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In realty, UT babus say they are worth lakhs
Chandigarh, June 4 This “revelation” has emerged from the details of the respective immovable property owned by city’s top bureaucrats as listed in their ‘Statement of Immovable Property for the year 2010’, which is mandatorily required to be submitted by the Government of India. Consider this: UT Home Secretary Ram Niwas, a Haryana-cadre 1985-batch officer of the IAS, has put the value of his house built on a 420 sq metre plot (No. 287) in Panchkula’s upscale Sector 6 at just ~15.48 lakh, including the stamp duty. In contrast, city-based property dealer and developer Anil Bahri puts the value of a 10 marla (250 sq yard) plot in Sector 6 at around ~4 crore. Ram Niwas says he has rented the accommodation at a mere ~10,000. Real estate agents, in contrast, put the rent at between ~40,000 and ~50,000. In all, Ram Niwas claims to own two houses, both built on 420 sq metres, in his name. He has valued the second property, which is in Sector 43 of Gurgaon, at just ~24.86 lakh, which again is far less than the market value. Interestingly, seven years later, Ram Niwas continues to farcically value his property at the same price at which he bought it in 2003. Interestingly, Ram Niwas has sold two plots, one in HOPE Apartments, for just ~9 lakh in 2002, while his second plot in Sector 28 in Faridabad was sold for ~13.50 lakh the same year, as per his statement. Similarly, UT Deputy Commissioner Brijendra Singh, a Haryana-cadre 1998-batch officer of the IAS, has valued his 500 sq yard plot in Mohali at ~40 lakh. Rakesh Sharma, a property dealer in the tricity, says the current price of a house built on a 500 sq yd plot in Mohali ranges between ~3.5 crore and ~5.5 crore, depending on the location. In addition, like Ram Niwas, Deputy Commissioner Brijendra Singh also owns a second property, a flat in Delhi’s Mayur Vihar, which he has valued at just ~30 lakh. “Let alone New Delhi, you cannot buy a flat in Kharar or Dera Bassi with ~30 lakh,” said Bahri. City’s former Municipal Commissioner Roshan Sankaria, a Punjab-cadre 1988-batch officer of the IAS, owns a plot in a residential society in Sector 49, Chandigarh, has put the value of his plot at ~40 lakh. Property dealers, however, value the rate of six-marla plots in any part of the city at no less than ~2 crore. Similarly, city lad and former Adviser to the UT Administrator Pradip Mehra, a 1975-batch IAS officer of the UT cadre, owns two plots — one (500 sq m) in Greater Noida and the other (490 sq m) in Sector 15 (2), Gurgaon. He, too, has valued his properties at ~50 lakh each, which property dealers say run into crores. However, property dealers say it is an open secret that the price of any property is much higher than its quoted official value. “To save taxes and inability of the parties to show ‘white money’, the official value of properties are being quoted much lower in documents than its actual prices,” added the real estate agents.
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Under debt, family of 3 commits suicide
Dera Bassi, June 4 The members were identified as Mukesh Kapoor (42), his wife Sweety Rani (36) and son Harish Kapoor (17). The police said the bodies had been sent for a postmortem examination to the local Civil Hospital after proceeding under Section 174, IPC, on the basis of a suicide note found from the room where the incident took place. In the suicide note, the victims have cited poverty and debt of Rs 30 lakh as the reason for taking the extreme step. The suicide note suggested that the family took turns in committing suicide, with first one being Sweety, followed by Harish and finally Mukesh. Lalru SHO Gurdyal Singh and Lehli police chowki in-charge Santokh Singh said the family originally hailed from Amritsar and had constructed a house in Ludhiana in 2004. For the purpose, they had taken a loan of around Rs 30 lakh but could not repay it on time. Consequently, the family was forced to leave the house in 2010 and move to Chandigarh, where they stayed for some time. Mukesh started the business of computer software but could not sustain it. The family had been moving from one place to another in search of a livelihood. The family finally ended up at Gholumajra village, where they had been putting up for the past 15 days. The police was trying to contact the kin of the family for further investigation.
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Man hangs himself
Mohali, June 4 According to the police, Chandan Singh, who hailed from Uttaranchal, was living with his wife and children in a rented accommodation at the village. The couple, who married 12 years ago, weren’t having cordial relations. The wife often used to stay with her parents, who lived closeby, following quarrels. Yesterday, the couple had an argument after which she went to her parents house. He went to get her back but she refused to come along. He later came home and hanged himself from a ceiling fan. The matter came to light after neighbours failed to notice any activity in the house and informed the police.
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Three GMSH docs in dock for fudging records
Chandigarh, June 4 The authorities have marked an inquiry into the incident and three doctors, under whom the said intern worked during the said period, have been asked to explain the issue. Ajay Singh Sekhon, who was pursuing his degree in MBBS from a medical college in Shimla five years ago in 2006, had gone under internship at Polyclinic, Sector 22. He, however, was allegedly absent from his duty for 57 days from September 14, 2006, to December 10, 2006. The incident came to light last month when the sleuths from the Vigilance Department of Himachal Pradesh visited the GMSH to look into his attendance record. The record was found missing, following which a probe was marked into the incident. According to sources, the beans were spilled in the case by a relative of Sekhon. Sekhon had been to the USA during his period of absence to solemnise his marriage.
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2 held with heroin worth Rs 1 cr
Chandigarh, June 4 The accused have been identified as Balkar Singh and Parwinder Singh of Beas in Amritsar district. Balkar Singh is a dismissed constable of the Punjab Police. A bureau official said the accused were coming from Jalandhar in a Punjab Roadways bus and the consignment was packed in a black bag. The consignment was to be delivered to two customers in Chandigarh. The two, however, escaped. Those arrested were produced in a local court, which remanded them in judicial custody for 14 days. NCB sources said the consignment had come from Afghanistan and the arrests were made following mobile surveillance. This is the fourth seizure of narcotics consignment by the NCB in the city in the past five months.
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What a waste of garbage processing plant!
Chandigarh, June 4 While referring to the recent study tour, MC Mayor Ravinder Pal Singh said a team of councillors visited a garbage processing plant on similar lines in Bangalore. But there was no foul smell around the plant, as the garbage was properly segregated before sending it to the
processing plant. Authorities accepted that the reason for poor functioning of garbage processing plant here was not due to any technical fault, but due to non-segregated garbage sent for processing in the plant. However, authorities claim that they were preparing a policy for proper segregation of garbage, but they had no clue when the policy would be implemented. Coloured coding of bins
In 2009, the administration issued directions to the corporation that coloured coding bins at vegetable and meat market should be installed so that segregation could be done at market places. But so far, authorities had not installed any such bins. Door-to-door collection
This project was launched in 2001 by the administration so that garbage could be collected properly. NGOs and resident welfare associations were involved to execute the project, but there was no check on them by the authorities concerned. Special cycle-rickshaws
for collection
In 2002, administration handed over specially designed cycle-rickshaws and hand carts to residents’ welfare association of Sector 15 to collect garbage from door-to-door in two separate containers for bio-degradable and non-biodegradable waste. As per the proposal, garbage was to be converted into compost in vermi-culture compost centre at Sector 15, built in association with the Jeevan Bima Welfare and Cultural Society. Ironically, authorities are clueless about the status of the project. Sehaj Safai Kender (SSK)
The MC started this project in 2002 with the proposal of setting up 132 SSKs in various sectors. As per the proposal, after door-to-door collection of garbage, it would be segregated at SSK where coloured bins were installed by the
corporation. Even authorities had decided that special provisions would be made in SSK for domestic waste. Presently, no provision has been made for the segregation of garbage in SSK so far. It has become a collection centre from where the garbage is sent to the garbage processing plant, Dadu Majra. Collection trucks
As per records, there are about 31 trucks and 19 tractors that cover the entire city to collect garbage from more than 400 bins and transport it to the garbage plant at Dadu Majra on daily basis. On an average, garbage of around seven to eight bins is collected daily and rest is left due to shortage of MC vehicles. When contacted JP company, representatives of the plant alleged that though the corporation had promised the administration that waste of slaughter house, hotel, vegetable market etc would be segregated at the SSK and then sent to the plant, still nothing has been done in this regard. They said, recently they had sent details of data on how much slaughter and bio-medical waste was received by them at the plant on daily basis.
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Lok adalats evoke huge response
Chandigarh, June 4 The lok adalats were held under the leadership of acting Chief Justice Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice AK Goel and presided over by Justice Jasbir Singh, executive chairman, State Legal Services Authority. Justice Jasbir Singh took a round of the various Benches, which were to decide the cases. In all, a total of 19 Benches were constituted. The cases that were disposed of included 1,500 cheque bounce cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1,500 cases at the pre-litigative stage pertaining to bank or financial institutions were taken up and 100 of these were settled amicably today. In addition, 20 accident claims were settled under the MACT and a compensation of Rs 21,93,000 was awarded. Besides, a total of 4,500 traffic challans were disposed of and Rs 4,30,000 was imposed and realised as fine. 290 civil cases, rent cases, labour cases and other cases were disposed of. SK Goel, District and Sessions Judge, appealed to the public to resolve the disputes through lok adalats as it provided quick and economical justice and saved time and money of the litigants.
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204 challaned for traffic violations
Chandigarh, June 4 Around 43 persons were challaned for drunken driving, 129 for using high beam and 15 were fined under miscellaneous category. Inspector of the PCR had also challaned eight persons for drunken driving and nine for miscellaneous offences.
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DIG awarded police medal
Chandigarh, June 4 Aggarwal joined the Indian Police Service in 1994 and was allotted the Tamil Nadu cadre. He worked in the highly sensitive districts of Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Kanya Kumari and Theni as the Assistant Superintendent of Police and Superintendent of Police. In 2006, he joined the Anti-Corruption Branch, CBI, Chandigarh. During his tenure, he supervised investigation and prosecution of cases against highly placed persons. Anti Corruption Branch, CBI, Chandigarh, was declared the best branch of the CBI in 2009. The medal was presented to him on June 3, 2011 on the occasion of DP Kohli Memorial Lecture.
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Dera Bassi, June 4 Those injured were admitted to private hospitals. One of the children was shifted to the GMCH, Chandigarh. As per reports, the dog went berserk and bit Anand, Gundu, Rohit Ram, Satta and Sadhu Ram in different areas of the town. Some local youths chased the dog and killed it. — OC
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Bid to demolish boundary wall opposed
Mohali, June 4 Members of the Gurdwara Coordination Committee gathered near the Phase-V gurdwara after learning that an industrial unit owner was trying to take possession of a piece of land falling next to the gurdwara. The police also reached the scene to keep things under control. Religious leaders claimed that the land belonged to the Phase-V gurdwara as the Punjab Government had recently regularised any type of land that was under the possession of religious bodies.
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Chandigarh, June 4 Addressing members of the Pendu Sangarsh Committee, Bansal also assured that the houses built outside the “lal dora” would not be demolished till a clear cut policy was framed by the Chandigarh administration on the issue.— TNS
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CMA elections
Anshu Kataria, chairman of the Aryans Group of Colleges, has been elected president of the Chandigarh Management Association (CMA). At 35, Kataria is the youngest president of the 40-year-old organisation affiliated to the All-India Management Association. The other office-bearers included Manoj K Sharma (vice-president), ML Garg (joint secretary), Madhulika Kak (general secretary) and AK Verma (treasurer).
Interactive session
A one-day interaction session on “ICDC: As initiative for technological solution to industry problems” was organised by the Institute of Electronics and Telecommunications Engineers(IETE) here on Saturday. Pawan Kapur, director of the Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO) underlined the theme behind the session. The session was also addressed by Anil Jain, president of the Vaiseshika Electron Devices, Ambala, and Dr NS Mehta and RC Arora from the CSIO.
Elected
Chartered accountant Sukhen Pal Babuta has been elected director of Punjab and Sind Bank.
Ministers’ assurance
Additional charge
Harcharan Singh, presiding officer of the Debts Recovery Tribunal-II, Chandigarh, has been given additional charge of the presiding officer of the Debts Recovery Tribunal, Jaipur.
Summer course
Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation, Haryana and Chandigarh, organised a five-day summer course on Indian culture and spirituality at Sri Sathya Sai Old Age Home, Sector 30, on Saturday. Justice K Kannan, Judge, Punjab and Haryana High Court, inaugurated the camp in
which over 250 children participated.
e-waste project
To deal with the e-wastage problem in City Beautiful, Yi Chandigarh and Attero Recycling Private Limited on Saturday launched the city’s first e-waste project. UT’s Finance-cum-Environment Secretary VK Singh launched the project. Rohit Aggarwal, chairman, environment, Yi Tricity Chandigarh, said eight nodal points had been identified in the city, where e-waste could be dumped.
Blood donation
More than 323 donors from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh donated blood at a camp organised by the Thalassaemic Children Welfare Association (TCWA) at the PGI here today. The 119th camp organised by the association was inaugurated by Prof Subhash Varma, HOD, internal medicine, and Prof Neelam Varma, head, department of haematology, PGIMER, Chandigarh.
Play staged
The Theatre Arts group in association with the State Legal Services Authority staged the thirteenth edition of Hindi play “Prayawaran ka Vinash” on the eve of World Environment Day at Sector 17 here today. The play brings into focus the causes of rising pollution in the environment, the passive role of governance and society, all failing to take suitable measures to make India pollution free. Borrowing celestial characters like god Yamraj and Chitragupt, director Rajiv Mehta had structured the play partly in a mythological world. All accomplished actors, including Sachin Sharma, Rajiv Mehta, Gaurav Sharma, Yogesh Arora, Suvinder Pal, Yogesh Tungal, Asha Saklani and others, played multiple roles. Jagdeep Jain member, State Legal Authority, was the chief guest.
Agitation
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No unfair means case reported during BCA exam this year
Chandigarh, June 4 Unlike other courses, in which five to 10 UMCs are found on an average, in BCA (III) course, no such cases were found across the region this time as per result notification. Statistics reveal that an overall pass percentage in BCA (III) across all colleges was 89.19 per cent, while 234 students got a compartment and 41 failed in the same exam. “Every year, we have maximum 15-20 and minimum two to three unfair means cases in all courses, including BCA. But surprisingly this year not a single case was noticed or reported in BCA (III) as per the result gazette despite the fact that nearly 3,000 students took the exam across the state this time. Even the overall pass percentage of BCA (III) was decent,” said an employee of the Panjab University’s examination branch. Yet another course, which had the minimum number of unfair means cases this year was BCom (III). Only two such cases were found in more than 100 affiliated colleges. Out of 5,536 candidates who took the exam, 5,132 passed and the overall pass percentage of the course was 93.74 per cent. Compartment cases were 218 and 72 candidates failed in the BCom (III) exam. To comment on the issue, AK Bhandari, PU Controller of Examination- cum-Registrar was not available.
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Survivors’ journey from detection to rebirth
Chandigarh, June 4 Saarthak, a cancer supporting initiative of Fortis Hospital, was started in May 2005, to reach out to cancer patients. “I fought cancer with strong will, excellent medical care and compassion. Since the age of 40, I’ve survived cancer, and I am now living a happy life,” said Harmeet Kaur, a cancer survivor. Harmeet was 40 when she was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1995. Ever since Narrating her encounter with cancer, Harmeet said: “Getting involved in routine life helps you to come out of the suffering. I have two daughters. One 5-five-year-old and the other one three-year-old to look after and that kept me strong,” she added. Harvinder Mokha, a resident of Mohali, is completely cured after she was diagnosed with cancer in stomach a year ago on May 5, last. “I was back to work after staying at home for nearly six months for chemotherapy,” said Harvinder. “Though I was prepared for any bad news, after a long diagnosis course, my family, including three children, always remained concerned about my health. Moreover, it’s not an easy thing to cope up with the side effects of chemotherapy,” she added. “It’s painful for a woman to see her hair falling completely due to the therapy. My friends and well-wishers advised me to use a wig to cover up for the hair loss, but I preferred to don my real picture,” she said. “My husband and son had almost lost their heart when they were told that I was in the fourth stage of breast cancer,” said Nalini Kanwar, a resident of Panchkula. “I was not told about my disease, but from the tension looming large on their faces I could guess that something worst has happened. I, however, told them that I will live more and since then, I never felt sad even for a single day, said Nalini. However, all cancer patients don’t get cured in such short time. Colonel (retd) Hans Raj (67), a resident of Palampur, has been undergoing cancer treatment since April, last. It will take some more time for him to recover. However, being a soldier it was not a thing to upset me, he said. Talking about the disease, survivors Dr Rajeev Bedi of Fortis said there was a rise in the number of cancer survivors due to early detection, improved diagnostic methods, effective treatments and improved clinical follow ups after the treatment. Explaining about the reasons behind the disease, he said: “As we are drifting away from our culture, incidents of cancers are on the rise. Smoking, indiscriminate use of hormones, unhealthy diet and lack of exercise is what one needs to take care of,” he said. He said Saarthak: “This voluntary support group organises monthly meetings, where senior oncologists interact with patients and members share their experiences.”
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Separate workstations for patwaris
Zirakpur, June 4 Talking to mediapersons, the Deputy Commissioner said workstations would be equipped with all modern facilities and hi-tech special cabins would be allotted to all patwaris. He claimed that tenders had been floated and work would be started soon. Varun said revenue department had organised the camp to provide land records and mutations to general public. He claimed that revenue record of Mohali tehsil had been made online and uploading the records of Kharar villages would be completed within 15 days and thereafter work of Dera Bassi teshil would start, the commissioner added. To deal with corruption, the DC had instructed all patwaris to charge only specified fee from general public. Varun also said he had submitted his report to the PIDB regarding the bus stop opposite Paras Down Town Square. He claimed that the 30-bed hospital at Dhakoli would be functional soon. The DC said more camps were to be organised in coming months. He said 284 mutations, 24 photostat copies and more than 20 certificates were given to the visitors.
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Powercom directed to install new meter
Mohali, June 4 BS Mehandiratta, president of the forum, has ordered the power corporation to install a new meter and restore the electricity supply to the house of Bhagwant Singh within two days from the receipt of a certified copy of the order. The demand of penalty made by the corporation was set aside. The power corporation was also directed to charge the complainant for the electricity used by him i.e just for 14 days starting from March 9 on the basis of his previous consumption. No order was made for compensation or regarding costs of litigation. Bhagwant Singh told the forum that the electric meter through which he was receiving the supply was installed by the power corporation in a box away from his house in which some other meters were also installed. Key of the box was with the authorities concerned. On March 22, officials of the corporation checked the box and found the meter of the complainant missing after which the supply was cut and an assurance given that the supply would be restored after relevant inquiries. However, the supply was not restored till the filing of the complaint on April 4. Since the box containing the meter was not in possession of the consumer, he was not in a position to commit electricity theft. The corporation had demanded Rs 21,000 as penalty from Bhagwant Singh. The power corporation stated that on March 22, a joint checking by a special team was carried out in Sohana. Three metres, including the one supplying electricity to the complainant, were found missing. The complainant was present at the time of checking. He had even signed the checking register. In the absence of the meter, direct supply of electricity was going to the house of the complainant. The corporation officials issued a provisional notice to Bhagwant demanding a penalty of Rs 21,000 for power theft. No objections against the notice were filed by the complainant. Since the process of changing meters was still going on, the corporation employees had made no provision for locking the box in which the meters had been installed.
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Work on Pinjore-Baddi road to begin soon
Panchkula, June 4 The proposed bypass is likely to divert traffic from a point near Surajpur bridge on the Panchkula-Shimla highway. It will be linked to the Pinjore-Baddi road opposite the Pinjore Aviation Club. A senior HUDA official said 250 acres of the acquired land had been handed over to NHAI. He said more than 30,000 vehicles ply on the Pinjore-Baddi road. A two-lane, 20-metre-wide road would cross Rampur Seori, Surajpur, Manakpur Thakurdass, Manakpur Nanakchand, Lohgarh, Dhamala and Sukhomajri villages before culminating at Khera-Basol village near the Pinjore Aviation Club, he added. The Haryana government had proposed the 7.5km bypass in March 2010. The same was later approved by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Notably, the Himachal Pradesh government had also decided to widen the existing two-lane road on the Baddi-Nalagarh stretch. The department official said the work would be started in a phased manner and the cost of the project was Rs 35 crore. HUDA administrator Rajidener Kataria failed to respond to the call made by this reporter. Industrialists had been demanding widening of the road, as traffic jams at various points, including the point where NH21-A meets the Kalka-Shimla highway, put commuters to inconvenience.
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Support to Baba Ramdev
People from different walks of life organised dharnas at various places in the city in support of the anti-corruption campaign launched by Baba Ramdev. People raised slogans in support of Baba Ramdev and demanded that black money stashed in foreign countries be brought back and strict anti-corruption laws be enforced.
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal and Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Mukul Wasnik on Saturday reiterated the commitment of the Congress-led UPA Government to the welfare of the scheduled castes in general and the safaikaramcharis in particular. They were addressing a gathering at a regional conference of
safaikaramcharis.
To express solidarity with spiritual guru Baba Ramdev, who has started indefinite fast in New Delhi against corruption and black money, around 33 people sat on a relay fast near the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chowk in Sector 11 here today. The
spokesperson of the local unit of Patanjali Yog Pith Dr Hari Krishan Mehta said more than 500 people staged a dharna here to support the guru’s move. The main attraction was the live telecast of the indefinite fast by Ramdev and his interaction with the electronic and print media on the LCD screen installed at the site for
supporters. — TNS
