Chandigarh, September 27
What is common between cricketer Yuvraj Singh and the Chandigarh Housing Board? Nothing apparently, except that the two are making a lot of money and are the highest advance income tax payers from the city in the individual and “noncorporate” categories, respectively, for the 2012-13 assessment year.

Even though the year gone by has not been very exciting for Yuvraj on the field, with injuries plaguing him off and on, he has been raking in the moolah and has in fact broken his previous records (read IT returns), filing an advance tax of Rs 1.75 crore in September. This is almost double what he had paid - Rs 95 lakh - as advance tax in the corresponding period last year.

Incidentally, according to the advance tax filed by 30 year old Yuvraj, his earnings are on the face of it higher than even that of the Chandigarh Housing Board, which tops the list of high advance taxpayers in the "noncorporate" sector at Rs 1.5 crore.

The cricketer, who in an insurance commercial says “jab tak bulla chal raha hai tab tak sab theek hai, par baad mein…” (the going is good till runs come off the bat, but what after that…), need not worry for the time being as he has been on top of the charts (read taxpayers list) for quite some time now. In fact, in 2009-10 he notched the top slot of the highest taxpayer by paying Rs 4.3 crore as income tax.

In the 2008-09 assessment year Yuvraj was third on the list with a tax payment of Rs 2.42 crore. But his earnings soared after becoming captain of the Indian Premier League’s Kings XI Punjab team and filed a return of Rs 12.37 crore in 2009-10.

While Yuvraj was not available for comment, news reports indicate the young cricketer is moving on the fast track and plans to invest in a franchisee-based car-racing event endorsed by ace batsman Sachin Tendulkar and promoted by a private firm. According to reports the nine franchises will be sold by invitation at a base price of US $5 million.

In contrast to Yuvraj’s higher score on the advance tax filing pitch, the Chandigarh Housing Board’s payment of Rs 1.5 crore for the 2012-13 assessment year is exactly half of its contribution in the previous year.

The second highest taxpayer on the advance tax list is Vijay Passi, owner of car dealership Krishna Automobiles. He has paid an advance tax of Rs 1 crore, which incidentally is Rs 50 lakh less than what he filed in the previous year.

Attributing his lower advance tax payment to what he called the slump in the auto industry, Passi told the Chandigarh Tribune that car majors in the country, which had been posting huge sales since the past one and a half years, are now witnessing a sudden dip in turnover with a hike in car loan interest rates and rising fuel costs.

For Passi being among the top taxpayers is nothing new since he has been one of the city's richest residents for almost a decade, starting with 2001-02 when he filed a return of Rs 62 lakh. However, since then his earnings have risen considerably and he was the top taxpayer in 2009-10, 2008-09 and 2006-07 with a payment of Rs 3.38 crore, Rs 3.48 crore and about Rs 2-2.5 crore, respectively.

A senior Supreme Court lawyer and former additional solicitor general of India is third on the list with an advance tax payment of Rs 50 lakh, which marks a 400 per cent increase over the advance tax of Rs 10 lakh paid in 2010.

Chandigarh, September 27
The search and seizure operations conducted by the income tax department on the premises of Manohar Singh Group, which has Akali leader Gaganjit Singh Barnala as one of its directors, earlier this month, led to the surrender of concealed income to the tune of Rs 13 crore today.

With this, the total surrender arising out of the raids conducted on September 8 on two prominent realtor Groups, Manohar Singh and Chinar, has gone up to a whopping Rs 37 crore of undeclared income. Besides, the department had also seized Rs 3.36 crore and jewellery worth Rs 98 lakh.

Director-General (Investigation) Jaswant Singh said the two companies would have to pay 35 per cent tax on unaccounted income till March 31, 2012. He, however, said since investigations were still on, nothing could be said as of now.

Director Investigations YR Saini revealed that of the 18 lockers sealed during the operation, two belonging to the Chinar Group were yet to be opened. He said a total of 16 premises, residential as well as official, of the two companies had been raided in and around the city.

Chandigarh, September 27
What is common between Anjali and Saloni? Both are friends; both are college students; both are of similar age -- 19 and 20 years, respectively. But more interestingly, both are playing a role in the Ramlila that began yesterday. While 19-year-old Anjali is playing Surpanakha, 20-year-old Saloni will play the role of both Sita and Ahilya.

The duo is among a total of nine young women, most of them in their 20s and comprising a mix of students and professionals in the city, who are performing in Ramlila, which has traditionally been a bastion for only male artistes.

Anjali, a BA-III student of Government College for Girls (GCG) in Sector 42, who is playing the role of Surpanakha for the second time this year, says she has been practising for the past one month. She says her family and the Ramlila committee had helped her to balance her studies and her role. For Anjali, who is studying dance along with sociology, it is not about Surpanakha. Rather, it is about being an artiste and is therefore willing to perform any role, whether Sita or Surpanakha.

Saloni, an MA in music and dance and student of GCG, Sector 11, who is performing the role of both Sita and Ahilya, says the director of the Ramlila committee had spotted her in a dance show and offered her the role of Sita. Saloni, who aspires to be a dance teacher, says she is currently immersed with the Ramlila while also practising for the college youth festival.

Neeru Bala, however, is a professional artiste who has been playing the role of Kaikeyi (Bharat’s mother) and Mandodri (Ravana’s wife) for the last couple of years. Says the 25-year-old artiste: “Initially, I was a little scared, but the atmosphere here turned out to be totally different.”

How does it feel to be a woman facing a crowd drawn from all walks of life? “The Ramlila committee has provided us a family atmosphere. I find the audience here to be more well behaved than the audience which attends professional plays in which I have participated. I have never faced any problem,” she says.

Mukesh Sharma, director and artiste of Garhwal Ramlila Mandal Bijli Board, which was the first Ramlila committee to experiment with introducing women actors, says: “We had faced tough opposition from our committee and the Kendriya Ramlila Mahasabha as it thought the audience could create problems. But we did not face any.”

Mohali, September 27
Incidents of theft of underground telephone cables have risen sharply in the town. Almost a week after the expensive cables were stolen from a phone junction box in Phase 5, thieves who were apparent well-equipped stole four underground cables from another junction box in Phase 1 on Monday night, affecting over 3,000 telephone connections including those at the district administrative complex.

Officials of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), the state-owned telecom utility, believe the cables had been stolen more to cripple its services. “The four heavy weight telephone cables were taken away in a vehicle after the thieves broke the sealed cover of the underground chamber to remove the cables”, said a BSNL official.

Though this was the six such incident in the past two months, the local police has still not filed an FIR (first information report) in the case and instead lodged a daily diary report (DDR). In the past few months telephone cables were stolen from Phases 5 and 10. BSNL officials said a number of telephones have remained out of order during the past few weeks due to digging and widening of streets.

Panchkula, September 27
If you thought that passes for the heart-stopping India-Pakistan semi-final world cup match in March this year were the most sought after in recent times, think again. Against 5,000 passes issued by the Punjab Cricket Association for the historic match, the Navratra fair in charge, who is also the Panchkula City Magistrate, is at present the most important and sought after person. Reason: the high demand for passes to obtain “darshan” of the deity at the Mansa Devi Temple.

So far, over 5,000 passes have been issued to a range of VVIPs and VIPs, both real and self professed on the eve of the fair. The number is still growing, which incidentally is higher than the figure of 4,500 passes issued during the last Navratra fair.

Sources said the office of City Magistrate Vandana Disodia was witnessing a large number of written requests daily on the letterheads of various politicians, officers belonging to the IAS, IPS, IRS and other departmental heads, besides incessant phone calls. Disodia says she is only performing her duty. “We are assessing the demand for passes on a daily basis. If required, we will give orders for the printing of more passes,” she said.

Further, passes are not being sought in single digits. They are being sought in bulk, from a minimum of 20 to as high as 50 to 70. The passes, which are available free of cost, make obeisance a speedy affair. Pass-holders, for whom there is a separate entrance and queue, perform rituals without people jostling around or priests rushing up things. The large number of passes will mean that the “ordinary” devotees, which run into lakhs at this time of the year, will have to queue up for longer hours to enter the temple. But for VIPs and their associates, it will be an affair lasting only minutes.

• With the environmental clearance, GMADA is now roping in private players to plan the composite development of the Aerocity urban estate
• After Aerocity, the work of the Mullanpur Urban Estate, Phases I and II, Medicity and IT Park will also be handed over to private players
• It has been seen that due to lack of coordination between different wings, the pace of development remains slow and the quality also suffers. However, now composite tenders will enable the authority to monitor the progress

Chandigarh, September 27
Bhagat Singh continues to linger on as an iconic figure of martyrdom in memory of youth, the flame of his name lighting young hearts even today. Even in this era, his charisma continues to capture the imagination of metrosexual youths who would like to identify themselves with the martyr for a national cause.

Youngsters believe that Bhagat Singh had the audacity to challenge the British in the ground where they were commanding power. An interaction with a cross-section of youth revealed that the martyr’s name was an inspiration for many attempting to make their hold during trying times.

Abhay Dabra, a PU law student and an admirer of the revolutionary, said that for him Bhagat Singh was a source of inspiration. “Even in his death, Bhagat Singh’s name has inspired me and my friends to struggle when we were down. “Though he is gone his ideals are still alive in the hearts of many Indians”, he added.

Joining the discussion another PU student, Another PU student Ashish Dogra said for him Bhagat Singh was an icon who was remembered for his martyrdom. “He is a youth icon who sacrificed his life and inspired every one.” Youngsters, in fact, revealed that they were sensitive about Bhagat Singh’s name.

Narpinder Singh, a former PU student, objected to him being called Bhagat Singh.

“Call him Shaheed Bhagat Singh. He sacrificed his life for the country and we have reservations in calling him shaheed,” he said.

Interestingly, of all the freedom fighters, Bhagat Singh is arguably the most famous for whom the younger generation has expressed a liking through pasting stickers and slogans on the windows of their cars and putting up posters in their rooms.

Aman Kirchi, another youngster hailing from Abohar district, said: “No matter how many youngsters achieve great success, but Bhagat Singh will remain an endearing figure and youth icon to the coming generation”.

The stories of his courage became an inspiration at that time for many youth who wanted to see India independent.

Even today, his memory continues to inspire the youth and many poems and songs have been written about his courage and undying patriotism.

Chandigarh, September 27
The UT Administration has woken up from its slumber and given the additional charge of the departments of housing and personnel, besides the charge of the chairman of CITCO to KK Sharma, Adviser to the UT Administrator, four days after former Home Secretary Ram Niwas, who headed these departments, was repatriated to his parent cadre of Haryana.

Re-allocating the departments held by Ram Niwas to four senior officers on September 24, the UT Administration had committed a faux pas and failed to allot these departments to any officer.

With Sharma, 1983-batch IAS officer of AGMUT cadre, getting the charge of housing, personnel and CITCO, it would be for the first time that a UT-cadre official would be heading these departments. Earlier, the Home Secretary, who is from the Haryana cadre, had been heading these departments.

Caught in a piquant situation over various UT departments headed by outgoing Home Secretary Ram Niwas and also to avoid protocol problems, the UT Administration had given additional charge of the key position of the Home Secretary to Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) chairman Satya Gopal, a 1988-batch IAS officer of the AGMUT cadre.

Besides Satya Gopal, various other departments headed by the outgoing Home Secretary were distributed among three other senior IAS officers, including Finance Secretary VK Singh, CITCO Managing Director DK Tiwari and Deputy Commissioner Brijendra Singh.

Chandigarh, September 27
The four accused arrested in an attempt to murder case for creating a ruckus at Tao disco in Sector 26 on Friday night were remanded to three-day police custody today. The police said the remaining accused had been identified and raids were being conducted at their hideouts. There are a total of 15 accused in the case.

Inspector Sri Parkash, SHO, Sector 26 police station, said the four will now be produced in a court on September 30 and they have got enough evidence to nail all the accused. The mobile tower location of all the four arrested accused shows that they were present at Tao when the violence took place. Besides, CCTV footage and statements of Tao managers also are crucial evidences against the accused.

The four accused have been identified as Amandeep Gill, son of a Mohali-based builder, who developed the Gilco Valley, Amandeep Sidhu, a resident of Kotakpura, Yadwinder Singh of Ferozepur and Harmanjeet Singh, a resident of Muktsar.

The police said Amandeep Gill had returned after completing his graduation from a London-based university recently. The police said Harmanjeet Singh has done his BSc from Landran College of Engineering while Yadwinder has done his post graduation from Panjab University.

The incident took place on Saturday night when a group of 15 youths launched an attack at Tao and injured four persons, including son of an industrialist, Sohail Goyal, who received grievous injuries.

Gill and his accomplices allegedly attacked Tao when they were asked to leave the venue at 11.20 pm after two girls complained against him of misbehaviour. They returned at 2.37 am with swords and baseball bats and indulged in the rampage.

Keeping in view of the recent late night incident of violence at Tao in Sector 26, the Chandigarh Administration has constituted a committee to check law and order situation and other violations in discos, pubs and clubs in the city. The committee consists of three officers, including an SDM, a police official not below the rank of the station house officer, and an excise official not below the rank of excise inspector, in their respective areas. The officers should visit once in a week to all the violation-prone sites and submit their report to the local district magistrate. Besides, the administration has also prohibited commercial activities in local restaurants, discos, other commercial establishments and even selling goods at roadside by hawkers and in the public places between 1 am and 4.30 am. However, the prohibition would not be effected on coffee shops in hotels, hospitals chemist shops and petrol pumps.

On weekends (Saturday and Sunday), restaurants, discos and clubs could operate up to 2 am while the cyber cafes were allowed to open on all days till this time. The orders have been issued under Section 144 of the CrPC and would remain in force till November 28.

Chandigarh, September 27
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed the state of Haryana to take action on a representation on earthquake threat in Panchkula. The township comes under seismic zone 4, indicating it is vulnerable to earthquakes and prone to destruction.

The directions by the Bench of Acting Chief Justice MM Kumar and Justice Gurdev Singh came on a petition filed by Vijay Bansal, president of the Shivalik Vikas Manch and an INLD leader.

In his petition filed in public interest, Bansal asserted that information received under the RTI Act revealed that Panchkula district was vulnerable to earthquakes because of fault lines at Pinjore. The seismologists indicate high susceptibility to earthquakes due to dangerous “active fault lines beneath the region”. The Geological Survey of India had also given a detailed report that Chandimandir and areas close to Nada Sahib were more prone to destruction. The administrator and town planners had totally ignored the reports whereas it was statutory duty to respondent authorities to examine the vulnerability of different parts of the state to different forms of disasters and take specific measures for prevention or mitigation, counsel for Bansal argued.

Chandigarh, September 27
For the second day in succession, BC Josan reached DAV College, Sector 10, and discharged his duties as a principal from the lobby outside the locked principal’s office here today.

Students and staff members continued to be at loss in comprehending the ground situation as to who was the college authority. Meanwhile, S Marriya, former DAV College principal, has been authorised by the managing committee to look after the legal matters of the college.

BC Josan has been trying all means to assume the office without any green signal from the DAV management committee. He has taken over the charge following revocation of his suspension by Panjab University Registrar.

He sat in a chair in the lobby outside the principal’s office and listened to problems faced by students and teachers. Speculations were rife that the management would ask former DAV College principal S Marriya to take care of the administrative matters pertaining to the college till the time the matter was resolved.

However, S Marriya said he had not received any such orders from the management. He did admit that the DAV management had authorised him to look after the legal matters of the college as an officiating principal. The current principal, Shashi Gupta, has gone on medical leave.

Students, in particular, are in a fix over seeking permission for special benefits, including scholarships, permission for participating in events outside the college. A BA-II student said “I want to avail a scholarship for my tuition fee, but don’t know whom to approach.”

Earlier, after getting a communication from Panjab University on Friday evening, Josan had gone to DAV College on Saturday to give the joining letter. Josan stayed in the principal’s office and later left after locking the office. Following which the DAV managing committee had lodged a complaint against Josan for trespassing the college premises.

• Raising the issue of student representation in PU Senate, Syndic DPS Randhawa asserted that students formed the most important part of PU and thus needed to have a voice in the Senate
• The university will introduce the semester system in postgraduate courses