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| Wednesday,
July 9, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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Move losing momentum? The heavy rush in the RLA office and the number of parked vehicles on nearby roads may convince one that the move to register the actual residence of vehicle owners on RCs has been successful. But enquiries reveal that not even 2000 persons have so far registered their new addresses on the
RCs.
Officials admit that the number of eligible applicants could be anywhere between 70,000 to 1,00,000 out of about two lakh vehicle owners in the city. According to the Traffic police, between January and April 2003, it had issued 19,577 challans for violation of traffic rules, collected fines directly from 12,999 vehicle owners and sent 6,897 challans to the court. Out of these, 6,490 traffic violators were fined by the court, leaving behind just 407 persons, not even 0.05 per cent of the total vehicle owners that could not be traced at their addresses. The officials admit that the Punjab and Haryana Governments have declined to cooperate with the Administration, so the move could soon lose its momentum. Further, a section of vehicle owners were changing addresses in the insurance papers to bluff the Traffic police. |
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Medical, engineering seats for sale Chandigarh, July 8
After preliminary investigations, a case of cheating has been registered against two Sector 20-based persons, Bhagirathi Singh and Milkha Ram, who were accepting money, ranging between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 35 lakh, from each student on behalf of some medical and engineering institutions in Punjab and other states. Sources revealed that several students had secured seats in engineering colleges and a batch of students were waiting to get medical seats through the well-oiled racket. The sources said the police was trying to ascertain the name of beneficiaries. However, there was likelihood that the actual amount of money paid as donation was much more than the receipts issued by the respective institutions. A police official said the investigation was focussed on a group of persons who were collecting money in the name of donations and promising them admission in professional colleges. Inquiries reveal that the professional colleges had to submit their fee structure to the Centre and the respective state
governments. After a judgement by the Supreme Court, the Medical Education Regulatory Authority (MERA) and the Education Institutions Regulatory Authority (EIRA) were set up by the government to regulate the engineering and medical education. In its order, the Supreme Court had “freed” the fee from the state control but had said that capitation fee was illegal and barred colleges from profiteering. In the case registered by the crime branch, investigating officials were probing how some of the professional colleges were over charging the fee in the name of donations and whether the seats being sold were beyond the sanctioned strength. On the basis of information provided by the two suspects, the police was trying to contact professional colleges in other
states. The sources said a number of students from the city and neighbouring towns had secured seats in professional colleges after paying “donations” over and above the prescribed admission fee. |
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Cable operators fall to MC pressure Chandigarh, July 8 A senior official of the MC said more than 30 cable operators had deposited a part of the tax imposed on them, which was pending since 1999. At least Rs 40 lakh is pending against the cable operators on account of this tax. The MC had thrice issued notices to them in the past couple of months to clear their dues. Fearing uprooting of poles and cable wires, following the final notice issued to them last week, more than 100 cable operators joined hands to strengthen their association and solve the issue with the MC authorities. Today, a delegation of the association, led by Mr Amarjit Singh Walia, president of the association, met senior officials of the MC in the presence of Mayor Subash Chawla to discuss the issue. After a discussion of about an hour, the cable operators agreed to pay the tax within a week, said a senior official of the MC who was present at the meeting. During the meeting, members of the delegation of cable operators expressed that the cable operators of the city were not against paying the ground rent but wanted that the ‘tax should be charged nominal and rational’. Mr Chawla agreed to constitute a committee to look into the points of the cable operators. “As per the mutual understanding reached between the cable operators and the MC, the cable operators have deposited a portion of the tax imposed on them since 1996. They have agreed to deposit rest of the amount in the coming week”, said the Mayor. The cable operators are being charged Rs 1,000 per month as ground rent for fixing the poles on the municipal land. “Every cable operator owes at least a sum of Rs 40,000 to the MC. They have never come forward to pay the tax so far, until the notices were served upon them during the past couple of months”, said an official of the accounts department of the MC. |
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New CTU buses stand unoperational Chandigarh, July 8
On some account, the 35 buses in question, although included in the CTU fleet, have not yet been sent on route. Most of these are long-route buses, if sent on route, will fetch the CTU a daily revenue of about Rs 2 lakh. The buses are, however, still standing unoperational in the two Chandigarh Transport Undertaking workshops in the Industrial Area. While some buses (numbers 5892, 5894, 5897, 5899, 5903, among others) are parked in CTU’s depot number 2, the rest are in the depot number 3. Although it has been over 20 days since the buses were included in the CTU strength and were, reportedly, even cleared for routes by experts of the mechanical committee, constituted to test the newly fabricated buses, they have been detained in the depots for some reason. Where officials maintain that the buses are yet to be cleared of major defects, union members say the said defects are minor and the buses have been passed by experts appointed to inspect them. The issue has assumed significance in the light of allegations raised by CTU unionists, who say that by remaining unoperational, each bus is causing a loss of Rs 2 lakh to the CTU’s revenue, daily. Irked over the alleged illegal detention of buses by the authorities, representatives of three main CTU unions, namely the CTU Workers Union, the CTU Employees Union and the CTU Employees and Workers Union, even dispatched a written complaint to the Home Secretary, UT. The complaint dated July 2, says that about 35 buses, which are newly fabricated, are standing unoperational in the workshop since 12 days and have not been sent on route. “Due to this, the CTU is suffering financial loss of about Rs 2 lakh daily. You are requested to kindly look into the matter and get the same investigated by a responsible person,” it reads. A copy of this complaint has been forwarded to the Director, Transport, UT. Although action on this letter is awaited, independent enquires reveal that the buses in question were indeed cleared by the mechanical wing some days ago. The Motor Vehicle Inspector had also passed them for routes. Officials, however, maintain that the buses are still defective. |
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Beat police to keep watch on public land Chandigarh, July 8 On the directions of the UT Finance Secretary to all government department to check encroachments in their land, the Senior Superintendent of Police has directed the area DSPs and SHOs to brief their beat staff on the issue. The PCR staff have also been asked to keep an eye on the land which had recently been freed from encroachments. Sources in the Police Department said the Finance Secretary in a recent order had said that the head of institution of government department should be responsible for ensuring protection of government property. |
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8 taxi stands removed Chandigarh, July 8 A senior official of the MC revealed that a team of officials from the road wing today carried out the drive to stop unauthorised functioning of taxi stands in the city. Eight taxi stands were removed from Sectors 9, 26, 27, 20, 22 and Industrial Area, (Phase-I). Tables, chairs, sheds and tents were seized from the taxi stands. |
‘Scheme for utilising Ghaggar waters soon’ Panchkula, July 8 While interacting with the people of various wards of the municipal council of the area, Mr Chautala said the present government had spent maximum funds on the development of Panchkula. To remove the problem of drinking water in the city, the state government was formulating a scheme for utilising waters of the Ghaggar, he said, adding that a 200 feet high dam near Diwanwala village in Pinjore would be constructed on the river. Mr Chautala addressed eight public meetings in Sectors 11, 14, 19, 20 and 2, and Kharag Mangoli and Abheypur villages. He detailed a number of other projects, including an auditorium, for the beautification of the satellite town. He said Rs 7 crore had been spent on the repair and maintenance of roads and Rs 2 crore on the upkeep of parks. He said Rs 9 crore were available with the Municipal Council, Panchkula, for development works. He added that musical fountains were also being set up at the Mansa Devi temple complex to add beauty to its premises. |
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Tourism industry set for
upswing Chandigarh, July 8 Chandigarh has been a popular destination as well as a transit point for tourists from all over the country heading for the cool climes of Himachal Pradesh. The world famous Rock Garden along with the Sukhna Lake are the top attractions of the city which also has the distinction of being designed by the French architect, Le Corbusier. Chandigarh’s shopping centres, especially the commercial markets in Sector 17, have emerged in recent years as among the best in any city this side of Delhi. Therefore, visitors from Punjab and Haryana also make it a point to visit the city for short shopping trips. But certain events in different parts of the world cast their shadow on the tourism traffic here. “If it was the Kargil war in 1999, it were the terrorist strikes on the Indian Parliament, the Akshardham temple and Kaluchak army camp, deployment of the Indian forces on the border with Pakistan, attack on the World Trade Centre in New York followed by the war in Afghanistan and then in Iraq”, says Mr S.P. Singh, Managing Director of the Chandigarh Tourism and Industrial Development Corporation (CITCO). “It affected the tourist flow to Chandigarh as it did elsewhere in the country”. “But we have been making concerted efforts to market Chandigarh throughout the country. We make it a point to participate in every tourist fair held in major cities of the country. These include Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai. And the results have been heartwarming”. |
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In search of a kidney donor Chandigarh, July 8 Suffering from an acute kidney problem for the past six months, Mr Goyal has to undergo dialysis twice a week. “Since my parents are too old to donate their kidney and my sister is suffering from diabetes, there is none in the family who can come to my rescue,” he says. Father of three young children, Mr Goyal has somehow been able to raise Rs 1.75 lakh by borrowing from relatives but unavailability of a kidney for transplant is causing delay. Mr Goyal spends more than Rs 4,000 on dialysis and medicines every week. “With each passing day, my husband’s health is deteriorating as he has become frail and with our shop remaining closed most of the time, it is getting difficult to run the house,” says his wife, Sunita. She is hoping that like some other lucky patients who were able to get a kidney through donation, her husband will also be fortunate enough. Those who are in a position to help Mr Goyal can contact him at house number 153, Topkhana Bazaar, Ambala. He can also be contacted on phone No. 0171 - 2631707. |
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PLATFORM
SAVE WATER Environmentalists have warned that the next war would be due to water. Water resources are depleting in many developing countries, including
India. Staying and studying in Dubai since birth, I know how expensive drinking water in Dubai can get since it has to be desalinated whereas India is lucky to have natural resources. We should use fittings which allow the minimum wastage of water. Our daily habits like washing and bathing should be such that water is conserved. Our teachers should advise and demonstrate the best practices on energy conservation including water. A lot of water is wasted in watering plants, house gardens, parks as I observe in Chandigarh. Dubai installs computer controlled drip irrigation systems which save a lot of water. More and more areas should be landscaped, brought under forest by carefully selecting plants requiring less water. The quality of drinking water in India is a cause of
concern. Water pollution, industrial pollution, air pollution particularly in our cities and towns, are adversely affecting the health of children. The public should cooperate and contribute towards the government efforts in securing safe and healthy tourist destination for the world.
Karan Mehta, Class IV |
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Traders’ protest car rally today Chandigarh, July 8 Mr Arvind Jain, president of the Chandigarh Commercial Tenants Association, said that the association would also join the rally. |
Crime branch searches Media Ad Link’s office Chandigarh, July 8 A case under Sections 420 and 120 B of the IPC was registered against Ms Bhawna Karir, Delhi-based owner of the company, and Ms Monica Sethi, in charge of the local branch of the company. Ms Karir, who was arrested by the Delhi police in a separate case of cheating on June 30, is lodged in Tihar Jail. The crime branch is probing the matter after Mr Sandeep Singh, a resident of Sector 36 here, complained to the police that he had been cheated by the company. After obtaining search warrants from a local court, the police had broken open the locked office of the company here. A police personnel said seven registers with the names of thousands of candidates and their telephone numbers, a receipt book, and some office furniture was found in the cabin of the company. “It appeared that the company had removed important documents like the entry fee register and the portfolios of the applicants. Inquiries in the area revealed that the company had been running its office for the past seven years. The police would now bring Ms Karir, on production warrants from Tihar Jail. The other suspect, Ms Sethi, has also gone underground. Ms Karir, owner of Media Ad Link, used to contact parents randomly and promise to get their children a break into the world of modelling. After asking the parents to pay an entrance fee, the company then asked for more money to prepare portfolios of children. According to sources in the Delhi police, Ms Karir, after randomly picking up a number from the telephone directory, used to tell the person on the other side that his child had a great potential to become a famous model. She had reportedly told the Delhi police that she sold the idea to as many as 4,700 persons and made about Rs 2.5 crore. The police said the agency used to ask for a registration fee of Rs 1,100 from the applicants and then offered to get their portfolios made for anything between Rs 2,000 - 5,500. But few children got any modelling assignments. |
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Lawyer
missing Chandigarh, July 8 According to the family, the advocate left his Sector 10 residence for the high court at about 3.30 pm with some files on Monday. The family got worried and started searching for him after he failed to get in touch with them till late in the evening. The advocate was wearing a white shirt grey trousers and a cream turban. A report has been lodged with the Chandigarh police. |
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