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60-yr-old Woman overpowers thief
Chandigarh, August 22 The accused, who turned out to be the woman’s neighbour, entered the house with an intention of theft when the woman caught him red-handed. He was nabbed by neighbours after the woman posed a brave front and resisted the attack. She also unmasked the youth in the process while raising the alarm. The accused has been arrested. The incident took place around 12.30 pm when the woman, Heera Devi, a Class IV employee at the public health centre at Panjab University, returned to her residence at the PU quarters (Block A) for lunch. The door at the rear entrance of the house was already open and she was shocked to find a masked man committing theft. The accused ran towards the kitchen and threw red chilli powder into Heera Devi’s eyes. The woman shouted for help and also tried to catch the thief, who then caught hold of her gold chain. Heera Devi unmasked the youth while resisting the attack and identified the attacker as her next door neighbour Sandeep. Scared on being identified by the woman, the accused picked up a hammer and smashed it on to the woman’s head several times. He tried to flee leaving Heera Devi seriously injured. However, the neighbours, who had gathered by then, nabbed the accused. The police was informed and the accused was arrested. A case of robbery with intend to cause hurt and house trespass under Section 394 and Section 457 of the IPC has been registered. Heera was rushed to the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital in Sector 16 where she got stitches on her head. Her condition is said to be stable. The woman resides at the government quarters with her daughter, who was not at home at the time of the incident. The accused, 33-year-old Sandeep, is the driver of a mobile van of a private homeopathic clinic. His father, Prem Chand, is a Class IV employee and is attached with the chief security officer of the PU. on the PU campus. The accused told the police that he was reeling under debt and decided to commit theft. His wife, however, said they were under a debt of Rs 20,000 and she could never imagine that her husband could commit a crime for money.
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28-yr-old woman held captive by family for months, rescued
Mohali, August 22
When the victim, Jaswinder Kaur, was recovered, she was not wearing clothes and was made to live like cattle in a small room which was probably not cleaned since long. A stink was emanating from the room. Her room was locked from outside as the family members, including her mother and brother, did not want anybody to know about her whereabouts. “She was crying when she was being taken out of the room,” said Harpreet Walia, president of the Anti-Corruption and Human Rights Association, the organisation that played a vital role in rescuing the woman. Jaswinder, who was taken to the Civil Hospital at Phase VI, was referred to the PGI, Chandigarh, where she has been put under observation in the emergency ward. “The woman appeared to be deeply traumatised when she was taken to the PGI. She was crying while being taken inside the emergency. She calmed down after being counselled by doctors. She is currently under observation and doctors are trying to ascertain whether she has been undergoing mental torture,” said a PGI official. Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Harpreet Walia said that Jaswinder was found lying nude in the room. “The police with the help of family members put on her clothes. Her mother and brother were reluctant to take her to the hospital. When we talked to them and told them she needed treatment, they agreed,” said Walia. The mother of the victim said she had been “possessed by a ghost” for past five months and was being treated by a doctor from Rajpura. But she did not give the details of the nature of treatment. Meanwhile, neighbours claimed that they had not seen the girl for past one year. “She used to be a good-looking girl. She also used to give tuitions to schoolchildren at her house about two years ago. I am shocked to see her condition today,” said a neighbour, who runs a shop near her house. Jaswinder, who lost her father two years ago, is a graduate. Her sister Parminder Kaur is a schoolteacher while her (Parminder’s) husband is in the Punjab Police. One of her brother works in a private firm and the second is married and lives separately, added another neighbour. “All members of the family used to come here and nobody has even bothered to take her to the hospital. It is surprising,” said a neighbour. Station house officer of the Balongi police station Deepinder Singh was also present at the time of her rescue. “We will record her statement and decide our course of action,” said Deepinder Singh, adding no case had been registered.
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Manu comes to rescue of UT employees
Chandigarh, August 22 Scared, officials of the UT Administration informed the Forest Department and Manu, a baboon, was sent along with its trainer. Manu’s trainer Sameer took him to the third floor of the building and within 10 minutes, Manu chased the monkeys away. Minutes later, the monkeys entered the UT police headquarters building, but Manu again did his job and scared away the monkeys from the building towards the empty area between the police headquarters and the CHB office. Manu’s trainer Sameer said they had three baboons — Manu, Mangal and Udham. A few months ago, the UT authorities had stationed Manu at the Secretariat building as monkeys had attacked a female employee of the UT Administration and an employee posted at the police headquarters.
Contract left midway Helpline
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SDM warns troublemakers
11 of 26 bad hats furnish personal bonds for Rs 10,000 Amit Sharma Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 22 Warrants will be issued against the troublemakers who received the summons but didn’t turn up before the SDM today. The Chandigarh Police had prepared a list of 26 troublemakers who are suspected of breaching peace during Panjab University student elections. These include leaders of the Student Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) and the Panjab University Students Union (PUSU). All 26 students were asked to appear before SDM (Central) Mahavir Kaushik. The 11 students that appeared before the SDM got a warning from him to refrain from indulging in violence during PU student elections. One of the students who furnished a personal bond said the SDM had warned that if any of the 11 students were found involved in violence, he would not let them participate in the elections. Talking to The Tribune, SDM (Central) Mahavir Kaushik said the records of troublemakers mentioned in the list had been sought from the police and bailable warrants would be issued against those who didn’t appear in the court even after receiving the summons. Those who furnished the personal bonds for Rs 10,000 each mentioning that they won’t indulge in violence include Manoj Lubana, Robin Brar, Sumit Goklaney, Sukhjeet Singh Brar, Ravinder Singh, Kuldeep Singh, Jagdeep Singh, Anil kumar, Somveer, Raman Singh and Krishan Kumar.Making a special mention about outsiders participating in the student elections, the SDM directed the police to keep a close watch on the troublemakers and non-students entering the university. A databank has also been prepared by the police that have the names of troublemakers and notorious student leaders along with their addresses and criminal background. Sources in the police claimed that raids would be conducted at places of student leaders before elections to keep a check on their activities.
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Close shave for family as roof collapses
Chandigarh, August 22 Vijay said after the downpour yesterday, his neighbour had made a request with the maintenance booth of the UT Administration at Sector 37 to get the roof of the verandha repaired as it had been in a bad condition for long. He said the officials assured his neighbour that immediate action would be taken to repair the roof, but nobody turned up in the morning. After the incident, the officials of the UT Administration and the contractor visited the house and told the family that repairs on the roof would be done immediately and till then they should shift to a nearby house. More accidents are waiting to happen in the colony as many other houses are also in a state of dilapidation. These have not been repaired for the last 10 years despite a number of complaints lodged by the residents with the maintenance department. The XEN, UT Engineering Department, OP Ojha, said the residents of the house on the first floor had been warned against using the roof of the verandah, which had collapsed. A part of it is still intact. He said the repair work at the house would be started tomorrow.
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Repeated repairs fail to plug roof leakage
Chandigarh, August 22 The records of the CHB revealed that about six months ago Rs 25 lakh was spent by the authorities on repairs to plug leakages in roofs. of the houses repaired after getting a number of complaints about the leakage in the houses. Surprisingly, certain roofs have been repaired four times, but the problem remains. During a visit to the colony, it was found that out of 240 house of the colony, 100 first-floor houses had the problem of roof leakage. Recently, special tiles had been laid on the roofs to plug leakage, but in vain.
Chairman of the CHB Satgopal said he had not received any complaint of roof leakage from the residents of the colony but he would look into the matter and try to solve the problem permanently. One of the residents, Dendayal Tripathi, who shifted here in 2005 when the tenements were allotted to people, said dwellers of the the first-floor houses had been facing the problem of roof leakage since then. He said a number of complaints had been made to the authorities to get the roofs repaired, but because of substandard work carried out by the contractors there was no relief to the residents. Another resident, Geeta Thakur stated after the authorities handed over the tenements to the beneficiaries, no responsibility was fixed regarding the sub-standard construction of houses. She said some of the tenements had recently been handed over to beneficiaries and these too leaked during the rain.
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Union lays siege to CTU GM's office
Chandigarh, August 22 After four hours of agitation, the GM was rescued with the help of the police and taken to his residence in police vehicle. The president of the union complained that around 70 vehicles had been dumped at the CTU workshop for the last two months for want of tyres and spare parts. He said the tyre of a long-route bus burst on the way the previous day and the employees of the CTU and the commuters had to face a great problem and they could not reach their destinations on time. The employees alleged when the authorities claimed on August 15 that they had spent Rs 6 crore on the purchase of low-floor buses, why have funds not been allocated to replace the old tyres and spare parts of the dumped buses? Meanwhile, Parmar said he had no financial powers and the proposal for the replacement of tyres of old buses at a cost of Rs 2 crore had already been sent to the UT Administration after e-tendering. He said the proposal had been forwarded to the Centre for approval and till it gave the green light no purchase could be made by the department.
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Sec-18 residents forced to drink murky water
Chandigarh, August 22 The residents of the sector continue to live under the fear of an outbreak of a water-borne disease. Their repeated calls to the MC office to lodged their complaints have fallen on deaf ears. One of the residents, Gurcharan Singh, brought a bottle carrying murky water filled from a municipal supply tap. He said a large number of residents had collected water in buckets to show it to the MC officials. He said unsuccessful attempts were made to contact the officials of the Municipal Corporation. He said nobody had bothered to visit the area and talk to the residents to verify the complaint. The locality has a sizable number of senior citizens as well as children. He complained that they were left with no other option but to drink the murky water after boiling it. Rakesh Sharma said it is the duty of the government to provide safe water to all the citizens. But, here, the residents' health seems to be the last thing on the authorities' priority list. Water and sewerage committee chairman Mukesh Bassi, who is also the area councillor, said he would look into the matter.
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Lake Club caterer to lose membership
Chandigarh, August 22 A senior official of the UT Administration said though ADC Mahavir Kaushik was conducting a probe into the matter, to keep the Lake Club Administration in the dark and booking a ‘pool party’ in the name of a social get-together was not permissible. He added soon they would cancel Singla’s membership. On the point of cancelling Singla’s catering contract with the Lake Club, the official added that Singla was not the overall owner of the catering company and he was one of the partners or managers. Therefore, cancelling the contract of the catering firm only because of the mistake of one of its managers will not be justified. Moreover, the UT Administration will wait for the ADC’s report and then will take a decision regarding the catering contract, he added. Meanwhile, questions are also being raised as to why the Lake Club administration did not drain the swimming pool despite the notice issued by the Lake Club authorities for carrying out maintenance work at the pool. Sources added that the ADC’s probe would also look into this angle as to why the authorities did not drain the swimming pool and whether it was to help the party organisers for their pool party. There is one tube-well at on the premises of the club to fill up the swimming pool and the process takes around 24 or 28 hours. It takes seven hours to drain the pool. Sources added that the entire exercise of filling and draining the pool takes around 35 hours. Then the question arises that why was the renovation work not started at the pool in the morning hours on Sunday? The club was to open on Tuesday. A senior official said the ADC was checking all the angels of the case and would soon complete
his report.
Police action under scanner
Chandigarh: The action of the UT police after a ruckus at the Lake Club last Sunday has come under the scanner as the police had failed to stop or question the guests when it raided the venue. Even though the police is now questioning the guests as a ‘face-saving’ exercise, vital information could have been obtained had the police acted wisely. With the police acting late, it could neither find out if the party revellers were under the influence of drugs nor could it establish if there were any minors drinking beer at the party. The DSP, Ashish Kapoor, however, said all requisite action has been taken. “We got an information that there was no permission to use the swimming pool, yet the youngsters were diving into it after consuming beer. We acted timely and stopped them from doing so. The party organisers have been accordingly booked, and we are already questioning the guests,” he said. — TNS
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DNA test of Mehak’s foetus to be conducted
Panchkula, August 22 Mehak died under mysterious circumstances at her in-laws’ house two days ago. Her parents alleged that the police was not taking action on the pretext that the girl was having extra-marital relation with a Delhi-based boy and she could not be a dowry victim. Refuting the allegations of the police, Mehak’s parents demanded that the DNA test should be conduct on the foetus. The police said the exact cause of her death could be ascertained after the receipt of the viscera report. Meanwhile, the police has booked the in-laws, including Mehak’s sister-in-law and husband, on charges of dowry death. Mehak had got married to a businessman based at Sector 16, here four months ago.
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Banking services hit in tricity
Chandigarh, August 22
Though there were no such problems in the ATMs today, but these machines would run out of cash on the second day of the strike. Although customers and businessmen who were aware of the strike managed transactions accordingly, but many others visited banks only to find the branches closed. Gurpreet Kaur (52), who had come to the Sector 30 branch of the SBI along with her son, said: “I always withdraw money through the passbook as using an ATM card is unsafe. I was not aware of the strike.” Bachan Singh, a resident of Sector 45, said that he was not aware of the strike, but managed to withdraw Rs 20,000 from the SBI ATM and did not face any problem. But there were many residents who had managed in advance. Poonam Chauhan, who manages accounts in a private firm, said their firm had made all the transactions on Tuesday as they were aware of the strike. She added that their firm did not face any problem due to the bank strike. Sohan Lal, secretary, Canara Bank Staff Federation, said the banking services got affected as even the manager-level officials also participated in the strike. On Thursday, people will face problem in the ATM transactions when these machines run out of cash, he added.
Industry faces loss of Rs 300 crore
The two-day bank strike not only caused inconvenience to residents, but the industry also suffered a loss of
crores. If the city industrialists are to be believed, the industry suffered a loss of around Rs 300 crore. Industry representatives, particularly of the MSME sector, were massively affected due to the strike.
Chander Verma, president of the Converted Plot Owners’ Association, said in business, a majority of transactions were done through cheques but due to the strike, they would have to wait for the strike to end. He said industrialists in the city suffered a loss of around Rs 300 crore. Echoing similar views, MPS Chawla, president of the Chandigarh Industries’ Association, said cheques will not be cleared and they would not be able make payment to small industrialists. He said a few industrialists were managing the situation through their accounts in private sector banks. There are about 2,950 small-scale and 15 large and medium scale units in Chandigarh. A majority of small-scale industries deal in electronic items, machine tools, pharmaceuticals, plastic goods, sanitary fittings, steel, wooden furniture and food products. Shivraj Singh, who manufactures sanitary fittings in the Industrial Area, said they got payment in parts from business houses. But they have to manage daily expenses to continue the manufacturing. He said the delay in clearing cheques will affect them.
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Brain tumour patient needs financial help
Chandigarh, August 22 His mother Pushpa said the boy had been suffering severe pain in the head since two months. When he was taken to the PGI’s neurology department, doctors informed the family that he needs to undergo immediate surgery. They can be contacted at 07895063982. — TNS
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Pooja continues her battle for life
Chandigarh, August 22 The accident occurred on August 17 when she was heading towards school on her cycle. While it has been ascertained that Pooja will not have to undergo neurosurgery, doctors at the PGI said she would take another couple of days to regain consciousness. “There is a lot of swelling all around her head. The doctors are trying to dissolve the blood clot developed inside her head through medication. Until the swelling goes, it will be difficult for the doctors to determine exactly how long will she take to regain consciousness,” said a PGI official. While her father Baijnath, a migrant labourer, has been seeking access to the PGI’s poor patient fund to meet the expenses incurred on her treatment. A number of people have also come forward to provide financial assistance to the family. The staff of Government High School, Sector 35, where Pooja studies has donated over Rs 25,000 for her treatment. A few other city residents also contacted the family offering financial help, said Baijnath. The skin grafting surgery was performed on her left arm on August 18. After a CT scan held yesterday, the doctors established that Pooja does not need to undergo neurosurgery.
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Student Elections Police teams formed to keep a tab on student organisations Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 22 Witnessing rising tension between rival groups at the university, police teams and PU security staff has been attached to each student organisation. The decision was taken in the wake of a potential clash between members of Student Organisation of Panjab University SOPU and Panjab University Students' Union (PUSU) that was timely averted. PU's Chief Security Officer (CSO) PK Dhawan said the university security had been asked to follow the members of student organisations and submit all the reports of their activities to the security officers. "The move will help in timely informing the police on suspecting any trouble," the CSO said. The police teams had also been deployed at various strategic locations including the law department, the physics department, Student Centre, and near the UIET building in the south campus. Police sources said that policemen in civil dress had also been deployed on the campus to follow the student parties. The university authorities had also told the police department to send the election schedule to the UT administration, so that it could be announced and code of conduct be implemented. The university had suggested September 7 as the date for student elections in PU and its affiliated colleges in the city.
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Classrooms need to be more interactive: CCE mentors
Chandigarh, August 22 The foremost concern, as observed by mentors evaluating the CCE implementation in schools here, was that teachers in several schools still lacked innovative approach towards effectively conducting formative assessment in classrooms. Their training aspect was another issue, which had not been taken seriously, mentors noted. One of the mentors Rakesh Sachdeva, also principal of the DAV Public School, Sector 15, said while most of the schools had accepted the new system, the classroom teaching was not that interactive. Formative assessment was the sole of the whole system, she said. The mentors found, however, that teachers gave various home tasks to kids, increasing the parents’ burden. To implement the system effectively, the teachers needed to create an interactive atmosphere to conduct various projects within the classrooms, so that the students gained more than they usually did, Sachdeva said. Sheenu Bansal, whose daughter studies in a school in Chandigarh, complained that her daughter got a project every week. Recently, her daughter was asked to make a "kathputli" (puppet) and write a moral play around it, she said. "It was me who did most of her work and she gained the least out of it. I feel that rather than giving these projects at home, teachers need to take them up in the class and make sure that students learnt something out of the whole exercise," said Sheenu. Charu Mehta, a Panchkula-based parent, said students were, generally, not informed of their project-wise grades. The CCE system needed to be more transparent, she said. Jaya Bhardwaj, a mentor and the principal of Hansraj School, Panchkula, said the CCE demanded a change in vision and work culture of schools. Though there was a positive response to the system, what it still lacked was the training of teachers that needed to be taken up seriously by the board as well as institutions, she said. Schools also needed to ensure that they provided CCE manuals to teachers, and they in turn discussed its guidelines with their peers and colleagues, she said. Another mentor Jaskiron Harika of DAV Public School, Sector 8, said the integration of projects of different streams could be promoted in classrooms and more interactive group activities were required for various projects. Only then the students would be encouraged to do critical and analytical thinking, which is the very purpose of the CCE, the mentor said.
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Expert demystifies the God particle
Chandigarh, August 22 Dr R Ramachandran, renowned physicist and currently an associate editor of the Frontline, began his lecture, titled "The Holy Grail of Particle Physics: The Search and Discovery of the Higgs Boson", by explaining how the particle was actually discovered and how it got its name. Describing Higgs Boson as an extremely short-lived particle with a lifetime of just 10-22 seconds, Dr Ramachandran said, "The particle cannot be seen or captured by camera or even detected by experiment detectors owing to its short life." The guest of honour at the event was Raj Chengappa, editor-in-chief of The Tribune. Referring to the complexity of understanding such a topic by general audience, Chengappa said, "Genius is the ability to break the complex into simple." Dr Ramachandran also discussed the standard model of physics, and the Higgs mechanism, and how these helped in the experiments that led to the scientific breakthrough. Dr Ramachandran said the research that was conducted at the CERN, Geneva, also brought together scientists from different countries, irrespective of their political and ideological affiliations. The lecture was followed by a question hour. The public lecture was organised by the school of communication studies and the department of physics, Panjab University. Vice-Chancellor Prof AK Grover presided over the event. Prof Grover applauded the efforts of the team from the university that was a part of the experiments that led to the discovery.
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Cavities higher among hearing impaired children, say dentists
Chandigarh, August 22 The key cause for this, according to the dentists, was the limitation faced these children in communicating with the experts, teachers and even parents. Dr Misha Kumar, a visiting dentist at the PGI, said: "While these children can easily talk using sign language, it is the inability of health experts and parents to communicate with them." "We have been visiting various other schools to give dental care tips to the children. These children, however, were found to be in a greater need of dental care education," he said. A total of 60 children were examined during the camp. The teachers of the school helped the dentists in communicating with the students using sign language.
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Students pledge to conserve energy
Chandigarh, August 22 The members of the organisation also presented a street play "Kadam Uthao Kal ko Bachao" on the college campus to create awareness regarding energy conservation. Principal Achila Dogra laid emphasis on the sustainable use of non-renewable resources and appealed to adopt renewable energy resources. The students, along with the faculty members, took a pledge to conserve energy.
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College students making a difference in others’ lives
Chandigarh, August 22 Ishali Negi, one of the members, said the father of the girl washed cars and was unable to bear the expense of the treatment at the PGI. "The girl is suffering from a tumour-affected painful blind eye, and would be undergoing a surgery," she said. It all began when a few students of the college decided to do something socially productive, following which Nav Sankalp was formed. The association aims to help critically-ill children who cannot afford treatment. Earlier in February this year, the students had donated Rs 70,000 for the treatment of a three-month-old Harkirath who was suffering from a serious cardiac ailment. In January, they had also donated Rs 60,000 for the treatment of a one-year-old boy suffering from a serious heart disease. A member of Nav Sankalp said there were innumerable children in India who died because of being deprived of apt medical treatment due to lack of finances. "The association renders them this help with a hope to secure their childhood," the member said. Till date, the association has sponsored the treatment of 15 ailing children. The funds are raised through various events and donations.
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Don't charge full rent for shared hostel rooms: NSUI
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 22 The NSUI leaders, during the meeting with the VC, said the students who were given hostel rooms on a sharing basis should be charged 50 per cent of the fee as compared to the students who has been allotted independent rooms. "The practice has continued for past many years, and it needs to be corrected to lessen the financial burden on students," said a student. Raman, a hosteller, said that when the university was offering its infrastructure on a sharing basis, then the rent should also be shared by the students staying in that room. The NSUI has also demanded that the students from economically weaker section of the society should be exempted from the hostel charges. They demanded that those students whose family income was less than Rs 2 lakh per annum should be either exempted from the hostel fee or charged lesser fee. There are a total of 16 girls' and boys' hostels on the PU campus with a capacity of accommodating over 6,000 students. While the first-year students get the hostel room on a sharing basis, the second-year students get independent rooms.
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Monash to represent city at science seminar
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 22 Students spread message of oneness
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NSUI demands student council elections in Punjab
Fatehgarh Sahib, August 22 There was a leadership crisis in all the political parties in the state because the ruling party did not want educated leadership to emerge from the state institutions, alleged Gobind Khatra, state president of the NSUI. Khatra said the youth studying in colleges and universities were the future leaders, and if
they were ill-equipped, they could not lead from the front. He alleged that the government was deliberately denying the right to contest student council elections despite the Supreme Court judgements and Lyngdoh Committee report. Khatra was addressing the media at a function organised to announce the office-bearers of the NSUI in different colleges of the district.
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It was 2 pm when around 40-50 monkeys entered the UT Secretariat building and started creating ruckus. The employees, who were having lunch, started running out, especially those on the second and third floors of the Secretariat building. 
