Chandigarh, August 12
Questioning the absence of the accused, Justice Nirmal Yadav (retd), in the CBI court when charges were supposed to be framed against her in the Judge bribery case today, CBI special prosecutor Anupam Gupta today asked the court whether Justive Yadav was above the law.

During a resumed hearing of the case today, all accused in the Judge bribery case were present except Justice Yadav. Describing the plea of spondylitis put up by Justice Yadav as a "sham" and pretense, her absence during the case hearing on medical grounds was strongly opposed by the CBI prosecutor, who sought an inquiry against the doctors of the PGI, Rohtak, who have been issuing medical certificates to her.

The defence counsel moved an application seeking Justice Yadav’s exemption from the case hearing on medical grounds, citing spondylitis as her illness and reason for not appearing in the court.

“The medical profession is also accountable to the law and an inquiry should be conducted against the doctors who give such certificates for the asking. If Justice Yadav is really unwell, as she claims, the court should order her medical examination from a reputed and unimpeachable institution like AIIMS, Delhi, or the PGI, Chandigarh,” said Anupam Gupta.

“Justice Yadav is making a mockery of criminal justice by seeking exemption even at this stage of framing of charges," he said. Gupta said till now he had not opposed her personal exemption since the matter was being argued by the counsel. “But for a former High Court Judge not to appear even for framing of charges is willfully obstructing justice and is extraordinary,” he said.

The defence counsel then told the CBI that he could not summon Justice Yadav to the court “right now” to which the CBI public prosecutor replied, “Please do that”. “Let her come today itself and charges can be framed after lunch hours,” said Gupta.

After heated arguments, the court finally accepted the application and adjourned the case to August 27, directing all accused to be personally present in the court.

Ever since she has been chargesheeted, Justice Yadav has appeared in the CBI court only thrice and not even once since March 2012. She first appeared in the court on August 27, 2011, following directions from the High Court.

Panchkula, August 12
Action has been taken against the entire staff of the Sector 16 police post here in a corruption case. While one of them has been suspended, the others have been moved out of the commissionerate by Commissioner of Police Rajbir Deswal. They were allegedly found involved in a bribe case for releasing a person.

All eight police personnel posted at Sector 16 had to face the music. One of them has been suspended, while the others have been sent to the Police Lines with immediate effect and transferred out of the Panchkula-Ambala Commissionerate to Sonariyan.

Senior police officials said while the suspended policeman had demanded a bribe, the others kept silent despite knowing about it.

While Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Krishan Kumar has been suspended, those sent to the Police Lines are ASI Jagdish Kumar (in charge), ASI Prem Chand, ASI Ramesh Kumar, Head Constable Kuldeep Singh, Head Constable Joginder Singh, Constable Shyam Karan and Constable Ram Chander.

The police post has now got new staff. Sub-Inspector Lakshmi Chand has joined as the in charge of the police post.

Last night, police officials claimed to have arrested Ajay Chaudhary in an inebriated condition. They took him to the Sector 16 police post. Sources said they kept him in custody and one of them allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 4,000 to release him.

Deswal said, “The police officials stated that they caught the man in an inebriated condition. However, they did not register a case and kept him in illegal custody.”

He said, “I got to know that they demanded a bribe of Rs 4,000 to release him following which I took this action. I have got their relieving orders for Sonariyan and new staff have been posted at the police post.”

Chandigarh, August 12
The face-off between the Deputy Commissioner and the SDM, South has turned murkier.

While PCS officer Amandeep Kaur has shot off a letter to UT Adviser KK Sharma asking him to relinquish her of the charge of the SDM (South) as Deputy Commissioner Mohammed Shayin is "biased against her" and is issuing her explanation notices, Shayin says it was well within his power to seek an explanation from the officer for a delay in issuing SC/BC certificates.

In her complaint to the Adviser, she has stated that despite several surprise inspections at her office in a single day on July 1, no pendency of SC/BC certificates was found. The DC, while declining to elaborate on the issue, says the decision has been taken in public interest.

The Adviser has reportedly forwarded the complaint to Home Secretary Anil Kumar to probe the matter.

Chandigarh, August 12
A day after a rally organised by the Chandigarh police exhibited daredevil stunts performed by bikers, UT Inspector General of Police RP Upadhyaya sought an explanation from the senior officials, including UT DIG Alok Kumar, SSP Naunihal Singh and SP (traffic) Maneesh Chaudhery, asking them to explain the purpose behind conducting such an event comprising illegal acts.

The rally was organised by the motor vehicle enthusiasts in collaboration with the Chandigarh Police to promote road safety in the city yesterday.

After the event was criticised by the media, the UT IGP convened a meeting of the senior police officials in the morning in his office and reportedly pulled up the officers who were present when the stunts were being performed.

“I have asked for the comments from the senior officials as to what was the purpose behind organising such an event and who was the brain behind it. It is a total non-application of mind and the acts are totally illegal,” said the IGP.

“Besides being severely criticised by the media, the event has maligned the image of the UT police and is unacceptable,” said the IG.

The IG was not apprised of the details of the event and that stunts will be performed during the rally, sources said.

The event had started with stunts performed on bikes and cars at Sector 10 where daredevil drivers put their lives at risk by performing the stunts without wearing safety gear. People participating in the rally with their swanky cars and bikes drove them at a high speed on the city roads, forgetting that the rally was meant to promote traffic rules and road safety.

Chandigarh, August 12
After the allegations of wastage of public money on study tours, first it was councillors and now the MC officials are also reluctant to go on the proposed study tour of the MC councillors and officials.

This year, the MC had planned to spend Rs 15 lakh on the study tour of 20 councillors and five officials accompanying them to various cities in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

At a meeting of the MC officials with MC Commissioner Vivek Pratap Singh held today on the issue Independence Day preparations, the issue of study tour was also discussed. The MC Commissioner told the officials that senior officials would be part of the study tours.

Sources revealed that though the Commissioner told the officials to accompany the study tour, a majority of officials were reluctant to accompany the MC councillors on the study tours.

A senior MC official said no officer of the Municipal Corporation wanted to go on this controversial study tour now. There are no cordial relations among councillors, and some of the councillors have already declined to be part of the study tour. Questions are also being raised on the wastage of public money on the previous study tours, he added.

“Though no official wants to be part of the study tour, if senior officials direct them then there will be no option for them,” the official said. 

Chandigarh, August 12
A 40-year-old woman was killed while her sister sustained injuries when the roof of their ‘kutcha’ house collapsed at Colony Number 4 here this evening.

The deceased has been identified as Meena Devi.

According to sources, it took almost 45 minutes to remove the victims from the debris. They were shifted to the Government Medical College Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh, where Meena Devi was declared brought dead.

Deputy Mayor Satish Kainth visited the hospital to enquire after the injured woman. 

Chandigarh, August 12
The recent killing of five Indian soldiers on the Line of Control in J&K has cast its shadow on Indo-Pak cultural ties as Pakistani Sufi singer Sanam Marvi's concert, which was scheduled for today at Tagore theatre in Sector 18 here, has been cancelled.

The regional office of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) had jointly organised the Sufi concert along with Delhi-based NGO Routes 2 Roots. Nalini Singhal, regional officer, ICCR, said the singer's musical performance in Chandigarh was cancelled four days ago after her Delhi concert was called off.

Rakesh Gupta, founder of Routes 2 Roots, said Sanam Marvi's concert was called off keeping in view the public sentiments in the wake of the killing of the Indian soldiers.

“No one can deny the fact that the culture is beyond boarders but we can’t enjoy anything in difficult and grief-stricken situations,” he said

Marvi is famous in the subcontinent for singing compositions of Allama Iqbal and Bulleh Shah and last performed earlier this year in March in New Delhi. Her performances were scheduled to be held in Delhi, Chandigarh and Patna over this week.

Talking to The Tribune over the phone from Lahore, Sanam Marvi said that she was excited to perform in Chandigarh but definitely disappointed following the cancellation of her concert.

She said the killing of the Indian soldiers was very unfortunate and she had full sympathy with their families. But, boycotting each other is not a solution to any problem.

“We artists belong to the whole world and always aim at strengthening better people-to-people contact through our art and music. Hopefully, I will return when the conditions turn normal,” said the singer, who left India yesterday.

Chandigarh-based senior journalist and writer Nirupama Dutt said: “This is the saddest story of Indo-Pak ties that a political situation often takes its toll on people-to-people contact. The worst affected are the people, writers, singers and poets of both sides and most importantly universal values of sharing freedom and love.” 

Chandigarh, August 12
In view of differences among Mayor Subhash Chawla and Congress councillors, MP Pawan Kumar Bansal held a special meeting of the Mayor and the Congress councillors yesterday.

Bansal reportedly told Chawla to take along all the Congress councillors. He asked the Congress councillors to resolve their differences and show unity with the Mayor in the MC House meetings.

Sources said, at the meeting, Mayor complained to Bansal about the non-cooperative attitude of the Congress councillors in MC House meetings and other meetings. Thereafter, some Congress councillors complained about the Mayor’s behaviour.

They alleged that the Mayor discussed those things at House meetings, which they had shared with the Mayor in confidence.

After hearing complaints from both sides, Bansal told the Congress leaders that as it was the election year, they should not give any chance to the Opposition parties to weaken the Congress in Chandigarh.

What fuelled differences Congress councillor Mukesh Bassi had written two letters to Mayor Subhash Chawla alleging unnecessary interference in his ward Congress councillor Pardeep Chhabra had not attended the Rose Festival programme, which was organised in his ward, because his name was missing on the invitation card Some Congress councillors had boycotted the Fourth Delhi Finance Commission meeting because the Mayor had gone to meet the Panchkula Mayor along with two youth Congress leaders. There was resentment among the councillors against Chawla for taking those leaders along with him and sidelining the present councillors. Congress councillor Sat Parkash Aggarwal had targeted the Mayor’s style of functioning in the House meeting.

Mohali, August 12
After seeing that the special 10-day cleanliness drive did result in as expected, the miffed Mohali Deputy Commissioner, Tajinder Singh Sidhu, summoned the officials of the Municipal Corporation and contractors at a garbage dumping site near Sector 70 and 71 traffic lightpoint for a meeting this evening.

Showing his displeasure over the heaps of garbage at several points in the town, the Deputy Commissioner asked the officials concerned about the reason of heaps of garbage in the city .

As the officials have no reply, the Deputy Commissioner took them to other dumping sites at Mataur village, PTL Chowk and Phase VI to show the poor state of affairs.

Notably, Sidhu had launched the special drive on August 1 with much fanfare and it was announced then that the entire town would be cleaned under the drive. The DC admitted that the drive did not bear the desired fruit.

"I have issued instructions to the officials to continue the special drive till the town was completely cleaned and further maintain the status. Lackadaisical attitude in this regard will be tolerated in future," said Sidhu.

The MC Joint Commissioner, Dilraj Singh, who was also present there, instructed his staff to check the cleanliness of the town regularly. 

Panchkula, August 12
Following the deep cracks that developed in houses at Chandi Kotla after incessant rain, a team of the Panchkula Administration, including Deputy Commissioner Dr SS Phulia, visited the site today.

Tents have been pitched and rooms in the nearby schools have been made available to the villagers whose houses collapsed. Arrangements in the Mansa Devi temple have also been made by the local administration.

Panchkula MLA DK Bansal, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) SP Arora also accompanied the DC. It was due to the continuous rain in the area that the houses developed cracks and collapsed. The incident is the reminder of last year when such incident took place. The then Deputy Commissioner, Ashima Brar, had asked the villagers to move out as there was a fear of landslides. 

Mohali, August 12
The Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) again increased processing fee by 10 per cent for getting no objection certificate for the sale or transfer of property in residential and commercial sectors. Earlier, for residential property, the fee was Rs 2,500 which has been increased to Rs 2700. In commercial sectors, the processing fee has been increased from Rs 5,000 to Rs 5,500.

Shailender Anand, chairman of the Mohali Property Consultants' Association, said the authorities had revised the rates recently. “Last year the fee was Rs 1,000 for residential property, which was revised to Rs 2,500 recently. Now it has been revised again. The authorities should avoid increasing the fee in a short span, particularly when the real estate sector is facing recession," said Anand.—TNS 

Panchkula, August 12
The fear has gripped the villages falling on the Panchkula-Naraingarh road after rumours that the "Kala Kaccha" gang was on the prowl. The rumours spread when some villagers alleged that the gang had struck in Bera village in Dera Bassi and chopped off body parts of people for robbery.

From Monday night onwards, the villagers would be on ‘thikri pephra’ along with the police. Panchkula Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Ashwin Shenvi said he had requested the Deputy Commissioner for theekri pehra, wherein villagers armed with lathis would assist patrolling parties in the villages.

“After the alleged incident in Dera Bassi, the villagers are feeling that the gang is on the prowl. In view to safe-guard them and make them feel secure, we have requested the DC,” said Shenvi.

He further added, “It’s a criminal tribe and they come in a tribal way. Till now, no such incident has been reported in Panchkula, but we have to take precautionary measures.”

“We are spending sleepless nights after we heard about the gang. ,” said Ram Beer, a villager.

While some of the villagers claimed that they had seen some suspicious persons roaming in the area and suspect them to be members of the mystery gang.

Mohali, August 12
Old sewage and rainwater storm pipes in the town are causing cave in of earth under the roads and near buildings, posing a serious threat to the residents. At least, seven cases of cave in under the road and near buildings at different points of the town have been noticed this monsoon.

“Huge pits have been formed where sewage pipes or rainwater storm pipes have burst. The town has nearly 40-year-old sewage and rainwater storm pipes that have started giving up at many points in the town,” said JS Dhami, executive engineer of the Department of Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage.

He admitted that at least seven such points had come to his notice recently. The most dangerous ones included a 20-feet-deep pit on the main road in front of NIPER in Sector 66 and about 10-feet-deep pit on the main road in Phase 7.

“It was an underground brick sewerage point near NIPER, which got damaged, resulting in formation of a huge pit on the road. To avoid any mishap, we have constructed boundary walls around both the pits on the main road,” said Dhami.

Jaspal Singh, a resident of Sector 66, said the construction of a boundary wall on the road was not a good idea as it could lead to accident, particularly in the night. “No reflectors have been installed on the walls. The administration should repair it immediately,”said Jaspal Singh.

Dhami added that the repair work was possible only after the rainy season. “I hope the repair would be done this week,” said Dhami.

Chandigarh, August 12
To show their solidarity with the PGI Employees Union, the group B, C and D staff of the institute held a rally here today.

The staff members, who were driving four-wheelers and two-wheelers, went from the PGI to Sector 28 in procession.

The union has been demanding the implementation of the CAT judgment, which has come after 19 years of struggle by the employees.

The procession culminated at the residence of Pawan Kumar Bansal, Member of Parliament and former Railway Minister .

“We want immediate implementation of the recent verdict of CAT and release of an increment on the eve of the Golden Jubilee of the institute”, said the PGI employees.

Chandigarh, August 12
The Joint Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Chandigarh, has directed the President of the Ajanta Cooperative House Building Society, Sector 51, to refund Rs 1,25,000 charged in the name of development fund while transferring a flat in the name of Madan Lal Sondhi.

Chandigarh, August 12
Partial knee replacement surgery (PKR) has come as a boon for the patients of osteoarthritis, which involves conserving knee ligaments without affecting cartilages, unlike the total knee replacement surgery, said the Director and Head, Department of Orthopaedics and Joint Replacement, Fortis Hospital, Dr Harsimran Singh here today.

Sharing the new technology that gives freedom from knee pain, Dr Harsimran added since in the PKR there was no trauma to ligaments and cartilages, the range of joint movement is more. A patient can sit cross-legged and take part in all socio-cultural activities.

The recovery is quicker, normal activity level is reached sooner and the patient is on painkillers for lesser time. Patients can get back on their feet faster than they do after total knee replacement.

Dr Harsimran said the timing of conducting the PKR was the most important thing. The joint to be operated upon should neither be too crooked nor bone quality too bad. 

Chandigarh, August 12
The Department of Cardiology, PGIMER, for the first time in its history participated in a live case performance with excellent results. A live case performance was transmitted from PGIMER for the Advanced Cardio Vascular Solutions Conference at Hyderabad in collaboration with Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (USA) recognised as the world’s best interventional cardiology forum. There were a total of 11 live case centres, eight national centres and three international (USA, Italy and Germany) that participated in the conference.

The main interventional cardiologists were Dr S Reddy and Dr Shiv Bagga, assisted by their resident doctors. The case was very complex and adjudged as the most tough and best case for live transmission. The patient was an elderly woman who refused to undergo a CABG (bypass surgery). The latest optical coherence tomography guided complex angioplasty was demonstrated on her. A highly intricate procedure of angioplasty was performed with excellent results during the conference and was on a par with international standards.

Chandigarh, August 12
To get over the problem of space for the setting up of a 220 kV power substation in the city, the UT Administration has now decided to change the technology from air-insulated substation (AIS) to gas-insulated substation (GIS), which requires less space.

With the change in technology, the UT Administration now only required 3 acres instead of 9 acres earlier required to set up a air-insulated substation. The new technology would increase the project cost by 50 per cent from Rs 100 crore to Rs 200 crore, which will be born by the Power Grid.

In January, the Standing Committee on Power System Planning in Northern Region had approved the setting up of a 220 kV substation in the City Beautiful. Thereafter, the Electricity Department had written to the Urban Planning Department to allot land for the substation. Till date, the Administration is not able to identify land for the substation.

The UT Superintending Engineer (Electricity), MP Singh, said after the setting up of the new power substation, the Administration would be able to properly distribute power purchased through various power generators. The substation will also help the administration to channelise power, the demand for which is going to increase in the coming years, in a better way, he added.

The standing committee, which comes under the purview of the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), had allowed the administration to set up a 220 kV substation in the southern sectors. At present, there is only one 220 kV substation at Mani Majra in Chandigarh.

Several issues were discussed at the meeting. It was mentioned during the meeting that not attention was being paid to pensioners' issues. 

Chandigarh, August 12
The campaigning for student elections at Panjab University has picked up pace with leaders visiting departments and hostels to address the voters. Late-night meetings of party workers are also in pace to devise the winning strategy.

NSUI leader Manoj Lubana said they had already started late-night meetings with hostel residents to plan the strategy for the student council elections. “We are mobilising our supporters in the hostels to ensure maximum support from the hostel residents,” Lubana said.

Group meetings of student parties can also be witnessed at the department canteens. Members of various parties can also be seen on the campus with stickers of the party pasted on their clothes.

Prabhpreet Singh, an SFI leader at PU, said they had formed groups of students who had been given the responsibility to visit the departments and interact with students.

“Each group has been assigned particular departments where they have to visit frequently to meet the students and discuss their problems,” Singh said.

Panjab University Students Union (PUSU) party president Yadwinder Singh said hostel meetings with freshers had started. From Monday, they would be going to meet the students in the departments.

“We are going to have one-on-one dialogue with the freshers to know about their demands,” the PUSU leader said.

While the final date of the elections is yet to be announced, the university has recommended September 4 as the election date. The final decision is to be taken by the UT Administration. There are around nine different student parties on the PU campus with more then 13,000 students who have the voting right.

Chandigarh, August 12
The political scene for the Panjab University Teachers Association (PUTA) elections is hotting up on the PU campus.

The Devinder group contesting elections against the Akshaya-Khalid group today announced its agenda for the election scheduled for August 22.

From the Devinder group, Devinder Singh of the Department of Laws is contesting for the post of president, Ashok Kumar of the Hindi Department has been fielded for the post of vice-president, Parveen Goyal of the UIET is contesting for the post of secretary, Harveen Kaur of the BDS Department on the post of joint secretary and Jivesh Bansal from AC Joshi Library will be contesting for the post of treasurer.

Listing the promises for the elections, Devinder Singh said enhancement of retirement age of teachers from 60 to 65 would be their priority. “This has been a long-pending demand, and we want to address this issue on a priority basis,” he said.

Another major issue that has been on the priority list of the Devinder group is the recruitment of faculty at the earliest.

"We will ensure that the teachers are recruited at all levels, including the professor and the associate professor level,” said another team member.

The Devinder group has started visiting the departments to meet teachers and discuss their issues.

Ashok Kumar said they wanted the teachers to give them a chance to work on their demands and redressing their problems.

The group will also be releasing its manifesto in the coming days.

Chandigarh, August 12
HIMSU, a front of Himachal Pradesh students, today decided to enter Panjab University politics. Its members held a meeting at the Student Centre to show their strength.

HIMSU, which had so far been active in city colleges only, has now decided to field its candidates in the coming students’ elections.

Kapish Chauhan, a HIMSU leader, said from the past several years, Himachal students had faded away from the campus politics and they wanted to revive the students’ union again in the university.

“A HIMSU candidate will be contesting for the first time in the students’ elections. We are planning to enter into an alliance with another student outfit to ensure a win,” Chauhan said.

Sachin Kanwar, a PU student, has been announced the party president who will be coordinating the functioning of the party.

The leader said they had been approached by a few organisations. But, they would enter into the alliance with the student party, which will raise their demands and solve the issues of students.

Earlier, the Himachal Pradesh Students Union used to exist in the university campus. From the past several years, the party has failed to make any mark in the students’ elections. 

Chandigarh, August 12
The DAV Dramatics Club staged its street play “Buri Nazar Wale” at DAV College in Sector 10, Chandigarh. The street play depicted current issues like political inaction, corruption, human trafficking, ineffective judiciary and law enforcement.

The street play highlighted the need for introspection and self-correction to cure the demons of terrorism and violence. The play was witnessed by cheering students, who could relate it with the current issues.

Team members Armandeep Singh Sandhu, Sarthak Narula, Satish Yadav, Abhishek Gautam, Rachna Gupta, Sylvester Stephen, Tarun JC Kapil, Divyangna, Arpan Vadhera, Ajay Sharma, Ishant Gandhi and Rama Ahuja were part of the play.