Chandigarh, October 4
Driving home the relevance of consumer courts in even seemingly trivial matters, a consumer court has given a compensation of Rs 1,500 to Varinder Pal Bhambri as he was overcharged 50 paise by a retail store.

A 6Ten store had taken 50 paise more than the maximum retail price (MRP) when Bhambri had purchased sugar. The retail price of sugar was Rs 16.50. However, the store had charged him Rs 17 for it. Taking note of the complaint, the consumer court had held that the store was guilty of unfair trade practice and asked it to pay a compensation of Rs 1,500 to the consumer.

In another case, a Ludhiana-based company, Mrs Bectors Food Specialties Limited, was dragged to the consumer court when the weight of biscuits was found to be less than that mentioned on the pack.

Harjinder Pal Singh, a resident of Sector 49, had knocked the doors of the court when the actual weight of the pack of biscuits he had purchased didn’t match with the weight mentioned on the pack.

Chandigarh, October 4
A high-powered committee constituted to look into the Boston case, in which certain students of Panjab University attended the Harvard National Model United Nations (HNMUN)-2010 Conference, has finally given its judgement. The report will be tabled during the PU Senate meeting on October 10.

In a six-page report, certain students have been found guilty of applying for the conference as “individuals or as members of delegations” using PU’s name. Disciplinary action has been recommended against them as well as against the office-in-charge of PU regional centre, Ludhiana, who had sanctioned permission to certain other students of PURC to attend the Boston conference.

The students’ reply to the show-cause notice surprised members of the committee, as these students “did not find anything wrong in indulging in such a fraudulent conduct”.

The committee consisting of VK Sibal, IS Chadha and Chaman Lal Sharma stated that there was “an obvious lack of coordination between the Panjab University regional centre (PURC), Ludhiana, and University Institute of Legal Studies (UILS) since a delegation was sent from the regional centre without knowledge and consultation of the UILS that has been sending the delegation for years.”

The exam was conducted at 68 centres and about 20,000 candidates had appeared. The staff where the examination was being conducted had also handed over three impersonators to the CBI. One of the impersonators is a BA-I year student of DAV College Sector 10, Chandigarh. Two impersonators had come all the way from Bihar to appear in this exam on behalf of another candidate.

Mohali, October 4
He easily attracts attention during every international cricket match involving India, with his upper body painted in Tricolour and he waving the Indian flag.

His ‘craze’ for the game can be gauged from the fact that for the sake of watching Indian team play from the stands, this die-hard enthusiast doesn’t mind cycling hundreds of kilometres to any stadium in the country.

Sudhir Gautam, a resident of Muzzafarpur in Bihar, has impressed Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh with his love for the game. Both star cricketers not only provide this youngster passes of every match but have also allowed him to visit their residences anytime.

“I just want to see India winning and my all-time favourite Sachin creating new records. All other things become secondary,” said Sudhir while cheering up the Indian team at PCA Stadium against Australia.

“I met Sachin in 2003 when I went to meet him at his residence in Mumbai on my bicycle. After that, he started giving me passes of every match. I have not missed any single international match held in India,” claimed Sudhir.

Sudhir, who in his mid-20s, is least bothered about earning a living and doesn’t hesitate to reveal that all call him mad back in his village.

“I live with my parents and two brothers. Earlier, they used to advise me to think about my future, but now they have stopped doing so,” said Sudhir.

Chandigarh, October 4
Punjab’s late Chief Minister Beant Singh’s assassin Jagtar Singh Hawara is still a source of uneasiness for the prison authorities. They still apprehend that he may escape the gallows by fleeing from the high-security Burail Jail.

The apprehensions came out in an affidavit submitted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on a petition filed by Hawara through advocate Navkiran Singh. In the affidavit, an additional inspector-general of police has asserted that the danger of his escape again remains a live, potent and a grave threat.

Hawara, he said, was segregated after he tunneled his way out of the jail. The affidavit, placed before the Bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Ajay Tewari, added that a religious preacher was regularly allowed to meet Hawara and he was not being denied amenities, including games, newspapers and books.

Sentenced to death in the assassination case, Hawara had moved an application, seeking permission to meet relatives.

In his application against the UT Administration, Hawara claimed that while his mother Narinder Kaur was allowed to meet him, his uncle Dev Singh and cousin Gurdeep Singh were not permitted.

Hawara, in the petition filed through counsel Navkiran Singh, had sought directions for declaring illegal the action of lodging him and co-accused Balwant Singh in solitude and segregation.

He had added that the death sentence awarded to him by the Special Court was yet to be confirmed. In an attempt to substantiate his contentions against the segregation move, Hawara had also quoted apex court judgments.

Beant Singh was assassinated on August 31, 1995, in an explosion outside the Punjab Civil Secretariat. While human bomb Dilawar Singh was killed in the blast that also took the lives of 17 others, Hawara and Balwant Singh were granted capital punishment on July 31.

The gravity of the crime was further compounded by the sensational jailbreak in which Hawara, and three others escaped from the high-security Burail Jail on the night of January 21, 2004, by digging a 94-ft-long tunnel under the barracks of the jail.

Chandigarh, October 4
In an apparent bid to prevent buses from halting just about anywhere on the national highway between Ambala and Zirakpur, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to earmark bus shelters or stands on the stretch.

The police authorities, too, have been asked to ensure halting of vehicles only at the earmarked places. The high court has also asked for the details of illegal entries to the national highway.

Taking up the traffic regulation and pollution control case, Justice Rajive Bhalla asked the NHAI to demarcate the spots for bus stops.

In a detailed order, Justice Bhalla observed: “Affidavit dated September 27 filed by Anil Kumar Dahiya, project director, NHAI, Chandigarh, in the court is taken on record. The affidavit does not furnish particulars of illegal entries and exits on the stretch of the national highway between Zirakpur and Ambala. Dahiya sates that the NHAI has dug up trenches to prevent access to the highway, but the trenches have been filled up. He prays for time to furnish complete particulars and states that as and when the NHAI proposes to prevent illegal access to the national highway, he shall inform the police official concerned well in advance.”

Before parting with the order, Justice Bhalla directed: “Dahiya is directed to demarcate a temporary bus shelter or a stand where all the inter-state or local buses shall halt. DS Mann, DSP (traffic), Mohali, shall ensure that the buses do not stop at any place other than the demarcated areas. He is further directed to provide the particulars of the writ petitions that have been filed against acquisition proceedings.”

The high court has all along been insisting that the buses should not be allowed to create bottlenecks by halting at places other than the earmarked zones. Earlier also, Justice Bhalla had directed the authorities concerned to ensure free flow of traffic by preventing unauthorised stopping of buses.

Zirakpur, October 4
The Zirakpur municipal council is seeking the shifting of a sales tax barrier from township entrance to “some other place”. It has already shot of communication to the excise and taxation department, Patiala.

The request follows in the wake of traffic bottlenecks on the stretch. Commuters on the Chandigarh-Zirakpur highway face traffic jam at the barrier, especially during the office hours in morning and evening. Residents have demanded that the sales tax barrier should be shifted immediately to some other place.

The sales tax barrier on the Zirakpur-Ambala highway near Singhpura village was shifted to the entrance of Zirakpur near Chandigarh barrier last year. Besides parking of trucks, which was hampering the flow of traffic, minor accidents were routine affair on this stretch.

On December 3, last year, two persons were burnt alive when their car collided with the oil tank of a truck near the Zirakpur sales tax barrier. On May 21, Rajesh Kumar, a 25-year-old truck driver died after being hit by an unidentified vehicle near the sales tax barrier on the Zirakpur-Ambala highway when he was crossing the road.

The PWD department of central works division is now constructing service roads on either side of the stretch between the UT barrier and the starting point of the flyover.

Talking to The Tribune, Chairman District Planning Board and MC president NK Sharma stated that the he got complaints from the residents that a large number of trucks were parked along the highway causing traffic problems. “The council has written to the excise and taxation, Patiala, to shift the sales tax barrier from entrance of Zirakpur to another place,” he added.

Mohali, October 4
In the first step towards making Mohali polythene bag-free city, the district administration has decided to ban use of polythene bags in Phase VII market. Shopkeepers of the commercial area have been given one-month time to come out with ways to self-enforce the ban.

“As a trial we want to make a humble beginning from Phase VII as it is one of the biggest commercial centres in the city,” said Additional Deputy Commissioner Mohinder Singh Kainth, who has already held meeting with the market welfare association. The Punjab Plastic Carry Bags (Manufacturer, Usage and Disposal) Control Act regulates manufacturing of plastic carry bags, their use and prohibition of disposal of non-biodegradable plastic waste in public places, drains and sewers.

The initiative by the district administration is an initiative towards making the city clean. The Mohali Municipal Council has also been roped in regulate the ban on polythene bags. Mohali Deputy Commissioner Parveen Kumar said after seeing the response from the Phase VII market it could be extended to other markets. 

Mohali, October 4
Consumers are being exploited with impunity at apni mandis held here with the authorities concerned failing to take any action against sellers indulging in overcharging.

Though a big rush is witnessed at these mandis held everyday in various parts of the town, consumers often complained that the rates being charged for vegetables sold by farmers were on the higher side. Most of the farmers were not ready to sell vegetables at the rates displayed on boards by employees of the mandi board claiming that their produce was of a better quality. Complaints made in this regard often went unheard. Consumers also complained that some farmers and vendors did not have proper scales to weigh the products.

Gurpreet Kaur, a resident of Phase VII, and a frequent visitor of apni mandis, said every farmer was charging the rate for his produce according to his whim and there was no uniformity in the rates.

She said at the mandi held in Phase VIII yesterday, a bunch of spinach was being sold for Rs 20 by some farmers while others were ready to give it for Rs 15, but she got it for Rs 10 from a vendor. Same was the case with a bunch of “saag”. Moreover, it was no longer a mandi of farmers as all types of stuff like clothes, groceries, cosmetics, household items, eatables, etc, were being sold in violation of the norms. Chaos created by vehicles added to the problem.

PS Virdi, president of the Consumer Protection Federation, said the rates displayed by authorities concerned at the mandi held in Phase III-B2 on September 30 were much higher than the approved rates. He said the approved rate of ginger on that day was Rs 50 a kg but the mandi board officials had displayed the rate as Rs 80.

Similarly, the approved rate in the case of ladyfinger was Rs 35 per kg, but the rate displayed was Rs 40. In the case of other vegetables also there was a difference of about Rs 5 per kg between the approved rate and the one that was displayed. Virdi said he had complained in this regard to the secretary of the Punjab Mandi Board.

Manjeet Singh Sethi, former municipal councillor, said the aim of holding apni mandis was to eliminate the middleman so that farmers could get the right price for their product and consumers got the facility of buying fresh vegetables at affordable prices. But the purpose has been defeated due to the indifferent attitude of the authorities concerned. 

Chandigarh, October 4
Four Chandigarh Police personnel paid the price for allegedly beating up an auto-rickshaw driver who refused them a ride in his vehicle at Maloya in the wee hours today.

Reacting to the incident, senior police officials suspended constable Yudhvir Singh, posted at Maloya police post, while his three colleagues, including two sub-inspectors Surinder Singh, posted at Maloya police post, and Rajinder Singh, deployed with the Police Control Room and Bachan Singh, also a constable with the PCR, have been shifted to the Police Lines in Sector 26.

It all started when the police received the information about a brawl at Dadu Majra Colony at around 3 am. Constable Yudhvir Singh and sub-inspector Surinder Singh reached the spot on a motorcycle and rounded up two brothers who were in inebriated condition. Finding themselves unable to take away the duo on motorcycle, they stopped an auto-rickshaw asking its driver to drop them at the Maloya police post.

The auto-rickshaw driver, identified as 26-year-old Jimmy, refused to oblige them, saying that he was running out of fuel. Infuriated over his refusal, constable Yudhvir Singh allegedly started beating up Jimmy. At this, they called up the PCR and sub-inspector Rajinder Singh and constable Bachan Singh reached the spot. They took Jimmy and both the brothers to the Maloya police post where they again allegedly thrashed the auto-rickshaw driver.

Later in the day, the victim lodged a complaint at the Sector 39 police station, seeking action against the policemen.

The in charge of the Maloya police post, sub-inspector Baldev Kumar, said the policemen had mess up the case. They claimed that Jimmy was drunk and misbehaved with them, but did not get him medically examined. On the other hand, Jimmy claimed that he was thrashed.

Taking cognisance of the incident, constable Yudhvir was placed under suspension while the three other cops were sent to police lines. He said a departmental inquiry had also been initiated into the incident.

Chandigarh, October 4
To deal with the encroachers, the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) has pasted notices in all its colonies asking violators to remove the encroachments voluntarily or be ready to face action.

The CHB has pasted notices in various sectors, including Sectors 55, 61 and Mani Majra, mentioning that residents are asked to remove violations on their own or the board will not only remove illegal structures but will also impose penalty on them.

Recently, the CHB had conducted a demolition drive in Sector 55 following complaints of illegal constructions by some residents. During the drive, around five illegal structures were removed.

Around 50 more complaints are pending with the CHB. During a survey, CHB officials have identified around 40 violations in Sector 45. 

Chandigarh, October 4
With Navratras approaching, the close-knit Bengali community in the city is already in a celebratory mood.

With the five-day Durga Puja celebrations starting from October 13, the Kali Bari temple in Sector 47 and the Bangyo Sanskritik Sammilini in Sector 35, will reverberate with festivities.

Expert idol makers from Kolkata are well on the way of completing the idol of goddess Durga, which will enjoy the pride of place all through the celebrations.

Artists can be seen working under the tents, giving final touches to the idols of goddess Durga. With brushes dipped in paints of different colours, they can be seen gently brushing the glistering visage of the goddess, standing tall with demon crushed under her feet.

“We have very little time left,” Khokan Adhikari, an artisan now settled in the city, said. “Even though we have been working round the clock for the past so many days, there is so much more to be done,” he said. He added that the idols would be sent to various places, including Rajasthan and Leh.

“Every year, it is the same story. We spend sleepless nights creating idols just to see them being immersed. But we do not mind. Rather, we get immense satisfaction from that we are doing something in the service of the goddess,” he added.

“The idol will be ready within a week,” said AK Bose, member of the Kali Bari managing committee. Apart from the expert workers, the committee has also imported the particular variety of clay needed for creating idols.

Busy with the calculations, Chandan Banerjee, secretary of the Bangyo Sanskritik Sammalini, asserted: “Stalls will be set up in the Bango Bhavan at Sector 35, he added.

The festival is also an amalgamation of entertainment and great food with literature, theatre and music being an intricate part of the Bengali culture. "This is an opportunity for the Bengalis and devotees belonging to other communities to enjoy the rich Bengali culture of music, dance and drama, along with the mouth-watering sweets. It brings nostalgic memories of Kolkata. Bengalis and non-Bengalis expect a few things from the celebrations, including a healthy environment and light entertainment and that is what we try and give them," said Banerjee.

The celebrations will start with Maha Shasthi on October 13 and conclude on October 17. The immersion of the idols will be done on Mahadashmi on October 17 at 3 pm. The procession will start from Kali Bari and reach the Ghaggar where the idols will be immersed.

Chandigarh, October 4
Duchess of Cornwall Camilla Parker Bowles paid a visit to St Stephen’s School, Sector 45.

The visit was part of the UKIndia Education and Research Initiative.

As the school falls under Himachal and Punjab cluster of programme, students were dressed in Himachali and Punjabi attires. They welcomed Camilla.

An exhibition on issues related to environment, Indian festivals and cuisines was organised.

Components of Punjab-charkha, chakki, madhani, phulkari and even the folk song impressed the duchess.

The visit concluded with a round to the school’s playground, where she enquired about the facilities being provided to students.

However the “successful” visit failed to apprise the guests about the true nuts and bolts of Indian education, classrooms, new education techniques and subjects studied.

“It was surprising that till date we continue to attach our education with costumes and cuisines. Education in India has taken a big leap. The subjects have diversified, classes have become hi-tech and evaluation renaissance is on, still we try to woo guests coming for education initiative with folk songs and saag roti,” said a schoolteacher.

Chandigarh, October 4
In what appears to simplify the learning process, a unique mobile van “Mobile E-learning terminal (MeLT)” is being used to apprise rural children of the basics of information technology (IT).

The National Institute of Technical Teachers’ Training and Research (NITTTR), Sector 26, in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, has undertaken a project to provide e-learning to rural school and college students through the MeLT van in areas with low connectivity.

The project has been initiated under the National Mission on Education through the ICT of Union Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD).

Aiming at removing the divide between the urban and remote areas, the “Education Television Centre” at NITTTR headed by Dr SS Pattnaik have completed six assignments in both rural and urban areas in the vicinity as part of the project.

NITTTR officials are providing students with e-lectures and e-contents. Experts are called at studio of NITTTR campus and their lectures are aired and then transmitted to villages, where the course is organised or DVD’s are formed, which are later shown to students.

The exceptional MeLT van, not only accommodates multimedia screens, direct to home e-learning facility, local server, Internet and Edusat/SIT-supported e-learning, but it also accommodates chairs inside the van for students to sit and take lessons.

“The project is a brainchild of HK Verma, deputy director, and professor of electrical engineering department, IIT-Roorkee. Initially certain institutes were made partners by the IIT for this programme and although NITTTR was initially not a partner, after observing our enthusiasm and capabilities, we were given the first MeLT van for educating students in rural and urban areas,” said Dr Pattnaik.

“Shortly, another assignment is being planned for rural girls in Panchkula, who have already done a course and have expressed their intention to learn more about computers and IT,” said Prof Kapila of Education Television Centre.

The six places covered by NITTTR in a span of nearly 15 months include Bapu Dham Colony, Sidhbari in Kangra, Sukhmani Institute of Engineering and Technology, Dera Bassi, Gurukul Global School (Mani Majra), Aashiana, Sector 16, Panchkula, and Rayat and Bahra Institute.

Chandigarh, October 4
The three-day 163rd Founder’s Day Celebrations of The Lawrence School, Sanawar, had a special flavour, as students of 1960, 1980 and 2000 batches celebrated their golden, silver and tin jubilees, respectively.

The annual extravaganza concluded today.

“Though we are having Commonwealth Games in Delhi, but it seems that Sanawar is hosting Olympics. I was skeptical about a prolific turnout among the invitees, but the alumni have proved that their bond with the institution is still cherished the most,” said headmaster Praveen Vashisht. The participants included Neena Gupta, a renowned actress, Arun Mehra, member, Planning Commission, “Tuski”, a renowned arms dealer. Naveen Jindal, MP, vice-chairman, and managing director of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, was the chief guest on the concluding day.

He expressed happiness over the youth living in such verdant and salubrious milieu.

The delineation of his successful campaign to ban smoking in public places and to let any citizen of India hoist the National Flag was awe-inspiring. “It is our fundamental right under the freedom of speech and expression. We rise above everything, when we hoist our National Flag. It is a way to express love and faith,” he said.

While felicitating staff and students, he urged them to follow the school’s motto “Never Give In”. A parade was presented by students, which was followed by a march past by around 100 old students.

Mohali, October 4
Five NCC cadets of Gian Jyoti Institute of Management and Technology (GJ-IMT) have been selected for the Commonwealth Games. Chairman of the institute JS Bedi said the cadets would help security personnel in guarding the stadium during the games.

He said it was a matter of pride for the whole country that Commonwealth Games were being held in India and the cadets from the institute were selected. He added that GJ-IMT’s cadets were selected every year for the national-level parade in Delhi on Independence Day and Republic Day.