Chandigarh, April 30
The court of Civil Judge (Junior Division) Pamelpreet Grewal today rejected the cancellation report in the high profile fraud case involving Congress MLA Jeet Mohinder Singh as an accused and ordered a reinvestigation into it. The court was not satisfied with the police closure report and ordered that the file be sent back to the Chandigarh police for further investigation.

Yesterday, the complainant had filed a complaint alleging corruption by the court staff as the cancellation report was filed in January by the police and was misplaced for over two months. The report was traced on April 26 following the intervention of the Magistrate.

In his statement recorded before the court today opposing the closure report, the complainant, Raman Uppal, said the investigating agency had done an extremely slipshod investigation with the sole objective of covering up the scam to protect powerful individuals who were the accused in the case.

It was also stated that the FIR had been manipulated under pressure from the accused considering their immense political and financial clout. Among the eight accused, Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu is a Punjab MLA, while Gurdeep Singh is an extremely powerful businessman from Punjab. It was also stated that contradictory and self-indicting statements of the accused were being accepted to cover up this scam for reasons best known to the Chandigarh police. It was also stated that none of the phone call details of the accused were obtained or statements taken from witnesses which has been clearly detailed in the FIR.

Further, the records sent by the Office of Registrar of Companies, which was irrefutable evidence, had not been acted upon to further corroborate the fraudulent criminal acts of all the accused through effecting recoveries from them in the form of company documents/records, said the complainant.

On September 16 last year, the Chandigarh police had booked Congress MLA from Talwandi Sabo Jeet Mohinder Singh and seven others, including Sukhbir Singh Shergill, trustee of the Adesh Foundation, which runs a number of educational institutes in the state, and Gurdeep Singh, managing director of Fastway Transmissions and partner in Jujhar Travels, in a multi-crore fraud case.

The FIR, registered on the directions of Illaqa Magistrate, Chandigarh, states that the accused were booked for "forgery of valuable security, creating false/fraudulent documents, money laundering, harbouring absconders in a scam of Rs 60 crore and cheating the complainant, Raman Uppal, of International Customer Related Management Services Private Limited".

Chandigarh, April 30
The Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) has issued a notice to the Chandigarh police for failing to submit a report on the age proof of 20 undertrials lodged in Burail Jail here.

During an inspection of the jail, the commission had doubts over the age of 20 undertrials and sought documents regarding their age proof from the police. The police failed to revert, following which the commission issued a notice to it.

Chairperson of the CPCR Devi Sirohi said a reminder had been sent to the Police Department and in case no reply was received by the commission, the police would be summoned under the Child Protection Act.

She said the commission was insisting on the information as during a recent visit to Nari Niketan, it was found that two of the girls residing there were below 18 years of age, which was against the Act.

After verifying their age proof, the commission had ordered the UT Social Welfare Department to shift them to Snehalaya. "In case these 20 jail inmates are found to be below 18 years of age, they will also have to be shifted to the observation-cum-special home for juveniles in Sector 15 under the Act," she said.

UT Additional Inspector General of Prison Balbir Singh Dhol confirmed that the panel had pointed out that few inmates appeared to be below 18 years of age. He said the jail authorities had written to the District Courts to decide the issue as they did not have any age proof of these inmates.

The trigger

During an inspection of the jail, the commission had doubts over the age of 20 undertrials and sought documents regarding their age proof from the police. The police failed to revert, following which the commission issued a notice to them.

Police summoned on May 6

The CPCR has summoned the Chandigarh police on May 6 to explain why no action has been taken by them against police officials who entered Bal Niketan in police uniform for investigation, which is a violation of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Juvenile Justice Act.

Chandigarh, April 30
The CBI has found the reply to its queries sent to officials of the local municipal corporation (MC) regarding alleged favours extended to M/s Selvel Media Services Pvt Ltd for advertising and the maintenance of public toilets as "not clear" and "unsatisfactory".

The CBI has now written to the MC to provide the information again with signatures of the Joint Commissioner.

Earlier this month, the CBI had sent three different questionnaires to the MC Joint Commissioner, the Chief Auditor and the XEN, Public Health.

Sources said the reply from the Joint Commissioner was forwarded to the investigating agency on April 23. However, on April 28, the CBI wrote to the MC that "the reply sent by you is not clear on many points and is not satisfactory. The information should be stated clearly so that no further clarification is required".

The CBI said specific information, as desired by it, must be furnished. “The answers to certain objective-type queries should also carry the reasons to make the replies clear,” the CBI said.

The sources said the information provided to the CBI earlier was sent under the signatures of the Officer on Special Duty (OSD-II). However, the CBI has asked that it should carry the signatures of the Joint Commissioner.

The sources said the CBI also supplied another questionnaire, carrying at least 50 questions, to the Chief Auditor and the XEN, seeking more information.

Recently, the CBI had registered a preliminary inquiry against MC officials for allegedly giving undue advantage to the company in the allotment of tenders for the maintenance of 86 public toilets and displaying advertisements on these between 2007 and 2012.

Chandigarh, April 30
A six-year-old boy, Akash, lost his life after he was hit by a rashly driven vehicle in Sector 39 in the wee hours today.

The victim's mother, Laxmi Devi, was doing some work at the paddy mandi in Sector 39, while her son was playing near the roundabout when the mishap occurred.

The vehicle driver fled from the spot. Akash was left in a pool of blood and soon passersby gathered there and informed the police. The victim was taken to the Civil Hospital, Phase VI, Mohali, where doctors declared him brought dead.

An eyewitness noted down the number of the vehicle that hit the child. The driver of the vehicle (CH 01 AT 4133) was at a high speed, the police said.

The mother of the victim hails from Uttar Pradesh and had come to the city to work at the paddy mandi as a labourer. 

Mohali, April 30
Excited first-time voters faced huge disappointment today — when they went to cast their vote for the Anandpur Sahib Lok Sabha elections in Mohali — as they were not accorded ‘special treatment’ as announced by the district administration.

The voters said they were ‘expecting’ appreciation certificates as announced by the authorities earlier.

As per official figures, there are 9,109 voters in the age group of 18-19 years in the district.

While the first five new voters were given appreciation certificates at some polling stations, no such certificates were given at the other booths.

It is learnt that the certificates had not been provided to the staff at the polling centres.

An official at polling station number 124, located at Government Senior Secondary School in Phase 3B1, said, “A girl, who was a first-time voter, threatened to stage a dharna when she was not given an appreciation certificate or gift.”

Four youths, who went to vote at St Soldier School in Phase VII, said, “We did not receive any token of appreciation.”

The staff at polling station number 156, located at Sant Isher Singh School in Phase VII, said, “No appreciation certificates were sent to us for distribution among the new voters. Rather they were told to show their inked fingers to the Booth Level Officer concerned to get the certificates.”

At polling station number 153, located at St Soldier School in Phase VII, a first-time voter asked the polling staff to give him a coupon as a token of appreciation.

However, the staff expressed their helplessness as no coupons, appreciation certificates or gifts had been arranged by the administration.

A staff member at polling station number 151, located at the Punjabi University Extension Library, said, “Nearly 5 per cent of the voters were the first-timers. The appreciation certificates were not supplied by the authorities concerned.”

District Electoral Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner Tejinder Pal Singh Sidhu, said, “We got nearly 4,000 appreciation certificates printed for all polling stations in the district. The staff on duty was asked to give the certificates to the first 10 or 15 first-time voters and not to all such voters. It was a big electoral exercise and there might have been some shortcomings.”

Mohali, April 30
Despite the announcement made by the District Electoral Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner that all commercial establishments will remain closed till 5 pm on the polling day, several stores were open today.

Shops in several markets, including Phases I, II, V, 3B2 and VII, carried out business as usual.

Medical and general stores, besides hardware and shoe shops were also open. A shopkeeper at Phase V said, “I’m not aware that shops had to be shut down. Nobody has raised any objection. Shops in the area opened in the morning hours as usual.”

The announcement made by District Electoral Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner Tejinder Pal Singh Sidhu about keeping shops closed had also been intimated to Sarabjeet Singh, general secretary, Vyapaar Mandal.

The decision was taken so that the shopkeepers and those working in their establishments could cast their vote.

Panchkula, April 30
To catch vehicle-lifters, the Panchkula Police will now check the ownership of vehicles at the nakas or check-points itself.

The first-of-its-kind initiative may help the police nab the Zen Gang, which has been active in the district for the last seven years.

A similar naka was set up at Sector 11 today where as many as 20 vehicles were checked.

The team was given an iPad, which has a connection with the website of the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

Once the number of the vehicle was fed into the system, the entire information about its owner and other particulars was retrieved.

ACP Adarshdeep Singh said, “We have trained our officials in this regard. The ownership of vehicles will be checked at the nakas. With this, we can know whether a vehicle is stolen or not.”

“Earlier, checking the ownership of a vehicle was a time-consuming process. One had to go to the NIC and then get the registration number verified. Now it is just a click away,” added Singh.

The police will now distribute iPads to other police teams as well.

The officials would ensure that these are available at all nakas, particularly on the border areas.

Panchkula, April 30
No trace of semen were found on the clothes of the victim, Jyoti, stated the report by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Madhuban, Karnal. The doctor from the CFSL, Dr Richa Mehta, deposed before the court and confirmed the examination conducted by her.

The case had come up for hearing before the Special Crime against Women Court in Panchkula today.

On the day of the murder, victim Jyoti’s clothes and other samples were taken to detect whether she was physically abused by the accused or not.

Mehta also told the court that the examination of the hair samples of the Doon MLA Ram Kumar Chaudhary, collected from the sweater of the victim, was conducted by her.

Mehta confirmed that the hair samples of the accused did not match with the hair strands found on the victim’s sweater.

Both the reports — semen and hair samples — are in favour of Doon MLA Ram Kumar Chaudhary.

The reports were recently procured by the Panchkula Police from Madhuban and as they were in ‘favour’ of the accused, they were sent for a re-examination to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh.

The Doon MLA and four others have been accused of killing Jyoti, who hailed from Bhunga village in Hoshiarpur. The victim, who was found murdered on a road in Sector 21, Panchkula, was hindering Chaudhary's political career, stated the charge-sheet.

Mohali, April 30
Following last night’s scuffle between Congress MLA Balbir Singh and SAD activists at Jagatpura village, senior police officials were on their toes the entire night here.

The supporters of both the parties kept arriving though their leaders, including Ambika Soni, Pawan Kumar Bansal, Prem Singh Chandumajra and his son left the spot. Mohali SDM Lakhmir Singh and SP (City I) Swarndeeep Singh kept vigil till the wee hours. Mohali SDM Lakhmir Singh was also stationed here till 2.30 am.

Panchkula, April 30
Panchkulaites have a reason to smile. For the first time, Volvo bus service has been introduced from the city to Delhi. Residents will no longer have to go to Chandigarh to board a bus to Delhi, now. The services will start from tomorrow.

At present, one Volvo will be ferrying passengers and according to the demand, the number will gradually increase. The bus which is 41seater will start its journey from Panchkula bus stand at 5 am. It will take around four and half hours to reach Delhi. The same Volvo will make its return journey at 4 pm from Delhi Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT).

Rohtas Singh, General Manager (GM) of the Roadways, said, “There were repeated requests by the residents for the Volvo service to Delhi. To take a Volvo, they had to travel to Chandigarh and on their journey back they had to be dropped at Chandigarh.” The fare will be Rs 520. The booking of the ticket will be current and online. An English newspaper, a bottle of 1-litre mineral water and magazines will be complimentary for the passengers.“If the response is good, we will start Volvo services for other stations as well. The Gurgaon air port could be the next in line. The fare is quite nominal,” added the GM. He also said that if the demand for the Panchkula-Delhi Volvo increased, initially, they might get a 49-seater Volvo.

On its journey, the Volvo will halt at the Tourism Complex in Karnal for 15 minutes. There are nearly 20 ordinary Haryana Roadways buses from that ply Panchkula to Delhi and the fare charged is Rs 200.

Chandigarh, April 30
A mock fire evacuation drill at the State Bank of India, local head office in Sector 17, was conducted today in coordination with the Fire and Emergency Department, Chandigarh Police and the UT Administration.

All fire detection system i.e. smoke and fire detection system and fire fighting systems such as wet risers, hydrant systems, fire extinguishers functioned perfectly. All equipment, including snorkel, which was used to evacuate persons stuck on the second floor of the building were used as part of the evacuation drill. The water jet was used to douse fire in the high-rise building.

Chandigarh, April 30
The Chandigarh Administration has decided to give one-month extension to UT Chief Architect Sumit Kaur, whose term ended today.

A senior UT official said the UT Administrator had given one-month extension since the election code of conduct was in place till May 16.

Sources in the Administration said since the top officials in the UT were also awaiting transfers once the government at the Centre was formed, the process to take decisions were also being delayed.

To replace Sumit Kaur, a panel of the candidates had to be sought from Punjab or Haryana.

The sitting Chief Architect, who had joined the UT on deputation from Punjab in 2008 has served the longest in UT.

Ever since, she has been getting extensions on various grounds, one of which was for completing the Master Plan and working for the preservation of the city’s heritage.

Chandigarh, April 30
Triggered by shortage in supply, the prices of onion has shot up. There has been rise in prices of onion in the city markets — both at sector shops and Apni Mandi. The price has risen from Rs 15 per kg to Rs 20 per kg.

The cost of lemon has also increased from Rs 100 per kg to Rs 120 per kg due to increase in demand. The shortage that was earlier reported in bigger cities like Mumbai, has now hit the region. The unexpected rain over the past month damaged a lot of crops affecting supply. With stability in temperature, growth will be restored, said an official from the Market Committee in Sector 26.

There is no change in the prices of other vegetables. While potato is priced at Rs 20 per kg, tomato is also stable at Rs 20 per kg.

“Costs vary every now and then. We hope they will come down with stability in supply,” said Alok Singh, a resident of Sector 29, who was buying vegetables at the Sector 29 Apni Mandi. The price of onion in the wholesale market is currently scaled at Rs 16 per kg.

Panchkula, April 30
In a hit-and-run case a Home Guards jawan at Panchkula died while his friend was injured when a recklessly driven Army truck hit their motorcycle on the Panchkula-Pinjore road here this evening.

The police said, Home Guards jawan identified as Anurag Sharma died while his friend Rubal was seriously injured after the Army truck hit them while overtaking their motorcycle near the HMT. The duo, residents of Pinjore, were on their way home. An eyewitness said the truck driver with the vehicle fled from the spot after the accident. The police were called and both the injured were rushed to General Hospital, Sector 6, Panchkula, where doctors declared Anurag brought dead. This is the third accident involving an Army truck in the last eight months. In September 2013, two teenagers were killed when an Army truck hit their vehicle on the old Panchkula road. In another incident, a man died after an Army truck hit the scooter he was riding on, on the old Panchkula road in November, 2013.

Chandigarh, April 30
The CBSE has announced re-evaluation facility for the students, who have appeared in the Class XII board examinations this year.

The facility is being provided for a limited number of questions and only for English, Hindi, physics, chemistry, mathematics, political science and economics subjects.

Though the number of limited questions has not been announced so far, students across the city have welcomed the CBSE’s move.

As per the announcement, the re-evaluation process is in addition to the provision of verification of marks/grades.

The facility would be available only to those candidates who would have gone through the process of obtaining photocopy of the evaluated book(s).

However, the catch in the entire process is that the revised marks will be reflected in the marks statement only if there is an increase of six or more marks in any of the subjects.

Further, to invite only genuine cases for re-evaluation, the CBSE stated that in case there is a downward revision, the revised marks statement would be issued.

The entire application process would be online.

Dr Arvind Goyal, a PMT trainer, said, “It is commendable that the CBSE is taking up this herculean task for the benefit of students. It will be good if other subjects are covered as well. It will make the system more transparent and will definitely give the students a chance to analyse and improve their performance.” 

Chandigarh, April 30
To encourage introduction of new courses in colleges affiliated to Panjab University (PU), the authorities should speed up the process of inspection and approval. This was suggested by a delegation of Principal’s Association of Panjab University, which met Vice-chancellor (VC) Arun Kumar Grover today.

The delegation also requested the VC to clear the approvals for appointment of teachers in the affiliated colleges.

The association also raised the issue to evolve a mechanism for expeditious forwarding of various proposals of colleges to the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Chandigarh, April 30
Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC) has taken up the problems faced by students at the AC Joshi library, with the university authorities. Representatives of the council today met the Dean Students Welfare (DSW) and the chief librarian.

PUCSC president Chandan Rana demanded that girls residing in hostels should be allowed to study in the library during the night without any late entry fine. A provision of shuttle bus service between library and hostel should also be made for girls.

The council demanded that the library staff should check ID cards of the students entering the outer reading hall to check entry of outsiders. Students face problem during night when the upper section of the library is closed and the outer hall remains jam-packed as outsiders too study there.

The DSW reportedly agreed to look into the demands. The chief librarian was asked to give a feedback report after discussing the issues with library officials. — TNS

Chandigarh, April 30
A noted economist and member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, Prof Pulin B Nayak, today said reorienting economics to address the hardships of the people at large, particularly poor, can possibly offer a blueprint for humanistic economics.

Prof Nayak was delivering the Panjab University (PU) Colloquium and Rajendra Memorial Lecture on ‘Humanistic economics: a Blueprint’. The lecture was organised in the memory of late Rajendra N Nanda, an alumnus of PU.

Prof Nayak said people like Count Simonde de Sismondi, John Ruskin and Mahatma Gandhi were the votaries of humanistic economics. He said in terms of human development index, India ranked 135th among 180 countries in the world.