The Tribune...Chandigarh

C H A N D I G A R H

Thursday, July 9, 1998

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today's calendar

Carriageways rendered useless
CHANDIGARH, July 8 — The slow carriageways along the busy Madhya Marg in Sectors 26 and 27 are a picture of neglect.
With a view to reducing the traffic congestion, such carriageways were created by the Chandigarh Administration along all main and busy city roads...
Plus one seats vacant in govt schools
CHANDIGARH, July 8 — Seats in all streams for plus one classes in government schools of the city remained vacant on the first day of admissions here today...
Remand of accused extended
CHANDIGARH, July 8 — The Judicial Magistrate, Mr Tejwinder Singh, today extended the police remand of Harvinder Singh, an accused in the Sector 10 shootout incident in which Manjit Singh was killed, until July 10...

Cheating case against three
CHANDIGARH, July 8 — Two separate cases of cheating and conspiracy were registered against three local residents by the Chandigarh Police today after investigation by the economic offences wing of the police...
PU move on private academies
CHANDIGARH, July 8 — Panjab University is likely to withdraw permission given to certain private academies for sending up forms of women candidates. However, women candidates can continue to appear as private candidates...

Carriageways rendered useless
By Varinder Singh
CHANDIGARH, July 8 — The slow carriageways along the busy Madhya Marg in Sectors 26 and 27 are a picture of neglect.
With a view to reducing the traffic congestion, such carriageways were created by the Chandigarh Administration along all main and busy city roads. It was envisaged under this plan that the entire slow-moving vehicles such as bicycles, rickshaws, and rehris which are a major source of traffic congestion, should be diverted through these carriageways to create more space for motored vehicles. Initially the plan worked well, but in absence of proper upkeep most of the carriageways have been rendered useless.
Both Sector 26 and Sector 27 carriageways are no exception. Lack of maintenance and the civic sense among residents has made them almost inoperational. The condition of Sector 27 carriageway is such that the entire stretch of road is dotted with potholes. The road has allegedly not been repaired by the engineering department of the Administration for the past three years. What adds to the problem is the accumulation of rain water on the road due to depression in the level of the road and blockade of road gullies.
Mr Ramesh Kumar, a resident of Sector 27, said the situation comes to such a pass during the rainy season that the residents are not able to use the way which remains choked with rain water and slush. "What is more pathetic is that most of the streetlights on the stretch are not in a working order, though some of them do work. But these ae of little use as a thick canopy of trees block the illumination".
Another problem, which is being confronted by the road users and the residents alike is the misuse of the carriageway by people visiting offices or a bhavan situated on the road. "As most of these offices do not allow entry of the vehicles of outsiders, people virtually block the way, leaving little space for the genuine users. The worst situation is when scores of vehicles belonging to the visitors are parked when there is some ceremony in a bhavan", complained an office-goer.
The situation is not much different at the carriageway in front of Sector 26 market. Though there is a proper parking lot, one could see a number of vehicles parked in the carriageway, but there is no one to regulate the traffic. Like the carriageway on the road, it is marked by garbage heaps lying unattended for months.
Mr Pandey, a businessman of the area, alleged that in spite of a number of complaints a garbage bin, lying in the middle of the way, has not been removed by the civic authorities. "You can imagine the indifference of the authorities from the fact that the storm water gullies have not been cleared so far, which result in accumulation of rain water in the place and at the parking lot".
Mr S.L. Bhandari, Xen, Planning Circle, when contacted said the engineering department was planning to recarpet the carriageway roads after the monsoon. Regarding the accumulation of water on the way, he said clearing of the road gullies was the job of the municipal corporation.
He, however, assured that urgent repairs, including filling of potholes, would be undertaken without delay.

Plus one seats vacant in govt schools
CHANDIGARH, July 8 — Seats in all streams for plus one classes in government schools of the city remained vacant on the first day of admissions here today.
Students with more than 80 per cent marks in matriculation were interviewed on the first day at the common counselling centre in Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 23.
All seats in the non-medical stream in GMSSS, Sector 16, and GMSSS, Sector 35, were filled. The cut-off percentage for non-medical in GMSSS, Sector 35, was 80.6. In GMSSS, Sector 16, the cut-off percentage was 80.4, Mr Karan Singh, a coordinator of admissions, said. The cut-off percentage for the medical stream in both schools was approximately 80. However, there are a few seats vacant.
Except for a few admissions in Government School for Girls in Sector 18, a majority of other schools had negligible attendance at the counselling centres. The rush at the centre had cleared around noon. Counselling was also held for extension classes of two schools in government colleges. Students securing more than 70 per cent marks will be interviewed tomorrow.
There are a total of 28 senior secondary schools of government, including the evening school in Sector 19 which is for employed candidates. These have the intake capacity of 2760, 1080, 4440 and 980 students in science, commerce, humanities and vocational subjects, respectively.

Remand of accused extended
CHANDIGARH, July 8 — The Judicial Magistrate, Mr Tejwinder Singh, today extended the police remand of Harvinder Singh, an accused in the Sector 10 shootout incident in which Manjit Singh was killed, until July 10.
The police brought to the notice of the court that Harvinder Singh made a statement this morning disclosing that the weapon he used in perpetrating the crime was with his father at his native village.
The prosecution apprised the magistrate of the fact that the weapon could not be recovered on the basis of four disclosure statements Harvinder Singh had made earlier.
Opposing the prosecution plea for further police remand of Harvinder Singh, the defence pleaded with the court that the police was making new excuses at the time of every hearing of the case for seeking further remand. It was pleaded that the police did not need Harvinder Singh for the recovery of the weapon.
Extending the police remand, Mr Tejwinder Singh directed that the S.P. (Security) of the Chandigarh Police should supervise the interrogation and security of the suspect.
Harvinder Singh was escorted to the district courts by Punjab Police commandos. The Chandigarh Administration had made elaborate security arrangements around the district courts premises. A large number of police personnel had manned the main gate of the courts. A metal detector was installed at the entry point to the court. The road opposite the district courts was barricated.
Mr Tejwinder Singh also turned down the request of four suspects in the firing incident for releasing them on bail.
The prosecution told the court that the offence these persons were charged with was triable by the sessions court. Therefore, they could not be enlarged on bail.
The magistrate agreed with the viewpoint of the prosecution and turned down the bail applications moved by the suspects — Jagjit Singh Gill, Narinder Singh, Sahib Singh and Devinder Singh.

Cheating case against three
CHANDIGARH, July 8 — Two separate cases of cheating and conspiracy were registered against three local residents by the Chandigarh Police today after investigation by the economic offences wing of the police.

A Sector 29 resident, Madan Lal, has been booked under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code as he allegedly took Rs 1 lakh from Anil Kumar of Sector 20 as earnest money for the sale of booth No 57 in Sector 27. Madan Lal never handed over the booth to Mr Kumar, nor did he return the money leading to a complaint and case against him.
In a separate incident, Rajesh Raj and Arjun Dass paid Rs 1.25 lakh to Mr Swaraj Singh of Sector 35 as payment for the sale of a car. The cheques bounced.
A case under sections 420/467/468 and 120-B of the IPC has been registered against the duo.
Women assaulted: Two women and a young girl were threatened and assaulted in two separate incidents in the city in the past 24 hours, the police said.
A Sector 22 woman not living with her husband, was allegedly attacked by her husband on Tuesday. The accused, Pramod Kumar of Sector 35, has been arrested. A case under sections 323 and 506 of the IPC has been registered against him.
In an another incident, a woman and her daughter, residents of Khuda Lahora, village, alleged that they were attacked by Gyan Chand of the same village.
Van stolen: A Maruti van CH-01-V-5414, owned by Mr Sunil Kumar of Sector 22, has been stolen from his residence.

PU move on private academies
CHANDIGARH, July 8 — Panjab University is likely to withdraw permission given to certain private academies for sending up forms of women candidates. However, women candidates can continue to appear as private candidates.
The recommendation will feature at the Syndicate meeting of the university scheduled for July 18 and if passed will come into force from the session 1998-99, sources said.
The Vice-Chancellor had constituted a committee following deliberations at the Syndicate meeting of April, 1998, where it was pointed out that often students were misled by academies by telling them that they were approved by PU. Teachers employed in most of these academies were not paid properly. A majority of these institutions did not fulfil the conditions for affiliation.
Certain members, however, pointed out that academies were doing "genuine social service". Following deliberations a committee with Dr R.D. Anand as chairman was constituted. Other members included the Associate Dean, College Development Council, Mrs Harinder Dhillon; Dr Amarjit Singh Dua, and Mr S.S. Virdi, who, however, did not attend today's meeting.
The committee was asked to advice whether the institutions already in existence should be informed that the permission granted to them be withdrawn from the session 1998-99. The committee was also asked to fix an early date for inspection of these institutions. The inspection will not be required if the recommendation is accepted.
The institutions which were permitted to send up women candidates as private students included Jagat Sewak Khalsa College for Women, Amargarh (Moga tehsil), BKM College for Women, Balachaur, Janata National College, Jalalabad (West), GGS Khalsa College for Women, Jhar Sahib (Ludhiana), Baba Lachhman Sidh College for Women, Malianwala (Moga) and Mai Bhago College for Women Ramgarh (Ludhiana).
Requests for permission by Guru Nanak Girls College, Mullanpur, JB College for Girls, Doraha and National College, Machhiwara, were under consideration.
The committee also recommended that such institutions should be advised to seek affiliation to the university if they so desired, sources said. Heads of these institutions attested the forms and forwarded them to the university. In several cases examination centres were formed at these institutions where there were alleged cases of malpractices. The move will automatically mean that no examination centres of the university would be set up at these places.
The committee recommended that the university continues its "association" to institutes for Oriental Titles and Modern Indian Languages. Sources pointed out that these centres had specialised teaching facilities for these subjects which were not available in the university. The courses, among others, include 'prajna', 'visharad', 'shastri', 'rattan', 'Prabhakar', 'budhiwan' and 'gyani'.
The committee observed that no periodic inspections were done in the "associated" institutions for Oriental Titles and Modern Indian Languages and thereby recommended that this should be done.
A resolution in regard to private academies was moved by Principal Joginder Singh and Principal B.S. Bajwa, both fellows of the university.