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Retired judge dies in accident
Chandigarh, June 11 Gupta, a resident of Sector 8C, had retired as district & sessions judge in Jalandhar in 2004 and was a practicing lawyer in the Punjab & Haryana High Court. He is survived by his wife, Nirmal Gupta, and two sons, Vinay Mohan Gupta and Vikas Mohan Gupta. The police reportedly received information about the accident at 6:59 am and rushed the critically wounded victim to GMSH where he was declared brought dead. Though he was wearing a safety helmet he suffered severe head injuries in the mishap. The police said a Mahindra Logan car (registration no CH 04A 2258) driven by Dr Ajay Goel, a resident
of Sector 15, Panchkula, rammed into Gupta's scooter from the rear, resulting in the latter losing control over his vehicle. Gupta fell down hitting his head on a road berm. The police has arrested Goel on charges of causing death due to rash and negligent driving. The victim's son, Vikas Mohan, said his father was going to meet his elder brother residing in Panchkula.
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Eateries score as fans pour Chandigarh, June 11 Several soccer fans had assembled at the hotel to enjoy the opening ceremony of the world cup. A similar scene was witnessed in a number of hotels, particularly in Sector 35, where LCD screens had been put up. “What more can one ask for? You are in the company of friends,
having beer and watching the world’s biggest sporting event,” said Rajeev who had come with friends. Another soccer fan, Rajvir, who turned up with his wife, said such an event could only be enjoyed at a place where a lot of fans had gathered. “We both are soccer enthusiasts. We came here to enjoy the inaugural match while dining out. For the big matches we will go to discotheques where we can watch the matches with large crowds of young guys,” the couple said. Some soccer buffs, who had gone to a discotheque in Sector 8, however, were disappointed as a technical snag developed in the antenna just before the inaugural
match.
"It was disappointing as we planned to watch the match at our favourite spot. We had to go to a friend's place," said Rahul and his friends. While most hotels in Sector 35 witnessed a reasonable rush on the
first day, the turnout was low at top hotels like the Taj and Mountview. "We have made elaborate arrangements for fans with special dishes and drinks named after soccer players. I think the timing of the first match (7.30 pm) was not suitable for our customers, but we hope a big rush in the coming days," RP Singla, GM of Mountview, stated. "We are planning a special menu and drinks on the days when the knock-out stage would begin," Sandeep Makroo and Monica, managers of the Taj and Black Magic, respectively,
stated.
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Superintendent snubbed me: Victim Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 11 Deposing before the court of additional district & sessions judge Gian Chand Garg, the victim stated during the crossexamination that she had told Sheokand, who was then in charge of the institution, about the rape but the latter had scolded her instead. As the victim entered the courtroom today she was chirpy and lively. Sitting in a lemon coloured dress with additional amicus curiae Tanu Bedi she appeared to be relaxed until the nine suspects in the case entered the courtroom. Upon seeing them the victim became uncomfortable and began hiding her face. However, in a few minutes she appeared composed again. Replying to the questions of one of the defence counsels, the victim said she was raped two days before being shifted to Ashraya, a shelter for deprived children. Pointing to Sheokand, who was not booked in the case by the police, she stated before the court she had even informed the Nari Niketan superintendent about the place where she was allegedly raped. The mentally challenged victim further added that Sheokand "used to raise a storm" when she told her she was raped. The victim, however, did not elaborate. She said all the suspects, including Kamla and Maya, had threatened her with dire consequences if she spoke about the incident.
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5 more kids rescued Mohali/Dera Bassi, June 11 While the children were handed over to their parents, process to prosecute the erring owners of establishments has been initiated. The raids were part of the ‘Child Week’ celebrated from June 6 to June 12. Labour inspector Jatinder Pal Singh said as per the directions of the government, children below the age of 14 should not be made to work. A part of residential area in Phase V was also checked, but no child labourer was found. At Dera Bassi, labour inspector Swaran Singh raided the shops in the main bazaar and rescued two children from the shops. He said a 12-year-old child was rescued from Green Sweet and another was rescued from Preet Fast Food. However, the shop owners claimed that the children were 15-year-old. Most of the children rescued by the labour department on Thursday were seen working again dhabas, questioning the purpose of the special drive. Photo P9
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Women not safe in city
Chandigarh, June 11 Going by the figures, the city has registered 38 cases of molestation in the last 18 months. Women are not safe on city roads and the authorities need to do something to curb it. After the conviction of former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore, 20 years after molesting Ruchika Girhotra, former IGP of Haryana MS Ahlawat was booked for molesting an advocate eight years back when he was the Yamunanagar SSP. Barring these two cases, which have received huge media response, a majority of other cases involving common girls receive insignificant coverage. Most importantly, a number of cases are never reported as the affected girls and women don’t register any complaint. It is hard to believe, however, the city has been witness to incidents when girls were even molested in front of their parents. In one such case, five-year-old Sarika (name changed) was with her father when one Ram Singh molested her and threatened to kill her. Commenting on the issue, UT SSP SS Srivastava said, “Molestation cases have gone down compared to previous years. The police is keeping a strict vigil.” Narrating another incident of molestation, a college-going girl student said, “Once I was walking back from the university to Government College for Girls, Sector 11, when two boys came very close to me on their bike and pulled my arm and molested me. My clothes were also torn in the process. They abused me and fled. I cannot forget the horrifying incident.” Dr Rajshree Sarda, a psychologist in Panchkula said: “There is a sense of extreme distrust and usually women are molested by someone they know. As far as the psyche of molesters is concerned, it is usually excess sexual desire that they don’t know how to release. In some cases, it can also be a bad relation with a woman. Such men try to get back at women in guard, with physical overtures. They are called misogynist.” Discussing a case of a girl who started hating herself and became overweight as she felt guilty of giving those vibes to her tormentor, Dr Rajshree said, “She was molested for years by a servant and she thought it’s her fault that she was luring him to indulge in such an act.” Terming it as a psychological problem, Priti Vohra, counsellor in Vivek High School, said, “If a youngster indulges in eve-teasing, it is the exploration age. If an aged man molests someone, it’s taking the maximum advantage of the opportunity. For sure, such people require psychiatric help. Youngsters need to be talked to when they enter puberty which helps them handle the bodily changes.”
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Course selection at govt
colleges Sumedha Sharma Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 11 “We have made a presentation which shall inform students about the viability of a course, the best college offering it, benefits of higher studies in it, ventures which would eventually offer employment and average package. With these details, a student will be able to opt for a course of his or her choice,” said Ajoy Sharma, Director Higher Education, UT. The presentation will be made at all government colleges on a daily basis from next week. The department will also upload it on the website. According to sources, if the presentation educes huge response, it will be made available to students in form of a CD priced at Rs 20. “The main aim behind this is to rule out any human error at admission help desks. Those volunteering may be knowing a lot about the courses, but they may not be knowing everything, so we have used a panel of experts to elaborate on each course available at government colleges,” added Ajoy.
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Poor planning dooms MC projects Chandigarh, June 11 A survey of the night food street near PGI revealed the stall put up there had no kitchen facilities to prepare food. The MC came up with the idea of a blind park in Sector 26 for special children. However, the park has no plants that were to serve as direction tellers to the blind. Without these the park holds no value for blind children. A modern ‘dhobi
ghat’ built in Sector 15 lies defunct. Another project that has gone haywire is the recently auctioned first airconditioned fish market for which only two bidders turned up as the prices of booths are very high. Ironically when the MC mooted this project it was decided the boots would be handed over to the Manimajra and Shastri Nagar fish sellers at nominal rates to provide them hygienic conditions for selling their stuff. However, even after four years the civic body forgot their commitment and came up with a plan to auction the booths. All these four projects were floated in a report by MC councilors, which they prepared after spending lakhs of rupees on a study tour abroad.
Night Food Street
The municipal corporation decided to come up with a night food street opposite PGI in 2007 based on the feedback after a trip to neighbouring Pakistan. Idea behind it: Civic officials felt the city should have night eateries where one could eat hygienic food at reasonable rates. The site opposite PGI was selected because of the large number of students residing on the PU campus and adjoining sectors. Besides, staff of PGI and kin of the patients admitted in the PGI visiting at odd hours also needed a spot where they could have food even late in the night. Flop Show: In 2008, a bid was made for four Indian, two continental, one Chinese and one South Indian kiosks in response to which no bidder turned up for the south Indian kiosk. In 2010 auction was conducted for eight kiosks at a cost Rs 6.83 lakh. Recently three of the kiosks owners withdrew and shut down their shops. It does not have proper space of sitting, parking vehicles and no special food items to attract the
customers.
Airconditioned fish market
The UT administration proposed to set up this market in 2007 after a tour of MC councillors to Singapore. It was completed last year after failing to meet a number of deadlines fixed for this project. The market was handed over to the MC in 2009 for auctioning. It had been decided to set up two refrigerated rooms along with eight airconditioned shops in the market. Besides, this an independent parking lot and washrooms for the new fish market were also planned. Idea behind it: The purpose of constructing an airconditioned fish market was to regulate small fish sellers of the city and ensure the sale of fish in hygienic condition in various sectors. Flop Show: On April 27, 2010 the MC auctioned the first fish market of the city and only two bidders turned up and they also demanded some relaxation from the authorities on the price fixed by them.
Blind Park
The park was proposed to be developed on the pattern of Blind Park in Bangkok where the blinds can feel the beauty of nature and know the details of the plants, scripted in Braille, by touching. Idea behind it: The proposal was to develop an amusement bark designed in classic style and decorated with various exciting playing machines and fun places besides fantasy land, dream garden and adventure land. Flop show: In the general house of the MC last year it was revealed that as there were no specialised plants in this park, it should be renovated. After which the house approved another Rs 50 lakh for the same blind park to develop it on the pattern of Bangkok.
Dhobi
Ghat
The city’s first modern 'dhobi ghat' was inaugurated in 2008 and construction began in 2005. The project was mooted up while referring to the services which most of the abroad countries have for their residents. Idea behind it: To upgrade the dhobi ghat in Sector 15 in the first phase so as to cater to the needs of the floating population of tourists and students. Flop show: For more than a year this project was closed as there was controversy between the authorities and dhobi ghat association on the payment of electricity and water bills.
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Admn fails to remove trucks, rehris parked on highway
Zirakpur, June 11 Residents complained that trucks carrying goods from far-flung areas towards various godowns of multinational companies remained parked along the highway, hampering flow of traffic on the highway and many times leading to serious mishaps on this stretch. Residents rue that the traffic police had failed to remove the trucks from the highway. They had submitted their complaints many times, but no concrete action has been taken so far. A survey of the area revealed that trucks are normally parked on both sides of the highway everyday. Even traffic movement at the entrance of Zirakpur has been affected as trucks are parked in a haphazard manner on the highway. Adding in the woes, fruit and vegetable vendors also park their rehris on the roadside on the highway. “Everyday we have traffic jams on this stretch as these trucks blocked a huge part of the road. It is quite frustrating, especially during summers,” said Shikha Sharma, a student of a private college. DSP (traffic) Darshan Singh Mann said he would ask the Zirakpur traffic in charge, Devinder Singh, to remove and challan the trucks that were parked on the highway.
Youth dies as scooter hits truck
Vishal Batta (22), a resident of Baltana, died after the two-wheeler he was riding hit a stationary truck on the Landran road. The police stated that Batta was returning from a private college at Landran, where he had gone to enquire about the admission process. The police has registered a case against the truck driver on the complaint of the deceased’s father
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Employees told to avoid English at workplace Mohali, June 11 The violation came to light after a surprise checking was carried out on Wednesday by members of the committee headed by Badali. It was found that despite the general manager’s directions to use Punjabi language in offices, employees preferred English language. Though several letters were written in Punjabi, noting on these was done in English. Badali directed employees of the milk plant to ensure that all office work was carried out in Punjbai language. Badali, who presided over a meeting of the committee, said strict action would be taken against all those who failed to carry out office work in Punjabi language. The Punjab State Language (Amendment) Act, 2008, would be strictly enforced in the district . Those, who ensured to carry out all office work in Punjabi language, would be honoured, added Badali. A member of the committee, Bir Devinder Singh, former deputy speaker of Punjab Vidhan Sabha, said a proposal would be sent to the Language Minister to ensure that dictionaries containing office vocabulary be made available in government and semi-government offices. A special budget should be arranged so that such dictionaries could be made available at the earliest, he added.
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Rise in diarrhoea cases among infants Panchkula, June 11 Dr Rahul Garg, paediatrician, talking to The Tribune, said main reasons for diarrhoea were unhygienic conditions and unsafe drinking water. He said around 300 patients visited the hospital daily from Baltana and Zirakpur besides the above mentioned colonies. He said of these 35 to 40 patients suffered from vomiting or diarrhoea. Dr Garg said whenever male babies suffer from some disease people bring them immediately to hospital for treatment, however, a girl child is first treated with traditional medicines. He said earlier the women of the affluent families could be seen avoiding breast-feeding the baby, but now women living in slums were also giving packed milk to newly-born babies. He said this was also one of the main causes of diarrhoea as the water added to the canned milk was not pure. He further said that he had asked the health authorities to launch a special campaign to create awareness about breast-feeding among women in these colonies. He said breast feeding for at least six months strengthens the immune systems of the child.
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Four-laning of
Zirakpur-Pinjore national highway Sanjay Bumbroo Tribune News Service Panchkula, June 11 Zirakpur-Parwanoo four-laning starts near Hotel Shagun in Zirakpur on National Highway 22 and stretches till the Mallah road, a few metres short of Yadvendra gardens in Pinjore. This would further be connected to 13-km Pinjore-Parwanoo bypass that would meet the national highway near Timber Trail in Parwanoo. The entire project, which is divided in two parts, includes the plain terrain (Zirakpur- Mallah in Pinjore) and the other in the hills (Pinjore-Parwanoo bypass). It covers three states -- Punjab (2 km), Haryana (21 km) and Himachal Pradesh (5.6 km). NHAI project director Anil Kumar Dahiya, while talking to The Tribune here today, said most of the works, which include 12 structures on the Zirakpur-Pinjore path, would be completed by August. He said work on the ROB was going on speedily and it was also expected to meet the earlier deadline. He said two flyovers mentioned above involve substantial work and it would take about 9 months to complete them. However, he added that they were still evaluating the time period by which the project would be completed. He said earlier the project was delayed due to the long time taken by the forest department to clear the project. He said the state government would bear the cost of the two flyovers -- on HMT and Burjkotian -- which would be around Rs 84 crore.
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Wary police to educate holidaymakers Chandigarh, June 11 The police has ordered the publication of around 30,000 pamphlets educating the residents to take certain precautionary measures before going on vacations. The pamphlets will be distributed across the city. A police officer said keeping in mind certain precautions, like asking newspaper vendors not to supply papers in their absence and asking neighbours and the police beat staff to take care of the house before going out of station for days, can help prevent thefts. On its new endeavour, a police officer said going by the level of trust about the police in the mind of people, it would be interesting to know how many residents informed their area police officials before leaving their
houses. “It would become the liability of the police to take care of the house once its owner has informed it about their departure plan,” he added. A perusal of records of incidents of theft and burglary reported in the past two years revealed that 30.36 per cent incidents occurred during summer vacations (i.e. in June and July) in 2009. Similarly, 14.1 per cent of the total cases of burglary were reported during these two months. The figures made available by the police show that 42 houses were burgled in the city, besides 125 incidents of theft were reported during June and July in 2008. Also, 189 vehicles were stolen from the city during the period. Similarly, thieves broke into 34 houses in June and July last year, besides 116 other incidents of theft. Similarly, 191 vehicles were stolen form the city during the period. UT SSP SS Srivastva has designed a pamphlet advising the residents to take certain precautionary measures before leaving their houses.
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Automatic access at parking lots soon Chandigarh, June 11 The committee decided that as a pilot project, the municipal corporation (MC) would install automatic and semi automatic systems in these four major parking lots. After a feedback, the system would be extended to other parking lots. The committee also approved the auction of commercial properties on lease with the revision of the reserve price. It was also decided that those areas where no community centre had been constructed, welfare associations, senior citizens’ associations and federation of resident welfare association could hold meetings at nearby centres free of cost. Officials have been instructed to visit the community centres at villages, along with area councillors, where NGOs have their offices. A detailed report in this regard would be tabled at the next meeting. The committee also approved development agendas of various Sectors. The Mayor also directed officials to remove mobile towers from MC buildings.
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10 clinics sealed for violating rules Chandigarh, June 11 The Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee (CPCC) had already issued closure orders to these healthcare units under section 5 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986, for violating the Bio-Medical Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 1998. However, despite the closure orders, the defaulting units were running in gross violation of the rules. The drive was carried out under the supervision of Prerna Puri Wasu, SDM (South), Abhishek Dev, SDM (East), and Vivek Pandey, scientist, Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee. The Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee has identified 37 units that have been violating the provisions of the Bio-Medical Waste (Management & Handling) Rules.
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Admn grapples with building material shortage Chandigarh, June 11 As of now, various housing projects are going on in the city, including housing projects and construction of new blocks in schools - especially in the southern sectors 49, 53, 54, Mani Majra under the Chandigarh Housing Board. Besides, projects under the municipal corporation have also been adversely affected such as construction of new community centres, widening of roads, etc. Finance Secretary Sanjay Kumar said: “The matter of shortage of construction material was brought to my notice recently. But we cannot say what the reasons are. We will see what can be done.” Sources claim that shortage of sand and other building material like gravel, sandstone, etc. is due to the recent orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court banning mining for the time being due to environmental concerns in neighbouring Haryana. There is also a similar ban in Punjab due to disputes on mining rights in the state by the High Court. With the shortage of material, the cost of construction has also gone up, stated the contractors. Already, these projects are facing hurdles due to change in the process of tendering to e-tendering and even delay of tenders for various housing schemes. The contractors facing material shortage is only going to add to the existing troubles.
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250 examined at camp on skin allergies Panchkula, June 11 Addressing the participants, Dr Vikas Sharma, dermatologist and dermato-laser surgeon, said people spent thousands of rupees on various laboratory investigations without consulting a dermatologist following the myths and confusions that people had in their mind about skin
allergies. He said hot weather in summers and high humidity in rainy season worsens the existing pattern of skin allergies. Not having specific treatment or delay in diagnosis allows secondary infections to supervene the skin lesions, thus further complicating the illness, he added. Around 250 patients, who had allergies to parthenium, hair dyes having high concentration of para phenylene diamine (PPD), footwear, cosmetics, perfumes and other airborne allergens, attended the camp. The patients were given treatment after a proper examination, counselling and education about the behaviour of allergens on skin.
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Man goes missing Chandigarh, June 11 Chaturvedy’s wife Seema had reported the matter to the Industrial Area police station, where a daily diary report had been lodged on April 22. She told the police that her husband had gone to Uttar Pradesh on April 11 and had gone missing from Kanpur Railway station on April 13. Abdesh Chaturvedy is 42-year-old and is 5feet and 3 inches tall.
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Experts dwell on TB management at workplace Chandigarh, June 11 The CII held the conference in order to strengthen the role of industry and leveraging workplace strategy for combating TB. JP Singh, director, Health and Family Welfare, Punjab, said the disease was resilient and growing deadlier. “By 2015, we have to reduce the prevalence by half with the help of all major public and private sectors,” he said.
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Osteoporosis clinic for senior citizens
Chandigarh, June 11
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Delay in delivery of lab chemicals on PU campus Neha Miglani Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 11 Students, during a feedback session, had expressed their resentment towards the delay in providing these laboratory chemicals, which used to get delivered months after they were ordered by the PU departments. Another proposal to create “common labs” for interdisciplinary research work in science is also being considered. However, the practical implementation of this proposal to create labs with multiple facilities remains to be seen. Not being able to utilise the infrastructure in other laboratories of related disciplines, research scholars on the campus have been repeatedly complaining about this issue. The matter was also highlighted during the feedback sessions of students with Vice-Chancellor RC Sobti a few months ago to achieve consensus on how to utilise the annual grant of Rs 10 crore by the Union government. Inspections are likely to be conducted by the VC in various laboratories next week to settle on the purchases for the common labs. “We are planning to collaborate with the major suppliers of chemicals and laboratory kits to make these available here. This will also help other laboratories in the city. Departments used to order the chemicals and it used to take months to deliver them. If a set-up is installed here, one major hurdle in research work would be solved,” said AS Ahluwalia, Dean (faculty of sciences). The utilisation of the purse grant on campus would also decide the amount of subsequent grants to be given by the Union government under the same scheme. “We are working towards creating such common labs, which would not be associated with any particular teacher. Although the departments would be the basic units, certain common apparatus and chemicals would be made available to all research scholars,” said Ahluwalia.
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March 24, 2009: Neha Kaur (name changed) had gone with her husband to the night food street in Sector 14 at 11 pm where she was molested by a group of boys.
Suspecting a rise in incidents of theft and burglary in the city during the summer vacations, the Chandigarh police has released a slew of “dos and don’ts” for city residents.
Records available with the police show that 30 per cent of total thefts in the city reported last year occurred in the months of June and July.