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Another cable theft leaves 600 phones dead
Chandigarh, April 15 Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), which has suffered the losses, said it would take at least two days to restore normalcy. Around 3.5 metres of the telephone cable were stolen after digging up the ground in Sector 23 yesterday and since then the telephones have stopped functioning. Officials of the department admit that the services have been severely affected due to very frequent cable thefts that have emerged as a major problem for the BSNL in the city. However, no solution is in sight so far. “Cable thefts have become routine in the city and the department is incurring heavy losses each day. We also lodge a complaint with the police every time such an incident occurs but so far there is no favourable outcome,’’ revealed a senior BSNL official today. Repair workers allege that private telecom companies are instrumental in causing damage to the telephones cables of the BSNL. Meanwhile the problems for BSNL users continued in the other sectors as well. While the telephone services in Sector 23 were affected due to the cable theft, phones in Sectors 9 and 10 have been non-functional for the past two days due to telephone cable breakdown. More than 60 telephones have been dead and repair workers say that it would take another day for the telephones to start functioning again. Only last week, portions of two main telephone cables, were stolen from the Industrial Area (Phase I), leaving over 2000 telephones in Sectors 27,29 and 30 dead for three days. The reason cited for the cable thefts is the content of copper in the cables which are stolen after removing the manhole cover. A replacement of even a small portion of the cable results in huge financial losses.
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Inquiry marked into
misuse of forest land
Chandigarh, April 15 Acting on a report published in Chandigarh Tribune about land protected under various sections of the Punjab Land Preservation Act 1900, in the village being “encroached” upon by a close relation of a highly placed official in the Punjab Government, the department has marked an inquiry in to the case. The Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF), said the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Ropar, had been asked to probe into the case. Action would be taken against the erring officials, if any, he added. Action would also be taken against those so occupying the land as per the relevant provisions of the law, said the PCCF. It may be mentioned that a chunk of land adjoining the Shivalik Hills, including that falling on the embankment of parch choe has been ploughed with help of a JCB and fenced with a barbered wire. In the process of leveling the land, a number of trees and wild growth were uprooted. It is learnt that that Forest Department has also prepared a damage report. To find any irregularity on the part of revenue officials, the Deputy Commissioner, Ropar, Ms Seema Jain, has also asked the SDM, Kharar, to probe into the matter. She said demarcation of the ‘malkana mustarka khata’ land could not be done without consultation of other shareholders in the common land. She said she had instructed the SDMs not to register a general power of attorney (GPA) in case the title of owner of the land was not clear. Ropar police officials say as no cognisable offence could be made out of the complaint forwarded by the Forest Department against certain persons, it should file a case in the court. As per the provisions of the Land Preservation Act, the permission for diverting the forest land to non-forestry use can be given by the Centre. The occupants of the land had managed to purchase ‘malkana mustarka’ land
from some right holders by way of general power of attorney (GPA) at Majri tehsil in the first week of this month. Villagers apprehend that the GPA could be changed again to keep the name of the VIP out of the limelight as the case has come to the notice of different authorities. The entire land falling under ‘Hadbast’ No 349, measuring 2,653 acre, has been declared as closed area, including that of adjoining Seonk and Majrian villages. The fencing of the area was also a violation of the Wildlife Protection Act. As per the revenue record, the land in the area has been classified as ‘gair-mumkin-pahar’, ‘birani and gair-mumkin- choe’.
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Grovers booked for maid’s death
Panchkula, April 15 A case under section 302 of the IPC has been registered against Amit Grover and his wife K. Grover on the complaint of sheela’s, family. However, the police has not made any arrest and the couple was let off after questioning in the morning. The girl was found hanging from the ventilator in the bathroom of the Grovers’ rented accomodation. Her father Bhukamp and mother Manu, however, alleged that she had been murdered.
Mrs Grover was reportedly in the house while and Mr Grover was away when the incident took place. Today, a crime team and forensic experts visited the spot. Meanwhile, the post-mortem examination of the girl was also done today, which prima facie revealed that the cause of death was hanging. No external injury marks were found on the body, but the viscera has been sent for chemical examination at the forensic science laboratory, Madhuban.
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Absconding ASI nabbed
Mohali, April 15 According to the police, ASI Balwinder Singh had earlier been arrested on a charge of accepting a bribe of Rs 4,000 from a resident of Sector 68 here on the night of April 11. He was taken to the Phase VIII police station after his arrest from where he fled. According to sources, Balwinder Singh, was in touch with the local police on the phone who kept pressing him to surrender. According to the police, ASI Balwinder Singh and head constable Vijay Kumar had stopped Mr Varinder Verma, a resident of Sector 68 at a naka. Mr Verma was found carrying liquor. Instead of registering a case against Mr Verma on a charge of smuggling liquor, the two allegedly demanded Rs 4,000 for letting him go. The police had nabbed the ASI on a charge of accepting the bribe amount but the head constable fled from the spot.
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SDM refuses to oblige PUDA
Mohali, April 15 The drive scheduled for April 19, however might not take place since the SDM today reportedly “refused” to put any one on duty against his own office. The SDM office functions
from one of the buildings owned by PUDA in Phase I for which it pays rent to PUDA. While the office is on the first floor of the building, the veranda below the building is used by lawyers, typists, stamp duty vendors etc who function from their individual desks. According to PUDA officials, other than the encroached veranda, the SDM office had over the past few months “started using” rooms lying vacant in the other parts of the building. Sources in PUDA said following reports regarding this, notices were issued to the office and a fortnight ago, a team from PUDA’s enforcement wing went to the SDM office to “vacate” these rooms and the veranda. However, the team came back unsuccessful. Today, another team, braced with a letter from the Estate Officer, met the SDM requesting for a Duty Magistrate to help them vacate the rooms and the veranda. The SDM, Mr M.L. Sharma, said his staff had not encroached on any room in the building so there was no question of providing a Duty Magistrate to PUDA. “However, I agree that there are many persons sitting in the veranda who are not authorised to sit there. I have promised PUDA that a list of those who are sitting in the veranda without my permission would be provided to it. They can be asked to leave, he said. Also , PUDA has been cribbing that the SDM office had not paid the enhanced rent. “The SDM office had been asked to shift to another PUDA building which is in a corner so that we could sell this building. However, the office is being renovated and computerised,” a PUDA official said.
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B’desh scholars looking for witnesses of their history
Chandigarh, April 15 Both had worked with the pre-1971 Bangladesh government in exile. Mr Muyeed-ul-Hasan as a confidant of Mr Taj-ud-Din, Prime Minister, and Mr Mamun-ur-Rehman, as the Secretary to Home Minister of government in exile. The latter quit civil service and worked for refugee welfare in West Bengal. The CRRID has promised them all help in locating participants and witnesses to the war of liberation. “We have promised them all possible help, including assistance in their research work,” says Mr Rashpal Malhotra, Director of CRRID. Mr Hasan has offered to set up a Chandigarh chapter of the project. “After liberation of Bangladesh, we took four truckloads of valuable documents to Dhaka. These documents were either damaged or lost,” says Mr Muyeed-ul-Hassan. In 1991 Mr Hasan set up the Centre for Research on Liberation War to document an account of how and why of the war. Following the French historians, the Centre decided to go to people to take their testimony. Based on peoples accounts the centre has completed 17 volumes, each of 250 pages and four books. A tough task for a private trust. “Tomorrow we are going to Delhi to have a look at national archives.” We will be here by the month-end, says Mr Hasan.
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Scientists find fertilizer compounds in cattle milk
Chandigarh, April 15 “The consumption of fertilizers per acre has increased over the time to get the same or higher yield of fodder,’’ says the report prepared under the Principal Investigator and Chairman of the Public Administration Department, Prof B.S. Ghuman. As many as 60 per cent of farmers that the researchers included in their study affirmed that fodder grown with chemical fertilizers was harmful to the cattle and to people who consume their milk. The fertilizer compound accumulates in the animal tissue and enters the higher food chain. Nearly 20 per cent respondents said the that fodder grown with chemical fertilizers caused indigestion in cattle and 10 per cent reported chemical residues in milk. “We have found that no one thinks that fodder sprayed with pesticides is good for the health of animals. The farmers reported adverse to moderate impact on animal health such as causing death, problems in conceiving and delivery, blood in urine, mouth ulcers, frothing in mouth, indigestion, effect on liver and milk yield among other problems,’’ added Prof Ghuman. Linking the public health with the health of animals, the study says that if milk contains the residual of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and antibiotics then it becomes a source of diseases. The field studies have proved that the antibiotics, pesticides, herbicides, etc are being liberally used and their residual is passed on to milk. Dr Jo-Ellen Parry from Canada, who is here to hold workshops in villages for sensitising farmers, said that the government in Canada had banned medicines and injections that have harmful effects on animals and people. ``The main difference between the two countries is participation of the NGOs in making the people aware about the hazardous affect of livestock management,’’ she
said.
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Confusion over Ram Navami holiday
Chandigarh, April 15 The Administrator, Gen S.F. Rodrigues (retd), and his Adviser Lalit Sharma were in Delhi today and that also delayed a decision on the matter. The Centre Government has declared a holiday.
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How often have you visited India? This is my sixth or seventh trip to the country and I find India extraordinary. All that we have heard and read about in this country pertains to Bollywood, Goa, the Taj Mahal and Rajasthan! I have discovered so many wonderful facets in the country. What made you focus on the education aspect? Our target audience is a largely urban, educated one that understands the concept of an energy drink. We are targeting people between the age of 16 and 40, who, we believe, will understand the need to incorporate FullPower into their daily lives. Why did you focus on India and not China? Our preliminary research indicated that India was an easier market to enter. China is difficult in the sense of the language barrier. — Gayatri Rajwade
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MC introduces single shift in sanitation
Chandigarh, April 15 The decision follows an earlier recommendation of the Sanitation Committee. Councillors of the MC reiterated the complaint of the general public regarding the non-availability of the safai karamcharis in the afternoon shift. There is no disagreement on the fact that the afternoon shift records an abysmally poor attendance. The change is being attempted as a measure to improve the existing work input of the sweepers. It is felt that long gaps during two work sessions in a day led to very few sweepers reporting for job in the second shift. The karamcharis are required to work from 6 a.m. to 12 noon in the morning shift, during summers, and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the afternoon. The Sanitation Committee of the MC deliberated in details on the issue and agreed to the fact that the afternoon shift saw that a large number of the workers were absent. The MC House had agreed to the suggestion of the Sanitation Committee and recommended the introduction of the single shift system on an experimental basis. Mr Chandermukhi, a former chairman of the Sanitation Committee, pointed out that during inspections it was found that a majority of the karamcharis were not present in the second shift. Workers’ union also put forward a proposal for the single shift system. It was agreed to by the House that the summer working hours for the single shift be kept as 6 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. and during winters the time be scheduled as 7 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. Mr Subhash Chawla, a former Mayor, expressed his reservations on the issue. He said a similar demand could come from workers of other wings of the corporation. He felt that during rainy season the corporation work could suffer. The corporation should also prepare itself for any emergency incase it was starting the single shift system. Mr P.C. Sanghi said he had observed on several occasions that the safai karamcharis were not present on duty during their second shift. He supported the single shift system to enhance the working of the karamcharis. A senior official said that incase the corporation registered any improvement in the sanitation of these areas, the drive can be extended to other areas of the city.
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List of UT-state works being drawn up
Chandigarh, April 15 Infrastructure in Mohali and Panchkula has to grow at the same pace and level of technology as Chandigarh, to ease pressure on various services in the city, say planners. A long list of issues is being prepared for an upcoming meeting of the inter state coordination panel between Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. One of the main works is road infrastructure. Chandigarh wants a bypass to be built in collaboration with Punjab. The plan is that the traffic coming from the Ambala side takes a left turn from Zirakpur and joins the highway back near Kharar, thus bypassing Chandigarh and Mohali. This will mean reduction in number of vehicles passing through Chandigarh. At present, all people destined to go to Ropar, Hoshiarpur, Una, Kulu, Manali, Dharamsala etc have to pass through Chandigarh. On water supply front, Chandigarh needs more drinking water in future and the only way out is to have more pipelines running in from Kajauli located on the Bhakra main line canal. Already three phases of the project have been completed and these bring in 60 million gallons of water a day to Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula. The fourth phase will be completed in July, adding another 20 MGD to the current figure. Now Chandigarh is aiming to start of Phases V and VI of the Kajauli water project. For that, permission to draw water is needed from Punjab. Chandigarh has been generating huge quantity of garbage and there is no place left to dump it. The Administration wants Punjab to allocate some wasteland in a nearby village that can be used as a garbage dump. The Administration has promised to provide leveling of the area and finally providing coverage using sand and mud. Another important issue is transportation. Around 1.5 lakh people come to Chandigarh everyday from Mohali and Panchkula to work in various offices here. Chandigarh plans to have a mono-rail system and need to link Mohali and Panchkula to ease out traffic congestion. Without a link to either of these two places, the monorail system is just not feasible and will serve no purpose. Chandigarh authorities have even had meetings with the Transport Commissioners of the two states. So far, there has been no decision. In the meantime, it has been decided to link the three cities in seamless manner by having a common taxi system that will have AC cabs. A draft notification has been sent to the two states for formal clearance.
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Chased by dogs, blue bull takes shelter in farmhouse
Chandigarh, April 15 A wild chase by the hungry dogs forced the injured animal to enter the farmhouse premises by jumping over about five feet highway boundary wall at 8.30 am. The rambling ‘wild bull’ finally entered a house-shed inside the farmhouse for safety as the groups of dogs even did not spare him there. Mr Rameshwar Thakur, a worker at the farmhouse, noticed that the bull had strayed inside the farmhouse when his two pets doberman dogs, locked in their room, raised the alarm. He said that about five stray dogs were chasing the animal in a mango orchard. The labourers residing inside the farmhouse assembled and managed to herd away the dogs with the help of their own pets. “I informed Mr Rupinder Singh Randhawa, a close friend and caretaker of the farmhouse, at his residence in Chandigarh, who reached the spot immediately,” he added. According to Mr Randhawa, after leaping over the beds of flowers and vegetables, the shocked animal finally entered a horse-shed, located in a corner of the farmhouse. The door of the shed was locked as soon as the animal entered inside, he added. After procuring green fodder and water, the labourers served it to the animal and the ceiling fan of the houseshed was switched on. Mr Randhawa said the UT wildlife authorities had been informed about the incident. “I have kept the animal in safe custody and offered it fodder. Since the animal is shocked, it has ignored fodder. I want the animal to be freed in the forest area,” said Mr Randhawa. The UT wildlife authorities, when contacted, revealed that they had not received any information relating to straying in of a wild animal in any farmhouse. The authorities, however, said that the animal would be taken into custody tomorrow morning and then be released in the forest area after medication.
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Santosh Chaudhary pulls up HUDA, admn over welfare plans
Panchkula, April 15 Mrs Chaudhary was addressing a meeting of the district administration, Municipal Council, HUDA, and Social Welfare Department officials here today. She also sought an action-taken report from the administration over the recommendations made at a meeting in 2002. The Chairperson also reprimanded the officials when she was told that they had not started schemes for safai karamcharis like the Ambedkar Awaas Yojana and other welfare schemes announced by the Central government. She directed that a monitoring committee be set up at the district level, asked officials to come up with a housing scheme for them and provide facilities like school, creche and anganwadis for these workers. The sanitation contractor fired by the Municipal Council was also questioned by Mrs Chaudhary. Though he maintained that they were paying Rs 2,300 as salary to each safai karamachari and Rs 3,000 to the supervisors, Municipal Councillor from Rajiv Colony, who reached the venue, defied all claims and said the contractor was not paying more than Rs 1,600 as salary to the workers. Interestingly, when Mrs Chaudhary wanted to speak to safai karamcharis some karamcharis were presented before her who parroted the claims of the contractor on salaries. Mr Dalbir Singh denied these claims and instead asked Mrs Chaudhary to take a visit to Rajiv Colony. Mrs Chaudhary visited the slum colony and was appalled that there was no facility for drinking water and the water pipeline had been laid through a dirty nullah. About 50 per cent of the inhabitants here are safai karamcharis. Earlier, she said millions of rupees meant for the welfare of these safai karamcharis had not reached them as state governments tend to divert funds for other uses. She rubbished the claims of various governments that scavengers had been rehabilitated.
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Agnibaans celebrate 18th anniversary
Chandigarh, April 15 At present commanded by Wg Cdr Ashwini Kumar, the squadron was raised at Baroda on April 13, 1987. In August 1996, it was moved to Mullanpur near here. It is responsible for providing air defence cover to Chandigarh and important establishments in its vicinity. Greeting all officers, men and their families Air Officer Commanding 12 Wing, Air Cmde T.K. Venugopal, who was the chief guest, expressed his appreciation for the squadron’s achievements. Mrs Hema Venugopal inaugurated the Aakarsh Air Force Wives Welfare Association Complex, which comprises welfare facilities and a daily-needs outlet.
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Bahl asked to clear stand on policy matters
Chandigarh, April 15 The latest in the series of the ongoing tussle is a letter from a number of senior Congress leaders against the president of the local unit, asking him to clear “his stand on policy matters”. Mr B.B. Bahl is being dubbed as “anti-party” for his support to the UT Administration’s “anti-people policies”. The Bansal group is showing dissatisfaction over “certain policies of the administration which have affected the poor”. But the Bahl group has praised the Administration for its “excellent work”. The letter has been signed by Mr Ram Pal Sharma, vice-president of the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee, Mr Subhash Chawla, general secretary, Mr Pawan Sharma, president of the District Congress Committee (Urban), Mr D.D.Jindal, DCC (Urban I), Mr H.S. Lucky, president of the city unit of the Youth Congress, Mr Pardeep Chhabra, former Senior Deputy Mayor, and Mr Bhupinder Singh Badheri, former chairman of the Market Committee.
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60 traffic violators challaned
Chandigarh, April 15 The police also rounded up 10 persons for suspicious activities, who were later released after verifying their credentials, said the SHO of the Sector 3 police station. Mr Kulwant Singh informed the Chandigarh Tribune that they had put six pickets in these sectors. Two pickets were laid from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm, while four pickets were laid between 11 pm to 4 am. He said it were mostly youths who were involved in various violations like rash driving, driving without helmet and triple riding etc.
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Rodrigues for central agency to check federal crimes
Chandigarh, April 15 The agency, could take up investigation of crimes relating to national security as well as serious crimes which involved two or more states. Speaking at the Chief Ministers’ conference on Law and Order at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, General Rodrigues emphasised the need for making law-enforcing agencies more capable for meeting the challenges of cross-border terrorism and organised crime.
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Malik elected Mohali Press Club president
Mohali, April 15
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Ambedkar Jayanti celebrated
Mohali, April 15 The principal, Ms Rajwinder Kaur Minhas, said Dr Ambedkar was a great leader and an eminent educationist.
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Devotion at Sukhna
Chandigarh, April 15 The rituals on Saptami begin with an offering of prayers and flowers to the mother goddess Shakti or the cosmic energy. The ceremonies for the last three days of the festival are performed with piety and faithfulness, especially by the women who fast and pray to the Goddesses to bless their families. Malini Chopra, a housewife living in Sector 8 believes that religious observance of the last three days of the avatars is integral to the festival. “I only drink milk for these days and break my fast on
Ashtami. I bathe before the sunrises and pray morning and evening.” Navratri the festival of nights, lasts for nine days with three days each, devoted to the worship of the Durga, Laxmi and Saraswati as three different manifestations of the mother
goddess.
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Bhoomi pujan
Chandigarh, April 15 The place was cleared of all garbage by volunteers and purified by sprinkling of ganga jal and the chanting of the Gayatri mantra. A havan was also conducted at the site.
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Three held with smack
Chandigarh, April 15 Sikandar of Janata Colony, Sector 25, was arrested with one gram of smack from a picket point in the same locality yesterday. Another person Rajiv Nahar, alias Kala, of Sector 20-B, was arrested from Sector 23 market with one gram of smack and in another such incident, Gautam Thakur of Sector 22 was arrested from Sector 22 and 23 traffic lights point and the police recovered one gram of smack from his possession. All three accused were booked under the NDPS Act.
Minor held
A 15-year-old boy was caught while trying to snatch a mobile phone from Saudagar Singh of Sector 46-A from kisan mandi in Sector 45 yesterday. Saudagar reported the incident to the police, who later arrested the accused. A case has been registered.
Vehicle stolen
Mr Jagmohan Singh of Sector 34-C reported that his Santro Car (HR-22-E-0036) was stolen from his residence during the night of April 13. A case under Section of the 379 IPC have been registered.
Burglaries
A house was reportedly burgled in Sector 10 while its owner, Col S.C. Sandal (retd) was away to Banglore for more than a month. According to the police, a neighbour noticed a window of the house opened and reported the incident to the police. After inspection the police found traces of theft. The police informed Mr N.C. Sharma of Sector 20, Panchkula, a relative of the owner and registered a case on his complaint. In another incident, Mr Surinder Singh of Sector 51-A reported that Rs 10,000 and a mobile phone were stolen from his residence on April 11. A case has been registered.
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Duplicate incense maker, 3 others held
Chandigarh, April 15 The salesmen of the duplicate product were caught when they tried to sell their product to an authorised dealer. The police arrested the boys, who during interrogation, revealed the name of a Delhi-based manufacturer, Badri Prasad, who was later arrested from his manufacturing unit at Salimpur in Delhi. A complaint was lodged by Mr Banwari Lal of Phase II, Industrial Area, the original owner of the brand name. A case of cheating under various sections of the IPC has been registered. As many as 50 cartons of duplicate dhoop were recovered from his possession. A local court, remanded him to police custody till April 17.
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Go mobile with the latest
Chandigarh, April 15 Nokia, which sells more than 50 models in the country, has exhibited its Nokia-1100 and 1108 colour screen models priced between Rs 2,600 to Rs 3,000, while Nokia-3200 enabled with a camera is available for Rs 5,500. Samsung today introduced a slew of new cellular phones, including models that double as MP3 players. “Of course, most of them still include cameras, but music is the hot trend. One such model is D500, priced at Rs 19,500, which can store a few dozen tunes and has a sound booster to amplify the sound. Philips has also displayed a unique model with Tag-It features, whereby a person can send a handwritten message by scribbling on the screen and the same is available for Rs 9,900. Panasonic and Sony Ericcson have also put up stalls. The event is being organised by Masterline.
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