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Illegal Trading Park
Chandigarh, October 13 The report has pointed out that the DLF building is being used for illegal activity as per allotment rules. The allotments made for IT activity are instead being used for retail business, car manufacturers and life insurance, besides other activities. It has been pointed out that the purpose of the park was to promote the business of IT companies. The defaulters, who were allotted lands for IT and instead doing other business, included Aditya Birla (retail business), Agilent (measuring instruments), Aimil (institute consultancy), Atls (compressor manufacture), DLF Home Developers (developers), Hyundai Motor Car India (car manufacture), ICICI Prudential Insurance (life insurance), Indus Towers (shared telecom infrastructure), Onicre Credit Rating (individual credit rating) and Wides (manufacturer of hearing aid). At the venue, in addition to a shopping mall complex, a night club is also being run in the building. The business being run by the listed companies is not covered under the clause. The audit report has pointed out discrepancy in allotment of hotel site, measuring 3.94 acres. “It is not clear when the money amounting to Rs 25,00000 was deposited by DLF Universal, how the land was allotted to Kujjal Builders. In view of the audit, the allotment of land to Kujjal Builders without depositing the earnest money, as was required by the bidding document, was irregular and needs investigation”. The report also points out under sale value of its shares by the UT in agreement with DLF Infocity Developers. In another anomaly, it has been pointed out that the financial bid for the allotment of land to DLF Universal was accepted on September 12, 2003, while the terms and conditions recommended for modification as per the requirements proposed by the agency for his vested interest was accepted by the UT on October 24, 2003. The agreement was signed between the two parties on November 14 with changed terms and conditions proposed by the developer. It was also noted that debentures issued by the company under the joint venture should have been approved by the Home Ministry as well as the Ministry of Finance. Altering clauses of the agreement, subsequent to the bidding process is a fundamental lapse in any government set-up.
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SPG detains 24 lensmen
Chandigarh, October 13 The SPG (Special Protection Group) accompanying Rahul Gandhi drew the wrath of mediapersons when a senior photographer felt sick and wanted to go out, but was denied exit. “We were detained for more than two hours. When a senior photographer felt sick, we asked them to at least let him leave, but the SPG refused. The UT police also did nothing,” a photographer said. Saying that the confinement was violative of a fundamental right, the electronic media association expressed its resentment and said: “The electronic media of the city condemns the incident. The bona fide rights of a journalist have been harmed and it was an act of wrongful confinement by the SPG,” Ritesh Lakkhi, president of the association, said. Demanding that action should be taken, the association resolved to hold a protest in this regard tomorrow. “The UT police should have taken stern action. It was a silent spectator to the whole drama. We were present there to perform our duty,” he added. The Press Club of Chandigarh also expressed its displeasure at the incident. “When it was known that journalists would be present, arrangements should have been made in advance. They were present only to perform their duties. The administration must take corrective measures,” Naveen Grewal, general secretary of the club, said. The BJP’s youth wing also condemned the incident. “The Congress has always had an autocratic style. Today’s incident reminds us of the Emergency,” Vineet Joshi, media in charge of the BJP National Youth Wing, said. The SP, Madhur Verma, said the police was helpless as the SPG had its own security parameters. “The SPG had said the media would be allowed in only for 10 minutes towards the end of the session.We cannot interfere with their job,” he said.
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Fake bomb call reaches before Rahul
Chandigarh, October 13 Though the police remained on it toes the entire day to establish the purpose behind the call, which could be an act of mischief, at the same time, it did not rule out the possibility of an attempt to sabotage Rahul Gandhi’s visit by some mischievous elements. Soon after getting the call, the police swung into action and pressed cyber crime cell officials to trace the caller. Though the police managed to trace the owner of the mobile phone (90233-22301), Amir Khan of Sialva Majri, within a couple of hours, yet it failed to solve the mystery behind the phone call. Leaving the police groping in the dark, Amir Khan told investigators that he had lost his mobile phone a couple of days ago and lodged a complaint with the Sector 22 police post. It was verified and found true. The police said the call details of the mobile phone number had shown that only one call was made from it and that too to the police control room at 12:05 pm. The police procured the details of the mobile phone and found from tower location that the call was made from Sector 38-West. Thereafter, the caller switched off the mobile number. Since the caller had given information that the bomb was planted outside the PGI and the caller was wearing blue jeans and a white shirt, a police party reached the spot within minutes but did not find anyone matching the description. Meanwhile, the police removed autorickshaws, squatters and fruit vendors from there to clear the place. The riot control vehicle and bomb squad personnel were pressed into service that examined the entire area. Police vehicles were seen towing away the wrongly parked vehicles on the VVIP route and were using the public address system to warn motorists and roadside vendors clear the place. The police checked students before allowing the pass-holders inside the gymnasium hall where the interaction session with Rahul Gandhi was to be held. The police searched hostels last night as well as during the day. SP (City) Madur Verma said they were inquiring the matter and verifying the statement given by Amir Khan also.
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Rahul to take up varsity issue with Centre
Chandigarh, October 13 The event, titled “Jazbaa”, was organised by the National Student’s Union of India at the Gymnasium Hall on the PU campus. After a long wait of almost four hours, the event finally started with a brief welcome note by MP Meenkshi Natrajan, who accompanied Rahul. “We have come together to open the doors of the organisation to all of you and invite you to take the leadership,” she said. Rahul claimed that his purpose of visiting the university was to revive the NSUI and invite students to join the youth party. He was swamped with questions by youngsters on serious issues, right from Naxalism to lack of effectiveness of government’s policies. A question by a student from School Of Communication Studies, on delay in granting Central status to PU by the government, created a stir. “We sat on a chain fast strike for four months. As students we did everything possible to get the Central status for the universiy, but Congress leader Kapil Sibal, brushed aside the issue saying that it was for the Punjab CM to decide,” said Shivani. Answering this, Rahul promised the students that he would take up the matter with the MHRD. ‘I am not the future PM’ One of the students said, “I am a sufferer of the policies made by you. My father was in peace-keeping force sent to Sri-Lanka and he died. You belong to a family that makes policy and I belong to a family, which obeys and suffers. You will also be the Prime Minister one day. ” Answering to the question Rahul said that the policy formulation was the decision of not one person but it was a collective effort. “I am not the future Prime Minister of the country and it is not even on my mind. In taking policy decisions there are complexities involved, I can only push the matter, but I have never promised that a certain problem would be solved for sure. We can only try.”
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Panchkula turnout 59 pc; Kalka 71
Tribune News Service
Panchkula, October 13 Residents of Chowki village, who had boycotted the Lok Sabha elections in May over poor development, recorded the highest turnout this time with 82 per cent. In Sector 17, Panchkula, the election staff and INLD workers had a heated argument when an observer objected over the presence of an INLD agent, Vinod Kumar. Party workers and Yograj Singh, INLD candidate, reached the spot. Officials said the agent was sitting inside the booth while the form submitted by the party bore the name of Ashok Kumar. The matter was, however, settled amicably. Meanwhile, all parties flouted norms by putting up banners, posters and flags at counters set up outside the polling stations. Workers were using private vehicles to ferry voters from slum colonies to the booths. Candidates could be seen bringing voters from Rajiv and Indira colonies to booths in Sectors 16 and 17. In the urban areas of Kalka and Pinjore, the polling was 30 per cent till noon, but in the rural areas of Doon and Raitan 50 per cent voters had cast their vote by 2 pm. Manak Thapra village of Raipur Rani recorded 97 per cent polling. Enthusiasm prevailed among those who cast their vote for the first time. Hundreds couldn’t vote The names of hundreds of voters was missing from the voter list at Kalka and Pinjore. Official sources said due to some snag or discrepancy in the survey conducted by the district administration, the names of these voters were missing from the list even though they possessed voter cards. Several people claimed that their names were in the voter list during the parliamentary elections in May, but were missing from the current list. Independent booked The Pinjore police registered a case against Bhagat Singh, an Independent candidate from Kalka, and his supporter for distributing money to voters at the Ishar Nagar area. Dharam Singh, the supporter, has been arrested. Bhagat Singh’s wife, however, alleged that it was a conspiracy and Bhagat Singh was at Raipur Rani when the incident took place.EVM conks out The EVM at Government Senior School Rajjipur (Surajpur) went out of order at around 11.45 am and polling was suspended for about an hour. Shopkeepers challaned Several shopkeepers of Kalka were challaned and fined for opening their shops during polling hours.
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Garbage Plant: Experts collect samples
Chandigarh, October 13 The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in its interim report had asked the Chandigarh Pollution Control Board to submit details of analysis of the volatile organic compounds and other parameters and details of design and specification of the hot-air generator and the rotary dryer within a week. Only after that the Central board would prepare their final report of the plant. Sources in the administration revealed that a two-member team of Vimta Laboratory Limited along with four representatives of the Chandigarh Pollution Control Board conducted tests for the entire day at the plant and collected samples. The sources said the experts conducted the tests for smell in the plant and took samples of ammonia, hydrogen sulphide and amino butyric acid. The official said the motive behind these tests was to find out whether any component in the plant was responsible for the smell or not. The sources said the pollution board had recommended this laboratory for conducting the tests for preparing the final report. The officials said it was expected that the experts would prepare the reports of both tests within 10 days and submit it to the administration. The company report had already clarified that fluidized-bed furnace could not be installed in this plant as it requires a particular size of particles and density whereas the RDF which was produced in the plant varies in both these points, respectively. The authorities also submitted detailed design and specifications of the hot air generator and rotary dryer to the pollution committee. After consultation with two of the leading companies, including Thermax and Sanvhvi, on the installation of such furnace in the plant it was found that nowhere in the country this pattern has proved successful for burning RDF. Meanwhile, the company representatives said even after the directions of the administration they were still receiving garbage of hotel, vegetable and meat waste at the plant for which they had written to the medical officer health on numerous occasions.
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Gareeb Rath from city to Nanded
Chandigarh, October 13 Karan Singh, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager (SDCM), Ambala Division, while giving this information to The Tribune, said the train would make three trips to the holy city and back and all coaches of the train were air-conditioned. He said the special train and would depart from Nanded at 7.45 am on October 15, 19 and 23 and arrive in Chandigarh at 4 pm the next day. Similarly, the special train would depart from the city at 9.25 am on October 17, 21 and 25 and reach Nanded 5.40 pm the next day. Singh said in order to clear the rush in view of the puja and Diwali festival season, the Railways had started another down train 2232-A from Chandigarh which would culminate at Lucknow after passing through Ambala, Jagadhri, Saharanpur, Moradabad, Bareilly, Shahjahanpur. He said the train would depart at 9.30 pm and reach Lucknow at 9 am and the up train no 2231A would leave Lucknow at 1.30 pm and reach Chandigarh at 3 am. Sources in the Railways said the tickets were available and one-way fare would be Rs 807. However, there would be no concession for the senior citizens as the fare had been kept very low as compared to other special trains.
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Tech Mahindra clarifies
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 13 Ranjit Puri, representative of Tech Mahindra, said: “We approached the Chandigarh administration in May 2005 for the allotment of 15 acres at the IT park. Tech Mahindra’s request was followed by the visit of Vineet Nayyar, MD of Tech Mahindra to Chandigarh, for a detailed discussion in this regard. Tech Mahindra had been following the allotment of land and the undersigned had been holding meetings with administration officials. Nayyar had sent a reminder on December 28, 2005, by way of email to the Director IT, enquiring about the status of the allocation of land and requesting that the processing be expedited. He also visited Chandigarh in February 2006 to meet the officials to conclude the allotment of land.
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MHA favours review of land acquisition cases
Chandigarh, October 13 The recommendations have been made in context of cases of glaring discrepancies’ and instances of undue favour to a few information technology companies in the allotment of land at the Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park. The home ministry has said “The compensation given to citizens whose land has been acquired by the Chandigarh Administration could be revised in light of NRRP policy and various court judgments available in this regard. The administration should ensure that citizens get a fair compensation for their land acquired. A set of guidelines need be prepared considering NRRP and various court judgments”. The report said the administration ‘should have a sound financial advice and an independent pre-check system to ensure that a good financial administration system functions in the Union Territory. The system of parliamentary control should be strictly enforced on the UT”. “The revenue received from the IT habitat project need to be submitted in the government account instead of putting it with the Chandigarh Housing Board. In the cases where there has been a revenue loss to the administration, immediate recover should be initiated”. The report has in a tabulated form specified cases of lesser collections.
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GMADA allots land to 13 cooperative societies
Mohali, October 13 On the issue of fixing the land allotment rates, the matter had been pending for the past several years. Taking the decision with a pinch of salt, members of the cooperative house building societies criticised GMADA for ignoring the basic principle of the cooperative movement. The allotment rate is more than five times the rate of Rs 2,000 per sq yard it had offered at the time of inviting applications. A decision in this regard was taken at the yesterday’s meeting of the executive committee of GMADA. “Since the planning of the land where the societies are to be allotted, the land has almost been finalised and the allotment would now be made as the land allotment rate has been approved,” said an official. Last year, GMADA had proposed a rate of Rs 10,000 per sq yard. But after an increase in the reserve price of the residential plots in August last, the allotment price of the land to the cooperative societies has been increased to Rs 12,000 per sq yard. In 2006, the finance and accounts of PUDA had decided to refund the earnest money to the societies. But since the societies had applied for allotment of sites in 2003 and the decision to go for auction was taken in 2006, the case was reconsidered by the authority in February, 2008. But on the intervention by the Chief Minister, who is also chairman of GMADA, 13 societies are being allotted land by way of the allotment instead of the current policy of the allotment of the land by way of auction. Higher land allotment rates The comparison of the allotment rates of group housing schemes in Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali reveals that new rate of GMADA was on the higher sides. In Panchkula, the approximate allotment rates for 2008-09 depending upon the size of dwelling unit varied between Rs 45,00 per sq yard and Rs 6,800 per sq yard. In the last allotments made to the societies in late eighties, the Chandigarh Housing Board had offered around Rs 2,900 per sq yard. In Mohali, the last allotment made to the cooperative societies in 2003 was Rs 2,000 per sq yard. On the contrary, PUDA had allotted land to two societies in Ludhiana for Rs 6,000 per sq yard and Rs 7,600 per sq yard. Other societies to get land
Mohali Cooperative House Building Society, Dr Ambedkar Cooperative House Building Society, Punjab State High Courts Lawyers Building Society, Sahib Zada Cooperative House Building Society, Punjab School Education Board Employees Cooperative House Building Society, Golden Tone Cooperative, Punjab and Sind Bank Cooperative, Youth Club Cooperative House Building Society, ACC Members Cooperative, Medical Veterinary and Paramedical House Building Society, Aggarsen Cooperative House Building Society, Swastic RBI Staff Cooperative and Hindustan Times Employees Cooperative House Building Society.
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He helps others fight cancer
Chandigarh, October 13 While working at Verizon, the electronics engineer, a pass out from Thapar College, Patiala, founded the US chapter of Sahayta, a local NGO (<<http://www.sahatya.org>>) which provides financial and emotional support to the underprivileged cancer patients and families. He led a team of six dedicated workers and 10 volunteers to raise $10,000 in 2006, $21,000 in 2007 and $22,000 in 2008. Khaira said, “I have seen the sufferings of my mother from very close quarters when I was very young. While working at Verizon, I was always drawn to my roots back home. My biggest inspiration is my grandfather, S Kartar Singh, who was a freedom fighter and a member of the first Rajya Sabha from the erstwhile state of PEPSU.” “I created a website in the US and donors started responding, slowly. The biggest hurdle in running an NGO is convincing people that their contributions were going to the right person. The chain grew with time and team work.” “Our help goes straight to the patient, minus all the paper work. In cases, whenever a doctor from PGI recommended a case we sent the help straightaway instead of looking for any detailed paper work or supporting documents”, said Khaira who has recently completed his MBA from Harvard Business School, Boston. A former student of the local St Stephen’s School, Khaira led the design team of a Verizon, the biggest telecom company in US before doing his MBA. He created the Verizon’s first community outreach programme. The programme attracted over 200 employees of the company to teach English bi-weekly at local school for the underprivileged children at Chhenai and Hyderabad. Khaira is finalising details of the relief work at the local chapter of the Sahayta for expanding its work before he takes his new assignment at Bain and Co in New York, shortly.
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EME rafting expedition a success
Chandigarh, October 13 Thirty-one handpicked rafters, comprising six officers and 25 other ranks led by Maj Vishal Ahlawat successfully negotiated the stretch of 158 km in frothing Ganges in four rubber rafts, according to a statement issued here today. The team was flagged-in at Rishikesh by Director-General and Senior Colonel Commandant of EME, Lt Gen AKS Chandele. The expedition was flagged off from Rudraprayag on October 8 and was aimed at motivating the youth of the country to join the Army, besides promoting the adventure activities across the Himalayas. The team had undergone intensive training for the event. During its four days of journey along with the serpentine manoeuvres of the holy Ganges amidst the pristine surroundings of the Himalayas, the expedition faced the wrath of tearing rapids. The route on the Ganges had a number of breathtaking rapids of the order of grade 4 to 5 and deep falls with rocky projections and negotiating these was a real a test of nerves, the team leader said.
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Air Marshal Bhangu is SWAC chief
Chandigarh, October 13 Commissioned as a fighter pilot in January 1972, he has over 4, 000 hours of combat flying experience to his credit. He has commanded the IAF’s Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment and a front-line operational airbase. He has had a flying instructional tenure of two years in a friendly country and also a diplomatic tenure as Air Attache to Russia for over three years. He was been decorated with the Vayu Sena Medal in 1992 and Ati Vishist Seva Medal in 1996 for distinguished services, a statement issued here today said. — TNS
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Drive against female foeticide
Chandigarh, October 13 The campaign will help create awareness about the social evil among the general public. The petition will be presented to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for appropriate action at the government level, according to SV Sista, executive trustee of the Population First. The petition will urge the government to reconstitute the advisory boards as per the law with representation of committed social activists and civil society representatives and conduct social audit of documents received from sonography clinics between 2003-2008. Besides, it would urge the government to make available online data of ultrasound machines sold by various companies. Persons wanting to pledge their support to the signature campaign can log on to www.laadli.org. They can also SMS Laadli to 575758.
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Woman dies after penicillin injection
Mohali, October 13 It is reported that a brother of the deceased tried to damage hospital property after getting to know about the death of his sister. He even tried to assault medical specialist Dr Manraj Singh. The police was called in to prevent the situation from getting out of control. It is learnt that seven patients suffering from rheumatic heart disease visited the hospital today to get their monthly dose of the penicillin injection. A sensitivity test dose is generally given before an injection is administered. But soon after getting the test dose, the condition of the patient deteriorated, leading to her death. It was alleged that the hospital did not have the supply of oxygen which could be given to the patient when her condition was
deteriorating. SMO in charge of the hospital Dr Meena said the woman was a cardiac patient and had suffered anaphylactic shock which was generally caused by such injections. It became severe and life-threatening. She said the patient was normal after she was given the sensitivity dose and even had water. Her condition deteriorated after about 10 minutes. All efforts made by doctors to revive her failed. She was then declared dead. The SMO said there were three cylinders full of oxygen in the hospital at the time of the incident and the patient was given a supply of oxygen. A post-mortem on the body will be conducted tomorrow.
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Web portal on Uttarakhand
Chandigarh, October 13 The site not only provides hundreds of blood donors at the click of a mouse, but has a directory containing names and contact details of all persons from Uttarakhand in the tricity, said Surendra Halsi, general secretary of Arpit and the man behind the site. The portal also attempts to create one of the largest databases on the villages of Uttarakhand. The database will contain all relevant information on villages, problems and issues faced by villagers.
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CCET autonomy demand discussed
Chandigarh, October 13 The CCET principal told the Home Secretary that the status would speed up the faculty recruitment process, which now took much time as was done through the UPSC. He further said the construction work on the campus would also be given a thrust if the CCET got autonomous status. The Home Secretary said it was an important policy decision, which would affect the students of the region. He added that a thorough examination of the case was required before sending the recommendation for the same to the Government of India. Currently, the CCET was affiliated to the Panjab University and reserved 85 per cent of the total seats for students from Chandigarh.
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Rs 30-cr grant for science research
Chandigarh, October 13 The letter was recently handed over by the Prime Minister to Prof RC Sobti, Vice-Chancellor of the Panjab University. Out of this amount, Rs 10 crore would be spent during this financial year. The VC said this would give a big boost to research and education in science and technology. The Panjab University was among the three universities to get this amount, the other two being the Delhi University and the Hyderabad University.
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Students cautioned against alcoholism
Chandigarh, October 13 The series of meeting started three months ago, aims at boosting the moral standards of city students, in addition to sensitising them about the ill-effects of drug or alcohol addiction. Ram Niwas apprised the students about personal hygiene, civic rights and duties, ill-effects of drugs etc. He also showed a skeleton terming it as the ultimate fate of smokers and drunkards to students thereby encouraging them to abstain from it. Dance contest Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 10, got first prize in girl’s group dance competition on its campus today. The second position was grabbed by Government Model High School, Sector 38, and third by Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 32. In boys’ category, amongst seven teams, the first prize went to GMSSS, Sector 37, while the second to GMSSS, Sector 10 and GMSSS, Sector 47, won third prize. Students say no to crackers Sohanjana, eco-club of Government Model Senior Secondary School, 46, today organised an awareness programme on “Say no to crackers” on school premises. Principal Sudesh Raghav advised students not to use crackers to avoid noise and air pollution. The students prepared banners and posters with anti-cracker messages and pledged to abstain from them this Diwali. District Education Officer Chanchal Singh administered the pledge. Orientation programme CBSE organised an orientation programme for PGT computer science in informatics practices at DPS today. The orientation programme highlighted recent changes in the syllabus for informatics practices in senior secondary classes. Manjeet Jauhar from Vivek High School and Mukesh Kumar from DPS, New Delhi, were resource persons.
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Lecture on climatic changes
Chandigarh, October 13 Dr Balaram spoke on various aspects of climatic changes while analysing established theories as well as listing new challenges and controversies. Prof Madhuri Sharma chaired the memorial lecture.
— TNS
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