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Three held for mobile phone theft
Chandigarh, July 21 When a Tribune photographer reached the spot, the police had arrested the subject and was about to get into a private car owned by the complainant from whose office some mobile phone were stolen in Sector 21 on the night of July 9. The lensman chased the car. The police tried to give him the slip on an alternative route. He managed to keep on trail and followed the car till it pulled over at the police station in Sector 19 at around 12.45 am. The police started calling up media offices from the landline phone passing on information about the arrest. The SHO of the police station said there was nothing to conceal and “we were merely working on the case in routine”. The police organised a press conference this afternoon to give details about the arrest. The police said the suspect, Ranjit Kumar, a contractor, had stolen 60 mobile phones from Sector 21 on July 9. It claimed to have recovered 54 mobile phones and arrested two other persons in the case. The DSP of the Chandigarh police (East) Mr Vijay Pal Singh, said the police conducted a raid at the residence of Ranjit Kumar and recovered 39 mobile phones from his possession. The police had the information that Ranjit was planning to sell the mobile phones before fleeing to Nepal. He hailed from Nepal and had been living in the city for the past 10 years. The DSP said the police had been working on the theory of a ‘familiar entry’ since the day one. The way theft was committed showed that it was the handiwork of someone familiar with the premises. Moreover, the renovation of the office, done in the recent past, was also strengthening this theory. During the preliminary interrogation Ranjit disclosed that he had given 13 mobile phones to his friend Devinder, a resident of Indira Colony, and two sets to Parmod Kumar, the son of his landlord. The police later arrested both suspects and recovered the stolen mobile sets from them. Ranjit told the police that he had taken a contract on July 1 for the renovation of the office of Nokia dealers. During the renovation work he got familiar with the premises of the Sector 21 office and also learnt about the security measures installed at the place, like a burglar alarm and strong room. He broke a part of the wall of the strong room during the day time, when the renovation work was in progress. On the night of July 9 he came alone to the office and entered into the strong room by opening a window bolt by putting his hand through the broken wall. As soon as he opened the window the siren blew. He ran away, leaving his slippers behind. He came back to get his chappals and found that the siren had stopped ringing. He got inside, broke the siren cover and stole the mobile phones. Meanwhile, the accused have been remanded in police custody for four days.
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Bus-train collision averted
Chandigarh/Dera Bassi, July 21
While giving passage to the train, travelling at over 60 kmph, the gateman on duty apparently forgot to close the level crossing for vehicular traffic. Believing that the level crossing was open for vehicular traffic, the driver of the school bus, Kanwaljeet Singh started crossing the gate when he saw the speeding train approaching towards the bus. Keeping his cool, he accelerated the bus and managed to cross over even though an octroi post near the level crossing obstructed the view of the track from, said the bus driver. A senior Railways official said suitable action was being initiated against the gatemen for their negligent act. Gateman Ram Parkash was about to call off his duty when the Station Superintendent, Dapar railway station, intimated the former to close the level crossing as the train was approaching. The second gateman, Ramu, was to relieve Ram Parkash. Both gatemen have been withdrawn from duty. Soon after the incident, the driver of the train, Chaman Lal, intimated the higher Railways authorities at the Ghaggar railway station. On seeing the school bus, the driver of the train applied emergency brakes but by that time the bus had crossed. A Railways official, who visited the spot, said a major tragedy could have taken place had the train crashed in to the bus. The train could also have derailed, disrupting traffic on the single track between Chandigarh and Ambala. Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, the driver of the bus said he daily reached the level crossing at about 8.10 am and found it closed. Today the gate was open and he believed that train had been delayed. But he was awestruck when he saw the train approaching the gate.
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Jail official helped me in 1998, says Hawara
Chandigarh, July 21 Hawara, also accused of assassinating Punjab’s former Chief Minister Beant Singh, further told the interrogating officials that he succeeded in flushing 500 gm of explosives after being warned about the impending raid on the jail premises by the official. Quoting the alleged militant, a police official said a mobile set, being used by Hawara to get in touch with his mentors in the West, was also disposed of by him after receiving the information. The official said Hawara also told them that at the time of the raid he was possessing Rs 80,000. Out of the total amount, Rs 40,000 was pocketed by the jail staff. Referring to an earlier attempt to break the jail, Hawara reportedly told the police that senior Babbar Khalsa International leader Wadhawa Singh deputed a person to help Hawara escape from the jail premises. Even though the Chandigarh Police today claimed that it had achieved a major success by cracking Hawara, the sources said the alleged militant had still not revealed the whereabouts of his accomplices in the jailbreak case. Though Hawara was caught by the Delhi Police in connection with the twin blasts in the national capital, other escapees, including Jagtar Singh Tara and Paramjit Singh Bheora, are still at large.
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Wrong credit, not plagiarism, says architect
Chandigarh, July 21 In a letter sent to the Editor of The Tribune, Mr Sangeet Sharma has asserted that it is not a case of plagiarism as he has not claimed any work of anybody under his own name as he had given due acknowledgement to the relevant authors. A Professor in the Chandigarh College of Architecture, Ms Kiran Joshi, has accused Mr Sharma of lifting a large chunk of an article written by her and including the same in a book authored by him. The offending article in the book that she refers to is headlined “Le Corbusier as an Artist” and the book has been published by city-based Abhishek Publications. Mr Sharma also says that he had personally met Professor Joshi to discuss the matter and he had ensured that the mistake had been rectified. When contacted, Professor Joshi acknowledged that Mr Sharma had met her. “But, the issue is still not closed. I am still discussing the matter with my legal advisers and any future course of action will depend on what they tell me,” she said. |
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Passing Thru I am in the city for the announcement of two new banking products — diamond saving deposits and diamond current deposits — for high-end customers. Under the diamond saving deposits, the customer will be required to maintain an average balance of Rs 1 lakh. The average balance of Rs 2 lakh would have to be maintained during a quarter under the second scheme. What would be benefits of these schemes? Customers would be eligible for various free value-added services, including personalised cheque books, free home delivery of DDs, free international debit-cum-ATM card and fee waiver on demat account charges under the schemes. How has Chandigarh Zone fared during 2004-05? The deposits grew by Rs 119 crore to Rs 1,165 crore from Rs 1,046 crore. While the operating profit increased to Rs 40 crore from Rs 30 crore, the gross NPA declined to 3.8% from 7.16%. The retail lending has gone up to Rs 318 crore from 231 crore and the housing loans had grown to Rs 87 crore from Rs 37 crore. What about future expansion plans for the Chandigarh Zone? The zonal office of the bank in Sector 31 here, to be built over an area of 52,000 square feet, will be completed by August 2006. Besides, six new branches, including in Sirsa, Gurgaon and Kaithal, will be opened soon. — Pradeep Sharma
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Stray dog stalks Sec 22-D residents
Chandigarh, July 21 She was attacked by a brown-coloured dog while she was walking in the locality park along with her mother Sheela Gosain. Another case happened yesterday when one-year-old daughter of Mr Yashvinder, also a Sector 22-D resident, was bitten by the same brown dog. Residents say the dog has often been spotted in the area around the park where it gets enough garbage to feed on. Although the affected families are not sure if the dog is a pet, they assume it to be a stray dog, and a rabid one at that. Even doctors at government dispensary in Sector 19, which is the central place for administering anti-rabies vaccines in Chandigarh, said for the past some days they had been receiving several dog bite cases from the Sector 22-D area. In every case, the same dog was involved, they added. Given the gravity of the problem, the residents of Sector 22-D now have no option left but to make a representation to the Municipal Corporation authorities. Although the city has been following Animal Birth Control (Dog Rules), 2001, which calls for controlling stray dog population using the sterilisation technique, it has not been able to strike an equilibrium in the dog population. The menace is far from being controlled, with the population of stray dogs rising in several southern sectors, including Sector 32, 33, 34 and 44. Sector 18, 19, 21 and 22 are also facing the problem.
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Objection to councillors’ trip
Chandigarh, July 20 Councillors Chandermukhi Sharma, Mr Surinder Bhatia, Mr Kuldeep Singh, Mr Sohan Lal Vaid, Ms Shyma Negi, Mr Vijay Rana and Mr Balraj Singh, maintained that if this trip was in continuation of last year’s trip then why did names of three councillors, who went last year as well, figured on the list. “Ms Geeta Rani, Ms Harjinder Kaur and Ms Amar Kulwant Singh went last year as well. They should not have been sent invitation letters this time. Then, if this trip has nothing to do with the trip of last year, we want to know why others have not been included. Both ways, there is a problem which must be sorted out before we leave,” a councillor said.
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Motor cycle expedition flagged off
The 4000 km expedition was flagged off from Delhi on July 15. The team reached here last evening. Air Commodore Venugopal lauded the role played by the air warriors in achieving victory in the Kargil conflict in 1999. The 11-member team is led by Wing Commander Ashok. They have already covered Ajmer, Gandhinagar, Udaipur and Jaipur.
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Dullo pays respects to mentor
Chandigarh, July 21 Minutes after seeing off the Union Defence Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, at the airport, he along with a group of ministers reached the samadhi of the late Chief Minister in Sector 42 here yesterday to pay floral tributes. He was accompanied by members of the family of Beant Singh.
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Guru Poornima Divas celebrated
Panchkula, July 21 The ‘prabhat pheri’ began from the samiti office in Sector 10 and went all over the sector. The devotees chanted hymns. Religious books of Bapu Asa Ram were distributed free of cost among people who participated in the procession. In the evening, the devotees performed pooja and listened to satsang at the samiti office.
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Mechanised garbage collection system
Mohali, July 21 The town would be cleaned each day using vacuum cleaning vehicles. Household garbage would be collected in specially designed vehicles from individual houses and disposed at the garbage dump. This would mean that there would not be any garbage collection points in the township that account for most of the garbage seen lying on roadsides. Stating that this system was working successfully in many other states of the country, the MC president, Mr Kulwant Singh, today pointed out that the new system of sanitation and cleanliness was likely to reduce the council’s expenditure on sanitation and cleanliness by at least 30 per cent. The new system was also expected to cut down on the monthly amount that most households gave to rehriwallahas who collected garbage house to house each morning. “Every household in the township is paying Rs 20 to Rs 30 a month for garbage to be collected at their doorstep. After this system is introduced, the householder will have to pay only Rs 10 or Rs 15 a month,” said Mr Kulwant Singh. Mr Kulwant Singh said the new system would work on a contract basis. Tenders from reputed and established firms involved in this work in other parts of the country would be called. The contractor would shoulder the entire responsibility for the town’s cleanliness. The contractor would deploy vehicles and vacuum cleaning machines and follow solid waste management rules laid down by the Government of India. The task of cleanliness and garbage collection now is given to a group of contractors who collect garbage manually from collection points and dispose it at the garbage dump. The system has been found to be highly unsatisfactory since large heaps of garbage dot the main roads in the township with garbage bins spilling over. The MC president said the move to introduce the new system in the township would be brought up for discussion at the next meeting of the council and if passed by a majority vote, the system would be introduced in September this year.
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Unauthorised load regularised
Panchkula, July 21 An official press note of Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) said it had regularised 138207 kw (more than 138 mw) unauthorised load of electricity under the voluntary disclosure scheme for regularisation of unauthorised loads without penalty. As much as 26092 kw unauthorised load of domestic consumers , 6650 kw of non domestic consumers and 105465 kw of tubewell consumers has been regularised by the nigam. The maximum unauthorised load of tubewells had been declared by the consumers of the operation circle, Kurukshetra, comprising of Kurukshetra and Kaithal districts. They voluntarily disclosed 45475 kw unauthorised loads of their tubewells. The nigam had also detected 293 cases of power theft during the first three months of the current financial year under its ongoing programme for preventing electricity theft. The special teams checked 3806 consumer premises during this period and a penalty of Rs.202.93 lakh was imposed on erring consumers out of which a sum of Rs.85.72 lakh had already been recovered, he added.
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Miraculous escape for 2 youths
Zirakpur, July 21 Headed towards Chandigarh, the car (HR-05N-6279) fell into the river-bed, breaking a portion of the railing of the bridge on the Kalka-Ambala highway . Though the vehicle was badly damaged, its occupants escaped with minor injuries. The vehicle was later lifted with the help of a crane.
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Colony residents threaten to block traffic
Zirakpur, July 21 The residents have been protesting against the builder for not providing them basic civic amenities promised at the time of sale of the apartments. Alleging that they had been deprived of basic amenities by the developer, office-bearers of the New Generation Apartments Residents Welfare Society claimed that they had approached the Chief Minister, and other authorities, including the Director, Department of the Local Government, against the builder, but to no avail. Mr K.N. Pandey, assistant manager, Generation Real Estate Limited, denied the allegations. He said certain office-bearers of the society were misleading the residents for their own benefit. A complaint was pending with the Dera Basi police against certain officer-bearers of the society who had locked some employees of the company inside their office some days ago, he claimed.
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Rajwinder Lucky is Punjab Youth Cong gen secy
Chandigarh, July 21 A meeting in this regard was held at Panjab University, today. It was attended by Awla and H.S. Lucky, president, Chandigarh Youth Congress. Awla said the Congress was open to inducting hardworking and sincere youth leaders. H.S. Lucky said he was sure Rajwinder Singh Lucky would work sincerely to help strength the Youth Congress. He exhorted youngsters to join the Youth Congress. A large number of supporters of Rajwinder Singh Lucky also joined the Punjab Youth Congress. Other senior PUSU leaders who joined the Youth Congress along with Lucky are Sarbjinder Singh Sandhu, Ajay Pal Chechi, Vikramjit Singh Vicky and Gurinder Brar.
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Is ZP chief’s post reserved?
Chandigarh, July 21 Sources in the administration said as per the 74 th Amendment in the Panchayati Raj Act, reservation has to be provided if there are more than one seat for the post of Chairman of the Zila Parishad. Accordingly, the post has to be rotated among the general, reserved ( SC) and reserved (Women) candidates. But in case of UT, there is a single post. The sources said much after the election to the Zila Parishad were held and the results announced, the office of the Block Development and Panchayat referred the matter to the Secretary, Rural Development. The matter has further been sent to the Legal Remembrance (LR) cell. Due to the delay in deciding the matter, different permutations and combinations are being tried out by candidates eyeing the post. Initially, it was made to believe that the post had been reserved for a woman candidate. The LR is yet to give his opinion. Meanwhile, the Administration today announced that the oath-taking ceremony for the elected members would take place on July 26.
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Safai karamcharis told of their rights
Mohali, July 21 Discussing their problems, she informed about their rights and various schemes that the commission had introduced for their benefit. She pointed out that the commission had, in collaboration with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, introduced several monetary loan schemes for the safai karamcharis. Mrs Chowdhary directed the Executive Officer of the council to issue pay slips to all Class IV staff of the council. The council should abide by the service rules laid down by the commission for these employees, she said. This included giving a job to a relative of an employee in case of death during duty and wheat loan to every employee, irrespective of whether his or her spouse was getting the loan. She promised the employees that a marked change would be noticeable in their working conditions. She said she would visit the MC office again next month to review the status of her directions.
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At last, a drain to end their woes
Panchkula, July 21 A project of Rs 5 lakh has been sanctioned for laying an underground stormwater drainage system for houses 1055- 1330 in the sector. The digging work has already started and the project is expected to be completed within the next few weeks. A 450-metre-long double pipeline with a 32-inch diameter is being laid here to drain
rainwater into the nullah running near the HUDA Nursery across Sector 15.
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Readers write Open space adjoining the houses of HL-547, 617, 560, 632, HM 317 to 328, HIG 680 to 685, 673-674 has not been cleared since long in Phase 9, Mohali. This area is full of debris, congress grass, thorny bushes, and other dangerous plants. it is the breeding place for snakes, mongoose and lizards. Snakes and mongoose enter the houses which has made it difficult for residents to move out without fear. Moreover, the thorny bushes and other dangerous plants have grown up to nine feet in this space. Anti-social elements and thieves hide themselves in these bushes and intoxicating hemp. Minor thefts and stealing are common in the adjoining houses of this open space. Immoral activities also seems to be taking place. In addition to this, this neglected land is mostly uneven and full of ditches. Labourers use this space for excretion purpose causing foul smell and pollution. People also throw waste and rubbish. The residents contributed many times to clean this place but it is not within the capacity of the residents to clean it every time. Residents want that it should be levelled, thorny bushes and other dangerous plants rooted out. The road running from Silver Oaks Hospital toward the direction of Fortis Hospital has not been totally recarpeted. While entering in Phase 9, this ugly road gives bad impression to every entrant. Scooterists and other passers by sometimes slip here and injure themselves. The residents want this road to be recarpeted immediately. K.R. Raju, MohaliAllow plot conversion
PUDA rules should be relaxed and plot conversions should be allowed just like Chandigarh. Seventy per cent industrial plots in Mohali and other Urban Estates in Punjab are lying vacant due to wrong policies of PUDA. By this way most of the unused plots of Urban Estates will be utilised. With this relaxation, new businesses will come up and more people will get employment, leading to more production which will cause development in Punjab. By stopping conversions of plots by bureaucrats, most of the plots will remain unused and no new business will come up. Conversions in Mohali and other Urban Estates of Punjab should be allowed and the rules of PUDA should be relaxed so that corruption could be decreased. Sushil Kumari, Sanjeev Chopra, Tara Singh and others Another whistle-blower quits Going through the details of the news item in Chandigarh Tribune dated 9.7.05 about the resignation of SMO, General Hospital, Panchkula, followed by his transfer to Government Polyclinic, Mansa Devi, one can conclude that Dr Subhash Sharma justified his resignation as for a surgeon the transfer to a polyclinic is no less than humiliation. To do away with the post of SMO might be a small thing for Dr Subash Sharma but what about the government health set-ups which need the SMO like him who is a pioneer in laparoscopic surgery and responsible for the upgradation of General Hospital. The episode is further indicative of the fact that it is the whistle-blower only who has to quit, the “system” enacts as “sound-proof”. Sangeeta Remarkable patience It is aptly said that every dark cloud has a silver lining. For instance, take my own case. For the past three years, my frequent visits to the local DC office (Panchkula) for getting some important work done, especially through notaries and advocates, had at one time left me totally frustrated for unnecessary delay for the upliftment of small Self-Help Group. However, the fault neither is with the DC office, nor with any person in particular but with the “system”. However, during my days of struggle, I had to get innumerable affidavits made and numerous stamp papers purchased. During this period, the only thing that inspired me was the remarkable patience and professionalism of these advocates, notaries, stamp vendors and typists who never complain of even extreme sunshine or rainfall. Absence of fans, leaky rooms, vehicular noise and pollution, muddy floors, etc are no deterrent for them. I’ve learned to be more patient. Yasmin Dutta
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Business rivalry leaves dealer with head injuries
Chandigarh, July 21 Virat Sahni, a resident of Sector 21-C, in his complaint to the police, said he was a dealer of Sector 34-based Siemens Communications Equipments and was assaulted by another dealer of the company, Parminder Singh, a resident of Phase III-B-2 in Mohali, who was the owner of M/s Harjas Enterprises in Sector 35-B. On the basis of a complaint filed by Sahni, the police has registered a case against Parminder Singh, his son Gurmit Singh and Guriqbal Singh under Sections 323, 341, 506 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code. The police arrested the accused, who were remanded in judicial custody by a local court today. Giving details of the incident, Sahni alleged that he and Parminder had an old business rivalry. They were called by the Area Manager of Siemens yesterday afternoon to iron out their differences. Sahni said as he came out, Parminder, who was waiting outside the office, started talking to him in a pleasant manner and asked Sahni to drop him at Haryana Panchayat Bhavan in Sector 28. Sahni reportedly took him in his car and on the way Parminder called up somebody on the mobile. When they reached Panchayat Bhavan, a Honda City car overtook him and forced him to halt his car. Thereafter, they dragged him out of his car and forced him to lie down on the road. Parminder then allegedly caught hold of Sahni by his arms and Parminder’s son and his friend started beating him up. They allegedly threatened to kill him if he did not quit the dealership of the company. Meanwhile, two employees of Sahni’s company came there and on their intervention, the suspects left him and went away in their car. Later, one of the employees took Sahni to the General Hospital in Sector 16, where he got seven stitches on his head. He also reportedly sustained injuries on his ribs.
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Woman held for stealing gold chains
Chandigarh, July 21 Sources in the police said Bhagwati, a resident of Muradabad district in Uttar Pradesh, went to a jewellery shop in Mani Majra, along with his accomplice, Lokesh of Amroha district in Uttar Pradesh. They asked Mr Keshav Babbar, the shopkeeper, to show them some gold chains. They chose a gold chain set and paid Rs 1,650 to the shopkeeper. Thereafter, they selected another chain and handed over Rs 350 as advance to the shopkeeper and also asked him to repair a chain that they had brought with them. They reportedly left the shop saying that they would collect the chain on their way back. After they went away the shopkeeper found out that three gold chains were missing. He gave a chase and managed to catch the woman from the bus stand at Mani Majra, however, Lokesh managed to flee. The police was informed and the woman was taken into custody. In a separate incident, the police arrested Jatinder, alias Pawan, on the allegation of stealing a mobile phone and Rs 300 along with other articles from a hostel room in the PGI on Wednesday. Dr Parmod Kumar, a senior resident caught the accused redhanded and later handed him over to the police. A case has been registered.
Motor cycle stolen
Mr Daniel Merry, a resident of Phase VI, Mohali, has lodged a complaint with the police that his Bajaj Kawasaki motor cycle (PB-65-B-2158) was stolen from near Kisan Mandi in Sector 39 on July 19.
Gambling
The police arrested Yashin Mohammad of Milk Colony in Dhanas from near the main road in the locality on Wednesday. The police recovered Rs 605 from his possession. A case has been registered under the Gambling Act.
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Traders, music industry lock horns
Chandigarh, July 21 The association is up in arms against the “unreasonable campaign” by the PPL to stop shopkeepers from watching TV and listening to the radio at their establishments. And in the interests of justice, the association has approached the police against the “blackmailing tactics” of the PPL. Recently, the PPL had asked commercial establishments to obtain licences for watching TV or listening to the radio. Under the Copyright Act, 1957, it is illegal to play music without a licence for commercial purposes. The music industry had formed the PPL with a view to checking piracy and playing of music illegally. “We administer broadcasting, telecasting and public performance rights on behalf of over 80 per cent of the Indian music
companies. This includes music recorded in any format or communicated by way of radio, wordspace, receiver, cable network or television,” a PPL communication says. However, shopkeepers claimed that TV/radio were being used only for their personal use and no commercial motive was involved.”It is a matter of great concern that now shopkeepers not dealing with music trade are being targeted. The PPL action might be justified if it is used for public entertainment on payment and for any other commercial purpose,” Mr J.P.S. Kalra, association general secretary, said. “Even the establishments which have installed closed circuit television to keep a watch on anti-social elements and check thefts have been asked to obtain licence or stop the operation of the system bringing the intentions of the PPL under a cloud,” rued another shopkeeper, Mr Rajinder Manocha. The TV service is provided by authorised cable operators on monthly charges. It is unethical on the part of the PPL to demand licence fee from the shopkeepers, Mr L.C. Arora alleged. Meanwhile, another organisation, Indian Performing Right Society Limited, has shot off a letter to the president of the association, Mr Subhash Kataria, demanding Rs 19,000 as the performing rights royalty for musical works. Mr Kataria threatened to take legal action against the society as he had not been infringing upon any musical rights.
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Chandigarh, July 21