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Mushrooming mobile phone towers spell trouble
Fatehgarh Sahib, May 15 As the number of subscribers surge, the cellular companies multiply number of antennas or mobile towers in its bid to provide deep penetration in all places, irrespective of its geography. The work of installing these towers has been outsourced to different companies. One of the contractors of such company at Fatehgarh Sahib said Punjab roughly had more than 8,000 towers out of nearly 4.5 lakh towers in the country. Chandigarh has witnessed 41 per cent rise in number of mobile towers between 2005 and 2009. Academicians searching effects of radiations for the past more than five years have now come up with the conclusion that radiations do leave an indelible effect on our environment. Besides emitting electromagnetic radiations the generators installed at the base of tower release huge quantity of carbon dioxide and create noise pollution.Cellular companies also connect mobile towers with each other using electromagnetic radiations and usually increase the radiation level for better connectivity. Economics of tower installation
In Punjab, people vying to get free monthly income -- between Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000 -- have allowed installation of towers in busy markets, agricultural fields, rooftop of houses, in schools, crèche, hospitals, old-age homes and even on the premises temples. Mobile companies offer one to three years of advance payment and free power supply for owners in order to get best tower locations. A simple procedure is followed to install towers within municipal limits and companies deposit Rs 15,000 (one time fees) with the government and yearly Rs 5,000 house rent on behalf of house owner. Civic bodies issue no objection certificates to install towers within municipal limits, while there is no prohibition to install towers outside MC limits. Though many people get upset over installation of towers in residential areas, lodge complaints, move to court and protest, but the government has not taken any concrete action in this regard. Power guzzlers
Punjab, an agrarian economy with little power for agriculture, industry, household and hospitals, seems to have enough power for mobile towers dotting all over the state. With the boom in telecommunication sector in the past less than a decade, the number of towers have crossed 8,000 mark in Punjab. As per an estimate the minimum consumption of electricity by mobile towers of Punjab in terms of money is between Rs 12 crore and Rs 40 crore every month. Powercom officials said the towers were being run with a voltage of 8 kilowatt to 30 or 35 kilowatt depending on number of companies using the tower. More than one or two cellular companies can use one mobile tower and its power consumption increases accordingly.An estimated electricity bill of a mobile tower, with only one cellular company (with 8 kilowatt load), reaches up to Rs 15,000 per month. A mobile tower always requires power to keep signals blinking in mobile phones and cellular companies have also installed generators for power back up. Indian standards
Professor Girish Kumar of electrical engineering department, IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, said radiations emitted by mobile phone towers in India was around 1,000 times more than the radiations emitted by towers of European countries. The towers were growing at an annual growth rate of 20 per cent in India to meet communication sector demand of mobile subscriber base, which was growing at 2 crore (highest in the world) per month. He said the Inter-Ministerial Committee Report on EMF radiation mentioned several health hazards due to radiation and recommends usage of 1/10th of the existing radiation norms. He suggested that like European standards India should also adopt maximum radiation limit as 0.01 watt per metre square with immediate effect, whereas currently it was 9.2 watt per metre square density with self-attestation by cellular companies. Radiations affect life
Kumar says that different studies conducted and personal contacts with people living close to mobile phone towers revealed that they were more prone to diseases as compared to others not using mobile phones and staying away from radiations. Dr AS Ahluwalia, head of the department of environment and vocational studies, Panjab University, while expressing similar views said the four-year study on the effects of mobile phone radiations in plants and honeybees revealed that it badly affected plant growth and behaviour of honeybees. Dr RK Kohli, chairman, botany department, Panjab University, said disappearance of house sparrow was also due to mobile phone radiations. “We have initiated our quest to reach at the depth of the effects of mobile tower radiations and have imported gadgets worth Rs 7 lakh from the USA and Germany to examine the gravity of radiations,” he said. Expert group formed
The Indian government had recently formed an expert group, a 10-member team, to look into the issue. Chairman of the group, Mumbai-based Dr Asad R Rahmani, also director of Bombay Natural History Society, said they were looking into the issue scientifically and would submit a report by the end of this month to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest. The report, he said, would clear the picture. Dr VP Sharma, senior science officer in the department of zoology, PU, said a study conducted by PU revealed that 41 per cent rise in number of mobile towers from 2005 to 2009 had resulted in increased radiation level by 3.2 per cent in Chandigarh. |
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Man booked for raping daughter
Kharar, May 15 On March 18, her mother and two brothers had gone to a market and she was alone at home. She heard a knock at the door and when she opened her father Hem Raj was standing at the door. Hem Raj bolted the door from inside and allegedly raped her and threatened her of dire consequences if she revealed the matter to anyone. “He threatened to kill her,” said police officials. The victim did not disclose Hem Raj’s heinous activities to anyone, while he continued to exploit her. She revealed the matter to her employer at Phase IV, Mohali, who reported the incidence at the Balongi police station. The police has booked a case against Hem Raj after conducting medical examination of the victim yesterday. Hem Raj was a resident of Kanshipur, Uttar Pradesh, and was at his native place with his wife. A team from Balongi has been dispatched to Uttar Pradesh to nab the accused. 3 youths booked for chain snatching
Panchkula: Three motorcycle-borne youths snatched a chain of a Sector 8 resident on the road separating Sectors 8 and 9 here this evening. The victim, Krishna Grover, in her complaint, said she was going to Arya Smaj Mandir in Sector 9 this evening. When she reached on the road separating Sectors 8 and 9 three youths on two black motorcycles crossed her. She said one of the accused alighted from the bike. After snatching her chain he sat on the motorcycle and escaped from there. A case has been registered and the police was investigating. 2 booked for cheating Mohali: Jaspal Kaur, a resident of Ropar, complained to the police that her brother Jaswant Singh and sister-in-law Gurinderjit Kaur withdrew Rs 9.56 lakh from their joint account in HDFC Bank. A case of cheating has been registered after inquiry by the police.
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Security guard killed in accident
Lalru, May 15 In his complaint, Palwinder Singh said Joginder was working with him in the private company as a security guard. After completing his duty, Joginder Singh was on his way to Dappar from Gholumajra when the accident took place. He died on the spot. The driver of the vehicle fled from the scene after the incident. The police had registered a case against the unidentified driver. |
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Smart cards to be soon issued in Ambala under PDS
Ambala, May 15 Stating this, Navraj Sandhu, Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, who was in Ambala in this connection, said the smart cards were initially being issued in the districts of Ambala, Karnal, Sonepat and Sirsa. In the first phase one block in each of these districts had been identified where the cards would be made and later the scheme would be extended to the entire state. The scheme of issuing smart identification cards would envisage an expenditure of Rs 125 crore and the Haryana government had entered into an agreement with two private companies -- TCS and Virang, sources said. Application forms were now being issued to the residents of zone 1 in Ambala district and the filled in application forms would then be sent to Bangalore where unique identity number of the person concerned, along with vital details of the individual, including address and family details, would be fed in the cards. These cards would be useful in distribution of ration supplies through the fair price depots across the state. Besides checking irregularities in the distribution of rations through the public distribution system, these cards would also help bring in transparency in the distribution of eatables through the ration depots.
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30 bottles of liquor recoveredOur Correspondent
Bassi Pathana, May 15 The police recovered 15 bottles of smuggled whisky from the accused meant for sale in Chandigarh. He was identified as Sunil Kumar, a resident of Pura Mohalla, Bassi Pathana. Similarly, the police had set up a naka on the Dhunda bypass road and arrested a person with 15 bottles of smuggled whisky meant for sale in Chandigarh. The accused was identified as Gurpreet Singh, a resident of Guru Nanak Pura Mohalla, Bassi
Pathana.Both the accused were arrested and a case under Sections 61, 1 and 14 of the Excise Act was registered against them. They were produced in the court and remanded to judicial custody for six days. |
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Pelvic fractures discussed
at CME
Patiala, May 15 These fractures are the most challenging for the orthopaedic surgeons to understand and to successfully treat them. Most of the orthopaedic surgeons of the region, including faculty members of medical colleges of Punjab and other orthopaedic surgeons working in reputed corporate hospitals, participated in the CME.
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11 accused advocates identified, FIR registered
Chandigarh, May 15 The advocates have been identified as Parminder Singh, Gaurav Kathuria, Malkit Jandiala, Vipin Negi, Baljit Singh, alias Balli, Gaggan Aggarwal, Ashok Chauhan, Harinder Thakur, Satinder Passia, Manish Chaudhary and Ajay Sood. They have been booked under various sections, including rioting, criminal intimidation and obstructing public servant from discharging of duties. The advocates had yesterday thrashed naib court Ram Karan inside the courtroom, as they went to confront him for an attempt to murder case on an advocate Harinder Singh, in which the naib court allegedly figured as an accused. The advocates had alleged the police was shielding accused Ram Karan as he was a police constable and thus went to confront him yesterday. The lawyers got agitated when the Magistrate called the police and provided protection to his naib court. They pounced on Ram Karan as soon as he was taken out of the court amidst police security and thrashed him up. The police today constituted three different police parties for nailing the accused advocates and raids were being conducted at their hideouts. The police will also record the statement of judicial magistrate first class (JMIC) Parvinder Singh in whose court Ram Karan was posted. Ram Karan was dragged from inside the court in full public view and the police was outnumbered by the large number of advocates who took law in their hands. assault case No strike today Meanwhile, Advocate NK Nanda, President District Bar Association said the DBA was trying for a compromise as the incident had led to embarrassment in the lawyers fraternity. “We will try and pursue a compromise. We have decided that work will not be affected and work will continue in courts as usual tomorrow,” he said.
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Ex-banker alleges fraud
Panchkula, May 15 Pawan Kumar Singhal, a resident of Sector 11, told The Tribune here today that he had an overdraft account with the Sector 11 branch of IDBI Bank and had checked the amount on the night of May 12 to be nil, but in the morning, he was shocked to find that a sum of Rs 98,000 had been debited from his account. He alleged that someone had fraudulently withdrawn the amount by hacking his password. He said he had never used the Internet banking system to make payment to anyone during the past seven months. Singhal alleged that the accused had fraudulently made 28 payments of Rs 3,500 each of different subscribers of a single cellular company, Vodaphone, by cracking his PIN password. He said he had filed a complaint with the Sector 10 police station on May 13 after the officials of the IDBI bank and Vodaphone company suggested him to lodge a complaint with the police in this regard. He said he never believed in the Internet banking and used the same only to know the details of his bank account during late night hours. He rued that even though the police officials had got the mobile numbers for which the payments had been made, nothing had been done so far. He said the police only filed a DDR but had not registered an FIR. Station House Officer Surjeet Singh, Sector 10 police station, said they were investigating the matter and were hopeful of cracking the case after getting the address of one of the subscribers of the mobile company, whose cell phone bill had been made from Pawan Kumar’s IDBI Bank account.
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6 arrested in Panchkula for stealing BCA examination answersheets
Panchkula, May 15 The arrested accused have been identified as Mata Ram, gatekeeper of Sanskriti School and a resident of Rampur Jangi (Pinjore), Jaimel Singh, a resident of Dehar village (Garhi), Sandeep Kumar, a resident of Tohana district, Fatehabad, Surender, a resident of Indira Colony, Panchkula, Anup, a resident of Power Colony, Panchkula, and Sandeep Kumar, a resident of Jaitpura village, Rajastan. The incident came to light when Rakesh Kumar, superintendent of Guru Jambheshwar (Technical) University, was passing by the school last evening when he noticed that the light of the principal’s room, where the answersheets had been kept, was on. He contacted the principal of the school, Urmila, who reached at the spot immediately. After finding the room locked from inside they repeatedly knocked at the door and windowpanes of the room. In the process the glass of one of the windowpanes broke and they opened the window lock and entered the room. The gatekeeper-cum-peon, Mata Ram, who was sitting inside the room, tried to run away from the school, but was overpowered by the persons present there and was handed over to the police. After finding the seal of the answersheets bundle tampered with, Rakesh Kumar lodged a complaint with the police that four answersheets were missing from the bundle. Acting swiftly Inspector Dharamveer interrogated Mata Ram and he revealed to the police that one Jaimel, the kingpin, had given him Rs 2,000 for stealing four answersheets and were to be delivered back in the early morning. The police raided Shree Balaji Study Centre at Rally village in Sector 12-A and arrested five other accused from there. All five accused were BCA students of distant education programme of the GJU, Hissar. During preliminary investigation gang leader Jaimel told the police that the original candidates had left the answersheets blank and he charged Rs 2,500 per paper from each student for filling the answersheets. A case under Sections 420, 457, 381 and 120-B of the IPC has been registered in the Sector 20 police station. All six accused would be produced in the local court on May 16.
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Raghav, Udai move ahead in tennis
Chandigarh, May 15 Raghav got the better of Johnny Benjamin from Tamil Nadu 8-4, while Udai Singh Mann outclassed Dhruv Puniani 8-5. Rana beat Gurwinder Singh of Punjab 8-2. The tourney is being organised by the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association. The men’s and women’s main draw first round matches will be played at the CLTA courts and Lake Sport Complex.Results Men’s singles qualifying: Men’s singles qualifying: Women’s singles qualifying:
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Andale get better of Shri Shri academy
Chandigarh, May 15 Batting first, Shri Shri academy were restricted to a paltry 91 runs in 29.1 overs and out of that 23 were extra runs. Shubham Arora took two for nine.In reply, Andale team achieved the target in 16.5 overs at the loss of three wickets. Khushal Amrohi was the leading run getter with 28 runs off 42 deliveries.Brief scores Shri Shri CA: 91 all out in 29.1 overs (Mithil Gupta 17; Shubham Arora 2 for 9).Andale Cricket Academy: 92 for 3 in 16.5 overs. |
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Rishab scripts Baptist school win
Panchkula, May 15 Brief scores: |
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Double delight for Sachit
Mohali, May 15 In U-14 category, he drubbed Chirag Bajwa of Chandigarh in straight sets 6-1, 6-3, while in the final clash of U-18 section, he got the better of Rohit Dhiman 6-1, 6-0.Against Chirag, Sachit displayed a complete control to take lead 3-0 in the first set. Bajwa tried to comeback and took one game. But alerted Sachit did not give his rival any chance and with the help of strong volleys, he won the first set 6-1. In the second set, Bajwa was down 1-4 and tried hard to stay in the match. He took the score till 3-5 and finally lost 3-6. In U-18, Sachit had no tough times and finished the title clash in just 43 minutes.Sonali Bansal of Carmel Convent School, Chandigarh, claimed the girls’ under-18 title after thrashing Jasmine Gill of St Soldier School, Sector 28, in one-sided match.Sonali had finished as runners-up in the school nationals and CBSE tournament held in Dubai this year as well. Results Boys U-10 (Final): Chirag Singh bt Asav Kumar 5-4 (7-5), 1-0 conceded.
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Golf camp for women
Chandigarh, May 15 This programme will be conducted between 6 pm and 7 pm every Tuesday and Friday for three weeks. More details can be obtained from Ajay Gujral at the Chandigarh Golf Club or at 98143 56013.
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Police coaching centre-26
lift sub-junior trophy
Chandigarh, May 15 Shivam defeated Ravi to win a gold in the 42-kg freestyle category.While in the Greco-Roman style, in the same weight, Keshav got the better of Vishal for the first position. The Wrestling Coaching Centre, Sector 30, emerged champions in the junior category. Navneet Singh downed Kamajeet Singh in the +96-kg freestyle section. In the Greco-Roman style final, in the same weight, Lakshay Sharma defeated Simarpreet.
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