Panchkula, October 29
In a shocking incident, a 13-year-old fatherless student of Class VI, whose mother is mentally challenged, gave birth to a girl child at the general hospital in Sector 6, Panchkula, here last night. She was allegedly raped by a 35-year-old married man for nine months.

The victim, a resident of Ambala, was admitted to the hospital here yesterday. The accused, Deepak, is also a resident of Ambala. He was arrested yesterday and has been remanded in two-day police custody, said ASI Karan Singh Rana, in charge of the Balmiki Majri police station in Ambala.

The accused used to rape the girl after her school was over, allegedly in connivance with his friend, Mohit, who is at large. Deepak is married and has a daughter.

The father of the victim had died long time back and her mother is mentally challenged. She did not even realise what was wrong with her.

“After the school hours, the victim used to be taken to an isolated place near the school and raped by Deepak. At times Mohit used to provide him a room to commit the crime. The victim was threatened that she would be killed if she complained to anyone. It was going on for the past nine months,” said a police official.

The family came to know about the pregnancy at a late stage. “We did not realise what was wrong even though several times she vomited and remained unwell. When her 'bulge' was seen during the eighth month, her grandmother Thakuri Devi took her to the Ambala Civil Hospital, where doctors examined her and referred her to the general hospital, declaring that she was pregnant,” said a relative on condition of anonymity.

Though Thakuri Devi requested the doctors to terminate the pregnancy, nothing could be done as it was too late.

Panchkula, October 29
Octogenarian Thakuri Devi’s life has been a tale of tragedies. After having lost her son-in-law at a young age, she took upon herself the responsibility of her daughter, who lost her mental balance after her husband’s death, and her granddaughter.

Despite financial constraints, Thakuri Devi wanted her granddaughter to study. Little did she know that her granddaughter would be raped and become a mother at the tender age of 13, and that she would have an added liability in the form of her great granddaughter.

“Despite financial constraints, I wanted her to receive good education. However, I did not know that fate would play such a cruel joke with me,” said Thakuri Devi.

She said, “She has become a mother at an age she should have been playing. Will she be able to take care of herself as well as her daughter?”

The victim did not realise what was happening tp her. “She vomited several times, but we thought that her stomach might be upset. It was only after we noticed a bump that we took her to a doctor,” said Thakuri Devi.

Thakuri Devi now has added responsibility on her. “Her mother is mentally challenged. The grandmother used to take care of the family. Now, she will have to take care of the child too,” said a relative. 

Chandigarh, October 29
A 40-year-old woman was murdered by her husband and his friend, who then dumped her body in a forest area near Dadu Majra, Sector 38 (West), last night. The throat of the victim, Mamta Devi, was slit with a sharp weapon and her husband disfigured her face with a stone.

The police has arrested the victim’s husband, Ajay Giri, and his accomplice Dharampal for the murder.

Ajay suspected that his wife had illicit relations with someone for the past six months and planned to kill her. He hired his close friend, Dharampal, for executing the murder and paid him Rs 20,000 for the purpose.

While Ajay is a resident of Batterla village near Sector 41, his friend Dharampal is a resident of the Bapu Dham Colony. The police has arrested them in a case of murder and destruction of evidence under Sections 302, 201 and 120-B of the IPC.

The murder took place last night when Ajay asked his wife to accompany him to the market on the pretext of buying a sari for her for Karva Chauth.

Ajay, who runs a tandoor at a rehri, took his wife on his bicycle near the gurdwara in Sector 38 (West) at 10 pm last night. He then moved towards the forest area. His friend, Dharampal, was already waiting there. As the couple reached there, Dharampal allegedly attacked Mamta Devi with a knife and slit her throat. Ajay picked a huge stone and smashed his wife’s face with it so that the body could not be identified.

The accused came out of the forest area after killing her when a UT police ASI spotted them with their clothes stained in blood. The policeman got suspicious and rounded them up. While he managed to catch hold of Ajay, who disclosed that he had killed his wife, Dharampal managed to flee, but was arrested later on. The police recovered the body of the woman from the forest area. The postmortem of he body will be conducted tomorrow after her parents arrive from Haridwar.

Ajay was produced in court and remanded in police custody till November 1. The weapon used in the crime has also been recovered.

The couple hails from a remote village in UP and had migrated to the city eight years ago. Inspector Charanjeet Singh, SHO, Sector 39 police station, said they would interrogate the accused to find out the exact motive behind the crime and whether his wife had illicit relations with someone. 

Illicit relations?

The victim's husband, Ajay Giri, suspected that his wife had illicit relations with someone for the past six months and planned to kill her. He hired his close friend, Dharampal, for executing the murder and paid him ~20,000 for the purpose

Couple’s minor children suffer

With their mother dead and father jailed, the two minor children of the couple have received a cruel blow and were unaware that their mother had been murdered. Seven-year-old Gaurav and six-year-old Anjali were taken by Ajay's elder brother to his house in Kajheri village near Sector 61 on Monday. 

Chandigarh, October 29
The much-hyped cycle track project launched with great fanfare nine years ago by the UT Administration after spending crores of rupees does not seem to have much relevance today. The issue was raised at a meeting of the general house by councillors, who said the authorities were wasting public money on cycle tracks as city residents had lost interest in cycling.

As soon as the matter pertaining to the recarpeting of cycle tracks in Sectors 38 and 40 was tabled in the House, BJP councillor Arun Sood suggested that the corporation should conduct a survey regarding the use of cycle tracks. He said in a majority of the sectors, these were lying unused and the authorities were spending a huge amount of money on the maintenance of the cycle tracks.

Nominated councillor DS Sandhu said residents whose houses lay adjoining to the cycle tracks were an angry lot. Contractors were reportedly not levelling roads before recarpeting these due to which the height of the roads had increased, resulting in inconvenience to the residents.

Councillors said during the rainy season, water accumulated on cycle tracks as there was no proper drainage system. They said the corporation did not bother to prune trees on these tracks due to which the few cyclists who were using the tracks faced inconvenience.

During a visit to cycle tracks located in Sectors 22, 23, 35 and 36, it was found that many residents had raised boundary walls or installed barbed wire fences alongside cycle tracks as theft cases had risen in residential areas. In fact, the authorities have not installed streetlights on these tracks.

In the absence of a regulatory mechanism, these tracks are being used by all sorts of vehicles, defeating the very purpose for which these were built.

MC data shows that there are 25 cycle tracks on V-3 roads, which were transferred recently to the corporation. A majority of these are in need of major repairs.

According to the master plan envisaged by French architect Le Corbusier, the city was to have about 106 km of cycle tracks.

In early 2004, then UT Administrator OP Verma approved a plan to lay cycle tracks in the city on V-2 and V-3 roads in two phases.

The basic idea of constructing cycle tracks in the city was to divert slow-moving traffic from busy roads and to encourage the habit of cycling among city residents for health reasons. 

Chandigarh, October 29
Amid a consistent rise in the number of dengue cases in the city, the UT Health Department cancelled the holiday of 25 of its employees today, assigning them the task of fogging in various parts of the city.

The employees were not allowed to avail of their day-offs on Saturday and Sunday also.

With two city residents already having lost thier lives to dengue and 234 cases already confirmed so far, the emphasis on fogging has increased. An official said employees would not be allowed to take leave till dengue subsided.

Officials were divided into various groups and sent for indoor fogging in six city schools and two other institutions today to sprinkle paraphirin in and around the campuses.

Another group was sent for fumigation in Sector 43 streets this evening.

As schools were closed on account of Valmiki Jayanti, thorough fumigation was done in Government Model High School, Sector 33, government high schools in Sectord 12, 15 and Khuda Lahora, St Joseph School, Sector 44, and St John’s School, Sector 26, today.

The officials also fumigated the interiors of Nari Niketan in Sector 26 and the Regional Institute of English, Sector 32. “It was difficult to put the entire fogging staff to work. We then called those who answered the phone calls,” said Dr Naresh Sharma, Nodal Officer for the National Anti-Malaria Programme, UT Health Department. The number of dengue cases has been rising since the past three months.

Mohali: Despite the number of suspected cases of dengue having reached 200 and 102 cases of dengue having been confirmed, officials responsible for fogging enjoyed an extended weekend with today being a gazetted holiday. No fogging has taken place in the Mohali area for the past three days. Varun Roojam, Mohali Dy Commissioner-cum-MC Commissioner, said "We’ve a scheduled programme for fogging in the area and it is being done accordingly.”

Panchkula: The fogging staff have been working for about a month without any day-offs. Even today despite a holiday, they went about their job as usual.

As many as 18 cases of dengue have been confirmed at the Panchkula General Hospital, Sector 6.

“Our staff have been holding fumigation drives for the past one month to check the disease,” said the Civil Surgeon of the hospital, Dr VK Bansal.

(With inputs by Akash Ghai and Hina Rohtaki) 

Chandigarh, October 29
Sweets are all set to burn a hole in your pocket this festival season as their prices have gone up by 15 to 20 per cent as compared to last year.

For instance, "ladoos" made of desi ghee, which were priced at about Rs 240 to Rs 260 a few months ago, are now being sold for Rs 270 to Rs 300. "Barfi" is being sold for Rs 320 to Rs 340 per kg. It was priced between Rs 260 and Rs 280 per kg a few months ago.

“The hike was necessitated because of the drastic increase in the prices of raw material. Besides, LPG prices have also gone up by over 40 per cent,” said chairman of the Chandigarh Sweets Association Neeraj Bajaj.

Sukhpal Singh, president of the association, said though the prices of raw material had gone up sharply, the hike wasn't much. “While this much hike was necessary, we have not gone further because we don’t want to burden customers during the festival season, he said.

People have already started feeling the pinch of the price hike. Sector 16 resident Neerja Jain said, "Price rise has become a part and parcel of our lives. However, shop owners and the Administation must at least ensure quality sweets."

Panchkula’s Bharat Hiteshi said the festival season would be a costly affair as besides sweets, the prices of other commodities had also gone up.

Members of the association, however, cautioned people that they should only by sweets in which natural colour is used. The hygiene in shops must be taken into consideration before buying sweets, they said. 

Chandigarh, October 29
City traders, who were demanding enhancement of covered area and floor area ratio (FAR) of shop-cum-flats (SCF) in the city markets, received a major blow when the UT Master Plan Committee recommended that further enhancement of covered area and FAR of SCFs in city should not be allowed.

The committee has recommended that the city’s infrastructure is already under pressure and if the UT Administration allows enhancement of the covered area and FAR of SCFs, it will be an added burden.

A senior UT official said that the committee is trying to retain the city’s distinct image, which has been affected due to a number of violations in the city markets over the years. The official added that they had also considered the demand of traders to increase FAR and covered area of the ground and upper floors, but decided against allowing it. It has also been suggested that the Administration should conduct regular drives to check encroachments in the commercial areas of the city.

Vinod Joshi, architect and chairman of Building Bye-Laws Coordination Sub-Committee of Chandigarh Beopar Mandal, said that FAR is different in different markets of the city, but on an average the FAR of SCFs in the city is between 2.5 to 3. He added that during the tenure of former UT Administrator SF Rodrigues, the Administrator had approved an increase in FAR but the UT Administration never issued a notification in this regard. He added that in some cases, building owners had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court as well.

Charanjiv Singh, president of Chandigarh Beopar Mandal, said that they were demanding that FAR of both the phases (Sector 1 to 30 and remaining sectors) should be same. At present there is a difference in the FARs of shops in both the phases. Traders were also demanding proper utilisation of the space within the plot area, he added.

It is pertinent to mention here that the UT Master Plan Committee has also recommended no further enhancement of ground coverage and FAR in the houses of city.

Panchkula, October 29
As many as 500 dengue suspects visit the general hospital, Sector-6, daily. The flow of patients suspected of dengue is such that hospitals are falling short of beds and other infrastructural facilities. Patients can even be seen resting on the floor due to the shortage of stretchers and wheelchairs.

To complicate the matters, even the patients who have viral fever come to the hospital saying they are suffering from dengue. Every hour, as many as 100 patients are getting their test conducted at the hospital for dengue.

When contacted, Dr Usha Gupta, Principal Medical officer (PMO), said that even those patients that are suffering from viral fever are confusing the same with dengue. "People don't know the difference between viral and dengue and come to get the test for dengue done. We have recently purchased 20 stretchers and 25 wheel chairs so that the patients don't face any inconvenience," said Gupta.

"I have been suffering from fever for the past several days. I came to get the dengue test done. I was injected with a drip of glucose and was asked to take a wheelchair or trolley. I looked around for the same, but could not find any," said Dashrath, a resident of Mauli Jagran. "So I was left with no other option but to lie down and hang the glucose bottle to a window," he says.

The situation has forced patients to share beds too. Another patient, Hema, said, "I have been suspected to be suffering from dengue and was asked to share the bed with a dengue patient. Most of the patients here are sharing the beds."

"What can the hospital authorities do? Patients from across the region come here and dengue is quite widespread this time," said Veera, another patient.

Panchkula, October 29
The Panchkula hospital authorities have decided to take measures against the alarming dengue situation on a war-footing. For this, initiatives like awareness campaigns in schools to educate children, announcements in the city regarding the precautions to be taken etc are being undertaken.

“Announcements are being made regularly in every locality, that too a number of times every day. Our staff is also going to schools to educate children about the measures required to preventions the spread of the disease,” said Civil Surgeon, Dr VK Bansal.

He added, “Though fogging is being done regularly throughout the day, we thought that creating awareness is also the need of the hour.”

Hospital authorities have also approached the local cable operators to broadcast information about the steps required to prevent the spread of this vector-borne disease.

Panchkula, October 29
In order to integrate the various measures for ensuring the safety and security of women, a helpline has been introduced in all district police control rooms in Haryana.

The number 1091 would be active 24x7 to help women. An inaugural function was held today at the Panchkula police lines, Moginand. Director General of Police (DGP) Ranjiv Dalal inaugurated the event.

With this, Haryana Police has implemented another major decision taken in a high level meeting on October 12. The meeting was presided over by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to instill confidence and a sense of security among women in the state.

DGP Dalal informed that this helpline is accessible from everywhere and women police officials have exclusively been deputed in each police control room to attend to the complaints round the clock. This specially deputed staff will not only receive calls, but would also inform the nearest police station or police post or PCR van to immediately respond to the caller. Thus, the helpline will help the caller get an immediate response from the police

• Sharma was chargesheeted on the charges of submitting “bogus certificate” in the year 1971 for getting employment as Sanitary Inspector. Following this, the Health Department imposed a penalty upon him withholding 25 per cent of his future pension payment.
• After shuttling between the UT Secretariat and the office of the UT Administrator for two years, he filed a petition in Central Administrative Tribunal, where his application was allowed. In 2009, the Tribunal directed him to submit supplementary documents with the appellate authority (UT Administrator). 

Chandigarh, October 29
Get ready for designer and trendy sweets this festive season. Sweet sellers in the city are coming up with different sizes and combinations of sweets, classy chocolate sweets and dry fruits with mouth-watering flavours, stylish packaging and a lot more. This will be on store for those who want to try something different this Divali.

“Our business, especially in last two to three years, has become equally trendy and challenging that those of jewellery designing,” says Navjot Singh, one of the directors of a sweets chain in the city. He spoke as he pointed out to “pista ladoos” and “badam ladoos”, the new variation in the ladoo section at his Sector 35 outlet.

The “baklawa”, he said, is no more a baked flour sweet item. Priced between Rs 700 and 1,500 per kg, it now comes in different flavours like almond honey, pista honey, cashew mixture tart and Merlin peach. “Khanjoor” looks sumptuous with dry fruit filling and other variant having black and white chocolate coating. “Our Divali dhamaka “Honey Delight”, priced at Rs 650 per kg, is made of three layers. The base is made of “kaju” paste and then comes the “badam” and “pista” layer on the top,” said Navjot.

Tirangi sweets, having layers of “kesar kaju”, “anjeer” and “badam”, and Gulab dry fruits burfi, available at a Sector 17 sweet shop, looked equally impressive. Shop owner Neeraj Bajaj said with the change in people’s preference, both presentation and innovation are getting a lot of emphasis.

“This year we have several varieties of sweets made with combination of dry fruit, “koya” and fruits besides, some combinations with chocolate also. These designer sweets are priced between Rs 600 and 1,000 per kg,” he said.

Change is visible in the approach of other sweet shops as well. Sukhpal Singh, owner of a famous sweet shop in Sector 21, said their exclusive item for this festive season is the choco sweet besides, sweets with mixture of dry fruits.

Many, however, said traditional sweets still rule the roost.’ NK Singhania, owner of a sweets shop in Industrial Area, said the trendy and designer sweets are by and large used as gifts. When it comes to personal use, people still prefer traditional sweets.

Dry fruits with mouth-watering flavours

Several shops in Chandigarh are selling flavoured dry fruits rather than simple ones. “Red chilly kaju”, “pudeena kaju”, “eliachi kaju” and similar coatings on almonds are available in the stores. Priced between Rs 800 and 1,000 per kg, dry fruit coating with chocolates are also available.

Attractive packaging

Packaging is getting lot of importance this year. Some of the designer boxes are costlier than sweets and dry fruits. For instance, a gift pack of 1 kg mix dry fruit is being sold at Rs 2,000, more than half of the cost is due to its attractive wooden box.

Chandigarh, October 29
Scenes from the Ramayana were depicted in light and sound show at the Tagore Theatre today evening.

Organised by Panchkula-based Raghav Arts, the highlight of the show was that all the important scenes of the Ramayana was staged without a halt. The show went on for two hours.

According to the organisers, the show aimed at retelling the greatest Indian epic and to inspire, especially the younger generation, towards high thinking, noble effort and right conduct.

“Due to the change in lifestyle and erosion of ethical and spiritual values coupled with paucity of time, a lot of wrongdoing is happening in society. In this crises moment the philosophy enshrined in the Ramayana need to be promoted for the betterment of mankind,” said the organisers.