Chandigarh, January 29
The rift among BJP workers over finalising the name of the candidate for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat came to the fore when they clashed with each other at Punjab BJP Bhawan in Sector 37 today.

The fight took place in the presence of senior BJP leaders, including party national secretary and in charge of the party affairs in Chandigarh Aarti Mehra.

A meeting was called by the Chandigarh unit of the BJP to seek the views of BJP workers on the party candidate. At the meeting, it was proposed that the party would suggest four names to the workers and they could select one of them. The names were those of city BJP president Sanjay Tandon, former MP Satya Pal Jain, former Union Minister Harmohan Dhawan and Bollywood actress Kirron Kher.

As soon as the announcement was made, some BJP workers objected to it and demanded that this time the party ticket should be given to an SC candidate. They said the party should seek the views of all BJP workers instead of office-bearers since a majority of the office-bearers were from the Sanjay Tandon camp.

While party workers were raising their voice, BJP worker Narinder Chaudhary, along with his supporters, started walking towards the stage to meet Aarti Mehra. BJP spokesperson Gurpreet Singh Dhillon tried to stop them. Within no time, workers of both groups gathered and started beating each other. Some of the workers even reached the stage. The fight continued for around 15 minutes. Finally, the meeting was cancelled and Aarti Mehra left the venue.

Before the fight, Deputy Mayor Davesh Moudgil of the BJP objected to Aarti Mehra’s statement in which she said the party was losing the elections in Chandigarh for the past 15 years. Moudgil said instead of issuing such a statement, senior leaders should encourage the party workers. 

Chandigarh, January 29
Former Union Railway Minister and sitting Congress MP Pawan Kumar Bansal, who was earlier targeted by the Opposition on Railgate, is now facing a similar attack from local party leaders.

Bansal's nephew Vikram Bansal posted a comment on social networking sites saying, "Finally! The rats came into the open. Cleansing was done", indirectly targeting Congress leaders who opposed Bansal's name for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat. Reacting to the comment, several Congress leaders today openly targeted Bansal and his family members.

Former Senior Deputy Mayor Bhupinder Singh Badheri, who filed his application for the Chandigarh LS seat today, said, "Bansal's nephews who accepted Rs 90 lakh in Railgate are rats. After tarnishing the image of the Congress, both in the city and the national level, these rats have once again gone underground," he said.

"All Congressmen in the city are honest except these rats," Badheri said.

Chandigarh, January 29
For the coming Lok Sabha elections, six candidates, including sitting MP Pawan Kumar Bansal, have applied for the Congress ticket from the Chandigarh seat.

The other aspirants are former Deputy Mayor HS Lucky, former Senior Deputy Mayor Bhupinder Singh Badheri, former councillor Chandermukhi Sharma, senior Congress leader Chaman Lal Sharma and Kewal Ram.

While Chandermukhi Sharma filed his application tomorrow, he sent a demand draft of Rs 10,000 to CTCC president BB Behl today.

Lucky reached the Congress Bhawan in Sector 35 along with his 400 supporters to file his application. Addressing his supporters, he said the time had come to give a chance to a youth from the city. When Bansal was first given the Congress ticket from the city, he was about 40 years old. Now, Bansal should step down in favour of youngsters, he said.

Now, the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Election Committee will hold its meeting on January 30 to shortlist the names to be forwarded to Congress high command for the final decision, he said.

Though senior Congress leaders Manish Tewari and Venod Sharma have not filed their applications, sources said they could contact Congress high command to demand the Chandigarh seat.

Pawan Kumar Bansal (65)
He was recently made the head of the Congress screening committee for Gujarat, Rajasthan, Dadra Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Bansal has won the Lok Sabha elections in 1991, 1999, 2004, and 2009. He has been Railway Minister, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister and Union Water Resources Minister. 

HS Lucky (40)
He has been the president of the NSUI, Chandigarh Youth Congress, Deputy Mayor and a member of the Panjab University Senate and Syndicate. At present, he is the president of the District Congress Committee (Urban-1). 

Chaman Lal Sharma (70)
He is an advocate. He was among the aspirants for the Congress ticket from the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat in 1980, 1991 and 1999. He has been the president of the Chandigarh Club and has held various important positions in the Congress not only at the local level but also in the All-India Congress Committee.

Chandermukhi Sharma (49)
He is very close to Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Manish Tewari. He is a member of the Central Board of Film Certification. He has been the president of the Youth Congress, president of the NSUI, general secretary and vice-president of the Chandigarh Cogress and a councillor. 

Bhupinder Singh Badheri (49)
He has been the market committee chairman, Panchayat samiti chairman and Sarpanch. He has held the positions of general secretary and organising secretary in the Chandigarh Congress.

Chandigarh, January 29
A day after a UT traffic constable was caught on the wrong foot as he allegedly punched a 75-year-old man in the chest, senior police officials today suspended the errant constable and transferred him to the Police Lines. A show-cause notice was also issued to a traffic sub-inspector, who was in charge of the traffic vehicle.

UT SP (Traffic) Maneesh Chaudhery today issued orders for the suspension of constable Yashvir and transferred him to the Police Lines. Sub-inspector Jaidev Singh, who was in charge of the traffic police vehicle yesterday when the incident occurred, was issued a show-cause notice asking him to explain why disciplinary proceedings should not be initiated against him. Police officials said as Jaidev was in charge of the vehicle, he could have prevented the incident and stopped the constable.

A departmental inquiry has been marked against constable Yashvir.

"The suspension orders were issued today after prima facie substance was found in the complaint. It has come to light that the constable had punched the elderly man in the chest following which he fell on the road," said Chaudhery.

Chandigarh, January 29
The city’s automated paid parking lots in Sector 17, which were inaugurated by the former Mayor amid much fanfare, have been resorting to manual disbursal of parking slips as the automated barriers are not being put to use. The visitors are even overcharged by parking attendants.

Former Mayor Subhash Chawla inaugurated the automated parking lots adjacent to the Sahib Singh and Empire Store showrooms on December 27.

Both the parking lots have computer-operated barriers that open and close automatically. The barriers open after a parking slip is generated by the computer and close after the vehicle moves past.

At the Sahib Singh parking lot, the visitors were being given Rs 10 parking slips at the entrance by parking attendants while they are supposed to charge the parking fee according to the hours a vehicle is parked for.

A similar view was witnessed at the Empire Store parking lot. On seeing The Tribune team clicking pictures, the parking attendants started asking the visitors to press the button to generate parking slips from the system. The two-wheeler riders were charged Rs 10 by instead of Rs 2.

Tejinder, parking supervisor at the Sahib Singh parking lot, stated he would check if the parking attendants were overcharging visitors. He stated they didn’t have enough space to run the automated parking lot. “There should be more lanes to control the incoming traffic, as the barriers take time to open and close,” he stated.

Chandigarh, January 29
The PGIMER today called for cadaver donation for research purpose in different departments. The institute has received 111 bodies and seen 1,860 persons pledging their bodies since 2007. It has been facing a shortage of donated bodies.

The PGI has set up a memory lane with portraits of all donors in the Department of Anatomy, naming them “teachers forever”. Also, the staff perform the rituals before sending it for embalming (for preservation).

Chandigarh, January 29
The president of the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (CTCC), BB Behl, today earned Congress workers’ wrath for demanding a demand draft for Rs 10,000 each from aspirants with their applications for the party ticket from the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat.

At the Congress Bhawan, Sector 35, Kewal Ram, a resident of Sector 45 C, who has applied for the ticket, said Behl and Pawan Kumar Bansal were rich people and they could even afford Rs 1 lakh for filing the application. He has been affiliated with the Congress for the last 40 years but has never heard of any such demand by Congress leaders, he said.

Kewal Ram stated this in the presence of senior Congress leaders in Behl’s room. Behl told him to go out of his room. But Kewal Ram insisted and Behl had to receive his form. The amount for SC candidates is Rs 5,000.

Similarly, former Senior Deputy Mayor Bhupinder Singh Badheri, who also filed his application today, said when there was no such demand by the Congress units of Punjab and Haryana, why was Chandigarh Congress following this rule here?

Behl said the money would go to the Congress and would help strengthen the party in the City Beautiful.

Chandigarh, January 29
The licences of 24 taxi stands in the city, which were cancelled by the Municipal Corporation, have got an extension till March 31, 2015. The three-member committee constituted to review the cancellation of the licences took the decision at a meeting held today.

The licences were cancelled in 2012 because of the non-compliance of the terms and conditions. Certain operators had moved court, following which a committee was formed to review the decision.

Congress councillor Satish Kainth, who is the chairman of the committee, stated the committee had decided to give relaxation to the taxi stand operators. “They can operate from the taxi stands till March 31, 2015, after which reallotment will be done,” Kainth stated.

There are around 15 more taxi stands whose allotment period has ended or is about to end. These have also been given extension till March 31, he added.

The members of the committee stated reallotment would be done as per the revised rules and regulations. 

Zirakpur, January 29
In a fire, which broke out at Hotel Palm Dale in Dhakoli at around 6.15 pm today, goods worth several lakhs were destroyed.

According to sources, the fire broke out in the hotel’s store and laundry on the top floor of the building. The second, third, fourth and fifth floors have rooms for customers. A short-circuit is said to be the cause of the fire.

At the time of incident, the staff and around 20 customers were present in the hotel. “All are safe and sound,” said an employee of the hotel. It took the firefighters around one hour to control the fire. The fire engines were called from Panchkula, Dera Bassi and Mohali.

Hotel owner Mukesh Garg said the loss ran into lakhs.

Chandigarh, January 29
A two-day national meet on Environment and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) commenced at JW Marriot Hotel today. The event has been organised by a Delhi-based NGO, Greentech Foundation, in association with the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India.

The two-day conference will discuss environment protection and CSR issues faced by the industry, service sectors and corporates, besides ways to overcome these challenges.

Inaugurating the meet, Dr Bhaskar Chatterjee, IAS (retd), director general and CEO of Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, said, “CSR has been made compulsory under the Companies Act, passed by the Parliament, comes into effect from April 1, 2014. The companies with a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore and more — net worth of Rs 500 crore and more, or net profit of Rs 5 crore and more — will have to spend at least 2 per cent of their three-year average profit every year on CSR activity.”

The conference will provide guidance on the best practices and experiences of developing and implementing best strategies.

Mohali, January 29
Mohali will soon have a new government-run residential school and an amphitheatre.

Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal will lay the foundation stones of the two projects, costing more than Rs 42 crore, here on February 6.

He will also lay the foundation stone of a road project, extending from Junction 74 to Kharar. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 105 crore.

The residential school will be constructed by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) on a 7-acre plot in Sector 70 at the cost of Rs 29 crore.

The school will include separate hostels for girls and boys, besides an accommodation for the principal. The institution, to be run by the Punjab Government, is likely to become functional from the next academic session.

An amphitheatre with a seating capacity of nearly 2,000 people, will be constructed in the Nature Park, Sector 62, by GMADA. The amphitheatre will be constructed on nearly 1.50 acres, part of the reclaimed land of the nullah that passes through the sector. A small parking facility will also be set up, besides a public parking area will be developed close to the project.

A 200-foot-wide road, another GMADA project, will link the Delhi-Ambala Road with the Kharar Road (NH 21) while passing through the Patiala Road (NH 64). This will be a bypass. Upon completion, commuters need not go through Chandigarh and Mohali to reach Kharar road.

Chandigarh, January 29
A man had a narrow escape when his motorcycle caught fire on the road dividing Sectors 33 and 45 this evening.

The two-wheeler owner, Kamlesh, a resident of Sector 38, said as soon as he stopped to attend a phone call, his motorcycle caught fire.

“I was lucky as I had just parked the vehicle and was standing next to it,” said Kamlesh.

A fire tender was rushed to the spot. The police, too, reached there.

Chandigarh, January 29
To spread awareness about the causes, prevention and cure of leprosy, National Cadet Corps (NCC) volunteers of the city took out a rally here today.

Around 150 cadets from the Army, Navy and Air Force wings of the NCC participated in the event.

Carrying placards and banners highlighting the significance of the anti-leprosy campaign, the NCC volunteers marched from the PGIMER to the Sector 17 Plaza. The rally was flagged off by Wg Cdr JS Jeji, Commanding Officer No.1, Chandigarh NCC Air Squadron.

Chandigarh, January 29
Saupin’s Community Service Organisation, Mohali Chapter, organised a flash mob, ‘Aashayein’, at the Elante Mall, here today. Students of class 6th, 7th and 8th, put forth issues related to women empowerment through play, songs and dances to mark Women’s Empowerment Week. The worth of civilisation was arbitrated by the place given to women in the society. During the event, students presented a street play on the theme of equal rights for women and performance to spread awareness on the issues of dowry, gender inequality, heinous practice of female foeticide and infanticide, safety issues of women and other atrocities against women in our society.

The children staged a flash mob show spreading the message that girls are equal to boys in every field. They also presented a poem urging to change our perspective and raise awareness by a commitment to change long ingrained traditions and attitudes, rich in prolong discriminations.

UT police need lessons in etiquette, say residents
Do you think the Chandigarh Police need lessons in politeness? Do they need better training to deal with errant motorists? Chandigarh Tribune spoke to a cross-section of people to know their views.

We daily hear of incidents where the Chandigarh Police are caught on the wrong foot and are often perceived to be rude and impolite. The latest incident where a senior citizen was allegedly punched in the chest by a UT traffic constable on Wednesday at the Housing Board light point is a glaring example. The police definitely need training in being courteous to the public.

— Tanay, software engineer

Yes, the Chandigarh Police need a lot of training in this aspect. Lessons in being polite and courteous need to be imparted even before the police personnel pass out. Though sometimes the public, especially youths, is at fault, the police should deal with them with patience and that’s what is required in their training.

- Ankur Tandon, senior manager with a firm

There is something seriously lacking in the basic training of the Chandigarh traffic police as incidents of assault on the police and even the policemen manhandling the public are getting common. The police should not spare anyone violating rules, but at the same time they should ensure complete professionalism and handle every issue with utmost patience and politeness.

- Disha, homemaker

Policemen need to undergo regular workshops and training programmes for better communication skills and politeness. Such trainings are a must for those who are into regular public dealing.

- Parul Sharma, a resident of 22

There is an urgent need to teach communication skills to the policemen, especially who are in public dealing. The Chandigarh Police have a large number of new recruits on traffic duty who are very rude. They need to be given lessons in politeness.

- Akhil Thakur, engineer

Yes, the police should know how to interact with the public. Behaving politely will maintain a good image of the Chandigarh Police among the residents. Senior police officials should organise proper screening seminars for the police personnel deployed on duty.

- Garima, student

The police should be polite but firm in dealing with traffic violators. But that firmness does not give licence to hurt any violator, especially women and senior citizens. Proper training should be imparted to the police personnel. They should be taught to enforce the rules and regulations without creating any ruckus. Simultaneously, it is the duty of the citizens also to abide by the rules and help in their enforcement by the police.

- RK Mittal, former Deputy Commissioner, Central Excise, and a resident of Panchkula

Mohali, January 29
Members of the Government School Lecturer Union, Punjab, blocked traffic on the Chandigarh-Mohali main road near YPS Chowk this evening to press for their demands.

The protesters were up in arms as the state government was not paying heed to their demands of verification of certificates of headmasters, who were appointed in 2006, and the elevation of lecturers to the posts of principals.

Earlier, the members gathered in front of the office of the DPI (secondary) and sat on a dharna.

“The state government has assured us of fulfilling our demands soon, but nothing has been done so far,” said Hakam Singh, president of the union.

After staging the dharna in front of the office, the members reached the chowk in the evening and blocked the traffic.

The protest was on till the filing of the report.

Chandigarh, January 29
A woman employee of the Panjab University’s registration and store branch today filed a complaint of sexual harassment against an accounts officer with the PU authorities. The complaint was later withdrawn.

Sources said the complaint alleged that the accused passed lewd comments at her.

The sources said the complainant had discrepancy in her services following which the university has withheld her salary for the past few months.

“The complaint was to be forwarded to the sexual harassment committee. However, the woman decided to withdraw her complaint,” PU officials said. 

Chandigarh, January 29
A cyclothon was organised under the Oil and Gas Conservation Fortnight (OGCF) 2014 for students of the local branches of DAV here today. It was organised by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL).

Students of DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, Chandigarh, drove home the point that oil and gas were depleting fast.

Dr Vibha Ray, principal, DAV Senior Secondary School (Lahore), Chandigarh, flagged off the cyclothon in the presence of the state-level coordinator and senior regional manager of the HPCL, Krishan K Handa.

The students carried placards with slogans on saving natural gas.

“Under this initiative, we are sensitising the people to save these natural resources,” said Handa.

Chandigarh, January 29
The ABVP today launched a voter registration campaign from the Student Centre, Panjab University.

Talking to mediapersons, Harmanjot Singh, Joint Secretary, Punjab, said: “The motive of the campaign is to register the votes of students of various educational institutes. It is a national call by the ABVP. Our target is to register maximum voters and make the involvement of youngsters in the democracy”.

Among others Vikas Sharma, Gagandeep Singh, Dinesh Verma and Santosh were present on the occasion.

Chandigarh, January 29
The Student Centre, Panjab University, today hosted a signature campaign. It was headed by the council president, Chandan Rana, and representatives of the National Student Union of India (NSUI).

Party presidents Manoj Lubana, Hardeep Pannu (Lalli) and Bhupinder Batth motivated more than 1,200 students here to join the campaign against corruption. The aim of the campaign is to spread awareness among students about six pending Bills.

“These Bills are concerned with various corruption issues, including the Prevention of Corruption Bill. They are need of the hour in the democratic scenario. This campaign showed the mass upheaval among students regarding these Bills not coming into effect,” said one of the representatives.

The agitation will continue at the Sector 17 Plaza with Manoj Lubana and Bhupinder Batth sitting on a hunger strike in support of the campaign tomorrow at 10 AM. — TNS

Mohali, January 29
The team of the Indian School of Business, Mohali, emerged winner in the second edition of the Amazing Champions of Energy (ACE-II), which concluded at Gurgaon today. It was conducted by Cairn India. MNIT, Jaipur, and IIM, Calcutta, finished second and third, respectively.

P Elango, CEO of Cairn India, awarded the top three position holders with Rs 5 lakh, Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1 lakh, respectively.

The contest saw participation from 21 premier engineering and management institutions across the country.