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This time Lucky! Chandigarh, September 24 Throwing up mixed results in the students’ elections which saw 63.4 per cent voting at Panjab University here today, PUSU walked away with the posts of president and vice-president for the third consecutive year. The posts of secretary and joint secretary were bagged by the candidates of the SOPU alliance. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), however, was totally wiped out. While PUSU candidate Rajwinder Singh Lucky was declared elected president with 1,764 votes, Ankita Thakur of the same organisation was elected vice-president of the council. She polled 1,762 votes. The other two candidates for the post of president, Ranjit Raju and Gurparvez Sandhu, got 1,202 and 1,352 votes, respectively. From among the five members of the SOPU alliance, HSA candidate Vikas Rathee won, defeating PUSU’s Gautam S. Lal by over 200 votes. He polled 1,605 votes. NSUI’s Gurmukh Singh was elected joint secretary. He won by a slender margin of four votes, defeating PUSU’s Naushad Ali, who polled 1627 votes. The results from the Chemical Engineering Department, which were declared last, changed the formula of the PUSU candidate who was, till then, leading by 17 votes from the NSUI candidate.
Interestingly, as soon as the results began pouring in from various departments, celebrations began at PUSU’s camp. Activists gathered at the tent, danced, raised slogans and waved flags to express their happiness while those in the ABVP tent looked on. The beats of the ‘dhol’ gave a festive air to the celebrations. Jeeps decorated with stickers and red-coloured PUSU flags, carrying activists, went all over the campus, cheering the winners of their party. They carried their team leader Rajwinder Singh Lucky in a colourful procession to the Students’ Centre amidst the beating of the ‘dhol’. Here, expecting a clean sweep, they were slightly put off after they learnt that two posts had been won by the SOPU alliance. After the results were announced, SOPU president Ranjit Singh Raju, on learning that his alliance had, in fact, won two seats, showed up at the venue in a small procession. Later, they went around the hostels, thanking the votes for their support. The declaration of results was followed by a meeting of all members of the council and the elected department representatives at the students’ Centre to elect the executive body. Four department, representatives of the SOPU alliance and one member of PUSU were chosen. Those elected are Amanjit Kaur, Parimal Singh, Nirbhay Garg, Devender Singh, and Yogesh Bindra.
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My being with students made the difference, says Lucky
Chandigarh, September 24 “The students have shown that money power has no value and might is not right. Staying between them all 365 days of the year, helping them with odd jobs and just being there for them makes the difference between winning and losing,” he says, his famous smile in place as he accepts congratulations from friends and supporters. Known for a clean image, this student from Balachaur came into the limelight when he was made president of PUSU last year after Malwinder Singh Kang, president of the PUCSC, decided to opt out of students’ politics, and projected him as PUSU’s next candidate. In an upbeat mood after the results were declared, he said,”If money were to make an impression, any industrialist’s son will fit the bill. But, on our campus, we have discerning students who are conscious about whom they elect to the president’s office.” While the campus was coloured orange and green by SOPU and the ABVP, PUSU sat snugly, planning its strategies. “We were never unnerved by their publicity. They had more visibility because they had funds that provided for splurging. Not funded by any political party, we barely managed our posters and a few banners. We didn’t have money for lavish parties or movies. When other parties were indulging in bribing and luring students, we were going about our work of organising our activists rather quietly,” Lucky maintained as the PUSU tent on the campus brimmed over with excitement and the beats of dhol resounded in the background. “I was confident of a win given my popularity among the student fraternity. I am from among them and always with them unlike the others who hibernate all round the year and wake up around admission time,” he says. PUCSC, president Rajwinder Singh Lucky strives for... *Setting up a grievances cell: The students have nowhere to go if they want to air their grievances *More girls’ hostels on the campus: At present, three girls share one room. *Installation of lifts in the hostels: It is long overdue and the university authorities seem to do nothing. *Permanent building for UIET: They are sitting in a cramped building without proper laboratories and facilities *Funds for the Indian Theatre department: They have rightly boycotted elections. We will make a student from that department the convener of Drama Club and take up their problems with the authorities.
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Mixed verdict in colleges
Chandigarh, September 24 The show of strength and ferrying of voters from outstations were witnessed at the colleges. Taxis had been hired to ferry hostelers from outstations. In nine colleges, where elections were held, the NSUI managed to secure seats in three colleges. In Government College, Sector 46, it was a clean sweep for SOPU-NSUI alliance. In GGDSD College, Sector 32, around 300 votes of hostelers ensured victory of the PUSU. The ABVP candidate managed three seats in DAV College, Sector 10. It was victory by good margin for Khalsa College Students Union in Sri Guru Gobind Singh College for Men, Sector 26. In most of the colleges, polling was registered around 50 per cent. In MCM DAV College, presidential candidate, Ahampreet was polled just 165 votes. Her rival Ritika got 55 votes due to a low voter turnout. The students at the college alleged that the low voter turnout was due to interference by the college authorities in the electoral process. A moderate number of students complained that they were not allowed to cast their vote on account of shortage of lectures or non-attesting of their identity cards. The college authorities said the students had been informed about the rules in advance and they were allowed to remove the shortcomings till yesterday. An exhilarated Anurag Dhillon, who won for the post of president in Government College, Sector 11, told the TNS that he would fulfil his election promises. He held a thanks-giving rally that passed through different sectors. Prerna, NSUI presidential candidate who won in GC-42 thanked her friends for the confidence shown in her. The enthusiasm was more visible in coeducational colleges. In Government College for Girls, Sector 42, the victory by the NSUI panel was celebrated by distributing sweets. In Sri Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26, and Government College for Girls Sector 11,
the college representatives have already been elected unanimously.
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Dept Representatives elected
Chandigarh, September 24 While all departments having a student-strength of up to 100 students elected one representative, those with more elected two DRs to represent them. In some departments, the DRs were elected unanimously. The names of those elected as DRs are as follows: Sciences and Mathematics: Aman Jamwal and Lakhvinder Singh — Chemistry; Ravinder Singh and Vishal Rana — Physics; Sanjeev Kumar — Geology; Jitender Singh — Geography; Aseem Choudhary and Taranjit Kaur — Zoology; Manish Sharda — Anthropology; Navjeet Singh Bhullar and Ajay Dhiman — Botany; Parimal Singh — Centre for Environmental and Vocational Studies; Sanket Sharma and Vishesh Chadha — Mathematics; Supriya Mandal — Statistics; Garima Yadav and Yogja Singh — Psychology; Rajan Chauhan and Munish Kumar Jinda — Computer Science; Navjot Kaur — Bio-Technology; Nitin Chaturvedi — Centre for Instrumentation & Microelectronics; Abhishek Ummat, Gaurav Bajaj and Ankur Sood — Chemical Engineering & Technology; Ramandeep Singh, Pawanjit Singh, Chetan Malik and Yogesh Bindra — U.I.E.T.; Amit Modgil, Gurtej Singh Hira and Devender Singh Muchhal — Pharmacy; Nikhil Singh — Human Genome Studies; Anurag Sankhyan and Ramndeep Singh — Bio-Chemistry; Avdesh — Bio-Physics; Aditya Bhalla and Jasmine Sidhu — Microbiology. Humanities and languages: Parmod Kumar Vats — Urdu; Satnam Singh — Music; Ankush Goel — Indian Theatre; Sumita Grewal and Harnoor Uppal — English; Harjeet Singh and Rajesh Awla — Punjabi; Shakti Dhar — Sanskrit; Nisha Chawla — French; Kanwardeep Singh — Education; Narinder Singh — Physical Education; Gurpreet Singh and Shashi Kumar — Hindi; Ruchi Nagar — Mass Communication; Devender Gahlawat and Gurjeet Singh — History; Vikram Jit Singh Sidhu — Ancient Indian History & Culture; Somender Dahiya — Gandhian Studies; Surbhi Sharma — Fine Arts; Ashish Sahi, Atin Goel and Gaurav Sharma — University Business School; Chandan Awasthi — Defence Studies; Urvashi Gupta Public Administration; Amanjeet Kaur and Taruna — Economics; Nelson Dass — Library and Information Science; Rupa — Philosophy; Geeta Chawla and Jatinder Singh Batth — Sociology; Kirpal Singh — Political Science; Sharda Negi — Centre for Women Studies; Gurjodh Singh, Nirbhay Garg, Paras Mani Chander and Sumit Malhotra — Law; Harpreet Singh Multani and Sujay Kapil — University Institute of Legal Studies.
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Satya Parishad wins 3 top offices
Chandigarh, September 24 Gurminder Singh, a second-year post-graduate student of Political Science, was elected president of the council, getting 2,402 votes, Vinod Sharma, Mukesh Kumar and Jatinder, all under-graduate students, were elected vice-president, secretary and joint secretary respectively. Election to choose seven class representatives for the department were also held while Akhil Vohra of B. Com III was elected unopposed. Those elected as CRs are Bhavneet Singh (BA I), Rajeev Kumar (BA II), Jatinder (BA III), Kanwarpreet Singh (B. Com I), Avinash (B. Com II), Priyanka (MA I) and Ramnik Kaur (MA II).
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Sidelights
Panjab University students were bubbling with excitement throughout the day. Jeeps and
motor-cycles roared on the campus roads and supporters cheered, till final results came.
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Based on information sent through SMS and on mobiles on their leads in various departments by the agents, supporters of PUSU broke into a jig to express their happiness as news came that they were winning three of the four seats.
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The Students Centre was packed with PUSU supporters when the results were announced. There was only one SOPU supporter in the crowd. When the two seats won by the SOPU alliance were announced, he cooed and ran towards the hostel. A little later, SOPU alliance members came to the Students Centre. *
Some of the “missing hostellers” returned to their hostels today only to leave by evening again. With a week-long vacation starting on the campus from tomorrow, most of the residents packed their bags and left for their homes. However, despite this, PUSU and SOPU leaders and supporters visited the hostel to thanks the residents.
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Student dies of heart attack
Chandigarh, September 24 The victim suffered a heart attack while participating in the celebrations, said his classmates. His father is a DSP of the Haryana police and is posted in Panchkula. The president of the winning panel, Amanpreet Manku, said they were in no mood to celebrate after the death of Navjot. The KCSU did not take out victory procession. All students gathered at his Sector 39 residence to express sympathy with the bereaved family.
Clash between ABVP
candidates of DAV College
After the election results at DAV College, Sector 10, revealed that barring the post of the president, the ABVP candidates had won on the three other posts, some of the leaders of the ABVP alleged that cross voting had resulted in the defeat of the party’s presidential candidate, Gurvir Brar, had an argument with other party members.
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Cop’s son abducts dentist girl
Chandigarh, September 24 The police is yet to confirm if it was a matter of kidnapping or unapproved marriage between the doctor and the boy. The police is awaiting the statement of the girl to confirm if it was a case of marriage after elopement. The doctor girl is said to be adult and the complaint of her father had to be entertained till the girl confirms that she had left home to join the boy on her own free
will. The father of the girl has a clinic in Sector 20. Unconfirmed information suggests that Walia and the girl solemnised marriage in a temple in the city after elopement. They did not wait for the consent of their parents.
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Police seeks options for OSD’s post
Chandigarh, September 24 The post of the OSD is equivalent to that of a Deputy Superintendent of Police and either a DSP is shifted to the Vigilance Department or an Inspector is moved to the department. Apart from the DSPs, Inspectors Inderjeet Singh and Mr Jaggi are qualified for the opportunity. DSP S.C. Abrol, who retired last month, was the last regular DSP who was posted as OSD, the sources said. Presently, charge of the OSD is with Inspector Jaggi. The police has sought options for the post from the DSPs and the two Inspectors. Sources in the police said in both cases of an Inspector or a DSP is promoted, the promotion avenues would be opened for lower ranks.
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11-year-old dies of mysterious bite
Mohali, September 24 Harjot (11) called Shanky at home, died of a mysterious ‘bite’ at the PGI last night. Initially it was thought to be a snakebite that he got from school, PGI doctors declared that Harjot had died of an acute infection. “Shanky had come home from school as usual, day before yesterday. He looked fine. But after lunch, he started vomiting and by the evening he was very weak. Then he had an attack of acute diarrhoea and collapsed. “We rushed him to the PGI but he was in a state a shock and was not responding,” said his father Kuldip who works in a factory here. We noticed in the PGI that he had a strange mark on his left shoulder and it seemed like a bite. His large part of his back had turned blue on the left side. It seemed like a snakebite or could have been some other poisonous insect, added Kuldip. Harjot struggled for life for a day but could not be saved by the PGI doctors. He died last night and according to the doctors the cause of death was an acute infection. What we could gather from what the doctors told us was that a small wound had got infected and that had led to his death, said a close relative. Harjot was the only son of the couple, who lives in Phase 3B1 here with four daughters. Shanky was studying in Class IV at the Government Senior Secondary School Phase 3B1 and is remembered by his relatives and neighbours an energetic, affectionate child.
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35 ‘illegal’ houses removed
Panchkula, September 24 Enforcement staff led by Naib Tehsildar Bachchan Singh and Patwari Sita Ram supervised the demolition of all illegal houses on HUDA land. This land was acquired by HUDA for inclusion in Mansa Devi Complex Sector 4, from the Bhainsa Tibba village years ago, and HUDA had made a wall around this land. However, HUDA officials say that the jhuggi dwellers had broken a part of the wall, and built their temporary hutments on the land. A team of HUDA officials had visited the spot three days ago, and warned the jhuggi dwellers to vacate the land.
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Saw mill irks electronic unit’s owner
Mohali, September 24 In a complaint filed to the SDM, Mohali, by owner of one of these units, Mr R.S. Virk, has alleged that the mill functioning next to unit is in contravention to pollution norms. Mr Virk, owner of M/S Modern Business Equipment and Services Private Limited Eltop, said his unit along with 20 others were allotted as part of an electronic township by the Punjab State Electronic Development and Production Corporation in 1999. These set of industries, according to him, were meant for and allotted to various electronic units and meant for ‘green’ industry with clean air and dust-free environment. However, recently a saw mill has come up in the sublet portion of our neighbouring plot No. 645, and in the course of its operation throws up massive amount of dust which is harmful for our electronic operations. “This is in complete violation of the Air Prevention and Control of Pollution Act, 1981, and is causing us great inconvenience, interruption of day-to-day operations and huge business loss in our dust free assembly hall. Our production has severely suffered and a sudden spurt has occurred in defects in our precision electronic balances and scales due to this saw mill,” Mr Virk said.
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Sector 70 residents opposed to school site
Mohali, September 24 The residents, led by Mr Sanjay Singhal, told the Estate Officer that no service lane had been given with those houses and there were no water supply line near the boundary wall to be constructed by the school. Also no open space was left along side the wall. The owner of the school site is erecting a wall adjacent to house No-4577 over a main hole which will reduce the front of the house by one feet, claims Mr Singhal.
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Privatisation of bill collection decried
Mohali, September 24 The drum-beat protest march headed by the union president Lakha Singh started in the morning and went on for two hours. With loudspeakers blaring the employees of the Board headed towards Sohana on foot raising anti government slogans. The protest carried out in a unique manner with the protesters beating the dhol, featuring as a warning signal to the government.
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PSEB waives penalty on school
Mohali, September 24 PSEB staff had raided the Paragon Sr. Sec. School, Sector 70 premises on July 29 had alleged that the school authorities were stealing electricity. The school had pleaded innocence and the case was subsequently the case was
referred to the Dispute Settlement Committee, Patiala. The school had to by this time deposit Rs 1 lakh as a precondition for the same. The committee during its hearing of the case on August 24, 2004 give a decision in favour of the school and excepted the school from the payment of the penalty amount, of Rs 2,11,04.
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Book on regional development released
Chandigarh, September 24 The book, edited by Mr Surya Kant, Ms Nina Singh, Mr Jagdish Singh and Mr A.B. Mukherjee, contains 21 papers by different eminent authors. The ceremony was held at Punjab Raj Bhavan.
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Brahma Kumaris’ conference
Chandigarh, September 24
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Governor expresses grief
Chandigarh, September 24 Describing Dr Raja Ramanna the Governor said in the death of Dr Raja Ramanna, the country had lost an outstanding nuclear scientist. He said his contribution to the development of nuclear capability would be remembered forever. Justice Verma expressed sympathies with the bereaved family and prayed for peace to the departed soul.
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3 Gawritex employees held
Panchkula, September 24 These employees, along with the Managing Director of the company, Mr Amar Gawri, and the Director, Mr Amit Gawri, were booked by the police on August 22, under Sections 342, 452, 506, 380 and 34 of the IPC. While Harkirat and Harish Joshi are salesmen in Gawritex Industries, Suraj Mal is a security guard. The police had booked them on a complaint of Mr Sushil Gulati of KVS Apparels, a subsidiary company of Amartex Industries.
One injured
An 18-year-old girl, Nargis, received burn injuries, when a leakage in the LPG pipe caused a fire. The incident took place in the afternoon at her Mauli Jagran house, while she was cooking. Her hands and face were burnt. She is admitted in General Hospital, Sector 6.
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Punjab Tractor wants police to act against 2 persons
Mohali, September 24 According to the information given by the police, a written complaint against these two persons was received at the Phase I police station today. The management has said that two former part-time employees of the company had been smuggling tractor parts out of the premises every night for the past few days. ‘‘The two would take self starters and alternators from inside the factory and throw these out into an adjacent vacant plot. These parts would then be lifted by the other involved in the theft,’’said a police source. The management had deputed special security staff last night in plain clothes to nab the culprits. The security men at the factory caught one while the other to escaped. The police was called and one of the two, Gurpreet, a Kharar resident was handed over to the police. The police is on the look out for the other accused Manjit Singh also a resident of Kharar. An FIR, is being registered, said the police.
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Mystery shrouds woman’s death
Panchkula, September 24 Victim’s in-laws say that she died after she complained of a severe pain, the mother of the victim alleges otherwise. She has told the police that she suspected her daughter was murdered. “My daughter and her husband had married against our wishes. Later, we had accepted the union, but we were told that Sonu would often assault her,” she alleged. She also said that since Bitto could not conceive, her in-laws would ill treat her. The police say that after Bitto died, Sonu and his family did not inform any one, and quitely took her body away for cremation. The police was informed of her death by a neighbour, and while the body was being taken to the cremation ground, and they reached there and took the body to General Hospital here. The post mortem will be done tomorrow to ascertain the cause of death.
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Charas seized, one held
Chandigarh, September 24 One held
Anmol Puri of Sector 23-B has been arrested for allegedly assaulting and threatening Ajay Singh and his brothers Arun Kumar and Amar Singh of the same locality yesterday at the complainant’s residence. They were admitted in the General Hospital. A case under Sections 147, 148, 323 and 506 of the IPC has been registered at the Sector 17 police station. According to the police, Ajay Singh had allegedly passed objectionable comments on the mother of the Anmol Puri.
Held for gambling
Kishan, a resident of Bapu Dham Colony, Sector 26, was arrested for gambling at a public place yesterday. The police recovered Rs 505 from his possession and registered a case under Sections 13-A, 3 and 67 of the Gambling Act in Sector 26, police station. Kalu Ram and Kanwar Pal, residents of Mauli Complex, Mani Majra, were arrested from a park in Mauli Jagran for gambling at a public place, yesterday. The police recovered Rs 195 from their possession and registered a case under the Gambling Act at Mani Majra police station.
Motor cycle stolen
Saurav, a resident of Sector 38, reported to the police that his motor cycle (DL-8-ST-2270) was stolen from his residence during September 17-21. A case of theft has been registered under Section 379 of the IPC at Sector 39 police station.
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VAT will simplify indirect tax system, says PHDCCI
Chandigarh, September 24 He was addressing a workshop on “Demystifying Value-Added Tax (VAT)” organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry here today as part of the chamber’s campaign towards creating awareness about VAT. It was attended by policy makers, senior officials of the Excise and Taxation Department besides Industry representatives and consultants. Mr R.S. Sachdeva, Co-Chairman, Punjab Chapter of the chamber, said the real impact of VAT on the transaction cost and consequently on the prices, trade margin and profitability, raises intricate issues, but there is a need to simplify these. VAT would help in simplifying the indirect tax system and reducing tax evasion. It would bring transparency and enhance tax neutrality, the reasons for the growing popularity of VAT. Ms J.J. Kaur, Assistant Commissioner, Excise and Taxation, Punjab, compared the existing tax structure and the proposed structure of Value-Added Tax and explained the key features of Punjab Sales Tax and VAT. She talked about the benefits of the VAT system and
discussed Punjab VAT’s registration, zero rating, zero rating vs tax free and input tax credit. Mr Balbir Singh, Advocate and Tax Consultant, said with the advent of VAT there were going to be teething problems for sometime. The areas of concern were entry tax, octroi and other taxes imposed by states which were not going to be covered under VAT. Multiplicity of taxes, lack of transparency and the cascading effect often made Indian products uncompetitive as compared to foreign goods even when the actual cost of production might be lower, added Mr Balbir Singh. Launching of an interactive website, VAT educational visits, meetings with industry, circulation of the Tax Payer’s Guide and brochures and setting up of VAT Call Centers are a few of the initiatives which the Excise and Taxation Department planned to undertake, said Ms J.J. Kaur.
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Sugar prices go spiralling
Panchkula, September 24 Official sources say that the sugar- cane production in the country decreased from 29,8422 crore tonnes in the year 2001-02, to 23,6176 crore tonnes in 2003-04. Though there is a marginal increase in the area under sugar cane cultivation in Haryana, other sugar producing states like Punjab, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have shown a substantial decline in the area under cane production. In comparison, the percentage of sugarcane crushed for making sugar has increased. All over the country, only 45 to 50 per cent of cane was used for making sugar, while the remaining was used for making jaggery, as seed or for making cane juice. In the last crushing season, 70 per cent of the total cane was used for making sugar in order to meet the demand. It is thus that the prices of sugar has increased over the past one year. Since April this year, the sugar price has increased by over Rs 100 per quintal, from Rs 1411. 03 per quintal in April to Rs 1524.04 now. Sources in the sugar industry say that this year there has been a further reduction in the area under cane cultivation, and subsequently the total sugar production will also decrease. The sugar price increased by Rs 82.25 per quintal in Haryana during the months of July and August, and by Rs 52. 85 per quintal in Delhi Officials in the Federation of Cooperative Sugar Mills, Haryana, say that the delay in lifting of the sugar stock by the Centre has proved to be a blessing in disguise for the 12 cooperative sugar mills in the state. With the price of sugar shooting , the stocks are being released in the market and the cooperative sugar mills have been able to clear its outstanding dues (to the tune of approximately Rs 330 crore) to the cane farmers. Officials say that a part of the payment (about six per cent of the total dues) was released from the state government for clearing the dues. Before the crushing season began in the state in November 2003, the cooperative sugar mills in Haryana had 38 lakh quintal of sugar stocks and 32 lakh quintals of sugar were produced last year. The existing stocks are about 29 lakh quintals and before the crushing season begins in November, the state will have a stock of 25 lakh quintals. It is expected that 25 lakh quintals of sugar will be produced during this season, which is almost 7 lakh quintals less than last year's sugar production. Similarly, 37 lakh quintals of sugar stock was available in cooperative mills of Punjab, which has come down to 23 lakh quintals. Because of the rise in the price, cooperative sugar mills have been able to clear Rs 77 crore as part of dues, of which Rs 24 crore was released by the state government. The cane production in Punjab, too, has gone down this year and officials say that most of the 22 sugar mills (both private and cooperative) will not have enough cane stocks for crushing throughout the season.
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