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Admn, MC get tough with building bylaw violators
Chandigarh, January 14 The Administration today said all unauthorised constructions would be removed unless those were covered under the latest relaxations or could be sanctioned under law after the payment of a fine. Meanwhile, teams of the MC removed encroachments in Sector 18 market. Irritated over this the shopkeepers downed their shutters and lodged a complaint with the police against high-handed attitude of the MC staff. “All ongoing cases of building bylaws’ violation shall become infructuous and the alterations will be removed”, the Estate Officer, Mr Arun Kumar said today. However, it is not that teams are going to be out removing structures, all violators will be issued notices and proper procedure will be followed, he added. All alterations cannot be termed as encroachments and some of these violations can be sanctioned and those can not be granted sanction are to be removed. Some alterations can be sanctioned on payment, while some other alterations like buildings jutting outside the zoning plan are not allowed at all. The order comes two days after the Administration allowed coverage area of 150 square feet in the rear courtyard. The building branch of the Estate Office will check for building violations, such as the coverage of excess area, cantilever projection, change in internal planning etc in all properties in Chandigarh. In case of any violation in the building bylaws, all cases are to be dealt under the Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulations) Act, 1952. At present there are 600 routine building violation cases pending in the Court of Assistant Estate Officer and simultaneously 400 cases under Section 15 of the Act are running in the Court of Land Acquisition Officer. In view of the relaxations some of these cases shall be regularised on payment. Meanwhile, the Municipal Corporation, while taking stock of the ongoing programme to educate the shopkeepers of the city to keep the verandas in front of their shops clear of encroachments, said shopkeepers were cooperating. The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, said it would maintain the distinct character of the city defined by well-planned buildings and streets, open verandas in front of shops, absence of handcarts (rehries) and hawkers except on V-5 and V-6 roads. The MC said it was alive to the requirement of licensed mobile handcarts which could be driven freely by licensed hawkers on internal roads of the city for supply of fresh vegetables and fruits and other eatables to residents. For this purpose Chandigarh Administration intends to evolve a comprehensive policy, which would provide for requirement of a specific number of licensed mobile handcarts in specified areas of the city. Similarly, the Chandigarh Administration may allow setting up of some ‘flea markets’ at suitable locations, at least one for sale of books and others for sale of general merchandise.
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High drama as panther strays into VIP farmhouse
Panchkula, January 14 Hours after being spotted, the panther managed to disentangle itself, and escaped in the wilderness. Delay in getting help from a veterinary doctor, who came from Chattbir zoo, for administering the tranquiliser to control the animal, ultimately led to the panther’s escape. Even as a huge crowd gathered at the farm house, was waiting to see the agile animal being caught, there was panic, followed by disillusionment, after the panther escaped. Afraid that the badly bruised animal could venture into the nearby villages, sectors or the TBRL establishment, hundreds of people, who had gathered on the spot, started running away on hearing the news of the panther’s escape. The animal, about eight-feet long, was found trapped in the wiremesh fencing of the farm house around 7 am today by watchman, Dharma Singh. “I was walking around the farmhouse, when suddenly I heard the panther groan in pain. I found it trapped in the wire fencing and bleeding profusely. I then called up Mr Chander Mohan,” he said. Mr Chander Mohan then informed the police and the wildlife officials. By 8.30 am, a team of officials led by the DFO, Mr Ved Prakash, and Mr B.S. Khokha, had rushed to the spot. The Deputy Chief Wildlife Warden, Mr Suresh Dalal, too rushed to the spot to oversee the capture of the panther. Dr Vinod Kumar, an acquaintance of the MLA from nearby Ramgarh village, who had also reached here, said he was the first to come to spot the panther from close quarters. “I went the other way, from near the fencing of the TBRL range and found the panther struggling in the wiremesh. It had injured its back and was also bleeding from the mouth,” he said. The wildlife officials and the Chandimandir police made elaborate plans to capture the panther. Since the animal is very swift, there was a fear that it could dis-entangle itself, and rush towards the crowd that had gathered at the spot. About four square kilometer area near the spot, where the animal was caught in the fencing, was cordoned off. A reconnisance mission was first carried out, to see how tranquliser shots could be administered. Since the Wildlife Department has no vet of its own, they had sought help from vets in the nearby Chattbir zoo. The Vet Assistant, Mr Ramdev, arrived around 11 am and as the team walked towards the spot, the animal managed to escape. Mr Suresh Dalal, said the sex of the panther would be ascertained after taking impressions of its pugmarks found near the spot. He said some pugmarks of a semi-adult panther were also found along with the pug marks of the adult arrival, which raised a suspicion that it could be a female. “The young ones always move around with female adults. So we suspect it was a female. The animal could have strayed into the area from the nearby Asrewali or Berwala forest reserves last night, because these animals move in dark. Several old pugmarks of panthers, wild boars and sambars were found in the farmhouse, which shows that animals venture here frequently,” he said. Meanwhile, wildlife and police officials have been put on duty at the farmhouse, in case the animal entered human habitation again.
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Abandoned girl child dead
Panchkula, January 14 The baby girl was reportedly abandoned by her family and was found in a crib at Bal Niketan late last evening. The newly born child was wrapped in a shawl, and appeared to be from a good family. The Bal Niketan authorities found her in the crib, and after informing the police, took her to the General Hospital. Doctors at the hospital said the child was immediately administered first aid, but because of severe cold, she had turned blue. The child died at the hospital late last night. Meanwhile, Hansraj Public School, Sector 6, here provided a ray of hope when it decided to extend the warmth of Lohri to two girl inmates of Ashiana Children’s Home — a home for destitute children. While Durga will be joining nursery class at the school, Anjali will join Class VII at the school. As the staff and students of the school celebrated Lohri, the school decided to do its bit for the girl child, and thus nurture the future of these two girls by providing them education free of cost. Almost 50 inmates of Ashiana today visited the school, and participated in the Lohri celebrations.
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Illegal internet exchange busted
Mohali, January 14 The exchange was functioning from a rented cabin located above the Bank of Punjab showroom in Phase VII market. The illegal exchange was discovered yesterday when police personnel accompanied by DoT vigilance wing officials raided the premises. The unmanned exchange was found to be functioning when the police broke open the locks to gain entry into the cabin. The police cut the telephone connections and has taken the equipment being used in the exchange into its possession. This includes the quantum gateway switch and seven Reliance wireless telephones. These equipment were being used for switching calls. Mr Agarwal said the accused were working in collaboration with its counterpart abroad, who was facilitating cheap calls from there to India. The calls from abroad were being transferred as local calls to the receiver by the illegal exchange here by using an internet lease line. “As a result of which even when the call was being made from outside India, the call identification number (CLI) that would blink on the receiver’s telephone here would be of local origin. In this case the seven local telephone lines taken from Reliance by the accused for the exchange had been registered on fake names and addresses,” said Mr Ashok Kumar, Additional Divisional Engineer, Vigilance Wing, DoT, New Delhi. Mr Agarwal said the three accused Ravinder Chawla, a resident of Mohali, Gurparmjit Singh, a resident of Chandigarh, and Sukhminder Singh were yet to be arrested. More information about how they were operating would be clear once they were arrested, he added. The police is now trying to find out the internet service provider (ISP), which had given the internet lease line to the exchange. “We are checking the ISPs that operate in Mohali and Chandigarh and it should be a matter of time before we are able to lay our hands on the content of the traffic on this lease line for the past six months,” Mr Agarwal said. The police had quizzed the owner of the premises who had rented out the cabin to the accused. Mr Ashok Kumar said the Government of India had suffered a loss of at least Rs 50 lakh due to the functioning of this exchange. “Other than this, such illegal exchanges are possible security threat since the information being shared internationally is not being monitored,” he added. Police raids at the residence of Ravinder Chawla have revealed that he was using a fake address. The police said they had been watching the exchange for the past few days but no one had visited the cabin. “The exchange can run unmanned for many days, in case the power supply to the lease line is ensured. The telephones are connected via a switch to other telephones,” Mr Agarwal said. The three have been booked under Sections 420 and 120B of the IPC other than being booked various sections of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, and Indian Wireless Technology Act, 1933. Officials of the DoT Vigilance Wing said they had received at least 30 complaints regarding illegal internet exchanges being run across Punjab. “We are following these complaints. If anyone wants to send us any information about such illegal exchanges they can call us at the toll free number 1600-110420,” Mr Ashok Kumar, Vigilance Wing, DoT, New Delhi, said.
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You have worked in TV serials, music
videos and films. How do you straddle so many worlds at the same time?
Every
medium has its own charm. I owe tremendously to television which brought
me some of the best assignments. I have done some popular shows like
Superhit Muqabla, Rajesh Khanna’s debut serial Ittefaq, Sansar and
Kadam. I have also hosted Deepti Bhatnagar’s Musafir Hoon Yaaron on
Star Plus. How has life changed after "Shaheed-e-Mohabbat"
which brought you the Smita Patil and the Nargis Dutt best actress
awards? I have been on the roll, accepting new offers like those in
"Baghbaan" and in Yash Chopra’s "Veer-Zaara".
Working with celebrated directors has yielded its own benefits. Which
are your forthcoming projects? I am working with Irfaan Khan in the
comedy "Dubai Returned". It will be directed by Aditya
Bhattacharya of "Raakh" fame. I am eagerly looking forward to
the release of Shyam Benegal’s biographical film on Netaji Subhash
Chandra Bose, which features Sachin Khedekar in the lead role. I am
playing Netaji’s 17-year-old niece, Ela Bose, in the film, which has
been nothing less than a challenge to me. Then I am playing an air force
officer’s wife in "Agnipankh" — a film about air force
pilots, directed by Sunil Puri. Khalid Mohammad’s "Silsile"
is also in the pipeline. — Aditi Tandon
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Statements jam four-laning project
Chandigarh, January 14 The project has neither been sanctioned by the Government of India nor been put on the list of the immediate tasks for highway expansion in the country. Parliament was informed about the status of the project during the winter session last month. The latest information tabled on the floor of the House is opposite to the one made in February, last year by the NDA Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Major-General B.C. Khanduri ( Retd) . He even performed the ‘bhoomi poojan’ for the project under the Pradhanmantri Bharat Jodo Pariyojana (PMBJP) at Zirakpur. The upgradation was to cost Rs 190 crore. The work was to be completed in two and a half years. “We have given priority to the Ambala-Chandigarh stretch and are now processing the bids,” the minister had said at the ‘Bhoomi Poojan’. “It will involve construction of one flyover, three major bridges besides a number of service roads in urban areas along the highway.” On December 15, 2004 just 10 months after Maj Gen Khanduri’s public function — the present Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Mr T.R. Baalu, told Parliament that there was no decision to four lane the Zirakpur-Ambala stretch of the highway. He was replying to a question raised by the Chandigarh MP, Mr Pawan Bansal, who had asked “ Whether the government had decided to four-lane the Ambala-Chandigarh road”. The minister replied in negative and added that the matter was at the proposal stage. Interestingly, 10 months before this query in the Lok Sabha, the ‘Bhoomi Poojan’ was attended by the then Governor of Punjab and Administrator of UT, Chandigarh Justice O.P. Verma, Punjab Minister for PWD, Mr Partap Singh Bajwa, former Punjab Finance Minister and Banur area MLA Capt Kanwaljit Singh (retd), the then sitting MP from Ambala R.K. Kataria, and former Chandigarh MP, Satyapal Jain. The 35-km stretch of National Highway-22 between Zirakpur and Ambala is considered one of the busiest highway stretches in the country and has earned the dubious distinction of killer road as it claims 100 lives every year.
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Flying high with his kites
Chandigarh, January 14 As such, Jamaluddin has brighter feathers to show. He is the undisputed king of kite flying in India and can command as many as 1187 kites on a single string. “That’s the greatest load I have ever handled on a single string. It happened during the Dubai Shopping Festival a few years ago when I faced stiff competition from several kite fliers from across the world. I outsmarted all of them by balancing 1187 kites on the nylon thread which I make myself at my Old Jama Masjid home in Delhi.” For public shows, Jamaluddin flies 200 to 300 kites at a time. He flew 250 kites for the visitors at Sector 17 Plaza this afternoon. Jamaluddin spoke about his humble ancestry and his struggle as a practitioner of an art form that finds little favour with the government. Although first spotted by the Delhi Tourism Department, which offered him the required platform, Jamaluddin rued that kite flying had lost ground in India. “I picked up the nuances of this art from my father Bhai Mian who was former president of the Kite Flying Association, Delhi. He gave several representations to the government, asking for financial support to sustain the art, but to no avail. Today when kite flying has come of age in the world, Indians are stuck on plastic kites, which are no good. Japan, France and Russia are producing synthetic kites, which give their contestants a winning edge,” tells Jamaluddin, who has learnt to battle against all odds. No wonder he holds many records, besides being declared the winner at the international kite festival held in Bangladesh in 1998. He is also a hot favourite at all Dubai Shopping festivals, besides being a regular at the festivals in India, especially Uttaran in Gujarat. Ready to visit Dubai again, Jamaluddin says he loves to experiment with the shapes of kites. “Butterflies and birds are easy. It is most difficult to balance aeroplane-shaped kites,” he says, adding that he needs at least six people to mount 250 kites. The maximum time he ever took to mount the fleet of kites was when he decided to fly 1187 kites at Dubai. The feat required about 9 kg of nylon thread and bundles of confidence!
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Dept not allowing MC to sink tubewells
Mohali, January 14 The Director of the department, in a letter to the civic body sent last month, said that tubewells would be sunk by the PWSSB and the required funds for the work should be deposited with the board at the earliest. According to council officials, the tubewells sunk by the civic body were giving a better performance, while the water discharge from tubewells sunk by the PWSSB was quite low. In fact, two tubewells sunk by the board had failed to give any discharge. The council today sent another letter to the Director, Local Government, requesting for permission to sink six tubewells at its own level. In the letter, it has been slated that tubewells sunk by the civic body were giving better performance than those sunk by
PWSSB. Moreover, the council would also save revenue to the tune of Rs 14 lakh if permission for the work was granted. The civic body has sought permission to sink tubewells in Phase XI, Shahimajra village, Phase III A and VII, at Government College in Phase VI and Mataur village. The estimated cost for sinking each tubewell varies between Rs 15.80 lakh and Rs 16 lakh. The council had been provided permission to sink tubewells in different parts of the town by the Department of Local Government in 2003. According to sources, the council had sunk six tubewells in Phases I, II, IV, IX, XI and Industrial Area Phase IX. The Phase IX Industrial Area tubewell is giving a discharge of 18,000 gallons per hour, while those sunk in Phases I, IX and XI are giving a discharge of 15,000 gallons per hour. The discharge of the tubewell sunk in Phases IV and II is 10,000 and 8,000 gallons per hour, respectively. Sources further said that the tubewell sunk by the PWSSB in Phase IX had been giving a discharge of 10,000 gallons per hour, while the remaining three sunk in Phases III A, V and VII were giving only a discharge between 5,000 to 6,000 gallons per hour. Two tubewells sunk by the PWSSB in Phase VII and Industrial Phase VI had failed.
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Police gets Namrata’s post-mortem report
Panchkula, January 14 Lawyer assaulted: A lawyer, residing in Sector 4 here, was allegedly assaulted by goons of a property dealer, when she refused to part with the sale deed of a property that she was planning to purchase. Ms Neera Rani has alleged that she had given part payment of a property and was given the sale deed by the owner. However, after the prices of land shot up, he connived with some property dealers and sent them to threaten her. After the incident, a delegation of lawyers met the DSP, Panchkula, and urged him that the accused be arrested. The District Bar Association also held a meeting and asked members not to appear for the accused. Sentenced: The Additional District and Sessions Judge today sentenced Manjit to seven years of imprisonment in a case of assault. He had stabbed a woman, Mrs Neelam Rani, and tried to slit her throat at the latter’s house in Sector 14 here in November 2003. The woman was saved by her neighbours, but Majit escaped even as some neighbours followed him.
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Chemists send medicines worth 10 lakh
Chandigarh, January 14 Mr S.C. Poddar, Chairman, Chandigarh Housing Board-cum- Secretary Health, Chandigarh, had called the Collector of Nagapattinam, Dr J. Radhakrishnan, and inquired about the local requirements. The medicines were collected by the Health Department.
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80 artists join to help tsunami victims
Chandigarh, Jan 14 About 150 works of all categories, from paintings to photographs, will be put up on display during the show which will be the inaugurated by Punjab Governor and UT Administrator, Gen S.F. Rodrigues (retd), tomorrow. Among eminent artists who are participating in the exhibition are Brahm Prakash, Shiv Singh, Satwant Singh, Malkit Singh, Viren Tanwar and Madan Lal. Lecturers from Government Art College, including Mahesh Prajapati and Rakesh Bani, have also contributed their works for the show; so have several photojournalists from the city. The photography section will also have the works of Vijay Ozo.
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Golf Club members donate
Rs 5 lakh
Chandigarh, January 14 The Jat Sabha has also decided to donate Rs 1 lakh for tsunami victims.
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Lecture on consumer rights held
Chandigarh, January 14 Mr Avtar Singh, Deputy Director-General, Northern Region, BIS, in his speech appealed to the students to be more vigilant about the consumer rights. Ms K.K. Narang, director and head of the marks Department, introduced the students to various concepts like standardisation, licencing and quality checking. Earlier, Prof A.N. Garg, Principal of the college, highlighted the need for more informed consumers in the global market. Prof Deepshiksha, head of the Department of Economics and Convener of the club, also spoke.
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Air Marshal Patkar visits 3 BRD
Chandigarh, January 14 Air Marshal Patkar was given a presentation by the Air Officer Commanding, 3 BRD, Air Cmde S P S Virk on various ongoing projects and other activities at the depot. The Maintenance Command chief also inspected various sections and units within the depot and interacted with officers, airmen and civilian employees posted there. Meanwhile, Mrs Patkar interacted with the local AFWWA president, Mrs Manjit Virk, and other members of the association. She took stock of various welfare activities being undertaken at the depot. She also inspected the local Air Force School, Nischint Boys Hostel and the station hospital.
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Man found dead on roadside
Panchkula, January 14 The police said it found him suffering from burn injuries after he probably fell into a fire lit on the roadside. The police said it found liquor bottles near the spot. A post-mortem was conducted at a hospital here and inquest proceedings initiated.
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PAN mela today
Chandigarh, January 14
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Constable among 2 held for accepting bribe
Mohali, January 14 According to a press note issued by the SSP Ropar, Mr S.P. Singh, Jagdish Kumar was arrested near the Dara Studios, Mohali, where he was waiting to strike a deal with Jaswinder Singh, a resident of Akalpur village, Phillaur. The other accused in the case, Sanjeev Kumar was arrested following interrogation of Jagdish Singh. The SSP related that Jagdish contacted Jaswinder and showed him papers signed by the ADGP (Vigilance) stating that a case against him had been re-opened by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau for re-investigation. Jagdish reportedly struck a deal with Jaswinder and demanded Rs 5,000 to hush up the case. He allegedly took Rs 3,000 from him on the spot and the rest of the money was to be paid today at Mohali. However, Jaswinder came to know that the letters that Jagdish had shown to him were fake and he contacted Inspector Joginder Singh, CIA Staff, Ropar. Jagdish was caught red handed and Rs 1,600 were recovered from him. The SSP added that a poppy husk smuggler Billa, who was lodged in a jail in Ludhiana, was a friend of Jagdish and had informed him about Jaswinder.
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Rs 1.75 lakh stolen
Mohali, January 14 House owner Gurmail Singh told the police that they had checked the locks before leaving and even informed the neighbours but when they returned yesterday evening there found the house broken into and ransacked. Police said they had recoded the statement of the house owners who had claimed that Rs 25000 in cash and at least 5 tolas of gold jewellery was missing
Jewellery stolen
In another case, the house of Mr Darshan Singh, residing in house Sector 71 was found broken into by the police. The police said the theft in this case had come to light some days ago when Darshan Singh’s neighbours had told the police that locks in his house had been broken and the house was lying open. Mr Darshan Singh arrived today and told the police that a large number of expensive items, cash and jewellery were missing from his house and he would be able to give a correct figure of his losses only by tomorrow. Meanwhile the police has registered cases in both the thefts.
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Car, motor cycle stolen
Chandigarh, January 14 Mr Kushwant Vir Singh of Phase III, Mohali filed a complaint with the police that his Maruti car was stolen from Shastri Market in Sector 22 on January 12. A case of theft under Section 379 of the IPC has been registered at the Sector 17 police station. Mr Rizu Sudan of Sector 15-A reported to the police that his Hero Honda motor cycle was stolen from his house between January 6 and 13. A case of theft has been registered at the Sector 11 police station.
Held for stealing
The local police has arrested Ram Kewal of Mazdoor Colony,
Kajheri, for stealing tree guards from a park in Sector 36. Mr Jaspal Singh, an employee of the Horticulture Department, caught the accused red-handed. A case under Sections 379 and 411 of the IPC has been registered against the accused and he was sent to jail.
Mobile snatched
Mona of Sector 37-A reported to the police that an unidentified person snatched her mobile phone in Sector 15 yesterday. A case under Sections 379 and 356 of the IPC has been registered at the Sector 11 police station.
Held for eve teasing
The local police yesterday arrested Juderic Bobby of Sector 45-C for eve teasing from a bus stop in Sector 47. A case under Section 294 of the IPC has been registered at the Sector 31 police station.
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Policeman dies in mishap
Chandigarh, January 14 They were coming out of the Police Lines after attending Republic Day parade rehearsal when a school bus (PB-12-F-8584) hit them after which they fell down. Harish received serious head injury despite wearing a helmet. They were removed to the PGI. Harish succumbed to injuries en-route while Sunil was discharged after first-aid, said the SHO of Sector 26 police station, Jarnail Singh. He said the police had informed his parents in Sonepat. Harish joined the Chandigarh Police in 2002 and was living in the Pipliwala Town in Mani Majra. He hailed from Sonepat district. He had done his Masters in Education. Harish was a Kabdadi player. “I could not believe that I have lost a best friend forever”, said Mr Sandeep Singh, a friend of Harish. He said Harish had met him at the time of interview and during training they became friends as they were living together. A case has been registered against the bus driver Mohan Singh of Bau Babwal village in Ambala district under Sections 304-A, 279 and 337 of the IPC in the Sector 26 police station.
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3 youths held for beating up family
Chandigarh, January 14 Mr Jaswant Singh of Sector 29 had come to meet his friend, Ravi Kumar, in Phase II, Ram Darbar. He alleged that Manoj, Ramesh and Rajesh, alias Kallu — all residents of the same locality, entered the house of his friend and started beating them up. He said they were celebrating Lohri when the incident took place. The trio attacked Jaswant Singh with a stick and also pelted stones on Ravi and his mother, causing injuries to them. Ravi alleged that they had made numerous phone calls to the PCR but it reached the spot after two hours. The police took the injured to the GMCH in Sector 32. The police today arrested them from Ram Darbar and registered a case against them under Sections 232, 506 and 34 of the IPC in Sector 31 police station.
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Admn to have a policy on licensing handcarts selling fruits and
vegetables.
