As such, all those constructions that have come up either within that land, which is being acquired or not, are illegal constructions.

Chandigarh, August 7
Chivalry is not dead as yet. Setting an example for others, two young city-based lawyers not only chased down a youth after he molested a girl but also turned him in to the police, before lodging a complaint against him.

At a time when people avoid getting involved in a police case and legal wrangle, the two — Manvendra Rathee and Jasmeet Bhatia — willingly became complainants.

“By becoming the complainants in the case, we will ensure that the accused is punished and not discharged for lack of evidence. Most cases of eve-teasing go unreported. If people are punished for the offence, it will create awareness and help curb the menace,” said Manvendra.

The incident took place this afternoon on the road separating Sectors 32 and 33. “We were headed towards Sector 46 when we saw a girl walking on the cycle track.

A man riding a bicycle zoomed past her, stopped his bike suddenly and molested her. She screamed for help and managed to free herself. The accused fell off the bicycle and started running in the other direction. We stopped the car and rushed to girl’s rescue. But we saw accused running and decided not to let him flee,” said Jasmeet.

The two gave the accused (later identified as Sanjay) a chase and nabbed him.

They then called the police control room and after a PCR vehicle reached the scene, they handed over the accused to the police.

Even as a huge crowd had gathered at the scene, when the policemen questioned the passersby, no one wanted to go to the police station.

The two lawyers accompanied the policemen to the police station-34 and lodged a formal complaint.

Sanjay was later booked on charges of outraging the modesty of a woman.

“The incident reflects the callousness of public towards seeking justice. Though everyone complains about the inability of the police, they themselves are not keen on helping the police. It is only when citizens learn to stand up against injustice done to them or others, that they will get justice,” said Manvendra.

Chandigarh, August 7
Going by the disclosures of the arrested drug peddlers, the policemen suspected of involvement in the nexus had played an active role in numerous cases.

In most cases, these men managed to maintain a close relationship with the accused during interrogation.

Sources revealed that the drug peddlers made the use of women in smuggling drugs from one state to another.

The women were used not only to smuggle drugs but also to exchange information with drug peddlers.

The network had spread up to Goa, which is known as one of the biggest markets for drug traffickers.

The functioning of the UT police has been under scanner for some time, as UT policemen had in the past only managed to seize contraband weighing between 200 gm and 900 gm.

Even as the city is becoming a hub for drug peddlers, the police has by and large failed to trace their whereabouts.

Incidentally, Sekhon had arrested a Jammu resident with 700 gm of drugs from
Sector 35.

The drug samples that were seized later failed during the test conducted by the CFSL, following which the accused was bailed out.

It was learned that certain policemen distributed the quantity of the drug seized among arrested peddlers.

Sources in the police headquarters said the report submitted by the Narcotics Control Bureau termed these five policemen as “helpers”.

They used to shield the peddlers, making it easier for them to operate across
the tri-city.

Chandigarh, August 7
Unfazed by strong criticism for its anti-landowner stance, the Chandigarh administration is adamant on sticking to its guns regarding implementation of the National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2008.

After being pulled up by the ministry of rural development, the Chandigarh administration has made minor changes in the final draft, which will soon be implemented as the policy, applicable in the UT.

Currently, the UT is acquiring land in the Mani Majra and Sarangpur area. Sources said in the draft, no reference about paying land compensation as per the intended land use and the market value of the respective land has been touched.

“It is in total violation of the spirit of the national policy that speaks everything about the rehabilitation and compensation to those affected by involuntary displacement as result of land acquisition,” said the Mani Majra Welfare and Environment Protection Society.

While the special character of the city like applicability of the Periphery Act and the Land Acquisition Act are mentioned by the administration while denying benefit under the national policy, it bends the rules to accommodate big builders in the name of development, they alleged.

The administration has been accused of hiding the facts while coming out with the National Rehabilitation Policy.

The compensation of Rs 18.75 lakh an acre to acquire 104 acres of land for Phase III of the IT Park is in gross violation of provisions contained in chapter VI, para 6.22 and further sub-paras of National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy 2007, which indicate that compensation award shall take into account the market value and the intended land use.

Though the policy clearly states that rehabilitation of one group of people should not be at the cost of acquiring someone else’s land, the administration is silent on the issue.

Under the scheme, an affected family owning over five acres will be entitled to a three bedroom flat, those owning one to five acres of land will get a two bedroom flat and those having less than one care will be entitled to a one bedroom flat.

Miffed at the manner in which the UT has handled the farmer’s issue, the landowners have decided to call upon officials of the home ministry and rural ministry.

More trouble for DSP
Mandeep Puri
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 7
Chandigarh police DSP Satbir Singh, who is already facing a departmental inquiry following a complaint of misbehaviour by a woman SI, is heading for more trouble.

UT deputy commissioner R.K. Rao has recommended to the IG to initiate another departmental inquiry against Satbir for not appearing before the sub-divisional magistrate in connection with the alleged torture of two Bapu Dham residents.

In his letter, Rao stated that the SDM, who was conducting the inquiries on the directions of the home secretary, had sent a memo on May 19 asking the DSP to appear before him on May 21 at 3 pm.

The DSP refused to take the memo from process server and when he was instructed on the phone to appear on the said date, he flatly refused, the letter states.

The letter stated that Satbir resorted to “loose talk” with the server. Stating that the “DSP has evidently made efforts in creating hindrance in smooth inquiry and his attitude is totally unacceptable”, Rao said he proceeded against “departmentally”.

It may be recalled that inquiry was initiated after reports appeared in a section of the press that the two, arrested on charges of theft from Bapu Dham by SI Harinder Singh Sekhon, were given electric shocks before being dumped in Sector 26.

Sekhon was recently suspended for his alleged links with certain drug peddlers arrested by the NCB.

Chandigarh, August 7
The Amarnath shrine row accorded the city roads today with members of the Shiv Sena protesting against the order to scrap the transfer of forestland to the Amarnath shrine board.

The protesters marched through the city roads starting from Sector 47 and went pass through Sectors 45, 34, and 35. The rally ended in Sector 22.

The protesters threatened that in case the land was not given back to the board, the protest would be further intensified.

Chandigarh, August 7
Feroz Khan, a 22-year-old youth, was killed in a road accident on the Khuda Lahora road here this evening.

According to the police, Feroz, a mechanic, was killed when a CTU bus (CH 01 G 5934) ran over him.

He had gone for a test drive of a scooter, when he lost control of the scooter and fell. The bus coming from behind ran over the victim, killing him on the spot.

The body of the victim has been shifted to the mortuary. A post-mortem examination will be conducted tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the police has arrested bus driver Sanjay Kumar on charges of causing death due to negligence.

While the cars were damaged badly, the drivers of both the vehicles, Rajan and Manish, escaped unhurt.

Rajan, who is in the business of landscape, however, was found under the influence of liquor and arrested.

Chandigarh, August 7
As the cat II towns in India witness the IT boom, QAI India, a part of global quality assurance consultancy for knowledge intensive organisations, QAI Worldwide, too, has its eyes set on these smaller cities.

The consultancy is eyeing these emerging IT destinations not just for providing quality assurance, but also to scout for talent to train as software testers.

Talking to TNS here today, Navyug Mohnot, founder and CEO of QAI India, said that they were now exploring opportunities for growth in the emerging IT hubs like Trivandrum, Coimbatore, Ahmedabad , Chandigarh and Jaipur.

“As the IT industry grows in these towns, we, too, foresee a massive growth by venturing into these cities for quality assurance. However, the thrust for us will be to train youth from these smaller cities as software testers,” he said.

A number of overseas clients of the IT companies send their software for testing here. As the demand for software testing has grown, the top IT companies here have now set up separate divisions for software testing.

QAI India set up a new venture for training professionals as software testers. “Edista Testing Institute was set up in Bangalore, after a number of our clients, who we were providing consultation on quality assurance, reported that there was a huge demand for software testers. Studies show that by the year 2010, there will a shortfall of 20,000 testers in the country,” he said.

Chandigarh, August 7
Lured by countries in Latin America, Eastern Europe, China and the Philippines with major sops and subsidies, the Indian IT industry is going overseas for expansion.

Hit hard by the growing inflation; recession in the US, and, amidst threat of a Comprehensive Immigration Bill in the US, the IT growth story here could reach a plateau, if the government did not continue to offer concessions to the IT sector.

Talking to TNS here on the sidelines of the eRevolution conference, Dr Ganesh Natarajan, chairman of NASSCOM, said opportunities for investing overseas were high. “Most of the IT companies are already expanding in Latin America, eastern and central Europe, China and the Philippines to augment their capacities,” he said.

Natarajan, who is also the global head of Zensar Technologies, said his company, too, was looking at an expansion in Latin America, and had earmarked $ 5 billion for the purpose.

Natarajan said for the Indian IT industry to remain globally competitive, the government would have to extend the Software Technology Parks of Indian (STPI) scheme on a long-term basis.

It may be mentioned that the government was now in the process of creating development commissioners for the 140 odd IT SEZs.

The NASSCOM chairman said the Indian IT industry had grown to an astounding $ 64 billion and the software exports from India touched $ 40 billion in 2007-08.

“In fact, 70 per cent of the software exports are from the STPIs. Since there is a clause that the IT SEZs will seek only fresh investment, the units in STPI cannot shift base there. Even the rentals in the SEZ will be at least 40 per cent higher, thus cutting into the thin profit margins of the IT industry,” he added.

Natarajan admitted that there had been a slowdown in the IT sector in the first quarter of this year, mainly because of the economic slowdown in the USA.

“The growth in the first quarter has been only 21 per cent, as compared to 30 per cent last year. Even the recruitment by the IT majors is down by 15 per cent as compared to last year. But this is a temporary phase and we hope that the annual growth would be in the region of 30 per cent,” he said.

Chandigarh, August 7
The roadmap for IT growth in this region cannot be complete without the assistance of the governments of Punjab and Haryana.

Considering the huge potential of information technology and information technology enabled services in industrial growth and also in citizen related services, the two states and Chandigarh Administration will have to work in tandem to emerge as the new IT hub of North India.

This was agreed upon by officials from the two states and Chandigarh during the inaugural session of the two day eRevolution conference that began here today.

It was agreed that with the collective help of the three governments, the region could grow well.

Speaking at the inaugural session, Gen S.F. Rodrigues (retd), Governor of Punjab, asked the IT entrepreneurs to deploy information technology for the benefit of 300 million poor in the country today.

He said the government has put together a strong e-governance system so that the bureaucracy can facilitate and not interrupt the progress, and to create an environment of trust.

He also listed various efforts made by the Chandigarh Administration to provide citizen related services through its eJansampark centres, besides creating an enabling environment for the entrepreneurship to develop here.

Dr Ganesh Natarajan, chairman, NASSCOM, emphasised the need to make IT an all embracing tool for social reengineering, because it is not only creating prosperity it is changing the landscape of opportunities for the youth.

There is a clear potential for a five-fold growth in the next five years and the tricity should extensively make use of IT in agriculture, health, education, and various other social sectors, he said.

He emphasised the need for creating a sustainable ecosystem in the region which should have at least 1,000 small entrepreneurs, access to skilled manpower on regular basis, besides the social infrastructure and government support which is already in place.

Ramesh Inder Singh, chief secretary, Punjab, said the state government is coming up with new industrial policy and strategy to create a road map for the IT/ITES development in the state.

Dharam Vir, chief secretary, Haryana, spoke about the state of progress in Panchkula area and said Haryana is the only state in the country to provide EduSat programme in all its schools, besides launching state eligibility test for appointment of quality teaching faculty.

Omkar Rai, senior director, Software Technology Parks of India, commended the region for its continued growth and fast development that would attract more investment in the region.

Mohali, August 7
It was one of those days in the tehsil office when virtually no officer of the district administration was available to attend to the public.

For most part of pre-lunch office time, people who had come for various works had to wait for officials to return from a host of meetings and then get their work done.

Iqbal Singh, who had come from Phase X here, told The Tribune that he, along with some others, had arrived at the tehsil office at 9.30 am and was to get some affidavits attested, but no one was available.

“First we went to the tehsildar’s room, but he was not inside, nor was the naib tehsildar available. We waited till 11 am after which we went to the DC to complaint, but he was also not available,” he said.

“The DC’s PA Sunita Sharma asked us to wait for 15 minutes. Later she asked us to meet the ADC. None of the ADCs were available. We were told to meet the DRO. But the DRO shouted at us and told us that he could not help them,” said Iqbal Singh adding that those waiting at the office had to return without completing the work.

Deputy commissioner Rahul Bhandari said he had been called out for certain meetings. “Some of the officials were out till about 11.30 am, but were available after that,” he said.

Panchkula, August 7
A little less than one-acre land belonging to the Haryana Urban Development Authority has been sold to a couple as Kalka tehsildar allegedly ignored the revenue records of the department and allowed the registration of the land in the name of two residents of Moga in Punjab.

District revenue officer (DRO), Panchkula, K.K. Amrohi after examining the case has written to the commissioner (revenue), Haryana, recommending the action against the accused tehsildar.

According to the report submitted by Amrohi, the matter came to light when the buyers of the land Gurmit Singh and his wife Devinder Kaur complained to him that the mutation of the said land purchased by them was not being done in their favour even as the land was registered against their names on June 20.

They bought the land from Didar Singh and Gurdhian Singh, residents of Manakpur Thakardas village in Kalka and Sandharsi village in Rajpura, respectively, for Rs 14 lakh, said the buyers in their complaint.

While investigating, LAO found that a piece of land measuring 3 bighas, 7 biswas and 10 biswas was acquired by HUDA, from Didar Singh and Gurdhian Singh on March 28.

The acquisition report was duly entered in the revenue records as well and accordingly HUDA had become the owner of said land.

Still ignoring the whole revenue and HUDA record, the tehsildar registered the land in the name of Gurmit Singh and Devinder Kaur, said the DRO.

Naresh Kumar, tehsildar, Kalka, however, could not be contacted as he did not answer his phone despite repeated efforts.

Chandigarh, August 7
The income tax department conducted raids on factories and residences of the Bathinda-based Mittal group of industries today.

The raids were conducted by the investigation wing of Ludhiana. According to sources, the raids were conducted simultaneously in Sector 43, Chandigarh and Sector 6, Panchkula.

The income tax team reportedly found incriminating documents pertaining to properties owned by the group.

Tax evasion, if any, would be assessed only after the scrutiny of the documents, said official sources.

Vijay Kumar, director (investigation) income tax, Ludhiana, refused to comment on search and said it is too late. Search was on till the filing of the report.

Mohali, August 7
A programme of Indian classical dances was organised by the disciples of Pandit Gian Shankar at Chandigarh in connection with his first death anniversary.

Shankar died at the age of 81 due to a heart attack in Mohali last year. Born in 1899 in Lahore, Shankar migrated to Mumbai in 1947 and started directing dances there.

He provided dance direction in more than 180 Hindi and Punjabi films, which includes Kedar Sharma’s “Banware nain”, B.R.Chopra’s “Afsana”, V.Shantaram’s “Amrit manthan”, and films like “Ahsan”, “Main shadi karne chala”, “Kaude Shah”, “Pocketmar”, and “Sawan Bhadon”.

In 1968 he returned to Punjab and decided to keep alive his love for dance under the aegis of Gian Arts. Here, he was associated with the government schools and colleges as a dance teacher.

The Punjab government had honoured Gian Shankar in 1972 for his services in the field of art. He was also the recipient of the Maharashtra state award for art and was also a member of the Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Academy.

Chandigarh, August 7
Major RN Kapoor DAV Public School conducted an exhibition cum sale of hand made rakhis and cards yesterday. The exhibition is on till August 8.

Rakhis made by the school students were admired, adored and picked up by several buyers. This sale was purely for a charitable cause by the Army Postal Services.

A book week exhibition is also being organized from August 6 to August 14 to inculcate the reading habit among the students.

Apart from books on leisure-reading, new arrivals on competitive exams, poetry, autobiographies, encyclopedias, dictionaries, general knowledge, etc are also on display in the school library.

Chandigarh, August 7
To highlight the importance of injury management, the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32 is planning to hold a national workshop to train manpower in various aspects of injury management.

“The objective of organising this workshop is to sensitise the authorities about the importance of injury management in the country,” said Prof Raj Bhadur, director principal of the hospital.

Medical student generally receive a very rudimentary exposure to the topics related to injury prevention.

Though, doctors and nurses learn about the management of trauma and injuries but rarely have exposure to the latest knowledge on prevention. There are varied requirements in terms of developing the capacity to prevent injury, said Prof Bhadur.

For injury prevention and control, Prof Bhadur will prepare training module, which will be included in the curriculum of the undergraduate students as well as the nurses.

According to the estimates from the World Health Organisation (WHO), almost 90 per cent of deaths due to injuries occur in developing countries, he added.

He also said that it could be reduced with existing knowledge and applications of control measures, including epidemiological assessment and good policy framework.

Chandigarh, August 7
The Joint Action Committee (JAC), constituted to demand central university status for PU, held a meeting under the chairpersonship of Prof A.S. Ahluwalia.

After the deliberation it is decided that the dharna would continue till the University receives any official communication for the central university status.

The members of JAC took serious note of the inordinate delay on the part of the Punjab government in issuing letter of concurrence to MHRD in response to its letter offering central university status for PU.

It is worth remembering that more than a month has passed when S. Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister, Punjab announced on the campus that there is no opposition from the Punjab government to the central university status for PU.

He however, had expressed his apprehensions that PU might not be made central university out of the quota of second central university for Punjab.

Since MHRD has already agreed to the second central university for Punjab and in this regard a team from MHRD has already made an official visit, there is no reason to make any further delay in the letter of concurrence from the Punjab government, said Prof. Manjit Singh, Secretary PUTA.

JAC also made an earnest appeal to the Chief Minister, Punjab that he should take personal interest in issuing the letter and announce the same in a function of the Languages Department, Punjab in the PU campus.

The Committee has also decided to submit representation to the CM at the time of the function in the campus demanding an early letter of concurrence by the government of Punjab.

In the meanwhile, JAC has decided that the faculty of Punjab University would go on mass casual leave on 12 August and assemble at the site of dharna to take out a protest rally in case the letter of concurrence is not issued till then.

It is also decided that the agitation would be intensified as soon as the election process of PUTA gets over.

Failing which, it will be presumed that all the students admitted in the years 2002-03 to 2004-05, have agreed to be governed by the new regulations, according to Prof. B.S. Sohi, director, UIET, PU.

Chandigarh, August 7
One mistake Jagan Nath Sharma did not live to rectify was gifting house to his son. He lived fighting for the country as Subhash Chander Bose’s driver, and later as a “member” of the Indian Army. But died fighting litigation with own descendant.

When it was time for him to sit back and relax in his Sector 15 Chandigarh house, Sharma happened to gift it to his son.

Before long, the son had a shot at throwing both parents out of their peaceful abode. Not the one to give up, Sharma combated the attempt.

But before he could legally reverse his actions, the ex-soldier made his final exit from the world, leaving behind his wife to struggle for space in the same house.

The gloomy narrative, fit for a Bollywood flick, now forms a part of the judicial record. On legal and humanitarian considerations, Justice Ranjit Singh of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that the mother is entitled to share in her son’s property. A petition filed in the matter by the daughter-in-law also stands dismissed.

Justice Ranjit Singh has summed up the entire controversy by observing: “Values, perhaps, have changed with the value of the property. The daughter-in-law is not able to realise that this house was built and gifted to her husband by none other than the husband of Tara Devi Sharma (75).”

In a judgment that is reflective of the changing society’s new face, Justice Ranjit Singh has observed: “The unfortunate father happened to gift his house to his son during his lifetime. The son, being from generation actuated with modern values, soon showed his true colours by attempting to throw the old man and his wife
out of the house.”

“The father realised his folly and acted to correct the mistake and challenged the gift deed on the grounds of fraud etc. Before he could succeed, he completed his worldly journey. He is no more. He has left behind his wife to face the ire of their own children. The son also has not enjoyed the fruit of gift and has passed away, leaving behind his wife and children to fight his mother.”

“Not a scene in some movie, but this is the plight of freedom fighter… When he suffered a heart attack in 2001 at the ripe age of 80, his son requested him to execute a power of attorney in his favour. Jagan Nath Sharma had earlier executed a will in the favour of his grandson, who is none other than son of his same son.”

“This will was, subsequently, revoked in order to avoid strained relations with the son. But the son not only neglected the father, but took advantage of his frail health in obtaining signatures on certain blank papers.”

“Soon thereafter, the son started misbehaving with his father, and mother as well. Even allegations of threat to life were advanced for transferring the house in question on the basis of blank papers that were got signed…. The father died fighting litigation.”

Before parting with the orders, Justice Ranjit Singh added: “The daughter-in-law has expressed her difficulty to accommodate aged mother-in-law, though she is accommodating paying guests and is prepared to arrange some rented accommodation for her.”

“What a scene to notice? Mother or mother-in-law is not being tolerated in a house which was raised by her husband and is in the possession of her off-spring.”

Chandigarh, August 7
After a trial that lasted eight years, district and sessions judge K.K. Garg today sentenced Ram Karan, a domestic help, to life imprisonment for strangulating Parkash Kaur to death.

The accused was held guilty of murder and voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery by the court.

According to the prosecution, Ram Karan worked as domestic help at the Sector 15 residence of Parkash Kaur and her husband Attar Singh.

On March 9, 2000, the victim’s husband left for Zirakpur in the morning. He reached home after two hours to find his wife dead. Thereafter, he informed the police.

The servant had disappeared from the residence after stealing jewellery worth lakhs and an almirah. The police arrested the accused the same day and recovered the stolen valuables.

Talking to The Tribune, Attar Singh said: “That day I had gone to Zirakpur for some work and was shocked to find my wife dead upon return. One of our family friends had suggested us to keep a servant. Had I known the intentions of the man I would have never kept him.”

During the trial, the defence lawyer had moved an application stating that the accused was a juvenile and the trial should be shifted to the juvenile board. However, the application was declined.

According to sources, the servant had worked at the residence of the deceased for two years before he committed the crime.