Chandigarh, May 4
Pawan Sharma, District Congress Committee president, and a staunch supporter of MP Pawan Bansal and a district court lawyer, was arrested here this evening for allegedly filing a false affidavit to secure a flat in the Advocates’ Society.

The arrest of Mr Sharma is likely to flare up the ongoing war between MP Pawan Bansal and the Chandigarh Administration, especially Deputy Commissioner Arun Kumar.

The arrest has also sparked off a protest from a section of lawyers who have given a call for a strike in the district courts tomorrow, the District Bar Association Vice-President Baljit Singh told Chandigarh Tribune.

Mr Sharma was picked by a team of the Sector 17 police station from a house in Sector 38 this evening within hours of being booked under non-bailable Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 for alleged fraud and forgery in the affidavit.

He spent a night in the police station as his bail could not be arranged in the evening. He will be produced in a court tomorrow.

The case was registered on a complaint filed by Raj Kumar who reportedly informed the Registrar of the Cooperative Societies and Deputy Commissioner Arun Kumar that his wife Veena Sharma had a share in house number 1149 in Sector 22-B but Mr Sharma in his affidavit had claimed that he or any of his family member did not have a house in their name in Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali.

The complaint of Raj Kumar was forwarded by the Registrar of the Cooperative Societies to the SSP for an action.

The complaint said Mr Sharma’s wife, Veena Sharma, had a share of 50 per cent in the Sector 22 house and a sale deed in this regard had been registered with the Sub-Registrar. Ms Sharma had been shown as a co-owner of the house as per the sale deed, the sources said.

The sources said if the sale deed was not registered, the ownership could not have been proved.

Though no official statement has been issued by the Congress but Mr Bansal supporters said the arrest was a proof of the vindictiveness of the Chandigarh Administration, especially the Deputy Commissioner. Moreover, they claimed that the complainant Raj Kumar does not have a copy of the questionable affidavit. They say there is no address of Raj Kumar who seems to have been made a proxy by the Chandigarh Administration.

Bansal supporters also said that general power of attorney in the name of the wife of Mr Sharma is no proof of ownership and that is why the registration of the case was “motivated.” Bansal supporters who read the registration of the case as an insult despite the party having power in the Centre and the neighbouring states said they feared that the Deputy Commissioner might “frame” other Bansal supporters also in the cases.

They said there was no locus standi of Raj Kumar’s complaint as it had to be filed by an affected party. Raj Kumar is not a member of the Advocates’ Society.

The local unit President of the Congress, Mr B.B. Behl, who has been openly supporting the Chandigarh Administration, refused to comment on the incident saying that he was not aware about Sharma’s arrest.

When asked if he would sack Mr Sharma, a Bansal supporter, from the post of presidentship of the district unit of the party, Mr Behl refused to comment saying that “let me first get the first hand information.”

Chandigarh, May 4
“The Deputy Commissioner has gone amuck. He is behaving like Nadir Shah in pursuing his dream to conquer the world,” Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, the local Member of Parliament, said while reacting angrily to the arrest of Mr Pawan Sharma on a complaint of providing a false affidavit for a flat in a housing society.

Mr Bansal said the officer had manipulated the affidavit showing his rivalry against the Congress group which he headed. “Mr Pawan Sharma is a respected city resident and an office-bearer of the
local Congress. The entire case is baseless. I will pursue the case to its logical
conclusion.”

Mr B.B. Bahl, president of the local unit, said he could not comment on the issue as he was not aware of the developments.

Chandigarh, May 4
The Municipal Corporation has drawn up a list of 99 cable operators in the city who have not paid the rent for using the municipal land in laying up their infrastructure. The numbers clearly show that a majority of cable operators in the city are MC defaulters.

The corporation has forwarded the lists and the message is clear that in case the dues were not cleared within a week, the corporation will uproot all the infrastructure which has been laid on the corporation land.

The corporation recently decided that operators were required to clear their dues pending between May 2001 and April 2005. The amount for the period prior to this would be discussed in the House and an action plan would be drafted for calculating the due amount in each case and the subsequent recovery.

The lists have been drawn up separately for two zones in the city. The first list had 50 defaulters out of whom three cleared their dues last week. The other list has 52 defaulters. The MC charges a ground rent of Rs 1,000 per sector per month.

The defaulters who owe more than Rs 20,000 to the MC include Rosewood Sky Communication and BM Communication, both in Sector 11, CNS Cable Network, Sector 10 and Vishav Darshan Network, Sector 37, besides others.

Operators owing less than Rs 5,000, include Legend Cable Service, Sector 52, Nirwan Cable Network, Attawa, Guleria Cable Vision, Badheri, Popular cable Service, sector 37, Sky Linkers Network and Dream Cable, both in Sector 37, besides others.

A cable operator who has cleared all his dues pending from May 2001 onwards said. “MC raises the issue of non-payment of rent abruptly at a point of time. After a few days of anxiety, the cable operators make small deposits and then wait till the issue dies down.” The MC has given notices to the operators on several occasions earlier too.

The MC had issued a 15-day notice in March 2002 to 80 small cable operators to deposit their dues. The total recovery was pegged at Rs 27.54 lakh.

Chandigarh, May 4
The Senior Superintendent of Police, Mr Gaurav Yadav, today held a meeting with senior police officers of the Chandigarh police, asking them to step up vigil, develop intelligence for the detection and prevention of crime in the city.

The Sampark Sabha was held at the Traffic Auditorium, Sector 29.

According to a press note of the police, the meeting was attended by the DSP police control room, all SHOs, the Inspector (Crime Branch), the Inspector (Police Lines) along with 10 jawans from each unit. The SSP briefed the officers and jawans about the instructions given by the IG with regards to the prevention and detection of crime. The SSP called upon the officers to be more effective and keep proper knowledge about criminals operating in the city.

Divisional officers and beat staff were directed to keep maximum presence in their areas, develop intelligence and contact public.

The SSP further asked the officers to keep an eye on suspicious people and recommended that the persons found involved in drug peddling should be treated strictly.

He also made a point that the police should ensure that no one should be harassed unnecessarily at the picket points.

Chandigarh, May 4
Dreaming of an address on the moon is no longer asking for the moon.

A Chandigarh-based couple who ‘recently bought land’ on the moon from the Lunar Republic Society of New York, now gaze at the moon and tell each other: ``We own a part of it.’’

Ramesh Sharma, a micro-electronic engineer working in the Sophisticated Analytical Instrumentation Centre in Punjab University chanced upon an opportunity to buy property on the moon while surfing the net. Ramesh did not think twice before buying land measuring one acre for Rs 1100 in the name of his wife, Sudha Sharma. He made the payment through credit card.

Within a fortnight, his wife, an Assistant Manager with HARCO (Haryana State Cooperative Apex Bank Ltd) received property documents from the Lunar Republic Society. Seeing is believing and Sudha was overjoyed when she received the document declaring her as the legal owner of the property located at Mare Frigoris (“sea of cold”), the moon’s northernmost sea. It reads, ``Be it known and proclaimed to all that Sudha Sharma is recorded as the true and legal owner of the property located at Mare Frigoris. The agreement deed dated April 11, 2005, is registered and recorded by the Lunar Registry at New York City.

Another document sent to Sudha by the Society reads, ``All rights of full citizenship have been conferred on you. We appreciate your interest and commitment to this history making project and look forward to building the future of the lunar republic with your support.”

The lunar registry that calls itself the earth’s leading real estate agency has also sent Sudha a digital photograph of her property showing the exact location of her property. It assures the owner that the property record is permanently recorded by the International Lunar Lands Registry in its annual publication.

Asked why they have bought property on the moon when life on moon is not possible, Sudha showed me her husband’s message that came with the lunar property documents. The message reads, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.’’

Sudha believes that nothing is impossible. “We may not be able to get to the moon in our lifetime but our descendents may reap the benefits of our vision some day. In any case, what can you buy in Rs 1100 these days?’’

Inspired by the Sharmas’, their young businessman friend in Jalandhar, Sarabjit Goldy decided to gift his fiancee land on the moon. In his message to his fiancee, Kamaljeet Kaur, the businessman has said, people talk of bringing the moon. I have gifted the moon to you.

Goldy says that people don’t accept changes easily and this explains why they are surprised that land is being sold on the moon. ``I can tell you that after 15 years, it will be difficult for you to get property on the moon.’’

The Sharmas’ have not cared to cross-check details of the international moon society as the investment is so low.

While online auction of sites on the moon and some cases of lunar property purchases have been reported recently, scientists dismiss it as a ``gimmick’’ and want gullible investors to understand that life on the moon is neither possible nor desirable.

Professor Rajesh Kochhar, astrophysicist and Director of the National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS), Ministry of Science and Technology told TNS, ``Life on the moon is neither feasible nor desirable. Large-scale colonisation of moon is not possible. Moon cannot be converted into an inhabitable planet like the earth. It is not legally tenable to own the moon. It is all gimmickry, a joke supported by knowledge of science and technology. There are two things behind this hoax. First is, we know the topography of the moon very well. The second factor is that it is technologically possible to go to the moon. But moon does not have any atmosphere.’’

Kochhar said that he finds such ventures ``a technological extension of nineteenth century adventurism.’’ He said that fatigue of science on earth is making people look for excitement that is plausible. ``People who are making such offers are indulging in low priced innocent fun. The amount involved is so small that nobody would complain that he has been swindled.’’

An expert on international law recently clarified that the use or exploitation of the moon and other celestial bodies is prohibited and regulated by the Moon Agreement, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979.

Mohali, May 4
Keeping in view the present challenges faced by the Sikh community all over the world, a Sikh Legal Forum has been constituted.

This was stated by Mr Hardeep Singh, member, SGPC, at a Press conference here today. He said the strength of forum, which was very limited at present, would be increased in due course of time. Legal experts and individuals deeply concerned with Sikh affairs would be included as members of the forum.

Mr Hardeep Singh said the forum would deal with legal aspects of all issues connected to the Sikh religion at the local, national and international level.

It would deal with laws directly affecting the Sikh way of life, safeguarding the social, religious and economic rights of the Sikhs, safe guarding the Sikh ideology, maryada and Sikh heritage, including historical monuments, manuscripts and artefacts and challenges posed to Sikh psyche by electronic and print media.

The forum will approach international organisations, international courts, the UNO and the government of various countries whenever required.

He said to start with the forum would be taking up a case against the producers of the film “Bole so Nihal” and film censor board for making a mockery of the emotions of the Sikhs by using inappropriate title for the film. Pressure would be also exerted on the government to include Sikh representatives from the SGPC in the censor board.

The presidium members of the forum were Mr Hardeep Singh, coordinator, Mr Barjinder Singh Loomba, Mr Gurpal Singh and Ms Roop Kaur, all advocates, and Mr Arvinder Singh Bedi

Chandigarh, May 4
United we stand, divided we fall. This dawned on television, film and theatre artistes of the region when they gathered at the Chandigarh Press Club today to ponder over issues common to their fraternity. Eager to uphold the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution, they deliberated on how writers who brought controversial and socially sensitive issues on public forums had to face the ire of certain sects and groups.

G.S. Channi, theatre personality, was of the opinion that the basic purpose of any art form is to reveal the truth howsoever bitter it might be.

Keenly aware of the need to forge a united front, they were willing to dissolve their differences.

Slogans like ‘unity for freedom of expression’ and ‘artistes are secular’ and ‘don’t divide us’ were raised in ample measure. The rallying point was to get united and form a platform where all artistes could fight together for their cause.

Gursharan Singh, eminent playwright, said religion propagated values which were cosmopolitan while superstitions brought bad name to it. We need to make people aware about these superstitions which prove harmful to our social set-up.

The artistes also showed their solidarity with Jaspal Bhatti against whom a defamation case has been filed by an advocate, Mr Arvind Thakur, and Mr Vijay Singh Bhardwaj, a representative of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). A defamation case was filed against Bhatti for hurting the sentiments of Hindus.

The artistes said that no defamation case could be filed against any artiste on flimsy grounds.

Gurpreet Guggi, Harleen, Ravinder Happy, Dolly Ahluwalia, Sahib Singh and Narinder Kaur also shared their views.

Chandigarh, May 4
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board has done little to bring about changes in the existing laws and rules. Its model nikahnama undoubtedly promises a better deal for the Muslim women. But the law board has refrained itself from touching several issues like need for amendments in the Muslim Women Protection Act — at least this is what a large number of Muslims putting up in the city have to say.

They are, in fact, of the opinion that the law board has only stated what is already in the Shariat. Quoting an example they assert that the board’s recommendation of simple living and life of virtue is a part of Islam otherwise also.

They assert that the board’s appeal to the Muslims to refrain from pronouncing “talaq” thrice is commendable. But it would have been more effective had the board ordered a complete ban on the practice.

Giving details, they agree that the intention behind the recommendation is to rule out the possibility of a husband divorcing his wife in a fit of anger by simply pronouncing “talaq” thrice. But they assert that an angry husband is not likely to remember the board’s suggestion while making the pronouncement.

A large number of Muslims are also against the suggestion of reducing a girl’s marriageable age to 15 like in several Muslim countries. Though some of the Muslims are of the opinion that it is a matter of “personal preference”, so many of them insist that “attainment of puberty cannot be the criterion for fixing age for a girl’s wedding”.

The board, in its model nikahnama, had earlier specified that “talaq” was detestable, the demand of dowry in any form was sinful, and the couple should go in for arbitration in case of martial conflict.

The document had also asked the Muslims to refrain from pronouncing triple “talaq”. They had made it clear that “talaq”, if pronounced once, was revocable within a period of three months.

Reacting to the “model nikahnama”, Punjab’s Deputy Advocate-General-cum-Chairman of the Chandigarh Wakf Board Mansur Ali says that the board has made the implied express. It should have rather advocated changes in the laws and rules.”For example, a clause in the Muslim Women Protection Act states that a husband has to furnish an affidavit stating that he is submitting to the jurisdiction of the court if his wife files an application for maintenance. The board should have struggled to get the clause amended.”

Otherwise, welcoming the suggestions, a teacher with Air Force school Nikhat Ali says that the board should have banned the procedure of giving divorce by triple “talaq”. “The rules should be in sync with the circumstances,” she asserts.

Agreeing with her, bookshop owner Jamshed Ali says that the decision to give mehar or security to the bride’s family in form of gold, silver or immovable property is worth applause as the value of money decreases. Though in favour of most of the recommendations, another resident M.K. Alam is against the reduction of girl’s age for marriage to 15.

I strongly oppose the idea of having apartments in Chandigarh for the following reasons:

• Chandigarh should not be converted into a fish market.
• The northern sectors should retain the calm and serenity they have and should not be made similar to the southern sectors.
• Chandigarh’s stature the City Beautiful should be maintained.
• Whatever beauty is left should be preserved for the generations to come. We owe it to them.
• The city of the retired and the aged should not be turned into a metro.
• The construction and continuation of the apartments can be continued on the periphery of Chandigarh extending to Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
• Petty gains should be sacrificed to give way to preservation of the city’s character and beautification.

I have spent my childhood and youth in Chandigarh, seeing it blossoming into a beautiful city till a decade ago. But whatever is left should be kept and maintained rather than destroying it at the alter of money-generating ideas.

Piyush is a Chartered Accountant in Canada.

Panchkula, May 4
The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) had removed over 130 temporary structures including vends and dhabas that had mushroomed on the government land in Buddanpur village, Rajiv Colony, Industrial Area Phase-I and II and Zirakpur Chowk, here today.

The structures had come up on the HUDA land in less that a week after their removal by the authorities.

Coming down heavily on these encroachers, the enforcement wings of the HUDA demolished 100 temporary structures in Buddanpur village and Rajiv Colony, besides removing 20 dhabas in Industrial Area Phase-I and II. More than 10 tea shacks were also removed from various places in Sector 8 and 9.

The enforcement wing of the HUDA also cleared the road berms of vegetable and other vendors.

Chandigarh, May 4
As many as four vehicles, including a car, were reportedly stolen from the city, the local police said here today.

Mr Lakhwinder Singh of Sector 21-B reported to the police that his car (CH-09-(T)-9670) was stolen from his residence during the night of April 30.

Chandigarh, May 4
Depressed over the death of his wife about three years ago, Bal Krishan (52), a resident of Dadu Majra Colony, committed suicide by hanging this afternoon at his house here.

It is learnt that Bal Krishan had gone out for some work and came back home in the afternoon. His son Gopi asked him to have lunch, but Bal Krishan told him that he would have take it later and went to his first floor room in the house. After a while Gopi went upstairs to enquire after his father and he found him hanging from a door frame with a TV cable. A stool was lying on the floor under his feet. Bal Krishan was about five feet tall, said the police.

Bal Krishan was suffering from depression and had stopped working, said a police officer, quoting the son of the deceased. Bal Krihsan was a Class IV employee in the Health Department.

The police said it had recorded the statements of the family members, who had ruled out any foul play. They had also produced files of medical treatment that the deceased was taking from a Pune hospital for his mental ailment.

Meanwhile, the police has initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174, CrPC, in this regard. 

Chandigarh, May 4
A Hong Kong based company claimed that it will fully fund and set up a mass rapid transport system connecting Chandigarh with Panchkula and Mohali and bring the city at par with Shanghai in terms of technology, Prof S. Dutta, the representative of the company, told officials of the Chandigarh Administration, Punjab and Haryana at a presentation here today.

The only requirement of the company was land from the three governments. It will also share 1 per cent of all revenue with the governments.

Promising that the Magnetic Levitation Train System (Magrail) will be viable, officials of the company, named BCD, said the entire money investment will be theirs. It will cost about Rs 85 crore per km.

The metro rail costs about Rs 180 crore per km and investment is made by the government. No government financial support will be needed as the project will be internally financed by BCD.

The Chandigarh Administration has asked the company to come back after 21 days with a detailed project report. A similar project is being run in Indore also.

The same technique is used in nearly all of India’s neighbouring countries have selected the Magnetic Levitation System, for not only in-city mass rapid transit system but also inter-city service.

It is safe, fast, comfortable (air-conditioned) and pollution-free.

The magrail runs on properties of magnetism, namely: electromagnetic poles have similar properties of repulsion, attraction and magnetic field.

The magnetic elevation is produced electrically in both the train and the track through a guideway. A series of electro-magnets are affixed under the train and the guideway. Upon activation, the electro-magnets elevate the train above the guideway by one centimetre. Another series of electromagnets in the guideway, and correspondingly in the train, create a travelling magnet in front of the train attracting its counterpart in the train.

The train is propelled forward, by magnetic field effortlessly, smoothly, and quietly, making no contact with the guideway, explained officials.

The train can run up to the speed of 100 km per hour locally and when travelling between cities it can go upto 600 km per hour.

Trains have aerodynamic front and reinforced nose. The body of the train wraps around the guideway embracing it.

There are safety skids under the train; in event of failure of elevation the train will smoothly glide to halt, and come to rest on the track.

There are no moving wheels, metal brakes or other moving parts, thus there is no wear and tear.

The fare is steep at Rs 1.5 per km. One train can carry upto 320 passengers.