Panchkula, October 14
Two persons, including a 16-year-old boy, were killed and three others injured in a head-on collision between a pick-up and a 12-wheeler multi-axle vehicle near Kot Billah on the National Highway-73 this afternoon.

Ashok (53), a company worker who was sitting in the multi-axle vehicle, was declared brought dead at the General Hospital, Sector 6, Sunil (16), another occupant of the same vehicle, died on way to the PGI after being referred there. The injured are Vinod, Balkar and Mahesh. They have been admitted to the hospital.

Vinod was driving the multi-axle vehicle and was accompanied by Panipat resident Sunil and company worker Ashok, a resident of Sector 10, Panchkula. Balkar was driving the pick-up and was accompanied by Mahesh.

Family members of Ashok try to console his wife. Tribune Photo: Nitin Mittal

The impact of the mishap was so huge that Ashok was tossed out of the vehicle and got crushed under the wheels. Both vehicles overturned. The accident lead to a 45- minute traffic jam on the highway.

The occupants of the multi-axle vehicle were on their way to Panipat from Ramgarh after picking up raw material from a company in the Industrial Area, Panchkula, while the other vehicle was coming from the opposite direction.

Ashok

The company had sent Ashok to unload the material in Panipat. “According to eyewitnesses, the pick-up driver was moving at a fast speed and in a bid to prevent an accident with a scooterist who was trying to overtake him, he hit the other vehicle,” said ACP Jagtar Singh.

The rear part of the multi-axle vehicle got detached from the front portion, which overturned. ASI Gulab Singh, investigating officer, said a case had been registered against the driver of the pick-up, Balkar, on Vinod's complaint.

Chandigarh, October 14
A 45-year-old woman was killed while four others were injured when an auto-rickshaw overturned on the road dividing Sectors 7 and 8 after being hit by a recklessly driven car this morning.

The police said the auto driver, Ashu, a resident of Kaimbawala, was heading towards Sector 27 along with his family members when the accident took place. The auto driver suffered a head injury.

The deceased has been identified as Sunita. Among the injured are the auto driver’s wife, Gomti, his brother’s wife, Suman, and his cousin, Rajita.

Sources said as soon the auto driver turned towards Sector 7 from Sector 8, a car coming from the rear side hit the auto, leading to the accident.

Passersby lifted the overturned auto and rescued the injured. All injured were rushed to Government Multi-Specialty Hospital, Sector 16, from where Sunita and Rajita were referred to the PGI.

Rajita has been admitted to the hospital. Sub-inspector Randhir Singh, the investigating officer, said a case against the car driver, Kulwinder Singh, had been registered at the Sector 26 police station. The accused was arrested and later released on bail. 

Chandigarh, October 14
The Fourth Delhi Finance Commission, in its report submitted to UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil, has stated that officers of the Chandigarh Administration have damaged the Municipal Corporation and Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs) in the city.

The report suggested to the Administrator to stop his officers from meddling with law and the functioning of statutory bodies.

The report states, “It is time the UT Administrator intervenes and stops his officers from meddling with law and the functioning of statutory bodies. If urgent steps are not taken in this respect, we have every reason to be believe that the MC is destined to meet the fate of PRIs in the UT much earlier than can be imagined”.

“We have seen that officers in the Chandigarh Administration are acting independently of the provisions of laws enacted by Parliament and the UT Administrator continues to ignore their audacious misconduct with regard to enforcement of the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, and the Punjab Municipal Corporation Law (Extension to Chandigarh) Act, 1994. Through their series of acts of omission and commission, they have already impaired the smooth working of PRIs and the MC. They have already damaged the PRIs to an extent that these cannot be revived,” the report states.

Recently, political parties had stated that there was need for changing the democratic system in the city as UT officials were not working for the welfare of the people. BJP city unit president Sanjay Tandon had complained to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh against the "dictatorial style" of functioning of UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil and other UT officials.

At present, the MC House passses agenda items pertaining to the development of the city, but the final approval is given by the UT Administration. 

Chandigarh, October 14
Taking a tough stand against defaulters who have failed to pay commercial property tax, the MC today decided to attach 23 commercial properties in the city.

It is for the first time that the MC has decided to attach properties on such a large scale. The properties are located in Sectors 8, 9, 22, 32, 34, 36 and 38, and the Industrial Area. The owners are yet to clear property tax of nearly Rs 1 crore.

MC Joint Commissioner Rajiv Gupta said earlier the violators were issued show-cause notices and were provided an opportunity of personal hearing. Later, notices were pasted outside these commercial properties and now it had been decided to attach the properties, he said.

The decision to attach the property had been taken under Section 138/2 of the Punjab Municipal Act (implemented in Chandigarh) which states that "any sum due on account of tax payable under this Act may be recovered, together with the costs of recovery, by the attachment and sale of a defaulter’s immovable property".

The commercial property tax is one of the main sources of income of the MC. There are over 2,200 defaulters who have not paid property tax, amounting to several crores, ever since the tax was introduced in 2004. 

Panchkula/Kalka, October 14
The Panchkula and Kalka Assembly constituencies are all set to witness the battle of the ballot tomorrow. Around 3.52 lakh voters will exercise their franchise to elect their representatives. Voting will take place amid tight security from 7 am to 6 pm. Counting will take place on October 19.

As many as 380 polling booths (185 in the Panchkula constituency and 195 in the Kalka constituency) have been set up for the smooth conduct of polling. Of these, 79 polling booths have been declared hypersensitive and 26 sensitive.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DSP) Rahul Sharma said special security had been deployed at the hypersensitive booths. The vehicular movement of 34 patrolling parties (18 in Kalka and 16 in Panchkula) would be tracked through the GPS.

Seventeen candidates are in the fray from Panchkula while there are 12 candidates from Kalka. As many as 154 micro observers have been deployed to keep a watch during the polling. “Around 1,300 police personnel will be on guard tomorrow,” the DCP said.

Deputy Commissioner SS Phulia said special arrangements had been made for the physically challenged.

“Ramps have been provided at polling booths for the differently abled. An attendant above 18 years of age will be allowed with an elderly person or the differently abled,” said Phulia.

There are 1,95,974 voters in Panchkula and 1,56,921 voters in Kalka.

Chandigarh, October 14
City government schools are violating the Right to Education Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2014. According to a report of the Chandigarh Commission for Protection of Child Rights, 20 complaints have been received in the past eight months, of which 75 per cent pertain to government schools.

The report states that private schools are also violating the Right to Education Act by denying admission to EWS students. The commission has received a large number of complaints from students of weaker sections who have alleged that they have been denied admission by private schools.

Records of the commission reveal that several complaints have been received from students of government schools that they were thrashed by teachers in the classroom.

Chairperson of the Chandigarh Commission for Protection of Child Rights Devi Sirohi said they had received complaints from students of government schools in this regard. She said earlier on an average, one complaint was received from students in a fortnight, but the count had gone up to three during the past three months.

She said the complaints had been sent to the school authorities for action recommended by the Education Department.

She said students of private schools had complained that the fee of students belonging to weaker sections was not being waived.

The report states that in the past eight months, around 50 government schools have been inspected by a team of the commission. The team found that there was a serious problem of infrastructure in the schools which had not been resolved by the Engineering Department of the UT Administration.

The team said in several schools, classrooms were being used as science labs and the library as the staff room. The furniture in classrooms was in bad shape. 

Chandigarh, October 14
The incident of alleged thrashing of a traumatized man at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32 by security guards, over a petty issue, has raised a question mark over the sensitivity of the hospital staff towards visitors.

Manoj, a resident of Burail, had left his scooter parked outside theparking lot as he rushed his three-month old daughter to the emergency and she was declared brought dead. His scooter was towed away and upon enquiring the security guards ridiculed him for not parking the scooter properly. Following a spate of arguments between the two sides Manoj was allegedly beaten up.

While the hospital authorities stated to have initiated a detailed inquiry into the matter, Chandigarh Tribune team camped at the hospital emergency today to observe the general conduct of the staff and social workers towards patients.

It was found that the parking in front of the emergency unit was highly chaotic and visitors jostled for space to enter, exit or even cross the parking. There was no one available at the police assistance cell for over two hours (between 12pm to 2pm), the security guards showed no courtesy as they regulated the entry of patient attendants inside the emergency.

“My wife has not been able to come out of the trauma of losing our baby. I will certainly request the hospital authorities to look into the matter so that others like me do not suffer. They need to understand that nobody goes to the hospital for any form of entertainment. There is always panic and grief,” said Manoj. 

The management should be given a warning and the contractor of security guards should also be served a show-cause notice. The punishment for such an act is cancellation of contract of the security guards.
— Suresh, Resident of Sector 45

Even I have witnessed such a situation earlier at a city government hospital. One of my friends had rushed to donate blood to a patient in the Emergency and the security staff deflated his car tyres.
— Kewal Kumar, private employee

The staff in government hospitals are relatively very insensitive as compared to those in private hospitals. They need to be sensitised regularly to avoid such a situation. Erring staff should be dealt with strictly.
— Sahiba, a student

Chandigarh, October 14
While the Fourth Delhi Finance Commission has recommended imposition of congestion tax in the city, residents have demanded that before making such recommendations alternative public transport system should be provided to them.

The commission has stated that there was an urgent need to amend tax-imposing provisions and the methods of calculating the tax liability under the Punjab Motor Vehicle Tax Act. It has recommended that the authorities, besides taxing motor vehicles for keeping and using them in the city, should “make the owners or drivers as the case may be to pay for causing avoidable congestion, affecting normal right of way of the human and vehicular traffic on public thoroughfares”.

The tax could also be imposed on owners in case of “parking their vehicle, except during the period of unplanned breakdown of vehicles, in respect of use of land forming part of the public streets”. It is recommended that the tax be assigned and permitted to be collected by the municipal corporation.

“Instead of imposing the congestion tax, the Administration should work on setting up more multi-level parkings and upgrading the public transport system. Imposition of congestion tax will also affect the business of traders,” says Charanjiv Singh, president, Chandigarh Beopar Mandal (CBM).

“Residents are already paying many taxes to the government and if the residents are forced to pay the congestion tax as well, then it will be additional burden on them,” says Chander Verma, chairman, Converted Plot Owners Association.

“I am ready to leave my car but the authorities should first provide a better public transport system,” says Poonam Chauhan, a working woman.

Chandigarh has around 11 lakh registered vehicles. Apart from this, there is a floating population of around one lakh vehicles. This causes frequent traffic jams on the roads in certain parts of the city.

The Delhi Finance Commission is under the legal obligation to make recommendations to the UT Administrator with regards to the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. Headed by retired IAS officer PS Bhatnagar, the commission has two members — Dr MP Mathur from the National Institute of Urban Affairs and KS Wahi, who is the member secretary.

Panchkula, October 14
With residents in Panchkula to vote tomorrow, eyes are now on as to who will win the Vidhan Sabha elections.

The battle is going to remain quite close. The counting would take place at the BEL Colony and the Government College for Girls on October 19.

Indian National Lok Dal candidate Kulbhushan Goyal, a known businessman, has a vast network in the city, while BJP candidate Gian Chand Gupta, who has worked with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has a political strength.

Not just Baniya votes would be divided, but urban votes would also be divided.

DK Bansal, the Congress MLA, will have a close fight with Haryana Janhit Congress candidate Ravinder Rawal as Rawal left the Congress after he failed to get the ticket from Panchkula. Both would divide certain urban and Congress votes as well.

Kulbhushan Goyal said: “I am a localite and have remained with people since long. I don’t want the city to suffer now. The city has always lagged in development and that is the reason I want them to vote for me.”

Gian Chand Gupta on why people should vote for him said: “I have a political background and have worked with Modiji when he was here.”

However, DK Bansal, the incumbent MLA, said: “People know how I have fought for them in times of need.”

Chandigarh, October 14
Less than a week after the Centre alleged the destruction of record due to the demolition carried out by the Deputy Commissioner (DC) on a Sector 18 plot despite refrain orders from the Adviser, DC Mohammed Shayin, toady claimed that alternative space had been allotted.

In an affidavit filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Shayin also claimed that the record was in safe custody, and due procedure was followed in the matter. Taking up the matter, the Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Ashutosh Mohunta and Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal asserted: “The affidavit of Mohammed Shayin, Deputy Commissioner-cum-Estate Officer, Chandigarh, has been filed in the court, which is taken on record.

Exempting the DC’s presence for the next date of hearing, the Bench also fixed October 29 as the next date of hearing in the matter.

Shayin, on the previous date of hearing, had assured the court that the office space would be provided to the Union of India itself and “whatever records/assets of the petitioner were found at the site would be handed over to the petitioner by this evening”.

Acting on a petition filed by the Union of India against the Chandigarh Administration andother respondents, the High Court on Thursday had directed him to be present in the court in person this morning.

The directions came after the senior advocate Chetan Mittal and Puneet Gupta told the Bench that plot number three in Sector 18, Chandigarh, was allocated by the Chandigarh Administration to the Union of India, the Ministry of Communication and IT, in 1973.

The Union of India was having the office of Ministry of Communication and IT on the premises after it was leased out by the UT Administration. It approached the Adviser for allotment of an alternative space or to re-allot them the same space after reconstruction as the state governments of Punjab, Haryana and UT Administration had agreed to demolish the existing structure.

The Adviser also wrote a letter saying action in the matter should not be taken unless satisfactory arrangements approved by him had been made. But the Deputy Commissioner demolished the entire building.

Shayin told the Bench this morning that the possession of the office premises was taken over by the Estate Office before being handed over to HUDA, which demolished the building.

Chandigarh, October 14
A probe into the incident of carjacking reported two days ago near the Kalibari light point has revealed that it was an undertrial who escaped from the District Courts who asked for the victim to stop, pointed pistol at him and took away the car.

Sources in the police confirmed that undertrial Sandeep Kumar, alias Sunny, a resident of Sector 38 (West), who had fled from the District Courts Complex in Sector 43 on October 6, was one of the accused who robbed the car from Kamaljeet Singh, a resident of Mohali.

On October 12, four miscreants had forcefully robbed the Indica car of the complainant who was heading back home. The accused’s Alto car had met with an accident with a bus following which he signalled Kamaljeet to stop for help.

Police sources said that the complainant had identified Sandeep as the accused who signalled him to stop and asked for help. “Sandeep was injured and he only who pointed gun at the victim and rob the vehicle”, sources added. 

Chandigarh, October 14
The Chandigarh Commission for Protection of Child Rights organised a sensitisation programme for media personnel on the role of media in reporting of children-related cases with special reference to provisions of the POCSO Act and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.

The programme was chaired by Prof Devi Sirohi, chairperson, Chandigarh Commission for Protection of Child Rights; Tilak Raj, director, Social Welfare.

During the first session, Tilak Raj spoke about the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders, including the Chandigarh Commission for Protection of Child Rights and various institutions.

The second session was addressed by Prof Devi Sirohi.

Professor Sirohi spoke about the provisions of  the POCSO Act and the role and responsibility of the press as laid down in the Act.

Mohali, October 14
Its been two weeks that residents of Phase XI here have been facing power problems. Former municipal councillor Sukhminder Singh Barnala said residents of the area had not been getting a regular supply of power from the last 15 days.

He said the power supply to a part of Phase XI got disrupted before 5 am today, too, and it took a long time for the authorities to restore it.

He complained that the supply to Phase XI got disrupted for about two to three hours daily as a result of which people faced inconvenience. The disruptions also adversely affected the supply of water.

SDO of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) Surinder Singh Bains said a power cable got damaged and today it took a little longer than usual to restore the supply. The work was delayed due to the ongoing strike by the employees of the PSPCL.

Bains denied that the residents of Phase XI were facing any power problems. “A power cut was imposed once for about half an hour some days ago. A problem here and there in the power network does not lead to a disruption in the supply to the entire phase,” he added. 

Chandigarh, October 14
The World Standards Day was celebrated by the Bureau of Indian Standards, northern regional office, Chandigarh. The day is also marked as the foundation day of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). The seminar was inaugurated by RP Singh, chairman and managing director, SJVN Limited.

In his inaugural address, RP Singh said the theme was indeed relevant in today’s globally competitive environment, where everyone was expecting a level playing field for global market.

Chandigarh, October 13
Deprecating Panjab University for shifting two SC students, who had obtained admission to Government Nursing College under the general category, to the Scheduled Caste category, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on the university.

As fallout, a student, who had secured admission in the general category due to the shifting of the candidates to the reserved category, would lose his seat. He would now be replaced by a Scheduled Caste candidate left out of the race initially.

The orders are significant as SC candidates meriting admission to the general category, by virtue of securing more than the cut-off marks, have to be shifted to the same in accordance with the settled law. But in the present case, two seats in the general category, gained by SC candidates, were made vacant by transferring them to the SC category.

Justice K Kannan also directed the High Court registry to dispatch the order’s copy to the UT SC/ST Commission for issuing directives to the universities in Chandigarh and affiliated colleges.

The commission has been asked to specify that a SC candidate who merits selection in the general category by securing above the cut-off marks for the general category shall not be transferred to the SC category as it would “rob the seat available for another SC category candidate, besides securing an unmerited admission to a general category candidate”.

Justice Kannan also made it clear that “appropriate penal action will be recommended against officials manipulating the constitutional norms”. The order’s copy has also been directed to be forwarded to “the Education Secretary to send appropriate circulars to all such educational institutions which are required to follow the reservation policy”.

The directions came on a petition by Alka against the UT Administration and other respondents. The petitioner was placed at number nine in merit in the Scheduled Caste category. Out of nine, as many as five candidates secured above the cut-off marks for the general category. But the institution pushed two SC candidates, who had qualified with the cut-off marks for the general category, to the SC category.

Taking up the matter, Justice Kannan asserted: “It is too well known that reservation for the Scheduled Caste is vertical reservation. If an SC candidate gets marks above the cut-off marks for the general category, he ought to be admitted only against the seat in the general category and cannot be sent to the SC category. For, that would mean withdrawing a reservation, which is possible exclusively for SC candidate, who has lower cut-off marks….”

“After the admission made by the respondent of a candidate in the general category, transferring him to the SC category is grossly improper and constitutionally impermissible. The conduct of the university is deprecated and even while allowing the petition, I impose a cost of Rs 25,000 against the university payable to the petitioner,” Justice Kannan said.

“I am informed that two seats in the general category, gained by SC candidates, were made vacant by transferring them to the SC category. Therefore, two candidates in the SC category must obtain the benefit of this order by displacing two general category candidates who have been subsequently admitted. However, only one SC candidate has approached this court…,” said Justice Kannan.

Justice Kannan said one of the candidates, in view of the decision, cannot continue.

“It will be open for him to secure the damages through civil suit before a competent court. The university is directed to pay back the tuition or any other fee collected from the respondent with interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum,” said Justice Kannan.

Chandigarh, October 14
e-payment service for the collection of fee from candidates of Panjab University was inaugurated at the campus post office, Sector 14, here today. PU Dean University Instructions Prof Ashwani Kumar Bhandari and Director Postal Services (HQ), Punjab Circle, Chandigarh, Manisha Bansal Badal, inaugurated the counter.

Manisha Bansal Badal said private students of the PU could now deposit their fees at post offices across the country.

PU DUI Prof Bhandari said it was a major initiative by the Department of Posts as it would provide doorstep service to the students.

Controller of Examinations Prof Parvinder Singh and Finance and Development Officer Vikram Nayyar were also present on the occasion. — TNS

Chandigarh, October 14
To take up the long-pending issues of the faculty, the Government Teachers Union (GTU) held its state executive committee meeting today.

The meeting was chaired by GTU president Dr Vinod Sharma. The members strongly demanded immediate fulfilment of demands accepted many times at the meetings held with the Education Department.

The demands of the faculty include Centre pay scale and service conditions, amendment in recruitment rules for at least one-time promotion on the basis of academic qualification and teaching experience, notional pay fixation and implementation of Punjab Government notification in totality, regularisation of teachers working under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, increase in the salary of part-time lecturers from Rs 12,000 to Rs 25,000 per month and for guest faculty teachers Rs 20,000 to Rs 35,000 per month and immediate release of Centre pay scale for work experience cadre as per the decision of the High Court.

The members pointed out that almost all demands mentioned above were pending with the department due to which teachers were facing a huge financial loss.

The committee demanded implementation of all demands before Diwali. In case the demands are not fulfilled, the union will be compelled to fight for the rights of common teachers by holding a huge meeting of teachers in the second week of November.

Chandigarh, October 14
Chairperson of the Indian Youth Congress and National Students Union of India Rahul Gandhi  is going to visit Panjab University to meet the winning panel of the student council here on Thursday.

On this occasion, a special interaction session will be organised for the first time between NSUI workers and Rahul Gandhi at the coffee house.

Sources said that after winning three seats in the recently held student council elections, NSUI senior leaders along with the members visited New Delhi to meet Rahul Gandhi where they invited him to visit the student council office at the Panjab University.

The sources said the NSUI team was preparing an agenda, which they are going to put before Rahul Gandhi to take up with the Union Government for the benefit of the university.

“Senior leaders of the NSUI are planning to discuss those issues that Rahul can raise in the Parliament and take up with the Centre,” a party leader said.

The issue of the central status for Panjab University, which was on the top of the agenda, has been given a less priority in the list of issues, which the NSUI is going to discuss with Rahul.

As per the schedule, Rahul will visit the Panjab University student council office. Later, an interactive session will be held at the Indian Coffee House with NSUI workers where he will share his vision for the NSUI wing.

Officials of the university said the security agencies today conduct an inspection of the area of the campus where Rahul was going to visit and meet students.

Panchkula, October 14
Students of Sky World School, Sector 21, here continue to excel in the field of martial arts. Three students of the school bagged medals in the Open Inter-School Tae Kwon Do Championship at Stepping Stones School, Sector 38-A, Chandigarh, held on October 9 and 10.

Rudransh Gupta of Class I bagged the silver medal and Dhruv Gera and Kunal Thakur of Class III received bronze medals. In the 3rd Chi Kwang Do Martial Art National Championship 2014-15 held on October 11 and 12, Mudit Gandhi of Class II bagged the bronze medal. — TNS