NEIGHBOURHOOD

Inspector told to pay Rs 1 lakh
Registration of false case
Our Correspondent

Patiala, February 9
In order to check rising cases of food adulteration, department of health and family welfare has decided to issue licences to all small and big shopkeepers dealing with the manufacturing and sale of food products soon. The department has carried out this step to ensure that every food product that reaches the market is properly tested by the department and is fit to consume.

Giving information in this regard, civil surgeon Shyam Lal Mahajan said as per the instructions of the director of the health department, every shopkeeper or big businessman, varying from atta-chakki, grocery shop owners to owners of five star hotels dealing with any kind of food products, would have to get the licence issued. The licence would be issued for one year and have to be renewed every year.

He informed that first the application for the licence would be submitted in the civil surgeon office.

Then the officials would make their enquiries and after the dealers prove their eligibility, the licence would be issued by the assigning authority.

For this, the shopkeepers, too, have been divided into two categories depending on their income. For dealers who would pay fee of Rs 5,000 for state-level dealership, the application for licence would be sent to the health department through civil surgeons whereas below Rs 5,000, the licence could be issued by the civil surgeons. Also, the security deposit would also vary with the kind of business.

Patiala, February 9
“Psychofest”, an annual event of the department of psychology, Punjabi University, will commence tomorrow on the campus.

Theme of the fest will be “Towards Achievement and Success”.

Head of the department Dr Gurminder Sokhey said free psychological testing and counselling would be provided on anger management, resilience, self-esteem, motivation, achievement and personal growth during the fest.

A workshop will be held, in which various achievements of the university students would be enlisted.

Vice-Chancellor Dr Jaspal Singh will inaugurate the programme.

Dr Damanjit Sandhu, lecturer, department of psychology, said he had received a grant of more than Rs 5 lakh from the University Grants Commission for a major research project entitled “Health-risk behaviour in adolescents in relation to developmental tasks and social context”.

Under the project, Dr Damanjit Sandhu will analyse the behaviour of youngsters in Punjab who are addicted to alcohol, drugs, tobacco, unhealthy dietary practices, participation in violent activities. The research will also cover school and other developmental changes in adolescents.

Earlier, Dr Damanjit Sandhu received the “Best Scientific Research Award” from Raji P Shrivastava, DHE, Chandigarh administration, for her research on adolescent identity formation at the UGC national seminar on parenting of adolescents in Chandigarh.

Ambala, February 9
A fire broke out in a godown of electronic goods located on the Model Town road at Ambala City late this evening. The godown is constructed on the first and the second floor of a building. The electronic goods showroom is located on its ground floor.

Though four fire tenders reached at the spot, the fire could not be controlled even after three hours. The showroom was open when the fire incident occurred. One of the neighbouring shopkeeper noticed that smoke was coming out from the first floor of the building. He immediately informed owner of the shop Arvind Kumar. After getting the information the police officials also rushed to the spot.

The loss was not estimated so far. It is learnt that the electronic goods like TVs, washing machines and air conditioners worth lakhs of rupees were kept in the godown. The cause of the fire could not be ascertained. It is said short-circuit could be a reason behind the incident.

Kalka, February 9
The Railway Protection Force (RPF), Kalka, today set an example of honesty by returning a branded hand-held camera to its owner, which was recovered from Shatabdi Express train on February 4.

Ajay Joyti Sharma, Company Commander of RPF, Kalka, revealed that during the search of the train a team of RPF recovered the camera under a berth of compartment No. C-3 of train No. 2005 on February 4.

He said the owner of the camera got off the train in Chandigarh. During investigations it was learnt that the camera belonged to Ajit Singh, a resident of Mullanpur village of Mohali.

The owner was intimated over the telephone and the camera was handed over to him today, who was delighted to get back his lost camera, added Sharma.

Chandigarh, February 9
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today admitted a petition filed by a retired Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge, Justice JS Narang, seeking pension parity between judges elevated directly from advocates and promoted from the category of District and Sessions Judges.

In his petition, Justice Narang stated that he was enrolled as an advocate in August, 1968, and he continued practicing in the high court. On May 14, 1999, he was appointed a judge in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, from where he retired on January 1, 2007.

In the petition filed against the Union of India, the Secretary in the Department of Law, Justice and Company Affairs, the high court through the registrar-general and other respondents stated that those elevated from the post of the District and Sessions Judge were getting higher pension while directly elevated judges were getting lower pension.

The petitioner sought the directions for quashing of schedule, which classified the judges in categories of direct recruits from the Bar and promotees.

Chandigarh, February 9
Justice MMS Bedi of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued notice of motion to the Chandigarh Administration and others on a petition filed by six Chandigarh police personnel, seeking the transfer of case against Inspector Ram Gopal from Chandigarh to any other court in Punjab.

The petitioners, Yashpal and others, in their petition filed before the high court, stated that Ram Gopal was an influential person. Two courts had already sent back the case, holding that they did not want to hear the matter. As such, it was a fit case to be transferred from Chandigarh to any other court in Punjab.

The petitioners alleged that Ram Gopal had produced a forged and fabricated certificate before the police authorities, stating that he was declared a world champion as he had stood first and won a gold medal in World Yoga Sport Cup held in Genoa in Italy.

On the basis of this, Ram Gopal was given seniority. When the facts were checked from the website of the International Yoga Federation, Balmukund Singh of India was shown in the first position.

Later, a case of cheating and forgery was registered against Ram Gopal in the Sector 3 police station on April 25, 2008. The investigation of the case was entrusted to ASP Central who, in order to help Ram Gopal and without considering the inquiry report, submitted untraced report in trial court.

The petitioners then moved an application before the trial court in this regard, which was not decided by the court. Later petitioners moved high court, which directed the trial court to decided their application within a specified period.

Chandigarh, February 9
Gulshan Kumar of Ram Darbar reported to the police that someone stole his Tata Safari (CH03Z-8276) from Sector 8 on January 31 last.

Chandigarh, February 9
An excellent batting performance by Kapil helped APJ Kharar defeat DAV Model School, Sector 15, in the Times-Cremica Inter-School Tournament held at DAV School, Sector 8, here today.

Batting first, APJ Kharar put up a modest total on the scoreboard by scoring 155 for the loss of four wickets in their stipulated 15 overs. Kapil, who was declared man of the match for his quick fire of 85 runs off 42 balls, including 10 fours and three sixes, was the main architect of the APJ innings. For DAV Model School, Sector 15, Aditya was the most impressive bowler who took two wickets giving away 24 runs.

In reply, DAV Model School failed to achieve the target of 156 runs and lost the match by 20 runs as they scored 135 runs for the loss of five wickets in their stipulated 15 overs. Sachin Sohal was the only batsman who played an excellent knock of 67 runs off 39 balls, which included seven hits to the fence and one six. Vihal Thind was the other main scorer who scored 29 runs off 16 balls and none of the other batsmen could make any significant contribution to the DAV total.

The final match between Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36, Chandigarh, and Satluj Public School, Sector 4, Panchkula, will be held at DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, at 10:30. Both the finalists played four matches to reach the final.

The champions will walk away with a glorious cup and a cash prize of Rs 21,000, while runners-up will get Rs 11,000. Dinesh Mongia will give away the prizes.

Brief scores : APJ Kharar: 155 for 4 in 15 overs ( Kapil 85, Pankaj 50 and Aditya 2 for 24).

DAV Model School (Sector 15): 135 for 5 in 15 overs (Sachin Sohal 67 and Vishal Thind 29).

Chandigarh, February 9
Panjab University (PU) won the All-India Inter-University Judo Championship for Women by securing 19.5 points here today.

Kurukshetra University and Delhi University bagged the second and third positions with 8.5 points and 8 points, respectively. Garima Chaudhary of Panjab University secured the first position in the open weight category.

Shally of Delhi University was second. Meena of MD University, Rohtak, and Dave Hetal of Mumbai University were joint third.

In the 48-kg category, Stephnie P Fernandez of Delhi University and Rekha of MD University, Rohtak, were first and second, respectively.

The third position was shared by Varsha Rao of Punjabi University, Patiala, and Sonam of Panjab University.