Chandigarh, November 18
Spurned by his beloved, a 23-year-old law student of private college in Sirhind, Vikas Kashyap, allegedly jumped to death in Sukhna Lake here this morning.

Though the deceased’s family has ruled out any foul play behind the death, the police said it was looking into all aspects leadings to his death.

Vikas was accompanying his friend, 19-year-old Radhika, a final year student of architecture in Government Polytechnic College for Women in Sector 10, in a boat when he jumped into the lake near the jungle area.

Radhika told the police that Vikas had called her to talk to his beloved Mehak, a lecturer at a private institute in Sector 35, as she was going to marry someone else. He gave Radhika, who was their common friend, his phone and told her to persuade Mehak.

Quoting Radhika, the SHO of the Sector 3 police station Har Sahai Sharma said Mehak had told her that as she was going to marry with someone else, she should tell Vikas not to call her anymore. On hearing this, Vikas jumped into the lake.

Radhika told the police after the incident, she raised an alarm but he disappeared in the waters.

At the same time, someone informed the police at 11:55 am which reached the spot. She said Vikas had called her to the lake to discuss the issue. They reached there at 10:30 am and hired a boat.

The police had launched a search operation which lasted for over four hours. Meanwhile, the police had informed Vikas’s family about the incident which also reached the spot. Vikas’ father, Mohan Lal Kashyap, an employee in an insurance company in Ambala, also reached there. He ruled out any foul play behind his son’s death.

The police quizzed Radhika for over seven hours and kept her at the Sukhna Lake police post before taking her to the police station after the body was fished out.

Radhika was an old friend of Vikas and they used to study at Manav Mangal School in Sector 21. When mediapersons asked Radhika about the incident, she refused, saying “no comments”.

The body was fished out at 4 pm. A handkerchief was found tied around the right wrist of Vikas. Sources in the police said it was possible that Vikas tried to cut his vein to commit suicide, but it would only be cleared after the post-mortem examination.

ASP (central) Madur Verma said they would wait for the post-mortem report to take further action. The SHO said Vikas’s father had not expressed doubts on anyone. Going by the circumstantial evidence and the statements of divers, who saw Vikas jumping into the lake, it appeared to be a case of suicide. He said they tried to contact Mehak, but her mobile was found to be switched off.

At the Sector 16 hospital, Vikas’s friends described him as a brilliant student and said he had been in love with the girl for many years.

Chandigarh, November 18
Rashpal Singh Sidhu, a road accident victim in his mid-thirties, succumbed to his injuries at the PGI last night.

The victim’s family held the staff at the Sector 16 Government-Multi Specialty Hospital (GMSH) responsible for his death.

According to the police, Rashpal, a readymade garments dealer, was on his way back home in Sector 56 on his motorcycle.

He was under the influence of liquor and lost control over his vehicle and fell down. He sustained head injuries and was rushed to the GMSH. His friends were also accompanying him.

Rashpal’s family alleged that an emergency medical doctor had given a painkiller injection and discharged him immediately even as the patient was complaining of dizziness.

A doctor gave assurance “not to worry”, alleged one of the victim’s friends, claiming that he was with him.

The family told mediapersons that an hour after reaching home, Rashpal complained of uneasiness and they rushed him to the PGI, where he was declared brought dead.

“He could have been saved if they had taken him under observation at the hospital instead of discharging him,” the victim’s brother, Pratap, said, accusing the hospital of taking his brother’s treatment casually.

Refuting the allegation, sources in the hospital said Rashpal went away without informing anyone and he was not discharged from the hospital.

Chandigarh, November 18
The residents of Colony No. 5 today blocked the dividing road of Sectors 44 and 51 for more than five hours to demand proper supply of electricity.

The violent mob consisted of around 1,000 people that even threw stones on commuters and also vandalised the public property.

They blocked traffic for hours few months back also and then were assured by the department that the electricity will regularly be supplied to them.

The residents revealed the fact that actually the issue was related to the distribution of bills. Earlier there was a contractor who was supplying the bills in the colony.

“But now the postman never delivers the bill properly,” said a resident adding “then how can we pay the bill on time?” Some residents showed their bills to this correspondent, which they had paid in advance.

Rajvir Singh, a resident of the colony, said, “We will not tolerate it if the electricity is not supplied to us on regular basis. Even after paying the bill we are facing the problem. If this issue is not resolved then the authorities will have to face a tough time.”

DSP (South) Jaswant Singh Khaira, along with the police party, reached the spot to handle the situation. “The police arrived here as the mob started to vandalise the public property. However, there was no major loss,” said Hari Kumar, an eye witness.

“It is not easy to live without electricity. It is the callousness of the authorities towards the weaker section of the society and they will understand our problem if they have to face the same problem,” said Sanjiv, an area resident.

The police said there was no loss of property and no case has been registered against them. Municipal corporation mayor Pradeep Chhabra also visited the spot to settle the dispute. The electricity was reportedly supplied to them later on.

Panchkula, November 18
Pilgrims visiting the famous Kali Mata temple and Mahadev temple in Kalka and Saketri, respectively, can expect better facilities in future as the state government has decided to take control of management of the shrines.

The state government has decided to improve the infrastructure in these shrines on the pattern of Mata Mansa Devi temple.

After getting the Chief Minister’s nod, the local urban bodies department is all set to send the proposal submitted by local administration for the approval of the state cabinet.

The management of the Nepali Baba temple, situated near Mata Mansa Devi, would also be taken over by the state government. Confirming this, Panchkula deputy commissioner Rajinder Kataria said a proposal in this regard was sent to the government starting that the matter was pending even after the local residential and social organisations represented on the issue since the constitution of Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board in 1991.

After several representations to the local administration, a committee under the chairmanship of sub-divisional magistrate was constituted recently and after its recommendations, the case was sent to the government, he added.

President of the Citizens’ Welfare Association S.K. Nayyar said: “We had made several representations to the Chief Minister, director, local bodies, and local administration suggesting that these temples should be developed on the pattern of Mata Mansa Devi shrine.”

The number of pilgrims visiting these temples has increased manifold during last decade and in order to manage it properly, it was necessary that government took over their management, he added.

Resident Welfare Association, Mansa Devi Complex, Sector 4, also welcomed the move. Davinder Mahajan, president of the association, said he has brought the issue to the notice of chief minister.

It would help starting more charitable projects in the area similar to those that were started after setting up of Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board, he said.

Director, local urban bodies, Haryana, Dr Mahavir Singh said it was yet to be decided whether these shrines would be managed by the Mata Mansa Devi Board or separate boards would be set up after the government takes over the management of these shrines.

Chandigarh, November 18
As many as one lakh children, including newborns, were administered anti-polio drops at 462 stationary booths, including 93 mobile booths, across the city as part of the second phase of the nationwide polio immunisation drive here today.

The campaign was supervised by Ram Niwas, health secretary, Dr M. S. Bains, mission director cum director, health and family welfare, and Dr Usha Bishnoi Kapoor, joint director, health and family welfare cum medical superintendent, GMSH-16, in various slums and colonies.

Members of many NGOs, religious leaders and municipal councillors of the city too contributed in the campaign by motivating the parents to bringing their children to the booths.

Independent monitors deputed by the World Health Organisation, PGIMER and Government Medical College, Sector 32, inspected the campaign.

The next mop-up round of the Pulse Polio Campaign will be held from December
14 to 16.

Mohali, November 18
The OPD wing of the Mohali Civil Hospital was hit after doctors were put on pulse polio duty. It affected a large number of patients who visited the hospital here.

Patients kept waiting for the doctors even when a notice had been put up which stated that only emergency patients would be entertained.

Seeing the rush of patients, the SMO in charge of the hospital Dr H.S. Sarang then requested doctors in the field to come to the hospital by turns and examine OPD patients.

All doctors were put on pulse polio duty who had to supervise the ongoing operations. Only one doctor, Vijay Bhagat, was in the hospital on emergency duty. A door-to-door campaign of the pulse polio was carried out today.

Sarang said the pulse polio campaign was of paramount importance as it was a national programme. Seventeen doctors of the hospital had to ensure that the teams working under them visited all 44,000 houses in the town.

He said Dr Kamaljeet Singh, acting regional coordinator of the north zone under the WHO, Dr S.P.S. Sohal, director, Health Services, Punjab, and other senior officials had visited the hospital yesterday in connection with the pulse polio campaign. 

Chandigarh, November 18
The Chandigarh pavilion at the ongoing India International Trade Fair(IITF-2008), New Delhi, presents a study in contrast.

While its traditional pottery, medical equipment, honey products and laptop comfort trays get overseas trade inquiries, the product range has remain stagnant over the years providing a food for thought for the UT top brass.

"Besides domestic trade inquiries, businessmen from the UK, the USA and Dubai have inquired from the UT stalls, particularly from the Adharshila Potteries, medical equipment and laptop trays. In the last three days, over 70,000 visitors and 88 trade inquiries have been reported from the Chandigarh pavilion," Vandana Disodia, director of industries, Chandigarh Administration, told a group of visiting journalists from Chandigarh at New Delhi yesterday.

The pavilion's small size vis-a-vis the other state pavilions and industrialists' reluctance to take part in New Delhi as compared to the local trade exhibition "Chandikrit" were largely responsible for the limited product range, Disodia conceded.

Disodia claimed that with the size of pavilion going from last year's 350 square feet to 420 square feet this year, the participants had gone up from 13 to 16 this year displaying a range of products, including stalls of CITCO and the department of information technology.

Chandigarh, November 18
District consumer forum has directed Satinder Kumar of Kanan Tours and Travels in Hallomajra to pay a compensation of Rs 20,000 for adopting unfair trade practice to a resident of Sector 32.

The petitioner, Prem Singh, had hired a taxi for his son’s ‘baraat’ from Chandigarh to Shimla and back on November 25, 2007.

For the purpose he had booked six Qualis taxis. He deposited Rs 1,500 with the taxi owner and waited for the taxis on the scheduled day, but it didn’t come till 8.30 am.

Thereafter, he rang up the taxi operator and was informed that the taxis were on its way and would reach by 8.45am but the taxis didn’t reach the destination by 9 am.

The taxi operator, Satinder, denied that he had received advance. It was stated that the petitioner would pay half of the agreed amount before one day of the marriage the amount was not received.

The forum stated, “It appears that in order to earn more profit, the taxi operator migh have diverted the taxies earmarked for the complainant to some other marriage function to earn more. This is an unfair trade practice, which not only embarrassed the complainant but also humiliated him particularly in the eyes of would-be-in-laws of his son.”

Chandigarh, November 18
The department of paediatrics neurology and neurodevelopment unit celebrated National Epilepsy Day today in association with Prayaas.

About 100 children, along with their parents, participated in the programme, which was held at Prayaas, a rehabilitation centre in Sector 38 here.

The aim of organising the event was to increase the awareness of people regarding this common, but often hidden illness, said Prof Pratibha Singhi, chief of paediatric neurology.

The day started with a “Draw as you like” competition for the children. Children of all ages starting from 4 years to 18 years took part in the competition. The best drawings were selected among these and suitably rewarded.

An interactive session with the parents of these children was conducted with 5 panellists headed by Prof Singhi. Several questions dealing with day-to-day management and long-term prognosis were discussed.

Prof Singhi said that almost 50 million people in the world suffer from epilepsy and more than 60 per cent of the cases of epilepsy start in childhood. Nearly one third of the children with disabilities suffer from epilepsy.

Epilepsy in them is more severe and complicated when compared to children who are neurologically normal. Usually a single anti-epileptic drug is enough to control seizures in most patients, but children with disabilities may require more than one drug.

There is no single cause of epilepsy. In our country infections of the brain, including parasites such as Neurocysticercosis, are common. In other cases illness, head injury or in disabled children an abnormal brain development may be responsible or it may be genetic. However, there were lots of myths in the mind of people that were dispelled by this awareness programme.

Prof B.N.S. Walia quoted examples of great achievers who had epilepsy. Dr Sanjay Wadhwa, head of the physical and rehabilitation unit at the PGIMER, mentioned some of the newer medical and surgical techniques being used for the children who were physically impaired.

K.K. Khandelwal, additional principal private secretary to the CM (Haryana) was the chief guest. He lauded the cause and announced a grant of Rs 1 lakh on the behalf of the Chief Minister of Haryana for these children.

Chandigarh, November 18
Thousands of BSNL subscribers were disconnected today when a power wire cut led to the disruption in its network.

The users complained that for over two hours they could neither make nor receive any calls on the network. The problem began around 12.30 pm in the morning.

Anuj Verma, businessman, said he, was in the midst of a conversation with his client, when the network went off.

“For almost two hours, I remained disconnected,” he said. It was not just that the BSNL users could not talk on the BSNL network. The mobile users from other networks, too, could not get across to the BSNL users.

Naresh Sharma, GM, Chandigarh, BSNL, he said, power wires were cut due to which mobile customer had faced temporary problem.

The network was restored to normal within 2 hours and customers were able to enjoy uninterrupted services.

Mohali, November 18
Promoters of mega housing projects in Greater Mohali Region will have to reserve 5 per cent area for construction of flats for the economically weaker sections (EWS).

The cost of the flats will have to be determined in consultation with the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA).

In the mega townships and other housing projects approved around the Mohali city alone, over 2,000 flats would be offered to the beneficiaries at subsidised rates, said a senior official.

The benefit has been extended following fresh guidelines by the Punjab Housing Department regarding the policy for allotment of one room and two room tenements. As the dimension of the tenements has been fixed, the approximate cost of a one-room tenement works out at around Rs 6 lakh and that of a two-room tenement at around Rs 10 lakh.

The promoters will have to commence construction of flats along with the general housing flats. At least 80 units would have to be constructed for each acre of reserved area.

Citing example, an official said in case the reserved area was 2.5 acre, the promoter would have to construct at least 200 units.

The money earned from the application fee would be deposited in an Escrow account, jointly managed by the builder and concerned development authority. However, the builder has been allowed to allot 5 per cent of the flat.

The committee also elected the following as its office-bearers: president-Lt Col (Retd) P. S. Randhawa; senior vice-president- Jaswinder Singh Ghola; vice-president-Amarjit Singh Bhullar; general secretary- Jagtar Singh; finance secretary- Sardara Singh; and press secretary- Hardeep Singh.

Chandigarh, November 18
Soul-stirring depiction of the life of poet Tulsidas by a group of visually challenged children left everybody mesmerised at Government College-11 auditorium today.

The play “Tulsidas” sponsored by the Inner Wheel Club came across as a unique initiative with everybody applauding the zeal of actors and efforts of Reva Gandhi, the director.

“I myself was so thrilled to see them performing so well. It is always a little difficult to work with them as compared to other children, as it involves very strong coordination of sound and count of steps. Moreover, these children are very sensitive and you cannot be loud with them. The most inspiring thing is that it was their idea to organise the event,” said Reva.

The participants seemed to be overwhelmed by the response that they got and used the opportunity to voice a simple wish.

“When we were in blind school, we had lots of opportunities. But felt lost in the college. So we approached our teacher to help us out. I request that like GC-11, other city colleges should also have provision for admission of students like us,” said one of the participants.

Suggestions or objections to these lists can be filed in writing with the RO concerned by 5 pm on November 25.

Zirakpur, November 18
The Zirakpur Traffic Police today booked 65 motorists for violating traffic rules and regulation from various parts of the area.

The drive had conducted to nab traffic violators and challaned them.

Traffic in charge Zirakpur, Sanjeev Kumar, said nakas were set up at various places in entire area.

He said the drive was launched to check over speeding, drunken drivers, triple riding and especially wrong entries.

The traffic police said they would organise nakas regularly to avoid accidents.

Chandigarh, November 18
Six members of reporter’s club of Carmel Convent School, Sector 9, interacted with Pardeep Chhabra, mayor, municipal corporation, and learned about the functioning of the MC today.

The mayor informed the young reporters that the corporation was going to start a night food street at Sector 14 from December this year, and various big projects were in pipeline, including Mahila Bhavan at Sector 38.

He said the corporation was also running various vocational courses for BPL families under the Swaran Jayanti Shahari Rozgaar Yojana (SJSRY).

One young reporter Diksha enquired about the future plans of the corporation, in reply to which the mayor told that there were plans to modernise the remaining dhobighats in seven places, and the work was in process to increase the water supply from 19 to 24 hours a day.

He informed that the corporation had planned to construct two more fire stations at IT Park and Sector 52 to curb the fire incidents in these areas.

Chandigarh, November 18
Ashiana Public School announced the launch of Ashiana Super Achievers Academy of Genius Children today. Lalita Prakash, principal of the school, declared it as an initiative to ensure holistic development of the specially gifted children.

An essay-writing competition was organised on the topics “Aboard the Scientific Express: Shaping the Future” and “Science in our Life: From Sunrise to Sunrise”.

Chandigarh, November 18
A one-day seminar on “e-Learning: Prospects for Teacher Educators” funded by SAP (DRS), U.G.C. will be organised by the department of education at ICSSR Complex, Panjab University, tomorrow.

The seminar aims to acquaint teacher educators with concept, goals and areas associated with e-learning.

Chandigarh, November 18
Sri Gita Prachar Samiti, Panchkula, organised Gita recitation competition to celebrate Gita Diwas at Moti Ram Arya Senior Secondary School, Sector 27B, here today to propagate the sacred message of Bhagwadgita. Students of Classes VI to X participated in the competition.

The students stole the event by giving presentation among the gathering in the auditorium. Principal of the school gave away the prizes to the winners. Sweets were also served to the students.

Ravi Gulati, secretary of the samiti,announced that the student, who recited any chapter of Bhagvadgita in the next programme, would be awarded.