C H A N D I G A R H   S T O R I E S


 

PU red tape gives athletes anxious moments
Students arrange personal funds to attend meet
Geetanjali Gayatri
Tribune News Service

  • Today, the president of SOPU, Ranjit Singh Raju, paid Rs 10,000 to the team for the cross-country race, which left by Karnataka Express from Delhi.
  • Two days ago the chess team of the university had to arrange its own finances for a sporting event in Bihar. The team will be reimbursed the amount it spends when it returns.
  • The DSW, Dr Nirmal Singh, said it was irrelevant how the team arranged finances. “All that matters is that the team has gone. How it was done and who contributed hardly makes a difference,” he said. 

Chandigarh, September 7
Leaving for an inter-university cross-country race to be held in Karnataka proved to be a marathon run for 15 students from various affiliated colleges of Panjab University in Punjab and the city, here today.

And all because Panjab University failed to release their payment on time, causing unnecessary anxiety and leading to a protest in front of the residence of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof K.N. Pathak. The VC directed the students to meet the Dean Students Welfare, Dr Nirmal Singh, who is also the Director, Sports.

Finally, at a meeting with the DSW, the president of the Students Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU), Ranjit Singh Raju, paid Rs 10,000 to the team from his pocket for railway reservations. He also gave his ATM to the team coach for use in Karnataka. It was decided that the Department of Sports, PU, would deposit the cheque in Raju’s account tomorrow. This would be withdrawn by the coach in Karnataka.

It took the students two hours to convince the Dean Students Welfare to part with Rs 9,000 more since the team was adamant on not leaving till it had the entire cash with it.

Meanwhile, it was virtually a race against time for the seven girls and eight boys as well as their coach who were given a cheque for Rs 34000 last evening, leaving no time for encashing it and hardly any time for making train reservations for the long journey.

The agitated students, who had been camping at Panjab University from September 2 to 6, preparing for the event, claimed that they were told last night that the programme had been called off in view of delayed payment by the university.

On learning this, the students immediately contacted the president of the Students Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU), Ranjit Singh Raju. He organised the sports students in a group and protested outside the residence of Professor Pathak.

In the discussions that followed, the university admitted its mistake. Finally, the SOPU president gave money for the tickets, organised their reservation by a train and gave his ATM to the coach.

“It wasn’t possible to encash the cheque last evening. Today was a holiday. Does the university have no respect for time? When we got to know of the problem, we approached the SOPU president. Had it not been for him, we would have been sulking in the city. He organised the reservation of tickets without any help from the university authorities,” the students said.

Shocking but true. Panjab University is used to borrowing money from its students to send its teams to various events. Sources said the practice had been in vogue ever since the Sports Department landed itself in a soup over embezzlement.

*Today, the president of SOPU, Ranjit Singh Raju, paid Rs 10,000 to the team for the cross-country race, which left by Karnataka Express from Delhi.

*Two days ago the chess team of the university had to arrange its own finances for a sporting event in Bihar. The team will be reimbursed the amount it spends when it returns.

The DSW, Dr Nirmal Singh, said it was irrelevant how the team arranged finances. “All that matters is that the team has gone. How it was done and who contributed hardly makes a difference,” he said. 

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Admin to levy fee for transfer
GPA sale of society flats to be legalised
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service

House owners in most Housing Board colonies in Panchkula have encroached upon vacant land, right up to road berms
House owners in most Housing Board colonies in Panchkula have encroached upon vacant land, right up to road berms by constructing gardens or garages. — A Tribune photograph
  • Administration may legalise sale of housing society flats.
  • Meeting held with officials of societies to seek their opinion.
  • Pattern followed in Punjab and Haryana being studied.
  • The sale will be allowed against a fee.
  • This will bring in revenue while making the sale legal for the buyer. 

Chandigarh, September 7
People intending to buy flats in group housing societies are likely to be allowed transfer of property in their own names against payment of a fee. This will also benefit the existing general power of attorney holders thus bringing about more revenue for the Administration while legalising the sale.

Till now there is no legal way to buy a flat in a group housing societies and get it transferred in the name of the buyer.

Sources said the Chandigarh Administration was working at the modalities to legally allow sale of flats of group housing societies. The policy would be in place in the next three to four weeks as it would require clearance from the UT Administrator besides a legal whetting to bring it within the parameters of law. Chandigarh had also sought the pattern followed by Punjab and Haryana in such cases.

Within Chandigarh there was an example to follow of the Chandigarh Housing Board which accepted and allowed GPA holders to get property transferred in their own names. The CHB had about 40,000 flats in the city and it started accepting GPA holders about two years back.

This would effectively permit transfer of flats which had been sold on the basis of general power of attorney. The Administration would fix a fee on the basis of the area of the flat. It would be levied like stamp duty on the transaction legalising the process and ending the anxiety of thousands of families which had purchased flats on the basis of the GPA. All new sales of flats would also now come under the new rule.

The Registrar Cooperative Societies, Mr Arun Kumar, had held a meeting with office-bearers of various societies in his office a few days ago. The office-bearers recommended that the sale should be allowed after a certain number of years as family responsibilities and financial constraints forced allotees to sell their flats. The Administration, at present, did not allow such a sale and flats were sold on the GPA basis. Since the Administration believed that lands were allotted on concessional rates, it could have a lock-in period before permitting the sale. The period might vary from five to 10 years from the date of completion of building of the housing society.

Mr Arun Kumar, who is also the Deputy Commissioner and the Estate Officer, said a policy change was needed. “We will give relief to people,” he added.

Sources said the department was working on the modalities to permit substitution in the list of members who were original allottees. Again if the Administration was involved it would complete all necessary paper work to legalise it and bring in revenue. Substitution had been dis-allowed following complaints.

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Housing Board, MC lock horns over removal of encroachments
Ruchika M. Khanna
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, September 7
The Haryana Housing Board and Municipal Council, Panchkula, have locked horns over the removal of encroachments in over 2,000 houses in various housing board colonies in the town.

While the housing board authorities claim that encroachments have to be removed by the council, since the colonies have been transferred to the local body, and the latter maintains that the encroachments and violations in the colonies had been there before these colonies were transferred to it by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).

Sources in the Haryana Housing Board inform that they have prepared a list of allotees to be submitted to the council authorities and several meetings have been held to decide the modalities for checking the violations in these houses. Council officials insist that the violations took place during the time the houses were built by the board and transferred to HUDA after being allotted. “We have asked the board to give us details of the extent of violations of building bylaws, the number of commercial establishments opened in these houses and since when these violations have taken place. We do not even have the enforcement staff to check these violations and remove encroachments,” says a senior council official. He adds that in Sector 15 Housing Board LIG Colony, they have asked the colony residents to clear the road berms of all encroachments so that the road can be widened there.

A senior official of the Haryana Housing Board says, “The board gets the land from HUDA, develops housing societies and then returns these to HUDA for allotment. Only the powers of eviction rest with the board, while their maintenance was the responsibility of HUDA and now of the council.” He adds that any additional alterations made in the construction had to be approved by HUDA officials earlier and by the council now. “In case, HUDA or the council has not given sanction for these alterations then they have every right to remove these alterations,” he says.

Three years ago, the HUDA authorities had launched a drive to remove encroachments and issued notices to those who had violated the building bylaws. The residents then got a stay order from a court against HUDA, following which the court ruled that the encroachments be removed by the housing board, or the council, depending on the department that has control over these houses.

The housing board colonies are there in Sector 6, 8, 10, 11, 15, 18, 19 and 26 in the township. Encroachments have continued to grow in these colonies, mainly comprising of raising of unauthorised structures, encroachments on road berms and opening of commercial establishments. A visit to these places by TNS revealed that even electricity poles are covered under construction of houses and live cables pass through the buildings. This is in violation of the Indian Electricity Rules and Indian Electricity Act, 1910.

At places where people have set up businesses in their residential quarters, mainly in Sector 15, businesses have flourished right up to the edge of the road. Thus no space is available for parking of vehicles or for the use of pedestrians. In Sector 11, residents of the Housing Board Colony, have encroached upon the empty space along the road berms and set up gardens or garages. These encroachments, especially by corner house owners, obstructs the view of the commuters from both sides and a number of accidents take place. 

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Father of 6 electrocuted
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, September 7
A 32-year-old father of six was today electrocuted while whitewashing a house in Hallomajra village. Shrawan Kumar, a resident of Ram Darbar and his wife Laxmi came to the house at 8 a.m. Laxmi was working on the ground floor and her husband on the upper floor. Suddenly, she heard her husband’s cries. She rushed to the spot and found that her husband had come in contact with a live wire. The woman tried to rescue her husband with the help of a wooden stick, but in vain.

She alleged that while her husband was fighting for life, the landlord and his son remained mute spectators.

She then rang up the police and took him to the GMCH-32, where her husband was declared “brought dead”.

She alleged that her husband had complained numerous times to his landlord about the live wire, but the latter did not pay any heed. She demanded that the landlord should be punished for his negligence, which led to the death of her husband.

The SHO of the Sector 31 police station said the police had not received any complaints regarding the accident. Shrawan is survived by his wife, three sons and three daughters.

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Chandigarh to have judicial academy
Saurabh Malik
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 7
It is almost final. Judicial academy for judges belonging to the superior judicial services is being set up in Chandigarh. The states of Punjab and Haryana, besides the Union Territory of Chandigarh, have already short-listed three sites for the purpose in consultation with the High Court here.

The sources in the Punjab Home Department assert that the sites identified for the academy include a tract of land near the gurdwara in Sector 38. The other two sites are in Sector 43. One is near the Inter-State Bus Terminus and the other is on the road dividing Sector 42 and 43. The sites are approximately measuring five acres each.

The sources add that Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi and Mr Justice Swatanter Kumar of the Punjab and Haryana High Court visited the locations recently. Final decision is likely to be taken during a meeting expected to be held soon.

The academy, soon after coming into existence, is expected to hold refresher courses for judicial officers belonging to the subordinate judiciary, besides familiarising them with the day-to-day functioning of the courts, the sources insist.

The development to establish the academy is significant as the Supreme Court of India had recently recommended the setting up of such academies in the country where refresher courses can be held for in-service judicial officers. This, the sources add, is in the larger interest of justice.

The sources assert that the states are involved only in the process of setting up the academy for training purposes. It will be run by the High Court authorities under their direct supervision, the sources claim.

They add that Joint Registrar of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Dr Neelima Shangla — in charge of Enquiry and Computers — is the nodal officer of the project. Dr Shangla was not available for comments.

The sources disclose that senior officers belonging to the two states, besides Chandigarh, recently discussed the probable location of the academy, besides the cost of construction, along with "certain other vital aspects of the institution". 

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North-East has great potential for tourism, border trade
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 7
Laying down a visionary roadmap and involving professionals, academics, experts as well as civil society groups is vital for the development of the North-Eastern region (NER).

Stating this while delivering a talk on Inter-dependency among north-eastern states, Mr P P Srivastav, a former Special Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Adviser to Governors of Assam and Manipur said that while a four-point programme initiated by the central government in 1996 had given an impetus to the development in the region, problems continued to persist.

The programme included all ministries concerned with NER contributing 10 per cent of their budget for development of the region, creating a new department for NER and upgradtion of the North- Eastern Council from an advisory body to a statutory planning body. "Now money is not a constraint, but the problem lies elsewhere," he said.

Mr Srivastav said that the national planning model was not applicable to that region without orienting it to local conditions. Factors like population, communication, infrastructure, historical perspectives, tribal psychology and climactic conditions, all of which have a direct impact on development, are different from the rest of the country, he added.

Structural revitalisation, which includes induction of professionalism, objectivity, dynamism and credibility in the development process, conceptual re-orientation of plans and goals, ensuring transparency and accountability and effective monitoring and reality checks are called for, he said. Stating that the NER is extremely rich in natural resources, he added that tourism and border trade had immense potential in that region.

The NER, which comprises eight states, accounts for 8 per cent of the country's area and about 4 per cent of the population. As much as 98 per cent of its borders lie with neighbouring countries.

Legacies of the Raj led to demands for separation. Rising aspirations blunted by harsh and unpleasant eco-political ground realities with no role models or a proper roadmap in sight led to the youth going astray and falling into the trap of militancy, Mr. Srivastav said. Further, the partition led to the socio-economic and communication threads linking it with other parts of the country being snapped.

Intermingling of cultures and people over a long time, poor standard of education and high unemployment, and large-scale illegal migration from Bangladesh into that region created further problems

Presently, the primary sector, which is agriculture, is static while the secondary sector is largely non-existent.

The tertiary sector, which mainly includes government jobs, is getting increasingly unaffordable and bursting at the seams, he said.

There is no simplistic military solution to militancy. A holistic policy of development co-ordinated with security operations will be needed, Mr Srivastav observed.

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Train supervisor helps foreigners get back their paintings
Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 7
Two visitors from Italy would have lost some rare and precious Ladakhi paintings but for the timely intervention and help by the Supervisor of Shatabdi Express.

The Italians - Mr Bonfranti Palo and Ms Perego Fiorenza -- had left behind the paintings they had procured in Ladakh in the Shimla-Kalka train before catching the Kalka-New Delhi Shatabdi Express for New Delhi yesterday.

It was only after Shatabdi Express reached Chandigarh that they realised that the packet containing paintings was missing.They did not know what to do as they were left with no time to go back to Shimla or Kalka to look for their missing paintings.

In their frantic bid to get in touch with Rail officials at Kalka and Shimla, they were making telephone calls before they met Mr M.L. Kashyap, Supervisor of Shatabdi Express. Their inability to communicate in English notwithstanding, they, managed to explain to him their predicament.

Mr Kashyap not only rang up Station Supervisor of Kalka Railway Station, but also got the coach in which the Italians had travelled from Shimla to Kalka traced. The coach was in the washline at Kalka station.

Mr Palo and Ms Fiorenza told Mr Kashyap that they were scheduled to fly back to Italy on September 7 from New Delhi.

In the meanwhile, the Station Supervisor of Kalka reported back that the coach had been traced and the packet containing paintings, too, had been located .But now the problem was how to get the packet from Kalka and get it delivered it to its rightful owner.

Mr Kashyap requested the Kalka Station Supervisor to get the packet collected and hand it over to the guard of Kalka Mail train so that it reaches Delhi early this morning. Since Italians were to stay in a Delhi hotel for the day today, Mr Kashyap also requested the hotel people to get the packet collected from the Guard of Kalka Mail in the morning.

This morning, the Italians rang up Mr Kashyap to inform him that they had got their paintings back.

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Privatisation of sanitation has not paid off: EO
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, September 7.
The Executive Officer of the Municipal Council, Mr OP Sihag, has claimed that the privatisation of sanitation works within the MC limits has not only improved the condition of sanitation, but also proved to be cost effective.

Mr Sihag said that the total road length in town to be cleaned was 500 kilometres, which also included the villages within the MC limits. Other than this, as many as 195 parks and open spaces have to be cleaned by the MC.

“As per the Haryana Municipal Safai Mazdoor Rules, 1966, one sweeper is required to clean 600. 70 metres of length (three metres wide). If we go by this, then we will need 800 safai karamcharis for Panchkula, and if these were permanent employees of the Council, a sum of Rs 40 lakh per month would be spent on the sanitation works,” he says.

Mr Sihag adds that by privatising the works, they have given a contract for just Rs 11. 60 lakh per month, and 420 karamcharis have been employed for the work. The contract money also includes the maintenance and fuel expenses for two refuse collectors and dumper placers each, and three tractors.

He informed that other than a part of Ambala cantonment area, the sanitation services in all other Municipal Councils of the state were being provided by the Councils. Elaborating on this, he said that while Jagadhari Municipal Council was spending Rs 18. 25 lakh on sanitation with 365 employees, Yamunanagar was spending Rs 25 lakh , and Hisar was spending Rs 30 lakh, by employing 430 and 514 employees respectively.

He said that the Council was keeping a regular check on the sanitation and street light contractor. While admitting that the street light maintenance in the township left a lot to be desired, he said that last month they had imposed a penalty of Rs 85,000 on the contractor for failing to repair defunct street lights. “ We have formed a committee of four officials of the MC , and regular checking is carried out at night to ensure that the street lights are working,” he added.

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Frequent power cuts irk residents
Our Correspondent

Mohali, September 7
Frequent power cuts going on over the past several days have irked residents of the town. Residents complain that power cuts are made unannounced and the timings and duration of these cuts do not remain fixed.

Power gets disrupted many a times during the day. Though there are not many complaints of the power supply getting disrupted at night, some problem existed here and there.

Ms Kuldeep Kaur, resident of Phase II who runs a boutique in the Phase II market, said here today that power supply got disrupted three to four times during the day and the problem started about 15 days ago. She said her staff kept sitting idle for a long time waiting for the supply to be restored as the time and duration of power cuts were not announced in advance. One could make some adjustments if the time of the cut was known in advance.

Ms Jasminder Kaur, resident of Phase IV, said some days ago power supply used to get disrupted around 7 am but today the power cut started around 9 am and ended at about 11 am. Power was shut down even in the evenings and at times at night also. The duration of the power cuts, also varied each day. At times even the invertor installed in the house did not get enough time to get charged leading to inconvenience.

Ms Amteshwar Kaur, municipal councillor staying in Phase XI, said repeated disruptions in the power supply had created problems for everybody. Washing clothes had become a big problem for her as a fully automatic machine needed full water pressure which was not available as power supply got disrupted during water supply timings. She said power cuts were unofficial as no announcement by the authorities concerned was made in this regard.

Ms Sita Devi, resident of Phase V, complained that power was shut down for about five times a day. The supply even got disrupted at night. She said last night power supply to the area got disrupted around 8 pm and was restored an hour later after a complaint was lodged.

Mr V.K. Mahajan, Additional Superintending Engineer, told The Tribune that power cut schedule for each day was sent by the authorities concerned in the evening. At present a power cut for three hours — 9 am to 11 am and from 2 pm to 3 pm — had been going on. Even tomorrow the cut would be for three hours and the timings would be the same. He said the power shut downs were announced on the Jalandhar radio and they were also available at the website www.psebindia.org and on telephone No 2225963.

He said on September 5 power supply had to be cut four times as some problem had developed in a thermal plant. He said power cuts would go on till the end of this month, as power supply had to be given to the agricultural sector because of inadequate rains.

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Police prefers compromises to FIRs
Sanjay Sharma
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 7
The Chandigarh police seems to prefer compromises by contending parties to the registration of cases and it happens even in matters where only a court is competent to accept a compromise.

Teenager driver Amit Suri’s thrashing by policemen and a woman police officer’s complaint that his parents had misbehaved with her has been solved through a compromise despite it being given wide publicity.

Among the Sections imposed against the Suris was Section 353 (use of force against a public servant on duty) of the IPC despite it being not a compoundable offence under Section 320 of the CrPC. The complaint of Amit Suri’s parents was not converted into a case as a compromise was reached.

This is a common practice in accident cases. Of the 4,246 accident calls received by the control room in 2003, only 442 were converted into FIRs. Daily diary report entries were made in 2,800 cases.

It shows that compromises were reached in most of the remaining cases. Section 279 (rash driving) of the IPC is also not compoundable but cases are sent as “untraced” under Section 173 of the CrPC after parties reach a compromise.

Section 498A (cruelty against woman by husband and relatives) is also not compoundable at the stage of police investigation, but the Child and Women Support unit had disposed of 115 cases of women complainants by the end of August.

The police encourages the parties to reach a compromise to save troubled families in this case. The wing had even drawn a flak from legal quarters, asking them under what rules they allowed compromises before the court coming into the picture.

The Economic Offence Wing (EOW) is estimated to convert only 5 per cent of the complaints received into cases.

The EOW says in a large number of complaints, the matter is of exchange of money but a twist is given to turn these into criminal complaints. Cases in the wing are registered after a detailed inquiry.

The compromise culture in the Chandigarh police, however, has evoked a mixed response from the people, with some saying that it provides an opportunity for police officers to take favours for helping one party in a dispute. There is an argument that if the police tries to do the same after the registration of a case, it still has vast powers to do so.

However, a section of the people and police officers say that the police also has to deal with law, order and social harmony, and if the parties in dispute are allowed to reach compromises, the contending parties could be spared of a long-drawn legal wrangle.

The police heavily uses Section 173 of the CrPC to send the cases untraced as the parties have reached a compromise and it would be difficult to pursue the case as the complainant would withdraw as a witness.

A police officer said 90 per cent of the cases of conflict coming from labour colonies were solved through compromises before the registration of a case and the police played an active part in that.

Another police officer said the compromises also saved time of the courts in cases which the police would find difficult to crack because the complainants withdrew themselves from the cases.

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Ex-Army Captain “battles” to get case registered
Our Correspondent

Zirakpur, September 7
A former Army Captain, resident of Akali Kaur Singh Colony, today wasted the whole day for getting a case registered regarding theft in his house.

Captain Navneet Prasad Sharma, who had been to his relative’s house in Hoshiarpur on September 2, found the locks of his house broke open after he returned at 9 am on Tuesday.

Since morning, Captain Sharma went to get an FIR registered at Lohgarh police post but failed.

Burglars struck at the house and took away jewellery, electronics goods and other valuables worth Rs 4.5 lakh.

The burglars entered the house by breaking open the lock of the main door and committed burglary.

According to the family, the burglars took away gold and silver jewellery weighing 60 tolas and 500 gm besides electronic goods including VCP, colour TV, camera and other valuables.

After getting information, two cops from the Lohgarh police post visited the house and recorded statements of family members.

Mr Narinder Sharma, president of the Zirakpur Nagar Panchayat, and Mr Krishan Pal Sharma, a member of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, visited the house.

Mr Manmohan Kumar Sharma, DSP of Dera Bassi, said that he would look into the matter.

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Police inaction alleged
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, September 7
Two city residents has alleged police inaction in case of burglaries at their houses on August 28. Johan Joseph and Ajay Khush both residents of 3103/2 and 3104/2 Sector 44-D alleged that they have given the complains of thefts but the police was not taking any action.  SHO of Sector 34, police Station said that police has interrogated the suspects and found nothing doubtful. 

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Tribune Impact
Problem of power supply redressed
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 7
Lives of residents of 25 houses located in cluster in Sector 19-A here have changed forever following a report in The Tribune highlighted their problem of power supply.

Reacting to a news report on August 2 in the Chandigarh Tribune that Sector 19 residents were facing a problem of fluctuation and low voltage for the past five years which forces fans and coolers to slow down and stop the air conditioners from functioning.

UT Administrator O.P. Verma asked the Electricity Department to rectify matters. The Department sent its team and now a 200 KV transformer has been installed to augment the supply system to these houses.

Talking to The Tribune about the transformer residents said they were thankful to the newspaper and also to the area executive engineer S.C. Saini and the SDO G.S. Gujral, who took to set up the transformer in one month.

The new transformer has been the topic of discussion among residents as quality of supply has improved. 

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Janmashtami celebrated
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, September 7
Janmashtami was celebrated by the D.S.S. Bangia Sanskritik Sammilini at Sector 35 here today. Cultural programmes were held on the occasion. Dance performance was given by women.

Janmashtami was celebrated with bhajans, discourse and Rasleela at Sri Sanatan Dharam Sabha, Sector 45 here. The ‘Janamashtami’ was celebrated by Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidalaya, at Mela colony, Dhanas today. In Jhankis on life of Krishna were shown and the scene of Lord Krishna’ doing the worship of Shiva was highlighted.

Sri Sanatan Dharam Sabha, Sector 41-D celebrated the ‘Janamashtami’ with great pomp. Krishna’s life was depicted in Jhankis which drew a lot of devotees. The cultural programmes were performed by children and women on the occasion.

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Ban on corporal punishment sought
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 7
Demanding a ban on corporal punishment, participants at a conference on “Teacher-student relationship and human rights” today advocated milder forms of punishment to students.

A resolution passed at the conference, while advocating other forms of admonishments which do not harm students, urged the authorities concerned to frame policies aimed at maintaining the dignity of the teaching community.

While introducing the topic, Mr Arvind Thakur, general secretary of the Lawyers of Human Rights International (LHRI), regretted that the role of a teacher had been reduced to that of a puppet in the hands of administrators, guardians and pupils.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Ram Kumar Sharma, Principal of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 16, said the students must realise that they come to schools to develop their personalities.

The use of the minor physical punishment was for the benefit of the students and the teachers had no vested interest in pulling the students up, he added.

The Director of Shishu Niketan School, Sector 22, Ms S. Khurana, while regretting that the teachers were not given proper respect in society, said it was never the intention of teachers to humiliate students. Whatever teachers did was for the welfare of students, she argued.

Terming the role of the parents in the teacher-student relationship as vital, Mr C.M. Sharma from Navodaya Vidyalaya said the parents should reconcile the conflicting interests. Mr R.M. Kamal, a retired school Principal, advocated the starting of a course on “art of handling children” in schools.

Among those, who spoke were Mr H.S. Anand, convener of the UT Teachers Union, Mr J.K. Syal of the National Public School, Mr A.S. Chahal, Mr Navkiran Singh, and Mr T.S. Sudan.

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Lift curbs on sale of property via GPA: NGO
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 7
Samadhaan, an NGO, today urged the UT Administration to lift restrictions on the sale of property in the city to enable residents to go in for affordable accommodation by availing themselves of loan facilities on easy terms.

The NGO also wanted an withdrawal of the undeclared ban on registration of GPA in the office of the sub registrar, UT, Chandigarh. “The Administration must evolve a policy to allow regulated transaction of real estate with stamp duty to be paid by the end-user”, the NGO said.

It pointed out that payment of stamp duty each time a piece of property is booked for further sale or profit making was highly unjustified. GPA, otherwise a legal instrument was misused mainly on two counts. One, to circumvent the wrong policies of the government and two, to evade stamp duty while transacting in real estate trade.

“Not able to get legally transferred an affordable accommodation in one’s name due to various unjustified and obsolete restrictions, one is forced to transact on GPA documents. Besides leading to large scale evasion of stamp duty, the process has various other socio-economic repercussions as well.”

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HIG residents want wall’s height raised
Our Correspondent

Mohali, September 7
The Residents Welfare Association of the HIG Housing Complex in Phase II here has demanded the raising of the height of the wall separating the complex from Madanpur village to improve security.

The association said that the wall should be raised by at least two feet and the barbed wire, which had been removed or stolen from a part of the wall, be replaced. It also sought the rmoval of garbage dumped by residents of Madanpur within the area enclosed by the wall.

The association also objected to the stacking and selling of sand and other building materials by shopkeepers on government land along a portion of the wall near the pumphouse.

It demanded, among other things, removing of garbage and debris on the side of the main road near the complex; and better sanitation in the area.

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Mystery shrouds death of old man
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, September 7
Mystery shrouds the death of 61-year-old resident of a labour colony, who died at General Hospital here late last night.
The victim, Panchi Ram, was rushed to the hospital late last night after a bout of vomiting and severe abdominal pain. He was administered treatment at the hospital, but later died.

A post-mortem examination of the victim was conducted by a panel of doctors this morning, and they suspected it to be a case of poisoning. The family members of the victim, however, maintained that the victim was suffering from diarrhoea. The viscera of the victim has been sent to Forensic Science Laboratory, Madhuban, for chemical examination.

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Woman held for possessing smack
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 7
The Chandigarh police today arrested Kamla for allegedly possessing 40 gm of smack.
The police also arrested four others. Kamla is a registered bad character (dus numbari) in the Sector 39 police station. She is facing several cases. She was arrested while selling drugs in Sector 38-A. The police is interrogating her. In separate raids, Makhan Singh, Ranpreet Singh, Dalwinder Singh,all from Ambala district, and Sangram Singh of Sector 15 were arrested in the city.

According to the police, investigation has revealed that persons who indulge in drug consumption and distribution of drugs also commit petty thefts to raise money for meeting their needs of drug consumption.

The police said the campaign will continue.

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Cases of immigration fraud on the rise
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, September 7
The complaints of immigration frauds detected by the Economic Offences Wing of the police have been swelling by the day. Other than the four FIR’s registered against the Managing Director of Global Infolinks, Rohit Sikka, the police has received over 30 applications by those who have been cheated.

Today, a number of these complainants approached the police and urged that the police investigations into the case be expedited. They demanded that the police seek the help of INTERPOL to know the whereabouts of Rohit Sikka, who jumped bail, and is now absconding.

The complainants alleged that Rohit Sikka had been issued two passports, and while he had surrendered one passport in the court, he had fled the country by using the other passport, issued to him in the name of Rohit Singh. They demanded that the police initiate proclaimed offender proceedings against Rohit Sikka in the court.

Meanwhile, Maj Mohit Sikka, today appeared before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr Gulab Singh, and the court directed to pay him Rs 11,000 as fine, as he stood surety for his brother, Rohit Sikka, when the latter was granted bail on May 20.

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Minor girl abducted by neighbour
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, September 7
A minor girl of Indira Colony was reportedly kidnapped by her neighbour on September 2, according to the information released by the police, here today.

The father of the girl filed a complaint against Haneef, that the accused had abducted his daughter when she was alone at home.

Haneef originally belongs to Uttar Pardesh. A case under Section 363, 366-A of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the accused in Manimajra, Police Station. No arrests have so far been made in this case.

Vehicle thefts: The city police has arrested two persons for stealing a motor cycle from ISBT Parking, yesterday. Ramesh Kumar, a resident of Yamunanagar, Haryana reported to the police that his motor cycle (CH-01-X-4317) was stolen by Rajesh Kumar of Ambala cantonment and Gaurav sharma of Shabad Markanda. The police arrested the accused minutes later after the complaint was filed and recovered the stolen property from their possession. The police has registered a case of theft under section 379, 411 of the Indian Penal Code in sector 17, police Station.

In another incident, Balwider Singh of Sector 39 reported that his scooter (CH-01-Z-5449) was stolen from Market in Sector 39, yesterday. The police has registered a case of theft in this regard.

Theft: R.A. Dhiman, a resident of phase 2, Mohali, reported that 42 coils of copper cables have been stolen from his plot No. 382 in Industrial Area, Phase 2, Chandigarh, during the intervening night of September 5-6. A case of theft has been registered in Sector 31, Police Station.

Liquor seized: The police has arrested Sayo Ram, a resident of Kumhar Colony, Sector 25 from Sector 25 for carrying liquor illegally.

The police seized seven bottles of whisky from his possession. A case under section 61, 1, 14 of Excise Act has been registered against the accused in Sector 11, Police Station. The accused was later bailed out.

Gambling: Sanjay Kumar, a resident of Dadu Majra Colony was arrested by the police for Gambling, from his residence, yesterday. The police has booked the accused under section 13-A, 3, 67 of Gambling Act in Sector 39, Police Station and recovered Rs. 245/- from his possession. The accused was later freed on bail.

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Man held for wife’s death
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, September 7
The police has arrested Rajesh Kumar Prashar, husband of Ritu Sharma, who committed suicide yesterday, on the complaint filed by her father.
Baldev Raj, father of Ritu reported to the police that his son-in-law Rajesh used to harass his daughter for dowry. She was under stress.

The police registered a case of dowry death under Section 304-B of Indian Penal Code against Rajesh Kumar Prashar in Sector 11, Police Station. Ritu committed suicide by consuming Celphos in Saini Bhawan, Sector 24, yesterday.

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2 cops hurt in accident
Our Correspondent

Mohali, September 7
A case has been registered in connection with an accident in which two police personnel were injured near the telephone exchange in Phase IV here late last night.
Mr Harinder Singh of the Punjab Police suffered a fracture in leg and was operated upon today at a private hospital here. Mr Joginder Pal Singh, a commando, also suffered injuries and was admitted to the hospital. Mr Sukhjit Singh Virk, SHO, Phase VIII police station, said that the condition of both of them was stable.

He said that the registration number of the vehicle that had hit both the police personnel had been traced. Both the police personnel were patrolling the area near the 3-5 chowk when a car came whose driver was signalled to stop. But instead of stopping he tried to flee in the vehicle which hit the employees on duty.

 

 
 

Faber-India’s promotional drive
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, September 7
Faber-India, a joint venture of kitchen chimney company Faber Spa of Italy and Heatkraft of Pune, launched a promotional campaign “Faber Chapper Phad Ke Jeeto” at Sector 17 here today.

Under the campaign, the company is distributing more than 50,000 prizes including Fiat Palio cars, gold TVs, ovens, washing machines and other products which are used in the kitchen.

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