Chandigarh, December 18
With numerous complaints against reputed banks, a local court today restrained the ICICI Bank from forcible possession of a Toyota car on a complaint by Pritpal Singh.

Plaintiff Pritpal bought a Toyota Innova car after getting it financed from the ICICI bank. A resident of Panchkula, he gave 62 blank cheques for payment of loan- a monthly instalment if Rs 12,586.

Pritpal alleged that the bank filled the post-dated cheque for a sum of Rs 17,773 and presented it for encashment towards the monthly instalment instead of Rs 12,586 as told to him. Hence, he restrained encashement of cheques.

On December 14, six persons came to his residence in Sector 38.

They abused him and manhandled him and tried to forcibly take possession of the vehicle. A number of people gathered at his house and the six left after threatening him.

Alarmed, the plaintiff approached the case.

The police had arrested four recovery agents of the bank for forcibly taking away an SUV of a Panchkula resident on November 21.

Chandigarh, December 18
Terming the move to demolish structures in Kalka as "reminiscent of the infamous New Delhi sealing drive", four Kalka residents have moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, alleging that the motive behind the drive was to create a scare among shopkeepers and to force them into booking shops in under-construction mega malls around Kalka and Pinjore.

The petitioners have also sought a probe into the "rash response of the deputy commissioner and the highway administrator" as a viable alternative bypass was already under construction. They have stated that directions should be issued to order an inquiry into the "demolition plan" in complete violation of the provisions of the Control of National Highways (Land and Traffic) Act, 2002, and to expose the nexus with owners of malls under construction in the periphery of Kalka. Directions for restraining the respondents from demolishing the structures without a speaking order have also been sought.

Taking up the petition filed by Gurpal Singh and others against the states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, along with the Union of India, Panchkula's DCand the NHI, a Division Bench of the high court headed by Justice J.S. Khehar today issued notice of motion to the respondents. The case will now come up on December 20.

Describing themselves as permanent residents of Kalka interested in development, growth and well-being of the city, the petitioners said the DC and the office of the highway administrator, apparently wanted to "present, please and impress" the court. Rather than furnishing information to the court, they started the "demolition of the whole town". 

Chandigarh, December 18
With just two days to go for the inaugural match of the Premier Hockey League (PHL), the home team, Chandigarh Dynamos, is struggling for fullback players.

Whether the team gets the required number of fullback players is a big question. The IHF is yet to announce three foreign players for each team.

“We demanded two specialist defenders and one centre half from among the foreign players as the team has only Sandeep Singh playing at the position.

“The team needs two more experts to give teeth to the defence line,” said N.S. Sodhi, coach of Chandigarh Dynamos.The role of fullback was most crucial for ant team as the entire defence line relied on these players, said Sodhi.

“Without knowing who our key players are, how can we finalise our game strategy for the inaugural match against Hyderabad Sultans,” he asked sounding rather alarmed.

He said to gel as a team as well as to understand the game of fellow players, it was important for players to practise together. “It seems our foreign players will come straight to play the match which may effect our performance.”

At the last edition of the league, the team finished at the fifth position as key players Sandeep Singh, S.S. Gill, Deepak Thakur and Jaswinder Singh were out due to injuries.

“This time, with all main players fully fit, we are hopeful of a good showing. We are only waiting for the foreign players,”said Rajpal Singh, skipper of the home team.

The inaugural match starts at 6 pm on December 20 at the Sector 42 Hockey Stadium under floodlights.

Bassi Pathana, December 18
The residents of the villages situated on Bassi Pathana-Nandpur Kalour road are living in fear these days as a rumour is ripe in the area that after midnight, a gang of robbers, headed by a woman wearing a green suit, robs passersby on this road.

Apprehending threat to their lives, people have stopped travelling on this road after dark.

Talking to The Tribune, residents of these villages said the modus operandi of the gang was to waylay travellers at night. They alleged that a woman wearing a green suit signalled to vehicles for lift and when some vehicle stopped, her gang members attacked the vehicle owner and robbed him of all his belongings. The victims, had so far, not reported the matter to the police anticipating humiliation, however, they had discussed it with their friends and relatives, the villagers alleged. Some of them even reported the matter to The Tribune. A panic had spread in the area following the rumour.

They said a few days back, an announcement was made in Dedran village in this regard and Bassi Pathana DSP Rajwinder Singh had also reached there.

When contacted, the DSP said he had also heard about this rumour but had not noticed anything of that sort in the area.

He said the police had set up special nakas and had increased patrolling on this road and remarked that the incident in Dedran village was a result of the rumour. The DSP also warned rumourmongers against spreading such things.

Panchkula, December 18
At the receiving end of the HUDA notification regarding the registration of their apartments under the Haryana Apartment Act after payment of stamp duty, the members of the cooperative group housing societies have finally decided to take to streets to oppose the "draconian and anti-people" decision.

The two-month reprieve by the Punjab and Haryana High Court to the allottees notwithstanding, the residents’ welfare organisations today decided to resort to "direct action" to compel HUDA to arrive at a "mutually-beneficial" decision in public interest. As a first step, the Confederation of the Group Housing Societies, Mansa Devi Complex, House Owners’ Welfare Association and Market Welfare Association, Sector 20, have decided to hold a dharna outside the HUDA office here, in Sector 6 on December 20.

At a meeting here, the members of the cooperative societies came down heavily against the "one-sided" decision of HUDA, which they alleged was giving a raw deal to the allottees even after the payment of various charges amounting to crores of rupees. Deepak Rai Walia, president of the confederation, urged the Haryana Chief Minister to constitute a committee under the chairmanship of a state minister to end the "registration imbroglio" so that thousands of allottees all over the state could heave a sigh of relief.

B.K. Sanghi, president of the Haryana Group Housing Federation, warned that a statewide agitation would be launched against the "draconian notification" by the HUDA if a solution to the problem was not found immediately.

Cooperative societies and HUDA had been at loggerheads over the registration of the apartments. While HUDA claims that the registration of the apartments was mandatory under the Act, the allottees assert that registration was not required as per the Act which was promulgated with a view to check the activities of big builders. When the societies had already received the conveyance deed after payment, there was no need for fresh registration of apartments by individual apartment owners, the residents added.

Chandigarh, December 18
Principals of all aided colleges of Chandigarh were appointed the chief public information officers (CPIOs) by director of higher education (C) Raji P. Srivastava here today.

This order assumes special significance in view of the refusal by MCM and DAV Colleges of Chandigarh to provide information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005. 
The director had earlier issued an advisory to S. Marriya, principal, DAV College, Chandigarh, to abide by the provisions of the Act as the college received government aid.

The UGC has directed all colleges receiving funds by the government to comply with the Act. It has advised all aided colleges to take the necessary steps for the implementation of various provisions, including proactive disclosures of certain kind of information under Section 4(1)(b) of the Act.

R.K. Anand, secretary, DAV College Teachers’ Union, said the order would forbid the college authorities from flouting rules. 

Chandigarh, December 18
A day after the prices of residential plots touched a new high in the real estate market of Chandigarh, the sale of commercial property while registering a similar trend pushed the average land price to Rs 2, 90, 578 per sq yard, an increase of 147.22 per cent over the December, 2004, auction’s average price of Rs 1, 17, 536 per sq yard.

The average land price will reflect in the collector rates likely to be revised by March next year.

But the auction of the commercial property on leasehold basis frustrated the estate office that put up for sale a number of booths, bay shops, built-up sites and SCOs.

At least, six II bay and III bay sites in Sector 43 B did not fetch the rates as prevailing in the market. The leasehold money of the sites comes to around Rs 35 lakh annually.

Before the administration changed its policy to sell commercial property on leasehold basis in 2004, some sites in Sector 43 were sold on freehold basis.

The sites which were earlier auctioned on lesser lease money or on freehold basis fetch a much higher rates as compared to the rates at which the SCOs were today auctioned.

Due to an error on part of the Municipal Corporation, the estate office could not sell 12 utility booth sites adjoining the Piccadily Hotel. The site is under litigation.

There were not many takers for the sites which the estate office offered. The main response was for general category SCO sites in Sector 43, which can used as a hotel and a II bay site in Sector 34 sub-city centre.

Of the total 60 sites offered, only seven sites were auctioned for Rs 83.04 crore. The reserve price of these sites was Rs 38.78 crore.

One of the highest bids was in the category of SCOs. A site in Sector 34 was auctioned for a whopping Rs 14.55 crore against a reserved price of Rs 7.46 crore.

A III bay site in Sector 43 fetched Rs 14.31 crore against a reserve price of Rs 5.83 crore. Two II bay sites in Sector 43 fetched Rs 8.71 crore against a reserve price of Rs 4 crore.

Officials of the estate office said the auction had been held to achieve the target projected under the receipt head.

From the two day auction of commercial and residential property, over Rs 158 crore has been earned.

Chandigarh, December 18
The Chandigarh administration in collaboration with UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre and the Archaeological Survey of India began a four-day workshop on “Management of Historic Urban Landscapes of the 20th Century” at the CII here today. The MC mayor was the chief guest.

The workshop is supported by the Netherlands-Funds-in Trust, France-UNESCO Cooperation and the CII.

Despite guidelines for conservation and management of monuments, archaeological sites, natural sites and cultural landscapes, the challenges of management of historic urban environments, especially those of the 20th century, are still not fully understood.

The technical session started with a welcome speech by Rajneesh Wattas, principal, Chandigarh College of Architecture, who emphasised on the contribution of Le Corbusier to City Beautiful.

Gilles Ragot talked about the history of nomination of India on the World Heritage List. He said as of now, a total of 851 sites were listed, among these 660 cultural and 166 natural. The 20th century sites could be used for comparative analysis of Le Corbusier’s works.

Francesco Bandarin, director, World Heritage Centre of UNESCO, talked of ways and the need to promote modern heritage.

The workshop will address the challenges in conservation of historic urban environments, in particular the World Heritage Cities of the 20th century, exchange ideas and visions, explore mutually satisfying solutions for conservation and development, and reach a consensus among stakeholders, resulting in an agreement on principles and guidelines for regulation and management. 

Chandigarh, December 18
Dr B.R. Mittal, head of the Department of Nuclear Medicine of the PGI, has been conferred with the prestigious fellowship of the Indian College of Nuclear Medicine for his academic contribution to the nuclear medicine fraternity.