Panchkula, September 16
Pushed to the wall for "shaky" investigations into the Jyoti murder case that led to the acquittal of Doon MLA Ram Kumar Chaudhary and 11 others, the Haryana police have constituted another special investigation team (SIT) to have a fresh look into the case.

The three-member SIT, headed by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Rahul Sharma, has been asked to re-work on all flaws in the previous investigation and analyse the court judgment before filing an appeal in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Panchkula-Ambala Commissioner of Police Ajay Singal said the SIT would submit its report within seven days to the Director General of Police (DGP,) Haryana, SN Vashist, after getting the court judgment.

He said, “The SIT would analyse the judgment from all angles. The two other members of the team are Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Dharambir Singh and Deputy District Attorney Gurpal Singh.” On being asked whether the SIT would be able to make any breakthrough as teams were formed in nearly every high profile cases, but with little success, Singhal said, “The SIT concept is very successful. As it is a committee that examines the issue, personal biases are eliminated.” This is the second SIT that will look into the Jyoti murder case. The first SIT, headed by the then DCP, Ashwin Shenvi, was constituted in April 2013 after Jyoti’s father alleged that the investigations were not being conducted properly. The first SIT "failed in its task", leading to the acquittal of the accused.

On September 11, a fast-track court in Panchkula had acquitted all 12 accused in the Jyoti murder case. In its order, the court stated that there was no legal evidence and it was the "shaky" theory of the prosecution that led to the acquittal of the accused.

After the acquittal, the DGP had ordered a probe and sought a report from the Panchkula-Ambala Commissioner of Police. The report will also point out the role of investigating officers.

Chandigarh, September 16
A cyclist was crushed to death under the wheels of a Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) bus near the Kala Gram light point here this morning. A woman scooterist and a roadside fruit vendor also got injured in the accident. This is the second such incident within a month.

The accident was reported at around 9.50 am when the CTU bus was on the way from Command Hospital, Chandimandir, to the ISBT, Sector 43. The victim, Ajay Kumar (24), a resident of Mauli Jagran, got crushed under the front wheel of the bus, being driven by Kanan Chand. The bus dragged the cycle to some distance.

The victim, who hailed from Bihar, was cycling down to Sector 19 where he worked at a crockery shop.

The police said before crushing the cyclist, the CTU bus firstly hit a scooter from the rear side and then moved over the footpath where a woman was selling fruits. The bus then again moved on the road and crushed the cyclist. The scooterist, Rachna Verma, a bank employee, and fruit vendor Ramwati got injured in the accident.

Chandigarh, September 16
To avoid a pick-and-choose policy in acting against building violations, the UT Estate Office has for the first time initiated a door-to-door survey of houses in Sector 22, one of the most densely populated sectors having around 3,000 houses of different sizes.

This is in contrast to the earlier practice of picking selective houses for initiating action against allottees for building violations. Since it requires a lot of manpower and time to inspect the violations, the field staff of the building branch have been asked to check all houses of a particular category.

Irrespective of the nature of violations, the field staff have been asked to issue proper notices to the allottees before carrying out the survey. Be it building violation, illegal paying guest accommodation or running commercial activity from residential premises, all aspects would be covered in the survey. The UT Finance Secretary-cum-Chief Administrator had recently directed the Estate Office to bring more transparency while reporting building violations across the city.

The field staff had been asked to avoid a pick-and-choose policy while reporting violations as it was resulting in resentment among residents.

Assistant Estate Officer (AEO) Balbir Singh Dhol said the survey was being conducted as per the availability of the staff. In the past, the standard practice was to act on the basis of complaints. The field staff allegedly acted on their whims while "reporting or ignoring violations".

The field staff of the building branch have been told that after every inspection, they would have to submit a report to the AEO certifying that all properties in a particular area have been checked and to list out the properties found complying with the rules and another list of the properties with violations.

While inspecting, the staff have been told that the focus should be on major violations rather than hair-splitting and speaking orders shall have to be passed by the EO or the AEO in each case.

Chandigarh, September 16
Makhan Singh (40), a resident of Nayagaon, was found murdered on the Chandigarh-Nayagaon road here late this night. The deceased owned a guest house, Royal Money Motel, in Nayagaon.

Police sources said four unidentified persons attacked him with sharp weapons outside his guest house and fled from the scene. Makhan Singh was found lying in a pool of blood with injuries on his neck and head. A police party reached the spot and rushed the injured to the PGI, Chandigarh, where doctors declared him brought dead.

Panchkula, September 16
A 19-year-old student of a private institute was critically injured when she fell off a moving Haryana Roadways bus at Chandimandir here this morning.

The victim, identified as Himanshi, a resident of Parwanoo, was rushed to the General Hospital, Sector 6, from where she was referred to Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, Chandigarh. The girl is a student of first-year of a nursing institute. She had taken admission just a few days ago.

The doctors at the General Hospital said that the girl had sustained critical injury and there was hemorrhage in her brain that is why she was referred.As the driver stopped in front of the institute, Himanshi was getting down from the bus when the bus driver allegedly started off the vehicle leading to the accident.

The local police post in charge was informed. The police said due to her critical condition, the victim was not fit to give statements. 

Chandigarh, September 16
The UT Powermen Union has challenged manpower study conducted by the UT Electricity Department on shortage of manpower.

During the hearing before the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC), Gopal Dutt Joshi, union general secretary, submitted that the study conducted by the department was imaginative.

On the union’s request, the JERC has now directed the union to submit a detailed reply on October 14.

The union had filed the review petition filed on shortage of manpower in the Chandigarh Electricity Department.

The Electricity Department is managing its affairs with a mere 58 per cent of the sanctioned staff with 961 employees against the total sanctioned strength of 1,668.

The last sanction for officer-level manpower was provided in 1992 and there has also been no change in the existing management structure of the department.

As per the study, the department has witnessed significant growth in the load and the number of connections over the past 20 years.

The electricity load has increased three times and the number of connections has gone up by almost 80 per cent. There are nearly two lakh consumers of which 
1.75 lakh are in the domestic category.

The study states that the consumer profile is unique in Chandigarh as it is a capital city of Punjab and Haryana. The expectations and demands of the consumers have been increasing and are currently at par with most metros in India.

The study also noted that there are many recurring supply related complaints in the area under the control of the Electricity Department.

The study observed that the lack of professional and technology oriented staff resulted in lack of preventive maintenance and lack of network health analysis studies.

Chandigarh, September 16
The Chandigarh-Jaipur Express daily train got a tremendous response on its maiden journey from the city today. Around 300 passengers boarded the train from Chandigarh railway station which starts at 12:45 pm.

The train was announced in the 2014-15 Railway Budget. The train no.19717/19718 (Jaipur-Chandigarh-Jaipur daily Express) will comprise of total 12 coaches. There will be 2-Tier AC (1 coach), 3-Tier AC (1 coach), sleeper (4 coaches) and unreserved (04 coaches) and SLRs (02 coaches).

Chandigarh railway station superintendent R K Dutta said as this was the first direct train from Chandigarh to Narwana, it was expected that there would be good response for the new train.

During the outward journey, train number 19718 will depart daily Chandigarh at 12:45 pm and will reach Jaipur on the next day at 12:50 am. The train will have stoppages at Ambala Cantt, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Narwana, Jind, Rohtak, Jhajhar, Rewari, Khairthal, Alwar, Raigarh, Bandikuai, Dausa and Gandhi Nagar Jaipur.

On its return journey from Jaipur, train number 19717 will depart daily from Jaipur at 4:40 pm and will reach Chandigarh on the next day at 4:55 am.The train will halt at Gandhi Nagar Jaipur, Dausa, Bandikuai, Raigarh, Alwar, Khairthal, Rewari, Jhajhar, Rohtak, Jind, Narwana, Kaithal, Kurukshetra and Ambala Cantt.

Chandigarh, September 16
Goods worth lakhs were destroyed in a fire incident reported from a car accessory showroom at Ram Darbar, Industrial Area, Phase II.

The fire was reported on the first floor of the SAAK Auto Accessories, 423, Industrial Area, Phase II. The fire control room received the fire call at 2.10 pm following which six fire tenders from the fire station in Industrial Area, Ram Darbar, Sector 32, and Sector 17 were rushed to the spot.

The fire tenders faced a lot of problem to reach the showroom due to the haphazard parking on the road . It was only after the police diverted the traffic from a particular lane, the fire tenders got a clear passage to reach the showroom. Due to the smoke, the firefighters could not enter the building. They then climbed onto the roof of the neighboring building and doused the fire by breaking a portion of the wall of the building that had the fire.

The fire fighters managed to control the fire in around 90 minutes. Avi Bhasin, owner of the showroom, said bumper guards made of steel and luggage trays for vehicles were stored on the first floor that got burnt. “There was a short circuit in the transformer at the nearby electricity pole that led to a short circuit in the electricity wires inside the shop”, Bhasin added. Bhasin who is the president of Chandigarh Industrial Youth Association saidthe actual loss was yet to be calculated. Mayor HC Kalyan and Deputy Mayor Davesh Moudgil also reached the spot. 

Mohali, September 16
Workers’ Education Day and Hindi Diwas were celebrated at Jan Shikshan Sansthan here.

The chairman, Regional Advisory Committee (RAC), Central Board for Workers Education (CBWE), Chandigarh, Kulbir Singh, inaugurated a programme on the impact of workers’ education and its importance for future. “Due to the impact of workers’ education programmes, productivity and the quality of products have improved and the relations between workers and managements have become harmonious,” said Kulbir.

The regional director, CBWE, Chandigarh, Malkit Ram, urged the organisations working for the rural and unorganised sector to contribute towards the implementation of the Workers’ Education Scheme.

He also urged the participants to make use of Hindi language at a larger scale for the national integration and enhancement of the efficiency level by effective communication.

The director of the Jan Shikshan Sansthan, Mohali, Anand Mohan Sharma, explained how workers’ education has proved useful to the working class.

The assistant director of the Hindi Teaching Scheme, Chandigarh, Sant Ram, urged participants to read, write and speak in Hindi.

The Deputy Labour Commissioner, Punjab, Jacob Partap, who presided over the concluding function, advised trade unions and managements to reap the benefits of the Workers’ Education Scheme.

The programme was attended by representatives of different managements, trade unions, NGOs and social organisations.

Zirakpur, September 16
An retired Colonel allegedly stabbed a head constable of the Punjab Police with a knife and then caused injures to himself in a Peer Muchalla located housing society -Bollywood Heights - this afternoon.

Seriously injured head constable Balwinder Singh was rushed to the PGI, Chandigarh, with injuries on his head, abdomen and hands where his condition is said to be stable. The incident occurred this afternoon when Col Gobind Bakshi (retd), a resident of the society, was allegedly creating a ruckus in full public view with a knife in his hand under the influence of liquor. Under the influence of liquor, Bakshi had been terrorising residents of the society, especially women and children for the past couple of months, alleged Ekta Nagpal, president of the Peer Muchalla Apartment's Residents Federation.

Kewal Singh, Sub Inspector, said the police received phone calls from a resident of the society against Bakshi and subsequently a team lead by Balwinder Singh, head constable, and Hardeep Singh, constable, from the Zirakpur police station, were sent to look into the issue.

The SI said when the police reached the society Bakshi had gone back to his flat. Accompanied by society members, the policemen went to Bakshi's flat where he attacked the policemen with a knife and caused Balwinder Singh multiple-stab injuries. Bakshi also caused injuries to himself, he said.Balwinder Singh was then rushed to the PGI, Chandigarh, while Bakshi has been admitted to the Civil Hospital, Dera Bassi.No case was registered till the filing of the report as both the accused and the victim were hospitalised. Bakshi however, claimed that the police personnel assaulted him first and he retaliated in self-defence.

Chandigarh, September 16
The NSS units of DAV College, Sector 10, Chandigarh, has sent 1,000 water bottles, 450 kg of rice, 150-kg pulses, 100 kg of wheat flour, biscuits and other items to the flood-affected Jammu and Kashmir.

The NSS volunteers collected these items from the staff and by visiting various houses. They have also set up a help desk on the college premises.

Chandigarh, September 16
To preserve old documents and official records, the Haryana Health Department has digitised and scanned birth and death records of residents of two districts at the PEC Centre for Consultancy in Engineering.

The centre has developed a software with the help of which old records can be scanned and digitised in their original manner and the data can be accessed online.

Nearly one lakh records of Panchkula and Faridabad districts have been scanned and digitised by the centre in the past over three months. The Haryana government has asked the PEC centre to convert the health records of five other districts in the same manner.

Vinay K Jain, chief executive officer, PEC Centre for Consultancy in Engineering, said: “The software is unique as the data that is scanned and digitised through it remains in its original format. After the digitisation, there is no chance of tampering with the record by any employee.”

The software had the ability to minimise the size of files as per the requirement of the department, he said.

A number of alterations were, reportedly, pointed out in the birth and death records that were sent to the centre for scanning due to which the employees faced problem in digitising them.

A senior official said after a number of fire incidents in Chandigarh, the centre had approached various departments in the city to opt for this service for the safety of their data.

The sources said officials of the UT Administration would visit the centre soon to monitor the facility of digitisation to take the final decision in this regard.

Panchkula, September 16
A victim of cheque forgery is running pillar to post to get his money back.

Kamaldeep Garg, the proprietor of Shiva Auto Care, alleged that his cheque No. 487609 of State Bank of Patiala, Sector 15 branch, that was missing since March 3, 2010, was encashed for Rs 40,000 by an unknown person from a branch of the bank in Delhi on June 7, 2011.

In a complaint to the CMD, SBOP, Patiala, Garg stated that the cheque was honoured even as he had complained to the police about it and moved an application in the bank’s Sector 15 branch to stop payment against the missing cheque. The cheque, which was not a multi-city negotiable instrument, was encashed at a Delhi-based branch allegedly on forged signatures. A document obtained from the bank under the Right to Information (RTI) Act clearly showed that the bearer’s signatures mismatched with the one on the cheque, he claimed.

Garg alleged that certain bank employee, in connivance with the swindler, duped him. He has asked the bank to refund the money with interest or face the consequences.

Meanwhile, Surinder Bansal, the branch manager of the SBOP, Sector 15, claimed that the Shiva Auto Care’s proprietor had filed a case in the consumer court, which was settled.

Chandigarh, September 16
Stressing upon the need to revamp the Department of Ex-servicemen’s Welfare to make it effective and purposeful, a former Chief of the Army Staff, Gen VP Malik (retd), said the department should be headed by a senior serving or retired officer of the armed forces.

Speaking at the release of a book, “Maimed by the System”, authored by a lawyer, Major Navdep Singh, here today, General Malik added that the Armed Forces Tribunal, set up to grant judicial redressal to soldier’s grievances, was also proving to be ineffectual as it lacked teeth.

The book contains stories of 19 disabled soldiers and their kin who had to fight long-drawn legal battles against the establishment to get pensionary and other benefits.

General Malik said despite the soldiers winning their claims for benefits in the AFT or the High Court, the government made it a point to file an appeal in the Supreme Court in almost every case. It is very difficult for aged and disabled veterans to pursue prolonged litigation and the government should be sensitive to their welfare, he added.

Retired Army officers, academicians and lawyers were present on the occasion.

Chandigarh, September 16
Leaders of the Student Organisation of India (SOI), Panjab University, today met Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

The student outfit was appreciated for its performance in the recent elections.

A senior leader of the SOI said they a number of problems being faced by the university students with Badal, who assured them of doing the needful. The meeting also discussed the strategy to strengthen the student party in other colleges at Chandigarh and Punjab.

Chandigarh, September 16
The Panjab University Teachers Association met the Vice-Chancellor to take up various issues related to the faculty and students.

During the meeting with VC Arun Kumar Grover, PUTA president Rajat Sandhir discussed the issue of Central university status for PU, implementation of senior professorship, restoration of the encashment of earned leave at the time of retirement to 300 days and deferring of the capping of the academic performance index (API).

The PUTA executive also demanded the implementation of childcare leave as per the Punjab government notification.

Other demands included expediting the formulation of a promotion policy for the dental institute faculty, rotation of department heads, formation of a committee to listen to teachers’ grievances if they are misbehaved with or assaulted by students and renovation of the dilapidated teachers’ flats on the campus.

"A plan was prepared to improve the surroundings of teachers’ flats. But no progress has taken place yet. The construction office should execute the plan without further delay," said the PUTA president.