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Girl dies of drug overdose
Chandigarh, December 18 She was rushed to Government Multi-Specialty Hospital in Sector 16 in an unconscious state from where she was referred to the PGI where she died. The police said she died of overdose of heroin. The police has arrested two youths, identified as Gagandeep and his brother-in-law Saurabh, both residents of Daddu Majra Colony in a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 and 328 of the IPC. The police has also slapped sections of the NDPS Act in the case as the source of drugs is yet to be ascertained. They will be produced in a
court tomorrow. Giving details of the incident, DSP Ashish Kapoor said Radhika’s friend Shaina had first gone to meet the two youths at a Sector 22-based hotel last night. She also called Radhika also to the hotel. “Radhika reportedly consumed a heavy dose of heroin after Shaina fell unconscious. She died today in the PGI. We are verifying the source of the drug as well as the background of the two accused as it is a very serious issue,” said the DSP. The police is also questioning Radhika’s friend Shaina as she had introduced Radhika to drug suppliers last night. It seems Radhika consumed drugs for the first time, said the police. Radhika was staying as a paying guest in Sector 15 and her friend was also staying as a paying guest in Sector 19. A case has been registered at the Sector 17 police station. The police said the girl earlier met her friend at the Aroma light point who then introduced her to the drug suppliers. After Radhika’s condition became critical, Gagandeep called her friend to the hotel for taking her to the hospital. Radhika was taken to a private doctor in Sector 22 from where she was referred to the GMSH-16. The medical record of Radhika showed that GMSH doctors referred her to the PGI. The body has been handed over to the family members after post-mortem.
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Kidnap drama keeps UT, Panchkula police confused
Panchkula/Chandigarh, December 18 The girl, a student of BA-I of a Panchkula college, had alleged that she was kidnapped and then taken to Chandigarh. At the end of the day, the parents of the girl refused to pursue the case. But both the girl and the boy were made to sit in the Sector 17 police station, Chandigarh, as the Panchkula and the Chandigarh Police were unclear about the jurisdiction of the incident. “Initially the girl claimed that she was forcibly taken by the youth from outside Bella Vista Hotel, Sector 5, Panchkula, and then she said she was taken from outside the lake. The complainant was not telling the truth,” said Panchkula Assistant Commissioner of Police Virender Sangwan. Later, the Panchkula police gave this contention that as the girl admitted that she herself went in an auto from outside Bella Vista Hotel but was forcibly taken from the lake so the area falls in the jurisdiction of the Chandigarh Police. Chandigarh DSP Ashish Kapoor said: “The information was first received by the Panchkula police, but as the girl claimed that she was dropped in Sector 17, Chandigarh, the UT police came into the picture.” He added: “When the girl in the first place had given this information that she was allegedly kidnapped from Panchkula, it was obvious to call the Panchkula police.” DSP Ashish Kapoor said after investigations, it was revealed that the girl and the boy were known to each other.
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Sukhna Lake Catchment Area Case Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 18 As the case came up for resumed hearing, the counsel for the Union of India Onkar Singh Batalvi informed the Bench that the study had come to a standstill as the UT was yet to make the payments. Deepening of the area of the Sukhna Lake which is used for recreational activity; a feasibility study to identify alternative sources of water and desilting in a manner not to cause more evaporation were some of the measures suggested by the institute after conducting the study. Tata Camelot, in its petition, had on the previous date of hearing, claimed that water could not flow from Kansal area towards Sukhna Lake due to the area’s topography. The claim was made just about six months after the State of Punjab made possible attempts to rescue the Tata Camelot project by stating before the High Court that Kansal village-where the skyscrapers are to be raised-was never intended to serve as Sukhna Lake’s catchment area. The assertion was made in May just about a week after the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the States of Punjab and Haryana, along with the Chandigarh Administration, to stop construction activity in the Sukhna Lake’s catchment. Camelot, in the application, claimed that Kansal area did not contribute water to the lake as it was situated some two kilometers away from the water body. Already, the Chandigarh Administration has hinted at an unholy nexus between the Punjab Government and Tata Housing by claiming that Nayagaon, Karoran, and Kansal master plan was tailor-made to accommodate the builder.
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Important documents dumped outside post office in Panchkula
Panchkula, December 18 Despite having space on the premises, bundles of important documents were seen outside the post office. Surprisingly, the cycles of the staff were parked where the bundles could have been kept safely. The documents were sent by the regional office of the CBSE to principals of schools across Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Postmaster Neelam Uppal said: “The documents are safe here. We will dispatch the bundles to Ambala. And someone or the other is around so keep a watch.”
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Girl students to leave school five minutes before scheduled timings
As per the orders issued today, the girls will leave five minutes before the scheduled timing and the boys have been told to stay for five minutes after the school timings. The decision came following a meeting between SSP Naunihal Singh and heads of several senior secondary schools in the city. During interaction with girls at GGMSSS-18 last week, SSP Naunihal Singh said the girls in government schools were more vulnerable to eve-teasing since most of them travel by public transport. Principal of GMSSS-37-B Raviraj Kaur said eve-teasing incidents generally take place about 50 meters from school campus or at bus stands. The latest move, we hope, will help mitigate the problem, she added. Another principal, however, said the move might not help much since girls keep standing at the bus stops even for half-an-hour. A proper co-ordination of schools, the police and CTU officials is required to end the eve-teasing menace. Officials of the education department said the move would give extra time to girls to board buses. DPI (S) Upkar Singh said the move was a part of the effort to provide safer environment to girl students in the city. He said CTU officials had also been told to change the timings and frequency of buses. CTU officials said they would start special buses for girls.
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Woman creates ruckus in court
Chandigarh, December 18 The woman, who has a divorce case pending in the court, had filed an application for the custody of her five-year-old son. As the application was pending, she had moved another application to get her enraged husband’s signatures on some documents, which were required for the admission of her son. The court dismissed the application following which the woman asked for a certified copy of the order. On being told that it will take some time and she has to apply for it, the woman started shouting and tore the uncertified order and threw it on the judge’s face. She then started screaming loudly, disrupting the order of the courtroom.
— TNS
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Anupama’s death Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 18 The commission today granted time to the PGI till January 11, 2013, for providing detailed answers to all the questions raised by the complainant during the last hearing, which included the findings of the probe committee's report. Significantly, the other respondent in the case, CTU General Manager, SP Parmar, today tendered an apology before the UT Commission for stating wrong facts in his earlier affidavit filed on November 29. In response to the complainant's claim of compensation of Rs 85 lakh, Parmar had earlier stated that the bus was being driven by Ashok Kumar and that there was no negligence on the driver's part. Based on the FIR, advocate Pankaj Chandgothia, counsel of Anupama's parents, had specifically questioned Parmar on his wrong affidavit. In the affidavit submitted in response to Chandgothia's questions, the CTU GM said "deponent tenders an unconditional apology that the name of Ashok Kumar was mentioned inadvertently in my previous affidavit. As per office record, Atul Kumar Gautam, driver number 750 was on duty with bus number CH01-GA-5021 on July, 17, 2012." He admitted that both the driver and the conductor had been chargesheeted and the departmental inquiry initiated against the two was being conducted. Anupama, a student of Government Model School, Sector 18, died on July 24 at the PGI. She was brought to the hospital on July 17 when her leg was crushed under the rear tyre of a CTU bus on her way back to school. Her parents alleged that Anupama died due to negligence on the part of the hospital staff. Following Anupama's death, an internal inquiry was conducted which gave a clean chit to the doctors involved. Following this, an external probe committee was constituted to look into the matter. The report of the committee, however, is yet to be submitted. During a previous hearing in the case, the PGIMER claimed that due to heavy rush of patients, Anupama was taken for surgery on July 19 (while she was admitted on July 17, since there were eight other patients of "serious open fracture surgeries"). Anupama's counsel, Pankaj Chandgothia, asked, "Who decides about the urgency of operations required and on what basis? Should Anupama have not been given preference for operation over all other patients of "open fracture surgery", since in addition to having an "open fracture" she had infection/ sepsis/gangrene also.
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Caught
in a crawl 2 In the second part of the series on city’s traffic chaos, Chandigarh Tribune reporter Akash Ghai and photographer Vicky Gharu take the Piccadilly Road and tell you how and why the situation has turned so grim.
The “City Beautiful”, with its “Open Hand” insignia, might be famous for wide, clean and planned road infrastructure but there are certain roads, which can prove to be a commuter’s bane. Thanks to poor traffic mismanagement and Chandigarh Administration’s inability to come up with proper planning. In the 114 sq km area of the City Beautiful, with a population of about 11 lakh, the number of registered vehicles is said to be nearly nine lakh. Thousands of vehicles from outstations, especially from Mohali, Zirakpur, Kharar and Panchkula, come in the city everyday so the heavy load on the local road network is obvious. But there are certain roads, on which riding a four-wheeler is a challenge.
It took 42 minutes to complete the journey, which should have ideally been over within 15 minutes. The stretch from South End roundabout (Sectors 43, 44, 34 and 35) to Bus Stand, Sector 17, witnessed the maximum rush. At the Metro traffic light point and Aroma light points, the Tribune team had to wait for second green signal as it was not possible to cross the lights during the first green signal. “The road is too narrow to cope up with the heavy traffic inflow. Underpasses should be constructed on the Delhi pattern so that there are no traffic jams”, said Anup Sharma, a businessman of Sector 21.
It was found that several people do not drive their vehicles in lanes and cross-lane driving was a common feature. “Everyone wants to reach at his/her destination on time so such offences have to be ignored”, said a traffic policeman on duty. The cycle track, constructed along the roadside, was almost empty as all the cyclists, rickshaw-pullers and horse carts were seen plying on the main road thus slowing down the traffic movement. “You can avoid this road in the city if you do not want to be harassed”, said a commuter. COMMUTERS speak I don’t think the Administration is serious about traffic management in the city. The road users are being harassed everyday. To cover a distance of seven km (between my home and my workplace), I have to leave my home 45 minutes early. Though I leave home early, I still get late to work. Jarnail Singh Travelling on this stretch, especially during morning and evening hours, is really harrowing. The situation is no different at noon. I usually avoid using the road during these hours. I am unable to understand why the Administration is not doing anything to curb traffic chaos. Sabby Anand As far as traffic scenario is concerned only metro can solve the problem. Here, everybody wants to travel on his own vehicle. I have read somewhere that in Chandigarh, which has an area of 114 sq km and population of about 11 lakh, the number of vehicles is around 14 lakh. So one can well imagine the scenario here. J P Singh Underpasses — need of the hour Road users feel that underpasses are the need of the hour. With addition of about three hundred vehicles everyday, the situation will worsen in the coming days, so the administration should come up with proper planning before the situation goes out of ‘control’. There is a need to set designated routes and timings for three-wheelers. These should not be allowed on roads during peak hours. Officialspeak There are several plans, but where is the space? Due to the heritage status of the city, we can’t construct flyovers and the proposal of constructing underpasses has been rejected. Earlier, there was a plan to use the space of cycle track to widen the road in Sector 34 and to add parking space in front of the Hotel Lane, but it was also shelved. SK Chadha, UT Chief Engineer
‘Administration hasn’t acted’ Residents feel that the administration has failed to come up with a proper traffic management planning. “They (the administration) only know how to install traffic lights at each point. The installation of traffic signals at almost every crossing is not a permanent solution. This is a small city and if you start stopping traffic at every point it will lead to chaos and traffic jams. The administration should come up with proper solutions”, said Robin Aggarwal, a resident of Sector 21. Metro the only solution Balram Singh, an advocate in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, too feels that the `traffic scenario in the city will worsen in the coming days and only Metro rail system will be able to provide relief here.
Autos a big nuisance Auto-rickshaws are a big nuisance, they ply from Chandigarh Bus Stand to Mohali Phase 7 the entire day. The drivers of the auto-rickshaws do not care for traffic rules and regulations and stop their vehicles on the middle of the road at any point that often lead to accidents. The major portion of the road is being used by rickshaws and ‘rehriwallas’, that obstruct the flow of traffic during peak hours. Entrance of parking lots in front of Hotel Lane a major problem Long queues of four-wheelers, heading towards parking lots of the Hotel Lane, disrupt traffic. These vehicles cover a major portion of the road during peak hours. Moreover, many vehicles can be seen parked on the road itself. The story is no different in the Service Lane of Sector 22, where the vehicles can be seen parked at any time without being checked. Traffic police not vigilant Policemen do not keep a check on traffic violations by cyclists, auto-rickshaw drivers. Cyclists, “auto-rickshaw wallas” and “rehri wallas” are regular offenders. Change timings of govt offices to ease congestion: RITES In its latest presentation to the Chandigarh Administration, the Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) has suggested a separate Bus Rapid Transit Corridor for public transport. There should be separate lanes for buses. Suggestions were also made to introduce one-way traffic system on certain roads to manage heavy flow of traffic during peak hours. It also says that the timings of some government offices should be changed to reduce congestion.
Roundabouts: Hotel South End roundabout, Hotel Metro light point, Aroma light point.
Cycle tracks are a waste of public money and space
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Wi-fi enabled sampark centre comes up in Sector 21
Chandigarh, December 18 At the time of using the service, the users will have to register their mobile number as the proof of identity. The wi-fi access is a secured system and will be available during the sampark centre’s working hours. While inaugurating the sampark centre, KK Sharma, UT Adviser, said the Chandigarh Administration was constantly striving to strengthen its service delivery infrastructure to provide speedy, efficient and reliable services for the benefit and convenience of the residents
of Chandigarh. The centre is the 26th such facility where 22 government to citizens services and four business to citizen services are being provided. Besides, an Aadhaar (UID) Enrolment Centre has also been set up at the Sector 21 sampark centre. Prerna Puri, Secretary, Information Technology, said the wi-fi access point has been set up on a pilot basis and based on the popularity of the service, the Chandigarh Administration will set up a similar facility at prominent locations like railway station, inter-state bus terminus in Sector 43 and Sukhna Lake. The Administration is also working towards providing e-payment facility at the sampark
centres.
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Contractor acts smart
Chandigarh, December 18 The road was dug
up last night without taking permission from the authorities. Ravi
Bhatia, a resident of Sector 34, lodged a complaint with the police against the contractor stating that since morning all the telecom services had been disrupted in the area as the digging work had damaged the underground cables. Telecom employees
were seen repairing the damaged cables. Municipal Corporation Additional Commissioner Lalit Siwach said the authorities would take stringent action against the contractor as per the terms and conditions of the parking lot and penalise him. Residents of the area said the move had taken them by surprise. They flayed the authorities for not taking action against the contractor. They said the contractor had added to the problem. They added that it was
not for the first time that the work had damaged the cables. Last year, the widening work had damaged electricity wires and the residents had to remain without power for 12 hours due to the delay in the repairs, they stated.
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Shell out more for arm licences
Mohali, December 18 The price of forms varies from district to district. In Mohali, the price was revised from Rs 20 to Rs 500 recently. Mohali Deputy Commissioner Varun Roojam admitted that almost 50 per cent of the sold out forms never came back to the officials for further action. "To deter such persons, we have revised the rates," said Roojam. When asked from
when would be the new rates (Rs 5,000) applicable, Roojam said he was yet to receive directions. There are 6,000 licences
in Mohali and 10,000 weapons.
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Govt schools find difficult to stick to common admission schedule
Chandigarh, December 18 A senior official said since not many parents had applied for the admission of the children to the government schools, the schools have been told to continue with their admission process till the time they fill up their vacant seats. “In case some schools receive more applications than the available seats, draw of lots will be
conducted on January 14,” he informed. None of the government schools, however, are in a position to hold the draw of lots owing to the poor response. A school principal said there was no need for the Department to begin the admission process along with the private schools. “The previous years’ trend shows that people seek admission to government schools only after the admission process in the private schools gets over,” he said. Another school head said that the Department should also think of bringing some flexibility in the criterion for deciding neighborhood schools. “At present, schools can not give admission to children who stay beyond a radius of one km. It can be modified to admit students from more sectors,” he said. DEO Ram Kumar Sharma said that the government schools would stick to the common admission schedule as announced by the Department. If the seats fail to get filled in the government schools during this period, the admission process will remain open.
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Students awarded
Chandigarh: The annual cultural show — Amritanjali— of KBDAV School, Sector 7, saw gala performances of over 900 schoolchildren, who reflected on the rich cultural heritage of India. The dignitaries were welcomed with “Phulkari” followed by lamp lighting on “Shloka Uccharan” and “Gayatri Mantras”. Nearly 100 meritorious students in academics, sports and extra-curricular activities were awarded on the occasion, including 36 students who excelled in the class X exams with a CGPA of 10. Students who excelled in Vedic mantra recitation were also awarded by the chief guest. Visit to park
Students of BMD Public School, Sector 63, visited the animal valley in Sector 49. They enjoyed swings and played games. School principal Navneet Kaur said such outings rejuvenate both the teachers and students. Literary fest
Delhi Public School organised a literary festival to mark the annual prize distribution in the school auditorium. SP, Traffic and Security, Manish Chaudhary and DPI (Schools) Upkaar Singh graced the occasion and felicitated the scholars. Wolfgang Vogelsaenger, principal, IGS Gottingen Geismar, Germany, and his wife Stefanie Vogelsaenger also attended the function. The students presented the famous court scene of ‘The Merchant of Venice’ written by Shakespeare, a lively and peppy radio show, and a rendition of Kabir and Rahim’s couplets. NSS camp
A seven-day NSS special camp began at Jawahar Navodya Vidyalya, Sector 25. NSS programme officer Dinesh Saraswat was present during the inauguration ceremony. He apprised the students of the aims and objectives of the organisation. Various activities will be organised during the camp. ‘Incredible India’
Sri Guru Harkrishan Senior Secondary Public School, Sector 40-C, organised a socio-cultural exhibition “Incredible India”. The stalls exhibited the ethnic, cultural and traditional aspects of various states including Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland and Maharastra. The students were dressed in the attires of the respective states. They performed Himachali, Lavani, Naga and Kolattam dances. DAV Public School, Sector 8-C, organised “Reading Together” activity for the whole school. This activity was organized for 2,013 seconds, where the whole school came to a halt for 33 minutes and 11 seconds, to enjoy the pleasure of reading. This is an annual feature of the school. Students, teachers as well as the non-teaching staff participated in this activity. Christmas celebrations
Mohali: Students of St Xavier’s School celebrated Christmas amidst pomp and show. The school campus wore a festive look, decorated with bright poinsettias and a beautiful Christmas tree. Celebrations started on a high note with carol singing and a play, Santa's Christmas. Special assembly
AKSIPS conducted a grand special assembly where students received prizes in various categories. The school’s football team that won the second position in an inter-school tourney were awarded. The bhangra team received certificates for their participation in Mudra Inter School Dance competition. The teachers received motivation badges at the end of the ceremony. Colouring competition
Sudents of DAV School participated in “Avantika — National Level Talent Search Colouring Competition 2012” and won laurels for the school. The school won 10 memorial shields, 14 gold medals, 12 silver medals and 19 bronze medals.
— TNS
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Lobbying on to grab seats
Four groups have already been formed for the Syndicate elections: GK Chatrath Group, Ashok Goyal group, DAV alliance group and BJP alliance group. Elections are being held for 15 seats in the Syndicate. Dinesh Talwar, a Senator, said the groups are busy calculating the number of voters who are expected to vote for them in each faculty. “Meetings are taking place and the final picture will become clear only before the Senate meeting,” Talwar said. RPS Josh, another Senator, said it was expected that the Senate meeting will end soon as everyone will be focused on making strategies for the Syndicate elections to be held the very next day of the meeting. An outstation senior Senate member said the moment the Senate meeting would get over, a meeting would be held at the university guest house to finalise the strategy for the election day.
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PU to use courier service to deliver roll numbers
Ordinary post gets misplaced many times, students inconvenienced Amit Sharma Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 18 As per the existing practice, the university sends the roll numbers through the ordinary post which sometimes gets misplaced or is not delivered to the students, following which they have to visit the campus to get a duplicate copy and also pay Rs 110 as fee for no mistake of theirs. The issue was raised in the Syndicate meeting held on December 15 that led to a heated debate, following which the Vice-Chancellor proposed to send the roll numbers through couriers. Dinesh Talwar, a Syndic, who raised the issue, said that every year many students from far-flung areas of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh have to come to PU to get duplicate roll numbers before their exams. “This has been happening every year, but the university has failed to find a solution,” he said. PU Registrar AK Bhandari said although a proposal to send the roll numbers through Internet is also under consideration, these will be sent through couriers the next semester. The university, however, has not yet decided who will bear the cost of the courier — the university or the students. A few years back too, the university had started sending the roll numbers through couriers, but later shifted back to the ordinary post after facing some problems.
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Chandigarh, December 18
The Tribune staffers travelled on the 6.2 km stretch of Mohali-Chandigarh Road, popularly known as “Piccadilly Road”, during the normal and peak rush hours to find out how the road tested the patiencen of commuters. 
Chandigarh, December 18