NEIGHBOURHOOD

CM’s rally leaves commuters stranded
Tribune News Service

Ambala, March 2
Bringing cheer to Class V students, the Haryana government has directed primary schools across the state not to fail any student in the annual examination.

According to sources in the primary education department, Haryana Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal has issued instructions to all district education officials and district primary education officials to set up examination centres in primary schools.

Officials of the district education offices, headmasters of high and secondary schools and senior functionaries of the education department will be responsible for the smooth conduct of the examination.

Students will have to pay Rs 10 as examination fee. The fee will be used for printing question papers and preparation of answersheets, along with the overhead charges and remuneration of teachers, who will evaluate answersheets.

Zile Singh, District Education Officer, Ambala, today said, “We have received a circular from the higher authorities. According to which, Class V students will now be given grades instead of marks. The grades will depend upon the performance of a student and no student will be failed now onwards.”

As per the new guidelines, the entire examination process for Class V will be conducted according to a fixed schedule. The examination will begin this month and the results will be declared by March 31.

The new guidelines are expected to come as a big relief to students in primary schools, where frequent dropouts are reported.

Kalka, March 2
The Haryana government is violating the decision of the Supreme Court in land acquisition in Kalka, Pinjore and its vicinity. This was alleged by Vijay Bansal, a local advocate and BSP leader.

He alleged that the apex court had recently ruled that the government could not adopt a ‘pick and choose’ method to acquire private land as it would be violative of the constitutional right to equality.

Bansal further said a Bench of Justice DK Jain and RM Lodha had made the remarks while upholding a batch of special leave petitions of aggrieved landowners who challenged the acquisition proceedings of the Haryana Urban Development Authority at Narnaul between 1992-93, under which the state government could not pick and choose some landowners and release their land from acquisition and deny the same benefit to other landowners by creating artificial distinction.

He said the state government had deliberately acquired about thousand acres in Kalka and Pinjore on the nominal rates and had even issued licence to private builders under Articles 4 and 6 of the Land Acquisition Act.

The government has even changed the CLU (change of land use) of 124 acres of the ACC industrial land to residential land near Surajpur and had also planned to involve municipal committees of Kalka and Pinjore in Panchkula municipal corporation to give benefit to private builders.

Ambala, March 2
Bharatiya Janata Party workers, led by local BJP legislator Anil Vij, here today took out a protest march with black badges against the cane charge on their partymen in Chandigarh on February 25 and submitted a memorandum to the district administration.

The memorandum demanded a stern action against those responsible for the cane charge on the party workers and also an inquiry into the circumstances leading to it.

The BJP workers at the demonstration pointed out that the partymen were staging a peaceful demonstration in Chandigarh against price rise and the spiralling prices of essential commodities, which had made the life of the common man miserable.

However, the police decided to cane charge the peacefully demonstrating BJP workers and this had led to a widespread resentment among the party rank and file.

On behalf of the district administration, the tehsildar of Ambala received the memorandum which the BJP workers wanted to be sent to the higher authorities, including Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Kalka, March 2
The local administration has taken initiative to beautify the historic Gandhi Chowk of Kalka. Informing this, SDM Virender Singh Sehrawat said under the project, the administration had decided to renovate the Gandhi Chowk T-point, situated on National Highway-22.

He said a high mast light was also proposed to be installed under the project. The SDO and the MC engineer had been asked to prepare and send an estimate in this regard soon and the work on this project would be started within next 15 days.

Notably, a high-level iron pole was installed in 1942 on the same T-point by the Congress during the visit of Mahatama Gandhi to Shimla. After the Independence the same place was used for celebration of functions of the Independence Day and the Republic Day.

However, since the last couple of years the pole was ejected and the place was lying in neglected state and the residents of the city were demanding immediate renovation of the place. A delegation of residents of Kalka has also met the SDM in this regard recently.

Patiala, March 2
Ryan International School, Patiala, celebrated its Montessori graduation ceremony. Springles Playway School MD Sunil Panthi, renowned pediatrician, Dr BM Dhir, and municipal committee Commissioner MS Narang were guests of honour on the occasion. The theme of the show was “Rhythm”.

The young Ryanites performed on various styles of dancing from folk, classical, rock, pop, Indi-pop to fusion.

The guests of honour presented the students with degrees and certificates and congratulated tiny tots for their enchanting performance.

Kalka, March 2
A 23-year-old boy lost his life in an accident yesterday. According to information, the accident occurred on the same steep stretch on the Kalka-Paploha road where a 52-year-old motorcyclist was hit by a recklessly driven vehicle on February 26 and later died in the PGI on February 28.

An eyewitness said the victim, Kuldeep Sharma, along with his friend Om Parkash, was riding on his motorcycle on the same stretch in the afternoon when a tractor trailer hit their bike. Subsequently, Kuldeep sustained serious head injuries and was rushed to the Civil Hospital, Kalka, where he was declared dead on arrival.

Meanwhile, Om Parkash, who was riding pillion, also sustained multiple injuries and was referred to the government hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh, where his condition was said to be critical.

The tractor driver, who was allegedly in an inebriated condition, fled from the spot. The deceased was a resident of Tagra Hari Singh village, near Kalka, who was unmarried and had two sisters.

Chandigarh, March 2
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled it would be unfair not to compensate Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) official “invalidated out of service primarily because of conditions he was placed in, while serving the nation”.

Justice Ranjit Singh also ruled it would be unfair to permit director Medical Board, to “change the percentage of disability, without even examining the áffected employee”. The trial court and the first appellate court also came under criticism for taking an “illegal view”.

The scathing observations came on an appeal filed by Daljit Singh against the Union of India and another respondent.

Serving as a constable, he had filed the “second appeal” to “impugn the order whereby the percentage of disability suffered by him as assessed by the board was reduced by the director”.

Going into the background, Justice Ranjit Singh observed: “It is conceded that the Board of Medical examined the appellant on December 3 and 4, 2001, and assessed the disability as 93.75 per cent.

“While deciding the case for grant of financial benefit, the competent authority had to review the case and curtailed the percentage of disability to 75 per cent”.

Justice Ranjit Singh added: “The trial court dismissed the suit by holding that the director Medical Board, could competently give his opinion about the percentage of disability by having access to case history etc. and accordingly action to decrease the disability to 75 per cent was held justified….

“The first appellate court again did not accept the plea of the appellant that percentage of his disability could not be lowered by an authority who had no opportunity to examine him. In this regard, the judgments referred to were ignored on the ground that these were in relation to Army persons.”

In his detailed order, Justice Ranjit Singh asserted: “The view taken by the trial court, and by the first appellate court clearly appears to be legally unsound. There is no justification forthcoming for reducing the disability as assessed by the medical board….

“Even otherwise, the percentage of disability as assessed by the Board gave certain rights to the appellant and entitlement to claim certain pensionary benefits under the Rules, which have been taken away in a manner that would rather sound arbitrary.

Least what could be expected in this case was to afford an opportunity to the appellant to ensure adherence to the principles of natural justice.

Allowing the appeal, Justice Ranjit Singh asserted: “The action of the respondents, thus, is arbitrary and cannot be sustained.

“The judgments and the decrees passed by the trial court and first appellate court are set-aside.”

Chandigarh, March 2
The CBI special court today directed the CBI SP to produce a copy of the letter sent by the investigating agency to the Ministry of Personnel and Training for obtaining prosecution sanction from the competent authority in the cash-at-judge’s door case.

RD Kalia, SP, CBI, told the court that the then SP might have submitted a letter to the ministry for sanction of prosecution and he needed to check records. The same was not traceable in the file submitted to the court.

The CBI, in its charge sheet, submitted to the court on December 19 last that in the absence of sanction by Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan for prosecution, it was not in a position to go ahead in the matter.

The strongly worded report, running into nearly 20 pages, that was submitted to the CBI court of special judge Darshan Singh, contained a letter by the Government of India in consultation with Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan to the CBI, refusing permission for prosecution.

The scam had come to light after Rs 15 lakh was delivered at the house of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2008.

The Chandigarh police had investigated the case initially, but the matter was later handed over to the CBI.

As the case came up for hearing today, special judge Darshan Singh found that the closure report had been primarily filed on the ground that no sanction was granted by the competent authority.

The public prosecutor stated that the CBI had written a letter to the ministry for obtaining sanction for prosecution.

The defence counsel said the competent authority had not been approached. The court now fixed March 4 as the next date of hearing.

Panchkula, March 2
Seeking the narco test of the family of Deepak Rai Sagar, a realtor who went missing since June 1, the Panchkula police submitted an affidavit before the Punjab and Haryana High Court here today. The police said narco-analysis test of Samir Saggar and SS Monga, son and son-in-law, respectively, of Deepak was required to know the truth behind his disappearance.

The suspects, Brijesh Kapoor, Rajesh Thapar and Vinay, should also go under the narco test, the police said. It informed the court that being the son of the victim, Samir must be knowing something and Monga’s mobile phone remained switched off for some hours on the day when Deepak went missing.

The police mentioned in the affidavit that all three suspects were not traceable till they were granted interim bail by the court.

It was on February 18 when the SP Panchkula appeared before the court to say that the police could not make any breakthrough in the case and they required custodial interrogation of the accused.

The accused, however, said they were ready to cooperate with the police in investigation and had no objection to the narco test. And for the narco test, there was no need for custodial interrogation, they contended.

The accused, however, said they were ready for such a test only if the family of Sagar also underwent it as they had the apprehension that they had personal motive in naming them as suspects in the case.

The SP also submitted before the court that the police felt that the behaviour of the complainant’s family during the past few months left the impression that they should also undergo the narco test.

Panchkula, March 2
In a case pertaining to the coldblooded murder of a newly wed woman, the Himachal police arrested the husband of the victim from here yesterday. The accused, identified as Simranpal Singh of Ferozepur, allegedly killed his wife Simarjeet Kaur when they were on their honeymoon in Shimla last month.

According to Balbir Singh, SHO, Kufri, the accused married Simarjeet, a resident of Moga on January 17. They left home for honeymoon and reached Shimla on February 21. While sightseeing, the accused allegedly had an altercation with his wife and strangled her. He then threw her into the valley. After killing her, he went underground. When the parents of the victim got no reply from their daughter for a long time despite repeated efforts to contact her, they lodged a complaint with the police.

Tracking the calls made by the accused, the Punjab police located him in Panchkula. The phone number belonged to a friend of Simranpal. With the help of the Panchkula police, the friend of the accused was traced and he asked Simaranpal to reach Sector 14, where the police nabbed him.

On questioning, the accused told the Himachal police that he suspected the character of his wife. After killing her, he reached Chandigarh and stayed in hotels for a few days before shifting to Derabassi where he stayed until his arrest last night.

The body of the girl was recovered today and handed over to her father after a postmortem, the Kufri SHO stated.

Chandigarh, March 2
Three persons allegedly attempted to commit suicide in different parts of the city.

According to the police, Pappu, a resident of Sector 38, had set himself afire yesterday. His wife had gone to meet her parents and he had talked to her on phone. The couple reportedly had some altercation on the phone following which Pappu set himself afire in a fit of rage. He was rushed to the PGI in a critical condition.

In another incident, Ashutosh of Sector 40 allegedly stabbed himself over some issue. The police was trying to ascertain the reason behind this extreme step.

Surinder Singh of Maloya had allegedly burnt himself after pouring kerosene oil on himself. The police said he was annoyed with his family members over some issue. The police has registered three separate cases of attempt to suicide against the trio in different police stations.

Chandigarh, March 2
The police has arrested Sunil Kumar, a resident of Sector 23, after he allegedly stole a Maruti car from Sector 17 here in the wee hours today.

Chandigarh, March 2
The police arrested Vinay Kumar of Phase X at Mohali, who had been declared a proclaimed offender in a cheating case, on February 27.

The police said he had taken Rs 3.32 lakh from Anil Kumar of the Indira Colony on the pretext of sending him abroad.

He had neither sent the complainant abroad, nor returned his money. A case of cheating was registered against him and he was declared a proclaimed offender on July 11 last.

Mohali, March 2
Thieves decamp with gold jewellery and cash after breaking into a house at Phase VII yesterday.

The complainant alleged that he, along with his family, had gone to Muktsar on February 26. When they returned they found the lock of the main door broken and the house ransacked.

Chandigarh, March 2
In order to provide better facilities to sports enthusiasts, the UT administration has decided to launch a multi-discipline drive to speed up sporting infrastructure in the city.

Realising the fact that sporting skills can be honed to meet global standards, the administration has completed several key projects, and is working on several others, which would be ready by the second half of 2010-11.

These include ten-lane athletics track in Sector 39 and its first outdoor synthetic-surface basketball court.

The completed projects include a judo boxing hall worth Rs 74.3 lakh in Sector 42, an all-weather swimming pool worth Rs 42.37 lakh in Sector 23, provision of electronic true colour LED display board at the Hockey and Cricket Stadia in Sector 16 and additional infrastructural facilities at the CLTA in Sector 10 at the cost of Rs 90 lakh.

The department has also completed several projects under the Lake Club Scheme at the cost of Rs 90.45 lakh, including construction of a squash court building at the Sukhna Lake. According to status report, about 95 per cent construction work on two mini-synthetic tennis courts at the Lake Sports Complex has already been completed.

Sanjay Kumar, Finance-cum-Sports Secretary, UT, said their main objective was to enable sportspersons to hone their skills, equip themselves to rub their shoulders with the best in the world and earn space for the city on the world-sporting map.

Divulging details, a spokesperson of the engineering department said a world-class indoor basketball court worth Rs 1.8 crore in Sector 42 would be completed by the first week of July. He added that the indoor stadium could also be used for handball and volleyball. He said another outdoor basketball synthetic court, being built at the cost of Rs 61 lakh, was in progress and a foreign-based company, Terraflex, had been engaged in this regard and the department had already received its specifications and technical know-how.

The spokesperson said, “A water-based synthetic hockey field is coming up in addition to the one at the Sector 42 Sports Complex. The administration has already allotted seven acres of land for the purpose.”

The Rs 2-crore hockey field being laid as per norms of the Federation of International Hockey (FIH), would enable the sports department to hold international hockey matches and tournaments in the city, he added.

Chandigarh, March 2
Sangkhumbi of Government College, Sector 42, has been named captain of the Chandigarh women football team.

The team will take part in the 18th Senior Women National Football Championship to be held in Imphal (Manipur) from March 7 to 25.

Stating this in a press release, Rakesh Bakshi, general secretary, Chandigarh Football Association, said the 22-member team would leave for Dimapur tomorrow.

He added that the team would take on Assam and Bihar in Pool VII. They would play their first match on March 10 against Assam, while on March 12 they would lock horns with Bihar.

Hosts, Manipur would be the defending champions, he added. Bakshi said the 20-member team included Sangkhumbi (captain), Jaskiran, Rekha, Suman, Monika, Pooja, Rekha II, Kamla, Meena, Neha, Sangila, Anjana, Kamlesh, Anjana Dogra, Simran Sardana, Preeti, Asha, Seema, Poonam and Priyanka. Ramesh Kumar and Narinder Thapa of the Sports Authority of India would accompany the team, he added.