Ropar, June 7
The court of district and sessions judge U. S. Gera acquitted all 14 accused in the infamous Nayagaon rape case wherein a minor Dalit girl was allegedly raped and she later gave birth to a baby boy in 2003.

All the 14 acquitted people included Jyoti Sharma, Avtar Singh Tari, Kanwrinder Singh alias Rinku, Shyam Lal, Gurbhag Singh from Karoran village, Ramkesh alias Kesha and Mahinder Singh of Nadha village, Shakti Chand from Sector 25 Chandigarh, Gurbachan Singh, Gurdhyan Singh and Kesar Singh from Badi Karoran, Ramesh Handa from Nayagaon, Ramgir from Kansal village and SI Amarpreet Singh, the in charge of Nayagaon police post who has registered a case in this connection. They have been acquitted owing to lack of evidence.

The victim, daughter of a Punjab police driver residing in the Khuda Ali Sher area, Chandigarh, was allegedly raped by a group of men. At that time she was studying in Class VIII. For the next two years she was allegedly raped repeatedly. The matter came to light only after she delivered a baby boy on March 1, 2003, at PGI Chandigarh.

The victim's father moved a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on October 2003 alleging that the accused had abducted his family members after the release of her daughter from the PGI on March 5, 2003, and that the police was incapable of arresting the accused.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Punjab and Haryana High Court had filed a challan on October 15, 2005, against 23 people in a special court here. It was directed that a separate charge sheet be filed against eight accused, including Babu Ram, Ram Singh, Satnam Singh, Surinder Mohan, Satpal, Rajwinder Singh, Jagdeep Singh and Labh Singh. One of the accused, Sajjan Singh, had died even before the challan could be filed.

The 591-page challan was filed against the accused under different sections of the IPC, including 376, 364, 365, 366-A, 344, 509, 506, 120-B, 252, Arms Act, Section 8 and 9 of the Prevention and Corruption Act and SC and ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.

However, the case took a U-turn when the victim refused to identify the accused during proceedings in the additional district and sessions judge's court in Chandigarh on August 18, 2006. She had denied giving any statement before Chandigarh sub-inspector Gurjeet Kaur, the then in charge of the PGI police post.

Earlier, on August 14, 2006, she had stated that the SI had got her signatures on a blank paper and she never gave any statement before any police official of Punjab and Chandigarh. 

Mohali, June 7
Bir Devinder Singh, chief spokesman of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, today stated that it is strange paradox that in all matters SAD (B) follows the political guidelines of the BJP, but failed to honour the party’s directive in Punjab, issued by its president Rajnath Singh to reduce the sale tax on petrol, diesel and LPG cylinders in BJP ruled states.

“The statement made by senior BJP minister Manoranjan Kalia in this context sounds ridiculous and absurd. It is also in contravention of the directive issued by the BJP central leadership to BJP ruled states to give relief in sale tax on petroleum products. The BJP in Punjab is not only the alliance partner of the government run by Akali-BJP combine, headed by S. Parkash Singh Badal, rather it is surviving only with their support, therefore, Punjab is equally ruled by the BJP. They owe an explanation to the people of Punjab, as to why the directive of the BJP is not applicable on them in Punjab,” he stated in a press note issued here today.

“Why and under what compulsion Akali-BJP ruling alliance has denied relief to the people of Punjab by not reducing sale tax on petrol and diesel. Moreover there is no point joining illogical anti-Congress rhetoric by the BJP. They even failed to evolve minimally coherent forward-looking energy strategy in their four years rule. Prime Minister Mamohan Singh deserves appreciation for honestly addressing the issue and has called for better demand management on the energy side by taking the entire nation in to confidence,” said the former MLA, Kharar.

All Congress ruled states have reduced sale tax on petrol, diesel and LPG cylinders as asked by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, thereby giving substantial relief to the consumers. Punjab government has failed miserably to appreciate the global compulsions under which prices of petrol and diesel has to be hiked. Badal and SAD leadership need to have a clear-headed understanding of the concept of globalisation, then only they would be able to visualise the importance of the global economy and its compulsion in the Indian perspective.

Chandigarh, June 7
Are women journalists being discriminated against? Though the National Commission for Women presented data indicating that 45.5 per cent of women journalists were discriminated against due to sex and age, resident editor of Indian Express Vipin Pubby pointed out that in most of the English dailies it was the merit that counted.

He was speaking at the inaugural session of the two-day regional seminar on “Women in Media: Fighting Stereotypes - Identity and Gender” organised by MICCI (Media Information and Communication Centre of India) at Panjab University today.

Dona Suri, associate editor, Hindustan Times, in her keynote address, remarked that there had been technological revolution in print media and at the same time, more stark change had been that of its corporatisation which was leading to many women-related issues getting ignored.

She affirmed that gender issues ran across entire society and women journalists should not expect any help except believing in their own strength and expertise.

Nandini Sahai, director, MICCI, underlined the need for women journalists to form an activist group to address issues like transparency in recruitments, promotions, maternity leave, insurance, and other facilities.

Rajeshwar Dyal, advisor, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, New Delhi-based German foundation, speaking on the occasion, referred to two media surveys conducted in 1993 and 2004, which showed that less than one per cent space was being devoted to women issues and there had not been much change in these two studies, except in the vernacular media, where coverage level showed an increase of two per cent.

He lamented that none of the organisations had a clear gender policy whereas our immediate neighbour Pakistan had defined it though it was another matter that out of the 395 women journalists surveyed there, only one woman was in a position of decision-making.

In the technical session on problems faced by women journalists, which was chaired by Renuka Salwan of Bureau of Indian Standards, Shayda of Dainik Bhaskar referred to day-to-day ego hassles that women face with their men counterparts.

Gayatri Rajwade, formerly with Aaj Tak, NDTV, and The Tribune, instead advised the need to rise above gender problems and focus on the work at hand and giving one’s best to it. She underlined the need for a government policy for working women and creation of enough infrastructural support system to enable the women journalists as well as other working women to give their best. She, however, expressed the need for gender sensitisation right from childhood and discrimination between a boy and a girl in the home itself should be tackled first.

Jaskiran Kapoor from Indian Express said women journalists were more effective in their profession because of their inherent sensitive nature and motherly instincts, though at times, it did become a hurdle in one’s career growth, what she described as “friendliness trap”.

Dr Mohanmeet Khosla, chairperson of department of mass communication, PU, spoke about the exploitation and depiction of a woman’s body in the media for commercial interests whereas the vital women issues get ignored while Capt Balwant Gurunay expressed the growing trend of stereotyping women in cinema and other media.

Prof Sherry Sabharwal, chairperson, department of sociology, and Lalita Jagmohan Singh, lecturer from Punjab Engineering College, also spoke on the issue and expressed their concern.

Mohali, June 7
SAD-BJP combine’s campaign for nagar council elections got a major boost today when property dealers and builders of Zirakpur announced to support Capt Kanwaljit Singh and his nominees for the ensuing elections.

A meeting of members of Peer Muchalla-Kishanpura Builders Associations and local property dealers was held at a local hotel today. Addressing the gathering, Vijay Arora, president of the association, and Prem Bansal, representatives of property dealers, announced their support for Capt Kanwaljit Singh and assured him that their associations and members would support SAD-BJP combine candidates put up by him in the present nagar council elections.

Thanking the association and members for their support, Capt Kanwaljit Singh said this community has vast presence in the area and they had, in real sense, developed Zirakpur. He said he was committed to ensure all round development of the area and for this purpose Rs 110 crore had already been released by the SAD-BJP combine government. He said he had ensured regulation of constructions in periphery area and would do everything in the future, too, for the betterment of residents of the area.

He said establishment of international airport at Mohali would further boost the developmental activities in the area.

Among others who attended the meeting included Vijay Arora, Gurmukh Singh, Honey Mangat, Sukhdev Singh Changera and Zora Singh Gill.

Chandigarh, June 7
For the family of Ravi Kumar, his marriage turned out be a nightmare as their 24-year-old son is untraceable since a day after he got married.

Ravi’s father Sher Singh, a resident of Dadu Majra, rued that the police had failed to trace his son, who, he alleged, had been kidnapped by his in-laws about three months ago.

According to Sher Singh, his son got married to Manju, a resident of Khanna on February 20. Ravi, along with his wife, had gone to Khanna a day after the marriage but came back the same day. The same day at around 11 pm, Manju, along with her acquaintances, took the entire jewellery from the house, but was caught by her brother-in-law from a nearby market. The family informed the police, who took Manju to the Sector-39 police station.

Manju’s family reached the police station and took the couple along saying that the matter had been resolved by a compromise between the families. Ravi had gone missing since the time the girl’s family took the duo to their native village in Khanna.

A week later, Manju registered a case against the entire family, who was arrested by the Khanna police. Though, the family was later bailed out, yet the police has failed to trace their son.

“It’s been more than three months since we do not know Ravi’s whereabouts. I have even written to the SSP and met the Inspector General of Police S.K. Jain last week, but nothing has been done to trace my son,” alleged the father.

In charge of the police post in Maloya Pragat Singh said, Ravi himself went along with the girl’s family and were accompanied by a cop of the Punjab Police. There being a rift between the families, they are levelling allegations against each other.

Chandigarh, June 7
Britannia, a leading bread-manufacturing company, was selling postdated breads in the market, alleged city residents today.

A number of residents from different parts of the city were surprised to discover that the manufacturing date on the bread packets was June 8, 2008.

Chandigarh resident Lakhminder Singh at first thought that the bread delivered to him by the vendor was duplicate. He immediately brought the matter to the notice of the vendor.

As the vendor did not give any satisfactory reply, the issue was brought to the notice of The Tribune. A team from The Tribune surveyed a number of shops and found that a couple of shopkeepers in various sectors were selling breads bearing manufacturing date of June 8. The packets are in possession of The Tribune.

Lakhminder Singh while talking to The Tribune said, “Whether it is a printing mistake or the company is selling stale breads with advanced dates, the matter needs a thorough inquiry.”

When The Tribune team tried to contact the customer care of the company, all complaints were ignored.

Chandigarh, June 7
Popular hangouts for youngsters, especially those running during the late night hours, are giving sleepless nights to the Chandigarh police. Every other day incidents of youngsters involved in brawls outside these joints are on the rise, with the police finding it hard to cope with the rising nuisance.

Late night eateries, including the 24-hour coffee shop at Aroma Hotel in Sector 22 here and another eating joint in the same sector, are popular among youngsters. Here beer is available even after mid-night. Roadside eateries at ISBT and near the Sector 16 Government Multi-Speciality Hospital are some of the hot spots for youngsters during late night. Most of the visitors here are either drunk or are under the influence of intoxicants.

Besides, these areas being the most sensitive within the city, the crowd becomes a traffic hazard for the police. Even though the police has written to the UT administration regarding closing these round-the-clock eateries from 1 am to 4 am, including the coffee shops, the administration seems least interested.

According to K. Pannu, SHO, Sector 17 police station, 24-hour eateries are a nuisance for the police. “There is a sharp increase in the movement of strangers in the area. There is no security provided by the owners of these cafeterias. The police has to perform this function. The administration should come forward and put a check on these 24-hour eateries”, he said.

Contrary to what the police says, these eateries provide the cheapest mode of entertainment and relaxation to the city youngsters.

K.S. Gill, a student preparing for competitive exams, said, “For a young student, the 24-hour eateries are all- time favorites. I study for the whole night and there are times when I look for late-night eating joints.”

Suvek Singh Dhillon, a young lab technician at the PGI, said, “I finish my work at about 1.30 am and am so exhausted by that time that I can’t cook myself. Having 24-hour eateries or even family restaurants will make things much easier for a bachelor”.

Rimmy Sood, a student, too, feels that the 24- hour eateries are a necessity these days. “If restaurants, including eating jointsm, will remain open throughout the night, the city will be more happening and it will make the city safer for girls to roam about in the night”.

Chandigarh, June 7
Late nights, partying out, movies, dating, hanging out at coffee houses, clubbing, drinking and smoking is a way of life for a majority of paying guests in the city.

But such lifestyles are giving headaches to the Federation of Sectors’ Welfare Association, Chandigarh (FOSWAC).

Residents living close to these paying-guest accommodations in many sectors have had quite a few bitter experiences.

Several complaints have been registered by the FOSWAC against many PG houses with hardly any response from the administration.

“It takes quite a bit to jolt the police and the administration out of sleep,” says FOSWAC chairman P.C. Sanghi.

While these youngsters are enjoying their hearts out at hang-out zones like Café Coffee Day, Hot Millions and KFC and favourites like Blue Eyes, Arizona and Arabia, the federation claims that it is the residents who are paying heavily due to such lifestyles.

The federation says what creates a nuisance for the residents is the fact that hardly any PG accommodation owners follow the guidelines laid under the Notification of the PG Association, Chandigarh.

They just leave the PG houses to minimal staff of some cooks and a security guard that leads to more and more problems.

“No one pays any heed to following even the proper registration procedure. Almost 80 per cent of the paying-guest accommodations are not registered in the city. In space, where one is not permitted to house more than three to four paying guests, up to 35 girls and boys could be living,” says Sector 18 welfare association head Satpal Sewak.

Other complaints from the residents include extremely loud music, chaos at odd hours, drinking and smoking habits, and the dating scenario. While there have been instances when boys comment on the girls passing by, others complain of rise in small thefts, chain-snatching incidents, etc.

Sunil Chopra, Sector 18 welfare association head, says, “Their odd timings are a big nuisance. Returning late night, guys hooting on bikes happens frequently.” The federation believes that a majority of the problems will be solved if the guidelines for PG accommodation were followed strictly. “The situation calls for efforts from the administration to ensure that, at no cost, are these guidelines violated,” says P.C. Sanghi.

“Even we have crossed this age. We know that life as a paying guest brings along a lot of freedom, but it is the duty of the PG accommodation owners to ensure that this freedom does not create problems for the residents nearby”, says a Sector 33 resident. 

The main road leading to Radha Madhav Mandir, Sector 4, Panchkula, passing in front of the Traffic Police Lines and connected with Haripur village is in a very pathetic condition. Drain water from the village keeps leaking onto the road and it always remains full of slush.

There are big potholes as a result of which the old and the infirm going to the temple have to tread in the drain water while moving vehicles splash muddy water on them.

I request the concerned authorities to look into the matter and get the needful done as soon as possible.

Chandigarh, June 7
City colleges are introducing many new courses in order to provide ample opportunities to students. Below is the list of some colleges and new courses that they are initiating from this session.

S.D. College , Sector 32: Undergraduate (UG) courses (elective subjects): computer science (40 seats), fashion designing (40 seats).

PG courses: Masters in applied chemistry pharmaceutical (20 seats). Merit cut off is 60 per cent, masters in entrepreneurship and family business (40 seats); MCA (AICTE)-30 seats. Merit cut off is 50 per cent and the admission is based on an entrance test to be conducted by Panjab University.

Add-on courses: Guidance and counselling (40 seats); security analysis and portfolio management (40 seats); computer and statistics (40 seats).

GGS College for Women, Sector 26: UG course: Computer science has been added as an additional subject in BA.

Dev Samaj College for Women, Sector 45: UG course: BBA (30 seats).

PG diploma course: Fashion designing (15 seats).

Industrial Training Institute, Sector 28: The college has introduced 11 new short-term industry specific courses. The duration of all courses is three months and eligibility is education up to fifth standard. The minimum age for the applicant is 14 years but there is no upper age limit. Fee for each subject is Rs 1,000 only. The list of the subjects is as follows: Basic automobile services (two and three wheelers); basic automobile services (four wheelers); basic electrical training; basic home appliances; basic wielding; computer fundamentals (MS office and internet); turning, CNC turning, book binding, basic swing operator, refrigeration.

Government College, Sector 11: Journalism, video editing, video reporting.

PG course: MA history.

Government College for Girls, Sector 11: UG course: BCA.

PG diploma course: Computer applications (PGDCA).

Government College for Girls, Sector 42: Tourism and travel management, bioinformatics, environmental auditing.

Government College, Sector 46: Tourism and travel, honours in geography, honours in history.

The education department of the Chandigarh administration will conduct admissions to government colleges from July 8 to July 15.

Director of higher education Raji P. Srivastava yesterday formally launched the prospectus for joint admission to Government College, Sector 11, Government College for Girls, Sector 11, Government College for Girls, Sector 42, and Government College, Sector 46, and Government College of Commerce and Business Administration, Sector 19.

The prospectus, costing Rs 70, will be available from June 9 onwards in government colleges and is also available on the website of the Chandigarh administration at <http://chandigarh.nic.in/>. The admission forms downloaded from the site will have to be submitted along with a bank draft of Rs 70. Students will have to apply on separate admission forms for each college and each course.

Chandigarh, June 7
Young lawyers, who recently passed out from PU, sat on the relay fast today and registered their protest against the myopia of politicians who are unable to see the potential of PU to serve Punjab and other neighbouring states.

Lawyers from the district court, Chandigarh, who sat on the chain fast today included Paramjit Singh Rana, treasurer, District Bar Association (DBA), Harinder Thakur, executive member, DBA, Maheshwar Singh Sidhu, Arun Dhiman, and Umesh Kumar Pandey, PU alumni.

Maheshwar Sidhu said, “Till yesterday we were students of this prestigious university and completed our education at a nominal cost. Our brethren now in colleges cannot think of even entering the university as the cost of education has spiraled up recently beyond the means of their parents.”

Showing the data of 31 per cent overall increase in the price of prospectuses in 2008 compared to the last year, Harinder Thakur, executive member, DBA, suggested that the only alternative to check this trend was to make this historic university Central and let it be fully funded by the Union Government.

Prof D.N. Jauhar, senior law professor from the department of laws, while agreeing to what his former students projected to the media at the dharna site, pointed out that at present, PU was being run with Rs 47 crore deficit in the current budget towards which neither Punjab Government nor UT Chandigarh owed any responsibility. “Though all reasons suggest that PU should have been a Central University much earlier but the Punjab and Union Governments are busy in out smarting each other politically instead of saving PU from the crisis,” stated Prof Jauhar.

Chandigarh, June 7
Two days after the Chandigarh Tribune highlighted the laxity on the part of the administration of the Panjab University Business School, Regional Centre, Ludhiana, in submitting the examination forms and fees of all 49 students enrolled in MBA late due to which the result of the first semester was not declared, the university authorities swung into action and declared the results today.

On the orders of vice-chancellor Prof R.C. Sobti, officials tracked down the problem to the accounts department. It was found that due to negligence on the part of the accounts officials in the Ludhiana centre, fees was not deposited even though students had submitted the same along with the forms before the due date.

Also, late fees of Rs 14,000 which every student was told to pay in order to get the result, was waived, much to the relief of the students.

It is pertinent to mention here that on June 5, The Tribune had reported about the lack of coordination among the university officials in Chandigarh and administrative staff of the Regional Centre in Ludhiana.

The students were asked to pay a penalty of Rs 14,000 each for submitting examination fees and forms after the due date.

The students had appeared in first semester examination in November 2007 for which the result was not declared even after the beginning of the second semester.

Mohali, June 7
The Punjab Technical University (PTU) authorities today made a mockery of the CET - 08, creating chaos at the examination centre in Government College here and subjecting hundreds of examinees to harassment. The examination started more than half an hour late than the scheduled time.

The examinees had reached the college before 12 noon, the scheduled time of the start of the CET, only to be told that the examination would start an hour late as the examination papers had not reached the college. The examination admit cards had incorrectly stated the Government College in Phase IV when it was located in Phase VI.

It is learnt that when some of the parents questioned the authorities concerned as to why the examination was being delayed when all other centres were holding it on time, invigilators changed 
their earlier stand and announced that the examination would be started at 12.30 pm and students were asked to take their seats.

Deepak Gupta, who had come with his son to the college, said as the invigilators had allegedly earlier told the students that the examination would start at 1 pm, some left the premises to return later. As such some of them reached late for the test.

The examination finally started at 12.35 pm and finished at 2.35 pm. Students were given the stipulated time of two hours to complete the test. The same examination started at 12 noon at Shivalik Public School, which is located at a distance of less than half a kilometer from the college.

Six hundred students had appeared for the CET at the two centres located at the college.

An observer for the examination, Rajesh Gupta, failed to spell out the reason why an announcement was made to start the examination an hour late. He, however, said students would be allowed to enter examination centres even if they were late and would be given two hours time to attempt the question paper.

Principal of the college Roop Aulakh said all arrangements for the examination were in order.

Sarojini Gautam Sharda, registrar, PTU, said while talking to The Tribune that the examination papers had reached the centre well in time and she failed to understand why the examination was started late. She said the matter was not brought to her notice and the lapse would be probed. She added that a correction in the venue of the examination centre was made on the Internet and students must have reached the college without any problem.

Chandigarh, June 7
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has virtually laid down guidelines for the trial courts for appreciating evidence in “self-defence” cases. It has held injuries sustained by the accused are not conclusive of the existence of right to self-defence.

A High Court Division Bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice S.D. Anand has ruled: “For claiming right of private defence; and explaining the causing of death, the accused has to show grounds for apprehension that death or grievous hurt would have been caused to him. The right lasts so long as the apprehension lasts”.

In their detailed order on an appeal filed by the state of Haryana against the acquittal of Raj Kumar and four others in a murder case, the Bench has further ruled: “We are also conscious of the legal position that onus to establish the right of private defence is on the accused.

“The said right does not extend to inflicting more harm than necessary for the purpose of defence. Mere fact that there are injuries on the bodies of the accused persons is not conclusive of the existence of right of private defnece”.

The Bench has added that the defence has to establish that the injuries point towards the probability of the existence of right to private defence.

It was further held: A person apprehending death or injury cannot weigh his action in golden scales. To determine the number of injuries required to disarm the assailant, the situation has to be pragmatically viewed.

Dismissing the appeal against the acquittal, the Bench has added: We are conscious of the legal position that mere failure to explain injuries on the accused is not fatal to the case of the prosecution, but where injuries are serious and caused at the same time and evidence comprises partisan witnesses and the defence gives version which competes in probabilities with the version given by the prosecution, non-explanation of injuries assumes significance.

Referring to the case in hand, the Bench added no interference was called for with the view taken by the trial court. The prosecution was wholly silent on the manner in which the injuries were caused to the accused.

The Bench added the accused were medically examined simultaneously and a number of injuries were found on them, which included sharp-edged injuries on vital parts.

Moreover, the investigating agency did not look into the cross-version at all. The accused had given a counter version that it was the complainant side that had attacked them with deadly weapons; and they acted in self-defence, the possibility of which could not be ruled out. 

Chandigarh, June 7
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed LIC Housing Finance to give Rs 50,000 as compensation to a Panchkula resident, Rajesh Khanna, for allegedly auctioning a disputed property.

The petitioner, Rajesh Khanna, had purchased a plot for Rs 5.32 lakh in Rhonee village of Derabassi from the company in an open auction in March 2006. The land belonged to a defaulter of the company, Rajinder Pal Singh.

The petitioner said the company sold him the land that had already been sold by Singh to a city resident. As a result, the company didn’t give him the possession of the plot after the auction. Rajesh alleged that the company had misinterpreted the facts and cheated on him. On the other hand, the company pleaded that it was not aware that the defaulter had already sold the property and was apprised of the fact by the petitioner.

Holding the company “guilty of misusing their authority”, the forum stated that it was a lapse on the part of the company to auction a plot without verifying records.