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August 1, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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One of the accused caught, hostels raided Chandigarh, July 31 Six others named in the FIR are still at large. Bansal is student of law. Meanwhile, the condition of Kang is said to be stable. To prevent violence during the strike called by PUSU, the university campus was virtually transformed into a police fortress today. Heavy deployment was seen at Students Centre and Vice-Chancellor’s office. However, the day passed off peacefully. The police presence on the campus will be increased in view of the coming student body elections. Various places, including the PU hostels, were raided to arrest the accused still at large, including the president of SOPU, Kushwaz Singh Jattana. Entry of outside vehicles in the university will be restricted in late hours, security personnel have been asked to ensure that. |
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Four Judges not granted extension Chandigarh, July 31 Though the authorities are tight-lipped about it, high court sources revealed that the Judges included Mr Diwan Chand posted at Jhajjar, Mr V.P. Soni stationed at Gurdaspur, Mr R.S. Sachdeva posted at Barnala and Ms Sashi Kataria stationed at Hoshiarpur. The sources further revealed that Ms Kataria, directly appointed as a Judge, was yet to complete her probation period. Her case, along with that of the other Judges, had come up for consideration as they had attained either the age of 55 or 58. Giving details, sources asserted that the service record of all judicial officers are in routine examined by the high court initially after they attain the age of 55, again after they attain the age of 58. The sources asserted that the decision against granting extension to the officers was taken after going through the record and discussing the matter at length. It may be recalled that four judicial officers, including an Additional District and Sessions Judge, were placed under suspension by the high court on July 1 also. The four had further been charge-sheeted for major penalty proceedings. Another District and Sessions Judge, already under suspension, was also charge-sheeted by the high court. The officers included Nakodar’s Additional Civil Judge K.B. Raheja, Nawanshahr’s Civil Judge Rajiv Kalra, Hisar’s Additional District and Sessions Judge Dharam Pal (I), along with Hisar’s Chief Judicial Magistrate
G.S. Wadhwa. |
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Challan on RCs deferred Chandigarh, July 31 The High Court was hearing a writ petition pertaining to the change of address in the registration certificates. Police sources said the orders would be examined by the legal branch when received and only then would the further course of action be decided. |
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MC drops probe into cow row
Chandigarh, July 31 A resolution to this effect was passed by the House after assurances from the Mayor, Mr Subhash Chawla, and the Commissioner, Mr M.P. Singh, that the guilty would not be spared and the Municipal Corporation would fully cooperate with the Himachal Pradesh police in its investigations. Mr Gian Chand Gupta, of the Bharatiya Janata Party demanded an inquiry by a High Court Judge or the CBI into the matter and the Mayor also agreed with his views. The assurances brought an end to the five-hour slanging match between the BJP and the Congress over the issue. Noisy scenes and disruptions marked the day’s proceedings. However, responsibility for the incident could not be fixed despite Mr Gian Chand Gupta demanding suspension for officials suspected to have been behind the incident. A large number of councillors from all parties were unanimous in condemning the incident. The councillors demanded that cattle management be handed over to the Chandigarh Administration and a new policy be made if the request was turned down. Mr Chawla read out data on how many cattle heads had been shunted out during the tenure of each Mayor, including that of the BJP. “The policy has been to first return the captured cattle to claimants. Auctioning and shunting out come next, in that order. Mr Chawala claimed he had stopped the auctions as he feared the cattle might be slaughtered. Councillor Pardeep Chhabra sought details of the order of the Administrator, Justice O.P. Verma, on the issue of cattle menace in the city. However, his question remained unanswered. After describing Mr Chawla’s tenures as that of cow slaughters, Mr Gupta said nobody had yet been punished for the death of cows in the Sector 45
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Punjab Engg College set to become deemed university Chandigarh, July 31 After the approval comes, a formal notification will be issued once the Administration complies with various other requirements like formation of a society to run the institute in a new format. The name of the college will also undergo a change in accordance with its national status. The proposed name of the society is PEC-National Institute of Technology. It may be remembered that the seeds of the present college were sown in 1921 and it moved to the city in 1953. The PEC will now enjoy complete academic and administrative independence. The degrees given to students which bore the stamp of Panjab University till date will soon have the insignia of PEC replacing the insignia of the university. In the first week of June the upgradation of PEC was approved by the University Grants Commission at its meeting. The issue of granting the status of a deemed university has been hanging fire for the past more than three decades. However, the issue gained momentum in 1997. The issue of granting the status of a university has figured very strongly in the meeting of the commission in April this year. Due to objections with regard to infrastructure the status was not granted earlier. The UGC Act of 1956 says: “The Central Government may, on the advice of the UGC, declare, by notification in the official gazette, that any institution, for higher education, other than a university, shall be deemed to be a university for the purpose of the Act, and on such a declaration being made, all provisions of this act apply to such institutions as if it were a university.” The PEC offers nine degrees in engineering at the undergraduate level, including aeronautical, civil, computer science, electrical, electronics and electrical communication, information technology, mechanical, metallurgical and production. The college offers eleven postgraduate courses also. Giving an administrative justification the PEC had claimed “in the existing set-up, PEC is being treated as a government department like any other government department. As a result, this institution of higher education and icon of technical education in north-west India is not getting the attention it deserves”. The upgradation has been carried out after a team of the UGC, which had come here for inspection, had given a favourable report while recommending the case strongly for upgrading the PEC into a deemed university. |
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Dainik Tribune
Editor Vijay Saihgal retires Chandigarh, July 31 Mr Rajkumar Singh, Assistant Editor, will be the officiating Editor of Dainik Tribune with effect from August 1, 2003. Mr Saihgal has written on various subjects, including socio-political affairs, human rights and development. He contributed articles on journalism for Hindi Patrakarita Key Vividh Ayam, Bharat Mein Hindi Patrakarita Ka Itihas and Hindi Patrakartia Disha Aur Dasha and has been doing research on growth of Hindi journalism in India. Mr Saihgal belongs to a family of freedom fighters, authors and publishers of Subathu (Shimla Hills). Mr Saihgal is also a literary writer and has two books — “Aadha Sukh” (short story collection) and (a travelogue) “Aastha Ki Dagar Par” — to his credit. Now he plans to devote his life to pursue literary writing in addition to journalism. He was given an affectionate farewell this afternoon by his colleagues, including Mr H.K. Dua, Editor-in-Chief. |
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All care being taken for George’s sortie Chandigarh, July 31 According to an Air Force officer, the sortie will take place only if the weather is clear tomorrow. Areas in and around Ambala experienced sharp showers today. A check with the local Meteorological Department this evening, which covers Ambala, revealed that the skies would remain mainly cloudy, with one or two spells of thunder showers. Given that the monsoon is in full swing, some Air Force officers spoken to were also critical about the time and place chosen for the sortie. Places like Bareilly, Jaisalmer or Uttarlai, where the climate is drier would have made a better choice, they felt. The aircraft in which the Defence Minister is to fly is a MiG-21 Type-69 trainer. The Commanding Officer of the Cobra Squadron, Wg Cdr N. Harish would be in the tandem, two-seat cockpit along with the Defence Minister, who would fly as a
passenger. The Defence Minister would also be required to undergo a preliminary medical test, which includes blood pressure, pulse and temperature checks before being cleared to climb into the cockpit. Sources said that the aircraft had been thoroughly serviced by the station’s engineering staff and all systems had been tested repeatedly to rule out the possibility of snags. As far as security is concerned, Air Force officers said that complete arrangements had been made as per provisions. Besides the Air Force, the Army, the local police as well as intelligence agencies are involved. Though officers are tight-lipped about the security procedures, it would involve securing the Air Force station’s perimeter as well as sanitising the airfield’s funnel and the glide-path. Measures to counter bird activity in the air field’s vicinity have also been adopted. In addition, the station’s local flying area would be kept clear of air traffic. Besides, full safety measures including fire fighting as well as search and rescue, which are on standby whenever flying activity is undertaken at an air station, would be at hand. This is the second time in the past few weeks that Mr George Fernandes is undertaking a sortie in a combat aircraft. He flew in a Su-30
aircraft at Pune in June. |
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HUDA acquires 950 acres in Mansa Devi complex Panchkula, July 31 Sources said all formalities for acquiring the land had been completed following the settlement of various litigations recently. The land in question had led to a spate of cases filed by their owners and many of them have been settled in favour of the government. The Revenue Department has issued notices to the owners of various housing colonies, residential complexes and some colonisers who had purchased land in this area, informing them that the awards relating to their property would be given in the first week of August. Six sectors will be developed by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) on this land. Sector 1 has been earmarked for green belt and recreational areas, while Sectors 2 and 6 will be developed for residential purposes with provision of shopping centres. An information technology (IT) park spread in 75 acres will be developed opposite Sector 2. Sector 3 has been earmarked for a city centre, comprising a commercial and institutional zone. The HUDA has already developed Sectors 4 and 5 here. A chunk of 950 acres has been earmarked for Sector 2, where 359 acres land will be dedicated to the residential area with a density of 60 residents per acre. With a provision for shopping centres, Sector 6 will also be the second residential area that would be developed on about 119 acres of land. Sources said the authorities had decided to hold a draw of residential plots (measuring 8 marla to 1 kanal) within a year or two. HUDA will give compensation to the land holders either in cash or in form of plots in lieu of the land acquired. |
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BIS seeks quality system certification Chandigarh, July 31 Special emphasis is being laid on standardisation of agricultural equipments in the light of mishaps due to the unapproved equipments. Officials of the regional office of the BIS here raised the issue at a meeting of Punjab Level Advisory Committee on Marking of standardisation and quality systems
(SLC) held here yesterday. The Chief Secretary Punjab, Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce, and Director, Industries and Commerce, said around 25 officials from different government departments and representatives of the industry attended the meeting. Sources in the BIS said that it had been pointed out to the state government that standardisation of mainly harvesting threshers, tillage disks, bicycle parts, manure, cattle feed , hand tools, ceiling fans, plywood industry and around 24 electrical items was required. Since the BIS was not an enforcement agency, the issue had been raised with the state government on the directives of the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. The Deputy Director General of the Northern Regional Office of the BIS, Mr KK Sharma, and Mr RD
Angra, Director of BIS ( Punjab), also attended the meeting. Mr Sharma said in the fourth state-level meeting with the Punjab Chief Secretary, the bureau had recommended that state should work for getting the items standardised as per the certified norms. He said the state government had also been urged to encourage the cooperative banks, hospitals, tourism
departments and other government undertakings to seek the quality system certification. In the meeting the issue of certification of the quality and purity of gold jewellery being sold by jewellers in Punjab was also raised. The certification of the jewellery has to be as per the hall marking scheme. The scheme is a mark given to the purity of gold jewellery and the BIS has been identified as the agency to register the certification and purity of the gold. Inquiries reveal that already eleven
jewellers, five in Punjab and six in Chandigarh had the BIS certification. It was pointed out that jewellers had been selling 15 to 16 carat gold as 22 carat. The officials of the BIS had urged the Chief Secretary to facilitate setting up of a government approved assaying centre for the certification of gold jewellery. The BIS certified jewellers can put the certification mark on their jewellery items. |
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Futile debate on property tax,
imposition imminent Chandigarh, July 31 The tabling of the tax proposal on the floor of the House has cleared the way for its imposition from the date decided by the Municipal Corporation. The Bharatiya Janata Party targeted the Congress for imposing the tax saying the BJP was never in favour of it. The nominated councillors supported the Chandigarh Administration for rationalising the tax to prop up resources of the cash-starved municipal body. The corporation cleared giving Reliance mobile phones to all councillors. The House also approved formulating a policy to give concrete booths to 435 shopkeepers of Janata Market in Mani Majra. |
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Sukhna full to the brim Chandigarh, July 31 The water level in the Sukhna today crossed the highest flood level of El 1161 feet forcing the Engineering Department of the UT Administration to partly open the floodgates for the excess water to escape. The gates were kept open for about seven hours. According to a spokesman for the Administration, the main entry of the water into the Sukhna will be plugged tomorrow to prevent more water from flooding into the lake. “We will maintain the water level in the lake at El 1161 feet,” he said. |
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Ex-Deputy Mayor admits to hand in scuffle Chandigarh, July 31 The councillors made the announcement when BJP councillor Kamla Sharma pressed for a statement from the Mayor on the incident asking who were the two councillors involved in the scuffle. Interestingly, the House voted in favour of discussing the issue of death of cows instead of the Mayor’s conduct when it was put to vote. Ms Sharma objected to the rejection of her question to which the Commissioner, Mr M. P. Singh, quoting rules said it was not permissible and the Mayor could only permit it. The Mayor rejected the question saying it will set a wrong precedent to discuss personal issues of members. However, despite the rejection of this question, the issue brought both sides to feet and allegations and counter-allegations were hurled against each other. The House plunged into a din amidst allegations and counter-allegations. The Mayor admitted to the scuffle and regretted that he should not have gone to such a place. |
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Telephone subscribers’ complaint on connectivity Chandigarh, July 31 The subscribers of various cellular services also complained about inter-connectivity. Inquiries reveal that the problem surfaced in the evening when subscribers were not able to reach mobile users on the other end. Officials of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited said they had not received any complaint in this regard. Sources in the private telecom sector said the problem of inter-connectivity could have surfaced due to a heavy pressure of mobile telephone users. The inter-connectivity between the mobile users improved late in the evening. |
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Panchkula Diary Panchkula, July 31 Ms Ahlawat was presiding over a meeting of municipal councillors , representatives of sector welfare associations and officers of the district administration, Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) and the municipal council. She said the problem could be tackled on a community basis, only with the help of people. The DC said HUDA had destroyed congress grass on the roadsides in May, 2003, and had started work again from the sides of main roads, parks and vacant plots, while MC had given contract for the same purpose from internal roads of sectors. She said residents should participate in removing congress grass as shramdaan.
Development works reviewed The Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary Cultural Affairs and Development Commissioner, Panchkula, Ms Meenakshi Anand Chaudhary, today reviewed the development works announced by the Chief Minister in his ‘sarkaar aapke dwaar’ programmes. She directed officers of the Irrigation Department to construct a nullah for drainage of water from Harijan basti of Billa. The District Education Officer was asked to arrange a meeting with officers of the Education Department to establish a technical college for girls, while the District Primary Education Officer was asked to check the implementation of mid-day meal scheme and make efforts to fill all vacant posts of teachers. Ms Chaudhary also reviewed the progress of development works relating to the Forest Department, Public Health, Transport, Marketing Board and Shivalik Development Board.
Pathological laboratory The Art of Living Vyakti Vikas Kendra here has decided to upgrade its existing pathological laboratory as Sri Sri Chikitsa Kendra. This dispensary will be inaugurated on August 2. Mr R.K. Singla, a spokesman of the kendra, said a volunteer has offered a vacant plot in Industrial Area for setting up the dispensary, which will help provide medical facilities to residents of Anheypur, Baltana, Budanpur and the slum and labour colonies located nearby. He said well qualified doctors and technicians and nurses has already been engaged. He said the dispensary would run for eight hours a day and medicines will be distributed free of cost. The staff at the dispensary will also engage in community health services by conducting door-to-door survey of villages to maternal health and natal health. |
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Apropos of a news report titled “HSBC cheated of Rs 19.6 lakh” published in
Chandigarh Tribune on July 24, 2003, it is clarified that Northern Credit and Collection Business Pvt Ltd (NCCB) undertakes only a part of the verification relating to confirmation of residential and business addresses of prospective clients. Even in the fraudulent loan account cases, the verification format was completed by the NCCB to the satisfaction of the
bank. The rest of the verification is undertaken by other agencies. |
1 held for forging documents Chandigarh, July 31 The complainant, Mr Jaspreet Singh, has alleged that Rajiv Kumar took Rs 15,000 from him to get clear his CBSE examination held in Delhi. He further alleged that he neither full-filled his promise nor returned the money. Rajiv, runs a dhaba in Phase X in SAS Nagar. Car stolen:
Mr Ankur Jindal of Sector 37 reported that his Maruti car (CH03 L 5071) was stolen from his residence on the night of July 29. A case of theft has been registered. Three held:
The police arrested two residents of Sector 26, Amar Singh and Ricky from Bapu Dham Colony, yesterday allegedly for gambling at a public place. Another resident of the area, Birbal Singh, was arrested for satta gambling at a public place. The three have been booked under various Sections of the Gambling Act. PANCHKULA Recovered: The police recovered a country-made pistol and two cartridges from Rajindra Kumar near Old Panchkula last night. He has been booked under the Arms Act. Held for murder bid:
A labourer in Ramgarh village near here tried to immolate his wife in a fit of rage, when the latter tried to stop him from consuming liquor. The accused, Vijay Pal, allegedly poured kerosene over his wife and set her on fire when she refused to allow him to have a drink. The woman, Mamta, has suffered 70 percent burns and is admitted in GMCH, Chandigarh, for treatment. It is learnt that the accused’s drinking binges was a permanent cause of
discord between them. When Vijay Pal tried to immolate Mamta, she cried for help and their neighbourers came to her rescue. The police has arrested Vijay Pal and booked him under Section 307 of the IPC. |
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Want Kang’s attackers rusticated, Dean removed
