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| Friday,
August 9, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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Two teachers booked on molestation charge Chandigarh, August 8 According to information available, the trouble, started when parents of the girl students stormed into the school demanding action against the two teachers who had allegedly molested the girl students. The parents asked the school Principal to produce the teachers before them. A police official said a case under Sections 506 and 509 of the IPC had been registered against the two teachers. On earlier occasion also, the two teachers allegedly used to molest the girls but the students did not report the matter to the police out of fear. Meanwhile, the teachers were suspended on grounds of molestation of girl students amidst high drama on the school premises. The Principal of the school, Mr Surjit Khanna, said the teachers had been suspended till the inquiry by the police. “I will also look into the matter at my own level. As an immediate step, the physical training teacher and history teacher have been suspended till the case carries on. A police case had been registered in this regard and a copy forwarded to me on which I took action against the teachers,” he added. However, he claimed that the three parents had barged into his office accompanied by activists of the Vikas Manch and had used abusive language against the school authorities as well as teachers of the school. |
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Admn stops Rs 7 cr grant to MC Chandigarh, August 8 FISCAL
INDISCIPLINE *
Administration stops Rs 7 crore grant under plan head. However, the Administration released the Rs 11.25 crore quarterly instalment under non-plan head to the corporation in the first half of July, the usual time of the receipt of the total grant-in-aid under both heads. The grant was stopped due to the failure of the Municipal Corporation to produce a certificate of expenditure in the plan head of the first quarter. Facing a severe financial crunch, the Municipal Corporation apparently could not produce the certificate due to the diversion of funds from the plan head to the non-plan head, which was also admitted by the Municipal Commissioner, Mr. M. P. Singh, at the last House meeting. With the non-receipt of funds from the Chandigarh Administration and the Congress demanding returning of the plan money to it, employees might not get salaries for the month of September, sources said. The Municipal Corporation has now sent the certificate but the Chandigarh Administration has not sent the remaining part of the instalment. The similar situation had arisen in 1998 when the Administration had stopped the grant-in-aid under the plan head. The sources said the Adviser to the Administrator, Ms Neeru Nanda had already admonished senior officials in the corporation over the diversion of funds. The corporation also landed into trouble as it had not taken permission from higher officials in the Administration for the diversion of funds. The corporation has already spent Rs 29.5 crore in the non-plan head against an allocation of Rs 22.5 crore of two quarterly instalments. The corporation officials have already admitted to a diversion of Rs 3 to 4 crore. The corporation had an opening balance of Rs 7 to 8 crore and with the receipt of first grant of Rs 7 crore it shot up to 15 crore but the diversion of
money has put it in a dilemma. The ruling Congress has castigated the corporation officials for depriving the city of development
by an ‘’illegal’’ diversion saying why should people suffer for mistakes of officials. The leader of the Congress in the House, Mr Subhash Chawla, said the first meeting of the Finance and Contract Committee had decided to review the non-plan expenditure every month and plan expenditure every quarter but the meeting had never taken place. He said the mismanagement of funds had robbed people of development worth Rs 4 crore which was not acceptable to the party adding that the Mayor had already objected to the trend. Mr Chawla said with the diversion of funds, the sanctity of powers of the House had been undermined, which reflects an undemocratic attitude. |
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Man alleges torture by police SAS Nagar, August 8 Refuting Mr Sharma’s allegations, the police said he was fighting with another resident of Phase 9, Mr Sukhvinder Singh, when the beat police on motorcycle noticed
them to the police station where, according to the police, Rakesh started banging his head against the metal bars of the cell and hurt his head after which they took him to the hospital and got his head stitched. The police registered a case of attempt to suicide against him. Denying that he was having a fight with someone when the police picked him up, Mr Sharma stated that after coming back from his work he was trying to find a cow to feed it. He says he works as a manager in one of the restaurants of Sector 35. He alleged that the police personnel were drunk and they took away more than Rs 4000 he had in his pocket to be paid to his employees the next day. Alleging that he was brought to the police station and beaten up all through the night after every hour by different persons, he claimed he was innocent and was being framed. ‘‘I never banged my head against the bars,” he
said. Rakesh’s father also stated that the police had not informed them about the incident. “It was a nurse from the hospital who called to tell us that our son was there. We had presumed that he had left for his night duty at the Radha Swami satsang at
Sohana,” says Mr Jagdish Chand, his father. Meanwhile, the SP, SAS Nagar, Mr Harcharan Singh
Bhullar, has stated that he is looking into the matter and a preliminary inquiry has been conducted by the
DSP. The SP also stated that he was out of town last night and was informed about the incident today only. The Deputy Commissioner, Ropar, Ms Seema
Jain, on the recommendation of the SSP, Ropar, Mr Gurpreet Singh
Bhullar, has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the matter under the relevant sections of the Punjab Police Rules. “I have received the preliminary report from the DSP but since the allegations against the police made by Rakesh Sharma are of a serious nature, an independent inquiry is needed,” said Mr
Bhullar. Sources state that the inquiry has been marked to the SDM, SAS Nagar, Mr Darshan
Sandhu. |
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PU students boycott classes Chandigarh, August 8 The boycott task was mainly carried out by members of the Panjab University Students Union which was also joined in by the Haryana Students Association. It may be remembered that as many as 34 students were arrested and sent to judicial remand of 14 days yesterday when they staged a ‘dharna’ in front of the Vice Chancellor’s office. Among the arrested also included Malwinder Singh Kang, the PUSU president. The UT Administration had imposed Section 144 of the CrPC last month following rallies of the students in the residential quarters of the university. One of the main incidents was the visit of the students to the residence of the Vice Chancellor late night. A rally was also held today at the Student Centre today which was addressed by Vipinjeet Mann, chairman of the PUSU, Satinder Pratap Singh Dahiya, president of the HSA, and Upkar Singh. The Students Organisation of Panjab University president, Mr Harveer Singh, has criticised imposition of Section 144, saying it was against democratic values. Meanwhile, a partial strike was observed at the local Government College, Sector 11, by students to express their solidarity with the protesting students of Panjab University here today. While a special talk organised at the college went on
uninteruppted, attendance was lean in classes after 10:30 am. Though classes got off to a normal beginning this morning, students left college to join the students’ rally at the university following a call given by activists of various students’ parties. A representative of the Panjab University Students’ Union at the college, Pargat Singh, said that if the arrested students were not released by tomorrow, a complete strike would be observed in the college.” We will post our boys outside the gate and dissuade students from going to classrooms. High-handedness of the police or university authorities would not be tolerated,” he added. The Principal, Dr S.N. Singla, said that most students had no clue about the strike and continued to attend classes though attendance was definitely affected on account of the proximity of the college to the university. The protesting students, including those of Panjab University, are demanding that Section 144 CrPC be lifted from the campus since it was against the democratic values. The students are also demanding the release of activists of PUSU arrested for violation of Section 144 CrPC imposed on the campus by the Deputy Commissioner. However, work in the adjoining girls’ college remained unaffected and classes were held as per schedule. |
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Admn turns blind eye
to open-air ahatas Chandigarh, August 8 This is the latest, gushes an employee at a vend located on the road dividing sectors 46 and 49. Opening liquor vends in tin sheds is an illegal activity which gives the city a shabby look. In the past, the sheds were allowed as the owners pay rent to the Municipal Corporation. If this was not enough, a revenue-hungry Chandigarh Administration is now turning a blind eye to these tents which are a bigger nuisance. Residents are feeling harassed and are uncomfortable with the idea of having to live in such surroundings where unwanted elements sit in the open and have drinks. Women out on evening walks are the butt of snide remarks from tipplers who sit inside the tents consuming liquor. More often than not, sides of the tents are lifted to allow the breeze in. Since the vends and the tents are located smack on the main roads it is even more risky. Use of vulgar language and drunken brawls in the open are quite common, or rather a daily
occurrence. The vends are located on the major roads exiting from the city thus these attract truckers and daily commuters who work in offices here but have their residences in surrounding villages. A resident of Sector 48 lamented that there were five vends with in one kilometre area. All of these are in temporary tin sheds. The newly shifted auto-market in Sector 48 also has a make-shift vend. Kendriya Vihar housing complex located on the edge of Sector 48-B has vends on two sides of its boundary wall. Another vend is located less than 50 metre away in Jagatpura. A resident of the complex complained this never happened in the northern sectors. |
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Sanitation
work hit in Mohali SAS Nagar, August 8 The decision to cancel the contracts was taken by the civic body at the general house meeting on July 30 as it had received a number of complaints from municipal councillors that the contractors were not providing satisfactory services. Members of the sanitation wing of the council, too, had found during checking that the contractors were not employing the number of safai karamcharis as should have been done. This was adversely affecting work. Following the council decision, the two “blacklisted” firms — Reliable Services and Gill Contractor — have withdrawn their safai karamcharis. These two firms were looking after sanitation work in Phases I, II, III-A, VI, IX, X, XI, Sectors 70 and 71. Mr Kulwant Singh, council president, said today that to tackle the crisis, the council had shifted most of its 125-odd safai karamcharis, who were looking after the industrial area, to the affected residential phases. Mr Amrik Singh Mohali, a municipal councillor, alleged that the council had decided to cancel the sanitation contracts of the persons who were catering to the wards of the opposition councillors. Refuting the charge, Mr Kulwant Singh, said the contracts had been cancelled on the basis of written complaints made to him by certain opposition councillors. Moreover, the contractors who had been “blacklisted” were also working in the wards of certain councillors of the ruling group. Meanwhile, the Executive Officer of the civic body, Mr Jai Krishan Sharma, has recently written a letter to the PUDA that if it did not start the work of constructing enclosures for dumping garbage at the points identified by the council, the civic body would itself undertake the work, the payment of which would have to be made by
PUDA. The council had identified about 68 points in different phases and wanted that PUDA should provide concrete enclosures for dumping garbage. |
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Rich tributes paid to martyr Panchkula, August 8 A contingent of Major Shankla's battalion, 18 Dogra, presented a guard of honour to the late soldier. The honour guard, led by Major H.S. Dhanoa, reversed their arms and a two-minute silence was observed as a mark of respect to the martyr. The Chief of Army Staff, Western Command, and the senior-most serving Dogra officer at the station, Lt-Gen. H.S. Kanwar, laid a wreath at the memorial, followed by Lt Col J.S. Kanwar (retd), father of Major Shankla. Major Gen S.N. Rajan, MG ASC, laid a wreath on behalf of the Western Command. Floral tributes were also paid on behalf of all ranks of 18 Dogra. Several veteran soldiers, including Brig Sant Singh (retd), also paid their homage. Major Shankla made the supreme sacrifice on this day in 1991 while fighting militants in Zafarwani village near Panjgam in the Kashmir valley. The operation resulted in three top militants being killed and four being injured. For displaying highest quality of leadership and courage in the face of grave personal risk, Major Sandeep Shankla was posthumously awarded Ashoka Chakra, the highest peace time gallantary award. |
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Employees
stage sit-in to press for demands Chandigarh, August 8 “The decision on forfeiting salary of one day or half day is going to be taken now,” Mr Bharadwaj said adding, “it is likely to be of full day.” The dharna organised by the coordination committee of Government and MC Employees and Workers’, Chandigarh, today announced a one-day token strike as part of intensification of their struggle. The date has, however, not been announced. The dharna today attracted support from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Chandigarh Vikas Manch, Congress and CPM. The Former BJP MP, Mr Satya Pal Jain, Chandigarh Vikas Party supremo, Mr Harmohan Dhawan, Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee president, Mr B.B. Bahl, and CPM Punjab Secretary, Mr Balwant Singh, addressed workers. Mr Jain announced that instructions to the MC to consider employees on deputation from Chandigarh Administration had already been issued by the Central Government and a bill was likely to be taken up in Parliament soon to amend the Punjab Municipal Act to accommodate workers’ demands. The convener of the committee and co-convener, Mr Rakesh Kumar, lashed out at the Administration and the MC for employing delaying tactics. The employees are demanding to treat them on deemed deputation with the MC, to grant bonus for past five years, to stop anti-employee policies of the Central and state governments and to grant HRA and CCA to daily-wagers as per the decision of the Supreme Court . |
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Cop’s behaviour resented Chandigarh, August 8 According to information available, a person was noticed moving in a suspicious manner searching glove boxes of scooters parked on the rear side parking of the Sector 9 market. Some employees of Capital Hospital kept an eye on the person and caught hold of him and informed the police. Soon a PCR vehicle came followed by a Sub- Inspector from the Sector 3 police station. An employee of the hospital, Gurpreet , said a master key was recovered from the possession of the person. The informer maintained that the SI behaved rudely with him and asked about his antecedents instead of questioning the suspect. On seeing the behaviour of the police official, the informer refused to give in writing about the handing over of the suspect. Intervention by a passerby attracted strong reaction from the SI. The informer was asked to give in writing that he had no complaint against the suspect. People in the area complained that there had been a number of incidents of theft in the market in the past. A person was recently caught red-handed while stealing petrol from a two-wheeler. A police official at the Sector 3 police station said the antecedents of the suspect had been verified and he was working with a courier company. |
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Tribune
Trust donates 1.75 lakh to HelpAge Chandigarh, August 8 The money will be spent for providing basic necessity items to 119 elderly destitute lepers residing in the ashram. The Senior Executive Officer, HelpAge India, Mr Bhavneshwar Sharma, while highlighting the help being given by The Tribune Trust, informed about the multifarious age-care programmes being carried on by the HelpAge India, in the country and the financial assistance being given by a large number of organisations and individuals. |
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Rehriwalas
resent challan move Chandigarh, August 8 Commotion started after an Inspector of the corporation was reportedly assaulted by agitating rehriwalas. This led to verbal duels between employees of the enforcement wing and the rehriwalas. In protest the rehri market was closed and the rehriwalas, led by their leaders, marched to the Mani Majra police station demanding action against the employees of the corporation. Till the filing of the complaint, the rehriwalas were camping at the police station. A police official said efforts were being made to work out a solution between the two parties. |
Three bodies found in city Chandigarh, August 8 The victim, who was living with her husband, Ram Sagar, a medical representative, had estranged relations with him. The couple had had a love marriage. She has left a suicide note holding her husband responsible for her death. The police has registered a case under Section 306 of the IPC. In another case, a 44-year-old constable of IRB first battalion, Baljeet Singh, was found dead in his tent in Ministerial Complex in Sector 39 here. According to the information available, the victim was an alcoholic and had consumed liquor last night. The body has been sent to Sector 16 General Hospital for autopsy. Inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC are under way. Meanwhile, 35-year-old Sapan Dass of Maloya village was found lying at Shantikunj in Sector 16 here late this evening. He was later declared brought dead at the PGI. According to the information, the body was noticed by a passerby. |
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Purse-snatching case takes new turn Chandigarh, August 8 The complainant in the case, Mr Pawan Peyush Mahajan, today said he had received a letter containing a cheque for Rs 750, a birth certificate of his daughter and some photographs, which were in the snatched purse. However, the cash and jewellery were missing. Mr Mahajan said the letter had been addressed in the name of his father and it was understamped. He said the documents had been submitted at the Sector 17, Police Station. He did not rule out a relation between the employees of the contractor and the unidentified burglars. Already the complainant has accused two employees of the parking contractor for conniving with two unidentified youths who snatched a purse from his wife who was sitting in the car. The two unidentified youths had reportedly escaped with the purse containing cash, jewellery and other articles. On the other hand, the former contractor, Mr Satish Gupta, claimed that his men were in no way involved in the incident and they had just pushed the car to a right place as it had been parked wrongly. A police official at the Sector 17 Police Station, however, said the investigations so far it could be established that the two employees of the contractor were involved in the incident. The police had registered a case under Section 379 of the IPC. |
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Cash, gold stolen SAS Nagar, August 8 Chandigarh Doc’s house burgled: Two incidents of theft were reported in the city during the past 48 hours. According to information available, at least Rs 4000 was stolen from the residence of a PGI doctor, Usha Dutta, a resident of Sector 24 here, on August 7. The burglars broke the rear door of the house when the doctor was away to duty. In another case, Ram Dass, a resident of Sector 41, lodged a complaint with the Sector 39 police station that burglars took away Rs 3540 from his trouser in the house. In both incidents, cases under Sections 380 and 454 of the IPC has been registered. Car missing: A resident of Mani Majra, Valaya Pathi, in a complaint lodged with the police said his driver, who was absent from duty since August 3, was in possession of the duplicate keys of the Maruti car. She said the car went missing from the residence on August 6. Injured: A constable of the Chandigarh Police, Kulbir Singh, who was riding a scooter, was injured after being hit by a Fiat Uno car near the Sector 34 market. The constable has been admitted to the PGI. The car has been impounded and the driver arrested. One arrested: A snatcher was caught while escaping with a bag containing documents near Sector 23, here on Thursday evening. According to information, the suspect, Sashi, was caught while escaping with the bag of Balwinder Singh, a resident of SAS Nagar. A case under Sections 379 and 411 of the IPC has been registered at the Sector 17 police station. |
Industry welcomes Admn decision Chandigarh, August 8 The president of the Federation of Small Scale Industries, Mr Yash Pal Mahajan told the CITCO shed holders that he was thankful to the officers of Administration who had understood the difficulty and problems being faced by the shed holders as they were unable to mortgage their sheds and raise loans from banks. Mr Mahajan said it was the positive attitude of the Adviser to the Administrator, Secretary Industries, Finance Secretary and Deputy Commissioner that had enabled the required notification. Mr Rajeev Gupta, general secretary, said the issue regarding the conversion of lease hold to free hold was in an advanced stage and other issues which the Federation had taken up with the Administration were liberalisation of pollution control norms, de-linking of sectors from industrial in electricity supply, special funds by Chandigarh Administration for repair of roads, industrial policy for Chandigarh, price preference for the local industry and some other related issues for the benefit of Chandigarh Industry. Mr Rajeev Gupta told that the attitude of Chandigarh Administration on all these issues was very positive and they were hopeful of positive results. Meanwhile, the Chamber of Chandigarh Industries today welcomed the move while demanding that the original lease deeds for the transfer of ownership be given to the local entrepreneurs within a specified time frame. Mr Chaman Lal Sharma, Tejbans Singh Jauhar and Mr Amarjit Singh Sethi, president, vice-president and general secretary of the Chandigarh Nagrik Sabha, respectively, welcomed the decision of the Administration. They called upon the Administration to extend the relief to all allottees of industrial plots in the city. |
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Defaulters
plague finance companies Chandigarh, August 8 Investigations reveal that people after being declared defaulters go to another bank to get a vehicle financed and repeat the
exercise several times. Things have come to such a pass that major financial institutions and companies dealing in higher sale purchase have made a common pool to share information about the chronic defaulters in the city and its neighbouring townships. By rough estimates, around Rs 30 crore is due to be paid by defaulters and the number of such defaulters is over 1500. The data sharing would enable the financiers to check the credentials of an applicant, said an official of a private bank in Sector 35. A case was registered against
D.K. Malhotra, and Neelam of Magnum Industries Limited, the private firm which was getting vehicles financed on the basis of forged documents, under Sections 420, 467, 468 and 120-B of the IPC today. The representatives of at least five major finance companies again met the Senior Superintendent of Police today. The SSP has directed the DSP (South), Mr S.C. Sagar and the SHO of the Sector 36 police station, Mr Ajiab Singh to investigate all cases of fraud in the financing of vehicles. The SSP said if there was the angle of cheating and fraud in the financing of vehicles, the police would take the case to its logical conclusion. But if it was the case of a person defaulting in payment of installments, it was a civil matter and the financial institution could initiate action under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act. He said it had already been decided not to allow finance companies to use muscle power to repossess their vehicles as it had led to serious law and order problem. He said the finance companies should thoroughly verify the documents of an applicant before clearing a case. He said the police was framing guidelines governing the role of the police in such cases. |
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BIZ CLIP
Chandigarh Launching its first offering, the company in collaboration with the Austrian company, “Kohinoor” has endeavoured to bring home the nutritional benefits of apple juices in the form of juice. While talking to mediapersons, Mr Naveen Prothi, Vice-President of the company, said: “The lack of fat, cholesterol and sodium are just a few of the many reasons that apple juice is an important part of a healthy dietary regimen. The long-standing adage, ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’ is today backed up and supported by scientific research.” |
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