NEIGHBOURHOOD

30 withdraw nominations
Our Correspondent

Ropar, December 19
The Ropar police today arrested five cops of head constable rank for allegedly letting the drug peddlers walk free after taking a bribe of Rs 20,000 from them.

Acting on a complaint of CIA in charge Gurcharan Singh, the police arrested head constables Jograj, Hakam Singh, Shyam Lal and Jasvir Singh, posted with highway patrolling police. Another accused Baljinder Singh is still at large, said the police.

Two months ago, the accused cops intercepted one Hardeep Singh, alias Sona, a resident of Shyampura area of Ropar, near near Sahibzada Ajit Singh Academy on Morinda road and seized 10 kg of poppy husk from him. However, Hardeep was let off after taking Rs 20,000 and the contraband from him, added the police.

"The cops neither put the confiscated booty on papers nor arrested Hardeep," said SSP R.N. Dhokey.

Today, a CIA team police laid a ‘naka’ near Katli village and stopped Hardeep Singh for verification. During verification, he told the police that five cops had stopped him two months back and had taken poppy husk and Rs 20,000 cash from him.

All the accused have been booked under the NDPS Act and Prevention of
Corruption Act.

Patiala, December 19
Veteran Congressman and former councillor Santokh Singh, who has been installed president of the Rajindra Gymkhana and Mohindra Club, has said development of the club would be his top priority.

Santokh Singh, in an interview with The Tribune, said his first priority would be to ensure that all development works now in progress were completed on time.

He said he would strive to improve the quality of food and sports infrastructure in the club. He added that offices of the club would be computerised with a view to making online payments possible.

Club members had been complaining of not getting bills and other club communications on time and therefore the computerisation of the club had been necessitated.

He added that the club had affiliation with prestige clubs across the country and efforts would be made to seek affiliation with some clubs in adjoining countries.

The ambience of the club would undergo a transformation and the old glory and grandeur of the club would be further restored. The club would also be restored to its pristine glory, he asserted.

He thanked members for reposing confidence in him and the new team. He thanked the outgoing team for the development works taken up during the last five years.

He said even though the club elections were contested on group basis, the new team would work as a single cohesive unit for all-round development of the club.

Rajpura, December 19
Considering high death rate in newborn children, rural doctors working under the zila parishads held an awareness camp at Baprour village on Thursday.

Dr Sukhjinder Singh, a rural medical officer, said efforts should be made to educate health personnel and public to improve the health of newborns.

The newborns’ health is of paramount importance as it contributes significantly to infant mortality. The infant mortality rate has significantly dropped over the last one decade, but is still very high.

He further stated that it is important to educate people about common causes of the newborns’ deaths such as infections, diarrhoea, congenital malformations, birth defects and other miscellaneous causes.

He said every mother should ensure early and exclusive breast feeding for six months which was important for building the innate immunity of the newborns and have full impact on the quality of life.

Breast feeding protects the newborns from bronchitis, ear infections, pneumonia, diarrhoea and urinary tract infections, besides boosting IQ of the newborns.

He said acute diarrhoea remained a great public health problem in children and making the rural as well migratory population understood about the importance of hygiene and sanitation and the role of oral rehydration therapy (ORT) and the continuation of nutrition in the children were necessary.

Chandigarh, December 19
The three-judge committee set up by the Chief Justice of India to look into the much- publicised “cash-at-the-judge’s doorstep case” has categorically stated that the currency notes in the bag were not bribe money.

In its report to the CJI, the committee has also stated the “scam” was nothing, but a matter of judicial impropriety.

The committee arrived at the conclusion after examining witnesses in two sessions spread over more than six days.

Information available from New Delhi suggests with these findings, the Supreme Court of India is contemplating the feasibility of placing the committee report before Justice Nirmal Yadav of the Punjab and Haryana High Court for her comments on the issue.

Her name had surfaced in the statement of prime accused Sanjeev Bansal as the proposed recipient of Rs 15 lakh.

The money had erroneously landed in the house of another judge with similar name - Justice Nirmaljit Kaur.

A case in the matter was registered at the instance of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur after the police was called in by her.

Initially, the case was investigated by the Chandigarh Police, but the matter was later handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

It now transpires that the bagful of cash alleged to have been delivered by Bansal’s clerk, leading to the registration of the case, was not meant to bribe any judge; contrary to the general belief among so many bar members.

Without waiting for the committee to complete its probe and submit a report in the matter, the bar during its meetings had given the matter the proportions of a scam.

So much so that some of the members had gone up to the extent of describing Bansal as a black sheep.

The members had publicly claimed that Bansal had made an attempt to bribe a judge. While one case had surfaced, so many others had gone undetected, they had added.

The demand for the withdrawal of work from the judge too was made by the bar in the meetings. In the process, the names of some others were also dragged in the controversy.

Chandigarh, December 19
Can IPS officer S.K. Asthana continue to be the investigating officer of the security equipment case when he himself was the chairman of the technical committee involved in the purchases?

The vital question of law was thrown to the state counsel by Justice Ranjit Singh of the Punjab and Haryana High Court this morning.

As the matter came up for hearing, Justice Ranjit Singh observed: “The attention
of the state counsel has been drawn to an additional affidavit now filed and taken
on record.”

“The present investigating officer, S.K. Asthana, IPS, was the chairman of the technical committee, who purchased various equipment during 2002-2003, at least on nine occasions. He has also accepted in his affidavit that as a member (though he is chairman) of the technical committee, his role was only to evaluate the technical aspects of the bids.”

“Thus, he has conceded that he was associated with assessment of bids, which was ultimately accepted and the equipment purchased. State counsel would have instructions whether S.K. Asthana would be in a fair position to investigate this matter being an investigating officer.”

The case will now come up on December 23 for informing the court on the issue. Earlier during the proceedings, the details of equipment purchased by the intelligence wing were handed over to the court in a sealed envelope.

“The envelope will remain in a sealed cover till further orders,” Justice Ranjit
Singh asserted.

Chandigarh, December 19
A colonel broke down in the court today. Miffed at “the Haryana government’s failure to cooperate” in the traffic regulation and highway widening case, NHAI’s project director Col. K.P. Sharma sobbed his heart out for over five minutes in an open court.

Efforts by the Bench of Justice Uma Nath Singh and Justice Daya Chaudhary to console the visibly perturbed Army officer could not achieve the desired results as Col Sharma, in a shaky voice punctuated with deep emotions, and asked the court to issue orders for reliving him of the charge.

It all happened in courtroom No 8 at about 11 am. The court was hearing arguments on the issue of widening the Pinjore-Kalka stretch.

As the controversy between the NHAI and Haryana over expenditure incurred in the removal of the electricity poles came up, the Bench asked both the parties to provide a list of “bottlenecks” between them.

Speaking for the Bench, Justice Singh asked Col Sharma to point out problems, if there were any. The question, it seems, brought out the chocked up emotions.

At that point, Col Sharma said: “I want to go back, if the state does not
recognise my services”.

At the asking of the Bench, Col Sharma said he was getting all the support from the centre, but not from the state.

“I am not here to fight, I will prove myself somewhere else,” he said in a voice gradually turning heavy.

“Please pass orders to relieve me, otherwise they will not relieve me,” he said.

As he finished speaking, Justice Daya Chaudhary, sensing the heaviness in his voice, observed that the colonel looked disturbed.

“He is feeling helpless,” she said, while asking him to take it easy for the time being.

Even as Justice Chaudhary spoke, Col Sharma’s lower lips trembled, while he wiped the forehead with his palm. By the time he reached the chairs in the courtroom, Col Sharma burst into tears.

The Bench then asked him and state counsel to come to the chamber for resolving the issues before adjourning the matter for 15 minutes.

As the case came up for resumed hearing after the break, Col Sharma looked
relieved, comparatively.

Chandigarh, December 19
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today made it clear that it was disappointed at the bureaucratic and administrative delay in filing the plea for granting death penalty to Kandahar hijacking accused Abdul Latif Adam Momin.

The observation by the Division Bench of Mr Justice K.S. Garewal and Mr Justice Jitendra Chauhan came while condoning the delay of 161 days in filing the plea for enhancing the life imprisonment to death penalty.

After hearing arguments in the case for over 35 minutes this morning, the Bench admitted the petition for the final hearing. His counsel also accepted the notice issued by the Bench to Latif.

As the matter came up for hearing, counsel for the CBI Anmol Rattan Sidhu made a passing reference to the Mumbai blasts in his attempt to drive home the message of awarding death penalty to Latif, who was convicted for his role in the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 from Kathmandu to Delhi.

The CBI has all along been asserting that the objective was to hijack the aircraft in order to get their leader Maulana Masood Azar released from a jail in India. The CBI has also been claiming the case falls in the category of “rarest of rare cases”.

Challenging the judgment, the CBI has asserted the trial court instead of awarding “well-deserved death sentence under Section 302 and 120-B of the IPC to convict Abdul Latif, awarded inadequate sentence of life imprisonment”.

Chandigarh, December 19
The Punjab and Haryana High Court wants the secretary, ministry of shipping, road, and surface transport, to ensure that the controversy shrouding the control of stretch between Pinjore and Kalka be resolved.

As the highway widening and traffic regulation case came up for hearing, the Bench of Justice Uma Nath Singh and Justice Daya Chaudhary made it clear that laxity on his part would make him liable to remain present in the court on the next date of hearing.Appearing before the Bench, National Highways Authority of India project director Col K.P. Sharma said he was a part of high-powered committee meeting held in the ministry of surface transportation for the widening of the road between Pinjore and Kalka.

He added the proposal to restore the road’s control to Haryana government was seriously debated in the meeting and a notification to this effect was likely to be issued shortly.

The Bench then pointed out the issue has been attracting their attention for over one and a half years because of the hue and cry raised by the road users.

Elaborating, the Bench said the commuters had to wait for hours at the bottlenecks. At this, Col Sharma expressed his helplessness.

Taking note of his anguish, the Bench observed: “We do not expect any authority, including Col Sharma, to do something beyond their control.”

But at the same time, the Bench brought to the fore the urgency to resolve the issue by saying in recent past over 17 people had lost their lives in accidents.

Mohali, December 19
The Mohali police today arrested two persons for running an illegal telephone exchange from a house in Phase VII here.

The illegal exchange was unearthed after a telecom company, Connect, complained to the police that a subscriber, Sati Parkash, was misusing landline and mobile connections of the company.

Puneet Palsania, an official of Connect, in his complaint to the police said on verification it was found that the subscriber, who had taken nine connections, was using the same for illegally making international calls.

After inquiring into the matter, a police party raided the premises and arrested two persons. The main suspect has, however, not been arrested. A case has been registered at the Matour police station.

Chandigarh, December 19
Two residents of Himachal Pradesh, Raj Kumar and Ishwar Dass filed a complaint with the police, alleging that Rajan Bansal, a resident of Sangrur, took Rs 64,000 from them to send them abroad. But he neither sent them abroad, nor did he return their money.

Mohali, December 19
Aimed at preventing terrorists from sabotaging the India-England Test match, the heavy police arrangements did not stop unscrupulous elements from selling the match tickets in black.

The tickets of various stands were being sold for a marginal profit, and most of the gullible purchasers were college students. “Since the ticket-sale counter on the outer boundary wall of the stadium was closed, we had no option but to buy the ticket in black,” said a group of students from the Mohali government college.

The SSP, Mohali, J. S. Aulakh, said he was not aware about the sale of tickets in black. “We will take strict action the moment any such complaint is brought to our notice,” he said.

About two hours after the test match started, a group of youths were seen loitering in the commercial area of Phase IX, few metres away from the fortified premises of the stadium. The Tribune team was witness to the sale and purchase of tickets with the cops behaving as mute spectators to the illegal activity.

PCA honorary joint secretary, G. S. Walia, said the tickets were available at various banks, and the students could easily buy the tickets there. The ticket-sale counter at the stadium had to be closed due to security reasons. A group of English fans had also to wait for several hours before a Samaritan took them to a bank to buy the tickets.

A police official said only those with valid tickets or passes were allowed within the fortified radius of the stadium. Walia said they had not received any complaint of tickets being sold in black.

Despite the PCA not releasing more than two tickets to a person, the black marketers were in possession of a number of tickets.

In one specific case, a regional channel captured shots of the back of tickets in front of the Town Pride hotel in Phase IX. A person was sold a Rs-200 ticket for Rs 220. The student ticket worth Rs 20 was being sold for anything between Rs 50 and 60. A complaint in this regard has been lodged with the Phase VIII police station.

Till afternoon, the black marketers were seen looking for buyers around the commercial area of Phase IX. A notice of tickets available at cooperative bank in Sector 70 went unnoticed. “By the time we reached the sealed area around the stadium, the agents had already sold us the tickets,” said Balwinder, who had purchased a ticket.

Mohali, December 19
The ongoing 2nd Test match being played between India and England cricket teams is a memorable event for 15 nascent young bowlers from the Tricity, who got selected to practice with the teams here at PCA stadium.

“Mainly we are learning the grip and release of the ball from the England team coach, Peter Moores, in the net practice,” said the all-rounder, Rahul Chabbra.

The England team coach advised them to hit the gym every day. “The coach told us gym is must for a bowler in order to strengthen the shoulders, which helps in bowling fast,” he added.

What they found exciting is seeing the wall, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman playing aggressive. “Though during the match they play defensive but in the net practice they are very aggressive,” said pacer Anmol.

Jagpreet who got tips from England’s fast bowler, Stuart Broad, learnt the different techniques of bowling to a combination of left and right-hand batsmen. “Stuart told me what changes do I have to make during the left and right hand combination.”

On asking what difference they feel while bowling to an ordinary batsman and an international batsman. “The main difference is they are technically sound and in terms of technique Indian team is even better than the England team,” replied the budding bowlers.

Jagpreet who idolises Flintoff, says, “After attending the practice session with international players, we are feeling confident.”

Opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are the ones who do a lot of fun on the net and are well supported by the skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, found these bowlers who were selected after seeing their performance during the Ranji Trophy net practice.

Chandigarh, December 19
In an era when terrorists are armed with sophisticated automatic weapons, the Chandigarh Police, like its other counterparts, is still largely depended on the danda.

It is rather ironical that while the Indian and England cricket teams are being provided high-profile security while travelling or in their hotels, the long routes on which they travel everyday are manned by lathi-wielding policemen. Senior city police officials may offer several explanations for this but the truth is that even these policemen admit that they would “worthless” in any eventuality.

“If our job is to keep the stray cattle and cyclists off the VVIP route then these dandas are fine, but if are expected to stop an armed man or a suicide bomber from carrying out his nefarious designs, these routes are as good as unsecured,” said a middle aged policeman.

“I have been on the VVIP duties all my life but I haven’t fired a shot or touched a weapon since my training days,” he said, adding that this danda has been his sole companion.

What is also surprising is that while these security people lack arms and ammunition, they also have no means of communication. “We have no wireless sets or even mobile,” said another cops, claiming that he would have to run to a local shop or a house to make a call to the control room. Even trained commandoes from the Punjab police were seen deployed on these routes with lathis and they also did not have wireless sets in their hands.

The UT SP H.S. Doon said, “There are various wings of the security and a large number of policemen on duty are armed with weapons.

Those who are without weapons are supposed to conduct search of suspicious persons, thus they are required to be empty handed. Moreover, they are not alone on the roads; our armed patrolling parties are there to tackle any eventuality. We have deployed adequate number of police personnel to face any situation.

Mohali, December 19
There was a low turnout of spectators at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) stadium here today, the first day of the second Test between India and England.

Barring the students’ block, most of the stands wore a deserted look. There was a series of security checks on the way to the stands.

PCA chief I.S. Bindra had claimed in a press conference that more than 5,000 tickets have been sold. “We expect 10,000-15,000 spectators in the coming days,” he had said, but the empty stands told a different story.

The weather is also being cited as one of the reasons for the low turnout. “We have sufficient tickets sold but it may be due to cold weather and exams of students that resulted in a low turnout,” said a PCA official.

“Last time, the Punjab government had brought 5,000 children from villages to witness the match, but this time there is no such arrangement. I think this kind of move should be promoted,” said a cricket aficionado.

The students’ block had a relatively good crowd where a lot of enthusiasm was witnessed among children.

A large number of participants tuned in from New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Pune, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Bhopal, Patna, Jamshedpur, Bhubaneswar, Nasik, Nagpur, Vizag and Mysore to interact with Anand, who took the session while being at the Delhi studio of NIIT imperia centre for advanced learning.

Chandigarh, December 19
Winning is a habit for Raghbir Singh of Mohali, an employee of Punjab Mandi Board, who recently won three gold medals in 29th Punjab Masters Athletics Meet at Sangrur, on December 13-14.

He participated in the above 55 age category and bagged gold medals in 100 m, 400 m, and 800 m race. Earlier he was awarded as the Best Athlete of Punjab Mandi Board. He has bagged many awards in his life and has never been defeated in 400 m.

“I have learnt a lot in past few years. Earlier, I was a hockey player from where I built the stamina. Now, I am concentrating on my game and have an aim to open a free academy for the mentally challenged,” Raghbir said. “I will continue racing till the age of 85 and wish to set a record. I am a great fan of Milkha Singh, who is also my role model,” Raghbir added.

Chandigarh, December 19
Manav Das of Ambala shot a two under par 70 to lead on the opening day of the LG Goodricke Eastern India Amateur Golf Championship on the par 72 greens of Royal Calcutta Golf Club in Kolkata today. Manav is placed sixth in the LG Order of Merit because of a win in the LG Coimbatore Open.

The Eastern India Amateur is divided into two stages. On the first two days 82 golfers are competing in stroke play format to determine the seeding. Then only 32 will make it to the match play format to be played over the next five days culminating in the finals on December 25. Akshay Butta and Abhinav Lohan were close behind at 71.

Fifteen-year-old Ashbeer Saini from Kapurthala continued his good form and shot an even par 72 to be placed fourth on the leader board. Chandigarh's H.S. Kang, winner of the LG RCGC Cup, could barely manage with a round of two over par 74 to be placed tied 11th. Last year, Mithun Perera defeated Gagan Verma in the 36th hole playoff in the finals to emerge victorious in the LG Goodricke Eastern India Amateur.

Most of the illustrious names in the Indian golfing circuit have won this tournament at one time or the other during the course of their career.

Scores: 70 Manav; 71 Abhinav Lohan, Akshay Butta; 72 Ashbeer Saini, Gagan Verma; 73 Samresh Sardar, Abhishek Jha, Vikram Rana, Keshav Kapoor, Raja Sardar, Rahul Bajaj; 74 Imamul Haque, Jasjeet Singh, Sanjeev Mehra, H.S. Kang; 75 Amanjyot Singh, Saurabh Bahuguna 4.

Chandigarh, December 19
After putting a great show in the shot put event during the last Asian Athletics Championship 2006, Captain Gurjeevan Singh Sidhu, is once again all set to represent India in the championship to be held at Bangkok on January 13 and 14 next year.

Sidhu won a gold medal in the last championship, which is held after every two years. This year as many as 27 countries will be participating in the event.

Sidhu was selected for the Asian championship after he won a gold medal in shot put in the National Athletics Championship in Guwahati in 2008.

An advocate in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Sidhu has been a champion in shot put, discus throw and hammer throw for the last five years.

Recently he and his brother P.S Sidhu won three gold medals and one silver medal in the 29th Punjab Masters’ Athletics Meet held at Mustuana Sahib Ji near Sangrur in which 300 to 350 players from all over Punjab participated.

“After I retired as a joint director in public relations, I started participating in the athletics meet, I have started receiving medals in hammer throw and discus throw also but my main field in athletics is shot put throw,” said Sidhu. Sidhu plays in the 75 plus age group.

While telling about his body fitness and stamina at this age, he said, “I stay fit by working out regularly; I do cycling and keep on practising in the athletics stadium under the guidance of my coach, Iqbal Singh.”

G.S Sidhu will also be playing for the National Masters’ Championship which will be commencing from February 26 in Hisar (Haryana).