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Twists in tale over dog ownership
Panchkula, June 29 The battle began in February this year. Pradeep Sharma went to the house of Col Gurnek Singh Toor (retd) in Sector 12 and allegedly ran away with the Labrador, claiming the canine to be his. The case ultimately went to the Sector 14 police station where the dog was restored to Col Toor. The local court on June 8 had ordered the registration of a case against Col Toor, Vimal Chander, MD Sugarfed, and five others for theft and criminal intimidation. The story is peculiar, as the accused Col Toor claims to have the possession of registration documents and other material to show that he was the real owner of the dog. The order from the court came as Pradeep was not satisfied with the enquiries conducted by the SHO Sector 14 and DSP (City). Pardeep, talking to the media here today, alleged that the police was under pressure from a senior bureaucrat of the state government. He said even though the court on June 8 had directed the police for registering the case against Toor, Vimal and others, the police, after receiving the order on June 12, had registered the case against them only on June 23. He alleged that Vimal was also misusing his official letter pads to influence the case. Sharma said his dog, which he had brought from his in-laws from Khanna, went missing on February 22 last. He said after searching in vain in the nearby sectors, he lodged a complaint regarding the missing dog with the Sector 14 police station on March 4. He said after some days he and his friend, who is residing near the house of Toor, heard the voice of barking dog tied to the gate of the house. He called the dog by name, to which the latter responded and started barking loudly, besides trying to release itself. He said he requested Toor to return the dog, as it belonged to them. He alleged that Toor started abusing him and threatened him and his friends accompanying him. However, Col Toor claimed that Pradeep Sharma was levelling baseless allegations against him and his family members besides his immediate neighbour Vimal. He said on March 4 when Pradeep and his friends were moving near his house, their dog “Leo” was moving freely in a small park near the house. He said his wife was watering the plants and allowed them to have a look at the dog from a distance. He also showed papers, which he claimed carried Microchip injected in the dog by the Kennel Club of India, which had code No 356000000009893. Toor said after going through the documents produced by them, the police handed over the dog to them. He said the opposite party later approached two Deputy Superintendents, including the DSP (City), who also decided the case in his favour. He said his immediate neighbour, Vimal, and family friend and neighbour of Pradeep, Narinder Dhillon, had also stated that they had seen Leo with him for the past more than two years. Pardeep said after this, they lodged a complaint in this regard with the Sector 14 police station on March 4. A police official arrived at Toor’s house and after long discussion, it was decided to take the dog away from the locality and leave it in open to see to which house it goes. He claimed as the dog was moving towards his house, it was hit by a Scorpio vehicle. However, still the dog reached their house. He said after this Vimal intervened in the matter and pressurised the police to take the dog to the police station. He said as the Labradog is friendly by nature, it went to everyone, including the SHO, who called it by different name. However, the dog was handed over to Toor by the SHO under pressure from Vimal. He claimed that the documents, including the certificate of microchip issued by the Kennel Club of India produced by Toor were fake. Toor said Pradeep, accompanied by five to six persons and a police cop, arrived on the scene. The cop told them that these people were claiming that he (Toor) had stolen the dog. He said when I told them that he had valid documents of the dog including the microchip, injected into the neck of Leo, the opposite party asked the cop to inspect the dog, which had cut on its tail. He said when he allowed the cop and one person to inspect the dog in the backyard, others forcibly entered the house and took the dog out. He said after this, they took the dog to an Innova car and left for their house. He said irked over this, Vimal asked the policeman to take the dog to the police station and let the case be decided there. Toor claimed that the honourable court had passed the order of registering the case against them without serving them any notice. He alleged that Pradeep and his advocate brother had misguided the court, as he did not possess any valid documents. He said they were also ready for the DNA test.
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PU dental college denied DCI affiliation
Chandigarh, June 29 The institute is among the 25 dental colleges in the country that have been denied extension of affiliation this year. A team of DCI members had visited the institute last month for an inspection, said sources. The provisional affiliation is sought by dental institutes each year till they have the stipulated infrastructure and other requirements fully in place. While DCI guidelines state a minimum of six professors are required in a dental college, the PU institute currently has only two, one of whom is its director, Krishan Gauba. Officials said the institute had advertised for the post of professors at least eight times during the past four years, but no “sufficiently qualified candidate” could be shortlisted. Gauba was not available for comments. Institute employees said he was currently on leave. Meanwhile, administrative officials asserted the institute was making efforts to recruit “competent” faculty members and would apply for affiliation again to DCI after meeting the requirements. “There is no dearth of infrastructure at the newly opened institute and its OPD has been a huge success”, the officials added. “In the case of private colleges it’s very easy to manipulate figures and get senior teachers on the rolls, like what’s happening in dental colleges in Punjab. However, in the case of a government-aided institute a proper procedure has to be followed for selection of faculty each time and the institute has been facing a problem in finding competent teachers,” said a varsity official. PU vice chancellor RC Sobti could not be reached for his comments.
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Stone pelting on Amarnath yatris
Chandigarh, June 29 According to sources, Jassi from Chandigarh and two others from Kurali (Punjab), Hardip Singh and Balwinder Singh, were among those who received injuries in the stone pelting by local youths on the cavalcade this morning. Both Hardip and Balwinder, drivers by profession, have reportedly sustained eye injuries. Talking over the phone from Srinagar, a local youth Mohit said attackers blocked the road near Panthu by placing stones and bricks. When the cavalcade, consisting 27 buses and vans, stopped, over 24 youths attacked the vehicles with stones and bricks. “Most of the attackers were teenagers,” Mohit added. He said four buses were badly damaged during the attack. The cavalcade left from Jammu last evening around 5 pm. The Army reportedly reached to rescue pilgrims. The cavalcade was on its way to Baltal till the filing of the report.
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Medicity a remote possibility now
Chandigarh, June 29 With land acquisition, especially new land acquisition, becoming a hot potato for the administration, the medicity project seems to be a thing of the past. ”As the project is witnessing stiff opposition from various quarters, including Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources Pawan Bansal and UT farmers, talks of its revival are like flogging the dead horse,” a senior official said. Official sources informed that with all mega projects, including the Film City, the Amusement Park and the Prideasia in the IT Park, coming under the scanner of the central investigative agencies, acquiring land for the medicity is going to be a Herculean task. And no official would like to be part of the land acquisition process for the medicity, as the role of the previous officials, who were part of the land acquisition process for the mega projects, is already being questioned by the central agencies. Among the present set of officials, Adviser to the UT Administrator Pradip Mehra had alredy locked horns with the previous UT Administrator SF Rodrigues about the project, especially valuation of land and revenue model. Current Finance Secretary Sanjay Kumar is on his way out with his tenure ending in a few months’ time.Home Secretarey Ram Niwas has already completed a major portion of his tenure. It is unlikely that any of these officials would like to be part of any controversial project at a time when accusing fingers are being raised at the bureaucrats, who served in the city, for their role in the land acquisition for the mega projects. Recently, UT officials had given a presentation on medicity to the UT Administrator Shivraj Patil, fuelling speculation that the project was on the revival track. However, officials clarified that the presentation was part of the exercise to make Raj Bhavan aware about various projects. Earlier, the officials have given presentation to Patil on other projects, including the Film City and the Amusement Park. About medicity
Proposed to be set over an area of about 45 acres first at Raipur Kalan and later in the IT Park area, the medicity was to have a medical college and hospital, a dental college, two other hospitals, a nursing college and a research centre.Free medicare for the poor as part of the social commitment and free training of the nurses were important components of the project vehemently pushed by former administrator Rodrigues.
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Infant mortality on rise in city
Chandigarh, June 29 And, what is more worrying is the fact that this rise defies the national trend where the IMR has declined from 57 per live 1000 births in 2006 to 53 in 2008-2009. In contrast, the IMR in the city has gone up from 23 per live 1000 births in 2006 to 28 in 2008-2009. These figures are from the largest national demographic sample survey, Sample Registration System (SRS), covering the past three financial years. While officials attribute this increase to the influx of migrants, it willy-nilly brings home the bitter reality that healthcare still remains inaccessible to the poor in the city. Admitting the trend is "worrying", the city's medical fraternity feels it is high time the UT administration got its act right and make healthcare accessible to the poor. It has also exposed the administration’s miserable failure in its efforts to being down the infant mortality rate. The administration had launched a scheme in 2007 for bringing down the IMR from the then existing 19 per 1000 to less than 5 by providing better healthcare to mothers and then their newborn children. Dr Sangeeta, nodal officer of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), said the rise in incidence of infant mortality could be mainly attributed to the influx of migrants and the floating population that comes to the city in search of work. Underlining the need to promote institutional deliveries to ensure safety of both mother and child, she admitted many of these poor migrants still did not have access to hospitals. On the national level, while there has been a decline in the infant mortality rate, a lot still needs to be done as India ranks at 153 in the world, behind even Bangladesh which is at 138 and Nepal at 141, according to the 2006 revision of the United Nations World Population Prospects report for 2005-2010. The lowest IMR reported is 2.9 for Iceland and 3 for Singapore.
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Beant Singh Case
Chandigarh, June 29 Taking note of the assertion, Justice Jaswant Singh asked the UT administration to file an affidavit in this regard. Acting on his representation forwarded to the high court on the administrative side, Justice Hemant Gupta had earlier issued notice to the UT administration, along with the states of Punjab and Haryana. Posted earlier at Chandigarh as additional District and Sessions judge, Sondhi had handed down death sentence to Jagtar Singh Hawara and Balwant Singh in the Beant Singh assassination case. Other accused, including Lakhwinder Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Shamsher Singh, were sentenced to life imprisonment. One of the accused Navjot Singh was acquitted. The high court is currently hearing appeals against the death sentence and conviction. Sondhi was provided with “Z” security on the high court directions in July 2008. The high court at that time had made it clear the security cover would not be withdrawn, and no changes would be made in it, without the court’s prior permission. He was only recently transferred from Chandigarh to Karnal. But, his family is staying back in the official accommodation at Chandigarh after being granted permission to do so by the high court. In his representation, Sondhi alleged the escort vehicles and the commandos, who come along with “Z” security, had been withdrawn. He had now been provided with static security and a PCR vehicle. Acting on his representation, the high court registry had initially recommended that it may be treated as a contempt petition, after holding the matter was urgent in nature. In alternative, the registry had recommended the forwarding of the representation to the UT administration for consideration.
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Admn set to welcome Queen’s Baton Relay on July 3
Chandigarh, June 29 The other sportspersons, who would participate in the relay, included Arjuna and Dronacharya awardee Rajinder Singh, Arjuna awardee Lt Col JS Dhillon, Nirmal Jeet Singh, Wg Cdr Satish Bhatia, veteran GS Virdi, Sumati Kanwar, Suman Malhan, Gurdish Pal, Satinder Sharma, Harjinder Singh and Tejinder Kumar. The sportspersons would be escorted by players of the state-run sports academies and other local athletes on their way to the Sector-16 Cricket Stadium for the main function. According to the schedule, the Baton will reach Chandi Mandir on July 1 from Jammu. From there QBR cavalcade will set off its journey to the City Beautiful on July 3. The Chandigarh Administration will receive the Queen’s Baton at Matka Chowk, from where the relay would start and culminate at the Sector-16 Cricket Stadium. The sources said the baton would be received by a group of soldiers at the stadium and the Baton would be handed over to the finance-cum-sports secretary Sanjay Kumar. In the last lap, the Baton would be carried by the Olympic Gold medallist Abhinav Bindra and handed Military band and cultural programmes by students of the colleges and schools would mark the function. The QBR will be accompanied by a team of 89 officials, along with 26 vehicles. On July 4 the Baton will proceed to Una. The Baton has arrived in India through Attari-Wagah border on June 25.
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Chandigarh-Ludhiana rail link
Chandigarh, June 29 Talking to the TNS here today, GM Singh, senior divisional commercial manager, Ambala division, said if the work went on as planned, the Chandigarh-Ludhiana railway link would become operational by 2011. Seeing a heavy rush of passengers and commodity traffic on the route, the link assumes great importance for the railways, he added. “We started working on the link during 1999-2000 and by the end of 2006, a 45-km stretch till Morinda was ready. But after that many problems regarding land acquisition and other operational hiccups in the project delayed the work,” he said. The work on a 30-km stretch was still pending on the link, he added. “Last month we completed the formalities for land acquisition near Sahnewal. The first train is expected to run on this track in 2011,” he quipped. The official said the railways was also working on the Amritsar-Chandigarh train. “Many people travel daily on this route and we also want to run a direct train between Amritsar and Chandigarh at the earliest. However, the project is stalled because of land acquisition problems but we will soon come out with a concrete plan,” he added. Earlier, the total cost of the project was estimated at around Rs 566 crore, but with the delay in the project, the construction cost was expected to increase manifold. “The railway authorities as well as the administration have been unable to complete the project within its fixed time period resulting in an increase in the input cost,” said Kirandeep Singh, a commuter. He asserted that the authorities should follow examples of foreign countries where they complete development projects on priority basis. Meanwhile, accepting the delay on the Sahnewal-Ludhiana section, divisional railway manager (DRM) YP Singh said they would start the construction only when the state government handed over a piece of land to the railways near Sahnewal. The delay in the project has proved to be a setback for those commuters who frequent Chandigarh either for job or for studies. They have to depend on the bus service or their own vehicles, resulting in the wastage of time as well as money.
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MC to propose another dumping site
Chandigarh, June 29 Sources in the corporation said that the proposal had been prepared on the instructions of the Chandigarh Administration issued to the corporation to submit a report on the availability of land near the existing dumping ground at Dadu Majra. At a recent meeting, which was conducted under the chair of UT adviser Pardeep Mehra, officials of corporation raised an issue that it had become difficult to dispose off the garbage at the existing landfill site as very little space was left there. So it was decided that the corporation would identify another piece of land in Dadu Majra or the nearby areas so that the garbage-dumping ground would remain out of the city and would be submitted to the administration. The corporation officials told the administration that they were using the dumping ground for disposing off vegetables, hotel waste, besides other waste of the city.
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UT to recruit 1,200 teachers
Chandigarh, June 29 A proposal to this effect has been forwarded by the Education Department to Finance Department for approval. Once the proposal was approved by the Finance Department, it would be sent to the Central Government for its nod, UT Education-cum-Home Secretary Ram Niwas said. Officials said while some of the schools would be built from the UT Budget, the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) would also be asked to build certain schools.
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Auction of commercial numbers on July 3
Chandigarh, June 29 While earlier the auction for registration numbers of heavy commercial vehicles was clubbed with that of private vehicles numbers, with the recent adoption of software “Vaahan”, the commercial numbers are being auctioned separately this time. Interested transporters can apply for the same by June 30. While, officials maintain that the response for the auction of commercial numbers was not as overwhelming as was forprivate numbers, transporters do try to get a number of their choice believing it will help increase their business. While a single digit registration number for a private vehicle has fetched the authority Rs 10 lakh in the past, this has not been the case with the registration numbers of commercial heavy vehicles.
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Hi-tech gates being installed at HC
Chandigarh, June 29 The visitors will initially get a gate pass issued manually and they will present it to the security guard at the gate. Once the gates are installed, token system will replace passes. The process of installation is in progress and is expected to be completed in the next few days.
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Mobile handsets for the blind
Chandigarh, June 29 The day was celebrated in collaboration with the UT administration and the National Association for the Blind (NAB) at Asha Kiran, a vocational training institute for the differently abled, at Sector 46. Samwartak Singh, Director, Social Welfare, Chandigarh, presented the handsets to the beneficiaries. The talking handsets, with protruding keypads, could tell users through voice mode what figures they were pressing and from what number they were receiving calls. Samwartak Singh said the Chandigarh administration, under its partnership initiative programme, had been encouraging all NGOs, volunteers and social workers to join hands with them in helping the differently abled, the needy and the underprivileged. NAB president Vinod Chadha said, “Helen Keller, with her grit and determination, overcame her multiple deaf-blind disability and set the benchmark for persons with disability. She showed them through her achievements that nothing was impossible for a visually challenged person if she could do it with a handicap 10 times more.”
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Celebrations mark Rana’s return
Mohali, June 29 Rana came to the office of the civic body along with a number of his supporters about an hour before the office closed for the day. Sweets were distributed at the office after he took over as the council chief. In the first half of the day, he remained busy in getting a copy of the courts orders, which had quashed his removal as the head of the council. Rana and his well-wishers first gathered at the office of Kharar MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu, who has gone abroad. From there they moved in a procession towards the civic body office. While talking to mediapersons, Rana said that he had full faith in the judicial system and the truth had finally prevailed. The court orders had proved that injustice had been done to him. He said he was reinstated from the very day he was removed from office by C Roul, Principal Secretary, Department of Local Government, Punjab. When asked what would be his stand in connection with the estimates worth about Rs 20 crore cleared after Kulwant Singh was made the president, he said that development works would go on as usual and there would be no obstruction of any kind from his side. Rana had approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court after he was removed from his post on April 9 in connection with a case of alleged misuse of power, which was filed by the then executive officer of the council JS Thind in 2007. Rana was issued a show-cause notice on June 11, 2007, by the then Principal Secretary, Local Government, DS Bains, on charges of misuse of power. Bains had heard his arguments and those of the executive officer in October 2007, after which the decision was kept reserved. The case had come up for hearing once again on March 11 this year after a gap of more than two years when C Roul took over as the Principal Secretary of the department. The show cause notice was issued to Rana after Thind had sent a report to the higher authorities alleging that the civic body chief had transferred three employees without having the powers to do so. Thind had also alleged that Rana kept postponing the opening of sanitation tenders, which adversely affected work. He had recommended that action should be taken against the MC chief in this regard.
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Stir by Computer Teachers
Kharar, June 29 Earlier on Monday, the computer teachers had staged a drama by climbing the water tank in Shivjot Enclave and held the traffic on the national highway to ransom. The agitating teachers had demanded a meeting with the Chief Minister of Punjab. All 408 teachers are those who failed to get through the examination taken by the government. They were earlier recruited on a contract basis. It is learnt that at the meeting, the Chief Minister refused to accept their demands of re-appointment and asked them to clear the exam and come through the proper channel. Anticipating yet another drama from irate teachers over the CM’s refusal, the Kharar police remained on its toes today. Around eight water tanks in the city were guarded throughout the day. Even private colonisers have been directed to install barbed wires around the water tanks thereby obstructing entry to the tanks. The guarded areas included Jamuna Apartments, Shivjot Enclave, Desu Majra, the area around the bus stand, Bansa Wali Chungi, Krishna Enclave and nearby areas.
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Frequent power cuts make life hell in Zirakpur
Zirakpur, June 29 The power supply remained erratic at Baltana village, Ravindra Enclave, Harmilap Nagar, Saini Vihar Phase II, Punjab Modern Complex, Wadhawa Nagar and other surrounding areas last night. Residents rued that frequent cuts were being imposed. Residents of Balaji Enclave alleged that high voltage had damaged their electronic gadgets, including refrigerator, cooler and other electronic goods on Tuesday morning. Fluctuation of power had also become a routine affair, residents added. Due to power cuts, water supply got adversely affected and residents who were already facing shortage of water had to face a tough time. Shanta Devi, a resident of Defence Colony, said without electricity and water, life became miserable. “We are forced to call water tankers to meet our needs,” she added Avtar Singh, a resident of Baltana, said, “I bought a voltage stabilizer for Rs 10,000 to control the power supply.” However, a PowerCom official stated that all repairs had been done. “The department has bought five transformers for Zirakpur, which will be installed at various colonies on a priority basis. He urged residents to cooperate with employees of the electricity department.
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Promotion process comes under scanner
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 29 Ironically, the PU authorities had already sought an undertaking from all selected applicants. The decision has come in the wake of a crucial document sent by the University Grants Commission (UGC) that was received by PU on Monday. The PU Syndicate has decided to adopt the notification sent by the UGC for appointment of teachers and other academic staff in universities and colleges, along with measures for the maintenance of standards in higher education. The issue was discussed at length at the Syndicate meeting held today and it was decided that the selections be reviewed again. “The selections shall be reviewed in wake of the new UGC guidelines and if there has been any lapse it will be corrected,” said a member. However, for the post of assistant professor, the selection process shall remain valid. In addition to this, PU will grant 5 per cent reservation to the backward classes in all departments. However, it is uncertain whether the decision will be applicable from the new academic session or the next session. PU teachers will now be evaluated on the basis of a “performance-based evaluation system”, in which they will be assessed on the basis of number of seminars attended, research work and other academic pursuits. Teachers will be required to submit details of the academic work on a prescribed form each year. The reports on the much-hyped Boston issue, in which students had forged identifies to attend a conference and students appearing in different examination centres at Muktsar were also tabled. The Vice-Chancellor has been authorised to take a decision on these issues. He is expected to form a committee to look into the probe.
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Protest outside education board
Mohali, June 29 According to reports, education board had decided that examination centres would be set up in government schools, but this was not acceptable to those running private institutions. They claimed that students of private schools would not be able to perform well if their examination centres were set up in government schools, which lacked basic facilities. They said they tried to provide all types of facilities to their students. It is learnt that the chairman of the board had conceded to their demand.
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