NEIGHBOURHOOD

Ambala witnesses dip in milk production
Vita costlier by Re 1
Attar Singh
Tribune News Service

Patiala, July 21
The Punjabi University authorities today held a special meeting to probe the veracity of allegations levelled by a research scholar of the department of chemistry against her supervisor.

The scholar, Inder Preet Kaur, who had enrolled for PhD in 2004, has been waiting to get her degree from the university and has alleged that her guide Dr Raman Kumar Verma has refused to sign her research work.

Dr Verma, on the other hand, has vehemently the allegations, stating that Inder Preet has been trying to pressurise him to sign on incomplete work, which he has been consistently refusing to do.

Inder Preet said she had been pursuing her PhD under the supervision of Dr Verma since August, 2004. “I have already completed four years of research work. I submitted all my reports and presented all annual seminars in time, while I was a full-time research scholar in the department.”

“Meanwhile I got married and after obtaining leave for 40 days from the supervisor, I went to the UK in 2008. We met with a severe car accident there and I was unable to come back and attend to my research work for almost eight months. After my return last year, I requested for an extension to continue my research work but my supervisor was reluctant to grant me an extension,” reads Inder Preet’s complaint to the university.

“My entire corpus of work is also with Dr Verma and he has refused to hand it over to me. He is not even allowing me to enter the university laboratory,” she alleged, adding that he was asking her to withdraw her complaints.

Dr Verma termed the allegations against him baseless and devoid of facts.

Vice Chancellor Dr Jaspal Singh said he had already assured the complainant that her allegations would be probed in an unbiased manner.

Bassi Pathana, July 21
A team of the district health department, led by civil surgeon Dr Reena Sidhu, today conducted a surprise checking at various clinics and ultrasound centres in the town and surrounding areas. While talking to the media persons, the civil surgeon said the health department was conducting these raids to check the menace of female foeticide.

She said during today’s checking the papers of ultrasound centre of Bawa Nursing Home, Bassi Pathana, were not found in order. The ultrasound machine is in the name of Dr NS Bawa, whereas his son, Dr Gurpreet Singh, was operating the machine. She said the machine has been sealed and further investigations were on.

Notably, Dr NS Bawa is a renowned social activist working against female foeticide. He has been awarded with national and state-level awards for his crusade against this menace.

When contacted Dr NS Bawa said he was out of station and confirmed that his ultrasound machine has been sealed. He said all the papers are in order and would produce before the appropriate authority. — OC

Bassi Pathana, July 21
The police in collaboration with social organisations organised a seminar on drug abuse and illicit trafficking here yesterday.

Hundreds of people from every walk of life participated. DSP Rajwinder Singh Sohal presided over. He said drug abuse had become a major challenge for the survival of coming generations as “Our youths are getting hooked on to drugs very easily. He said it was a calculated move of neighbouring countries particularly Pakistan and Afghanistan as they smuggle the drugs into India to destroy our youths. He said it was unfortunate that 80 per cent youths had become drug addicts.

He said the state government under the leadership of Sukhbir Badal had launched a special drive to nab the drug mafia and within two years Punjab police had recovered a record number of drugs and arrested smugglers, which is higher than the past 50 years record. He said smugglers find their way out of courts due to lack of witnesses. He called upon people to co-operate and only then the drug menace could be eradicated.

SHO Rajpal Singh, Kulbhushan Malhotra, council president, Pritpal Singh Dharni, councillor, also addressed.

Chandigarh, July 21
The imposition and collection of entry tax in the name of “Gram Parvesh Tax” at Daria village in Chandigarh was today challenged by a village resident, Jaswant Singh.

In a petition filed in public interest before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the petitioner challenged the validity of the tax on the ground that imposition was in utter violation of Article 243-H of the Constitution of India, as approval of the competent authority was not obtained by the gram panchayat before the imposition.

Additionally, it was argued that the imposition such tax did not fall in the ambit of “gram panchayat” as per Section 88 of the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act 1994, as applicable to Chandigarh.

After hearing the preliminary arguments advanced by petitioner’s counsels, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Ajay Tewari issued notice of motion to UT administration, Senior Superintendent of Police, Daria village sarpanch and others for August 24.

It was contended that by virtue of illegal tax, the village sarpanch and the contractor had been pocketing lakhs of rupees since April, 2010 from vehicle owners passing through the village, which was in the vicinity of the railway station.

Alleging high-handedness, the petitioner demanded a probe into the scandal since the illegal tax collection had been going on under the nose of the administration, despite advice by the director, rural development and panchayats.

In his letter on May 19, he had asked gram panchayat, Daria, not to collect the tax.

Chandigarh, July 21
Providing a relief to several members of the Chandigarh Club, the court of Civil Judge Paramjit Kaur yesterday invoked a stay on the club’s recent move to terminate membership of plaintiff Jaswinder Singh Bagga.

After an audit, the club had issued bills to over 100 members wherein sundry charges were added.

The members were informed that on non-payment of the amount, they would be put on the defaulters’ list of the club.

The stay orders would give relief to members who were served inflated bills.

Pronouncing the orders, the court held: “A recovery notice will not been given to the plaintiff and the club has been restrained from terminating the membership.”

The court, however, gave the liberty to continue the audit process of the member.

Bagga, a lawyer, was issued a bill of Rs 61,000 by the club on May 25 without mentioning the details of the amount.

The plaintiff assumed it to be a clerical mistake and decided to resolve the same by visiting the club.

However, he was not able to make a representation before the club as the Punjab and Haryana High Court was closed due to summer vacations.

Bagga received another letter on June 12 from the club wherein the club secretary threatened the plaintiff to put his name on the defaulters’ list if he failed to make the payment of Rs 61,000 within seven days from the date of receipt of the letter.

In response, Bagga issued a notice to the club on June 25 wherein he detailed that he was admitted as a permanent member and had made the entire entry fee of the club at that time.

Ropar, July 21
The problem of space shortage for storing paddy crop, which is due to hit the market in another 70 days, looms large. While the state rice milling units have space for storing just 6 lakh tonne paddy, 35 lakh tonne paddy is already awaiting to be lifted and another 1.4 cr tonne is expected to flood grain markets in coming season.

“If government does not solve the space crisis, it is sure to be in piquant situation on coming harvesting season. Not only will the government and rice millers face problems, even poor framers will be at the receiving end,” said Vishnu Mittal, secretary, Rice Millers Welfare Association, Punjab.

The milling figure of the Food Corporation of India stands at whopping 96 per cent, while for state agencies it stands at a mere 72 per cent.

“The rice millers are yet to deliver 35 lakh tonne milled paddy to the government on behalf of state agencies. Added to this is the balance of 1.74 lakh tonne paddy milled on levy basis,” Mittal added.

Mittal added that the union government should step in to deal with the space shortage problem.

On the national circuit, the paddy from Andhra Pradesh is preferred over that from Punjab. The major reason being high damage and discolouration of paddy grain from Punjab.

In Punjab, paddy crop comes within 25 to 30 days and most of the crop is harvested mechanically using mechanised harvesters.

Mittal said that these mechanised harvesters cause greater damage to grain, whereas Andhra had more of manual farming due to smaller landholding.

Also, Andhra’s climatic conditions are quiet favourable for paddy, with temperature ranging from 30 to 33 °C throughout the year, whereas Punjab plains have higher temperature.

Chandigarh, July 21
The police today arrested a Sector-46 resident, Raj Kumar Phool, on charges of duping two local women of over Rs 1 lakh while promising to get them roles in Punjabi movies and also to take them to the US for stage performances.

The police said the accused had a production company — “Ishant Phool Productions”. He had organised a talent hunt show — “Bachpan Se Pachpan Tak” — on May 23 at Tagore Theatre in which UT Home Secretary Ram Niwas had given away mementos to performers.

Police station-39 SHO Janak Rana said Ajay Kumar, a resident of Sector 40, complained to the police that he had approached Phool after watching the show and requested him to take his sister in movies. Phool had announced during the show that he was making a Punjabi movie.

Kumar alleged that Phool demanded Rs 5 lakh for taking complainant’s sister Renu in the movie and also to take her to the US for the same.

He said he made an initial payment of Rs 58,000 to Phool. Later, Renu’s friend Avneet also evinced interest in working in the movie and paid Rs 50,000 as token money to Phool.

After a week, Phool told him to pay Rs 10 lakh if he wanted to send his sister to the US. However, Ajay told him to return his money, as he could not afford such a huge amount.

Phool began avoiding him and finally gave him a cheque for Rs 90,000 after much persuasion. He also gave a cheque for Rs 50,000 to Renu, drawn on the State Bank of Patiala branch in Sector 40.

However, both cheques bounced due to insufficient funds in the account.

On being inquired, Phool apologised and gave two more cheques, which also bounced.

He remained elusive to Ajay Kumar, who finally tracked him down on July 19 and confronted him.

The police has booked Phool under preventive measures. The SHO said Ajay Kumar later brought the cheating episode to the notice of the police and a case was registered after examining his complaint.

Phool was produced before a local court, which remanded him in police custody till July 24. “More complaints are likely to come up against the accused once people learn about his arrest.”

Chandigarh, July 21
Kesar Singh, a 36-year-old taxi driver, was found dead in a house in Sector 28 here early this morning.

The police said the victim, who was in an inebriated state, had died after falling from the terrace of the house.

The death came to light around 6.30 am when the owner of the house, who had given the top floor on rent to employees of a taxi stand, noticed the body of the victim.

He informed the police, which took the victim to the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, where he was declared dead on arrival. The victim had sustained severe head injuries.

Kesar Singh was a resident of Ropar district.

Police station-26 SHO Shri Parkash said the victim had apparently gone for urination and, as he was drunk, lost control and fell. There was no parapet on the terrace.

The police later handed over the body to the victim’s family and initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code in this regard.

Panchkula, July 21
Even though the local police is still groping in the dark about the Rs 15 lakh robbery that occurred in Sector 10 on July 16, it achieved a major success today in arresting six members of an armed gang of burglars that had planned to strike in the town.

The suspects, who were nabbed in the wee hours of the morning, have been identified as Kolasar, Surjan, Trishul, Gopal, Jittu, Govinda and Vikku. They reportedly belong to the Pardia “caste” and are residents of Kanera village in Guna district, Madhya Pradesh. The police has also recovered a “country made” pistol of 315 bore along with two live cartridges, one toy pistol and several implements used in breaking into houses, which could also double up as weapons, from the suspects.

A case has been registered against the six men at the MDC police station. There produced in a local court that remanded them to police custody for five days.

Following a tipoff the CIA staff headed by inspector Karambir Singh laid a ‘naka’ (barricade) at the MDC T-point after receiving information about some people “conspiring” at a ‘kotha’ (room) in between MDC and Saketri village. Karambir immediately asked several police teams to search for the suspects in the area. The suspects were apprehended as soon as they arrived at the MDC T-point.

The suspects were reportedly planning to commit a burglary in a house in the town for which they had done a recce during the past couple of days.

Superintendent of police Maneesh Chaudhary said during investigations the cops came to know the suspects were active in the Delhi national capital region.

“The suspects confessed to having broken into several houses and committing burglaries in the NCR region. They also admitted having killed a couple in New Delhi after they failed to rob them of cash and valuable items. The gang members also confessed to a burglary in Sector 12A in Panchkula on March 25 night”, Chaudhary stated. He added a case had already been registered in this regard at the Sector 14 police station.

Commenting on the progress of the probe into a recent robbery, in which gun-toting youths decamped with cash and jewellery after holding 13 members of a family hostage for over three hours at their house, Chaudhary asserted the culprits would “be behind bars soon”.

Chandigarh, July 21
The police yesterday arrested a Mohali resident on the charges of displaying a fake registration number on his vehicle. The police said the crime was detected when a resident of Mani Majra, Sanjeev Kumar, spotted a Toyota Innova displaying a registration number that of his own Innova near the Housing Board traffic lights point. The police took the vehicle into custody.

Sanjeev Kumar told the police that he had bought an Innova (PB-65-D-7504) from a Mohali resident, Bhupinder Singh, two years back for Rs 5.6 lakh. He alleged that after a few days of his buying the vehicle, he found that Bhupinder was still using the same number on his other vehicle.

However, Bhupinder assured him that he would change the number as he was using it to avoid being caught by recovery agents. The police verified the documents of both the vehicles and realised that Bhupinder was using a fake registration number. A case has been registered against him under Sections 473 and 411 of the IPC at the Mani Majra police station. — TNS

Zirakpur, July 21
“Don’t take supplements. The only supplement that I recommend is hard work,” this was advised by former Olympic champion Kurt Angle to the budding wrestlers here. Kurt, accompanied by two other professional wrestlers, Mick Foley and Jay Lethal, visited the local Gulzar Akhara and gave tips to the budding wrestlers, assembled there to welcome the professional wrestling stars.

“With supplements, you can get top class physique, but that will make you only scrawny from inside. Moreover, some supplements contain harmful elements which can lead to failure in dope test during competitions,” said Angle, who is known for his ankle lock in the world of wrestling. However, he advised the wrestlers to bank upon natural exercises only, which ultimately help to build stamina and fine-shaped body.

Talking to The Tribune, 1996 Olympic champion, Kurt said there was no dearth of talent in India, but it lacked qualified coaches.

“The scenario has been changing here drastically. One needs top-level coaching here and things can change only after that,” said Kurt. He added that in the US good coaches were available even at high school level. “The senior players should play more international tournaments and should share that experience at junior-level,” said Kurt.

“With his valuable tips, the champion wrestler has imbibed a new spirit among us. Now, I feel it’s not difficult to reach at any level provided you are determined,” said Rinku, a local wrestler.

Chandigarh, July 21
In-form Sikkim girls overcame Puducherry in their first quarterfinal league match of Group A during the ninth Junior Nationals for Girls here today. Sikkim defeated Puducherry 2-1 on the PEC grounds.

While winners drew the first blood through Parbita Limbu in the 12th minute of the match, P Parmeshwari from Puducherry scored the goal in the 29th minute of the game.

Sikkim team counter-attacked with Nirmal Bhutia’s second goal.

In the second match, Haryana defeated Uttar Pradesh 5-0

Haryana took the 3-0 lead till the water break. Reena netted the first goal in the 11th minute. After their goal, Haryana doubled their margin in the 17th minute. Taruna netted the ball in the 30th minute of the game.

In the second half of the game, Haryana continued their possession over the ball and scored two goals in the second half of the game through Shalu in the 64th and 73rd minutes of the game.

Tomorrow's fixtures:

Group B (Q-final league): Orissa vs Maharashtra and Manipur vs West Bengal (4.30 pm).