NEIGHBOURHOOD

Lok adalats providing speedy justice: DC
Surinder Bhardwaj

Fatehgarh Sahib, January 15
The election campaign of Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra got a shot in the arm as during his visit to Sirhind and rural areas, the PPP workers led by Gurjit Singh Khatri, circle president, Sirhind, along with his supporters, joined the SAD and assured vote and support to him.

Similarly, at Mulepur village, Chote Singh, former district president of the BSP, along with his supporters, joined the SAD during the election meetings being addressed by Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra.

Meanwhile, Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra has intensified his election campaign from the Fatehgarh Sahib constituency. He held corner meetings in Sirhind and did door-to-door canvassing. 

Fatehgarh Sahib, January 15
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, in an written appeal, has admitted to have failed to develop the district as per his wishes.

It was stated that though the MLA of the area belonged to the SAD, he preferred doing personal work.

The appeal was made public by Prem Singh Chandumajra, SAD candidate from the Fatehgarh Sahib constituency.

The Chief Minister called upon voters to punish the guilty. He stated that though some development works were undertaken, still a lot needed to be done.

Dera Bassi, January 15
Candidates of various political parties and Independent candidates have intensified their campaign.

SAD candidate NK Sharma, Congress candidate JS Randhawa, PPP candidate Bhagwant Singh Baltana and Independents candidate Deepinder Singh Dhillon and Manpreet Kaur Dolly visited villages and towns of constituency and addressed election meetings. 

Ambala, January 15
Members of the Senior Citizens Welfare Council, Ambala City, had an interaction with indoor patients of the Civil Hospital today. The council members heard their problems.

Most patients complained about the non-functioning generator and frequent power cuts. They also complained about poor hygiene in various wards.

The patients expressed their concern about the shortage of staff nurses in various wards.

They said there was no proper arrangement for fresh water in the wards. Moreover, the toilets also needed better sanitation.

The members of the council also met the Civil Surgeon Satish Aggarwal and briefed him about the problems of the patients.

The council offered its support to the hospital administration. The Civil Surgeon assured the council that he would look into the matter.

He said the hospital authorities were serious about the welfare of the patients.

The hospital had been providing free food to indoor patients under the “annpoorna yojna”, he added.

The vice-president of the council, GS Sharma, general secretary KC Sharma and senior members council Adishwar Jain, G S Bhatia, Dr. SK Gupta and Bisham Makhija were also present on the occasion. 

Mohali, January 15
The Mohali District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has come down heavily on the Phase XI branch of Syndicate Bank for harassing a consumer by wrongly deducting penal interest from his savings bank account and imposing a penalty of Rs 231 for non-maintaining minimum balance.

Holding the bank responsible for deficiency in service, the forum comprising BS Mehandiratta, president, and members Dr SS Dhaliwal and HS Ghuman has directed the bank to pay Rs 10,000 for causing mental agony and Rs 5,000 towards litigation costs.

The consumer, Alkesh Chandna, a resident of Phase I, said he had taken a loan of Rs 11 lakh to pay for a flat of the Chandigarh Housing Board. He had procured a no-objection certificate from the board for raising the loan. For mortgaging the dwelling unit with the bank, the complainant executed a demand promissory and a housing loan agreement. He also deposited the title deed of the flat with the bank. The loan was repayable in monthly instalments for 15 years at a rate of Rs 11,000 per month, which was deducted from the savings account of the complainant.

In January, the bank told the complainant to deposit the conveyance deed of the flat otherwise penal interest would be charged at a rate of .25 per cent per annum with effect from April 2007.

The letter was addressed to the board. The complainant approached the board and he was informed that it would process the execution of the conveyance deed and the conveyance deed of all the flats would be executed after completing the process.

The bank debited Rs 20,566 on account of penal interest and also started charging penal interest every month.

The forum directed the bank to reverse the entries of penal interest and to credit the amount to the complainant’s account.

Mohali, January 15
In five separate cases pertaining to the landowners of Bhago Majra village, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Mohali, has come down heavily on Bajaj Alliance Life Insurance Company Limited for deficiency in service while insuring a sum of Rs 5.50 lakh and not informing the investor about terms and conditions of the policy and their implications.

While directing the insurance company to refund the invested sum along with interest at a rate of 9 per cent with effect from 2007, the forum comprising BS Mehandiratta, president, Dr SS Dhaliwal and HK Ghuman, both members, told the insurance company to pay Rs 5,000 as litigation costs to all five complainants Harjeet Kaur ( Rs 3, 00,000), Manmohan Singh ( Rs 50,000), Savitri Devi ( Rs 50,000), Sunita Devi ( Rs 1 lakh) and Surinder Singh ( Rs 50,000).

The complainants in their plea before the forum stated that in 2006-2007, a number of villagers of got certain amounts after selling their land to builders. The land was the source of their livelihood. At that time, Sonia, an agent of the insurance company, approached them to invest money with the aforesaid Insurance Company. She said after three years, the investors would get double the invested amount.

Information about villagers was gathered from the bank where they were having their savings accounts. When the complainant and other villagers went to the bank to deposit the sale proceeds of their land, they were told that it was a one-time investment and if the invested amount was required for any urgent need before the lock in period of three years, it would be given back with simple bank rate interest.

After three years, the investors approached the insurance company to seek refund of the invested amount. They were, however, told by the company officials that the invested amount would be forfeited because they had deposited only one premium whereas the policy was a regular premium policy for a period of 10 years. They were told that to avail benefit under the policy, at least three premiums were required to be paid.

On careful appraisal of the facts and circumstances of the case, the forum observed that there was a glaring case of deficiency of service on the part of insurance company. The company never issued any notice when they failed to pay the second and third premiums reminding them of the necessity to pay the subsequent premiums and warning them of the consequences of non-payment thereof. The forum also observed that the terms and conditions of the policy were printed in very small letters in English. 

Panchkula, January 15
Three persons were thrashed by the public when they were caught stealing goods at a factory in Industrial Area last night. While two of the accused were admitted to General Hospital, their third accomplice Manoj was arrested by the police.

It was at night that the three were spotted stealing high-tension wire clips from a factory in Industrial Area. Following which the passersby gathered on the spot and beat them up badly.

Chandigarh, January 15
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-I has slapped a fine of Rs 3,000 on the Lucknow-based Alambagh branch of State Bank of India (opposite party number 1) for deducting amount from the savings account of a Sector 31 resident after he applied for the transfer of his account to the city.

The complainant, Anil Kumar Soni, submitted that he and his wife had a joint account in the bank and on his transfer to the Air Force Station, Chandigarh, he got the said account transferred.

On the issuance of a new passbook duly updated by the State Bank of India, 3BRD, AIR Force (opposite party number 2), he noticed that an amount of Rs 4,172 had been deducted by the bank from December 25, 2005, to October 30, 2007.

Despite various communications, the opposite party failed to give any satisfactory reply as to how the said amount was deducted. He averred that he received a phone call from Sajjan on May 21, 2011, that someone got his mobile phone recharged by using an ATM card.

The opposite party number 1 and assistant general manager of the SBI, Hazratganj, Lucknow, (opposite party number 3) did not turn up despite notices, hence proceeded against exparte on November 2, 2011, and November 28, 2011, respectively.

The opposite party number 2 filed a short reply stating that the savings account of the complainant had been transferred to the AFS, Chandigarh branch, from Lucknow branch in October, 2008, and all ATM transactions reported had taken place before the account was not operational in the AFS, so their branch had no link with the case.

Banking Ombudsman, Kanpur (opposite party number 4), submitted that as per the bank, the amount was debited on account of mobile recharging by the complainant, including the use of ATM card and secret PIN code.

The forum comprising president PD Goel and members Rajinder Singh Gill and Madanjit Kaur Sahota also directed the respondent bank to refund Rs 4,128, besides Rs 2,500, as costs of litigation to the complainant.

Chandigarh, January 15
Hockey fans will have to for another three months to get the new Astroturf at Hockey Stadium in Sector 42 here.

The new field, expected to be laid by the end of past year, has been delayed due to a review of the demand notice inviting tender (DNIT) specifications.

“The old turf was expected to be replaced by November. Changes in the DNIT led to a delay in the purchasing process. Only two companies approached us earlier. After these changes, we expect a good response,” JPS Sidhu, joint director sports, has said.

The new Astroturf will be of a uniform colour, light blue with pink border, as per recommendations issued by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The technical committee had approved the need for and specifications of the synthetic turf.

“Along with the turf, the sprinkling system will be replaced as it needed an upgrade. The ball catcher behind the net will be replaced to protect the audience,” Sidhu has further said.

Three more synthetic layers of six-a-side size will be purchased and laid at Hockey Stadium, the girls’ hostel and a school, all in Sector 18.

Specifications have been sent to the engineering department and the council permitted to go ahead with the purchase. Tenders will be floated after final consent is obtained.

Chandigarh, January 15
The Netball Association of Chandigarh will conduct trials to select city netball teams, both boys and girls, at Mount Carmel School, Sector 47, on January 18.

The probables selected will will have to attend a training camp. Players interested can contact Inderjit Singh, physical education teacher with the school.

The team selected will participate in the 27th Sub-Junior National Netball Championship, to be held at Guwahati in Assam from February 9 to 11.

Panchkula, January 15
He may not have got the chance to represent the nation in cricket, but is living his dream of making a name in the sport.

Abhishek Khetarpal of Panchkula, presently residing in Hungary, has been awarded the Cricketer of the Year Award for 2011 by the Hungarian Cricket Association.

“I am happy after winning the award. I shifted there a long time back, but my roots remain here. My family resides here and this trophy is for them. I will continue to play and win,” he said.

He was awarded after an all-round performance in MPI 35-over league matches there while representing his club, Budapest Falcons.

He also guided the team to a win against Baggy Blues International in the final. His best bowling figures were 6 wickets for 12 runs and his top score 62 runs.

“It was a great experience. The team gave its best. I hope that my next season will go well. We rest after the tournament and come back after spending a few days off the field,” he said.

“India has the best athletes in the world. We are making a name in every sport. There is no lack of potential. Things are changing. I hope that the future will see unmatched talent there,” he said.

Chandigarh, January 15
Continuing from their overnight score of 41 runs, Punjab were struggling to register a big total against Maharashtra during the third day of the four-day quarter-final match of the Cooch Behar Trophy (for under-19 boys) here today.

While chasing the first innings’ total of 399 runs, Punjab lost their first six wickets on the total of 231 runs in 113 overs.

For Maharashtra, AB Chinte and SS Bachhav claimed two wickets each. For Punjab, A Pursharty topscored with 71 runs.

He was supported by Sunny Sohal, who fell one run short of a half-century. Maninder Singh (8) and V Choudhary (16) were unbeaten at the draw of stumps.

Brief scores: Maharashtra (1st innings): 399 all out in 157 overs (JS Pande 141, SS Ranjne 113, NS Naik 57, AA Salvi 53, Vinay Chaudhary 5 for 118); Punjab (1st innings): 231 for 6 in 113 overs (A Pursharty 71, Sunny Sohal 49).