Lalru, November 4
Four persons, including three members of a Chandigarh-based family of industrialists, died in a freak accident involving a car and a Delhi-bound Haryana Roadways bus on the busy Ambala-Chandigarh highway near here this morning.

The mishap occurred at about 7 am when Ajit Prasad Jain (80), his son Alok Jain (52) and daughter-in-law Kalpna Jain (45) were coming back to Chandigarh in their Honda City car after attending a wedding in Rohini (Delhi). The mishap took place near a godown of the Punjab Warehousing Corporation at Dappar village on the highway. The car collided with the bus on the other side of the road after being hit by an unidentified vehicle from the rear side.

The impact of the collision was so huge that the body of Ajit Prasad Jain, who was travelling on the front left seat, was crushed to pieces.

The speeding bus reportedly dragged the car for some distance after the collision. The engine of the car got detached from it and was found nearly 15 ft away from the mangled remains of the car, the police said.

Hearing a loud thud, passersby and passengers of vehicles passing through the highway swung into the rescue operation. They informed the police at the Lelhi police post.

Police teams from Lalru and the Lehli police post reached the spot and extricated the bodies from the mangled remains of the car with the help of iron rods.

It took almost three hours to extricate the bodies from the car, said havildar Raj Singh, the investigating officer (IO).

The bodies were handed over to the family members after postmortem at the Civil Hospital, Dera Bassi.

The IO said a case under Sections 279, 304 A and 427 of the IPC had been registered on a complaint of Home Guards jawan Sukhpal Singh against the driver of an unidentified vehicle that hit the car from the rear side, which lead to the accident.

The Jain family, which stays in the Modern Housing Complex, Mani Majra, was returning from Rohini, Delhi, after attending a wedding of a relative.

Ajit Prasad Jain’s son Alok Jain owns corrugated box manufacturing industries at the Industrial Area, Phase I, and Malikpur village near Lalru.

Ajit Prasad Jain was accompanying Alok and his wife while the other family members were travelling in separate vehicles.

Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Poonam, a relative of the victims, said Ajit Prasad Jain, Alok Jain and Kalpna left for Chandigarh from Delhi at about 3.30 am after attending the wedding party. Employees of Alok Jain's industrial units in Malikpur and Chandigarh reached the spot and accompanied the bodies to the Dera Bassi hospital. 

Chandigarh, November 4
Polio-afflicted Raman Solanki, one of the competitors in the artificial limb making competition in the fourth National Abilympics, was inspired to choose this profession after facing acute misery due to an abnormal left limb. Participating for the first time in the event, Raman is excited that he is competing with professionals of the artificial limb industry in this event.

“For the past four years, I have been working in an Ahmedabad-based company, which makes artificial limbs. I had never imagined that one day this skill will see me participate in this national event,” said Raman.

He is eagerly waiting for tomorrow, when the patient for whom the limb has been prepared during the event, will try it and based on his feedback, the judges will decide the fate of the contestant for participation in the international Abilympcis, scheduled to be held in France in 2016.

Another contestant to have reached this level is Trikam Parmar, a hearing and speech impaired. He is participating in the event for the second time. Sharing his feelings through the sign language, he indicated that he was feeling proud that his country was recognising his skills and giving him an opportunity to showcase his talent. He said he was not making artificial limbs only for his livelihood, but by doing so, he was also contributing to the welfare of society in a silent manner. He said he was in this profession for the past 15 years.

Coordinators of the event said this was the longest and toughest competition of Abilympics as the contestants had to make artificial limbs in phases. On the first day, dummy patient measurements were taken; on the second day the participants made limbs while on the third, the patients were asked to try these. Under this category, six participants had applied, of whom only three turned up and one was disqualified by the judges.

Chandigarh, November 4
A pall of gloom descended on the residence of the industrialist at Modern Housing Complex, Mani Majra, who, along with his wife and father-in-law, died in a road accident near Lalru. The deceased are survived by two schoolgoing daughters, who are in a state of shock.

Since morning, relatives of the deceased and their friends started assembling at their residence to offer support to the children.

People close to the family said the couple was overprotective about their daughters and was always concerned about their studies. The elder daughter, Vanaja, is a student of Class XII at a government school while the younger one, Vinesh, is a Class X student at a private school in Sector 26.

“The elder daughter is preparing for medical exams and was taking coaching from an institute in Sector 34,” sources said.

A family friend said both girls were eagerly waiting for their parents to reach home from Delhi where they had gone to attend a wedding. 

Chandigarh, November 4
A 35-year-old woman working with an IT company was stabbed 11 times by her estranged husband at the Sector 27/28/29/30 roundabout here this morning. The victim was admitted to the PGI. According to the police, the victim, Amritdeep Grewal, was on her way back home to Kharar when her husband, Ajay, a resident of Sector 21, intercepted her on the pretext of talking to her. “The victim and her husband have not been staying together for the past over a month,” said a police official.

The official said the accused knew that his wife would come back from her office at IT Park after the night shift and was waiting for her. “The duo had an altercation while sitting in the victim’s car after which the accused stabbed her,” the official said.

The victim was stabbed on her neck, chest and stomach. The incident took place at around 6.15 am.

People residing nearby rushed to the rescue of the woman following which the accused fled from the spot. The residents informed the police about the incident and the victim was rushed to Government Multi-Specialty Hospital, Sector 16, from where she was referred to the PGI. The victim underwent a surgery at the hospital.

Police sources said the couple got married around 10 years ago and have a son, aged around 9 years, who stays with his mother. “The accused is a BBA graduate from Australia and is unemployed,” the sources said.

The sources said the accused suspected that his wife had a extramarital affair that turned the relationship bitter.

The sources said earlier the victim had submitted a complaint against the accused to Sector 19 police station alleging harassment. However, they later entered into a compromise.

The police arrested the accused and has also impounded his scooter. A case under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 341 (wrongful restraint) has been registered against him at the Sector 26 police station.

Chandigarh, November 4
The cyber crime cell of the Chandigarh police has arrested two persons, including an employee of a courier company, who used to replace the motherboards of Apple's iPhones with duplicate ones that were sent to Bengaluru through courier for replacement. The duo had committed a theft of motherboards worth around Rs 7 lakh.

The cyber cell had received a complaint that iPhones of customers, which were sent by the dealer in Chandigarh to the Apple service centre in Bengaluru had a duplicate motherboard. Police sources said the accused, Akshay, a resident of Baltana who works with a courier company, in connivance with Sarabjit Singh, a resident of Patiala, used to replace the original motherboards of mobile phones with duplicate ones.

Inspector Jasbir Singh, in charge of the cyber cell, laid a trap on Monday and arrested both accused from the Sector 34 market.

Around 17 iPhones were sent for replacement to Bengaluru in February and March and their motherboards were changed.

The sources said on the basis of the complaint, the stolen motherboards were put on surveillance by the police and seven phones were tracked. The users of the cellphones revealed the source from where they had procured the motherboards. “The courier boy used to give the motherboards to Sarabjit, who used to sell these,” the sources said.

The police have recovered three motherboards and will question company officials.

Chandigarh, November 4
The UT District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed the parking contractor of Elante Mall to pay Rs 20,000 as compensation after a camera was stolen from a car parked in the basement of the mall.

Hitesh Verma, a resident of Kansal and Dr Amritpal Singh hailing from Giddarbaha in Mukatsar district moved the consumer forum against the parking contractor of the mall.

The frum has also directed the Tenaga Parking Services Private Limited to pay Rs 7,500 as cost of litigation for deficient services besides the compensation amount.

As per the complaint, Hitesh Verma and Dr Amritpal Singh on February 27, 2014, had gone to Elante Mall and parked their Tata Indigo car in the parking. They had left their Canon Camera 1000D and a jacket on the rear seat of the vehicle. They returned to find their camera was missing, as someone had opened the left side door forcibly by removing its upper strip. They reported the matter to the parking staff who requested them not to lodge any FIR and asked them to give a formal complaint in writing, so that needful could be done and adequately compensated. But when the parking contractor or the mall authorities failed to reimburse or compensate them they lodged a complaint on February 28, 2014.

In its reply to the forum, Tenaga Parking Services Private Limited denied the allegations and stated that at the time of parking, a ticket was issued to the person parking the vehicle specifically mentioned that “park your car at your own risk”.

While passing the order, the consumer forum held, “No doubt, the complainants ought not to have left their valuable camera within the car, but this fact cannot be denied that the camera lying in the car was stolen after breaking the window of the car. It means parking staff did not take reasonable care to protect the interest of the complainant and left the car unattended in the parking even after charging the parking fee.”

This is the second order passed against the same parking contractor in the last six months.

Chandigarh, November 4
As a mark of protest against online shopping portals, selling products “at relatively lower prices”—hitting retail trade, nearly all retailers in the Sector 20 computers’ markets kept their stores closed today.

The protest saw more than 400 retailers gathering in the market of Sector 20. These also included a few from Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

“Due to the onslaught of online retail portal agencies the existence of retail stores in Chandigarh is at stake thereby affecting tax revenue to the Chandigarh Administration. This further extends to 20,000 of our employees who will also be directly affected and will be rendered jobless. Eventually, this will mean no revenues for the Chandigarh Sales Tax Administration,” said Naresh Garg, president, Chandigarh Computer Association. “This has not only hit us hard. Mobile retailers and apparel retailers are also being affected. Retailers are already under huge pressure and are selling their products at a lower price for the last one year (just to be able to fight and survive for some more time). Now, the losses have crossed the threshold level,” Garg added. 

Chandigarh, November 4
If one meets Gorakh Rajak who was born without both palms would not believe that he was capable of performing any activity that requires extensive use of fingers. He is one of the participants of silk painting in the 4th National Abilympics held in the city.

He is holding brush in the flings of both the arms, one will definitely consider it a miracle. Born in the remote area of Anisabao, Patna, Gorakh could complete his education up to Class XII only. Since he could not pursue his studies, he took to painting as a profession on his own initiative. He learnt the skills of painting on his own and today he has emerged as a very an accomplished painter on the skill medium. Jahanvi Pande, a mentally challenged person has earned the unique distinction of participating in the jewellery making competition as part of the 4th National Abilympics. The onlookers found it difficult to believe a person who has been labelled as mentally challenged had the ability of challenging normal persons in the event.Around 20 competition wereheld during the event today .

Panchkula, November 4
A high drama was witnessed at the Panchkula Municipal Corporation office when a BJP councillor allegedly threatened the Executive Officer (EO) and passed caste-based remarks at him this evening.

The Mayor, Upinder Ahluwalia, other prominent persons of the town and the office staff reached the office to pacify both the parties.

The EO, Dr SK Chauhan, alleged that the councillor of ward number 13, Ravi Kant Swami, along with around eight aides barged into his office and tried to force him to sign the registration documents of a resident. He said the councillor had earlier threatened him of dire consequences over the phone.

Refuting the allegations, Swami said the officer had some “ego problems” after he was asked to sign the documents.

Dr Chauhan reportedly informed the Deputy Commissioner about the development, who directed him to file a written complaint. The EO also reached the Sector 14 police station to lodge a complaint in this regard.

Mohali, November 4
A day after a school bus conductor was arrested for raping a four-year-old girl, parents gathered at Ajit Karam Singh International Public School, Kharar, to question the authorities about their children’s safety.

The agitated parents, who gathered at the school in Sector 125, Sunny Enclave, in the morning, wanted the school authorities to answer as to why such an incident had occurred and what security the institution was providing to the students.

One of the parents, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said his daughter was also studying in the school and he was shocked to know that such an incident had happened there.

He said, while discussing the matter with the parents, the school authorities went to the extent of claiming that the institute did not own the buses in which the students were being ferried.

Meanwhile, calling it a terrible incident, the school director, Jasdeep Kalra, said an FIR was registered against the suspect soon after the incident was brought to their notice by the parents.

Kalra said a show-cause notice had been issued to the contractor of the bus. He said the school authorities would ensure that such incidents did not happen in future.

“Efforts will be made to install cameras and the GPS system in all buses, to act as a deterrent,” said the director.

He said the authorities had held a meeting with a number of parents to get their suggestions.

He said teachers, generally, accompanied students on the buses, but in future “ayahs” would also be sent along with the students for their safety.

The bus conductor, Anil Kumar, meanwhile, was produced in a local  court today.

He was remanded in the police custody for one day.

Chandigarh, November 4
Panjab University (PU) has been directed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court to fill the vacant posts of professors and other teaching staff as expeditiously as possible “so that the study of students is not affected”.

The directions were issued on a petition filed by Dr Rajinder Kumar Singla against the PU and other respondents through counsel RD Anand. He was seeking directions to the university and other respondents to fill the post of professor in the Department of Music after re-advertising the same.

He had told the court that “numerous posts of professors” were lying vacant in the university, but the authorities did not take any action to fill these.

The directions by the Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Ashutosh Mohunta and Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal came more than a year after the university Registrar was directed to file an affidavit on the number of posts lying vacant and steps being taken to fill them.

During the course of hearing, the Registrar filed an affidavit in the court. Taking a note of it, the Bench had then observed: “The affidavit seeks to suggest that part of the process would start only in July/August, 2014, for filling the vacancies. We are of the view that every endeavour should be made to fill the posts in such a time schedule that at least when the university reopens after the summer recess, so far as possible, most posts are occupied. It is, thus, expedient to expedite the process and the interregnum period, including of the vacations, must be utilised for the said purpose”.

Appearing on behalf of the university and another respondent, senior counsel Anmol Rattan Sidhu now submitted that an advertisement has been issued on September 3, vide which 150 vacant posts of Professors have been advertised. “The process is going on for filling the posts and would be completed in the near future,” he asserted.

Taking up the case, the Bench observed: “In view of the affidavits filed on behalf of the universtiy, we are satisfied that it has already initiated action to fill the vacant posts of Professors. Thus, no further orders are called for. The writ petition is ordered to be closed.

“The Panjab University is, however, directed to fill the vacant posts of Professors and other teaching staff as expeditiously as possible so that the study of students is not affected”.

Chandigarh, November 4
The Department of Guru Nanak Sikh Studies held a special lecture ahead of the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev at Panjab University here today.

On the occasion, Dr Jasbir Kaur, Professor of music and chairperson, Department of Development of Punjabi Language, Punjabi University, Patiala, addressed students, teachers, research scholars of the department and gave a musical demonstration of folk tunes used by the first Sikh master in his ‘bani’ (composition). The performance was informative for students and research scholars.

Chandigarh, November 4
A prayer meeting was held in the memory of Sardar Bhagwant Singh, the founder of Vivek High School, on his birth anniversary today.

After traditional lighting of the lamp by Principal PK Singh, students recited devotional songs. This was followed by Krishnalila, a dance event based on the life of Lord Krishna. A powerful monologue by Tarini Nath as Draupadi was a fine example of women empowerment. The school orchestra enthralled the audience with melodious numbers. The tunes were played by children from classes IV to X.