Mohali, August 21
Commercial and residential properties in Mohali just went out of the reach of the common man. The Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) today earned Rs 76. 69 crore from the auction of 66 sites in the township against the reserve price of Rs 43.95 crore.

The auction, that began with PUDA and GMADA employees’ protest against the auction, went on to break all record. The pandal put up by GMADA at its office in Sector 62 saw a huge rush and where hundreds had registered themselves as bidders.

While the overwhelming response was a sign of the real estate market looking up, the new standard of rates set during the auctions has virtually left nothing that the common man can afford. Groups of property dealers bid for commercial properties and joint families from Chandigarh for residential properties.

“The response is heartening and this auction will bring in resources needed for other projects,” said GMADA chief Krishan Kumar.

As many as 104 sites were offered by the Authority today reserved at a collective price of Rs 88.25 crore out of which 66 were auctioned during the auction that went on for 10 hours.

All 19 residential sites, which were offered by GMADA, were sold. These were worth Rs 433 lakh but fetched the authority Rs 19.25 crore. A 500 square yard plot in Sector 64 (Phase 10) reserved for Rs 41.74 lakh was auctioned at a whopping Rs 1.85 crore and a 155 square yard plot (five marla) plot in Sector 65 (Phase XI) reserved at Rs 13.55 lakh was auctioned for Rs 74.81 lakh.

Among the commercial properties, as may as 44 booths were to be brought under the hammer but 31 were sold by the evening. The reserve price for these 31 booths was Rs 6.83 crore but the auction fetched GMADA Rs 14.39 crore.

Chandigarh, August 21
IGPs will come and go but “blue-eyed” officials remain at crucial posts. This despite the fact that the central vigilance commission (CVC) has issued clear directions against posting of officials for over three years on sensitive posts.

An annoncement made
by IGP S.K. Jain to thios effect a few months notwithstanding, the key posts of three sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), three special cells, including the crime branch, the economic offences wing and the operation cell, certain police stations and police posts are held by certain DSPs, inspectors and sub-inspectors.

It seems the Chandigarh Police is being run by ‘certain’ officials close to the higher functionaries.

With a handful of officials on plum posts, 80 per cent of the force is a demoralised lot. A false impression is being created that these “blue-eye” officials are indispensable, a middle-rung police officials, alleged.

A perusal of the 17 years of postings at three sub-divisions revealed that among the present DSPs, DSP S.S. Randhawa commanded the East and Central sub-division for over eight years. He headed both sub-divisions for four years each. He is on leave and DSP (South) K.I.P. Singh has been given additional charge of Central sub-division in his absence.

Singh has been head of South sub-division since October 11, 2005 when he was promoted DSP. He had been given charge of East sub-division when DSP Devinder Thakur was on leave earlier this year.

Former DSP S.C. Sagar has had the longest tenure of serving as SDPO. He remained SDPO of various sub-divisions for over 13 years. He was followed by former DSP Surjit Singh, whose tenure lasted over eight years and former DSP S.C. Abrol remained posted as SDPO more than seven years.

DSPs Mohan Lal Verma, Arjun Singh Jaggi, Om Prakash and Parmod Kumar have never been posted as SDPO till date.

Several DSPs retired from services without ever being posted as SDPO.

Jain, however, maintained that he was making efforts to give equal opportunity to all officials.

Chandigarh, August 21
For a country which has celebrated the rise of a woman to the post of President, it is indeed a matter of concern that there are only 6.5 per cent women judges in the higher judiciary.

Nothing substantial has come out on the front despite the fact that the Centre has written letters to the Chief Ministers and the Chief Justices of the high courts, from time to time, to address the issue.

Minister of state for law and justice K.Venkatapathy, in a recent written reply in the Rajya Sabha, revealed that the Centre had asked the authorities to locate persons from the Bar, belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, other Backward Classes, minorities and among women, who were suitable for appointment as high court judges.

Though the letters were written, they were clearly recommendatory in nature as, Venkatapathy asserted, the appointments of judges of the Supreme Court of India and high courts were made under Articles 124 and 217 of the Constitution which did not provide for reservation.

He also stated that after the Supreme Court judgment on October 6, 1993, read with the advisory opinion of October 28, 1998, the entire process of initiation of the proposal for appointment of a judge of a Supreme Court lay with the Chief Justice of India and for the appointment of a judge of a high court, with the Chief Justice of that high court.

The high courts and the Supreme Court had a total of 597 judges, out of which only 39 women had made it to these bastions of higher judiciary in the country.

According to the Ministry of Law and Justice’s statistics, there were no women judges in the Supreme Court. Also, in six high courts, there were no women judges.

High Courts of Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Sikkim and Uttarakhand, with a total strength of 45 judges put together, had no presence of women judges.

Delhi and Bombay High Courts, which had strength of 32 and 56 judges, respectively, had the largest presence of women judges with five each.This was followed by Allahabad, Madhya Pradesh, Madras and Patna with four judges each.

The Gujarat High Court had three women judges out of the total strength of 31 followed by Calcutta and Andhra Pradesh with two women judges each. Gauhati, Karnatka, Kerala, Orissa, Punjab and Haryana and Rajasthan High Courts, which had a total strength of 160 judges, had a lone women judge each.

Though the name Justice T. Meena Kumari, Judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, was considered by the apex court collegium, which unanimously recommended the elevation of Justice P. Sathasivam to the apex court, there was no consensus. 

Chandigarh, August 21
Fifteen-month-old Om Kapoor may appear cheerful but he is inching towards death, with no medical centre in India equipped enough to conduct the procedure that can save his life.

Diagnosed with Wiskott Aldrich Syndrome (WAS), the rarest among primary immunodeficiency disorders known to occur among boys with a frequency of four in a million, Om needs a highly complicated bone marrow transplant for which his doctors haven’t been able to find a matching bone marrow in India.

Om will survive only if his parents arrange Rs 65 lakh for the surgery at Queen Marry’s Hospital, Hong Kong University, as advised by the doctors who have, after intensive searches across the world, found him an American donor with a matching bone marrow.

But the complication is that the donor is unrelated to Om and India has no expertise to conduct matched unrelated donor (MUD) transplant that the child requires, says Dr Surjit Singh, consultant, allergy immunology at PGI’s advanced paediatric centre, where Om is under treatment.

Diagnosed with WAS at four months of age after being referred to the PGI from Dehra Dun, Om is currently fighting severe and recurring infections that can cause death
anytime unless immediately treated.

And treatment for WAS is not available in India, say PGI doctors, who, quite creditably, diagnosed the disorder that almost always goes unnoticed.

This is for the first time that the PGI has gone in for genetic testing to confirm the complication and suggest definitive treatment modality for the future.

The child’s samples were sent to France, a world leader in testing such disorders, and results confirmed WAS, which affects only boys.

About the challenge of diagnosing WAS, Dr Shanmuganuthan, Om’s doctor, explained: “It is easy to miss WAS because such children normally don’t present symptoms in the first six months of birth. But Om had bleeding from the rectum on the fourth day of birth. Within two months, he had bone infection, epileptic fits and meningitis. He was losing platelets fast. Instead of the normal count of 1.5 lakh to 3.5 lakh, he had only 60,000 when he was first admitted here.”

By the sixth month, Om’s platelet count had declined to 5,000, exacerbating his situation.

Since such occurrences were odd for a child weighing 3.5 kg and being breastfed, the doctors decided to get genetic testing to confirm future course of treatment.

“The testing was urgent, though few parents go in for it for the massive costs involved. Normally, 60 per cent children detected with WAS develop cancer by the time they are 15. Although we have been giving supportive therapy to Om and have removed his spleen to protect platelets, we needed to know the final treatment,” said Dr Shanmuganuthan.

Even right now, Om is on intravenous immunoglobulins to counter severe bleeding and infections, while his parents are desperately looking out of Rs 65 lakh, which is out of bounds for them.

Om’s father Rakesh Kapoor, who works with Bank of Baroda, has as the last-ditch effort written to his bank asking for help under the medical expenses reimbursement scheme.

But the bank has its own limitations, as does the PGI, which can’t help a government servant from its poor-free fund.

Om’s life is meanwhile hanging in a balance, which only money can tilt in his favour.

Chandigarh, August 21
An Army nursing assistant has been dismissed from service and awarded one year rigorous imprisonment for allegedly attempting to sexually assault a woman patient admitted to a military hospital, it is learnt.

Sources said a summary court martial (SCM), presided by Col P. Puri, commanding officer of an engineer regiment, had found the accused guilty of the charges levelled against him. The trial concluded at Jalandhar two days ago. The accused, Nk G. Kumar, had refuted the allegations against him.

Based upon the complaint of the patient, the Army had ordered a court of inquiry in the matter. The accused had faced two charges under the Indian Penal Code and the Army Act.

According to the charges against him, the accused had asked the wife of a jawan admitted to the hospital’s family ward to accompany him to another room so that she could be examined and prepared for a gall bladder operation, scheduled for the next day. Being alone, the woman had asked another woman patient in the ward to accompany her, but she was asked to stay outside the examination room.

During the court of inquiry and summary of evidence, the accused had maintained that the Duty Medical Officer was in the examination room. Another doctor was also present in the vicinity.

The trial has also raised questions over the manner in which the case has been handled. Given the nature of the alleged offence and the charges levelled, sources said the matter had called for the accused to be tried by a general court martial and not merely an SCM.

Chandigarh, August 21
Punjab’s former director-general of police (DGP) Sarabjit Singh believes Interpol has become “too bureaucratic” in its functioning.

But that’s not the only issue he hopes to raise at an international forum. All geared up to attend a worldwide symposium on economic crime being organised in England, the top cop also plans to bring up at a global platform Pakistan’s attempts to destabilise the country by using “jehadi terrorists”.

The week-long symposium on “The wealth of the nations at risk” is scheduled to commence at Jesus College, University of Cambridge, on September 2. Sarabjit Singh is the only Indian attending the symposium, which is also commemorating its silver jubilee this year.

But for one year, the former DGP has attended every seminar since 2002 and is on the symposium’s faculty. This year, he is slated to speak on the pursuit and disruption of profitable crime.

He says: “Each time I speak at the symposium, I persist on targeting international jehadi terrorism and its main source of financing - that is drug money. Equally persistent are the organisers. They try to sidetrack me by offering innocuous topic. “Well, I promised myself to avoid drug money and the jehadi links this time. But as always events seem to have overtaken me,” he asserts.

“I am not even referring to the Indian medicos and their botched attempts in London and Glasgow. But also to newspaper reports giving details of how kidnapping for ransom in India was used for financing the 9/11 attacks in 2001.”

Reposing on a sofa in his Sector 8 house, he elaborates: “Some countries have the tendency to use crime and criminals as powerful bargaining chips in pursuance of their foreign policy aims. We, in India, have been victims of this. Briefly, the fact is that Pakistan has used jehadi terrorists to try and destabilise India and has extensively used our underworld in the same vein to cause violent terrorists acts; the most notorious being the Mumbai blasts of 1993.”

He adds: “The only obvious solution is a moral turnabout by the country concerned. However, the practical solution lies in big world powers taking note and demanding compliance.” Commenting on the role currently being played the world powers, he says: “The US, through the FBI, has now asked Pakistan to hand over world’s greatest terrorist financier Dawood Ibrahim, though we in India have been shouting for years. Even after Interpol designated him as most wanted, the Americans did not care till they felt their own interest jeopardised.”

Going into the background of the problem, he says: “China, most countries of the former Soviet Union, some of the South American and Islamic countries have a fairly different idea of right and wrong. Intellectual property rights, narcotic drugs, human trafficking, illicit weapons and explosives form major points of differences. I do not foresee any solution to these differences at a multi-lateral level. However, nothing prevents a bilateral powwow to reach common grounds in law, procedure and co-operative functioning of preventive and investigative agencies.”

The former DGP also hopes to evoke an international response against kidnapping for ransom. Describing it as an international criminal industry, he says it’s high time a decision against succumbing to ransom demands is taken.

Chandigarh, August 21
The pledge for non-violence undertaken by various students unions at PU is bearing fruits, albeit of a different kind. Instead of the customary clashes, students unions are now forging customary alliances in the run-up to the student council elections.

Today, the Himachal Pradesh Students Association (HPSA) not only announced names of its office-bearers, but also reiterated their unconditional alliance with the Panjab University Students’ Union (PUSU) for the forthcoming elections.

While Rajneesh Dogra (UIET 3rd year) will be the acting president of HPSA, Varinder Singh Negi has been appointed chairman, Vivek Thakur will be the press secretary and Lavan Preet Mittal has been chosen as the organising secretary.

PUSU presidential candidate Abhishek Puri said there were several students who had done their post-graduation in Hindi or Punjabi in various streams in the University and it was virtually impossible for them to take the exam in English.

He also requested the V-C to look into the matter of the students who had already been given admission under the NRI/industry-sponsored quota and asked that the admissions of those students who had already been admitted before July 27, should be allowed to stand.

PUSU activists also raised the matter of the enquiry report on the impersonation case involving DS Goldy for which the V-C said he would look into it within a week. 

Panchkula, August 21
The Haryana Urdu Akademy in collaboration with the National Council for the Promotion of Urdu, Government of India is organising a three-day seminar on legendary poet, Raghupati Sahai 'Firaq Gorkahpuri' at the ICSSR Conference Hall of the Panjab University. Over thirty eminent scholars and critics of Urdu and Hindi will read out their papers during the seminar, spanning over six sessions.

He Dr A.R. Kidwai, governor Haryana will inaugurate the seminar at ICSSR hall on August 22 while Bhupinder Singh Hooda, chief minister, Haryana will grace theseminar as the chief guest, disclosed the Akademy Secretary Padmashri K.L. Zakir. Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Zakir claimed that it is for the first time that a serious attempt has been made to critically evaluate the contribution of Firaq Gorakhpuri.

A professor in English and poet of love and beauty he had left an imprint in three genre of Urdu poetry, the ghazal, nazam and rubyayaat.

He has written over 40,000 couplets in Urdu and Hindi, which adorn his books like Rooh-e-Qayanat, Gul-e-Ranna, Nagma-numaa and others.

Chandigarh, August 21
Taking a dig at the Chandigarh administration’s claim of transparency in supplying information, Pawan Kumar Bansal, minister of state for finance and the local member of Parliament said he was peeved at the “lackadaisical approach of the authorities in replying to his queries posted in April 14 this year.”

He had sought a detailed report pertaining to certain UT projects, including the Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park, IT Habitat, Fruit and Vegetable Terminal, Amusement Park, Aquatic Park and Theme Park and Film City.

Bansal had sought information pertaining to land acquired under Sections 4, 6 and 9 of the Land Acquisition Act, rate of payment, total number of trees grown at the site of the project, project-wise details of the land being acquired, site plans, terms of allotment and the control that the administration would exercise over the land acquired by the allottee and the sub-lessees.

The reply sent by the administration in May was "incomplete" following which the minister sent another letter seeking additional data to the portions left unanswered in June.

“The replies sent to me were sloppy. For example, the reply to details of a particular plot measuring over 10 acres said that the relevant records were untraceable. Certain other records were also shown untraceable, which came as a surprise to me during times when all data is computerised”, he said.

Talking to the Tribune, Bansal said: “I am waiting for the relevant information. I am surprised at the slow pace of replies to enquires of projects currently at hand, which should be available at the click of the mouse. In the reply that I got earlier, a number of columns were left vacant”.

The office of the finance secretary, meanwhile, is learnt to have forwarded the questionnaire to the departments concerned, including the land acquisition officer, chief architect, director of information technology, deputy conservator of forests and joint director, agriculture, besides certain others.

The office has sought an immediate reply. 

Chandigarh, August 21
The Chandigarh police today launched a two-day training programme for staff of the Sector 17 police station to impart training them for ISO: 9001: 2000 certification.

The police said the programme was in compliance with the adoption of ISO 9001:2000 standards in police stations. S.P Singh, deputy director, National Productivity Council, Chandigarh (under the ministry of industry and commerce), explained the procedures to be adopted by the police personnel to meet the requirements of international standards.

He informed that the certification of the police station would result in system orientation, improved work culture, improvement in efficiency and effectiveness of citizen services, transparency in functioning and enhancement of confidence in public.

DSP K.I.P Singh inaugurated the programme while DSP Jagbir Singh addressed the officers and explained to them the quality of police services and community policing.

Panchkula, August 21
After visiting all 20 districts of the state, the president of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, Phool Chand Mullana, said today that his only priority would be to inculcate discipline and keep the Congress workers together.

Addressing a press conference here today, Mullana, accompanied by deputy chief minister Chander Mohan, said in his visit to various districts he had found that the workers were satisfied with the response of the bureaucracy to their demands. “I did not find dissatisfaction anywhere I went and the morale of the workers seemed to be up after we assured them that they were the priority for the party,” he said.

While maintaining that reorganisation of district units was unlikely in the near future, he said he would undertake a constituency-wise visit all over Haryana. He said while indiscipline would not be tolerated and strict action initiated for bad-mouthing the party, he would try to placate the dissident group and take them with him. Maintaining that his visit to the districts had yielded productive results, Mullana said there was some resentment among Congress activists who were not able to address the gathering due to paucity of time.

Ambala: Mulana and working president Kuldeep Sharma justified the stand of the Prime Minister on the nuclear deal.

Addressing a meeting of party workers in the Congress Bhavan at Ambala City today, Sharma said the Congress was not afraid of the mid term poll. He expressed hope that the party high command would resolve the issue.

Without naming Bhajan Lal and Kuldeep Bishnoi, he said some of the leaders who lost their base among the public had been damaging the party by opposing Sonia Gandhi and Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

It was heartening to read about the Assamese Association sprucing up the Rock Garden, a couple of days back. The volunteers, including women, did an arduous job of sweeping, washing and picking the trash in torrential rain. I salute them for their dignity of labour and civic sense.

But I can’t help thinking as to why this idea struck only to our friends from the Far East. Why couldn’t the people of Chandigarh ever think of this unique garden, to which Padamshree Nek Chand has given his life and soul? It should prick our conscience and the next time, we should pick up the brooms instead of merely enjoying festivals and functions at the Rock Garden. This also goes to the ‘love birds’ who make the best use (or misuse) of this garden. Kudos to the Assamese Association for doing this noteworthy act. We are proud of you.

S Chaudhary, Mohali

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Chandigarh, August 21
A Shimla resident alleged that his driver, Raj Kishore, stole his bag containing Rs 8.9 lakh and other articles from his car parked in Industrial Area on Monday.

Vikas Aggarwal of Hotel Gulmarg told the police that he had come to the city to purchase a car and for shopping.

He said he left the bag and the car in his driver’s care. However, later in the day, the driver reportedly told him that the bag had been stolen.