Chandigarh, October 5
Coming down heavily on the schoolbus operators who had recently gone on strike after a standoff between the UT Administration and their union, the District Consumer Disputes Forum has directed Manjit Singh Saini, president of the Chandigarh School Bus Operators Welfare Association, to pay a compensation of Rs 50,000 to the UT Administration through the Home Secretary for the harassment caused to the Administration and schoolchildren.

In its order, the forum observed that the operators had resumed the service to ferry schoolchildren after three days of strike.

During this period, harassment had been caused to the complainant and schoolchildren and their parents.

The union president was at the helm of affairs and he had created nuisance by giving a strike call. When he gave the union members a call to resume service, they had again followed his instructions.

The forum further stated that private school bus operators who were members of the association headed by Manjit Singh were not entitled to retain service charges during the strike period as due to their strike parents had to hire or ply vehicles for their wards.

The forum also directed the operators to refund charges for at least seven days to each of the students for the month in which they had been on strike.

The amount charged by them, if not refunded, would be adjusted during the payment of transportation charges for next month.

The Administration had issued directions to all bus operators to instal speed governors, which included schoolbuses, keeping in view the safety of schoolchildren as well as the public at large.

But, the bus operators, instead of complying the said directions, proceeded on an indefinite strike, due to which about 80,000 schoolchildren and their parents had to suffer a lot in spite of the fact that the bus operators had been paid in advance.

It was also averred that the bus operators charged fee from parents even for holidays, i.e., summer vacations, on the pretext of the installation of speed governors in their buses. By doing so, they had further indulged in unfair trade practice. As per norms, they could only charge half the amount.

It was further stated that these operators, as well as all bus operators who had been engaged by the school authorities for students, had been given special exemptions like road tax and permit fee as well as other facilities only so as to enable them to provide the best service to students.

Chandigarh, October 5 
The in-bound and outgoing passengers, especially women and small children at the local airport, face problems as they have to walk through longer passages at the airport due to the delay in completion of the new terminal building.

The women passengers could be seen carrying their little children, along with their luggage, on trolleys, as it is difficult for them to carry their little ones up to the entry or exit points at the airport. The new terminal building, which was scheduled to be completed by October end, was likely to take another three to four months for completion. 

At present, Chandigarh airstrip belongs to the IAF and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) maintains a civil air terminal. The new terminal building is established at the airport at a cost of Rs 80 crore and the work on the project was started about one and a half year ago. 

However, Sunil Dutt, who is looking after the new terminal project, said the delay was due to the structural changes made in the new terminal building. He claimed that the work on the terminal building was in final stages and they were making extra efforts to complete the building soon. 

Meanwhile, in the absence of proper instrument landing system (ILS) airliners, especially the private ones, would be facing problems during bad weather or foggy days in winter season. Recently, the testing authority recommended the installation of the new ILS at the airport after it had found fault with the old one. The flights to the city would either be cancelled or diverted to New Delhi or Amritsar.

Wing Commander RS Dhawan said problem was being faced only by private airliners as their pilots were not trained to face such conditions. He, however, claimed that Air Force pilots did not face any problems in landing their aircraft as they have been trained for such conditions. 

Chandigarh, October 5
A taxi driver who had promised to marry a girl allegedly gangraped her along with two friends in the wee hours here today.

The victim told the police that she was made to consume liquor before she was raped at various places.

The 26-year-old victim, who claims to work for an insurance company, is staying as a paying guest in Mohali.

She reported the incident to the police around 1:45 am after she was left near a park in Sector 44-C.

Officials from the Sector 39 police station reached the spot and later handed over the case to the Sector 34 police station, claiming that the crime occurred there.

The victim, in her complaint, alleged that she was in love with Pankaj Thakur, a taxi driver, for the past over four months.

She admitted that they had a physical relationship as Pankaj had promised to marry her. Around 10:30 pm last night, Pankaj called her to a park in Sector 39, where he was sitting with his friend Sandeep.

She further alleged that Pankaj left her in the park with Sandeep and went away.

Sandeep took her to the bushes near the park and raped her.

She added that then, he took her to a park near Sector 44-C on his scooter, where Pankaj was waiting for them along with another friend (who was not known to her).

Pankaj and his unidentified friend raped her in a house near the park. After that, they fled, leaving her there.

The victim told the police that after a while, she recollected herself and boarded an autorickshaw for Sector 38-West, where Sandeep had been putting up.

She could not find anyone there and then called up the police on the telephone number 100.

The police took her for a medical examination and it was established that she had consumed alcohol.

The police said it obtained a mobile phone number of Pankaj from the victim and was trying to trace him on the basis of calls details.

The police said the victim had been residing away from her grandparents, who also lived in Mohali.

She had a sister. His father had married twice and her mother was his second wife.

The police called her grandparents to the police station and recorded her statement, on the basis of which a case was registered before them.

The police registered a case of gang rape under Section 376 (2G) of the Indian Penal Code against Pankaj Thakur, Sandeep and an unidentified person at the Sector 34 police station.

Mohali, October 5
Controversy over a swank golf course eating up the historical battleground at Chappar Chidi village here has taken a new turn.

In a unanimous resolution, members of the panchayats of Chappar Chidi Kalan and Chappar Chidi Khurd villages, while denouncing outsiders for opposing the golf course, have urged the Punjab Chief Minister not to stall the golf course project, being set up by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA).

At the same time, the panchayats urged the Chief Minister to set up a memorial of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur on the village land.

“While the golf course will give economic impetus to the backward area, the memorial will represent the historical saga of the area”, said R.S. Tiwana, a resident of the village.

After the GMADA had proposed a golf course in Sectors 91 and 91, various religious bodies opposed the move, stating that it would damage the place, having a historical background.

It was here that the Khalsa had avenged the killing of the two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh.

Baba Banda Singh Bahadur had defeated the army of Wazir Khan, the subedar of Sirhind, who had ordered the killing of Sahibzada Zoravar Singh and Sahibzada Fateh Singh by bricking them alive.

In the resolution, the panchayat members expressed fears that as land in the area had become expensive, certain vested interests wanted to unsettle the uniform development of the area.

“We have passed through bad times. There are no resources. Now, when land prices have gone up, scrapping the project can prove detrimental to us”, said another villager.

Already, two gurdwaras had been set up in the villages in the memory of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur.

The entire place, spread over 15 acres, was in the possession of a private society.

A gurdwara in the village had been displaying five handmade iron weapons and turban rings, reportedly dug out near the site.

In 2006, the Punjab Heritage and Education Foundation had announced a memorial in the shape of a 51-foot-high victory pillar (Fateh Bunga) in the centre of a 30-foot-wide circular water point on a raised platform. But, the memorial never came up.

Meanwhile, sources in GMADA said that there was a proposal to set up Baba Banda Singh Bahadur theme park in Chappar Chidi village.

The theme park, planned over 10 acres, would be set up on panchayat land. It would be located near the golf course planned by the GMADA on 200 acres.

The memorial would house a war museum and a theme park to commemorate the sacrifices of brave soldiers who had lost their lives in the Chapar Chidi battle.

Chandigarh, October 5
Punjab, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh are going soft on the menace of drunken driving.

Despite purchase of costly alcometer to check drunken driving, record of the police in these states to prosecute offenders under Section 185 of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, (for drunken driving) has been dismal. While Punjab's figure of 1,738 is hardly creditable, Himachal Pradesh has fared worse with only 1,000 prosecutions under Section 185 during April 2008-May 2009.

In fact, the performance Chandigarh has been below average at 226 persecutions. However, Haryana with 10,392 cases and Delhi with 11,134 cases seem to have fared better though performance of all districts of Haryana and Delhi leaves much to be desired.

Figures collected by an NGO, People for Transparency, showed that despite the fact that most of the police divisions had purchased alcometers ranging from Rs 55,000-Rs 95,000, many police districts failed to even maintain an average of one prosecution per month.

For instance, in Punjab except for the districts of Ludhiana (113 prosecutions), Amritsar (879 prosecutions) and Mohali (112 prosecution), none of the other 10 districts reached a three-digit figure in the last year. Faridkot, Mansa and Fatehgarh Sahib had the dubious distinctions of not booking even a single person for drunken driving in the entire year.

The Punjab government with 89 alcometers could prosecute only 1,738 persons. In Haryana, Gurgaon (1,904), Panipat (1,574) and Karnal (2,161) have done the best job. In Himachal Pradesh, prosecution of about 1,000 persons in the entire year with 40 alcometers. Chandigarh faired poorly at 226 prosecutions for the entire year with an equal number of alcometers. Delhi prosecuted 11,134 persons for the entire year for drunken driving.

Kamal Anand of People for Transparency said: “We found that the police book offenders on their whims and fancies in a very selective manner.”

Chandigarh, October 5
The municipal corporation is seeking assistance of the UT estate office to recover pending water tariff bills ranging from Rs 1 lakh or above from 50 residential and commercial property defaulters across the city.

As per the records of the corporation, more than Rs 8 crore are due from the water tariff defaulters, out of which over Rs 3 crore are from private property owners and rest from various departments of the administration and the corporation.

Sources revealed that the corporation was sending a list of all these defaulters to the estate office with a request that if anyone approached them for seeking a no objection certificate (NOC), the estate office should first ask them to get clearance from the public health department.

Sources further said the department had already disconnected water meters of some of the defaulters, but they had yet to recover the pending money from the violators.

A senior official said this decision had been taken keeping in view the similar norms being followed by the Haryana Urban Development Authority.

There were in all 128 water tariff defaulters, which included 65 residential and commercial and rest 63 were of various departments of the administration and corporation. While UT horticulture division number 2 is heading the defaulters list whose dues are of Rs 57 lakh, UT horticulture division number 2, Shanti Kunj, is second in the line with pending water bills of over Rs 53 lakh.

The official added that whenever the corporation had approached these departments to clear their pending bills the latter always expressed their inability to pay due to paucity of funds.

When contacted MC, public health, SE, RK Goyal confirmed that they were going to send a list of defaulters to the estate office this week so that corporation was able to recover their dues.

Mohali, October 5
In what is seen as a major reversal for municipal councillors backed by the ruling SAD in the state, a group of 21 councillors, which had given a notice of a no-confidence motion against Congress-supported president Rajinder Singh Rana, today withdrew it after failing to muster the required strength to topple him.

The request for withdrawing the no-confidence motion was presented at the civic body office soon after it opened for the day and had the signatures of 18 councillors indicating that three councillors had allegedly changed their stand after the requisition notice was given to the council authorities on September 29.

The 18 councillors had stated that they wanted to withdraw the notice of no-confidence because of certain developments which had taken place after the requisition was submitted on September 29.

The council president has fixed the meeting in connection with the no-confidence motion for October 7 and all efforts are being made to prove that he still had the support of the majority.

Executive officer of the council Amna Kumar Goyal confirmed that the president had fixed the meeting and an agenda had been released in this regard. He said the quorum demanded that a special meeting could be held only if at least one half of the elected representatives (16 councillors) attended it.

Sources say the embarrassing development for the SAD points to possible floor crossing as the 21-member group was just short of one from the “magic figure” of 22. There are a total of 31 councillors and the Kharar MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu, who is an ex-officio member of the council, also has the voting right.

While the Kharar MLA had alleged that six councillors of the Rana group had been taken away to another place, which was totally against the principles of democracy, those belonging to the SAD alleged that Suresh Kumar of ward number 29 had been taken away by the ruling Rana group.

Ruling group members were also making efforts to get Congress-backed councillors who had remained in the opposition wing in their fold by approaching Capt Amarinder Singh, former Chief Minister, and other senior leaders.

The MLA said he had requested Capt Amarinder Singh to direct two Congress-backed councillors to either support the ruling group or “become Akalis”.

Capt Amarinder Singh, who had come to Mohali in connection with a court hearing, told mediapersons today that he would take action against the two councillors if the council president and the MLA gave a complaint against them in writing.

Mohali, October 5
Officials of the Excise and Taxation Department raided a kiryana store in Phase V, which is owned by a municipal councillor.

The raiding team checked various items and also went through bills and other documents relating to the purchase of dry fruits and other kiryana items. The shop is owned by Suresh Kumar, councillor from ward number 29.

Kharar MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu reached the spot and alleged that the government was harassing Suresh Kumar because he was a supporter of Congress-backed Municipal Council president Rajinder Singh Rana whom SAD councillors wanted to vote out.

However, officials of the department concerned told newspersons that the raid had not been conducted on the directions of any politician but was a part of the routine checks carried out around Diwali.

Chandigarh, October 5
As part of the public-private partnership initiative of the Chandigarh Administration, an intensive sanitation campaign was carried out in Behlana and Raipur Khurd villages.

The drive was conducted by the rural development and panchayat department (RDPD) in collaboration with an NGO, Bhartiya Valmiki Dharam Samaj, the health and sanitation wing of the Municipal Corporation (MC) and forest department.

During the course of the drive, roads, streets, drains and surroundings of the villages were swept and cleaned by safai karamcharis of the RDPD, MC, volunteers of the NGO and gram panchayats.

Lime powder and pesticides were sprayed on the garbage heaps, dustbin sites and manure pits. A tree plantation drive was also carried out and 100 saplings provided by the forest department were planted on the common land of the two villages.

As a part of the ISC initiative, workers of the health department undertook door-to-door visit of the houses in the villages to sensitise people about proper disposal of garbage and maintenance of hygiene.

Pamphlets regarding the importance of cleanliness were distributed in the villages and announcements in this regard were made on the public address system.

A similar intensive sanitation campaign will be carried out in a phase-wise manner in the remaining 11 villages under the rural development department during the next two weeks.

Chandigarh, October 5
The Chandigarh police today claimed to have seized more than 22 quintals of “spurious” desi ghee here.

The ghee, packed in the 1 kilograms tins with markings of Verka, was transported from New Delhi at the instance of a shopkeeper in Sector 26 when a team of health officials and the local police swooped upon the godown of a transport company at Daria village.

The police raided the house and shop of accused Mukesh who had already lifted 240 kilogram of ghee from the consignment.

Verka officials who also reached the spot confirmed that it was not the product of Milkfed.

Dr Rajesh Dhir who headed the health team said it was on a tip-off from the Chandigarh police that he raided the godown and found that 186 boxes carrying the 1 kilograms tins of Verka desi ghee were lying in the godown.

The workers of the transport company informed that it was a part of the consignment ordered by Mukesh from New Delhi, Dhir said. As in the absence of the owner of the product no samples were taken, Verka officials who reached the spot also confirmed that the ghee was not supplied by their plants.

The police said it was apprehended that the accused had plans to dispose of the ghee during the festival season as it is in great demand around this time.

Chandigarh, October 5
A day after the publication of media reports regarding five dead bodies rotting in the mortuary of a government hospital, a human rights activist has moved the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) regarding the alleged irregularity.

The activist has written a letter to the NHRC, apprising it of the matter and demanding an inquiry against the administration about the malfunctioning.

Five bodies in the mortuary of the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital in Sector 16 here reportedly got decomposed after the chambers in which those had been kept were rendered dysfunctional a few days ago.

The hospital authorities had reportedly handed over the bodies to the Seva Samiti for cremation.

Though the hospital authorities claimed that the refrigerators providing cooling to the chambers failed on Saturday and the repair work had been ordered, experts claimed that it took at least three days for a body to decompose.

Sources said all five bodies were unclaimed and had been lying at the morgue for days.

Chandigarh, October 5
The UT authorities today refused permission to the BJP to hold a press conference of party president Rajnath Singh at the UT Guest House on Wednesday.

Confirming the development, Bhupinder Singh, joint secretary of the party, said, “We do not allow political conferences in the UT Guest House as a matter of principle. The venue is located near the lake and we don’t allow any crowding of the place.”

Vineet Joshi, national media in charge, youth wing of the BJP, said, “When the state governments of Punjab and Haryana allowed press conferences in the bhavans, the UT had no right to refuse permission. Rajnath Singh is the president of the BJP, the major opposition party in Parliament. In the past, we have had conferences of various politicians at the venue, including Lal Krishan Advani and even Rajnath Singh, at the  same venue.”

When the organisers were refused permission by the UT Guest house, Joshi approached the senior authorities. “I was refused point-blank and when I asked for a copy of the official order, I was told I could get a copy after three-four days. The order will mean nothing to us by them.”

Joshi, who is also in charge of the media in the forthcoming Haryana elections, said, “The guest houses are built with the tax payers’ money and the politicians are representatives of the common people. Press conferences don’t mean big crowd. In the past, the venue has been used for different parties, as well, which also have crowds.”

Chandigarh, October 5
Members of the Christian community from Raniya in Haryana today came out in defence of a preacher of their church and protested at the Sector 19 church here tonight.

The protesters assembled at the church complex, following which the police was called there.

The preacher had reportedly been expelled from the church following a complaint.

The SHO of the Sector 19 police station said that the cops asked the protesters not to stage any demonstration on the church’s premises. They protesters were taken out from there.

The SHO added that the protesters gave a representation to the head priest in defence of the preacher, who told them that action would be taken after hearing versions of both sides.

Chandigarh, October 5
A classical vocal recital by Kolkata-based maestro Sanjukta Ghosh mesmerised audience at a concert organised by Triveni Sangeet Sabha at the Randhawa Auditorium here yesterday.

A foremost disciple of Ustad Munawar Khan, Sanjukta, who is settled in the USA, reflected the traditional purity of her Kasur-Patiala gharana through her renditions.

Supported on vocals by accomplished young disciples Ronita De and Mohor Majumdar, she commenced a slow-paced composition “ Jaage Kaun Maihar Mein” in raga kedar after a brief alaap. She rendered chhota khyals “ Amal Kamal” in madhya lya teen tal and “ Naveli Naar” in the same raga. She embellished these with bol tans, sargams and cadential tihais. Sanjukta doled out another bandish “ Ghir Aye Badriya” in raga des and kriti “ Lalit Lavang” from saint poet Jaidev. Like the audience Sanjukta too drew pleasure in her rendition of a thumri “ Kaa Karu Sajni” immortalised by Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali before concluding the concert with another thumri “ Kaise Bihayn Radhe” in raga pilu. Dr Neeraj Gandhi and Avirbhav Verma provided excellent accompaniment. Triveni secretary Primila Puri introduced and welcomed artistes and audience.

Chandigarh, October 5
Despite introduction of new schemes for students to enable them to deposit admission forms at their convenience, lack of awareness about the same resulted in heavy rush and long queues at the counters in Panjab University today.

The new scheme launched by the State Bank of India, under which one can deposit fee at any counter in India, and yet another online fee deposit facility by the university have both drawn poor response, as the students struggled their way through the long queues at the SBI counters in the campus today.

Even the additional two counters set up by the university in the administrative block for the benefit of students could not dilute the rush.

The five counters at the SBI fee counter, for collecting forms and fee, were jam packed as soon as they opened at 10 am right till the evening.

“It is the same scene each year. The students wake up at the eleventh hour and come to deposit the forms on the last day. The authorities have separated the girls and boys queues to avoid any confusion,” said a woman constable on duty.

Meanwhile, university officials said there was still not enough awareness about the facilities available for the students. “The outstation students do not even need to come to the university to deposit fee. They could have done so from anywhere in India at any SBI counter. The system has been simplified so much, still the students do not avail the benefit,” said Vikram Nayyar, FDO, (finance department) PU.

“Even the online fee deposit facility has received a poor response, though it gives you a chance to sit at home and deposit fee. In such a situation, despite the fact that the university has given all possible modes to students to deposit their fee, even if we had set up 10 counters they would have been less,” he added.

Chandigarh, October 5
After witnessing confusion over the implementation of MHRD’s new education policy for almost a month now, the CBSE is all set to guide city principals on the way ahead.

Taking a cue from the persistent queries being received by the board over different postulates specially grading system, which is to be implemented from this month, a special orientation programme will be organised to acquaint the institution heads on how to implement it.

“Yes, there is confusion over the new policy and so we will be making academicians aware of the goals set and ways to achieve it. It’s not a new concept but a small reformation to be imbibed in the system and that’s what we wish to elaborate on,” informed DR Yadav, joint director, CBSE.

It may be noted that though the principals are clueless about almost all postulates of the policy but it is the nine-point grading system, which is to be implemented from this month, has pressed the panic button.

According to it, the students would be awarded grades instead of marks or percentile, which would be correspondent to respective attributes and marks ranges but given the fact that the students have already been evaluated for one term through the mid-term exams, the implementation remains a big question for many.

The principals had also demanded more clarification on the co-scholastic activities to be judged to award these grades. Amongst other points expected to be clarified in the orientation programme would be doing away with the board exams, on-demand examination and optional aptitude test to be offered instead and a revamped assessment to ensure development of the student’s scholastic (curriculum-based) and co-scholastic skills, including life skills.

Chandigarh, October 5
The fifth day of the seven-day NSS camp at MCM DAV College was started with a workshop on yoga. It was followed by another session on the theme “Best out of waste” by Jasmine, a lecturer of fine arts department of college.