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Neha Ahlawat murder case Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 30
The police recently shifted the probe into the sensational blind murder case, which rocked the city, to the crime branch. Neha was found brutally bludgeoned to death near her residence in Sector 38-West on July 30 this year in the late night hours. Terming it as one of the challenging cases in his career, UT IGP PK Srivastva had said in October that he would not only get this case thoroughly investigated, but also the blind murder case of Simranjit Kaur, who was killed on July 17, 2003. The police had questioned Neha’s friends and was able to get fingerprints of the persons, who sold her mobile phone, which had been missing since her death. But the fingerprint samples did not match, leaving the investigators groping in the dark. The circumstantial evidence of the case had indicated that it was not a planned murder and Neha was talking on her phone for a long time before she was killed. The assailants also tried to sexually exploit her. The location of her missing mobile phone was tracked down in Dadu Majra village, where someone had also answered the call on it before switching it off. The area is inhabited by drug addicts and the police believed that the murder could be the handiwork of some of the addicts of the area, but could not get any leads in it.
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Police probes love angle
Tribune News Service
Mohali, November 30 Ironically, the jilted lover was found dead on the day his ‘love’ was being married off, raising several questions behind the circumstances leading to the shocking death of the realtor. Investigations by the police reveal that few days before his death, Suresh appeared to be under stress over the marriage of his ‘love’. Mobile call details indicate long duration calls between the two. But the call details of the day of the incident were still to be procured. Being a relative, the deceased visited the girl’s house at Baddi on November 25 (a day before his death) without anyone doubting the reason of the visit. His going to Baddi (knowing that his love was getting married) has raised several questions over the circumstances leading to his shocking death. The circumstantial evidence and accounts of some unconfirmed eyewitnesses has also added to the confusion. The burnt vehicle was found in the middle of the road and that too where the road slopes, indicating an abrupt turn of events in or around the vehicle resulting in the driver applying sudden brakes. The victim’s body was found charred in the vehicle at the same spot. At about 10 pm, some passersby are reported to have seen another vehicle parked behind the ill-fated car and some persons surrounding it while it was in flames. Questioning the theory of its being a planned murder, investigators believe that it appeared that a sudden confrontation apparently led to the death of Suresh. Though Suresh’s family has told the police that they were not aware about the love affair, the needle of suspicion is pointing towards some acquaintances of the realtor might spill the beans. The police wants to catch hold of the assailants only on the basis of concrete evidence as it affects the two families. Though the indications are that the deceased was either called or intercepted midway and burnt to death, but the police was still clueless about the persons behind the incident. “The deceased was in touch with his love through a common friend as the girl’s family had even taken away her mobile phone few days before his murder”, said a police officer.
Missing Links
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Ram Niwas gets charge of key depts
Chandigarh, November 30 The decision to assign the important departments of finance, engineering, urban planning, planning, sports, treasury & accounts, information technology, chief administrator (capital project), housing and public relations to the home secretary was taken at a high-level meeting held by Patil with the administration top brass today. Niwas had earlier reportedly expressed inability to handle the finance and other departments saying he was already “too preoccupied” with several key departments. And it was widely believed that the administration would distribute the major departments among the secretary-level officers. However, Patil put his foot down as key departments headed by the finance secretary required a seasoned bureaucrat at a time when major projects of the administration, particularly the metro rapid transit system, are in the pipeline. “Certain key decisions in the finance department, especially those with the central ministries, could only be taken by senior bureaucrats like the home secretary and that is why he has been given the departments,” official sources said. Meanwhile, Mohanjeet Singh, chairman of the Chandigarh Housing Board, will look after the departments of agriculture and animal husbandry. DK Tiwari, managing director of Chandigarh Industrial & Tourism Development Corp Ltd, will head the departments of science & technology, environment & forests and excise & taxation. Ajoy Sharma, special secretary, finance, will look after the departments of statistical cell, local fund examiner and printing & stationery.
History repeats itself
In 2008 Sanjay Kumar held the post of UT home secretary for almost six months before Ram Niwas took over in September of that year in the backdrop of Krishna Mohan’s repatriation to Haryana. Now Niwas will have to hold the charge of finance secretary for at least one month as the file of Punjab cadre officer VK Singh, whose name has reportedly been cleared for the post by the home affairs ministry, is yet to join the personnel & training department. It may take at least a month for the cabinet appointments committee to finally clear the name.
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Finally, city airport to have ILS this month
Chandigarh, November 30
Once installed, the ILS will facilitate the landing of aircraft in low visibility, providing the much-needed relief to frequent fliers to and from the city who, otherwise, had to bear with cancellations during the winter months. However, the city will still have to wait for night-landing facilities for some more time, as the AAI is presently going in for CAT-I system of the ILS. Confirming the move, director of Chandigarh Airport HS Toor said, “The work for the installation of the CAT I system has begun and will be completed by the second week of December.” He said ILS, a navigation aid, will provide precision guidance to planes approaching and landing on the runway using both radio signals and high-intensity lighting arrays. “The new ILS will be of the same category CAT-I, as the previous one, which was installed by the Air Force around 15 years ago. Though this ILS does not assist in flight operations at night, it is useful during bad weather conditions by assisting aircraft landing in low visibility between 2800-1200 m,” said Toor. In contrast, while the CAT-II system assists in visibility at even 200 m, the CAT-III provides precision landing at zero visibility also. “We’ll have to wait for that,” said Toor. In the absence of the ILS, travellers to the city had been facing a lot of problems, particularly during the foggy winter months. Though foggy conditions are yet to start, some flights were cancelled last week, as the visibility in the city decreased due to overcast sky. Several airlines lost a lot of money during the last winters due to the frequent cancellations of flights. At present, there are around 11 flights operating from the local airport for domestic destinations. According to information, the new ILS was to be installed in March but the deadline was extended to June, then October and now mid-December.
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1 killed, 2 hurt in mishaps
Chandigarh, November 30 Police said the fatal mishap occurred at about 2:30 am. The deceased has been identified as Piyush, a resident of Sector 18 and his cousin as Rahul. They were returning home from Zirakpur on their motorbike. Piyush was riding pillion when the rashly driven car collided with the
motorcycle. The car driver fled the scene leaving his vehicle behind. The police, which was informed about the accident rushed the victims to the Government Multispecialty Hospital, Sector 16 from where Piyush was referred to PGI. He later succumbed to his injuries during treatment. Piyush was studying for the matriculation examination at an open university while Rahul is a second-year BA student at SD College, Sector 32. The latter, a part time disco jockey, had reportedly asked his cousin to accompany him to two parties where he was to play music. The duo first played music at a party in Sector 37 and later went to Zirakpur for another assignment. The police, which said the vehicle that rammed into their motorbike belonged to a Sector 32 resident, conducted searches today to nab the car driver against whom a case of causing death due to rash and negligent driving had been filed at the Sector 19 police station. About the second road accident the police said a scooterist, later identified as Vidhya Nand, a resident of Sector 7B, was injured after being hit by a car (registration no: CH03 S6025) near a petrol pump located on the road separating Sectors 7 and 8 on November 28. The car driver fled the scene. The victim was admitted to Government Multispecialty Hospital.
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Estate Office official held for graft
Chandigarh, November 30 Sources said the investigating agency received a complaint from Dr Sohan Lal Arora, a resident of Sector 15, alleging that Varinder Dhawan of Dhawan Properties, Sector 22, had approached him on the directions of Mahal Chand, who demanded
Rs 2 lakh from him to issue him a no objection certificate for a property. Taking cognisance of the complaint, the CBI registered a case under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Mahal Chand and Dhawan. CBI sleuths laid a tarp and caught Mahal Chand accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh as advance money for doing the job. The investigators arrested Mahal Chand and conducted a search at his office and residential premises. Raids were on till the filing of the report.
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UT official shifted on corruption charges
Chandigarh, November 30 As per the orders, Sharma has been transferred following allegations of corrupt practices and amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income. The complaint, which was sent to UT Adviser Pradip Mehra, alleged that Sharma had been taking undue favours and money in lieu of registering outstation vehicles, besides other allegations. — TNS
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MC to auction apni mandi sites
Chandigarh, November 30 As per the modalities being proposed, the contractor will have to deposit 85 per cent of the total collection from respective apni mandis with the MC and rest would be the share of the contractor. MC records depict that out of 12 groups of apni mandis, three groups have already been outsourced to private contractors. Sources revealed that the MC authorities had tabled the proposal to auction mandis in the committee on a plea that this would increase the revenue of the corporation without deploying staff. Officials informed the committee that last year three groups of mandis were outsourced on a pilot basis to the contractors, which was quite successful. Chairman of the committee Jagjit Singh Kang instructed the authorities to table a detailed report showing the comparison of the revenue earned from the outsourced mandis and those which were being operated by the MC in the next meeting which is scheduled for December 9. Members suggested that the area councillor should be authorised to depute any of two members of the ward committee of respective areas to inspect apni mandi and the day market site with regard to its proper cleanliness, rates and weight complaints. The committee also decided that out of the total space in the mandis, 20 per cent should be allotted to vendors selling dry articles, 40 per cent for vegetable vendors and 40 per cent for fruits vendors.
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Demand possession of remaining plots
Our Correspondent
Mohali, November 30 The protesters blocked the gate of the GMADA office for about an hour and nobody was allowed to enter or move out of the building. Sucha Singh Kalaur, president, Plot Allotment Sangharsh Committee, said that the recent orders of the Supreme Court in respect to Knowledge City in Sector 81 applied to the Sectors 76 to 80 as well, but the officers of GMADA were using delaying tactics to implement the decision of the Supreme Court in their case. He said that that feasible plots were not being earmarked, no decision had yet been taken in respect to the plots falling in proposed Dasmesh Canal in Sector 80 and no developmental work was being done in these sectors by GMADA. The allottees requested Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, his deputy Sukhbir Singh Badal and NK Sharma, chairman of the Mohali District Planning Board, to intervene in the matter and take personal interest in order to fulfil their genuine demands. They demanded that action should be taken against officials of GMADA who were allegedly responsible for the delay.
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Hearing on EWS quota case deferred
Panchkula, November 30 The hearing in the case could not be held yesterday because Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Raj Gupta had rescued herself from the case, as her children were also studying in a Panchkula school, one of the respondents in this case. The case was today listed before Additional District and Sessions Judge Ritu Garg, who further referred the case before Judicial Magistrate Renu Rana. In the court, the district administration and schools sought time to file reply and while accepting their plea, the court deferred the hearing till December 17. A Panchkula-based couple, Pankaj Chandgothia and Sangeeta, had sought directions for immediately framing guidelines for implementing the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. In the petition, they stated that there is no clarity what are the number of seats which each school has to fill through EWS quota, how will the students eligible for admission under EWS quota be identified, whether EWS quota can be implemented in phased manner, whether respective schools can increase the fee for private students in order to recover the loss, which they would incur on account of the implementation of EWS quota. They further claimed that they had experienced the trauma, tension and worry, which the parents undergo during the admission process.
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Names deleted in arbitrary manner, says Janata Party
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 30 As per Section 22 of the Representation of People Act, 1950, before deletion of a name in the electoral rolls, on the ground that the voter has ceased to be ordinary resident of the constituency or otherwise is not entitled to be registered as voter the electoral registration officer, should give an opportunity of being heard in respect of the action proposed to taken in relation to him. “We urge that the time for the revision of electoral rolls be extended and notices should be issued to all whose names have been deleted from the electoral rolls of 2010, providing them an opportunity in this regard. In the absence of this, the act of deletion of names without giving notice/opportunity to the voter by the Election Department of Chandigarh under the control of Election Commission of India is arbitrary and undemocratic and can be a cause for a major litigation in times to come.”
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Hike in vehicle-registration fee mooted
Chandigarh, November 30 Chandigarh Tribune on September 13 reported that the proposal had been sent to the UT administration for approval. As per the proposal, for vehicles costing up to
Rs 6 lakh, 1 per cent of the value of vehicle would be paid, while for vehicles costing between
Rs 6 lakh and Rs 20 lakh, 1.5 per cent of the value of vehicle would be paid as road tax. For vehicles costing above
Rs20 lakh, 2 per cent would be charged as road tax. However, the hike in road tax will come into force after a due notification by the UT administration. As of now, the road tax is being charged on the basis of seating capacity of four-wheeler. As per the existing tax, owner of a four-seater vehicle has to shell out
Rs 1,800, while for a five-seater vehicle, one needs to shell out Rs 2,100 as road tax and for six-seater vehicle, the road tax is
Rs 2,400. On similar lines, road tax for two-wheeler will also increase. As per the proposal, from now onwards, two-wheeler owners will have to shell out 1 per cent of the cost of vehicle as road tax for getting the vehicle registered. As per the existing rates, two-wheeler owners pay road tax according to weight of a vehicle. For vehicle weighing up to 90.72 kgs (if unladen), one has to pay
Rs 150, while for vehicle weighing above 90.72 kgs (if unladen), one has to shell out
Rs 500.
The proposal
Tax collected in last two fiscal years
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Illegal structures razed in Sector 45
Chandigarh, November 30 However, area residents alleged that the CHB was following a pick-and-choose policy by not removing violations from the residence of a CHB official residing in the same locality. Officials claimed they had a list of offenders and the list didn’t include the name of the CHB
official.
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Crackdown begins on violators
Chandigarh, November 30 No complaint of noise pollution was received from any part of the city last night, claimed the police. The drive was launched at 10 pm and continued till midnight on Monday. Police officials were directed not to allow anyone to play loud music after 10 pm and issue warning to violators. The police arrested 10 persons after registering cases against them under the Noise Pollution (Prevention) Act. — TNS
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Evaluation of Research Papers Sumedha Sharma Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 30 The university, which happens to be the most important seat of diverse academic research in the region, ironically depends upon its examiner’s “suspicion” to start the process of reviewing doctorate thesis to detect any fraud. “Currently, we have no specific mechanism to review PhD thesis. Initially, it’s the supervisors, who ensure that there is no fraud. At the time of examination, if the examiner expresses any doubts about the research, we do inquire and punish the guilty. Plagiarism is not, too, common in Panjab University, as its just one or two odd cases reported in the last two years,” said Registrar AK Bhandari. The situation is perturbing given to the fact that according to various studies, the error to fraud ration is lowest in India. As per the recent guidelines issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC), the university has to put all PhD thesis online after declaration of results to avoid any possibility of fraud. Not only this, several private universities have followed the suit of their western counterparts and got software not only to check plagiarism but also to verify bibliography. “Yes we know about the guidelines of putting the thesis online and are already on job. We are planning to implement it soon and making necessary arrangements. As far as getting such software is concerned, it is costly and cannot be bought within a moment. PU is strict when it comes to authenticity of the research and those found guilty are dealt with sternly,” added Bhandari.
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Poster-making contest
CHANDIGARH: The Sohanjana Eco Club of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 46, and Orchid Eco Club of Gurukul Global School, Mani Majra, in collaboration with the UT department of environment and forests organised a poster-making competition on “Nature conservation and safety of migration birds” at Sukhna wetland. Chief guest Santosh Kumar, conservator of forests, chief wildlife warden-cum-director environment, stressed that we should provide protection and shelter to migratory birds. Founder’s day
Two-daylong celebrations of the annual day-cum-founder’s day of Mount Carmel School, Sector 47-B, began on the school premises today. Around 400 students presented a cultural programme on the occasion. The programme began with a prayer dance. Sardar Balbir Singh Sidhu, MLA, Kharar, Punjab, was the chief guest on the occasion. Four students were awarded the all-round students’ trophies for the session 2009-2010. As finale to the programme, the students presented an item, “The Wonderful World” with the message that the Almighty made this world a beautiful place for us to live, so let’s take care and not destroy it for our selfish means. Technology contest
Iken Scientifica is the India’s largest and the only hands-on science and technology competition for students from Classws V to VIII. Over 2 lakh students from 1,000 schools from 50 cities will participate in the competition. The grand prize winner “Student Icon of India” will win a trip to NASA, while other prizes include Apple iPad, laptops, etc. Sports day
Air Force School, 3 BRD Air Force station, celebrated its annual sports day today. Children from pre-primary to Class X participated in the event with full enthusiasm. Group Captain KK Gupta, Station Commander, 3 BRD, was the chief guest on the occasion. Drill by pre-primary children and primary section enthralled the audience. Children also performed yoga and aerobics. Events were also held for parents, teachers and staff. Laurels
Narinder Singh, a student of Class X of Golden Bells Public School, Sector 77, Mohali, brought laurels to India as well as to the school by winning a gold medal in the International Open Table Soccer Championship held at Shanghai, China. This championship was held on November 19 and 20, in which 80 players from five leading countries of the world, USA, Canada, Germany, China and India participated. Launched
Anand “U”, the corporate university of Anand Group, an automotive components and systems groups, launched a talent development programme, “Anand Leadership Development Programme (ALDP)”. The programme aims to develop and maintain a pool of high potential and high performance. Best stall award
“MCM Navdrishti-2010”, MCM DAV College for Women’s stall won the best stall award at Chandigarh Carnival for the second year in a row. The MCM stall, which offered a variety of products and interactive games, turned out to be the greatest crowd puller at the carnival.
— TNS
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PU Notes
CHANDIGARH: Professor VK Jindal of the physics department, Panjab University, and a former coordinator, Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Centre, has been appointed as the governing council member of three universities of Mumbai, Kolkata and Madras. The emeritus scientist has been offered this distinction following fulfillment of stringent criteria laid down by the University Grants Commission (UGC) for the appointment. Workshop
On the eve of World AIDS Day, the department of life long learning and extension, Panjab University, conducted a workshop on adolescent education by giving information on HIV/AIDS to the students of Government Senior Secondary School, Khudda Lahora, today. Students of Classes X, XI and XII attended the workshop. Assistant Professor Renu Gandhi said adolescents of today needed to be made aware of the gravity of the problem of HIV/AIDS. School principal Amita Khanna expressed her gratitude towards the department for adopting the village for the overall development. PhD entrance test
Panjab University will hold special PhD entrance test in Russian, music, law, industrial chemistry, instrumentation and control, manufacturing technology, construction technology and management and engineering education on January 2. Prospectus and application forms can be downloaded from the university website, www.puchd.ac.in, and submitted along with a bank draft of Rs 1,700 for general category and Rs 850 for the SC/ST category drawn in favour of the Registrar, PU, payable at Chandigarh along with two self addressed envelopes 4”x10”, duly stamped for Rs 22 each. The last date for receipt of application forms is December 16 up to 4 pm.
— TNS
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Students continue chain fast
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 30 The students, who refused to deter even after the Home Secretary ordered an inquiry, condemned Director, Higher Education, indifference to their plight. “We are sitting hungry here to upkeep our dignity but he seems indifferent to our plight. Of course, they have marked an inquiry, but is it the end of the matter? We cannot attend the college in the presence of current principal even for a moment and we will continue the strike till the principal is not removed,” said one of the students. “I spoke to instructors, who have returned to work, but the students are not ready to understand things. Can a principal be removed just on the basis of accusations? We have marked an inquiry and the students can put across their allegations, which we will verify. If anybody has tried to misbehave then he will not be spared,” reacted Director Higher Education, Ajoy Sharma. According to him, a similar complaint was received against the principal two months ago and a three-member committee inquired the matter. He, however, was not pronounced guilty due to ever changing statements of the complainants and in absence of any supporting evidence or witness. The students also met UT SSP Naunihal Singh requesting permanent deployment of police personnel for security of girl students.
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Stress to take social research at micro level
Chandigarh, November 30 In his inaugural lecture, Prof Bhupinder Brar, DUI, Panjab University, emphasised on the critical need for budding social scientists to undertake social research at the micro level. The course to be concluded on December 20 has 48 participants from different social science disciplines. The outstation resource persons for the forthcoming three-week programme include Prof Gopal Guru, MN Thakur, Amit Prakash, Sudha Pai, PS Judge, Gurpreet Mahajan, Ujjwal Singh, Surinder Jodhka, K Sivaramakrishnan and Anupama Roy.
— TNS
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