Panchkula, September 21
The District Court here today awarded 10 years’ imprisonment to 13 accused in the infamous Kalka gangrape case.One of the accused was acquitted by the court.Additional District and Sessions Judge Ritu Garg awarded the punishment under Section 376G of the IPC in the case. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 2,000 each on the 13 convicts.

All convicts are aged between 20 and 25.Those awarded the jail term are Karan Sharma, Jaswant Singh, Saurabh Sharma, alias Meenu, Sumit Kumar, Baldev Singh, Rajiv Sharma, Hemant Kumar, Yogesh Kumar, alias Vicky, Shaadman Khan, Pankaj Kumar, alias Munna, Neeraj Sharma, Amit Kumar and Pankaj Kumar, alias Rinku, residents of Kalka and Dharampur (Himachal Pradesh).

Deepak Kumar, alias Pathan, was acquitted for lack of evidence.The court also slapped two more Sections 363 (kidnapping) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the IPC against Saurabh Sharma alias Meenu and Yogesh Kumar, alias Vicky, and awarded seven years’ imprisonment, besides directing them to pay Rs 1,500 as fine. The sentences would run concurrently.

The police, while filing charge-sheet against the accused on April 19 this year, had mentioned that on the night of December 22, 2009, the police had rescued the victim from Railway Colony. After getting information from locals that a girl was locked in a house, a police party raided the house and arrested one of the accused, Saurabh, besides recovering the girl. The police also recovered two cars and a motorcycle from the accused.

The victim, in her statement to the police, had said that three motorcycle-borne youths had abducted her when she was going to deliver the tiffin box to her father at the railway station. She said the accused took her to railway quarters in Kalka and gave her drug-laced capsules and raped her there for the whole day. She further said that next day, they took her to a roadside hotel in Parwanoo in a car and then near a river in Parwanoo and raped her at every place. They then returned to Kalka and again raped her at railway store in Kalka, she had alleged. Meanwhile, not satisfied with the judgement, family members of the 13 convicts, while raising slogans against the police outside the district courts complex, said their sons had been falsely implicated in the case. They said that main accused were still at large and the police had failed to take action against them. We would move the higher court now, they added.

The parents of the victim were also present in the court complex. However, after the pronouncement of the judgement, they left the place, fearing wrath from the convicts’ relatives.

Chandigarh, September 21
The city’s hotel owners are a scared lot these days. On the one hand they are gearing up to serve delicacies to tourists during the upcoming Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, but on the other live in constant fear of surprise raids by inspecting teams of the UT administration.

With the recent drive by officials to check hygiene standards of storage of food items in hotels and dairies, anxiety has increased among the hoteliers, though this has benefited customers at the moment. Recently officials of the administration’s food and adulteration wing launched a drive in coordination with municipal corporation and health department officials to check the quality of food being served in the city’s hotels, restaurants and clubs.

Sources close to the administration said certain members of a prominent hoteliers’ association in the city had gone to the extent of requesting the officials to "familiarise" them about the hygiene standards the latter wanted them to maintain in order to avoid being fined and getting negative publicity. Said a senior official: “I’m surprised at the association’s letter asking us to define the hygiene standards. Hoteliers are supposed to be fully aware of these standards under the existing rules, even before opening a food court.”

UT officials are clear on their stand. “ It’s rather ironical that those who have been operating their hotels for almost two to three decades are asking us to specify hygiene standards”, another official said.

Some of the city’s best-known hotels and restaurants that were recently raided and fined include a star hotel in Sector 17 and two well-known sweet shops in Sector 15.

Five other establishments including three restaurants in Sector 35 were inspected and issued ‘challans’ (fines) for unhygienic storage and preparation of food items. Three other lounges in Sector 26 including a Chinese and a south Indian specialty lounge, were also fined for unhygienic storage and preparation of food items.

This drive was undertaken following orders issued by deputy commissioner Brijendra Singh.

Chandigarh, September 21
After detaining 24 “academically weak” first-year students who were enrolled under the direct admission of students abroad (DASA) scheme, PEC University of Technology has now compiled performance reports of all foreign students.

Unable to cope with the environment at an Indian institution, the 24 students scored less than 5.0 CGPA score (in the 0-10 grading system that PEC follows) in their first year examinations. The students come from Australia, the US, Canada, Russia, Nepal and Bhutan among other countries, for whom the DASA scheme is valid.

“The performance of the students enrolled under the DASA scheme has been pretty bad. This year 24 students were detained in the first year, while their batchmates were promoted to the second year, because they couldn’t cope up with their subjects. We’re in the process of analysing data related to students enrolled under the DASA scheme during the past four years. It’s a useful resource for PEC and will help us in chalking out a strategy for the future,” said a senior PEC administration official.

As a result of their detention, the parents of these students interacted with PEC officials and pleaded that their children were “used to airconditioned schools and colleges abroad” and needed time to adjust in the college.

Having realised that the performance of these students was lowering their academic standard, the Indian Institute of Delhi scrapped the DASA scheme some years ago. PEC, on the other hand, continued to offer these students a “slow learners” programme in which students have a choice of studying two subjects during the summer break instead of the compulsory five. These students also have the provision to complete their degree in five years instead of four years.

PEC is also rated as the top choice of students seeking admission under the scheme, sources said. Despite their poor performance they are also a source of income for all National Institutes of Technology (NITs) in the country. They pay three times the tuition fee being paid by “general category” students.

While a normal student pays Rs 35,000 per semester, one enrolled under the DASA scheme pays $4,000 (almost Rs 2 lakh) per semester. Students from the SAARC countries pay $2,000 per semester due to the special concession offered by the Indian government.

Regarding the CBI scrutiny and the incident of documents being forged to seek admission in PEC, director Manoj Datta said: “The revelations in the case were a shock to every one in PEC. Only the Nepalese embassy could have verified the passports. Even we can’t make out the difference between an original passport and a forged one”.

“It won’t make sense if we say we’ll be more careful in future or will make the admission rules stricter, because any verification technique or precautions for admissions under the DASA scheme have to implemented at a national level”, Datta added.

Fees per semester

l ‘General category’ students - Rs 35,000

l Students enrolled under DASA - $4,000 (nearly Rs 2 lakh)

l DASA students from SAARC countries - $2,000 (nearly Rs 1 lakh)

On whether PEC will follow IIT, Delhi in scrapping the DASA scheme, dean (academics) Sanjeev Sofat said: “We’re in the process of analysing the performance of foreign students enrolled under DASA during the past four years. Their performance has been pretty bad and it has been generally observed they are unable to cope with studies.”

Chandigarh, September 21
DAVC-10 principal Dr BC Josan’s petition against the orders placing his services under suspension could not make any headway today also.The petition was placed before Justice Rajive Bhalla of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, who fixed it up for hearing on Wednesday. The petition was placed before Justice Bhalla after it was referred back by Justice Surya Kant for placing it before an appropriate Bench.

In the petition against the UT Administration and the DAV management, Josan has alleged that the orders placing his services under suspension are illegal. The allegations against him are baseless and cannot be sustained in the eyes of the law.

Dr Josan had earlier refused to accept the suspension orders and had announced his decision to approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court against his suspension. The management, too, had filed a caveat in the High Court.

He had claimed that the suspension decision by the DAV Management Committee was totally unjustified. Since his transfer case was already pending in the High Court, the matter was subjudice and the committee could not place his services under suspension.

Josan was suspended by the management after a meeting in New Delhi on September 15.

Mohali, September 21
RK Mishra, regional director of the Commonwealth Youth Programme, Asia, inaugurated Campus Peace Centre at Indo Global Colleges, Abhipur, here today.

He also launched a special web page on global peace. A replica of a global village on the occasion saw at least 50 representatives from more than 25 countries across the globe. They portrayed their country’s artifacts and spoke about their culture.

Chief guest Mishra said the future belonged to the youth and if the youth was aware and conscious of what was expected from them they would put forward their energies and creative thoughts towards world peace one could be sure that the world would be a peaceful place to live in.

The youth must carry the message of peace to all across the globe, he added.

Indo Global College of Engineering principal Dr Promila Kaushal motivated the students. Director general R Panickar said youth must be aware about the evil forces disrupting peace.

Chandigarh, September 21
A surprise inspection conducted by PK Sharma DPI (S) has once again brought to fore the sorry state of affairs in government school science laboratories and computer labs.

The DPI visited Government Senior Secondary School, Dhanas, and Government High School Sarangpur and was shocked to see the poor infrastructure.

In Government Senior Secondary School, Dhanas, herbal garden had not been maintained, playgrounds were not properly maintained for which instructions were issued on the spot. There was no register maintained for the topics covered by computer instructor. Due to which it was not possible to check if the syllabus had been covered or not.

In Government High School, Sarangpur, Science lab was not properly equipped. Equipment in the laboratory were outdated and were of no use to the students. Here also no register was maintained for the topics covered in computer class.

The first counselling for the centralised MEd admission will be held from October 5 to 9 on Panjab University campus.Counselling for the general category candidates will be held from October 5 to 7 from 9 am onwards, while counselling for the SC and ST category will be held on October 8 in the morning session. For the BC category, the counselling will be held in the afternoon session.

It was also decided that counselling for all the reserved categories like that for freedom fighters, disabled, riot affected, widows, divorced women, sports persons, defence and paramilitary forces, ex-servicemen, women, backward and border area residents will be held on October 9 from 9 am onward.

The tentative merit list and schedule of counselling will be available on the PU website www.admissions. puchd.ac.in by October 1.

Chandigarh, September 21
The failure of the Chandigarh Traffic Police in restoring order on city roads marked the interactive session of senior citizens with the UT IGP PK Srivastva after a ‘Walk for Fun’ at the Sukhna Lake here today. The Chandigarh Police has in association with Chandigarh Senior Citizen Association organised the function.

Besides the traffic situation, the city residents also expressed their concern over the law and order situation in the city while giving suggestions for improvement in police functioning.

Over 90 per cent of the complaints highlighted the ever-deteriorating scene of traffic on the roads, the IGP termed the traffic more of a social problem saying they did not have any ‘magic’ to solve the problem. Even as the police has been organising the interactive session since 2002 majority of the problems cited by the senior citizens were those, which have not been solved in the past years.

About the law and order situation, the aggrieving residents said theft of grills on the roads, parks and other public property in the city in large numbers was itself an indicator of what the police was doing in the city.

Reckless driving in residential areas, campaign to motivate female two-wheeler riders to wear safety helmets while driving, enforcing lane driving, synchronising the traffic lights time for smooth flow of traffic, and strictly implementing the right of way rule at roundabouts to reduce chaos were the highlights of the interactive session.

Ruing over the failure of the traffic police to restore order, a senior citizen said the police had not been able to solve the snarl ups at Tribune Roundabout and other major rotaries in the city despite installing traffic lights. The thin presence of the police also encouraged violators to flout traffic rules.

KL said, “Generally the one who give the information is subjected to a barrage of questions by policemen so one prefers to keep silent”, he said. The IGP assured him action without harassment on such information and asked the residents to use the police helpline (1090).

About the traffic situation, the IGP termed it a social problem in the wake of burgeoning number of vehicular population in the city. “You talk of encroachments by rickshaw-pullers and hawkers on the road. At some point of time, people will have to give undertaking before buying a vehicle that they have adequate space to park it”, he added.

Meanwhile, as many as 500 Senior citizens participated in the walk at the lake. Among others the UT SSP Naunihal Singh, UT SP (Traffic) HS Doon, and other dignitaries of the Senior Citizens Association were present at the function.

Chandigarh, September 21
Continuing its spree of surveys, the Income Tax Department today inspected over 12 commercial premises, including Silver Oaks hospital, Mohali, to unearth unaccounted incomes. These surveys come close on the heels of the assessments done on several leading realtors, immigration consultants, and pharmaceutical companies that have yielded over Rs 69 core for the department in the past two weeks.

Confirming the survey operations, AK Kaushal, Commissioner Income tax (CIT1) told The Tribune, the surveys were commenced around noon and five groups were covered under the operations, which included Atop Fasteners Pvt Ltd, manufacturer and suppliers of various types of spring steel-sheet metal component, machined components and fasteners. Their units are in Industrial area Chandigarh and Mohali. During the survey, IT officials found more than Rs 50 lakh cash.

Besides, three premises of Meclonic India Pvt Ltd in Chandigarh, Mohali and near Kurali, Tubewell Engineer and Consultants- Gurnam Singh and Company whose office is in Industrial area, share trader Rajbir Singh and Silver Oak hospital in Mohali were also covered under the survey.

According to the income tax officials, several incriminating documents that were found on business premises of these groups had been impounded. The cash found on the premises of the Silver Oak hospital was more than Rs 40 lakh but had not been seized so far as it was still to be verified whether the cash was accounted or unaccounted.

Another Rs 10 lakh cash was found on the premises of Gurnam Singh and Company (Tubewell Engineers And Consultants).

The survey was conducted by Rajeshwar Yadav, Additional Commissioner and Sunil Yadav, Assistant Commissioner Income Tax, Range (I) under the direct supervision of AK Kaushal, Commissioner Income Tax (CIT1), Chandigarh. 

Chandigarh, September 21
UT SSP Naunihal Singh not only checked the reaction time of his force at odd hours, but also treated them well by offering tea and snacks at the Sector 17 bus stand here today.

According to sources, Naunihal gave a call at 11 pm to all the SHO and police chowki in-charges in the city to report at the bus stand to check their reaction time. He also interacted with them besides offering tea and snacks to his force.

Chandigarh, September 21
While the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sought judicial custody for Dr Nishikant, prime accused in the PEC admission scam case, the investigation agency said it would seize records from NITK Suratkal for scrutiny.

The CBI further stated in the application seeking judicial remand that the scam had inter-state ramification besides the Nepal area.

The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Jasbir Singh Sidhu sent Dr Nishikant to judicial remand. Seeking the judicial remand the special public prosecutor (SPP) for the CBI, DS Chawla said, “The accused has admitted his fault and various incriminating documents have been seized. The documents are presently under scrutiny.”

Meanwhile, the defence counsel moved an application seeking B1 class facility for Dr Nishikant as the accused was a postgraduate.

The SPP argued before the court that the CBI was yet to verify the qualification of the accused whether he was a postgraduate or not. The application seeking better facilities in the jail was deferred to September 23 for the investigating agency to file a reply.

Sources in the CBI revealed that the investigation in the case was still on as the credentials of students who had taken admission under the Direct Admission of Students Abroad (DASA) scheme.

Chandigarh, September 21
With the mercury having begun to slip due to the above normal monsoon rainfall and the cloudy conditions prevailing in the city during the past week, the nip in the air has become more perceptible in the early morning hours.

The maximum temperature, which had been declining and had even fell to 26.5 degrees Celsius on Sunday from the normal of 33 degrees, as recorded by the meteorological office, today rose by over 5 degrees to 32 degrees, one degree below normal.

After a good monsoon this year, with 946.1 mm rainfall recorded in the city till date as against the normal of 808 mm, the nip in the air might keep you going on your morning walks, but the minimum temperature drop also brings something a little more hazardous - a haze that envelops the city in the morning.

Surender Paul, director of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), as ascribed the haze seen early in the morning during the past week to a slightly higher humidity, which he says will soon be dispelled by the coming northerly winds. "Because of the above average levels of moisture in the air, the haze is clearly visible," he added.

These hazy mornings and the familiar coolness are very much here but, going by the IMD, temperatures in the city are still above normal.

“The maximum temperature recorded today was 32 degrees C, which was just normal. The minimum rose slightly to 22.9 degrees as compared to yesterday’s 21.2 degrees,” a Met office official said.

The city has been experiencing cloudy weather conditions coupled with light rain or drizzle in isolated pockets for the last two days due to the western disturbances prevailing over the Jammu & Kashmir region. The weather is likely to start improving from weekend afterwards, sources in the met department said.

The monsoon usually starts retreating from parts of northwest India around in the first week of September. “As of now we are expecting the monsoon’s withdrawal to begin around September 28 or 29,” said Paul.

The IMD has predicted the city would experience cloudy weather conditions in the next two to three days. The humidity is also likely to be around 90 per cent during the period.

Chandigarh, September 21
CBI Special Court of Darshan Singh today recorded the statement of the Joint Registrar of Jammu and Srinagar High Court in the high-profile Jammu and Kashmir Sex Scandal.

He had conducted the test identification parade (TIP) of the accused in the infamous case in 2006 when the Joint Registrar was the city magistrate.

The court had yesterday conducted the cross-examination of the Joint Registrar in one of the nine chargesheets in which the allegations of rape had also been levelled. However, the original documents of the test identification parade (TIP) were not placed on record in four of the eight chargesheets. Thus, the case was adjourned to September 27, 28.

The Joint Registrar was the city magistrate in Srinagar when the case was registered. He had conducted the identification parade of the six accused three times.

According to the prosecution, the Joint Registrar had conducted the identification parade of Maharajudin Malik, a government official, KC Pandhi, DIG with the Border Security Force (BSF), Shahbir Ahmad Langoo, Shahbir Ahmad Lava, Mohammad Ashraf Mir, DSP and Masood Ahmad on June 21, 2006.

The scandal involved 46 to 100 girls and scores of police officers in the rank of Superintendent of Police and DSP had hit the headlines in 2006.

Chandigarh, September 21
Even as the fast-unto-death by Balbir Singh Rajewal, president of the Rajewal faction of Bharti Kisan Union (BKU), entered its second day today, no government representative approached the protesting farmers, who have staged an indefinite dharna near Mataur Barrier here on Monday.

As many as 200 farmers have also camped with their leader and have started community kitchen at the site. A team of doctors today examined Rajewal and said his condition was stable.

Onkar Singh Agaul, the general secretary of the BKU (Rajewal), said the state government had admitted in front of mediapersons that Rs 800-crore grant from the Central government for drought-hit areas had come during their protest from August 10 to 13. The government then said they were deciding on how to disburse the amount among farmers. But the government had not been keeping its promises.

Agaul said the state government would be responsible if anything happened to their leader during the protest.

Mohali, September 21
On a call given by members of the Technical Services Union (TSU), employees of the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd struck their work here today in protest against the indifferent attitude of the state government towards their demands.

The protesters sat on dharna, raised slogans and condemned the government for unbundling the power board. No work was carried out in complaint centres, cash counters and other offices of the corporation.

While addressing the gathering, Lakha Singh of the TSU said employees were holding protests over the past several years in connection with their long pending demands and instead of conceding to their demands, the government had unbundled the board, which had led to resentment among employees.

He said the management of the power corporation would like to introduce contract system in the organisation, which would adversely affect the interests of the workers who were earlier employed on a permanent basis by the power board.

Chandigarh, September 21
Ricky Ponting and his boys feel fully secure in India. “We trust the security measures taken by the police here for us.We feel safe and comfortable here,” said Australian skipper at a hotel in Sector 17, where the team has been put up for about fortnight.

Even the firing incident on tourist bus near Jama Masjid on Sunday in Delhi was played down by Ponting indicatingthat the team was not bothered about the incident. “We are satisfied with the security arrangements here,” said Ponting.

In the wake of the Delhi incident and the forthcoming Commonwealth Games next month, the Chandigarh police, too, seemed extra alert this time as far as the security of the foreign guests was concerned. The road, in front of the hotel, has been blocked and over 300 police personnel have been deployed at the hotel.

Every visitor is allowed inside the hotel after proper check. A metal detector has also been put up at the entrance gate of the hotel.

No vehicle is allowed inside the hotel this time. “We have given the list of ‘do’s and don’ts’ to the team officials. Every member of the team will be given adequate security cover whenever the need be,” said DSP Roshan Lal.