NEIGHBOURHOOD

Civil Hospital waits for subdivision status
Parmod Mehta

Fatehgarh Sahib March 1
Divisional Commissioner, Patiala, SR Ladhar, took stock of the counting arrangements made by the district administration for all the three Assembly Constituencies, Fatehgarh Sahib, Bassi Pathana and Amloh falling in the district and inspected the strong rooms, where the EVMs had been kept at Mata Gujri College Complex, here today. The counting would take place on March 6 for all the three Assembly Constituencies at the local Mata Gujri College.

Briefing the Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner said that the EVMs had been kept in strong rooms under tight security of the BSF and the Punjab Police. Besides, the CCTV camera have been installed to keep a round the clock vigil. He said that 14 tables would be set-up for the counting and on each of the table, there would be a counting team of three persons, who would be designated as micro-observer, counting supervisor and counting assistant. He said that one agent of every candidate would also sit on the table; video teams would be deployed on each of the table to capture the entire counting process. He added that three media centers would be set up.

The SSP told the Commissioner that fool proof security arrangements had been made for the post counting and the counting. He said that mobile teams, flying squads have been constituted for night patrolling on the counting day to avoid any untoward incident.

While talking to the media persons, the Commissioner expressed his satisfaction over the security as well other arrangements.

Kalka, march 1
Resentment prevails among thousands of daily commuters, as the link roads of Kalka, which fall under the railway department has been turned into a deplorable state for the past couple of years due to apathetic attitude of the department of the IOW (Inspector Of Works).

The link roads, which are in dire need of maintenance, have not been repaired and re-carpeted for the past more than six years.

The inhabitants of the railway colonies alleged that the authorities concerned never bothered about the maintenance of the link roads.

A stretch from Kalka, railway station to the railway road church had been constructed of concrete, recently.

The link roads approach National Highway-22 to railway station, Diesel Shed, Railway Workshop, Kalka GRP Police station, Kalka Railway Hospital, Kalka RPF office, Railway Sports Ground and Railway Institute.

The deteriorating condition of the link roads was, sometimes, leading to some serious accidents.

The road from railway station which connects the Narrow Gauge Railway colony via RPF office, Railway Institute, Railway Diesel shed was in the worst condition, the stretch especially at the Kalka-Shimla railway crossing with big potholes, which was encouraging a serious threat to accidents, as throughout the day, there is heavy traffic on the road.

The daily commuters from more than 50 villages of Doon area including Baddi use this link road.

The road from Kalka GRP police station to Kalka Main Bazaar, NH-22 and the road from NH-22 connecting the Broad Gauge Railway colony were in a neglected state, causing inconvenience to the pedestrians and two wheelers.

The internal link roads connecting the NG Railway colony to Northern Railway Workshop was also in pitiable condition.

A visit by the Tribune to the NG railway colony and Broad Gauge Colony revealed that the department of the IOW had not taken any initiative for the maintenance and re-carpeting of the link roads for more than six years.

The Senior Section Engineer of the IWO department could not be contacted despite of repeated attempts.

Ambala, March 1
A conference on interstate crime and coordination was organised at Ambala City here today. The conference was inaugurated by the police Commissioner, Ambala range, AK Dhull. The senior police officers of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, UP and Chandigarh took part in the conference.

While addressing the conference the DCP, Ambala, Shashank Anand, said that a combined campaign should be launched in the country to check the illegal mining, drug-smuggling and other criminal activities.

He also discussed the steps which were being taken to check the theft in various states. A strategy to prevent the crime in the tricity (Chandigarh, Panchkula, Mohali) was also discussed in the conference.

The police Commissioner, Ambala Range, A K Dhull, stressed on the mutual cooperation in the police of different states. He said that nodal officers would be appointed in Haryana at district and state level to make a proper coordination with the police of other states. It was also decided that the next conference on the issue would be organised at Kasuli in Himachal Pardesh.

The IG, Jammu Zone, Dilbag Singh, IG South Division, Shimla, Ashok Sharma, DIG Saharanpur, Jai Narain, DIG Punjab, Ananya Gautam, SSP, Haryana Railway, Hardeep Singh Doon and SP Sirmor RS Rathor were also present in the conference.

Chandigarh, March 1
In a significant judgment, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that compensation to be paid by the insurance companies in accident cases is to be calculated regardless of the financial assistance received from the state under its compassionate assistance policy.

Taking up a bunch of petitions on insurance claims, Justice Jitendra Chauhan asserted: “The argument raised on behalf of the insurance companies is that once the family of the deceased is provided financial assistance in the form of full salary of the deceased, in practical terms, there is no monetary loss to the dependents and hence, the insurance companies cannot be made liable to pay compensation by assessing the salary or annual dependency and then multiplying it with an appropriate multiplier....”

Going into the background of the controversy, Justice Jitendra Chauhan asserted: “The legal issue before the court is regarding the measure of compensation that an insurance company or an owner is required to pay, in case of a death having been caused by the use of a motor vehicle in a public place, in the face of a compassionate assistance policy formulated by the State (State of Haryana) which enables the claimants i.e. deceased’s family, to tide over the financial crisis, resulting from the death of the earning member, by providing full salary for a certain number of years followed by family pension for the remainder term.

Justice Chauhan concluded: “I believe the scheme of compassionate assistance is in recognition of the services already put in the discharge of the affairs of the government and a further recognition that the deceased would have continued to perform his services diligently but for his demise.

“The compassionate assistance coming from the State is itself a form of deferred wage the deceased employee has earned by putting in labour and effort in service of the State.

“Accordingly, the insurance companies are liable under the terms of their contract with the insured, independent of the financial aid as received under State compassionate assistance policy, to pay the compensation as assessed by the Tribunals under section 166 or 163 A of the Motor Vehicles Act, except to the extent worked out in accordance with the formulae as detailed….”

Chandigarh, March 1
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today dismissed a petition seeking directions to quash the notifications through which the union government has some control in the affairs of Panjab University.

The petition was filed by RD Anand, ex-professor, department of chemistry, PU. He was demanding that in the Sehajdhari Sikh Federation voting rights case, the Full Bench had quashed the notifications of 2003 of the Centre on the grounds that the SGPC was an inter-state corporate body. Similarly, according to the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, the notifications against the PU should also be quashed. RD Anand further said after the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, Punjab was divided into four parts and thereafter the PU and the SGPC were given the status of inter-state corporate bodies.

Referring to Section 72 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, the petitioner added if a corporate body constituted by or under a State Act for the erstwhile state of Punjab or any part thereof serves the needs of successor states or has become an inter-state corporate body, it should continue to function and operate in those areas subject to such directions as may from time to time be issued by the Central govt. — TNS

Mohali, March 1
An assistant professor at Chandigarh Group of Colleges was seriously injured after being attacked by some unidentified youths. The incident occurred outside the college premises at Landran, last evening.

The victim, Arvinder Singh Kang, was treated at a hospital in Mohali.

The SHO, Sohana police station, said that the police received an information that the victim was attacked at around 5.15 pm.

The victim had not been able to identify the assailants. The moment the professor left the college at around 5 pm, he saw five to six youths standing there. In the ensuing moment, the youths attacked him with sharp edged weapons and fled away. The SHO added that police have questioned many students of the college here today.

In the past few days, Arvinder had complained about a student to the college authorities. It is suspected this was the reason of the alleged attack on Arvinder.

The police has registered a case of assault against six unidentified persons.

Doctor at the hospital said the victim had sustained cuts on the hands and had received eight stitches.

Later, Arvinder was discharged from the hospital.

Chandigarh, March 1
Blue Star Football Club defeated Golden Football Club by 3-1 on the second day of the Chandigarh Senior Men’s Football Championship at the Sector 17 football stadium here today.

The Blue Star forwards earned their first corner kick in the tenth minute which was taken by right stopper Bhavneet. The ball hit the goalpost and went out. The first half of the match remained goalless as the game was generally confined to the midfield.

After the break, Blue Star Football Club managed to score their first goal in the 47th minute. Right striker Philip Sharma opened the account for his team with an angular shot. Golden Football Club forwards tried hard to equalise but failed to pierce through the defence of the rival team. The Blue Star Club added two more goals in the 57th and 60th minutes. The scorers this time were M Hiran Chand and Stephen. Golden Football Club managed to reduce the margin in dying minute with the help of a goal scored by Manoj.

With this triumph Blue Star Club has qualified for the super league.

In the second match DAV Club, Sector 8, Chandigarh, beat Coaching Centre, Sector 17 (Team B) by 1-0 in an evenly-contested match. DAV Club were a better side and scored the match winning goal in 35th minute with a direct kick taken by their stopper Munish. With this win, DAV Club also qualified for Super League.

Chandigarh, March 1
Indian off spinner Harbhajan Singh will lead Punjab in their knock-out campaign in Vijay Hazare Trophy starting at Delhi next week. The team will leave for Delhi on March 3.

Punjab, which came second in the recently concluded North Zone league, will take on Maharashtra in the pre-quarterfinals at Palam New Delhi.

According to Sushil Kapoor, spokesperson, Punjab Cricket Association, members of the team for the knock-out matches include Harbhajan Singh (captain), Ravi Inder Singh, Chandan Madan, Gurkirat Mann, Mandeep Singh, Amitoze Singh, Bipul Sharma, Taruwar Kohli, Manpreet Goni Sidharth Kaul, Rajwinder Golu, Manish Bhatia, Mayank Sidhana, Barinder Sran, Jeevanjot Singh, and Vinay Chaudhary.

Chandigarh, March 1
The Chandigarh Health and Wellness Association (CHAWA) will organise a Charity Golf Tournament at the Chandigarh Golf Club on Saturday. The tournament will be inaugurated by Union Territory Home Secretary Anil Kumar.

Jeev Milkha Singh will also take part in the tournament. He will greet the players on hole number 3 (par 3) where they will get a chance to beat his shot.

The funds raised by CHAWA from the tournament will be utilised to help poor patients at the PGIMER with investigations and treatment of rheumatological diseases in general and systemic vasculitides in particular. These funds will also be utilised to create awareness on rare diseases. 

Chandigarh, March 1
Bhavna bagged the gold medal in 100m race held during the athletics meet of Surya World held at the college campus here today. The meet was organised as a part of the week-long activities under Surya World Week-2012 being held from February 27 to March 3. More than 300 students from various courses participated in the event.

The meet was formally inaugurated by Dr Bhupinder Singh, joint director, department of sports, Punjabi University. The inaugural ceremony included unfurling of the flag and march past wherein over 150 students participated. Overall 14 events were organised, including long jump, high jump, and 400m relay.

The trophy for the best girl athlete was won by Shweta while the award for the best athlete boy was bagged by Abhishek Kohli (Mech Engg).

Results:

100m heat (girls): Bhavna 1, Anjali 2, Prabhjot 3; 200m heat (girls): Anjali 1, Prabhjot 2, Shweta 3; 400m heat (boys): Prakash 1, Deepak 2, Piyush 3. Long Jump (boys): Vivekanand 1, Faizal 2, Deepak 3; Long Jump (girls): Bhavna 1, Anjali 2, Shweta 3; High Jump (boys): Ranjan 1, Himanshu 2, Abhishek 3.