Chandigarh, January 16
The sessions court in Panchkula today sentenced three persons to seven-year rigorous imprisonment. The accused were convicted of committing a robbery at a house in Sector 7 here. The accused were also fined Rs 5,000 each, failing which, the punishment will be extended by two years.

The court convicted Arun, alias Avtar Singh, and Deepak, both residents of Jalandhar, and Reepak, a resident of Hoshiarpur, for robbing a housewife at her Sector 7 residence. The accused held her eight-month-old daughter hostage at gunpoint and executed the crime.

The case was registered in March 2012. The weapon used in the crime could not be recovered.

However, the accused maintained that they commited the crime with a toy pistol.

According to victim Sakshi Modi's statement, on March 15, two persons knocked at her door at 2.15 pm. They asked her to fill a form for getting a smart card. However, she refused to entertain them. Later, the accused asked for a glass of water and forcibly entered the house. The accused caught hold of the eight-month-old baby at gunpoint.

In the meantime, another accomplice of the accused entered the house and all of them executed the robbery. The accused robbed Rs 40,000 and gold jewellery worth Rs 30 lakh.

Sakshi's mother-in law, who was returning from a temple, raised the alarm. Neighbours gathered and nabbed one of the accused (Arun). However, the other two managed to flee but were later arrested by the police.

Chandigarh, January 16
The UT Administration has taken a U-turn on the issue of transfer of cooperative house building society flats, sending hundreds of allottees in a tizzy.

Almost four years after coming out with a comprehensive “pro-people” transfer policy for society flats, the UT has come out with an order effectively putting on hold the transfer of society flats.

Quoting a letter of the Joint Director (Estates), SK Setia, regarding the pending issue of the transfer fee for conversion of leasehold property into freehold, the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, has stopped the transfer of flats in leasehold cooperative house building societies.

Unmindful of the transfer policy notified by the UT in 2009, the UT Finance Department, through the Estate Office, has been repeatedly pointing to the issue of "unearned income" through the sale and purchase of flats in the societies. The UT is getting a nominal fee.

According to the last policy notified in 2009, the GPA holders could get their flats transferred in their name by paying Rs 50,000 for category A flats, Rs 25,000 for category B flats and Rs 15,000 for category C flats.

The March 2009 policy had been approved by the UT Administrator. The transfer of the share certificate will only be limited to those people who are valid GPA holders (given by a member of the society).

Earlier, the UT had proposed charging a transfer fee between Rs 3.8 lakh and Rs 5.25 lakh, depending on the category of flats. However, the Administration could not find any takers for the scheme.

Chandigarh, January 16
An 18-year-old engineering student was killed while two others, including a woman, were critically injured in a freak accident that took place on the road dividing Sectors 19 and 27 late this evening.

The mishap took place when two students, Deepanshu Sudhir and Ankush, were riding a bike and hit a woman, Santosh, who was crossing the road. According to the police, the students were riding at a high speed and hit the woman following which the bike rammed into a pole.

Deepanshu, a resident of Sector 27, received a severe head injury. According to eyewitnesses, he died on the spot. Deepanshu and Ankush were taken to Government Multi-Specialty Hospital in Sector 16, where Deepanshu was declared brought dead and Ankush, a resident of Sector 40, was referred to the PGI. Santosh was admitted to the GMCH, Sector 32.

Both students were pursing their studies at a polytechnic college in Sector 26. The police said Santosh, who hailed from Solan, had come to visit her sister Geeta in Sector 56. Both had come to Sadar Bazar in Sector 19 in the evening and were returning home. The accident took place when both were looking for an autorickshaw.

Chandigarh, January 16
The good-old Maruti Gypsy of the PCR will soon be replaced by the swanky and spacious Maruti Eritiga or Toyota Innova. The UT police have planned to purchase 16 of these vehicles for patrolling purposes for the PCR at a cost of Rs 1.1 crore or Rs 1.5 crore. Part of the modernisation plans of the UT police, the new multi-utility vehicles have been chosen keeping in view their features of economy and space.

Police sources said the proposal to purchase Ertigas or Innovas had received the go-ahead and 16 vehicles would soon be added to the PCR fleet. Being spacious, the vehicles would also be used as ambulances to ferry accident victims to hospitals and would also come equipped with a stretcher and the GPS.

The vehicles were currently being checked and tested for their speed and other utility features at the Police Lines in Sector 26. With an average of 18 km per litre of diesel, the vehicles would come in handy in chasing thieves and in patrolling, the police said.

While the cost of an Ertiga is approximately Rs 7 lakh, that of an Innova is Rs 11 lakh.

“We are purchasing these vehicles as these are viable for the police compared to the Gypsy, which consumes a lot of fuel. Moreover, these vehicles have power steering and are easier to manoeuvre while chasing thieves. Besides, these are also spacious and can be used as ambulances. We have decided to induct 16 of these vehicles. A final decision whether these will be Eritigas or Innovas will be taken soon,” said UT Inspector General of Police RP Upadhyay.

At present, the UT PCR has 60 Gypsy vehicles. As many as 32 of these are equipped with the GPS. The police have planned to install the system on the remaining vehicles as well.

Chandigarh, January 16
For the second day in a row, the dense fog led to the cancellation of all the 13 flights at the domestic airport here. More than 2,000 passengers were affected. Besides, nine trains arrived late at the railway station due to the foggy conditions in the region.

The fog had reduced visibility on the runway right since the morning, making it impossible for the flights to land at the airport throughout the day.

While the passengers had tough time rescheduling their flights, the airlines suffered a loss of more than Rs 50 lakh due to the cancellation of flights.

All the four flights of the Jet Airways, including Chandigarh-Delhi at 11.40, Chandigarh-Mumbai at 12.40 pm, Chandigarh-Delhi at 5.15 pm and Chandigarh-Delhi-Bangalore at 5.40 pm were cancelled.

All the four flights of Spice Jet at 10.25 am (Chandigarh-Delhi), 1.10 pm (Chandigarh-Srinagar) 4.15 pm (Chandigarh-Mumbai) and 5.10 pm (Chandigarh-Delhi) also did not operate due to low visibility.

Besides, Air India's Chandigarh-Delhi-Mumbai at 11.25 was cancelled. Two flights each of Go Air and Indigo from Chandigarh to Mumbai were called off due to the bad weather

Meanwhile, a railway official said their would be no improvement in the rail traffic movement till the fog engulfed the city and its periphery.

All long-route trains were delayed. These include Unchahaar Express by 10 hours, Howrah Kalka by more than 5 hours and Lalkaun by more than 4 hours. Besides, Shatabdi, Himalayan Queen were also delayed by more than an hour.

No respite from fog for next 24 hours

Chandigarh, January 16
Residents of 11 villages of Chandigarh today staged a protest at Rally Ground, Sector 25, Chandigarh.

People from Karsan, Kanthala, Bair Majra, Jaipura, Faidan, Datarpur, Shahpur, Bajwara, Madrian (Fatehgarh), Chuhar Pur and Bakhta Bajwari villages participated in the rally. They said they were uprooted without rehabilitation and sufficient compensation.

Naib Singh, general secretary, Pind Vasao Committee (PVC) said out of total 50 Villages of Chandigarh Capital Project, a number of villages had already been duly rehabilitated but till date residents of these 11 villages were not rehabilitated by the Chandigarh Administration.

There are around 5,000 people, who are yet to be rehabilitated, he added.

Committee members alleged that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated a project of around 8,448 units of one room at Dhanas Village, Chandigarh. No one from the uprooted villages was given house at Dhanas.

On the contrary, slum-dwellers, who had encroached upon the government land, were allotted houses at Dhanas Rehabilitation Colony.

Villagers demanded that the UT Administration should rehabilitate them as they were uprooted from their legitimate villages only to develop the City Beautiful.

Chandigarh, January 16
Mayor Harphool Kalyan, at the first-ever meeting called by him, failed to put a united show of the Congress councillors. After becoming the Mayor on January 1, Harphool Kalyan called the first meeting of the Congress councillors today where only five councillors turned up.

The meeting was called on the issue that how the Congress councillors will help the Mayor in a smooth running of the MC House.

Besides the Mayor, councillors Satish Kainth, Darshan Garg, Sat Parkash Aggarwal, Mukesh Bassi and Pardeep Chhabra attended the meeting. The councillors, who failed to attend the meeting, were Subhash Chawla, Rajbala Malik, Gurbax Rawat, Rana Kashmiri Devi, Poonam Sharma and Sheela Devi.

The meeting time was 11.30 am but the members waited till 1 pm for others to turn up. The meeting lasted for around half and hour.

At the recent Lohri function organised by the MC, besides the Mayor, only three councillors attended the function. Eight councillors did not turn up at the function despite the fact that local MP Pawan Kumar Bansal was the chief guest.

Infighting among the Congress councillors had resulted in the Congress candidates' defeat in the recent elections to the posts of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor. Now, the elections to the Finance and Contract Committee (F&CC) are due on January 22, for which different parties are finalising the names of their candidates.

Mohali, January 16
Two women employees of a local gym have complained to Mohali SSP Inder Mohan Singh against Punjab ADGP Rajinder Singh.

In their complaint, the employees have alleged that the senior police officer misbehaved with them and threatened them.

“At the gym, loud music was being played, to which the police officer, a member of the gym, objected. He started creating a ruckus when we tried to calm him down. He not only misbehaved with us but also kept threatening us before the other members present there,” they have alleged in their complaint.

Meanwhile, Rajinder Singh told the SSP that he spoke loudly because of loud music being played in the gym. “I only asked them to reduce the volume,” the SSP said while quoting the ADGP. The ADGP claimed that all allegations against him were false and baseless.

Both women have sought action against the ADGP for threatening them. “We are feeling insecure,” they state in their complaint.

The SSP said he had deputed SP (City) Swarndeep Singh to verify the facts of the complaint.

Meanwhile, the gym management has terminated the ADGP’s membership.

Chandigarh, January 16
The city will be connected with Indore and Katra through the rail link in the next 15 days as the Northern Railway has finalised the schedule of these trains. Indore train will start run next week and the Katra train in the first week of February.

Train number 19308 from Chandigarh to Indore will leave at 6.25 am on every Thursday and no. 19307 from Indore to Chandigarh at 4.40 am. Information about the final date is yet to be received by the railway authorities. The train will take a halt at Dewas, Ujjain, Guna, Gwalior and Hazart Nizamuddin.

The Kalka-Katra train (number 14504) will run every Thursday and Sunday at 7 am and on return, the Katra-Kalka train (number 14503) will operate on every Tuesday and Friday at 7.55 pm.

Both these trains were announced by the former Railway Minister, Pawan Kumar Bansal, in the railway budget of 2013-14.

Chandigarh, January 16
The UT Administration and the Municipal Corporation will now jointly carry out a fresh survey with regards to the construction of much-awaited underpasses in the city. It was decided at a meeting held among the officials of the UT Administration and the Municipal Corporation today.

Recently, taking note of the delay in the construction of these underpasses, the UT Administrator, Shivraj V Patil, had ordered the transfer of the project from the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) to the Municipal Corporation (MC). The project has been hanging fire since 2008.

Earlier, the plan was to construct eight underpasses at different points, including the Press Chowk, Transport Chowk, Piccadily Chowk, Sector 17 ISBT, Kisan Bhawan and Matka Chowk. In the first phase, it was decided to construct the underpasses at the Press Chowk, Transport Chowk and the Piccadily Chowk, which witness frequent traffic snarls.

A senior official of the UT Administration said to identify places where these underpasses were needed, a fresh traffic survey was a must.

Mohali, January 16
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Mohali, has directed Aviva Life Insurance to pay compensation of Rs 1 lakh and to refund Rs 60,000 to a Mohali resident for deficiency in service.

The forum directed the company and its representative to refund Rs 60,000 which was illegally retained by them. The company was also directed to pay the amount along with an interest of 9 per cent per annum to the complainant.

Complainant Parvinder Kaur said representative of the company suggested her to deposit money in the plan explained by him, under which the amount with the insurance company would be doubled in three years. The representative also assured that if the policy continues for more than three years she would get Rs 5,000 per month as bonus.

On the representative’s advice, she paid Rs 30,000 as insurance premium. Thereafter, she paid two installments of Rs 30,000 each.

The forum said the policy terms and conditions do not give any right to the company to terminate the policy unilaterally and arbitrarily. This act, therefore, amounts to unfair trade practice and deficiency in service. — OC

Mohali, January 16
The office-bearers of Aam Aadmi Party, Zirakpur, played good samaritan when they came to the rescue of two accident victims at Patiala-Zirakpur crossing under the flyover at Zirakpur today afternoon.

The victims, Rajveer (30) from Kurukshetra, and Arvind (27) from Baltana, were rushed to a private hospital by Aam Aadmi Party (Zirakpur) in charge Narinder Jeet Kaur Brar along with Pankaj Pant and Anuradha Sharma and other Aam Aadmi Party activists.

Narinder Jeet Kaur Brar said they (the party activists) were busy in propagating for their party when they saw an auto rickshaw hit Arvind’s motorcycle.

After being hit, Arvind’s motorcycle hit Rajveer, who was walking on the road. Both sustained injuries as a result of the accident.

“Traffic policemen were also there but they simply ignored the entire scene. As nobody came to help them for about nearly five minutes, we took them to a private hospital, where doctors told us that Rajveer’s condition was serious,” said Brar.

“We were shocked to see the policemen’s indifferent attitude towards the whole scenario. The injured victims were lying on the road but even then no one came forward to help them,” alleged Aam Aadmi Party (Zirakpur) in charge Narinder Jeet Kaur Brar.

Chandigarh, January 16
The much-awaited draw of lots for admission to the entry-level class at Delhi Public School, Sector 40, was again a tale of smiles and tears.

While many celebrated their ward’s success, others left disappointed. The draw of lots was held on the school premises in the presence of parents. There was a tough competition as nearly 800 applicants were vying for 57 seats in the general category.

While 37 seats were reserved for the economically weaker section, 56 of the total 150 seats were given to the siblings of students and wards of staff and alumni. The school also has a waiting list of applicants in the general and sibling categories.

Principal Reema Dewan said the parents appreciated the transparency and smooth manner with which the draw of lots was conducted. She congratulated the parents whose wards made it through the draw of lots.

Now, parents are waiting for the draw of lots at Bhavan Vidyalaya Junior, which will be conducted on January 18. The competition is very tough, as it has received the highest number of applications: 1,700 applicants for 75 seats.

Principal of Bhavan Vidyalaya (Senior School), Sector 27, Vineeta Arora said only one parent would be allowed to attend the draw of lots. Nearly 50 seats are expected to be allotted to the general category, she said.

KBDAV School, Sector 7, will also hold its draw of lots on the same day.

Chandigarh, January 16
The state executive committee of Government Teachers Union (GTU) reviewed the present status of various demands submitted to the authorities from time to time.

During the meeting chaired by the union president Dr Vinod Sharma, the committee deliberated on urgent issues and major demands of the teachers, including pending promotions to the post of master/mistress from JBT, nursery, drawing, PTI and work experience teachers.

A comprehensive policy for the grant of monthly salary on the basis of “equal pay for equal work” for contractual and guest faculty besides part-time lecturers and computer teachers was also sought. The committee also demanded the regularisation of services of the SSA teachers and raised the issue of regular pay scale for school heads.

The committee decided that it would send a seven-member delegation to the Director Public Instructions (Schools) to deliberate on the demands. Meanwhile, the committee welcomed the decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court for the filling of regular posts of various categories in the Education Department.