Chandigarh, August 4
On the plea of a city resident, UT administrator SF Rodrigues has marked an inquiry into the affairs of the Chandigarh Golf Club with particular reference to the source of income through the illegal grant of “green card” club membership to unauthorised and out-of-turn applicants to favour the IAS and IPS lobby.

The issues raised by Brig Sukhdev Singh (retd) were accumulation of over Rs 3 crore by way of granting back-door entry, seeking undue exemption from the income tax department by wrongly projecting it as a club promoting sports and doing away with building bylaws and lease deed norms.

President of the club Birinder S Gill, however, said: “The matter regarding green card membership is already being looked into. During the last annual general meeting, a three-member committee comprising GS Lehal, Brig HS Gill (retd) and Capt SP Singh (retd) had been constituted to scrutinise each membership granted this way. The report will be tabled soon.”

About seeking exemption from the income tax department under Section 12-A, Gill said: “Ours is not a profit making body. Whatever is generated is ploughed back for providing better facilities like a well-equipped gym, driving range, swimming pool and good food at subsidised rates. That’s why we seek exemption.”

Brig Sukhdev Singh said he wanted the administrator to take note of the “damage” inflicted on the club by a battery of IAS officers who had held the charge of the president’s chair while in service during the past five years. “They ran the club like fiefdom and granted illegal membership to around 600 persons, besides 1,000 green card dependents,” he claimed.

Being a registered society and occupying 132 acres of prime land at subsidised lease rates, the club did not comply with land norms. “The club is paying only Rs 8,200 per month even as the entry fee is Rs 1.5 lakh and it has registered gross profit of more than Rs 2 crore during the first nine months of 2007. How can such a prosperous club skip lease money as per norms?” he asked.

Challenging tax exemption, he said: “Being a sports club, it is required to spend 85 per cent of its income on the sports to enjoy exemption under Section 12-A.

As per the Hura committee report dated March 2008, the club has spent only Rs 91.51 lakh on the golf course out of a total of Rs 257 lakh. This comes to be just 36 per cent.”

Finance Secretary Sanjay Kumar confirmed that a letter in this regard had been received through Raj Bhawan and the matter would be looked into.

Chandigarh, August 4
For a city that boasts of connections with the lone Olympic gold medallist, Abhinav Bindra, it’s a matter of shame that its shooting range in Sector 25, Patiala ki Rao, is in a pathetic condition.

Foreign trainees are having a harrowing time at the range, which was taken over by the Chandigarh police from the sports department in 2001.

While one would expect Bindra’s feat to inspire youngsters to head for the range, one look at its state is enough to put off anyone. Grass growing all around, nauseating smell emanating from toilets and worn out manual target machines are what greet trainees at the range, which has no manager, no gardener and no coach. The last coach to have worked at the range was Manjeet Singh who died in 2004.

Col JS Dhillon, a former international shooter and vice-president of the Chandigarh Rifle Association, says: “The city has immense talent, but there is no coach here. We used to hold weekend competitions to hone the skills of players, but we gave that up as target machines are not visible due to the wild growth of grass.”

On the condition of anonymity, a trainee, says: “It’s pathetic. To become a gold medallist like Bindra you have to be as rich as him to have a private shooting range.”

Refusing to comment, a trainee from abroad, remarks: “It’s for all to see. Why ask?”

Sportsmen rue the fact that while medal-oriented sports like shooting are ignored at school level, grants are made for kho-kho and kabaddi, which are not even included in Olympics. When a coaching camp can be held for other games why not for this?” Dhillon, who represented the country thrice at the Asian Games and once in the Commonwealth shooting competition, wonders.

Shooting in which the country bagged its first Olympic medal has been given a miss even in school sports wings. “I know a lot of talented players who switched to other games because they found it had poor prospects,” a shooting coach says.

The sports department and the police are busy passing the buck. JPS Sidhu, joint director, sports, said: “The charge of shooting was taken over by the police so we are not responsible for anything that happens there.”

BS Negi, DSP (lines), in charge of the range, claimed that the range was being maintained and it only had wild grass. Asked why there was no coach, he said this was not for the public, but for the police force.

Chandigarh, August 4
The postmortem report of Santosh Kumari, who was killed at her Sector 42 house yesterday, hints that it was a meticulously planned murder.

With the report ruling out rape, the mystery behind the motive of the murder has deepened. The presence of jewellery and cash in the house has baffled the police, which initially thought that robbery could have been the reason behind the killing, if not rape.

The report indicates that the victim was intoxicated before being electrocuted. The body bore no injury marks, which could suggest that she had struggled to save herself.

Doctors reportedly told the police that the victim was killed with “ease” as there were no signs of struggle even when the electric wire was inserted in her mouth. Circumstantial evidence and the condition of the house also indicates that there was no forced entry.

The SHO of the Sector 36 police station, inspector Anokh Singh, said the doctors had reserved their opinion about the cause of death. The postmortem confirmed that the victim was not strangled. They had taken several samples from the body, including viscera, which would be sent for chemical examination.

A police officer said the doctors believed that the death might have been caused by electrocution, but they had sent the samples for examination to clear their doubts. They had taken samples from the victim’s tongue and palate, which had burns. Even though it appeared from the condition of the body that the victim was not sexually abused, vaginal swabs had been taken.

The report has rendered the police directionless as robbery also does not appear to be the reason behind the killing. Suspecting some old feud, the police would now look at the family.

The police said the possibility of the murder being committed by some drug addict or petty criminal doesn’t hold good as the crime was executed in a deft manner. “It is clear that the killer(s) was well versed with electricity and knew how to use it for electrocution, which is beyond the knowledge of a common man,” the official said.

The police would make a list of persons, including electricians, cable operators or any other mechanic, who had been visiting the colony of late or the victim’s house. About the role of the milkman, the SHO said he came from Kurali and was not aware about the killing and had come to the colony today also. He had rung the bell around 10.15 am and left the milk outside the house and went upstairs to deliver milk to other families. He then took the empty container and went away. He said he had seen no one in the house.

Chandigarh, August 4
The tainted former UT chief engineer, KK Jerath, who is facing a slew of corruption cases against him, seems to have got a respite in a case pertaining to the fixing of an aluminium hedge at the GMCH-32.

The UT vigilance has moved an application in a local court for the cancellation of an FIR in this regard. It was alleged in the FIR registered against him in 2003 that during his tenure, the exchequer had to incur a loss of Rs 27,70,554. A case was registered against him under
the Prevention of Corruption Act.

A report was sought in the matter by a technical expert, who assessed the loss to the tune of Rs 4,37,203. The case was further referred to another expert, who in his report, said instead of neoprene, rubber gasket was used in carrying out the work. The matter was referred to higher officials for technical examination as per provisions of the contract agreement.

Later, the matter was handed over to yet another technical expert committee, which stated that no loss had been caused to the exchequer. The report, which was sent to the then Home Secretary, stated that no irregularities and no illegalities had been found.

The CBI had convicted Jerath in April 2009 for possessing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income after a 10-year trial. The case was registered against him in 1998 following a raid by the income tax department. The department had recovered Rs 6.29 lakh from his house and Rs 5 lakh from his locker.

Chandigarh, August 4
The MC today suspended SK Gosain, station fire officer (SFO) of the fire and emergency services department, on the basis of an inquiry report which found him guilty of issuing conditional NOC to City Emporio Mall at the Industrial Area, Phase-I, here.

Sources in the corporation said RK Mittal had filed a compliant with the UT adviser that the fire officer had not conducted thorough inspection of the site before recommending the issuance of conditional NOC. The adviser had forwarded the complaint to MC Commissioner Roshan Sunkaria, who had constituted a committee probe the matter.

The committee found Gosain guilty of extending undue benefits to the owner by compromising with public safety as the building did not comply with fire safety norms.

As per the report, the fire officer had kept the office in the dark and had hurriedly recommended the issuance of fire clearance by the competent authority.

Additional Commissioner-cum-chief fire officer (CFO), PK Sharma, said when the department had issued provisional NOC to the mall over a year ago, there was no compliant of violation of fire and safety norms against the mall management.

Senior MC officials said the authorities should have cancelled the recommendations and denied the conditional NOC to the mall management.

They revealed that the final authority to issue the NOC was with the chief fire officer and the SFO had the power to only recommend. They were surprised that the recommendation had been done in a haste when the NOC case had been going on for the past one-and-a-half-years.

The MC Commissioner stated that the complaint mentioned that there were chances of a financial deal having taken place between the mall management and Gosain.

He said Gosain was found guilty of recommending the NOC without even visiting the site. Asked if the NOC would be cancelled, he said the matter would be taken up later.

Fire and emergency committee chairman Arshad Khan said Gosain was an efficient SFO and it was unfortunate that such action had been taken against him.

Panchkula, August 4
A Delhi resident died under mysterious circumstances in the custody of the Haryana police here today. The suspect, Satish Kumar, along with two others, was picked up by the Bahadurgarh police from Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh and the police team was on way to Jhajjar when he allegedly suffered a heart attack, which resulted in his death before he could get the medical aid, it was learnt.

The three, including Vijay Pal, owner of Hotel Raja (Bilaspur) and Dinesh Kumar, were being taken to Jhajjar for interrogation in a case of truck theft.

Vijay and Dinesh alleged that Satish suffered heart attack as the cops throughout the way threatened to kill them in an encounter.

Narrating the incident, Vijay said he, along with Satish Kumar, Dinesh Kumar and Rajender, all residents of Delhi, went to Bilaspur on a pleasure trip at his hotel on Sunday.

They had transport business at Delhi, he said. Today, ASI Ramesh Kumar, head constables Teen Singh and Ashwani Kumar with constable Karamvir reached the hotel and pointing pistols at them, Vijay added. The three of them were then taken towards Jhajjar while Rajender gave them a slip.

“The cops said they would kill us in a fake encounter as soon as we enter Haryana,” alleged Dinesh. “They also fired at least three bullets in the air to scare us,” he added.

“As soon as we reached Barwala to have some food at a roadside dhaba, Satish collapsed and at the General Hospital, Panchkula, doctors declared him brought dead,” he said.

ASI Ramesh Kumar, however, denying all allegations said the accused were allegedly involved in truck thefts and Satish died of a heart attack. He also denied of any threats regarding encounter of the accused.

Chandigarh, August 4
If the report card of the NGOs, who had taken up the task of monitoring the Alternative Innovative Centres (AIE) for educating “out of school” children is any indication then most of them seem to have failed in their task.

Out of 101 NGOs that had voluntarily taken up the task of supervising these centres, hardly ten have been visiting the centres and submitting the monitoring reports to the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), UT, on regular basis.

Though senior officials of the SSA are hopeful of an improvement in future, the enthusiasm of the NGOs seems to have died even before the deadline of August 7, when they had to submit reports.

Notably, various NGOs had been called for an association with the administration a month ago to ensure greater responsibility on them and a fruitful outcome under the Partnership Initiative Programme (PIP) of the UT education department. But the “otherwise complaining” NGOs are yet to pick up pace in their job.

“Nearly nine-ten dedicated ones are showing fair result and are regularly visiting their centres. Others just expect monetary relief even without having shown any result,” said an official.

However, the ones that are performing are adding value to everyday activities of children in these centres. From celebrating festivals to distributing necessary items to organising trips, they seem to have touched the hearts of these children.

“As compared to the initial participation of NGOs, hardly a few are motivated enough to continue the good work. The others expect too much from the system and are not ready to do bring about a change,” said AK Ummat of SaiTara Foundation that is running the AIE Centre in GMSSS-33.

However, some officials are still optimistic about the performance of NGOs in future. “In the new list, about 21 NGOs have submitted the reports, though the ones that are regular are less in number. We are hopeful that they will show better performance gradually with time,” said Pritpal Kaur of SSA.

Meanwhile, Identity Cards under the PIP are now being issued to the NGOs that have shown performance as also to the community teachers and volunteers.

Mohali, August 4
The Heritage Public School, Jagatpura, near Sector 48, celebrated Raksha Bandhan with enthusiasm. A rakhi making competition was held in which students from Class I to VI participated. Students also sang a group song.

At Golden Bells School, Sector 77, Raksha Bandhan was celebrated with fervour. Toddlers created a total festive environment when the sisters tied a sacred thread on the wrists of their brothers and prayed for their well-being.

At Ajit Karam Singh International Public School, Sector 65, pre-primary wing celebrated the festival by tying rakhis and exchanging gifts. Students of Gian Jyoti Public School, Phase II, Mohali, participated in rakhi making contest organised by the art and craft club of the school. Siddharath, Mandeep Kaur and Varinda of Class VIII bagged I, II and III positions, respectively.

Mohali, August 4
The Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has asked the Municipal Council to prepare estimates for works related to the supply of drinking water and laying of sewerage in Madanpur village so that funds could be provided for executing both the works.

Residents of Madanpur village have been living in unhygienic conditions all these years with overflowing drains and heaps of garbage all around. They had not even been provided tap water and depended on handpumps whose water was declared unfit for drinking by heath authorities every year. In fact, two children of this village had died due to diarrhoea two years ago.

The civic body had been asking GMADA now and then to improve the living conditions in Madanpur village, but the authority had been shrugging its shoulders at times or laying various conditions for providing basic facilities to residents of the village.

Rajinder Singh Rana, president of the council, said a meeting with the Chief Administrator (CA) of GMADA was held today in which he had asked the council to prepare estimates for the two works so that funds could be arranged. He said estimates would be prepared at the earliest and sent to GMADA authorities for further action.

Rana said the CA told at the meeting that there was a need to have another fire station as it was difficult for one station to provide efficient service in the expanding town. Site for another fire station would be finalised soon.

The need to have another cremation ground was also felt. This one could come up near Jagatpura village, which was on the other end of the town. The council also asked GMADA authorities to hand over the maintenance of parks to the civic body, but funds would also have to be provided for the work as the council was short of funds.

Meanwhile, the director, local government, has given his approval for the purchase of wood for the cremation ground. Rana, along with other councillors, had met the director yesterday and told him that a crisis was building up at the cremation ground as wood was running out of stock.

An estimate worth Rs 17.56 lakh for the purchase of wood for the cremation ground was cleared by the general house of the council on February 27 after which it was sent to the higher authorities for approval. The director had also given his approval for the installation of security gates in various parts of the town, added Rana.

Chandigarh, August 4
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today reserved verdict in the PEC defence quota reservation case after hearing counsel for the engineering college, who insisted the admissions were being carried out in accordance with the brochure.

Appearing before the Division Bench of Justice MM Kumar and Justice Jaswant Singh, PEC counsel said instructions by the administration with regard to the quota were issued later.

The controversy over clubbing UT pool quota and all-India quota of seats reserved for the wards of military and paramilitary personnel has already led to the passing of the stay orders by the High Court. The Bench during a hearing observed: “We are of the view that further data will be required to determine the time schedule and holding of counselling for admission to engineering graduate courses under the defence/ex-servicemen category.”

“We direct the respondents to furnish the details of the applicants under separate heads of Chandigarh quota and all-India quota as per the criterion. Necessary information will be furnished on July 31. However, counselling which is slated for tomorrow shall be deferred till further orders.” 

The Bench has already taken on record a reply filed by joint secretary, technical education, Pirthi Chand. He asserted, in PEC till 2007, seats reserved under the defence quota were filled both in the all-India quota and the UT quota, separately. In the Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology, the UT pool seats and the all-India seats were filled up separately till 2009. 

The administration, after considering the matter, realised that the UT pool quota should not have been abolished. He added the matter was discussed in a meeting at the level of the adviser, where PEC director said admission could only be carried out in accordance with the terms and conditions of the prospectus of the joint admission brochure and no deviation could be made in view of the law laid down in various judgement.

Thereafter, letter dated July 20 was issued, in which it was advised to complete the admission process strictly in accordance with the terms and conditions of the brochure and from next academic session the admission shall be regulated separately for the UT pool quota and the all-India pool quota.

Panchkula, August 4
A high drama was witnessed at a private hospital in Sector 21 when the family members of a patient alleged that the doctors suspended the surgery after putting a cut on the body and stitched the skin stating that patient could not be operated as of now. It happened even as several diagnosis tests were conducted on the patient before taking her to the operation theatre, said KS Patwal, husband of the patient.

Patwal said his wife Anuradha Patwal, an employee with Bharat Electronics Limited, was to undergo surgery for a tumour. She was asked to come on Monday morning for the operation. Today, doctors stopped the surgery in between stating that Anuradha was suffering from tuberculosis also and it could prove dangerous for her in case the operation was conducted at this stage, he said.

Alleging that the staff misbehaved with them when he raised objection to this, Patwal said it was negligence on the part of doctors as they did not diagnose the patient properly and took her to the operation theatre under such condition.

It was only after the police reached the spot the hospital staff relented and agreed to listen to him, he said. Both the parties, however, reached a compromise later on.

Chandigarh, August 4
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) are up in arms yet again. This time, it is over the board refusing to abide by a clause in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code, which requires cricketers to reveal their whereabouts so as to facilitate testing. The code, which has been signed by the Test-playing nations except India, was incidentally implemented by the ICC earlier this year.

Though there is a visible concern regarding the privacy of players being infringed, former players believe that the BCCI and the ICC must find an amicable outcome.

Nobody has the right to interfere in the personal space of players, be it the WADA or anything else. The idea of testing in cricket is welcome and the Tests can be carried out when the season is on. Moreover, the security of our players is at stake.

Somebody like MS Dhoni, who has Z-category security cover, cannot be expected to disclose his whereabouts,” says ex-Test cricketer Yograj Singh.

The last date for accepting the code was July 31, which the BCCI missed. As many as 571 sports bodies around the world are signatory to the code.

Dope testing is for the good of the sports and nobody should be against it. The BCCI and the ICC should sort out the whereabouts clause so that the players do not feel burdened by it. The clause should be mutually acceptable and beneficial,” says renowned coach DP Azad.

Sports bodies, all around the world, are accepting these norms to ensure that the game is free of any blemish. The BCCI should use this opportunity to join bigger fold. Moreover, we do not have anything to hide, so why this hitch,” asks Rakesh Jolly, former North Zone and Haryana Ranji player.

As far as privacy of players is concerned, there seems to be a lack of debate. If sports nations around the world have signed it, there must be some logic. Moreover, the WADA will not sit on the heads of players 24 hours a day,” he adds.

Is it another attempt by the BCCI to arm-twist the world cricket body and what if the WADA does not relent which seems to be the case?

Sooner or later, the BCCI will sign it as we will not like to be seen as opposing the anti-doping measures. Right now, they are trying to convince the WADA that there should be a relaxation in the clause, which has been supported by various players,” says Bhupinder Singh Senior, former India player and current Punjab Ranji team coach.

The BCCI and the ICC are expected to meet in October for further deliberations on the matter. The Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FICA) is also to meet ICC to discuss the clause. Notably, India is not a member of the FICA.

Chandigarh, August 4
Saupins School, Sector 32, has closed classes for nursery, LKG and UKG students for a week. The decision comes a day after the UT administration nailed the school for running classes in basement, which is a violation of building rules.

While the authorities hold construction work at the school to be the reason for the decision, sources say that the move comes in wake of inspection to be conducted by the administration.

Meanwhile, following objection of the Parent teacher Association (PTA) members of the school, a local court has today directed the school to conduct the elections of the PTA in a fair manner as per the constituted rules, informed the parents.