Chandigarh, March 6
Barely a fortnight after the UT police submitted a chargesheet in the case, the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Anshu Shukla today framed charges of rape and criminal conspiracy against five dismissed UT police constables.

The court framed charges of rape under Section 376 (2) of the IPC against constables Sunil and Akshay while the remaining three accused constables — Jagtar, Himmat and Anil —have been charged with Sections of rape read with criminal conspiracy (376 and 120-B) of the IPC.

The case was recently transferred from the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Najar Singh to the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Anshu Shukla after it was designated as a special court to hear cases related to crime against women.

The case was registered on December 19, 2013, after a 17-year-old girl had complained to the police that she was raped by the accused police constables over a period of two months at gunpoint.

The victim is a Class X student at a government school. The minor girl, who was allegedly harassed by the five constables, was on the way to commit suicide when she narrated the incident to her brother. Her brother informed the area councillor, who informed the police, following which action was taken.

According to the complaint, it all started one and a half months before the registration of the case when the girl had to dial the 100 number owing to a dispute at her Khuda Lahora residence. When the police reached the spot, constable Akshay, who also resides in the same locality, and constable Sunil were in the PCR vehicle.

Constable Akshay then called her up the next day and offered to meet her. After becoming friends, he began to exploit her physically.

Constable Sunil also joined in and raped her, she alleged. Soon, three more constables started meeting her and often molested her and sexually harassed her.

Chandigarh, March 6
A 59-year-old official of the Regional Census Office was crushed to death under an Army truck at the Sector 8/9/17/18 Press light point today. The deceased, Bhag Singh, a resident of Sector 50, died on the spot. He was driving a scooter.

The mishap occurred when Bhag Singh, who was coming on his two-wheeler from a slip road, got trapped under the rear wheel of the Army truck at around 2 pm. He was wearing a turban. His head was crushed in the mishap.

The police have arrested the truck driver, Tsering Angchuk, a sepoy with the Ladakh Regiment. The Army truck was coming from Hoshiarpur and was headed towards the Chandimandir Cantonment area in Panchkula.

Eyewitnesses said the scooterist lost balance and got entangled in the rear wheel of the truck.

The truck driver did not realise the accident and applied brakes only when onlookers raised the alarm.

Bhag Singh’s wife, Taranjeet Kaur, is a government school lecturer, while his son, Major Singh, is an employee with the Chandigarh Administration. The police have impounded the truck. 

Chandigarh, March 6
The court of District and Sessions Judge SK Aggarwal today sentenced a 23-year-old man, Vikram, to life imprisonment for murdering his wife. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on him.

The incident came to light on December 14, 2012. Pinki, a 19-year-old woman, was murdered by her husband, Vikram, at her maternal house in Mauli Jagran. In an attempt to make it look like a suicide, the accused had put the body on a bed and locked the room from outside before escaping.

The murder came to light when Pinki’s mother Dhyanwati opened the room and found her body lying on the bed.

An orange stole, which was used by the accused to strangle his wife, was recovered from the spot.

Pinki, along with Vikram, a resident of Jind in Haryana, had come to her maternal house a fortnight before the incident. Earlier in the morning that day, Vikram had physically abused Pinki when she failed to cook a meal on time.

Chandigarh, March 6
PGIMER doctors today came out in large numbers to demonstrate against the recent attack on students at medical college in Kanpur.

Nearly 250 PGIMER doctors, including resident doctors and few faculty members, demonstrated in front of the Kairon Block on the PGI campus.

“The demonstration was held to show solidarity with the doctors who were attacked in Kanpur. A doctor is one of the most educated and valued persons in the society. He faces so many hardships to serve people. Is this the way the doctors should be treated?” asked Dr Shivlal Soni, president, Association of Resident Doctors (ARD). “Like some other states, Chandigarh must also enforce the Protection of Doctors’ Act,” Dr Soni added.

On Wednesday, doctors associated with the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Chandigarh, had held a protest rally at the IMA House, Sector 35, in support of the ‘atrocities’ against medical students and doctors of GSVM Medical College, Kanpur. They condemned the brutal assault on the medical students and junior doctors in Kanpur and demanded expulsion of the erring police officials.

Following a call given by the IMA, president of the Chandigarh unit Dr Harminder Singh directed members of the association and the medical fraternity to keep OPDs closed on Thursday. However, emergency services remained functional.

It may be mentioned that junior doctors at GSVM Medical College in Kanpur were thrashed by the police on the intervening night of February 28 and March 1 after doctors allegedly attacked a patient’s attendant and an MLA.

Chandigarh, March 6
With the Congress and the BJP expected to announce the names of their candidates for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha (LS) seat in a day or two, the ticket aspirants of both the parties have rushed to Delhi to make the last-ditch effort to get the ticket.

Though screening panel has recommended sitting MP Pawan Kumar Bansal's name to the Congress high command for the Chandigarh LS seat, he is not taking any chance as his political rivals in Delhi are highlighting the Railgate to ensure he is denied the ticket.

Bansal along with Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (CTCC) president BB Behl have reached Delhi today. Both will attend meetings of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and will also attend a meeting with AICC president Sonia Gandhi where the party's candidate for the Chandigarh seat is likely to be finalised.

Sources in the Congress said the party would announce its candidate on March 7.

Meanwhile, there are three top contenders for the BJP ticket, namely state president Sanjay Tandon, former city MP and BJP national chairman of the Committee on Legal and Election Commission Issues Satya Pal Jain and former Union minister Harmohan Dhawan. All three have also reached Delhi.

Recently, the BJP had carried out a survey in Chandigarh to ascertain the popularity of the three leaders. Besides, it also sought the viewpoint of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS).

‘Chai pe charcha’ on Women's Day
The BJP announced the second round of 'Chai pe charcha', a series of interaction between BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and general public. The second round of 'Chai pe charcha' coincides with the occasion of International Women's Day, March 8, said BJP state secretary Ramesh Kumar (Nikku).

Cong padyatra
The Congress local unit took out a door-to-door padyatra in Bapu Dham Colony, Sector 26, Chandigarh, on Thursday. Sitting MP Pawan Kumar Bansal led the campaign and met colony residents.

Jannat Jahan’s campaign
BSP candidate Jannat Jahan met residents and traders of Sector 35, Bapu Dham Colony and Colony No. 4.

Chandigarh, March 6
To keep a tab on smuggling of liquor from Chandigarh to neighbouring stares of Punjab, the Election Commission has directed the UT Election Department to ensure that CCTV cameras are installed at the distillers and wholesale dealers of liquor.

During a meeting with the Election Commission officials recently, the UT officials were told that some states had been complaining about smuggling of liquor from Chandigarh and Haryana.

Sources said distillers and wholesalers have been asked to bear the cost of installing CCTVs. Besides, the Excise Department has started checking and videographing stocks of liquor contractors.

Mohali, March 6
A dispute arose between a parking contractor and shopkeepers in Phase III B2 here today over the Municipal Corporation’s inclusion of the area behind showrooms in the paid parking facility.

Shopkeepers gathered on the road and protested against the decision of the civic body. They also met the corporation authorities.

JP Singh, president of the Market Welfare Association of Phase III B2 , said according to the layout plan of the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), only the area in front of the showrooms and the booths could be used for parking purposes. The area behind the market was a service area and the corporation could not give that on contract for paid parking purposes.

He said many families lived in the market as it had shop-cum-flats (SCFs).

He said the civic body had neither repaired the parking areas nor done appropriate marking before giving these on contract for paid parking purposes.

Uma Shankar Gupta, Commissioner of the corporation, said shopkeepers of the town had come to meet him. The dispute had been settled as the shopkeepers would be allowed 20 ft space from the rear boundary wall of their shops for parking their personal vehicles in Phases III B2 and VII.

Gupta said recarpeting of the market areas could not be done due to bad weather. Markings for the parking of vehicles could be done only after carrying out the necessary repairs.

The entire process had now come to a halt because the model code of conduct had come into force because of the Lok Sabha elections. The work would be resumed only after mid-May, he added.

He said the paid parking facility was likely to be started from March 10 in the town.

Mohali, March 6
Clearing all confusions on holding Apni Mandis in the town, Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, Chairman, Punjab Mandi Board, said the board had no intentions to stop these mandis.

“We are developing a system under which the mandis would be held to benefit farmers as well as consumers the maximum,” he said.

Notably, under the directions of the Secretary, Market Committees, the officials concerned had started stopping farmers from holding the mandis across the town that had triggered protests by farmers and residents.

Lakhowal said till date the mandis were being held without a proper system and it was creating issues.

He added that the objective of holding these was to provide fresh vegetables to people directly from the fields.

“But now, several vegetable traders have started doing business in these mandis, which needs to be checked, he said.

Local farmers alleged that the authorities have ordered to close these to promote the newly built vegetable market at Phase 11 here.

The step did not go well with the farmers and the residents.

Rajwant Singh, a resident of Phase 7, said the apni mandis were popular among residents here and were convenient for them, especially women.

"I agreed that there is a need to develop a proper system, but not at the cost of these mandis,” he added.

Chandigarh, March 6
Using eye drops without doctor’s advice was the main cause of glaucoma, an irreversible damage to the optic nerve leading to blindness, said experts at PGIMER. To raise awareness about it, PGIMER and a glaucoma-support group in the city will celebrate the 6th Glaucoma Awareness Week from March 9 to 15.

Residents of the city will be informed about the onset of the disease, precautions and treatment via radio and TV telecast and street plays during the week.

“It is crucial to understand that in 90 per cent of the cases, glaucoma has no symptoms. Hence, diagnosis is not easy. Non-compliance (discontinuing medicines) is another common practice among glaucoma patients since the patient does not feel the symptoms until the damage is too deep and medicines rather show some sort of irritation in the eye initially. Mostly patients feel that the problem persists after they take medicine,” said Dr SS Pandav, professor, Advanced Eye Centre.

B-I-G campaign

The 6th World Glaucoma Week is being observed worldwide between March 9 and 15. During the period, a walk will be organised on March 9, 2014, at 8am, from the Rock Garden to the Suhkna Lake. There will be a Beat Invisible Glaucoma (B-I-G) brunch and glaucoma awareness camp at Hotel Mountview on the same day from 11am to 3pm. Glaucoma-related talks will be aired on All India Radio and Doordarshan. On March 15, a street play will be staged at the Sector 17 Plaza at 1pm.

Preventive measures

Currently, regular eye tests are the best form of prevention against the significant glaucoma damage. Early detection and lifelong treatment can maintain vision in most of the people. In general, a check for glaucoma should be done before age of 40 years, every two to four years from 40 to 54, every one to three years from 55 to 64, every one to two years after age 65, every six to 12 months. Anyone with high risk factors should be tested every year or two years after the age of 35 years.

Protect your eyes

Wearing protective eyewear is important when engaged in sports activities or home improvement projects. Eye injuries can result in traumatic glaucoma or secondary glaucoma. Children must be provided spectacles made of plastic and not glass to avoid injuries.

What is glaucoma

Chandigarh, March 6
The Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) will hear the objections of city residents on the proposal of the Electricity Department to raise the tariff by 21 per cent, on March 21.

UT superintending engineer MP Singh said the hearing would be held at the Institute of Engineers in Sector 19.

The Chandigarh Administration had proposed a hike of 21 per cent in the power tariff in different categories to make up for the loss of Rs 156 crore in financial year 2013-14.

Last year, the Electricity Department had proposed the power tariff hike between 45 and 50 per cent but the JERC had rejected their petition.

Though the Chandigarh Administration had filed a power tariff petition, the chances of tariff hike are reportedly bleak, as the Electricity Department is yet to conduct commercial audit.

Mohali, March 6
To expose anti-pensioner policies of the Punjab Government, members of the Punjab Government Pensioners Association will hold a protest on March 7 behind Neelam theatre in Sector 17 in Chandigarh.

Mohan Singh, general secretary of the association, said the main demands of the pensioners include arrear of dearness allowance of seven months, 10 per cent instalment of DA with effect from January 1, 2014, increase of 25 per cent in allowances among others.

He appealed to all pensioners to participate in the protest.

Chandigarh, March 6
The PGIMER today withdrew the charge of its estate officer and transferred him to a store in the advanced cardiac centre.

Sources said that the transfer orders of the officer, Niranjan Singh, were issued after the PGI’s vigilance department on Wednesday completed its inquiry following a complaint against the officer. — TNS

Chandigarh, March 6
A placement drive "Avsar" commenced at Panjab University today. The drive, organised by the University Institute of Applied Management Studies (UIAMS), will see a total of 35 companies participating over the next two days.

Companies, including Eicher-Volvo, Tata Teleservices, Bulls Eye, Mahindra Finance, Axis Bank, Raffels, Nectar Life Sciences etc, are participating in the three-day job fair.

Students from 74 departments of the varsity, PU-recognised colleges and regional centres will take part in the placement drive.

The students are from streams such as management, sciences, humanities and engineering.

Day One of the drive saw companies looking for prospective employees in the job profiles of marketing, software and engineering.

Sunil and Vivek, student organisers from UIAMS, said, "Students of all streams are participating in the placement drive."

More students and companies are expected to participate on the second and third day of the drive. 

Chandigarh, March 6
Panjab University (PU), has notified the revised date sheets of BA/BSc/BCom/ BBA/BCA/BSc (Bio-Informatics/Bio-Technology) First, Second and Third Year Annual Examinations-2014.

PU Controller of Examination Prof Parvinder Singh said the revised date sheet had been uploaded on the Panjab University (PU) website http://exams.puchd.ac.in /datesheet.php.

He said the examinations would commence from April 2 and conclude on May 19.

Following the announcement by the Election Commission of India, examinations will not be held from April 9 to 11, April 29 to May 1 and on May 16.

PU Controller of Examination also informed that the Practical Examinations of Undergraduate Classes (USOL) of PU would commence from March 10.

Information about the exam, including roll number, date, time and venue are available on PU website.