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MC can’t spend on these villages
Chandigarh, October 12 Reason: the civic body only has administrative control over the land. The ownership of the land within the village abadi and proposed re- defined village abadi is yet to be vested with the civic body. Over 155 acres of prime agricultural land lie in the five villages. In Hallo Majra and Kajheri villages alone, over 70 acres are lying unutilised and the Chandigarh Administration has plans for a five-star hotel in Hallo Majra village. “Till the land is acquired by the corporation, no funds on development can be spent on these villages. Since the included area comprises inhabited areas, development works will have to be carried in such areas,” said an official in the Administration. Sources in the Administration reveal that a proposal of the Land Acquisition Officer (LAO) to acquire land in the five villages for the MC was rejected by the Finance Secretary on the pretext that the proposal should come from the civic body and not the LAO. Once the MC moves the proposal to acquire the land, the LAO would acquire it on behalf of the civic body. However, the process to acquire the land has to be initiated before the code of conduct comes into force for the elections of the civic body, scheduled for December. The civic body recently approved an agenda in its general house to acquire land in Maloya ( 7.06 acres) and Dadu Majra ( 13.86 acres). It was decided to acquire land in the villages for a planned development. However, the area around Palsora, Kajheri and Hallo Majra villages will not be a part of the corporation.
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‘Stolen generosity’ lands 16-yr-old in police net
Chandigarh, October 12 His journey to riches was cut short on Tuesday when Ms Abida Qureshi of Sector 33 received a statement from her bank giving details about the money withdrawn on her ATM card over a period of past three months. She was shocked to see the statement as she had not used here ATM card during that period. The truth came to light when she contacted the HDFC Bank branch. The bank officials provided the photographs of the person who had withdrawn the money. Back at home, when she questioned the juvenile, he reportedly admitted to his crime and the matter was reported to the police, said Inspector Jagir Singh, SHO of the Sector 34 police station. The matter was reported to the police on Wednesday and a case was registered. Acting on the complaint, the police arrested the accused from Sector 33. He was produced in a local court that later remanded him in judicial custody. Inspector Jagir Singh said Ms Qureshi had to go to Hyderabad in Pakistan in July as her mother had fallen ill there. Before that, she had shifted her home from Sector 8 to Sector 33. She suspects that it was during the shifting of the house that the accused got hold of the card. Later, he also managed to procure its password. He first withdrew Rs 15,000 and thereafter went ahead with his shopping spree. He reportedly purchased a scooter and a motorcycle for himself and then bought two more motorcycles for his friends. Not only this, he purchased five mobile phones, a DVD player, expensive clothes and gifted these to his friends. He maintained a lavish lifestyle and used to drink and dine with his friends at expensive eating joints. The police has recovered all four vehicles from him and his friend besides recovering three mobile phones, nine trousers, eight shirts and several other articles.
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Child labour law: rescue is fine, but what about rehabilitation?
Chandigarh, October 12 Even the Assistant Labour Commissioner (ALC) UT, responsible for implementation of the Act and prosecution of those who employ children below 14 years, is not clear about what she would do if labour inspectors were to rescue a destitute child from any of the places mentioned in the Law. There has not been any communication or coordination on the matter between the Labour Department and the Social Welfare Department of UT Administration. The Labour Department does not even know which wing of the Administration will take care of the rehabilitation part of children whose dignity the new Act seeks to protect. “We will have to touch base with the Social Welfare Department to find out what needs to be done in cases where children’s parents are not located. We will ask for a list of homes where such children can be sent,” said Anuradha Lamba, ALC, who made another pertinent remark about the new law, which is silent on a very crucial subject. Where the authorities are confused about how to give shape to the new Act, the Chandigarh Child Welfare Committee is also skeptical about the future of rescued children who don’t fall under any structured plan. The challenge is to rehabilitate them. And the irony is that UT Administration does not have many functional homes to accommodate such children. While girls can, at best, be sent to Nari Niketan, which is an apology in the name of a shelter, boys are yet to find a place in he city. A reference to UT Administration’s new Juvenile Home in Sector 25, inaugurated way back on August 8, is interesting in this context. This home was inaugurated in a great rush even when it was not equipped to house children. Till now, security arrangements have not been installed here, though it is meant to house juvenile delinquents and neglected children in separate dormitories. It was only on October 10, after The Tribune had highlighted the need to make the Home operational, that the authorities shifted 14 delinquents from Juvenile Remand Home in Sector 15 to the new home in Sector 25. But, these children still have no access to any of the promised facilities which include a sports room, a library, a doctor’s room, a dispensary, etc. When the Chandigarh Tribune team visited the complex on October 10, these facilities were under lock and key. The Home did not yet have a full time superintendent to look after children. It just had a peon, a watchman and a home guard in the name of staff.
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Woman gets police remand for killing maid
Chandigarh, October 12 The police today produced Archana Bharadwaj in a court that remanded her in police custody for three days. The police said Archana was arrested as the circumstantial evidence hinted at her involvement in the crime. They said the police was working on various theories to ascertain the motive behind the killing. Sources in the police said the police was also looking into the role of a Panchkula-based contractor, who was said to be an acquaintance of Archana. The police said Archana’s family had admitted that the man used to visit her house frequently. He has reportedly gone underground ever since the police registered a case of murder. A police officer said the delay in the investigation and the post-mortem examination had given the accused a chance to distort and manipulate facts. Statements of the family members of Archana and her children had been recorded, but they were yet to find anything “conclusive” to prove the motive behind the killing. The police has also recorded the statement of her 15-year-old son, who was found to be incoherent during questioning. The 21-year-old maid, Urmila, was found dead on the second floor residence of her employer, Archana, on September 30. The police initially thought it to be a case of natural death, but the post-mortem report on Tuesday revealed that it was murder and the victim was smothered to death. She was found lying face down on the floor. The bed sheet and the mattress under her showed that the victim struggled before her death. There were visible signs of struggle on her face and arms. Stains of urine were found on the mattress, which the police officers missed to take note of at that time. The police said the victim had probably urinated before her death, which was a clear indication that she was strangled.
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Admn defends Home Secy
Permission sought to prosecute Mohan Reacting to the reports published in a section of the media, sources in the CBI confirmed that the investigating agency had sought permission from the Centre Government to prosecute UT Home Secretary Krishan Mohan. They said the permission is required from the ministry concerned to initiate investigations against an official of such a status. The permission was sought around two months ago, however, the Centre was yet to respond to the request made by the investigating agency, they added. CBI DIG B.L. Soni declined to comment on the situation saying he was not aware of the issue.
Chandigarh, October 12 The Administration has sent a note clarifying on the deal, taking a “strong exception to the news story published in a section of the Press relating to award of contract for advertisements on CTU buses”. “The story constitutes a willful and gross distortion of the truth. The Administration strongly and firmly rejects all allegations and insinuations contained in the story, especially that of arbitrariness in decision making,” the note says. “From July, 2005, when the first tender notice was floated in the newspapers up to April, 2006, when the contract was finally awarded to the highest bidder pursuant to the fifth tender notice publicly floated, the entire process was conducted by the Administration in a completely fair and transparent manner,” the note reads. It also gives details of at least five tenders that were floated at different points of time involving senior UT officials before the final deal was signed. The Administration has claimed that entire process of inviting tenders was scrupulously fair and transparent at all stages and all possible efforts were made to secure the highest rates possible for awarding the contract. The Administration has pointed out that M/s Ad Global had forwarded a bid in response to the very first tender notice and did not respond at all to the four tender notices issued subsequently. M/s Media Solutions participated only in the first and second tenders: its second bid being lower than the first (Rs 2,424 as compared to Rs 2,701 per bus per month). The reason behind not accepting the second tender and calling fresh tenders for the third time was the decision regarding exemption from payment of advertisement fee by the contractor and the prospect of obtaining higher rates/revenue. The decline in bids despite repeated tenders and wide publicity is a matter of analysis. One important factor that appears to have contributed to the decline is the reduction in the advertisement space available under the successive tender notices in view of the induction of low-floor buses having a design different from the ordinary buses. The advertisement space in ordinary buses is available both inside and outside, whereas low-floor buses have no provision for advertisements inside. It has been said that advertisement space on the outside of the ordinary buses is available on three sides including the rear, whereas in case of low-floor buses, it is available on the sides only and not the rear.
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Kiran Desai’s book a complete sellout
Chandigarh, October 12 Within a day, the sales have skyrocketed, so much so that hardly any copy of Kiran Desai’s Booker Prize winning novel was available today. Every book store, but one, was found grappling with the fattening list of enquiries about the book, which, reportedly, is out of stock even with the publisher - Penguin - in this case. Only Capital Book Store in Sector 17 had saved six copies of the novel, which has activated the dormant demand-supply chain in this part
of the region. The result has been a heavy surge in demand from across the region, even from places as far as Ladakh. “Requests have been pouring in from Patiala, Shimla and Ludhiana which depend on Chandigarh for the supply of Penguin publications. We are hard pressed for copies as we supplied our entire stock to local book stores yesterday. About 30 copies went out from our office. We have now placed an order for more than 50 copies with Penguin,” said Mr Sanjay Arora, General Manager, India Book House, Sector 17, the sole distributor of Penguin in Chandigarh. Owners of book stores say the supply will take about two days to get replenished. Speaking to TNS, Anil Sharma, Sales Manager at Browser book store in Sector 8 said, “The demand has been on the rise since the day “The Inheritance of Loss” made it to the shortlist for the Booker Prize. But earlier than that, the sales were not too convincing. We sold only eight copies over the past five months during which the book was in the markets. But now with the announcement of Booker Prize, there is no curbing the demand. We have placed an order for 35 books with Penguin but we have been told the books are out of stock. We had procured some copies of our own accord, but they have all been sold. We don’t even have a copy for our library.” Browser has supplied four copies to the Army establishment in Leh, which had placed an order day before yesterday. Also, it has more than 15 reservations for the book. “We are expecting 30 copies within three days,” said Mr Sharma. Capital Book Store, on the other hand, scored a point over its rivals by preserving six copies till late evening today. Mr Ajay Arora from the store said, “We sold 12 copies yesterday, but the sale of this book had been satisfactory ever since it was released in February this year. The demand swelled further as the book entered the Booker Prize long list and finally the short list. We had some stock in place for our customers and we will be procuring more.” But that might not be easy, with the demand for the book rising across the country and the distribution being limited. Earlier, there was a possibility of Penguin rerunning the book in paperback edition. But now that the book has bagged the Booker Prize, the publishers have reportedly put on hold the decision of coming out with a paperback. They would naturally like to make hey while
the sun shines. And as things are, “The Inheritance of Loss” would not be seen in paperback any time soon, at least not until it is riding the Booker wave.
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Watch out
Apromising cricketer of the DAV Cricket Academy, Sector 8, Uday Kaul will pose a threat to the Jammu and Kashmir team in the match of the Under-22 State Cricket Tournament starting at Patiala on Friday.
Punjab Ranji player Uday is a student of SD College, Sector 32, and had recently returned from Pakistan, where he represented the country in the Under-19 Cricket series. By wielding his willow, he played a key role in thrashing the Pakistan team on their soil.
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In Town
Indian Ocean and Parikrama, contemporary fusion music band, will perform at a rock concert at the Leisure Valley on Friday. Spice Telecom, along with the Rotary Club, and its youth wing, the Rotaract Club, Chandigarh, are organising this fund-raiser concert in an endeavour to save the lives of poor children, suffering from cardiac disorders.
Some music critics describe their music as “Indo-rock fusion with jazz-spiced rhythms that integrates shlokas, Sufism, environmentalism, mythology and revolution.”
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Anganwadi workers clash with police
Chandigarh, October 12 In their attempt to cross the barricades, protesting women grappled with policemen. The police had to use water cannons to disperse them. Some of the protesters were seen throwing shoes on policemen while many others were virtually pushed over the barricades by their companions making them fall on the policemen. Around 24 protesters sustained injuries in the incident. Six of the seriously injured women were later shifted to the Sector 16 General Hospital. It all started when the protesting union members reached Matka Chowk around 4 pm. Earlier during the day, they held a rally outside the office of the Director (Social Welfare), Punjab, in Sector 34 and held a march towards Matka Chowk in support of their demands. They wanted to submit a memorandum to the state government. At Matka Chowk, they turned violent and were also seen slapping the women police officers. At this, DSP (Central) S.S. Randhawa ordered the policemen to use water cannons, but these failed to work. Encouraged by this, the protesters tried to remove the barricades. At one point of time, the police looked helpless in front of them. However, after around 10 minutes, the water cannons started functioning and the police managed to disperse the mob. Clothes of several protesters got torn in the incident. Some of the protectors fell unconscious. Among those injured were Daljinder Kaur, Reshma Rani, Gurdeep Kaur, Gurjit Kaur and Shinderpal. The Joint Secretary, Social Welfare Department, reached the spot and received memorandum from the protesters. President of the Anganwadi Employees Union Hargobind Kaur, who was also injured in the clash, said in case the Punjab Government did not meet their demands, they would block the road shows of Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
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Tension in Mauli Jagran over beef
Chandigarh, October 12 The police said they were yet to confirm whether it was cow
flesh or meat of another animal. They have collected the sample and will send it for a lab examination to ascertain what meat it was. The police said they received information at around 9 a.m. from Ramayan Chauhan of the locality alleging that a man was in possession of beef in Mauli Jagran. The police reached the spot and raided a house. They found 14.750 kg of flesh from the refrigerator and arrested a man in this connection. The accused has been identified as Tahid Khan. Tahid told the police that today was his son’s birthday and he had purchased the meat in such a large quantity for a feast. A case of hurting religious sentiments of a community, cheating and criminal intimidation under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code has been registered in this regard. Not satisfied with the police action the residents of the locality and of other areas gathered in the locality and were seen forcing the shopkeepers to close their shops in protest. The police has also called additional force in the afternoon and in the evening to contain the mob.
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Three cops honoured for nabbing
gangsters
Panchkula, October 12 Those honoured included in charge police post Sector 7, Randhir Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Rajesh Kumar. The Superintendent of Police explained that the three-member gang comprising Mohammad Suleman, Mohammad Sabir Ali and Mohammad Gulzar, all hailing from Uttar Pradesh, were responsible for thefts and robberies in Kalka, Shimla and Muzzafarnagar. The three were arrested from Ambala Cantonment following a tip off to the CIA Staff. Constable Rajesh Kumar, posted at the Kalka police post, played a significant role in the arrest of the gang members also responsible for the robbery at Bitna Seuri in Kalka where the accused forced their entry into a house, tied hands of members and made good with all the jewellery in the house. Stating that Suleman and Sabir were involved in six different incidents of crime in Muzzafarnagar some three years back, the police said all three had a criminal past. While Suleman is on
the “Most Wanted” list of the UP police, Sabir is a proclaimed offender, wanted for a number of cases. The three were employed as labour in a brick kiln, working only to hide their identity. After committing thefts in UP, they would cross over into Haryana and go underground. ASI Randhir Singh and Constable Gurmeet Singh nabbed two chain-snatchers involved in chain-snatching incidents in the city. While one was nabbed in Sector 14, another was rested from Sector 7. The SP said the award to the three personnel was in recognition of their promptness of action which helped nab the criminals. “We want to encourage more and more personnel to discharge their duties with as much fervour as has been shown by these men” he said. Meanwhile, speaking about the position of the force in the district, he said that much of the shortfall of men had
been met. However, he admitted that the district police needed at least 70 more wireless sets for which a demand has already
been made. In view of the brawl at a guest house in Sector 17, the SP also instructed all police stations to conduct a door-to-door survey and compile a list of all guest houses functioning from residential areas.
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S. African delegation meets Governor
Chandigarh, October 12 Initiating the discussion, General Rodrigues stressed the need for building long-term sustainable economic relations The delegation showed keen interest in the agro-business priorities and technology ventures and assured the Governor that they would evolve a system to ensure continuous dialogue and interaction between the people of South Africa and the region to promote agro-business relationship and trade in other economic fields. The other members of the delegation were Mr C. Chabani, Minister for Environment, and Mr Maite Nkoana-Masabane, Minister for Local Government and Housing, besides representatives of trade and business community.
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50 drug addicts rescued from centres at Nayagaon
Mohali, October 12 The raid was conducted by the police after a complaint was made by the Human Rights Commission that inmates of the centres were being tortured. Two drug de-addiction centres were being run in the village. The police is conducting an inquiry into the complaints and a case will be registered after the inquiry is completed. Dr S.P.Surila, District Health Officer, said a medical team had also visited the village to examine the inmates. He said blunt injury marks were found on the back of a number of inmates. The inmates had alleged that they were tortured by those running the centres. They were often allegedly beaten up and not given proper food and medicines. They were also not allowed to meet any one. Dr Surila said all inmates were brought to the local Civil Hospital. Their parents had been informed. He said all the drug addicts were below the age of 26. The SDM , Mr Darshan Singh Sandhu, had also visited the village.
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Canine menace in Sec 30
Chandigarh, October 12 The health authorities have been directing the residents to the Municipal Corporation and the corporation has been further directing them to seek help from the animal welfare bodies like the SPCA and the PFA. According to Mr Sanjeev Sharma, a resident of Sector 30, a group of stray dogs had been creating nuisance in their locality for the past few days. However, official in the corporation have expressed their inability in dealing with the situation, residents claim.
TNS
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Rural service providers stage dharna
Mohali, October 12 The protest was held after office hours of the service providers. Mr Jagjit Singh Bajwa, president of the association, said the Punjab Government had recruited 1,300 service providers in rural areas through zila parishads. He said the services of service providers were not being regularised and they had been appointed for a period of three years only. He said if the services of teachers recruited by the government could be regularised, then why could not the services of doctors also be regularised. Moreover, the doctors had spent lakhs of rupees on their education but were allegedly not given the due respect by sarpanches and panches of the villages. The protesters said the government should try to look into their demands and do the needful at the earliest.
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Class IV employees stage protest
Mohali, October 12 A memorandum of demands, addressed to the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, was presented to the Deputy Commissioner here today. The union demanded that the agreements done with the employees regarding demands should be implemented at the earliest.
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Air passengers can carry liquids
Chandigarh, October 12
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Former Tribune employee dead
Chandigarh, October 12 His cremation was largely attended by the employees of The Tribune and his relatives at the Sector 25, Cremation ground, here today.
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Divali mela
Panchkula, October 12 The mela will have 50 stalls, selling furniture, leather products, fashion accessories, candles and traditional items.
— TNS
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Three students among 5 injured in accident
Chandigarh, October 12 Those injured in the accident have been identified as Jasleen Kaur (8), Maninderpreet Singh and his sister Prabhsimran Kaur (all students), auto-rickshaw driver Surmukh Singh and car driver Tanveer Singh. The police said Jasleen suffered fractures in both her thighs. Other students also sustained multiple injuries, however, their condition was said to be out of danger. According to eyewitnesses, the auto-rickshaw was on its way to Sector 40, while the Santro car was coming from Chandigarh side on a road separating Sectors 54 and 55. The impact was so strong that the auto-rickshaw over turned while the direction of the car got changed. Passers-by rushed to the spot and evacuated the injured students from the auto-rickshaw. The police reached the spot and shifted the injured students and the drivers of both vehicles to a hospital. Auto-rickshaw driver Surmukh Singh said he was going to Sector 40 to pick up two other students before going to Jeevan Jyoti School, Phase I, Mohali. The police has booked the car driver for rash and negligent driving.
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Youths clash inside cinema
Chandigarh, October 12 According to sources, four youths started dancing to a song in the film, which was objected to by another group of youngsters. This led to an altercation. The fight lasted more than 10 minutes inside the hall. They then came out of the cinema hall while making calls to their acquaintances. However, they fled the spot before the police arrived. The SHO of the Sector 34 police station said in the absence of any complaint, no case had been registered.
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Shop burgled
Mohali, October 12 According to information available, the thieves entered the shop after breaking the exhaust fans installed at the back of the building. They carried out a search in the shop and decamped with various items, including boxes of dry fruit and cash. The owner of the shop had left the premises last night after properly locking it. He came to know about the theft this morning when he opened the shop. Things were lying scattered everywhere. A complaint was made to the police in this regard.
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Fun Republic plan cost exchequer Rs 2.23 cr: forum
Chandigarh, October 12 Addressing a press conference, Mr Chandermukhi Sharma, president of the forum, pointed out contradictions in replies from official quarters regarding different questions asked on the administrative sanction to the Fun Republic. The questions pertained to sanction plans, deviation, alteration and misuse as compared to the original plan. Mr Sharma said the planning and use of the site was not as per the sanction plan shown in the records dated June 19, 2006. The restaurant on the fourth floor was reported in the records of the Estate office on January 10, 2006, whereas the records show that the plan was sanctioned on June 19. The forum has documented the transactions based on notifications, replies from the Estate Office and the municipal corporation and certain other records secured independently.
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CII fair begins today
Chandigarh, October 12 To add to the international flavour, an exclusive range of Nepalese, Pakistani, Chinese and Brazilian products will also be on display at the arcade. The city’s premier shopping festival will have something for everybody, ranging from electronics, computers, consumer durables to beauty aids and fitness gadgets. Celebrating its 11th edition, the fair serves as an umbrella for consumer goods, beauty products, home decor items, electronics and IT gadgets etc.
The fair will be inaugurated by Gen S.F. Rodrigues (retd), Administrator of Chandigarh. |
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