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UT restarts probe into booth scam
Chandigarh, July 7 But the Estate Office could not track down the allottees due to incomplete information. Taking up the cases, Deputy Commissioner Mohammed Shayin and Assistant Estate Officer Rahul Gupta sought records of the wrong allotments from Dinesh Sood, the complainant in the case. “I have submitted the record earlier too. The officials are not probing the case,” alleged Dinesh Sood. It is learnt that after the railgate scam, UT officials do not want to take risk as the names of politicians had also figured in the former ADC PS Shergill’s report submitted in 2011. In October last year, a three-member probe committee of the UT Administration looking into the Shergill report on the scam had initiated proceedings in at least eight cases of allotment. The report was submitted a year after the probe panel was constituted to look into the Shergill report. Besides initiating the cancellation proceedings and criminal action against the violators, the panel had recommended a probe into the monthly income profile of the beneficiaries in 36 cases before taking action against them. A total of 93 allotments were under the scanner. The Estate Office has been able to dig out 14 cases. The probe panel had said that 93 allotments were made between 2003 and 2009. The screening committee, comprising Assistant Estate Officers (AEOs) and SDMs, who served during that period, met 13 times to verify the authenticity of the beneficiaries. In its report, the probe panel had focussed mainly on three parameters: The beneficiaries should not possess any commercial property in their or the name of their family members in the tricity. The allottees income should not be more than Rs 7,500 per month and they must possess a hawker's licence/ handcart licence. “Since the allotment conditions stipulated that the beneficiaries should not own any property in Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula, many allottees whose properties are in Zirakpur, Mullanpur and other neighbouring towns around the tricity have gone scot-free,” said sources. UT officials have not touched the aspect in which scathing remarks were made in the Shergill report about the alleged involvement of top politicians and senior officials in the scam.
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Patients forced to bring water from home
Chandigarh, July 7 The lack of water supply has worsened the situation at the dispensary. Chandigarh Tribune had highlighted how the dispensary staff had to knock at the doors of area residents for arranging water Six months ago. Ambika Singh, a 55-year-old patient, who visited the dispensary for tooth extraction, said: “The staff at the dispensary asked me to get
Another patient, Manoj Wadhwa, said: “The staff at the dispensary turn away patients due to lack of water. Besides, there is no regular doctor here.” Even the sphygmometer (blood pressure meter) has been lying defunct for the past one month. While an empty water tank has been placed over the roof of the dispensary, the pipes are missing. The taps are also missing from the wash basins and the washroom.
Officialspeak
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Display boards defaced, authorities clueless
Chandigarh, July 7
A visit to Madhya Marg revealed that display boards on the premises of the four government offices had been defaced.The boards on the premises of the Central Groundwater Board, Sector 27, Central Soil Conservation, Training and Research Institute, Sector 27, and Corporate Bhawan in Sector 27 have been smeared with black paint. It is not possible to read the name of the department written on the boards. An official of the Central Groundwater Board in Sector 27 said: “We have no idea who has done this and why. We have urged the authorities to get the boards painted again, but in vain. Even the department has not lodged a complaint with the police.” Employees of the Central Soil Conservation, Training and Research Institute said this might be the handiwork of workers deployed for the re-carpeting of a road outside the office. Employees of the UT Health Department in Sector 18 were informed by senior officials that residents were aware of the health office and there was no need to get the boards repainted. For the past two years, residents of Sectors 8, 9, 10, 11 and 15 have been complaining of the defacement of sector maps and layout plans.
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Women better behind the wheel: Survey
Chandigarh, July 7
The number of men injured in mishaps is also high. As many as 1,534 men and 360 women suffered injuries in accidents between 2008 and 2012. Harman Sidhu, who runs an NGO, Arrive Safe, says: “The national and global trends also suggest that the male drivers are more involved in road accidents as compared to women. Men, especially youths, indulge in reckless driving.”
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Property dealer commits suicide
Chandigarh, July 7 According to the police, Ajmer Singh had booked room number 107 in the hotel on July 5. Today, when he didn’t open the door of the room despite repeated efforts by the hotel staff, they informed the local police. The police said the body was lying on the bed and a suicide note was found from the room. “The victim, in the suicide note, had stated that there was a property dispute following which he committed suicide. He had blamed four business partners for forcing him to take the extreme step,” the police stated.
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Drain cleaning comes to naught
Chandigarh, July 7 Along the road separating Panjab University and Sector 15, the piles of garbage have not been collected for the past many days. Rain will wash it back into the drain, resulting in its blockage. Similar is the situation on the roads separating Sectors 19 and 27, Sectors 17 and 18 and the road connecting GGDSD College and Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Sector 32. The officials claim they have been keeping a regular check on the collection and dumping of the garbage. Superintending Engineer, Public Health Wing of the MC, RC Diwan said: “We have a system wherein we ensure that a team of workers removes garbage from drains and dump it at the right place. We have a total of 100 workers who are engaged in the cleaning work. We have recently cleared all the drains in Sector 11 and it’s a continuous process.” Often dry leaves add to the volume of the garbage around the drains and aggravate the problem of water accumulation. The southern sectors of the city are badly affected due to choked drainage every year.
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BJP, Congress workers clash at Bansal’s rally
Chandigarh, July 7
The trouble started when the BJP workers, who had come to show black flags to local MP Pawan Kumar Bansal, reached the venue of a public rally. While the BJP workers alleged that the Congress workers pelted them with stones, the Congress workers alleged unprovoked stone hurling by the BJP workers. The police has registered cases of rioting against both the groups. Pardeep Chhabra, spokesman for the congress, condemned the BJP for hurling stones at the Congress workers, who were on their way to attend the rally. Later, Bansal addressed the rally organised by the colony cell of the Congress. He said the BJP had disrupted parliament proceedings and proved to be a hindrance in the passing of various Bills because if those bills had been passed the party would have been completely wiped out in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. He took the credit for bringing the rehabilitation scheme for slum dwellers. He said the contractual system for the supply of electricity to the jhuggi dwellers would be abolished and he would talk to the administration in this regard.
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GMCH staff not paid for two months
Chandigarh, July 7 The authorities have not been providing any specific reasons to the staff for the delay in the release of their salaries. "Our contractor has already been relieved from here. Until two months ago, we were being paid by the administration. But, we have no idea what went wrong and our salaries were blocked," said one of the employees. The employees had recently written to the Government Medical College and Hospital Director, Dr Atul Sachdev, seeking his attention to the matter. Many of the unpaid employees are single breadwinners in their families. Dr Sachdev said: "Sometimes the verification process for contractual employees takes time. We need to follow a protocol but our endeavour is to ensure timely payment to each of them."
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Watch out for the fruits you eat
Hina Rohtaki Tribune News Service
“Most of the farmers including women have complained of irritation and had reddish spots on the exposed areas. When we inquired, they revealed that it happened after the use of chemicals during artificial ripening of the fruits,” said Dr Vikas Sharma, chief dermatologist of National Skin Hospital, Mansa Devi Complex, Sector 5, Panchkula. It is not just the farmers but various hawkers and wholesalers who are also turning up with this problem. He said,“They told us that they spray wax and use calcium carbide to ripen and sweeten fruits, particularly mangoes, bananas and watermelons. One can easily assess the harm which these chemicals would do when fruits laden with the same would be eaten by us.” The doctor also told that most of the farmers and wholesalers were from the Grain Market, Sector 26, Chandigarh. When calcium carbide is sprinkled on fruits, they ripen within 72 hours. Diseases like eczema, urticaria, angio-oedema, bowenf which are pre-cancerous have been detected in these patients. “One feels that eating fruits would strengthen the immune system, but after eating these adulterated fruits, immunity is finished, and as a result, one becomes prone to diseases,” said Dr Rajeev Kaura, dermatologist at the General Hospital, Sector 6, Panchkula. “Some of the farmers don’t do it willingly but are asked by their owners to do so,” said Dr Rajnish Chopra, a dermatologist based in Sector 15, Panchkula.
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Fard kendras a boon for landowners
Mohali, July 7 “We have opened a total of five such kendras recently and so far, 83,193 fards and 1, 97,556 attested copies of the land records have been issued to the applicants”, said Sidhu adding that any land owner could get the “fard” of his land within 15 minutes at the nominal charge of Rs. 20 per page. The five fard kendras have been set up in Mohali town, Tehsil Office, Kharar, Tehsil Complex Dera Bassi, Sub-tehsil Office, Majri, and Market Committee Office, Banur. Sidhu added that Mohali Tehsil comprising 82 villages and the land record of 80 villages had already been computerised and the remaining two villages would be made operational very soon. “Similarly, the land record of 100 villages out of the total 112 villages of Kharar Tehsil had been computerised and the remaining would be covered soon. Out of 150 villages of Dera Bassi Tehsil, the land records of 130 villages have been computerised and data entries of the remaining ones were being completed in a few days”, said the Deputy Commissioner. As many as 32 villages of Banur Sub-tehsil have been made operational and the land records of 80 out of 88 villages of Majri Sub-tehsil have been computerised till now.The general public has welcomed the move.
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‘Natak Ka Naam Kyu Rakhe’ deals with different shades of life
Chandigarh, July 7 The play consisted of 16 stories, of 5 minutes each. Director of the play Chakresh Kumar said each story had its uniqueness and was based on real incidents that occurred with the artistes involved in the play. Artistes included Jashan Singh Kohli, Basant Rana, Heena, Promila Thapa, Seouldeep, Aman, Abhishek, Nishant, Jyoti, Priya, Hardeep Singh, Karan, and Amrit. Mohit and Ishani composed the music.
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Be alert while getting ATM cards swiped
Security network should be put in place
RK Kapoor, Chandigarh Keep your eyes wide open
Like many other cities of the country, cloning of credit /debit cards and ATM cards are not a new phenomenon in the city and its satellite townships, Panchkula and Mohali. There has been a sharp rise in the incidents of cloning in the city, notwithstanding the fact that a surfeit of combative measures that have been put in place to tackle the menace. But there seems to be no stopping to incidents of cloning despite all that. If we want to churn out a lasting solution to the problem, we need to observe the following multi-pronged mechanism. A small amount of alertness and being proactive on the part of the card users can go a long way in tracking the cases of cloning in the city and elsewhere. While transacting, the card users must ensure that they handover the credit/debit cards to the staff concerned at the petrol pump, hotels or elsewhere to secure their cards against cloning. They must keep their eyes wide open during the course of card swiping. Ramesh K Dhiman,
Chandigarh
Get the card swiped in
your presence
The recent arrest of two people for allegedly making illegal and fraudulent transaction through cloned debit and credit card and the role of some employees at certain filling station for assisting them as they were adept at ATM card cloning through a magnetic ATM reading machine is also under scanner. It is advisable not to get a credit or an ATM card swiped in the owner’s absence. The owners should not part with ATM card/Pin or Internet banking user-ID/password, guard against any hoax calls seeking one’s ATM card number and change your ATM pin/INB password frequently. Puran Kant,
Chandigarh
Don’t flaunt your
ATM cards
It has become a style statement for youngsters to flaunt their cards even for not so substantial purchase. The card transactions particularly when one’s card is swiped in one’s full view are much easier and faster. But for transactions in restaurants and petrol pumps, here neither the transactions are so formidable nor the machine is in sight , flaunting of cards is not only unsafe but time consuming. Here cash payments, are a better option. Safety lies in prudence, than in just "show off" . SC Luthra,
MHC, Manimajra
Introduce complex identity authentication system
To prevent the gullible card holders from being cheated, complex identity authentication system should be ensured. This specific system should make it harder for fraudsters to obtain the information necessary to carry out fraudulent activity. Card holders should ensure complete privacy and secrecy while using their cards. Highly efficient and sensitive CCTV cameras should be installed to help in detecting culprits. Priya Darsh Growar,
Mohali
Launch awareness campaigns
Preventive steps against cyber crimes should be taken in advance. A majority of the people do not know much about cloning of credit and debit cards. There is need to lunch an awareness campaign to educate people about the cyber crimes and its prevention. One should be alert while using credit cards and debit cards. Use of skimmer machine should be banned. A comprehensive cyber security policy is needed with strong laws to deal with. Cyber protection is a major security issue as it affects all walks of life. Above all, coordination among various agencies will help to solve the cases of cyber crime. Vidya Sagar Garg,
Panchkula
Users need to be
proactive and alert
In view of the recent scams unveiled across the nation, it is not very difficult unscrupulous elements to clone credit and debit cards, including ATM cards. Though financial institutions as well as the security agencies, including the police authorities, issue a slew of measures to prevent such frauds, yet the invention of science and technology has made it easy for
anti-social elements to clone ATM cards. The card holders should be alert when their cards are being swiped. SK Khosla,
Chandigarh
Do not share your card info
People need to be proactive. They must avoid sharing card information as dubious elements call up as customer service representatives and extract confidential details. People should not handover their cards to petrol pump attendants and hotel staff. They should personally get the cards swiped to ensure that their card is not being cloned. Besides that, they should follow the guidelines issued by the police and banks from time to time about safety measures that need to be taken while using a credit card or debit card. The card holder should change the password from time to time. Also, check the monthly credit card bill thoroughly and keep an eye on inconsistencies in transactions. D Shruti K Chawla,
Chandigarh
Employers should check antecedents of staff before employing them
ATM card users should be careful while using their cards at shops, petrol pumps etc. Also employers of such business establishments should watch activities of their employees and check their antecedents before employing them, because wrong doings by employees also tarnishes their employer’s image. IPS
Anand, Chandigarh
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Chandigarh Scan
Sewing machines distributed
RSS Social Welfare Society distributed sewing machines to 40 women and tricycles to 12 disabled persons. The event was organized in community centre of Bapudham Colony, Sector 26, Chandigarh. The chairman of the organization, Kapil Dev Sharma said the main purpose of this initiative is to make women and disabled persons independent.
Conference on e-filing The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) on Sunday organised a daylong conference on e-filing today at Hotel Park Plaza which was attended by over 400 delegates hailing from taxation fraternity. The objective of the conference was to introduce the latest developments on taxation aspects which helps in trading. SK Satapathy, Chief Commissioner, Income Tax Department, Panchkula was the Chief Guest on the occasion who appreciated the role of CAs in nations' building. Health camp Fullerton India Credit Company organised a Free Health Check-up Camp for truck drivers in the Transport area of Sector 26 in Chandigarh on Sunday, as a part of its CSR initiative. The check-up included basic health checks and tests like MER, RBS (Random Blood Sugar) test. Medical kits were also distributed free of cost to the truck drivers who attended the camp. Over 100 truck drivers and attendants benefitted from the camp. — TNS
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PU yet to make hostels vehicle-free
Chandigarh, July 7
Following an accident on April 16 due to reckless driving by two university students, a committee was formed to look for solutions to control the growing traffic on the campus. The committee decided to ban the hostel residents from keeping four-wheelers from the coming academic session. The university had further decided that hostel residents will not be allowed to keep vehicles from July. All the hostel wardens were informed about the decision and notices were also put up in the hostels. However, most of the hostels are yet to implement the decision. Dean Student Welfare (DSW) AS Ahluwalia said wardens were persuading hostellers who had vehicles to send them back home. “It will take time to convince the senior hostel residents to leave the vehicles back home. Meanwhile, students taking admission to hostels from the coming academic session will not be allowed to bring four-wheelers,” the DSW said. Officials said the car parking of Boys’ Hostel No. 1 had already been locked to restrict hostel residents from keeping vehicles
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Final merit list to be out today
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 7 PU officials said the allocation of colleges would be done during a physical counselling. “The merit list will be declared in the evening,” officials said. The BCom first-year admissions will be held in 12 institutes in the city. There are 2,030 seats, of which 1,120 seats are in co-educational institutes, 770 in women’s colleges and 140 seats in men’s colleges. BCom admissions co-ordinator RK Gupta said the physical counselling for candidates from outside the UT pool will be held on July 11, for those from the UT pool will be held on July 12 and July 13, and for all the reserved categories in the UT pool, it will be on July 14. The candidates are required to bring their original documents at the time of counselling. Fee will be deposited on the spot after the allocation of colleges.
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Results of two candidates withheld till completion of PU inquiry
Amit Sharma Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 7 With the inquiry still on in the case, the university has decided to declare their results after a thorough probe. The university declared the CET results on July 5. Sources said the committee formed by the university to inquire into the matter had decided to reserve the results till it was able to reach a final decision. The girls had appeared for the MCA entrance exam on June 16, and their roll numbers were one after the other in a series. The PU officials got suspicious on seeing the same photograph on the admit cards. On checking the admit cards, it was found that all the particulars were same on both the cards, following which an inquiry was ordered into the case. The candidate, who had the other candidate’s particulars on her admit card, was asked to give her statement on as to how she was appearing for the entrance examination despite having wrong photograph, father and mother’s names and other details on it. The inquiry, however, hit a roadblock as the candidate twice failed to appear before the committee to record her statement. Sources at Panjab University said although the other candidate had recorded her statement, both the candidates might lose their chance to apply for the admission to the MCA course if the second candidate failed to appear before the committee.
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Normalisation process giving edge to state boards, rue students
Vivek Gupta Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 7 The final rank list of the JEE (Mains) was prepared by giving 60 per cent weightage to marks obtained in the JEE (Main) entrance exam, the results of which were declared on May 7, and 40 per cent weightage to the Class XII board examination marks. Students have been opposing the ‘normalisation’ criterion adopted by the board in calculating the board exam marks, which, they say, affected their final ranks by benefiting students of the state boards. A city-based student, Srajit Sakhuja, said the board adopted the normalisation procedure for Class XII exams in view of the large-scale variations in the examination system in the country. The problem, however, is that the system that was initially planned and announced, and the one which was eventually put into action are poles apart, said Srajit. The CBSE considered the percentile equivalent of the board exam marks in the JEE (Mains) for calculating the 40 per cent weightage, instead of the absolute percentile in the board exams. Another student, Pallabh Singh, said that since different boards differed in terms of difficulty level, number of students, checking procedure, etc., the normalisation process is certainly giving an edge to students taking their board exams from their respective states over those who appeared for exams under the CBSE or other Central boards. “The marks obtained in the board exams, which were earlier expected to be a mere contributing factor, will now be counted as a deciding factor. Admissions to top engineering college will be affected considerably by these marks,” said another student, Gourav. Students across the country are showing their resentment towards the normalisation process used for preparing the final rank list. As per media reports, a group of students is planning to move the Supreme Court next week to challenge the process. The Andhra Pradesh High Court on June 27 had issued a notice to the Union Human Resource Development Ministry on a petition challenging the normalisation procedure. Similar petitions are pending in the Delhi High Court.
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Dept introduces traffic marshal programme
Vivek Gupta Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 7 GSSS-Dhanas, GGSSS-20, GSSS-Manimajra, GMSSS-21, GSSS-27, GSSS, Raipur Khurd, GMSH-25, GMSH-43 and GMSH-41D are among the schools where the traffic marshals have been appointed. The traffic marshals were seen regulating the traffic and guiding the students about safety issues while leaving the school. Last year, Anupama, a student of Government Model Senior Secondary School for Girls, Sector 18, had come under a CTU bus in front of her school and had died later at the PGI. Gurnam Singh, Nodal Officer of the Traffic Marshal Programme, said that there were several issues that required to be sorted out as far as traffic regulation was concerned. “As observed by the traffic marhsals, both the students and teachers, especially those who come on their personal vehicles, try to leave the school together, thereby creating more chaos in front of schools. It is advisable that the teachers should leave the school 10 minutes after the students leave,” said Gurnam Singh. Among other issues, he said, CTU bus drivers and conductors must be instructed time and again about the safety concerns of the students. They must ensure that everybody is in before driving the bus in front of schools,” he said. Traffic Marshal of GSSS-27, PS Dalal, said that another important issue is that the parents, who pick up their kids on scooters and cars, should not park their vehicles in front of the schools. It usually hampers the smooth flow of traffic and creates a big problem for every one. Schools should come forward and spread awareness among parents on the issue, he said. Among other issues, traffic marhsals said that the presence of PCR especially in front of girls’ schools is a must so that the issues like eve-teasing and rash driving is addressed. The traffic marshal programme is expected to be implemented in all the schools. tips to manage chaos * Teachers should leave the school 10 minutes after the students to avoid immediate chaos during closing hours * Bus drivers and conductors must ensure before driving their bus that everybody is in and seated * Regular meetings of drivers and traffic marshals a must * Parents, who come to pick up their children on scooters and cars, should avoid parking their vehicles in front of the school gates * PCR vehicles must be stationed in front of schools
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Children awarded for reading books
Chandigarh, July 7 Pramod Sharma, co-ordinator, Yuvsatta, said the idea behind the reading contest was to motivate children to spend most of their leisure time in summer vacations on reading good books. He said 40 best readers were awarded on the occasion. Over 250 people from the area attended the award function.
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From Schools
Science quiz
Chandigarh: Tribune Model School organised an inter-house science quiz for Classes VI to X. Students of all the four houses participated in the contest. Vishwamitra and Chanakya Houses took lead in the first and second groups respectively. Students form club Government Model High School, Sector 34, organised a function on the occasion of formation of Kindness Club under Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), Chandigarh. SPCA president Dr JC Kochar was the chief guest. The event started with sapling plantation, followed by a cultural programme presented by students. They recited poems and delivered speeches on the significance of animals, birds and the environment. Stress management Panchkula: St Teresa Convent School, Sector 25, organised a workshop on stress management for faculty members. The workshop was conducted by Colonel Gursewak Singh (retd.), a city-based consultant on stress management and personality development. He emphasised on the management of stress and time while dealing with professional and domestic issues. Workshop An informative workshop on the comprehensive and continuous evaluation of the Central Board of Secondary Education was organised at Blue Bird High School, Sector 16 Panchkula. Navpreet Kaur, a resource person authorised by the CBSE, conducted the workshop. Preparation of tasks for different subjects for formative assessment was explained in details. Co-scholastic areas were discussed in detail. — TNS
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Sample this: A patient with a dental problem visited the dispensary two days ago for tooth extraction. The staff at the dispensary refused to treat the patient saying that it will consume a lot of water. He was advised to bring water from his house or go to some other dispensary. 
In 2008, a total of 488 men were involved in accidents. The number was 395, 448, 409 and 401 in the next four years. Meanwhile, 98 women were involved in road mishaps in 2008 and 97, 105, 97 and 93 in the next four years. The study reveals that 607 men and 120 women died in road accident in five years. 
Panchkula, July 7
It certainly is a matter of grave concern that the automated teller machine (ATM) cards are being cloned by unscrupulous elements and hundreds of innocent people are being deprived of their hard earned money kept in "trusted" banks for safety. The involvement of some "petrol pump attendants" in this racket has really shaken the faith of the common man as most people want a receipt for the petrol for reimbursements. The banks must come out with more security network in this regard so that no person gets cheated and deprived of his money. If such a practice continues unabated, then people will lose faith in the banks and the ATM system. There should be a system that the moment the ATM is misused, a signal is sent to the police control room indicating the location, be it a petrol pump, a shop or any other place so that immediate action is taken and the culprit is caught.
