-handed Chandigarh, May 23 Dowry harassment cases In the second case, a resident of Sector 23 has been booked after his wife Seema Puri reported that he was harassing her to bring more dowry. After initial investigation, the Woman and Child Support Unit of the local police has registered seperate cases. Dead Jewellery stolen Car lifted PANCHKULA Two
held Booked Recovered Injured Iron scrap stolen |
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4 arrested in flesh trade case Dera Bassi, May 23 Sources in the police said that Sunil Kumar Gupta, a manager in a local factory, a Haryana Home guard employee, Manju and a teenager girl were nabbed from a house located in the local Grain Market. Their fifth accomplice, who runs a garment shop in the town, absconded. According to sources, a police party raided the house on the complaint of the house owners and caught the four on the spot. Sunil lured Manju, who is the wife of a foreman of his factory, and took her to the house. The police claimed that Sunil had extra-marital relations with Manju and were also caught by the Himachal police in Dharampur in a similar case earlier. When contacted, Mr Arvind Puri, Station House Officer, confirmed the detention of the persons. He, however, said that a case under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act would be registered only after proper investigation into the matter. |
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