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Racket in rly tickets busted
Chandigarh, November 4 The RPF has identified at least 12 of them and booked them under Section 143 of the Railway Act this year. Illegal ticketing is on the rise despite the police tightening its noose around such agents. Some arrests were made on Tuesday. Two agents were arrested with fake tickets and forms from the Sector 17 railway reservation counter by a team of the RPF. Parminder Singh, representing Simrat Tour and Travel Agency, was arrested with two illegal tickets. The police raided the premises of the company but nothing incriminating could be found. Sources said the raids were carried out a day after the arrest of Parminder Singh. Shankar Lal was also arrested on Tuesday with four tickets and a form. A resident of Sector 22, he had been functioning as a tout, the police said, adding that he was not associated with any of the travel agencies. Chandigarh has only two authorised ticket agents. The police said Shankar Lal had a large number of clients, including some prominent persons of the city. The arrests followed the arrest of Rajesh on September 23 with eight tickets in a joint raid by the RPF and the railway vigilance wing from Vadodara. Satwinder Singh, employer of Rajesh and owner of the Sector 17-based Haryana Travel Agency, is wanted in the case and has been evading arrest. The sources said action against Satwinder Singh was initiated following a search in the travel agency’s office in which entries of receipt of commission were found. The commission charged ranged
between Rs 50 and Rs 80, the police said. As per Section 143 of the Railway Act, the crime is non-bailable as booking under fictitious names might lead to failure in the identification of a railway accident victim. Travelling on such tickets may also land a passenger in the police net. Also, the passenger would not be eligible for compensation in the event of an accident, the sources said. Last year, eight persons were arrested in this connection. In 2002, five persons had been arrested.
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Hike to burn hole in pocket, rue residents
Chandigarh, November 4 A few petrol stations in the city reportedly downed shutters an hour before the closing time tonight following the hike, thereby putting motorists to inconvenience. A motorist, Rajeev Gupta, told TNS that a petrol station in Sector 28 closed an hour before the closing time as the station owner wanted to sell the stocks of today at the increased prices tomorrow, he alleged. The new prices would be effective from midnight tonight. The government tonight raised the price of petrol by Rs 2.20 per litre, diesel by Rs 2.10 per litre and LPG by Rs 20 per cylinder. The price of cylinder would be further raised by Rs 5 every month from December to April. A majority of the city residents said the hike would hit them hard. Housewives would be the worst affected in view of the substantial hike in the prices of cooking gas. "I will definitely feel the pinch as the steep hike in LPG price will burn a hole in the pocket," said Ms Surbhi Ghosh, a housewife. Many other housewives expressed similar fear that a 10 per cent hike in diesel prices would lead to an increase in the prices of almost all products of daily consumption as the transportation costs would rise. "The worst affected will be the prices of fruits, vegetables and edible commodities as their transportation from neighbouring towns is completely dependent on trucks," said Vishal Gupta, a grocery merchant. Similarly, the increase in the petrol prices would hit vehicle owners hard as the fuel consumption was higher than normal during the festival season. The diesel prices would have an adverse affect on farmers, as the costs of running tractors, pump sets and generators would go up substantially. Harbaksh Singh, a farmer from a nearby village, rued that while the government had just announced a 10 per cent hike in the MSP of wheat recently, it had taken away double the amount by announcing this hike today.
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Punjab, Haryana 3rd best states in growing trees per hectare
Chandigarh, November 4 Both the states boast of 15.6 trees per hectare - a figure much better than Chandigarh which has 9.4 trees in one hectare. While Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh have convincing figures of 14.7 and 14.8, respectively, Rajasthan needs to redesign its plantation programme as it lags behind with 4.6 trees per hectare. On top of the list among the states are Goa and Kerala with 18.8 and 18 trees per hectare, respectively. The four sister states of North East - Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland have the same number of trees per hectare - 14.1. Assam has a larger cover (15.1) while Arunachal Pradesh has only about 11.1 trees in a hectare. Back to Punjab, the figures available with the Forest Department offer a complete insight into the plantation programme of the state which has enhanced its forest cover from 943 sq km in 1987 to 1412 sq km in 1999. The latest FSI Report of 2001, which has been released recently places this figure at 2,432 sq km. Chief Principal Conservator of Forests, Punjab , Mr A.S. Dogra, today told The Tribune that Punjab had a total of 6,43,22,763 trees, as captured by satellite images. Of these, 1,55,83,016 are eucalyptus and 1,32,22000 are poplar. Among other species are Drek (a close relative of neem) which is 72 lakh in number; Tali (72 lakh), mango (25 lakh), Shehtoot (37 lakh), Neem (18 lakh, Jamun (13 lakh) and Ber (10 lakh). Semal and Arjun are also growing in abundance in the state. Mr Dogra said it was for the first time that Punjab had asked the FSI to capture the tree cover outside the forest area to ascertain its future scope. The same has been recorded at 1634 sq km, which is about 3.2 per cent of state's area). About 4.8 per cent is the forest cover of Punjab, bringing the total forest and tree cover (FTC) to about 8 per cent which is 4066 sq km of state's area. To further increase FTC in Punjab, the Punjab Forest Department has engaged Punjab Agricultural University to research a cropping and tree plantation pattern for farmers of the region. "The idea is to encourage farmers to grow trees and crops together so that we can increase the forest and trees cover of the state. Although the National Forest Policy requires that the FTC should be increased to 33 per cent of the state's area, the same is very difficult in case of Punjab because 84 per cent of its area is under cultivation. That's why we are looking for better ways to improve our figures," said Mr Dogra. Although Goa and Kerala rule the roost among the Indian states as far as number of trees per hectare are concerned, the best slot in this category goes to Dadra and Nagar Haveli which has 24.2 - the highest number of trees per hectare in the entire country. Almost all the Union Territories fare well in this area, with the corresponding figures for the rest of them being as follows - Andaman and Nicobar islands (19.7), Pondicherry (19.3), Daman and Diu (13.4), Lakshadweep (13.5). Chandigarh has the lowest trees per hectare (9.4) in the category of UTs.
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Pension policy changed in favour of daughters
Chandigarh, November 4 Also under the new rules, permission has been given to such divorced or widowed women to live whereever they desire and need not come back to their parental home to claim the family pension. This will also apply for disabled daughters of employees who are eligible for family pension during their entire lifetime. Earlier this was not allowed and widowed and divorced daughters seize to get family pension on attaining the age of 25. These rules have been made for UT pensioners, who retired before April 1, 1991, and are governed by the Pension Rules, 1972. All other conditions for availing the family pension like income criteria and change in status subject to re-marriage shall remain the same. The UT Finance Secretary, Mr Karan Avtar Singh, has written to all heads of the Departments, informing about the new ruling. The move of the administration came following a directive from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in this regard. The Union Ministry of Personnel and Pensions had decided this matter in consultation with the Department of Expenditure.
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SCF site
auctioned for
Rs 1.79 crore
Mohali, November 4 The day’s costliest catch was a shop-cum-flat (SCF) site in Phase VII that was auctioned for Rs 1.79 crore at a reserve price of Rs 1.11 crore. A similar site in the phase was auctioned for Rs 1.85 crore but the bidder, Sandeep Singh, a property dealer of the town, disappeared during the auction. The dealer has, as a result, been blacklisted by PUDA and the Rs 15,000 deposited
with the authority for participation in the auction has also been forfeited. The site would now be put up for sale again. The other sites in Phase VII sold for Rs 1.78 crore, Rs 1.41 crore and 1.28 crore each. In Phase 3B2, the single SCF put up for sale fetched Rs 1.28 crore while a flour mill site in Phase II fetched Rs 76.55 lakh. Auction of the four SCF sites in Phase XI were withdrawn on the grounds that there were not enough bidders for these sites. Sources said the reserve price for these sites at Rs 86 lakh was considered too high. Out of the 20 booth sites offered for auction, 15 were sold at an average price of Rs 15 lakh. The costliest booth was sold by PUDA in Phase VII for Rs 20.85 lakh. Out of the 11 single-storey shops advertised by PUDA, six were auctioned at an average price of Rs 40 lakh. Two adjoining single storey shops in Phase 10, fetched a total of Rs 1.75 crore.
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5 new HC Judges to take oath today
Chandigarh, November 4 The five who are being elevated are of the rank of District and Sessions Judge. They are Punjab and Haryana High Court Registrar- General Pritam Pal, Faridabad District and Sessions Judge Nirmal Yadav, Ludhiana District and Sessions Judge Baldev Singh, Punjab Legal Remembrancer M.M. Aggarwal and Special Judge of Central Bureau of Investigation, Patiala, S.N. Aggarwal. They will be administered oath of office by the Full Court at 10 am tomorrow. According to a High Court communique, the warrants of appointment of the five have been received and they have been informed about tomorrow' oath.
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MC turns Nelson’s eye to Mohali’s second ‘bus stand’
Mohali, November 4 The authorised bus stand area, which extends from the phase II market block near the octroi checkpoint to the shops across the road next to petrol station in Phase 3B1, has been turning busier with the day. Despite objections by shopkeepers in Phase II and residents of house opposite the market, the private operators have been parking buses and dropping and picking up passengers from the area. Transport companies, including Indo-Canadian, Jhang Travels, Gautam and Gurdian, have opened offices in the Phase II market. Private buses can be seen arriving or leaving for Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Abohar, Fazilka, Ferozepore and Delhi airport. Whenever buses are driven in, there is a rush of passengers, autorickshaw drivers and rickshaw pullers in the market area. The chaos obstructs the easy entry of customers to shops and the noise pollution has
become a nuisance for families living in the HM houses located opposite the market. Sanitation in the block has become poor. The condition of the market parking area is also deteriorating through use by heavy vehicles. Affected shopkeepers, said complaints had been made at various levels but to no avail. A shopkeeper said he had taken a showroom on rent but it would become difficult for him to pay rent if the “bus stand” was not shifted from the area as a decline in the number of customers was seen in the past months. At times it became difficult for customers to enter the market as the parking area was occupied by autorickshaws and rickshaws, apart from other vehicles. Another shopkeeper said the problems had been brought to the notice of the Municipal Councillor of the area who made efforts to mitigate the problem but failed to find a permanent solution. A resident of he HM houses complained that buses plying from the market area had created noise pollution. The matter had been brought to the notice of the SDM but failed to yield any results. He said he then approached Inspector of the traffic police. The police official told him that he was helpless in the matter and the complaint should be made to the Punjab Chief Minister. Though employees of the Indo-Canadian company failed to give any comment on the violations, a representative of Jhang Travels said that the transporters paid taxes of Rs 70,000 per vehicle to the government but they were not given any area to operate from. A permit to operate from Chandigarh to various parts of Punjab had been given to them but the Chandigarh administration did not allow them to enter the territory. “We are not allowed even to operate from the Mohali bus stand”, he added. Mr Kulwant Singh, president of the Municipal Council, said the civic body could not take any action as the parking area was with PUDA. He said he had written to the DTO to challan the vehicles which were violating the rules. He said the council had issued notices to persons operating from the market area.
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Bobby Jindal’s cousin in the spotlight
Chandigarh, November 4 A businessman dealing in the wholesale supply of medicine, Mr Ashok Jindal spent the day receiving congratulatory messages from friends and neighbours. “His achievement has made us proud. Only a few neighbours knew of our connection with Bobby though most of my friends in the business community were aware of our relationship. They all came to our house to celebrate,” he said. All through the day sweets were offered to guests. “I can’t organise a party since my entire family is busy celebrating in our native village in Malerkotla. They left this morning,” he says. The family members spoke to Bobby last night after the results came in. “He was ecstatic about the win. We hardly had any time to exchange pleasantries. Everybody managed to congratulate him before he hung up. He did say that he would be coming to India in January or February,” he said. Recalling his last visit to the city, he said: “He came in 1993 and went round the city, sight-seeing. Since then we have been asking him to come again but he hasn’t been able to find the time. He has remained in touch. Our celebrations will begin when he comes here.”
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Bhagvadgita a panacea for stress
Chandigarh, November 4 H.G. Gauranga Prabhu did his B.Tech from IIT, Mumbai in 1993. In spite of his placement in a multinational company, he preferred to join ISKCON and since 1994 he has been propagating the sacred message of Srimad Bhagvadgita by conducting spiritual discourses at various institutions like IITs, medical colleges and management colleges. He said “Srimad Bhagvadgita gives people the vision and mission to move on with life peacefully. H.G. Gauranga Prabhu has also conducted several programmes for media. He has been delivering lectures for various TV channels for the past decade, including Sony, Aastha, etc. The most successful venture was that of 365-episode mega production by the ISKCON TV called “Atma” on Star Plus. Prabhu has also been preaching jail inmates. He has given inspiring lectures to the inmates of Yerawada Jail, Sangali Jail, Satara Jail and Arther Road Jail as a part of his “reformation programme”. He also conducted seminars on stress management for traffic police personnel at the Traffic Police headquarters Worli, Mumbai. Besides, he has co-authored three books for the youth which contain lectures by spiritual personalities.
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12,677 new voters enrolled
Panchkula, November 4 She said that the administration had also made all efforts to ensure that there were no discrepancies in the electoral rolls. “We have conducted a thorough probe of all voters lists, and found no discrepancies. Various political parties, social organisations and residents have been asked to bring to our notice, any discrepancy is found in the voters list,” she said. She said that the officers from the district administration had gone to each ward in the town and after checking the antecedents of names in the electoral rolls, checked these with local residents. “Still, if any discrepancy is found in the rolls, this can be corrected before the rolls are published in January 2005,” she said.
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She needs help to fight tumour
Chandigarh, November 4 Doctors diagnosed her to be suffering from cancerous tumour. “All my savings have been exhausted. My husband is a daily wage earner and I feel I have become a burden on my family,’’ she says. She is staying in the lifeline sarai at the PGI and is looking for
samaritans who could help her arrange Rs 70,000 for another surgery. Those willing to help her can send their cheques in favour of the Director, PGI, through the Public Relations Officer.
(Phone —0172-2747585, extension —6003). TNS
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Sikh
students back accused Chandigarh, November 4 The federation vice-president Harprabsharanjit Singh told reporters
here that they would approach the Akal Takht Jathedar in this regard.
Sorobo had been arrested with a sickle when he allegedly tried to
assault a person in Sector 17. |
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Mandi board staff hold dharna
Panchkula, November 4 The dharna was called by the State Joint Action Committee of three associations — Haryana Mandi Board, Market Committee Karamchari Sangh and Class IV Employees Association. The state president of the Joint Action Committee, Mr J P Panday, said that the employees of the board were suffering because of the politicisation in running the routine affairs of the board. The employees demanded bonus and promotion of employees to all vacant posts. They also demanded that new posts be filled and Rectified Service Rules be implemented. They said that over the past couple of years 325 posts in the board had been abolished, and another 244 would be abolished soon. The employees alleged that the contracting out the sabzi mandis in Gurgaon and Faridabad was not in the best interest of the Board. They also decried the introduction of contract farming practices.
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Jeweler
kidnapped, alleges wife
Chandigarh, November 4 In a complaint, Neelam Chauhan, jeweler’s wife, said the man had told her husband that he would help the jeweler get fresh festival stock for Divali for his shop. The police has registered a case on the basis of a complaint filed after he went missing. She alleged that her brother-in-law, Raju Chauhan, brought a person along with him to their
jewellery shop in market of Badheri village. Raju introduced the man to Sunil as his friend who was a wholesale dealer and provided goods for Divali on credit. Raju told Sunil that he would help in arranging goods for Divali worth Rs 50,000 on credit for his shop through the man. He also asked Sunil to arrange for Rs 1,50,000 in cash. She was allegedly asked by Raju to stay away as they were discussing something “personnel”, Neelam said. Neelam said after some days the man came to their shop again and parked his car near their shop. He talked to Sunil, who left with him saying that he would be back in five minutes. Sunil came home drunk later that night, she added. On Dasehra night, the man visited their home and took Sunil away. He again came drunk around 11.30 pm that night, she said. She added that the man again came to their house at 3 am and took Sunil away on a business trip to Amritsar and Delhi. She alleged that before leaving the house, the man asked Sunil to leave his mobile phone back. Sunil told her that he would call her on the mobile phone, but he never did. The police has registered a case under Sections 365 and 120-B of the IPC in Sector 39 police station. The police said it had arrested Raju Chauhan on October 28. He was produced in the court the next day. The court remanded him in police custody for five days, but the police found nothing incriminating against him. The court has now remanded Raju in judicial custody.
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Mother, daughter dupe man of Rs 3.5 lakh
Chandigarh, November 4 According to the police, Naushad Ali of Sector 11 alleged that Amarjit Kaur and her daughter Gurpreet Kaur had taken Rs 3.5 lakh from him in June this year. When Mr Ali demanded his money, they gave him a cheque drawn on the State Bank of India. The complainant deposited the cheque in the bank but it was dishonoured as there was no money in the account. He brought the matter to the police and after an investigation, the police registered a case of cheating in the Sector 3 police station. In another cheating case, Dr A.P. Sanwaria, a resident of Sector 21-D, alleged that his former employee K.K. Malhotra of Sarangpur village had embezzled money from instalments of a loanee from whom he had collected the instalments. Dr Sanawaria is running a company to collect money on behalf of the Life Insurance Company and ICICI Bank. The accused collected Rs 12,000 from Vimal Sharma, a resident of Green City in Dhakoli in Punjab, but did not deposit it to the company. Vimal Sharma had taken a loan of Rs 3 lakh against which he was paying back money to the company through instalments. When the company enquired from Vimal Sharma about the lapses in his instalments, the embezzlement was detected, said the police. The police said after an investigation they registered a case under Sections 408 and 420 of the IPC against the accused in the Sector 17, police station. The police further said there were more complaints coming up against K.K. Malhotra. He is evading arrest and the address given by him to the company is also found fake.
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Two more thefts in Mohali
Gang of thieves active in town
Mohali, November 4 Thieves struck at the residence of Dr S.K.Sharma, in Phase XI when the occupants, of the house were away. According to the owner, thieves entered the house by breaking the locks of a garage door and then the locks on the outer doors of a room that opened into the back verandah. Mrs Sharma, who is also a doctor, said she and her husband along with the children were away when the incident occurred. “My husband and children left in the morning while I left for my clinic in Phase XI at 11.45 am. I forgot my mobile at home and returned to collect it at 12.45 pm. I found the whole house ransacked and raised an alarm. ‘Apparently the thieves had entered the house from the garage and left from the front door,” said Mrs Sharma. “Thieves opened all almirahas and scattered various items. Cash, electronic items and gold jewellery were missing”, she added. The police has registered a case. According to the police, in Phase X, the house owner, Mr Gurjyot Singh, who works in a bank, was out to his work place. His son and wife are also working and were not in the house when the burglary took place. They locked the house at 9 am and went to their respective jobs. After office, they went directly to a relative’s place to attend a family function. When they returned at 8.30 pm, the front door of the house was bolted from inside and lights were on. They found that thieves had barged into the house by scaling the back wall and later broke grill and latch of the back door.
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26 kg poppy husk seized
Chandigarh, November 4 Balwinder Singh alias Billa of Hoshiarpur district was arrested and his truck (PCK 1183) impounded at a picket in the Transport Area. The SHO of the area Jarnail Singh said the truck was stopped at a picket in the Transport Area. The policemen on the picket carried out a search of the truck and found 26 kg of poppy husk. Balwinder Singh, owner of the truck, was himself driving his vehicle when it was stopped at the picket, the police said. The driver has been booked under Section 15 of the NDPS Act. Injured Dowry demanded Chain snatched Ms Harinder Kaur (56) was taking a strol outside her house when the youths roaming about in the area snatched her chain and fled.
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Two held for gambling
Panchkula, November 4 In another incident, Nirmal Prakash was arrested by the Raipur Rani police on charges of speculation and recovered Rs 255 from him. One injured:
An old woman, Purni Devi, was injured after she was hit by a speeding truck (HP-12A- 5093) near Ramgarh last evening. She was rushed to GMCH, Chandigarh. One arrested:
The police has arrested Sunder Singh near Dhara Mandal, Pinjore, on charges of consuming liquor at a public place.
TNS
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5-yr-old girl crushed by car
Chandigarh, November 4 Shinu, of Baterla village, was killed when Vandna Duggal, a resident of Sector 40-A, was reversing her car. She did not noticed the child behind her car. Shinu received multiple injuries and was taken to a private hospital in Sector 34, where she succumbed to her injuries later, said the police. A case has been registered. The accused was later bailed out by the police.
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Chandikrit begins
Chandigarh, November 4 Representatives of all associations of industrialists of Chandigarh were present. The exhibition has been an annual feature since 1987. Children from Moti Ram Senior Secondary School, Sector 27 and from different schools presented a Saraswati vandana and welcome song. About 50 stalls have been set up, in which different items being manufactured in Chandigarh, have been displayed. Mr S.P. Singh thanked all participants who have displayed their products. The participants are also expecting good exposure of their products which would further help in generating more business. The Department of Industries is also organising an ‘on the spot painting competition’ tomorrow and a quiz competition on November 6.
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The steep hike in petrol, diesel and LPG prices has led to an adverse reaction among residents of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula.
