Chandigarh, April 5
Looting of public property continues unabated in the City Beautiful. Railings on road dividers are missing at several places. Manhole covers are removed at random from different parts of the city for cheap bargain in junk shops. There are reports regarding missing of a sizeable number of control points (feeders) of street lights in the city.

The practice of stealing public property is more pronounced near the city’s outer limits, particularly adjoining labour colonies and villages. A sizeable number of railings on the road diving Sectors 25 and 38(Dakshin Marg) have been stolen. A large number of manhole covers have been stolen in Sector 38(West). An official said, “These manhole covers are nothing compared to the missing sewer covers in different parts of the city”.

There were numerous complaints of missing control points of street lights in the city. In a classic case, miscreants had removed the wiring of a lighting system in a park in Bapu Dham Colony recently, the official said.

The official said, “Several complaints have been lodged with the UT police regarding theft of manhole covers and other public property. I have been personally associated with detection of incidents of theft in Sectors 11, 16 and 25. In a couple of cases, we even gave the names of the alleged culprits. However, nothing substantial has come out of any complaints”.

The official said, “The Administration and the corporation should take action against the defaulters and set an example for the public to deter from such activity. Efforts should also be made to trace the outlets where the iron was sold.”

Stealing manhole covers is very pronounced in Sector 38 (West). Mrs Anuradha Sharma, a resident of Sector 38 (West) said, “This Monday afternoon when I was drying my clothes on the top floor, an autorikshaw entered our lane. While the driver was taking a U-turn to get the autorikshaw back in front of our building two youngsters got down and removed the manhole cover. I realised what they were doing when they put it inside the auto. I shouted at them asking them to stop. One of them peeped out of the vehicle and smiled at me mockingly”, she said. “This was not the first case in our locality. There have been several cases earlier”, she added.

To check the theft of electric bulbs from street lights, light points in the city are being covered with wire meshes. Lights in Mauli Jagran and Bapu Dham colonies have already been covered with wire meshes.

Mr Pardeep Chhabra, a former Senior Deputy Mayor, said the corporation and the Administration would have to take cognizance of the problem and work out a practical solution for tackling the problem.

Chandigarh, April 5
Construction activity in the Nayagaon and Kansal area of Punjab has certainly proved to be a profitable opportunity for certain unscrupulous elements.

No matter what the rules say, tonnes of earth are being illegally removed daily by contractors from a vast chunk of land falling in the UT boundary. Located along the alternative road between Nayagaon and Khuda Lahora village, contractors are undertaking the activity on three different quarrying sites, earlier covered with wild growth of babbar grass.

Investigations by The Tribune reveal that from the mining site the earth is being ferried on tractor-trollies at a rate of Rs 600 per trip. A beehive of activity is visible at the quarrying sites early in the morning and late evening hours. Labourers engaged at the site said as sand was not suitable for compacting the foundation of a house, quarrying was stopped at a level when the sand surfaced.

Chandigarh, April 5
Ongoing tussle between two officers over Chairmanship of the cash rich Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB), took a new turn today. The office of the Chairman was locked and would be opened only when the present incumbent Mr S.C. Poddar comes back from a tour to Delhi. This was aimed at preventing Mr K.S. Wahi, from coming and sitting in the office.

Meanwhile Mr Lalit Sharma, Adviser to the UT Administrator, made it clear that Mr K.S. Wahi had not been posted as Chairman of the CHB and Mr Poddar will continue. Mr KS Wahi, a UT cadre IAS official, yesterday stirred a controversy. Armed with an order from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Mr Wahi entered the office of the Chairman and submitted his joining report. Mr Wahi had been on leave and the order he was carrying did not have an appointment letter which should have been issued by the Chandigarh Administration.

Chandigarh, April 5
The UT Administration is all set to rid the prevailing pension disbursement system of its many evils. The Social Welfare Department has evolved measures which will ensure timely redressal of pension-related problems.

From April 1 this year, all beneficiaries will be required to possess identity cards on the basis of which payment of pension amounts will be made to them. Pension will no longer be sent through money orders, but will be paid in cash at the UT Administration’s five e-Sampark centres. The process of preparation of ID cards has already begun in various sectors, villages and colonies of the city.

For a change, pensioners have not been asked to come to the department’s office to get the cards made. Instead, workers, associated with the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), are going door to door, making cards for eligible people. The city has been divided into 12 zones for the purpose. Each zone is being handled by an ICDS Supervisor.

The process aims at sparing the aged and the disabled the agony of waiting in line for a paltry sum of Rs 200 per month. Supposed to be disbursed on a quarterly basis, the amount, it is seen, does not reach the destination due to loopholes in the existing system. Until March 31 this year, pension amount was being sent to the General Post Office for disbursal to the beneficiaries.

From April 1, pension will be disbursed in cash to Chandigarh’s 7,000 beneficiaries. Here help will be taken from the five existing e-Sampark centres of the Administration, which will become nodal centres for cash payment of pension amounts. The fifth centre is slated to open in Maloya by May.

The Director, Social Welfare, Ms Madhavi Kataria, said a large number of bogus beneficiaries had crept into the system. “The measures thus taken will help us weed out unwanted beneficiaries. There are cases where the same person is availing of the old age as well as the disability pension. The duplicity cannot be allowed to persist.”

The Department of Social Welfare runs three pension schemes - for the aged (above 60 years), for the widows and for the disabled. The eligibility criteria for pensioners include three-year residence proof in Chandigarh, and different levels of income depending on the scheme. However, it has come to light that many criteria are not being met by many beneficiaries of the pension scheme in Chandigarh. The new system will ensure proper scrutiny.

The department will also hold camps to cover as many beneficiaries as possible.

Chandigarh, April 5
The cancellation of draw of lots of the Progressive House Building Society by the Registrar of Cooperative Societies (RCS) has been questioned by a section of members on the grounds that they had neither been given a hearing nor was the report of observers given any heed.

A section of members led by joint secretary Harish Khanna today represented their case against the re-holding of the draw of lots on April 16 on these two counts.

The president of the Confederation of Housing Societies, Mr S.K. Jain has also supported this section of members.

The confederation has also objected to the Registrar’s order barring General Power of Attorney (GPA) holders from participating in the April 16 draw of lots.

The three observers, whose conduct had come in for questioning by a section which had noticed an alleged bungling, in their report sought to clear the air saying the handwritten slip of house number 1157 and registration number 687 was passed on by joint secretary Harish Khanna to the president D.R. Arora just for checking up the status. When this slip came, serial number 98 was being called. They said there was an allegation that there was an attempt to allot this house to cashier R.K. Bansal. But the same slip was caught by a participant. This fact was reported to the observers who checked up the proceedings to find out that this house had already been allotted to Mr Dalbir Singh Randhawa at serial number 33.

According to the observers, R.K. Bansal’s name had not been called till serial number 98 and his original and computerised slip was still lying in the buckets.

The observers said that Harish Khanna had got house number 1067 when serial number 89 was called.

The observers also said that draw of lots of category B and C had gone on peacefully.

The observers also refuted the charge that they did not stop the proceedings when the people objected to passing on of the controversial slip at serial number 98. They said it was stopped immediately after contacting the Joint Registrar of Cooperative Societies.

However, this report was rejected by the Registrar of Cooperative Societies on the ground that doubts had been raised over the fairness of the draw of lots and it should be held again.

The section, which now wanted status quo, said the draw of lots should now only be held after serial number 98 where an objection came. They also said there was no need of again holding draw of lots of B and C category.

Mr Khanna said that they had represented their case before the Registrar of Cooperative Societies but he had refused to take back his March 28 order.

They said that the RCS should have heard their pleas before the March 26 allotment was cancelled.

Chandigarh, April 5
To overcome shortage of commercial pilots, the Directorate- General, Civil Aviation (DGCA), has raised the retirement age of commanders and co-pilots engaged by scheduled airlines and non-scheduled operators, by one year.

According to a DGCA circular received by the Department of Civil Aviation, Punjab, a few days ago, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has decided to permit professional pilots to fly till the age of 61. The decision was taken last month and extensions are expected to be granted shortly.

Present DGCA rules state that no person who has attained the age of 60 will be permitted to fly as the pilot (commander) or co-pilot on aircraft operated by either scheduled operators or on non-scheduled air transport operations.

"This is not a blanket raise in the retirement age of pilots," a senior officer of the department said. "Certain conditions have been laid down and the extension will have to be approved by the DGCA," he added. Extensions will be approved by a board consisting of senior DGCA officers and medical specialists.

Pilots seeking extension in their retirement age should have a clean flight record, with no accident attributable to them for the past five years and a clean medical record with no limitations imposed on them.

They will have to undergo medical assessment every three months and acquire fresh simulator and flight certification every six months. Further, the pilot as well as the co-pilot on the same aircraft should not be above 60.

India presently has seven airlines holding the scheduled operators' permit. Between them they operate almost 200 aircraft, ranging from the 18-seater Dornier twin-engined turbo-prop to the giant 430-seater Boeing 747. There are about 24 variants and models of aircraft operated by them.

In addition, about 40 non-scheduled operators possessing various sizes of helicopter and fixed-wing fleets operate in Indian skies. This category includes commercial and charter companies and private flying academies.

With the aviation sector in the country witnessing a significant growth and several airlines in the private sector taking wings, there has been an acute shortage of experienced commercial pilots. In fact, Air-India recently has taken foreign pilots on a one-year contract to sustain its operations.

The airline, besides its own aircraft, has also inducted a large number of aircraft on dry lease, taking its fleet strength to 42 aircraft.

Recently, representatives of airlines and private operators had taken up a case with the DGCA that the retirement age of pilots be raised to 65 years to make it compatible with existing international norms as well as to overcome the shortage. Officials said the Aircraft Rules, which are the guiding parameters for framing regulations, could only be changed by Parliament and the conditional increase in retirement age by a year is an interim measure.

Chandigarh, April 5
Mr RK Saxena, a resident of Sector 20 in Panchkula, is a harassed man. Even after four years of filing a case in the local District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Mr Saxena is running from pillar to post for justice.

In fact, the four-year-old legal fight of Mr Saxena seemed to have gone down the drain with the company against which he had complained allegedly winding up its operations from Chandigarh. With the whereabouts of the promoters of the company unknown, hope has started giving way to despair for Mr Saxena.

It was on March 27, 2000, that Mr Saxena had moved the Forum for the recovery of secured redeemable non-convertible debentures amounting to Rs 15,000 of the DCM Financial Services. The debentures along with an interest at the rate of 19.5 per cent had matured on May 1998.

And virtually giving a lie to the claim of speedy justice by the consumer forum, the case was decided in his favour after three-and-a-half years on October 15,2003. Even as a harassed Mr Saxena did not get any response from the company, a case for the execution of the orders was filed with the forum on March 12,2004.

Mr Saxena alleged that it took over six months for the forum to order to issue a certificate to the District Collector, New Delhi, under Section 25(3) of the Consumer Protection Act. However, the certificate indicated the wrong amount of Rs 5,000 instead of Rs 15,000.

Even after over five months, wait of Mr Saxena for a revised certificate continues. Meanwhile, he is yet to hear from the Deputy Collector about the fate of his money.

Chandigarh, April 5
Members of the Chandigarh chapter of the Merchant Navy Officers Association observed Maritime Day for the first time in the city here today. The day is observed to mark the sailing out of the first Indian registered ship, S.S. Loyalty, from Bombay port on this day in 1919.

The members called upon Punjab Governor, S.F. Rodrigues at Raj Bhavan and a crest was pinned on his lapel by association’s president, Kulwant Singh. The governor was also apprised of the activities of the association.

Chairman of the Mariners Society, Capt M.S. Kahlon said that the society had received no-objection certificate from the Director General of Shipping to set up a Merchant Navy Training Institute here. This would the be first institute north of Delhi to impart pre-sea training to cadets. The academy is expected to come up on five acres and would impart one year training.

The society also contributed Rs 1 lakh to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for rehabilitation of tsunami victims. It is organising a seminar on Merchant Navy as a career at Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, tomorrow.

Chandigarh, April 5
Mr Parkash Chand Rajput, a resident of 1506/2, Sector 30-B, alleged that a snake-like object was received from the evening water supply to his house.

An employee of the Punjab Agro Industries Limited, Mr Rajput, said he was storing the water in a tub at 8 p.m. when a snake-like object appeared all of sudden spreading panic among his family members.

Mr Rajput, who brought the creature in a glass of water to The Tribune office, decried the “callous attitude” of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC), which could endanger the lives of the residents.

Mohali, April 5
Gulzar Singh Sandhu, a noted wrestler of India, died of a heart attack, here yesterday evening. He represented the country in national and international competitions, and won the fifth position in the XII Veterans Freestyle World Championship-2003 at Budapest,

President of Padam-shree Kartar Singh Wrestling Akhara, being run on the premises of Dara Film Studio at Mohali, Gulzar Singh reportedly died when he was returning to house after a volleyball game at the studio. In what was probably Gulzar Singh Sandhu’s last interview, he had hours before his death talked to this correspondent about wrestling in Punjab.

Stating that Punjab akharas were in need of facilities and even space for wrestlers to practice, Sandhu had highlighted that the Padam Shree Kartar Singh Wrestling Centre, one of the two centers of Punjab, adopted by the Sports Authority of India (SAI), had been looking for permanent place for regular training of budding wrestlers for the past 10 years.

Only two wrestling centres have been adopted by the SAI, the other located at Gol Bagh, Amritsar.

“Due to lack of proper space our centre is being run on the premises of Dara Film Studio here. Earlier, it was set up at Shivalik Public School, Phase VI, by the SAI but after some time it could not be continued. We with 20 to 25 wrestlers came on the road. Then Dara Singh, world-renowned freestyle wrestler provided us some space free of cost in his studio to run this centre,” told Gulzar Singh Sandhu.

This akhara has produced many international wrestlers like Mukesh Kumar, Shamsher Singh, Karmbir Singh and Krishan Kumar, who brought laurels to Punjab and the nation by winning 30 international medals including Commonwealth /Asian games. Mukesh Kumar and Shamsher Singh won gold medals in South Asian Federation Games while Karambir Singh and Krishan Kumar won gold in Mustafa Gold Cup and Commonwealth Games, respectively.

Considering these achievements, the Government of India adopted the akhara and facilities like multigym of 12 stations costing Rs 1.25 lacs, a set of wrestling mat worth Rs 2.50 lacs and stipend for 20 wrestlers, which is Rs 1,000 per month per wrestler, were provided by the SAI. Besides this, SAI also appointed R.S. Kundu, who did advance training course in wrestling from Budapest (Hungary), as coach of the akhara.

“At present, 40 wrestlers come to the centre which depends largely on donations from sport lovers and a nominal membership fee for it’s functioning. There is no dearth of talent in Punjab but facilities lack. If the authorities provide us with proper place, where the vital arrangements for proper training, proper rest and proper diet would be made, we will able to win gold in Asian Games or even in Olympics within eight to ten years,” opined Sandhu.

Padam Shree Kartar Singh, Director, Punjab Sports, expressed grief on the sudden demise of Gulzar Singh Sandhu. Terming him as one of the most dedicated sportsperson who devoted his life to promote the wrestling, he also promised to provide the necessary facilities to the centre, named after him.

Panchkula, April 5
The police raided a house in Sector 15 and arrested six cricket bookies who were operating satta over the ongoing cricket match being played between India and Pakistan at Vishakhapatnam, here today.

The police has also seized a laptop, 10 mobile phones, a television set and some other goods used in the crime involving worth Rs 2 crore.

Following tip off, a police party from the security branch of the Panchkula police, conducted a raid at the house and nabbed them red handed. The police did not rule out possibility of any inter-state gang of bookies involved in the trade.

Addressing a press conference at Sector 20 police post, Dr RC Mishra, Superintendent of Police, said that the six - Prem Nath of Bathinda, Jagdish of Abohar, Pradeep of Ratia in Fatehabad, Sahib Singh of Abohar, Ashish Kumar of Abohar, and Shainti of Bathinda - were arrested while operating from an attic on the first floor of House No 1397, Sector 15, this afternoon.

Two other suspects in the case, SP Mujhal and Vijay Dhamija, owner of the house from where the gang of bookies was operating, have been absconding. The SP claimed that Vijay Dhamija, hails from Abohar and had purchased house in Panchkula.

The suspects had been active in the area since the Indo-Pak test match series and had been playing satta on booking orders from various ‘satta players’ in different cities of Punjab on phones and a sum of about Rs 2 crore was involved in the trade.

The suspects had K (Khaa liya) and L (laga liya) code-words on which they had been ‘playing the game’ with other gamblers in various parts on the region. They had been confirming satta rates from Munbai and Sriganganagar on telephone, he claimed.

Mohali, April 5
Thieves decamped with gold ornaments from a house in Sector 71 here today.

It is learnt that the owner of the house had left the place at 10.30 a.m. and came back by 1.30 p.m. During these three hours thieves entered the house after breaking a lock. They even damaged the Godrej almirah but ultimately were able to find the key after which they took out gold jewellery from there.

When the owner came back he found that things were lying scattered in the house. The police is investigating the matter.

Mohali, April 5
The police seems to have failed to make much headway in connection with the alleged murder of a young woman in Sector 68 here. The husband of the deceased, who was arrested yesterday, has not yet confessed to having murdered his wife while the servant employed by the family was still at large. The weapon used in committing the crime has also not been traced.

The husband, Saudagar Singh, was produced in court at Kharar today and was remanded in police custody till April 7.

The police conducted raids to nab the Nepalese servant of the family and even his relatives were called for questioning.

Harpreet Kaur (28) was allegedly murdered by her husband yesterday. It was alleged that the husband had left the house soon after committing the crime. He even allegedly locked his four-year-old daughter, Shubreet, inside the house.

It is learnt that Saudagar Singh told the police that he had left his house here at 5 am and at that time his wife and daughter were sleeping. He said he could not understand why his daughter kept saying that he had attacked her mother with a knife. According to the police, the Nepalese servant of the family was at home when Saudagar Singh left.

The police had yesterday found some milk that had been boiled freshly lying in the kitchen. A diary, belonging to the servant, was also found from the kitchen. Some addresses were noted down in the diary and even some photographs were lying in it.

Mr Rakesh Agarwal, SP, told the Chandigarh Tribune that a milkman had delivered milk at the house of the deceased at 7 am yesterday. The milk was taken by the servant and later boiled. He said that had the servant committed the murder of Harpreet Kaur, there was a possibility that he would have committed theft in the house and also harmed the child of the deceased. He said the police believed that the murder had been committed by Saudagar Singh. However, It was necessary to trace the servant to remove all doubts.

A post-mortem examination of the body of Harpreet Kaur was done by a team of three doctors. They were Dr G.S. Bedi, Dr Jai Singh and Dr Geetanjali.

It is learnt that there was a deep wound on the face of the deceased which started from near the nose and went up towards the ear. There was another cut under the ear. It seems that the blow given at the time of committing the crime was so strong that it must have damaged the brain. Viscera has been sent for a chemical examination to Patiala to know the exact cause of death.

There were no marks of any struggle or any other injury on the body. No signs of sexual assault were found.

BUSINESS

Expert shows ugly face of beauty business
Tribune News Service

Mohali, April 5
The next time you walk into your beauty parlour be careful. Those who run these might be playing with your skin and hair without your knowing it.

A majority of the beauty parlours in the city and its surrounding areas do not have trained beauticians or cosmologists, Mrs Shashi Kumar of the Institute of Professional Studies said today.

Speaking to some women during a seminar organised by the institute here, she, who was the head of the department of healthcare and beauty culture, DAV Polytechnic, Yamuna Nagar, pointed out that no one who is not well-trained has the right to touch skin.

Talking to newspersons later, she also stressed the need for the government to regulate the mushrooming of beauty parlours in the state. “There are no standards to be maintained. Any one can open a beauty parlour. If every industry has to follow rules, why not the beauty business?, she said.

She gave a list of the possible damage that beauticians caused to the skin and hair as part of the routine facials, make up and hair colouring. She also advised that women should use natural products as cosmetics. Though I have maintained that the kitchen is the best cosmetic laboratory, many of the herbal products are harmless and do not have many side effects,” she said.

If you have coloured or bleached your hair, condition your hair daily for a few days to reduce the damage caused to the hair shaft. Use a natural conditioner. Facials are virtually useless and can actually lead to acne or blockage of skin oil glands if the type of cream used is not suited to the skin type. Avoid using cream to remove body hair. These are chemical-based and bad for the skin. Waxing and threading are the safer options. Electrolysis for permanent removal of body hair should be done only by a trained professional. Untrained persons can leave permanent marks on the face. Use powder sparingly on the neck and face as its excessive use can lead to wrinkles. During make-up ensure that a moisturiser has been applied before any powder make-up is used.