Chandigarh, August 19
Close on the heels of a freak road accident in which two cousins lost their lives on Tuesday night, a collision around midnight between a Haryana Roadways bus and a Maruti Alto car left a 23-year-youth dead while three co-passengers in the car and 18 bus passengers were injured. The bus driver fled from the spot after the mishap. The deceased has been identified as Ravinder Chauhan, a resident of Sector 19.

The injured were rushed to Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, from where two co-passengers of Chauhan and 17 bus passengers were discharged after administering medical aid while one of the bus passengers, Om Pal, who was seriously injured, was referred to the PGI. The third co-passenger of Chauhan, who fractured his leg, was undergoing treatment in the GMCH.

The accident occurred at the Sector 45 and 46 traffic lights point around 12.45 am today. The injured travelling in the car had been identified as Prabhjot Singh, a resident of Moga, Pardeep, a resident of Ram Darbar, and Mukesh, a resident of Hisar. They were taking coaching in animation from a private institute in Sector 34. The deceased’s father, Lilu Ram Chauhan, was working as an assistant at the Haryana Raj Bhawan.

Sources in the police said inspection of the accident spot hinted that both vehicles, Haryana Roadways bus (HR 68 4354) and the Maruti Alto car (CH 03 B 4842), might be on high speed at the time of the mishap. The car was coming from Mohali while the bus was on its way to the ISBT, Sector 43. The traffic lights were on ‘look-and-go’ mode.

A police officer said it appeared that the car hit the left front wheel of the bus. The bus driver lost control over the vehicle and it overturned. The momentum of the bus dragged it to a distance. The police control room was informed about the mishap and the victims were shifted to the GMCH, where Chauhan was declared brought dead. He is survived by his parents and a younger brother. The car belonged to Prabhjot’s sister Jasmine. Chauhan was sitting on the rear seat of the car.

The SHO of the Sector 34 police station, Udeypal Singh, said a case of causing death due to rash and negligent driving had been registered against the bus driver, identified as Sanjay Kumar, on a complaint lodged by Chandigarh police constable Ram Avtar.

Chandigarh, August 19
UT administrator Shivraj Patil will take the final call on initiating stringent action against the doctors of the Government Multispecialty Hospital, Sector 16, who were indicted for their role in the death of a newborn baby born to Bulbul, a native of Bihar, at the hospital on July 21.

“Since the doctors indicted in the report are class I officers, action against them will have to be taken by the UT administrator,” a senior official said. After getting the report back from the legal remembrancer home-cum-health secretary Ram Niwas will forward it to Patil through the latter's adviser, Pradip Mehra.

Claiming the administration wanted to send a clear signal to the medical fraternity to avoid any such “unfortunate incidents” in future, the official said action acting to the law would be taken against the hospital doctors and other paramedical staff.

ADC PS Shergill and GMCH-32 director-principal Raj Bahadur, who inquired into the incident, have reportedly pinpointed “criminal negligence” on the part of the GMSH staff, including certain doctors.

Niwas yesterday sent the report to the legal remembrancer for his opinion. “In fact, the report was sent to the legal remembrancer to avoid any legal complications at a later stage as the doctors indicted were class I officers,” the official said.

Both Shergill and Bahadur also met the legal remembrancer today to “clarify” certain legal points.

On July 21 Bulbul was forced to shift from one room to another at GMSH even while in labour, following which she delivered at the OPD counter and the head of the baby reportedly hit the floor, causing instant death.

Later, an inquiry conducted by GMSH officials termed the incident as an outcome of a “technical and system failure”. However, Niwas rejected the report, stating it was “sketchy with gaping holes”, and ordered another probe into the matter.

The preliminary report of the dead baby’s postmortem had mentioned a blood clot in the head, while the report of the histopathology test confirmed the baby was born alive.

Mohali, August 19
Landowners in Mullanpur are peeved over the recommendation of the Punjab cabinet subcommittee on land compensation to award compensation of Rs 1.30 crore an acre for the 500 acres of land being acquired for the Mullanpur urban estate. The amount is Rs 20 lakh an acre less than that offered for land acquired for the international airport at Jheorheri village in 2008 two years ago.

Despite the land being costlier due its proximity to Chandigarh, the compensation amount is less than that paid by the state government for 300 acres of cheaper land acquired for the airport. Again, a compensation of Rs 1.50 crore an acre was paid for the 800 acres that was acquired for the Aerocity project this year.

“The government should adopt the same yardstick while deciding on land compensation. For the international airport the political masters wanted to hand down higher compensation and it was done. Now they cite the registry rates. The recommendation is not at all acceptable”, said Gurdeepm Sohi, a resident of Mullanpur.

Some residents have challenged the compensation amount in court, he added.

Drawing a comparison with the Aerocity project, the landowners point out that in both cases residential and commercial plots are to be carved out. Moreover, the area has its own importance for being located on the Chandigarh-Baddi road.

On the other hand, the residents aver the rates had been recommended keeping in mind various factors. For the urban estate land was being acquired in five villages - Devinagar, Bharaujian, Mullanpur, Ratwara Sahib and Ferozepore. To acquire the land the district land fixation committee had recommended land acquisition rates varying between Rs 80 lakh and Rs 86 lakh an acre.

After adding 42 per cent solatium and 10 per cent more for not filing a case for enhanced compensation, the total compensation has come to Rs 1.30 crore an acre.

GMADA chief administrator VP Singh said a notice under section 9 of the Land Acquisition Act would be issued soon.

The proposed estate with 2,000 residential plots is the first urban settlement being developed by the authority to the north of Chandigarh. Located along the road to Baddi and nestled in the Shivalik foothills, it will offer plots ranging between 125 square yards (5 marlas) and 500 square yards (1 kanal). Officials said the urban estate in Mullanpur is being conceived with a totally different concept. Since it is being developed from scratch, state-of-the-art “health and knowledge villages” as well as and ecotourism related activities have been planned for the area.

The consultant for the project, Jurong Ltd, has proposed recreational facilities like an amusement park, spa village, open-air theatres, theme parks and a lifestyle hub, including a golf course and sports facilities, around the seasonal rivulets passing through the area.

Mohali, August 19
Owing to the absence of a concerted campaign by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) and the municipal council, the congress grass and other wild growth continues to spread in various parts of the town much to the annoyance and discomfort of residents.

The harmful weed can be seen on road berms and in vacant plots, green belts, parks and open spaces. The situation is so bad that congress grass and other wild growth can even be seen on the premises of civil dispensaries and government educational institutions.

The problem becomes more acute during the monsoon when there is a vigorous growth of the weed.

Many residents suffer from skin allergies while others suffering from diseases like asthma have to go through frequent attacks because of the harmful weed.

The wild growth in certain areas is so big that even a person hiding there would not be visible. “Such a growth gives cover to criminal elements, especially at night,” said Harinder Singh living in Phase V. Congress grass growing near certain chowks was causing inconvenience to commuters as it also led to accidents. “One could hardly see any vehicle coming from the other side,” he added.

KS Mahal, president of the Mohali Industries Association, said the problem of the congress grass was quite acute. It was cut on the directions of the civic body only when repeated requests were made. No consistent efforts were made to free the area from the harmful weed.

The green belts in the market areas, which have been given on contract to various agencies, are also seen in a state of neglect. Though the advertisements put up by the companies in the green belts and even in triangles near traffic light chowks are very much intact, the contractors have failed to maintain the areas in violation of the norms.

While it is the work of GMADA to keep parks, green belts and open spaces cleared of the wild growth, the council has to remove the weed and other wild growth from road berms in residential areas and the entire industrial area.

As far as the work of removing wild growth and congress grass from government dispensaries and educational institutions is concerned, none of the two agencies are ready to take the responsibility claiming that it was the duty of the department concerned to get the work done.

Chandigarh, August 19
Protesting against the delay in disbursing of salaries, contractual employees of Government Multi- Specialty Hospital, Sector 16 (GMSH-16), and Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32 (GMCH-32), observed a strike and sat on dharna here today.

The workers, however, returned to their job after a few hours when the authorities intervened in the matter and contractors made payments to the contractual employees.

On the other hand, in the absence of staff, patients had to wait in long queues at different counters, including registration, fee section and OPDs. The regular staff at the hospitals tried to cope up with the rush of the patients but were unsuccessful in doing it.

At 7 am, hundreds of workers of GMSH-16 gathered outside the hospital and sat on the dharna alleging that their salaries were not disbursed for the current month. Sonu, union leader, said though the salary was delayed every month, this time they were not paid even when two-third of the month had already passed.

There were three contractors in the hospital, who provide work force numbering 418, including security personnel, sweepers, ward attendants, technicians and helpers.

While delay in the salaries is a routine, the employees were not given any receipt or passbook for the money deducted against ESIC and provident fund, said Sonu.

The situation at GMCH-32 was no difference where the employees hired by the contractor stopped working at 2 pm and started protesting.

On the other hand, the contractors said they were not made the payment by the hospital authorities against their bills. A meeting was held among all parties and it was decided that the contractor would disburse the salary immediately, following which the strike was called off.

Panchkula, August 19
Water entered several houses as well as government offices as the town’s drainage system collapsed after heavy rain lashed the region late in the night yesterday. Residents woke up to find rainwater inside their houses and roads submerged in many areas.

Factory owners in the industrial areas in Panchkula and Barwala had to pump out the water before beginning operations.

The area most affected was Sector 10 where rainwater entered over a hundred houses. Members of the House Owners Welfare Association of the area met the HUDA administrator and demanded a thorough overhaul of the drainage system. The body’s general secretary, Bharat Hiteshi, said about 150 houses in the sector were flooded with rainwater that damaged furniture and other household items.

Rainwater also flowed into the basements of the Mandi Board and HUDA offices, damaging records and other documents. Many residents of Sectors 9 and 16 also complained of water entering their houses.

Panchkula, August 19
Thousands of farmers protested against long unscheduled power cuts in the rural parts of the state in front of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) headquarters here today.

State Bhartiya Kisan Union president Gurnam Singh Chadhuni while addressing the gathering of the farmers threatened to intensify the stir if their demands pertaining to the power supply were not met soon.

He said the farmers were badly hit because of the failing crops in want of power supply.

The farmer leaders also condemned the UHBVN for not giving new connections to the farmers, despite the fact that they had deposited fee and completed all formalities since years.

Mohali, August 19
It was a second birth for the 36-year-old Rupinder Kaur of Ropar who was given 50 blood transfusions after she suffered from incessant bleeding while giving birth to her second child.

Rupinder had survived a near death experience during childbirth, said her sister-in-law Dr Kulwinder Kaur. Her blood count had come down to about 3 gm after profuse bleeding. She said Rupinder was taken to a nursing home for delivery but after a caesarean, incessant bleeding started.

She was then referred to another hospital but on the way she suffered a cardiac arrest. She was revived by the medical team, which had to conduct hysterectomy to save her. Rupinder was given 11 blood transfusions because of massive blood loss.

As the bleeding was going on unabated, members of her family had to bring her to Fortis Hospital here. She came in a pulse-less state and her blood pressure was so low that it could not be recorded and her blood had stopped clotting on its own.

A complicated surgery was conducted by Dr Swapna Misra, consultant, obstetrics and gynaecology, along with her team of specialists here which took more than four hours. The team had to take ‘death on table consent’ before operating on her.

Rupinder’s kidneys had ceased to function and her intestines were damaged due to the bleeding. She had to be given over 50 blood transfusions during the surgery. She also suffered from surgical and urological complications. She was kept in ionotropic support to help keep her heart beating. The timely support saved her from the clutches of death.

Chandigarh, August 19
The railways may have proved to be uncaring about safety aspects as far as its operations are concerned, but it is now planning to go an extra yard to provide suitable food for those suffering from diabetes.

The decision came after the railways took over the catering business from the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) last month. With the entire catering business under its control, the railways plans to introduce a diabetic menu first in Rajdhani and Duronto trains and later in Shatabdis and other mail and express trains.

The move will come as a blessing to lakhs of people suffering from diabetes, as they have to carry their own food while travelling in trains. “We are going to start the menu first in two east-bound trains on a trial basis-Howrah Rajdhani and Howrah Duronto,” a railway official said.

After the proposal becomes operational, passengers booking tickets on all major trains can give their choice of food in the reservation slip, as the cost of food is included in the fare. Diabetics travelling on other trains can buy special diet during the journey. The committee for this purpose, which was set up in July last year, looks after catering and hospitality services of railways and recommends measures to upgrade it.

The official said ‘Janahar’ outlets - set up to provide food at reasonable rates-would be functional at 75 stations this fiscal year. An initiative of the PSC, food prices at Janahar outlets would vary from Rs 5 to Rs 35.

It was decided that ‘Janta Khana’ costing Rs 10, which would be mandatory at all food plazas in stations, would not only have puri-sabji but also local food, he added. To ensure quality food, railways is mulling over starting a single-point SMS system and mailing system for passengers’ feedback, which will be operational by October.

Chandigarh, August 19
The Bharat Vikas Parishad (South-I), Chandigarh, has started a free mobile clinic at Gurdwara Sahib in Jagatpura village adjoining Sector 48, according to parishad’s general secretary GD Sood.

An ambulance from the Bharat Vikas Parishad Charitable Diagnostic Centre, Indira Holiday Home, Sector 24, visits the Jagatpura gurdwara every Monday and Thursday, where patients are examined and medicines are distributed free of cost.

Mohali, August 19
Mohali police has a reason to cheer, if the comparative crime statistics of the past seven months is to be believed.

Despite increase in the crime rate, the district police was able to crack several cases of vehicle theft, burglary and snatchings.

For a change, the police claims to have made more recoveries than the value of stolen property. Recoveries of stolen vehicles and success in tracking down the gangs behind theft of cash and vehicles apart, the car thieves and burglars continue to keep the police on its toes.

Compared to 2009 when 10 snatching cases were registered in the city, this year 26 snatching cases were registered. Besides cracking all the 26 cases, the police claims to have recovered Rs 32,76,700 of snatched valuables compared to Rs 30,47,480 of valuables that were shown as snatched in the 26 cases.

Mohali SSP GPS Bhullar said due to better management and more policing, the detection and recovery has become better.

In some cases, stolen property or vehicles stolen from outside the district are also recovered.

Similarly, in theft cases the statistics reveal that on one hand the cases went from 289 (2009) to 172 (2010) but stolen property worth Rs 1.98 crore was recovered against stolen property worth Rs 1.54 crore.

In case of vehicle thefts, vehicles worth Rs 1.80 crore were recovered against stolen vehicles worth Rs 1.10 crore.

Out of the two robberies this year, one has been solved. Last year, two robberies were detected. In case of burglaries, only 89 cases were registered against 115 cases last year. But the detection rate this year was 63 per cent compared to 18 per cent last year.

Chandigarh, August 19
Additional District and Sessions Judge Lalit Batra declined the anticipatory bail of Gagan Gupta, complainant in the recent case of arrest of SHO Industrial Area Dilsher Singh by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), here on Tuesday.

DK Jindal, a lawyer at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, had lodged a complaint against Gupta at the Industrial Area police station stating that the latter had got a false advertisement published in a newspaper.

Gagan had got an advertisement printed that a peon was required in an office and that he wanted to sell Hyundai car wherein he gave the address of Jindal. Jindal was fighting a case pertaining to the custody of Gagan’s minor child. To distract his attention, Gagan had allegedly given the wrong address in the advertisement Gagan’s wife had committed suicide and a case of custody of his minor child was pending in the court. The child was currently with Gagan’s in-laws and Jindal was the counsel for his in-laws.

Mohali, August 19
A Central government team inspected an aanganwari running from Government Elementary School, Phase II, here yesterday.

The team was headed by DK Seekri, secretary, department of women and child. The official gathered information regarding the food supplied at the centre and also about the medical check-up of children coming to the aanganwari. The attendance register was also checked and directions were given that all facilities being provided by the Central Government should be passed on to children. There are 609 aanganwari centres in Mohali district, out of which 37 are mini-aanganwari centres.

Chandigarh, August 19
High drama prevailed at the Sector 11 police station today when over 200 supporters of Student Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) thronged it.

The drama started when the police rounded up its two leaders, Brinder Dhillon and Harpreet Multani, on the campus and brought them for investigation in the late night brawl case, which happened at boys’ hostel number six the previous night.

According to police officials, they had acted on a complaint filed by members of the rival party, PUSU, accusing SOPU leaders of roughing up their boys in hostel number six. However, moments after the leaders were brought to the police station, the supporters from all over the city gathered outside and started shouting slogans and demanded their immediate release. Following this, the complainants were called to the police station and a compromise was struck between the two groups, after which the duo was released with a formal warning.

The SOPU leaders, meanwhile, claimed the complaint to be yet another election propaganda.

“The complaint was totally false. Yesterday, the members of both parties entered into a war of words in the hostel and we had reached the spot to settle the issue. Both parties settled the matter there, but, surprisingly, they lodged a complaint this morning. However, when the police summoned them, they accepted that nothing much had happened,” claimed Brinder Dhillon.

Chandigarh, August 19
Going by the latest initiative of Panjab University, contestants for upcoming elections will have to submit declarations, specifying their party affiliations, along with their nomination papers.

The initiative has been taken to make student groups responsible for the act of their representatives.

According to the proposal, which will further be worked out by a two-warden committee, every representative will mention the name of the party he/she is representing or in case of an independent candidate the name of supporting group if any.

The respective party presidents will countersign the declarations. “Many times when a student’s name comes in any incident during the election, student groups outrightly refuse being a member. To tackle this problem we will make all candidates submit in written their party affiliations,” said Naval Kishore, Dean Students Welfare.

“The groups need to be strict in selecting their members and need to be responsible for deeds of their members and leaders. If anyone falters then entire group will have to bear responsibility,” added Kishore.

Chandigarh, August 19
The Chandigarh Scheduled Caste, Backward Classes and Minorities Finance and Development Corporation organised a certificate distribution ceremony at Snehalaya - Vocational Training Centre, Maloya, here.

During the ceremony, trade certificates were awarded to 66 candidates on successful completion of courses run by the corporation at Snehalaya. An amount of Rs 96,173 was also awarded as stipend to beneficiaries on their completion of respective training courses.

Director, social welfare, Dr Vandna Disodia, who was the chief guest, said the aim behind organising such a function was to sensitise beneficiaries on schemes run by the UT administration.

The beneficiaries were apprised of the financial schemes run by the corporation through which they could establish their own ventures. The corporation extended financial assistance at 3 to 6 per cent per annum rate of interest, with repayment period being from 36 to 60 months.

The corporation has been providing vocational training in trades like computer software, cutting and tailoring, dress designing and beauty culture. The training is provided free of cost and stipend is awarded to the beneficiaries belonging to target strata.

The duration of these courses varies from four months to one year.

Kharar, August 19
The Rayat-Bahra Group of Institutes has formed a disciplinary committee to look into the matter of alleged harassment of an electrical engineering student by his seniors and consequent registration of police case.

Chairman Gurvinder Singh Bahra said the committee had been formed to look into the matter and to take necessary steps.

He said both the groups had reached a mutual consent and the matter had been resolved.

Two of the accused students Amrik and Harman were arrested and bailed out. On August 17, four students of the institute were booked for attacking a second year student of electrical engineering.

In his complaint to the police, victim Gurinder stated this afternoon when he was coming out of his classroom some seniors stopped him and asked him to smoke.

Gurinder refused saying he was a Sikh and doesn’t smoke. Consequently, he was beaten up.

Ambala, August 19
The career guidance cell of DAV College, Ambala City, organised a campus placement drive today, in which 13 students got selected. A team of senior executives of IBM, an MNC, led by its deputy manager Mukul Bhardwaj interviewed around 100 students.

College principal JS Nain said if the students wanted better placement, they should improve their communication skills and confidence.

Bhardwaj asked the students to prepare themselves since beginning for the job they preferred. He said a large number of job opportunities were available for the brilliant and laborious students in India and even aboard. — OC