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Maths costs student his tooth
Chandigarh, September 14 The incident came to light when Harjote returned to his Sector 33 residence at about 3 pm with a swollen face. On being questioned, he informed his grandfather, who called up his son Manjeet Singh, a businessman. Taking a serious note of the incident, Mr Manjeet Singh approached the school authorities which, he says, were not forthcoming. “I was told to come back tomorrow, following which I called the police,” Mr Manjeet Singh said. The school authorities, however, stood by their stand and said what they had done was correct. “If they want to make a mountain out of a mole hill, it’s up to them,” stated a senior faculty. Manjeet Singh, however, argues that this is no way of treating a child and he could have been corrected in other ways. “They could have called me; I would have ensured he was corrected. They could have made him understand gently; slapping him is no solution.” Mr S.S. Khanna, Director-cum-Principal of the school, who slapped the boy, however, feels that “these are corrective measures taken to discipline a child.” Mr Khanna, however, disagrees that he broke the child’s tooth. “It must have already been loose and must have fallen off.” The incident occurred this afternoon at the reception of the school. Talking to The Tribune, Harjote said he, along with a few other classmates, had been facing problems in understanding mathematics lessons for the past few days. Today, they decided to approach the Principal. “I was asked by the Vice-Principal, Mrs Khurana, to meet the Principal in the office. I was accompanying her to the Principal’s office, and was standing in front of the reception when Mr Khanna came and slapped me.” However, according to the Vice-Principal, Harjote was arguing and speaking very rudely to her. Interestingly, Harjote has been studying in the school for the past four years. His father argues that they have never received a complaint before. The school authorities, however, told The Tribune that though they had not had a problem with Harjote as a student in the past, they had been facing problems with him off late. Interestingly, the previous mathematics teacher was also asked to leave by the school authorities after complaints were received against him. Though the parents and the school authorities reached a compromise later in the evening, the police registered a daily diary report.
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Woman plays the saviour at Sukhna
Chandigarh, September 14 He had dropped his pen while walking and when he bent to pick it up, he lost his balance and slipped into the lake. To his luck, Kirandeep Kaur, a student of MAC DAV College, Sector 36, saw him struggling for life in the waters. She was at the lake for rowing practice and was jogging there. Without giving a second thought for her own safety, she jumped into the lake and rescued Baljinder Singh. In the meantime, policemen also reached the spot and administered first-aid to the victim. The in charge of the Sukhna Lake police post, Sub-Inspector Harjit Kaur, was all praise for Kirandeep Kaur, who is married to a Border Security Force constable, and said timely action by her helped save a life. Meanwhile, the police informed the father of the victim, who ruled out any other angle to the incident and said it was an accident.
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Chinks in Chandigarh Club executive
Chandigarh, September 14 Capt Sanjiv Gandotra, executive member, has first sought the interim report of the committee appointed by the Company Law Board to probe into the alleged financial and electoral irregularities. He has alleged that no AGM meetings were being conducted in the club. “The least we deserve is the right to information regarding the club matters. These should not be pushed
under the carpet”. Mr Mukesh Bassi, club president, said, “The interim report was not based on the total time period. Constituted to look into the membership during the period 1997-2004, it has completed the proceedings only till 2001. During the same period, the club has made about 70 per cent of the recoveries which also need to be added to the committee report. Once all facts are brought on record, these will be revealed to the club members. The matter also pertained to number of club members”. Captain Gandotra alleged that the club had witnessed poor catering services for the past several years. “I am told that the present caterer has already made an exit. This happens when someone is provided with a backdoor entry violating the norms”, he has written. He has also demanded a clarity of decision on the issue of club membership. Mr Bassi said the club had called for tenders for catering services and the matter would soon be sorted out. “The orders for catering services were never finalised by me. It was always the decision of the executive. If they demand a change, the club will do the needful”, he said. Captain Gandotra has demanded a comprehensive policy for enrolment of club employees. “At present, the employee strength is far above the required”, he said. He pointed out that the existing strength of 60 gardeners was too high. “The voter list for the club elections should be prepared well in advance to avoid last-moment confusion which often has the club embroiled in legal controversies”, he said. Mr Bassi said a majority of the employees were employed well before he occupied the post of president.
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Auto pre-paid booths at Sukhna, Rock Garden
Chandigarh, September 14 Encouraged by the results, the authorities concerned now plan to have additional pre-paid service booths at the Sukhna Lake and the Rock Garden, besides Government Medical College and Hospital in Sector 32 and the civil airport. As of now there are two pre-paid service booths each at the Sector17 Inter-state bus terminus and the Post graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER). One booth is functioning from the Chandigarh Railway Station. Explaining the reason behind the popularity of the facility, the sources in the police headquarters assert that more and more people are turning up at the pre-paid booths all over the city as auto-rickshaw drivers otherwise continue to take the passengers for a ride. The sources say: “If you commit the mistake of sitting in an auto, without fixing the price, specially from the bus stand or the railway station, chances are that you will end up arguing.” Though the exact number is not readily available with the police, a senior officer admits that everyday the cops receive at least one or two complaints alleging over-charging, faulty meter, refusal, misbehaviour and harassment. Giving details of the pre-paid scheme, the officer says that a nominal amount of Rs 3 is accepted from the passengers as service charges for meeting expenses incurred in running the pre-paid booths. Otherwise, the city has been divided on the Delhi pattern into different zones based on the destination’s distance in kilometers from the booth. Each zone has pre-determined fares approved by the UT State Transport Authority.
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Hundreds miss flights due to traffic jam
Chandigarh, September 14 The traffic jam on the Dhaula Kuan-Gurgaon stretch was caused by sudden, sharp rains, which resulted in the breakdown of several vehicles and hold-ups at several places. Everyday commuters on the stretch, held-up in the jam, observed that ongoing construction works on the road had been regularly causing minor traffic jams, but the one witnessed on Monday night was probably the fist-of-its-kind in a long time. It took most vehicles over five hours to cover the less-than-12 km distance from Dhaula Kuan to the airport. Traffic police personnel worked hard to clear the jam but to no avail. Many passengers, many of them going to Canada, the UK and the USA, missed their flights and were seen pleading with airlines officials to make alternate arrangements for them. However, in most cases, officials refused to be of any help, pleading that they could not do anything at such a late hour. Repeated phone calls to the office of airport manager went unanswered as nobody picked up the phone. “Seven members of my family were going to the USA on the Air France flight. Even though, we had reached Dhaula Kuan at 7 pm, it took us almost five hours to cover the remaining distance. But, by then, our flight had already left. What’s more, we were not given any refund on our tickets,” lamented a woman passenger from Punjab. The staff of various airlines too acknowledged that many passengers had failed to make it to the airport in time to catch their flight.
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Tehelka documents: Court of Inquiry begins
Chandigarh, September 14 Brigadier Iqbal Singh, who is being tried by a general court martial (GCM) for professional impropriety in the tehelka case, was the first witness to depose before the COI. It was during the proceedings of this GCM that allegations of tampering were made by a key witness. Former tehelka.com staffer Aniruddha Bahal, who had masterminded a sting operation catching senior politicians, bureaucrats and military officers demanding and accepting bribes for fictitious arms dealers, had stated during his deposition before the GCM in June that Brig S.S. Gill had added certain words and statements to his answers which were given only as “yes” or “no”. Brigadier Gill had recorded the additional SOE. Brigadier Gill is at present commanding an artillery brigade based at Bathinda. He had deposed as a defence witness before the GCM a few days earlier and has stated before the court that he had made the said additions. He maintained that the additions were not done with any mala fide intentions, but were done at the insistence of the witnesses. Headquarters 2 Corps, had earlier sent the handwritten script of the SOE to the Government Examiner of Questioned Documents (GEQD). Forensic examination of documents established that certain portions of the additional summary of evidence were doctored.
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Passing Thru
Throw some light on the SGFI?
This is perhaps the largest sports body after the Indian Olympic Association and has more than 28 states, UTs and other institutions affiliated with it. How
many disciplines fall under the SGFI? We have more than 28 disciplines in sport and that is why we have divided every National School Games into various editions. The games are conducted in three age groups — under 14, 17 and under 19. What are the long-term plans? We are planning to have a talent pool of select children in various disciplines. The SGFI is also committed to preparing a strong team of youngsters of the 2010 Commonwealth Games and other international games. How
do you check the problem of overage? In the last National School Games, we had strictly asked the state units concerned to verify the age of participants, else the player or even state team could be debarred. Any plans to send school sportspersons to international meets? Yes, we are affiliated with the International School Sport Federation and also the Asian School Sport Federation and we do send our teams abroad. — Arvind Katyal
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Bomb hoax triggers panic at ISBT
Chandigarh, September 14 The incident happened when Vikas Bora, an engineer working with Hydraulic Electrical Power Company in Kulu, reached the ISBT around 5 am. He had come to attend a seminar organised by the company in Hotel Park Inn in Sector 35. After refreshing himself, Mr Bora, who originally hails from Assam, took tea from the stall and placed his belongings on a nearby beach. Later, he left for the hotel and forgot to carry the bag with him. After his departure, the tea-stall owner, Kharati Lal, noticed the unclaimed bag and suspecting it to be a bomb informed beat officer Sumer Singh at the bus stand police post. Without wasting any time, the policeman alerted senior police officers. Teams of police from the Sector 17 police station and the Bomb Disposal Squad of the Chandigarh Police reached the spot. An expert examined the suspected bomb and found it to be a component of an electrical appliance. Senior police officers including SSP Gaurav Yadav, DSP P.K. Dhawan, reached the spot to supervise the operation. Meanwhile, Mr Bora came back to the ISBT around 10 am and asked Kharati Lal about the bag he had forgotten there. The police then took Mr Bora to the Sector 17 police station and released him after questioning him for about an hour.
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Delimitation panel meeting postponed yet again
Mohali, September 14 According to sources, a letter from the office of the Additional Secretary, Department of Local Government, Punjab, was received by the office of the SDM here today which stated that the meeting of the delimitation committee was postponed till further orders. The first meeting of the delimitation committee was scheduled to be held on March 4 in the office of the SDM but was cancelled at the last minute. Then it was decided to hold a meeting on August 8 in the office of the Deputy Director, Urban Local Bodies, Ludhiana, but was cancelled. In the third case the meeting was cancelled even before3the letters for the same were circulated. The 12-member delimitation committee was constituted by the Governor for the purpose of delimitation of wards in connection with the forthcoming municipal elections. A notification in this regard was issued on February 3 by the Principal Secretary, Local Government. However, the local MLA, Mr Bir Devinder Singh, was not happy with the formation of the delimitation committee as he had not been consulted in this regard. He wanted some persons of his choice to be members of the committee. He, then, managed to get the delimitation committee re-constituted and two persons, close to the council president, Mr Kulwant Singh, were got removed and the names of two persons close to MLA were added. The orders for the reconstitution of the committee were issued on September 5. When the earlier three meetings of the committee were cancelled, it was alleged that MLA had played a role in getting these cancelled as he wanted “his men” in the panel. But what was the reason behind getting even the fourth meeting postponed was not clear. Some councillors alleged that certain Congress leaders were not interested in having municipal elections before the term of the present elected body expired. They wanted the elections to be held only after an administrator was appointed to take care of the town so that they could allegedly have their way during elections.
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Mumbai Nabard team meets Rodrigues
Chandigarh, September 14 Mr Surinder Singla, Finance Minister of Punjab, Dr G.S. Kalkat, Chairman, Punjab Farmer’s Commission, Mr Krishna Mohan, Home Secretary, Mr S.K. Sandhu, Finance Secretary, and other senior officers of Punjab and Chandigarh Administration were present on the occasion. Deeply concerned with the development of UT villages, living conditions of the migrant population in city slums and poverty ridden farming class of Punjab, General Rodrigues emphasised the need to create a strategic alliance for undertaking need based programmes for ameliorating their lot through short and long-term programmes. He said that there is no dearth of resources and potential in Punjab and Chandigarh, and that the need is to take bold initiatives and focus attention on improving our internal management and creating a more responsive delivery system. With a view to restructuring and remodelling villages, General Rodrigues said that Chandigarh Administration had undertaken the formulation of an action plan for every village, after a village-wise study by creating a data bank with all details regarding construction of roads, sewerage, water supply lines, covering open drains, project concerning sanitation and disposal of garbage, construction of streets, provision of street lights. General Rodrigues said that the Chandigarh Administration has already initiated the process for constructing 20,000 one-room tenements for the rehabilitation of slums dwellers on tenancy basis in well-designed and developed settlements. Mr Surinder Singla, Finance Minister, responding to suggestions made by the M.D., Nabard, promised to send his team of officers for getting first hand information about various social projects. Dr G.S. Kalkat, Chairman Punjab State Farmers Commission said that the problems of Punjab agriculture were due to over exploitation of natural resources and the poor economy of small and marginal farmers. Mr Thorat, while presenting his views in the meeting said that their organisation will organise workshops and seminars in Chandigarh to train senior officers of the state government for preparing vision documents for availing the facilities from Nabard.
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Power ‘hotline’ for Civil Hospital
Mohali, September 14 The hospital faced cuts, especially during summers, leading to disruption in work and inconvenience to patients. The generator set available at the hospital was unable to provide power for all facilities. The patients had to wait for long hours for the power supply to be restored so that the hospital could function normally. Dr S.P. Singla, SMO In charge of the hospital, said that work in the operating theatre, laboratories, used to come to a standstill whenever there were powercuts. Even the registration work on computers suffered. Moreover, the hospital had to spend between Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 on diesel to run the generator set which provided power only to some areas of the hospital. PSEB officials said that the “hotline” connection to the hospital was provided from the Phase VI waterworks which was running on an independent feeder. The hospital had, through a letter dated October 18, 2004, requested the PSEB authorities to provide a hotline connection to cater to the needs of emergency cases and other special services. The PSEB kept dragging its feet on the project for sometime. One of the reasons was the unpaid power bills of the hospital that ran into lakhs.
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Kusht ashram inmates get Onam feast
Chandigarh, September 14 Onam marks the beginning of the New Year and is also known as the harvest festival. It is as much a reiteration of the beliefs of the people of the state as it is a reliving of their historical past. Onam is also a festival to welcome their loved King Mahabali who once gave his people a golden era in historical times. People believe that on the last day of the 10-day celebrations of Onam, the spirit of the King visits Kerala, hence the day is marked with festivities and joy to welcome him. Flower rangoli (pookalam) is laid out in courtyards and gifts, meals and charity are given to the poor with much celebration and cheer all around. All these, to convince the King that his people are happy and prosperous. The festival, usually celebrated with family and friends, was today commemorated by the 150 members of the manch with their less fortunate brethren at the ashram. The excitement was tangible in the air as traditional flower rangoli adorned the entrance and the whiff of a delicious, grand meal consisting of 21 preparations wafted through the air. K. Krishna, an inmate, has been at the ashram for 25 years now. He said everyone was very happy with the festival being celebrated here. “We are seeing such an event probably for the first time and it has spread cheer among the people living here.” Jai Singh, who came to the city from Nepal, has been living in the ashram for over 25 years now. The last time that any such festivity was held was when the birthday of former Governor Lieut-Gen Chibber was celebrated at the ashram, eight years ago. Shanti Devi, another inmate, living here for over 30 years said people had been looking forward to this since the morning. “Even the goats that went to graze have been brought home early today.” Senior Associate Editor, The Tribune, A.J. Philip inaugurated the function along with special guest ADGP, Haryana, Dr John V. George who also handed out shawls to the inmates. A cultural programme, including a musical on the life of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, was staged by the Chandigarh School of Drama along with a play, “Rahat”, directed by Gursharan Singh. A typical feast that marks the celebrations for Onam followed this. Member of the manch K. Sivadasa said: “The feast is an important part of the traditional celebrations and what we have for the inmates is a typical meal with 21 different kinds of dishes.” The best of Kerala cuisine, including avail, sambhar, rasam and pradhaman (pasayam or sweet dish made of jaggery and coconut), served on traditional banana leaves added to the allure of the evening. According to general secretary K.R. Arvindan: “The manch is involved in various charitable activities like this and we intend to take this to a different level in the New Year.”
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Kashmiri Pandit Balidan Divas observed
Chandigarh, September 14 Since then September 14 is observed as Balidan Divas by the community throughout the world. The members of the sabha paid homage to those killed in the violence in Kashmir since 1989 and observed that even after 16 years, the community was still struggling to live a normal life and are awaiting justice. The members also emphasised that there could be no dramatic solution to the Kashmir problem and that the community needed to be taken into confidence as one of the principle parties for solving the problem. The members re-emphasised to make the community self-reliant, politically and economically.
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Army dedicates gate to ex-UDC
Chandigarh, September 14 She got washed away during the flash floods on July 5 while coming to the office in heavy rain. Her body could not be located despite efforts by the Army and the civilian authorities. The Army is providing financial assistance of Rs 5,000 per month to her family. The arrangement will go on till her financial dues are settled. Her husband, Partap
Kanwar, is working as a Deputy Range Officer in the Himachal Pradesh Forest Department
and they have two children, Preeti and Digvijay.
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Kala kendra for stopping vulgarity on TV channels
Mohali, September 14 According to Mr Sanjeevan Singh, president of the kendra, a letter to this effect has been sent to the President, the Prime Minister and leaders of all political parties at the Centre. The members have suggested that the content shown on private channels should be within the ambit of the Censor Board. They added that remixing old songs in a vulgar manner and telecasting TV serials that depict extra-marital affairs were having a very bad impact on the younger generation.
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Fresh guidelines for Indian workers going abroad
Chandigarh, September 14 The ministry has clarified that the visit visa will not be issued in case a number of applications are filed together. The guidelines had been issued after the ministry found that Indian workers going to Kuwait were resorting to such tactics and it was leading to a loss to the government.
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Trekking expedition
Chandigarh, September 14 The 23-member team, including one officer and two JCOs, will cover a distance of over 200 km in 17 days to reach Kedarnath via a heretofore uncharted route from Lansdowne through Vanghat, Beasghat, Devprayag, Pokari, Pokkar, Reeh and Narayan. The battalion was raised in Kotdwara on September 1, 1980, by Lieut-Col Jagmohan. Since its raising, it has taken part in operations Bluestar, Dusk, Hifazat, Rakshak, Orchid, Vijay, Parakram and Sarpvinash.
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Thieves decamp with household goods
Chandigarh, September 14 Another person was taken into custody for allegedly carrying seven liquor bottles illegally. In another case, a family was booked for allegedly demanding dowry. Mr Vijay Kumar Sharma, a resident of Modern Housing Complex, Mani Majra, lodged a complaint with the police alleging that thieves decamped with a refrigerator, a gas cylinder, LPG burner and utensils from his residence during day time on Tuesday. He said the theft came to light when they returned from work and found the locks broken. About the theft of vehicles in the city, sources in the local police said Mr Inder Shekhar of Sector 33-B has alleged that his Maruti Esteem car (HR-16-B-0001) was stolen from his residence during the night of September 12. In a separate incident, Mr Bhupinder Singh reported the theft of his scooter (CHJ-0948) from his residence on Monday. Elsewhere, the police arrested Jagdeep Singh and Daljit Singh of Butter Kalan village in Moga district on the charge of indulging in eve-teasing at Sukhna Lake on Tuesday evening. In another incident, the police took Subash Chand of Phase II, Ram Darbar, into custody on the charge of carrying seven bottles of liquor illegally on Tuesday. He was arrested from Ram Darbar. The police booked a family on the charge of demanding dowry. Mr Tara Chand, a resident of Phase II, Ram Darbar, had filed a complaint alleging that Sunil Kumar, alias Teji of Sabzi Mandi, Phillaur, who is husband of his daughter Sunita, and his parents were harassing and maltreating his daughter for dowry. Sunita was married to Sunil in 2003. The Woman and Child Support Unit of the Chandigarh Police is investigating into the case. A case has been registered under the provisions of the IPC.
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Woman ‘invites’ media for her suicide bid
Chandigarh, September 14 Sources in the Mauli Jagran police post said Poonam, a resident of Mori Gate in Mani Majra, called up a local cable TV reporter from a public call office in Rajiv Colony and expressed her ‘will to end life’ behind the Government High School in Mauli Jagran at around 3 pm. The journalist informed the Police Control Room about the message. The sources added that Poonam, meanwhile, inflicted injuries on her arms and neck with a razor in full public view. A police party rushed to the spot and took the woman in custody and shifted her to the General Hospital in Sector 16. She was administered first aid, but after some time she allegedly escaped from the hospital. When the in charge of the Mauli Jagran police post was contacted, he said a case of attempt to suicide under Section 309 of the IPC Indian Penal Code had been registered against Poonam. He added that she was mentally upset and was involved in a dispute involving a man. While denying the reports that the woman had escaped from the police custody, he maintained that by the time the police reached Mauli Jagran, Poonam had left for the hospital on her own. He added that ASI Hans Raj reached the General Hospital only to find that Poonam had already left the place without informing anyone. The police was looking for her. The SHO of Mani Majra police station said he had no information about the incident.
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Rs 2.8 lakh looted
Chandigarh, September 14 Police sources said businessman Dilbag Singh Nain noticed that a golden Esteem car was following his car soon after he came out of the bank with the money. The sources added that Mr Nain, after receiving a call from a friend, went to the Mani Majra cremation grounds for attending a funeral ceremony. When he returned he discovered, that the money was missing.
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