Panchkula, February 7
A six-year-old girl and her grandfather were killed when a truck hit them in Pinjore this evening.

After alighting from her school bus, the girl, identified as Jhalak, went to her grandfather Om Bahadur Thapa, who had come to receive her. The two were crossing a road when the accident occurred.

A passerby rushed the girl to the Sector 6 General Hospital where she was declared brought dead. Om Bahadur was taken to a nursing home in Pinjore where doctors referred him to the General Hospital. As his condition deteriorated, he was referred to the PGI, where he succumbed to his injuries.

Passersby overpowered the truck driver, Gurdeep Singh, and handed him over to the police. He is a resident of Kiratpur in Pinjore.

A case of death due to negligence under Section 304A has been registered against the driver at the Pinjore police station.

Commuters, who were stuck in a traffic jam following the accident, said the police did not clear the traffic.

“The police were busy challaning violators. They did not make efforts to clear the road," said a passerby.

Jalak was the only child of her parents

The victim was the only child of her parents. Her father Rajesh Thapa works in the same school while her mother is a housewife. 

Panchkula, February 7
Om Bahadur Thapa was shuttled between three hospitals. The golden hour, which is the first hour after a serious accident when it is crucial that the victim receives medical treatment in order to have a chance of survival, was wasted.

Thapa reached the PGI after three hours of the incident. When the victim was referred to the General Hospital from a Pinjore nursing home, the ambulance reached the PGI at 4.30 pm while the incident took place at 2 pm. After battling for two hours, Thapa succumbed to his injuries at the PGI.

It was learnt that the family of the victim insisted on shifting him to some other hospital.

“The child was brought to the hospital at 3 pm while Thapa reached at 3.45 pm. Both of them had suffered head and leg injuries and were bleeding profusely,” said a doctor at the General Hospital.

The autopsy of the victims will be conducted tomorrow.

Chandigarh, February 7
Chaos prevailed at the sub-offices of the Registration and Licensing Authority (RLA) in Sectors 42 and Industrial Area as the staff was not enough to handle the applicants' rush.

Vehicle owners at the Sector 42 office complained that staff of the private contractor handling the process of issuing the receipts was not only rude but did not entertain all applicants.

The rush of the HSRP seekers increased after the Chandigarh Police started challaning vehicles of CH 01 AN to CH 01 AW series.

The RLA authorities were caught napping as they were not expecting so many applicants on a single day. The proposal of the authorities to starts the job of affixing the number plates at eight different locations is yet to be implemented.

"The RLA authorities should have made arrangements to handle the applicants' rush before asking the police to start the challaning drive," said TS Bedi, a resident of Sector 44.

The police even challaned the vehicle owners who had applied for the HSRP. Sumit, a resident of Sector 22, said he had applied for the number plate but the police challaned his vehicle.

RLA Kashish Mittal said the police had been told not to issue challans to vehicle owners who had receipts of the HSRP. "We have been asking vehicle owners to affix the HSRP since September, but not many applied for the same," he added.

The RLA said more counters and sub-offices would be opened for affixing the HSRP on old vehicles.

Ajay Jagga, a social activist, in a representation to the Home Secretary said vehicles should be challaned under Section 177 and not 192 (i) if the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988. Government vehicles should also be challaned.

Vehicle owners at Industrial Area sub-office of the RLA also complained of harassment at the hands of the contractor. "Dates to affix the HSRP are given time and again. Haphazard parking outside the office also adds to chaos," said Pushpinder Kumar Jain, a resident of Mani Majra. He complained that the contractor refused to return the old registration plates of his vehicle.

Chandigarh, February 7
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed the Northern Railways to pay Rs 1 lakh to a complainant for stolen luggage. The forum has also asked the Railways to pay Rs 10,000 as damages for mental agony to the complainant.

Balbir Singh, a resident of Sector 15, Chandigarh, boarded a train from Patna to Kolkata with his family. During the journey, Balbir found his two suitcases missing. He tried to pull the chain, but the train did not stop.

He reported the matter to the Government Railway Police at the next station, but they asked him to file a complaint the Jhajha railway police station where the luggage was stolen.

A case was registered at the Jhajha police station. The suitcases were containing gold ornaments, cash and clothes amounting to Rs I lakh.

“The authorities failed to perform their duty which amounts to negligence under Section 100 of the Indian Railway Board Act. There are no reasons to disbelieve the affidavit of the complainant on the point that the train did not stop even after pulling its chain. The Railways is under an obligation to provide safety and security to passengers and their luggage,” the forum ruled.

Chandigarh, February 7
Member of Parliament and former Union Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal today flagged off the Chandigarh-Indore Express, a weekly train, here at 7.10 pm today. He also inaugurated the escalators, which were made functional at the railway station for convenience of passengers.

The train will cover the 1141-km journey via Dewas, Ujjain, Maksi, Shajapur, Guna, Shivpuri, Gwalior, Agra, Mathura, Faridabad, Delhi and Nizamudddin in 22 hours. The train, 19308 Chandigarh-Indore Express, will depart from Chandigarh every Friday at 7.10 pm and will reach Indore at 5.35 pm the next day. After departing from the city, the train will reach Delhi at 11.15 pm, Nizamudddin at 12.15 am, Agra Central at 2.40 am, Gwalior at 4.45 am, Ujjain at 2.50 pm and Indore at 5.35pm.

The fare for sleeper second class will be Rs 440 while it will be Rs 1,175 for third AC and Rs 1,655 for second AC.

On return journey as 19307 Indore-Chandigarh Express, the train will depart from Indore every Thursday at 5:35 am and reach Chandigarh at 6:45 am on Friday.

Bansal said the train had been started in view of the heavy demand from city residents, especially those hailing from Madhya Pardesh. 

Chandigarh, February 7
A local court today acquitted former UT Chief Engineer KK Jerath in a 16-year-old corruption case.

Jerath was accused of purchasing construction material for two blocks of GMCH-32 from his favourite suppliers which resulted in a loss of Rs 51.80 lakhs to the UT Administration. Six more accused were acquitted in the case.

In December 2013, the court had acquitted Jerath in another case of allotting works to contractors, which allegedly resulted in a loss of Rs 35 lakh to the Administration. Jerath served as the UT Chief Engineer from 1995 to 1997. Jerath’s counsel Terminder Singh contended that the inquiry was conducted by the police instead of technical experts. This was against the rules of the Central Vigilance Commission.

The others who were acquitted included contractor Tarsem Lal, the then Executive Engineer Amarjeet Singh, the then Superintending Engineer SC Katial, Surjit Singh Bhatti, Hanraj Saini and Nand Lal (now dead). Jerath was booked by the Vigilance Wing of the Chandigarh Police in six cases in 1998. He has been acquitted in five cases. The CBI court sentenced him to three-year jail in a misappropriate assets case in 2009.

Chandigarh, February 7
The Municipal Corporation will replace ordinary signboards with the glossy ones bearing house numbers at the entry points to lanes in the city.

Congress councillor Pardeep Chhabra, who is also a member of the Finance and Contracts Committee, stated that residents had been demanding that such signboards be installed at the entry points to V-5 and V-6 roads.

"The signboards will be installed in two sectors in the first phase and the other sectors will be covered later on," Chhabra stated.

Made of aluminium, these will shine at night and commuters will not have to face any inconvenience while locating a house. The decision to install the signboards was taken in 2011, but it could not be executed.

The issue was discussed in the recently held meeting of the Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC).

Chhabra stated that a budget of Rs 3.5 crore had already been allocated for the project, but it could not take off. "New signboards need to be installed at various parts of the city," Ashish Dogra, a resident of Sector 11, said in the absence of the signboards, not only the locals, but also those coming from the neighbouring states faced a great difficulty in reaching their respective destinations. 

Chandigarh, February 7
The Congress and the BJP are using money to keep ticket aspirants off the race. It is for the first time that both the parties are having more than one ticket contender.

First it was BB Behl, president of the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (CTCC), who had issued directions that those eyeing the party ticket from the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat would have to deposit a demand draft for Rs 10,000 along with their application forms.

Thereafter, the BJP followed in the footsteps of the Congress and announced that the ticket aspirants would have to submit a demand draft for Rs 11,000.

A local Congress leader said following the directions, only six contenders applied for the ticket. "Had there been no condition of Rs 10,000, the party high command would have received 100 applications from the city," he said.

CTCC president BB Behl maintained that there was no harm in depositing Rs 10,000 along with the application form because money was for the party fund.

The practice was not followed by the Congress and the BJP in the neighbouring states. 

Chandigarh, February 7
The strike by the contractual employees of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) entered the third day today. Patients visiting dispensaries had to return disappointed.

Those visiting Directly Observed Treatment Strategy (DOTS) clinics were told to return.

A patient, who had come from Ramdarbar, said there was nobody to attend to her at the Sector 22 Civil Dispensary. The employees of the NRHM have been demanding annual increments on a par with regular staff. On Thursday, BSP councillor Jannat Jahan and Akali Dal councillor Harjinder Kaur joined 250 contractual employees. 

Chandigarh, February 7
The PGI's School of Public Health has installed noise measuring instruments at 20 locations of the institute.

The study aims at determining the peak noisy hours, most noisy locations and impact of the pollution on patients.

The locations include ICUs, Emergency, Trauma Centre, Nehru Hospital's reception and the other crowded areas. The study that will take about six months to complete will undertake responses in the form of a questionnaire from resident doctors and the other staff of the hospital on how they perceive the noise.

"Our objective is to study the effects of noise pollution in sensitive areas such as hospitals where so many chronic patients are admitted. Air pollution and its effects are always taken into consideration. Likewise, we wanted to see how much the patients are being affected," said Dr Ravindra Khaiwal, assistant professor, School of Public Health, PGI. He is the principal investigator in the study.

"We plan to expand the study beyond the institute and cover the other areas in the city in phases," he stated. The other researchers involved in the study are Dr Naresh K Panda, head, and Dr Sanjay K Munjal, assistant professor, department of head and neck surgery.

Chandigarh, February 7
In the wake of the rising incidents of ATM break in the Tricity, the UT Deputy Commissioner, who is also the District Magistrate, has asked banks to depute armed security guard at all ATMs. The banks will have to depute the guards for two months. DC Mohammed Shayin issued orders under Section 144 CrPc asking all banks to depute the guards.

Issued on February 6, the orders remain into force for the next 60 days. Recently, the Panchkula police sealed more than 50 ATMs as these did not have guards. — TNS

Chandigarh, February 7
The Chandigarh unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held a special seminar on 'Ignored North-East India and BJP's Vision' at Kamlam, Sector 33 here, today.

The seminar was organised by the party's North East India Sampark Cell (NEISC), Chandigarh. The event aimed at deliberation on various issues being faced by the North-Eastern states of the country. A two-minute silence was also observed in the memory of Nido Tania of Arunachal Pradesh, who died after allegedly being beaten up in Lajpat Nagar of Delhi.

The president of the BJP's city unit, Sanjay Tandon, said, "The tragic incident of Nido has brought to fore the need to bridge the gap between the North-Eastern states and the rest of India."

Tandon also supported the demand for an effective anti-racial law.

Sunil Deodhar, the national convener, NEISC, commented on security issues plaguing the North-East India.

Mohali, February 7
The Municipal Corporation (MC) has moved the proposal for getting the dog bylaws notified by the government.

The civic body did not receive any objections or suggestions from residents related to the same, following which the corporation initiated the step.

Provisions are being made by the civic body for registration of pet dogs, which will be implemented soon after the government issues a notification in this regard.

Commenting on why residents did not respond to the proposed dog bylaws, Commissioner of the corporation Uma Shankar Gupta said, “Perhaps they did not find anything wrong with these bylaws or maybe they are just indifferent to the proposal. The reasons are best known to them.”

A superintendent would be made the nodal officer of the project and two sanitary inspectors would be attached with him, said Gupta, adding that he has already directed the corporation staff to get ready with the registrations.

A veterinary doctor will also be appointed to ascertain if the dog has been properly vaccinated or not, said the Municipal Corporation Uma Shankar Gupta.

“The Municipal Corporation will provide metal tokens to dog owners for which a tie-up with a private party may be worked out,” said the Municipal Corporation Commissioner.

Under the proposed Punjab Municipal (Registration and Proper Control of Dogs) Bylaws, every owner will have to get their pets registered annually by paying a fee of Rs 250.

The owner will be issued a metal token with his or her name and address engraved on it, which has to be affixed to the dog collar all the time.

The local civic body had passed a resolution in this regard on August 28, 2012, which was then approved by the director, local government.

Around mid-December last year the corporation had put the proposed dog bylaws in the public domain for inviting objections and suggestions for the same. 

Panchkula, February 7
The Five Degrees authorities today approached the Estate officer of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), Vandana Disodia, and requested her to reopen their restaurant.

Talking to the Tribune, Disodia said, “It can’t be done now. I have rejected their pleas.”

Meanwhile, mystery of what happened on the New Year’s night that led to firing at Jaipal, gunman of senior Punjab IAS officer, KBS Sidhu, on the premises of the restaurant still remains unsolved.

Jaipal has been shifted to a private ward in the PGI and is battling life in a semi-conscious state.

The station house officer of the Sector 5 police station, Inspector Malkeet Singh, said Jaipal is still unfit for statement.

“We are keeping a tab with the PGI authorities. Only Jaipal can tell what exactly happened that night,” said the station house officer.

The eating joint remained in news after Jaipal was injured while he was reportedly accompanying the bureaucrat’s son, Sehaj Sidhu. After the incident, the Punjab Police had also ordered a probe into the matter and withdrew Sidhu’s security. A team of Haryana Urban Development Authority later found that a cafeteria was being run without execution of agreement. It was sealed when the authorised signatory, Sandeep Chauhan, represented on behalf of Hot Beans and admitted that the cafeteria was being run without an agreement.

Mohali, February 7
According to a report of the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), as many as 100 cases were lodged in connection with offences against children in the district in 2013, while 24 persons were reported to be missing.

Among other violations, kidnapping and sexual abuse of children were the most commonly reported crime. This data was given by the Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police to the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA).

The District Legal Services Authority, in pursuance of directions of the Supreme Court given in Bachpan Bachao Andolan vs Union of India, had sought information from the SSP in this regard. The District Legal Services Authority was also apprised of the action taken by the police in these cases.

Tarntaran Singh Bindra, Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM)-cum-Secretary, District Legal Services Authority, Mohali, said the DLSA would not only forward this information to the Supreme Court but would also keep a watch on the progress of the cases so as to see if the desired results were achieved and the grievances of the victims were addressed.

Bindra said the District Legal Services Authority is looking after the interests of the public in case of violation of their rights.

If the rights are ignored by any authority, the public can inform the District Legal Services Authority, so that an appropriate action could be suggested and taken against the culprits, said the Tarntaran Singh Bindra, CJM-cum-secretary of District Legal Services Authority.

Mohali, February 7
A modern fruit and vegetable market will be inaugurated here tomorrow. Spread over an area of 12.5 acres, the market boasts of separate yards for wholesale and retail trade. There is also a special area reserved for farmers for direct sale of their produce.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will inaugurate the market. In the market yard, the auction of vegetables, fruits etc will be conducted electronically and electronic weigh scale will be used. This is the first fruits and vegetable market in the state where the total sale will be monitored electronically. — TNS

Chandigarh, February 7
The Chandigarh Administration has appointed Deputy Commissioner Mohammed Shayin as the chairman of the Local Complaints Committee, constituted under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Work Place (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

In UT, the act will provide protection to women employees against sexual harassment at workplace and such complaints will be dealt with as per the provisions included in the said Act.

The offices or establishments in which there are more than ten employees, an Internal Departmental Complaint Committee will be constituted to deal with such complaints.

However, for offices in which the staff strength is more than ten or in case of complaint against the member of Internal Departmental Committee of any office, a Local Complaints Committee will be constituted which will be under the control of Deputy Commissioner.

Chandigarh, February 7
Dr BS Chavan, Head of the Department of Psychiatry, GMCH-32, in a discussion for the betterment of transgender, organised by UT Social Welfare Department, said hospitals should introduce transgender as a third gender option on the OPD cards.

He assured that as a member secretary he is going to take up the issue with the authorities and will endorse the option of introducing transgender as an option on OPD cards in hospitals.

The aim of this session was to discuss the social, legal, medical, and institutional problems faced by transgender in Chandigarh. As per the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) data there are 1,571 trans-identified individuals registered under the Aadhaar scheme in Chandigarh.

Dr Soma, District Family Welfare Officer, National Rural Health Mission, revealed that under Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Yojana, which will be implemented from April 2014 a pre-natal and neo-natal medical assistance to pregnant women will be provided. Under the scheme, child-bearing women will undergo testing to ensure the child is free of genetic defects.

UIDAI director Vivek Kumar assured that, in case the community requires targeted registration camps for Aadhaar, they will be provided the same.

Chandigarh AIDS Control Society, Project Director, Dr Vanita Gupta said currently there is no separate targeted intervention programme for trans-individuals but for current financial year, a proposal will be sent to the department of AIDS control to start the same.

Advocate Arjun Sheoran (Panjab & Haryana High Court) spoke about the legal status, or lack thereof, facing the trans-community. He said the existing laws are insufficient to deal with the complex issues facing the trans-community. He called for community mobilisation in order to increase awareness.

The Municipal Corporation should stop wasting public money on study tours. The wasteful expenditure was highlighted in these columns on February 6. I fail to understand why the civic body sends councillors and officials to far-off places when these visits prove futile. It is sad that Rs 1 crore has already been spent on such tours. The councillors and officials have failed to implement even a single project post-tour. The UT Administration had done the right thing by cancelling the tours in 2006 and 2008.

Mohali, February 7
All is set for the Technical Education and Skill Development Summit to be inaugurated by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal here tomorrow.

More than 50,000 students of around 400 colleges of Punjab are expected to participate in the event, which is being organised by the Punjab Government with the support of the Punjab Unaided Technical Institutions Association (PUTIA) and the Punjab Technical University (PTU).

The morning session of the mega event will be held at the Indoor Sports Complex, Sector 78, Mohali, and the evening session at the Indian School of Business, Sector 81.

Madan Mohan Mittal, Technical Education Minister, Punjab, will be the guest of honour.

Among those expected to participate in the event are chancellors, chairmen, directors and principals of universities and colleges of Punjab.

PTU Vice-Chancellor Rajneesh Arora today held a review meeting wherein Dr JS Dhaliwal, president, PUTIA; Satnam Singh Sandhu, Chancellor, Chandigarh University; Dr Anshu Kataria, chairman, Aryans Group of Colleges and convener, PUTIA; Manjeet Singh, chairman, Doaba Group; Tejinderpal Singh Sandhu and others participated.

Besides, around 200 chairmen and faculty members of various colleges were present. 

Panchkula, February 7
A one-day Aerospace and Science Discovery Camp (ASDC) was organised at The Gurukul, a school in Sector 20, Panchkula, today.

The camp was organised in association with the Atlantis, an education outreach company from the NASA, US. Renowned Australian science educator Sam Gibbs was the lead instructor.

The enrichment programme aimed at engaging students in interactive sessions and demonstrations were designed to reinforce curricular standards for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and providing an experience that has components of learning and promoting space education.

Gibbs has 14 years of experience in conducting educational science programmes across the world.

The camp began on an informative note with a special HD (high definition) and interactive presentation on the solar system and space exploration taking the students on an amazing 'space trip'. This was intertwined with HD video inserts and stunning photography from satellites and spacecraft.

Sam Gibbs and his team captivated the students with a series of demonstrations, which included a rocket launch using common material like soft drink bottles, water and air pump. The principle behind real rocket launches and the water rocket launch was the same, Newton's law of motion.

The students learnt about electromagnetic spectrum with hands on learning experiments through innovative activities.

One of the most exciting activities was building and flying a paper model aircraft as well as building and launching a soda straw rocket. The activities were developed to provide a series of valuable learning experience to the participants.

"We understand that every child cannot get the opportunity to travel to the NASA. So it is our humble effort to bring some of the amazing activities taken up during the NASA tours, right here in the school," said school principal Harsimran Kaur.

Chandigarh: The Indian Science Congress has honoured Panjab University (PU) Prof RK Pathak for developing scientific temper and contribution in his area of specialisation.

Prof Pathak was felicitated in recognition of his exemplary contributions to science and technology in the section of anthropological and behavioural sciences, including archaeology, psychology, educational sciences and military sciences. The president of Indian Science Congress, Prof RC Sobti, and the Vice-Chancellor of Jammu University, Prof MPS Ishar, honoured Prof Pathak during the 101st Indian Science Congress held at Jammu from February 3 to 7. — TNS