& V I C I N I T Y
Saturday, September 12, 1998
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C H A N D I G A R H & V I C I N I T Y |
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Saturday, September 12, 1998 |
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Venod Sharma reappointed CTCC chief CHANDIGARH, Sept 11 — Mr Venod Sharma, a former Union Minister of State for Supplies, has been reappointed President of the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee. He replaces Mr Pawan Bansal. Mr Bansal had replaced Mr Sharma in 1996 as the CTCC chief. CBI plea rejected in |
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Dakshin
Marg no smooth road to travel Harassed
consumer to get compensation Two
Communist parties merge Nagra's
gunman gets bail Processions
banned from Sept 15 to 17 |
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Venod Sharma reappointed CTCC
chief CHANDIGARH, Sept 11 — Mr Venod Sharma, a former Union Minister of State for Supplies, has been reappointed President of the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee. He replaces Mr Pawan Bansal. Mr Bansal had replaced Mr Sharma in 1996 as the CTCC chief. Mr Sharma, whose term as Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) ended some months ago, remained President of the CTCC for four years. A formal announcement about the appointment of Mr Sharma was made by Mrs Meira J. Ram, MP, and a General Secretary of the All-India Congress Committee, in New Delhi today. The announcement said the Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, had reconstituted the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee by appointing Mr Sharma as its president in place of Mr Bansal. Mr Bansal is tipped for a
party post. |
CBI plea rejected in murder
case CHANDIGARH, Sept 11 — The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr Sant Prakash, yesterday turned down the plea of the CBI, claiming as a privilege document the report of its DIG, Mr K.C. Kanungo, about the murder of Mr Inderjit Singh 13 years ago. Reading out the order in the open court the magistrate said: "I decide this case with the observation that no privilege can be claimed qua the report of Mr K.C. Kanungo, who was appointed as investigation officer under the directions of the court." Mr Sant Prakash further held: "The court has every right to look into the report submitted by Mr Kanungo to the Director of the CBI and the same will be opened at the time of passing any order on the closure report and the protest application." Mr Inderjit Singh, who was in the prime of his youth, was allegedly murdered in 1985. To begin with the case was investigated by the Chandigarh Police. Mr Sita Ram, the then S.P. with the local police, had given his findings that Mr Inderjit Singh had not committed suicide as was made out by the landlord of the house in which Mr Inderjit Singh had taken one room on rent. On the contrary, prima facie, it appeared to be murder. The case was later entrusted to the CBI for investigation. The local branch of the CBI had passed it on for suicide. Mr Allah Singh, father of the deceased, had urged the court to order a fresh investigation into the case. The CJM had directed the CBI to appoint another investigating officer to redress the grievance of the deceased's father. The CBI director had entrusted this investigation to the DIG, Mr Kanungo. In his finding the DIG had held that Mr Inderjit Singh had not committed suicide. On the contrary, he was murdered. Mr Kanungo had indicted three CBI officials for passing on the murder as suicide. The CBI had claimed the report of DIGs Kanungo as a privilege document. It had argued that under the Indian Evidence Act it could not be made part of the court record as it was a confidential document. Counsel for the complainant, on the other hand, had contended that no privilege could be claimed and the court had every right to look into it. He further told the court
that it was a case of homicide and not suicide. Mr
Inderjit Singh was first murdered and then hanged with a
soft turban. |
Addition of clause in form:
students CHANDIGARH , Sept 11 — Scores of local students are on the verge of losing one academic year of senior secondary schooling. The examination forms of students having cleared their compartment of matriculation in the second attempt are not being accepted for plus two by the Central Board of Secondary Education. The situation has arisen due to the addition of a new clause in the examination form which reads that " no candidate who has passed the secondary school examination (Class X ) in the second chance compartment in 1998 is eligible to appear in Class XII in 1998." The board, however, allows two chances to candidates placed in compartment for clearing their matriculation examination. A parent while talking to the TNS said his ward was placed in a compartment in matriculation examination of 1997. As the candidate could avail of two chances to clear the compartment, the candidate also joined her plus one. The candidate cleared her compartment in March this year and also cleared plus one .When the form was sent to the CBSE for plus two it was rejected on the plea that a candidate cannot clear two classes in one year . Mr Y. P. Katyal, a Joint Secretary in the Regional CBSE office , said few students who were earlier allowed to take the plus two examination under similar situation had to face problems at the university level. The university authorities at the point of scrutiny of examination forms pointed out that there must to be a minimum of two years gap between matriculation and the plus two examination. Mr Katyal said the rules already existed and it was up to the district education authorities to implement the same. Compartment as such is allowed to weak students or who could not do well in one or two papers due to various reasons. If a student cannot clear it in the first chance the schools should cancel his admission. Parents should be informed that that even if a candidate continues his plus one there would be a problem while submitting examination forms for plus two. A Principal of a local school said she had already cancelled admission of such students. Meanwhile, parents maintain that they were not informed in advance. Neither the information concerned was displayed on notice boards nor mentioned in the prospectus. Mr Brahmjit Kalia, the District Education Officer, when contacted said he was aware of the problem. In the earlier years such students were allowed to take the plus two examinations.The problem has arisen this year only due to the addition of the clause. The school authorities
have taken up the case with the local CBSE authorities
who have expressed their helplessness in this case.
"I have prepared a case and will send it to the
Education Secretary .The matter can be solved ultimately
by the central office of the CBSE", he said. |
Strike in PU, colleges over
arrest CHANDIGARH, Sept 11— Panjab University and a few affiliated colleges in the city today observed a partial strike against arrest of two students, Munish Anand and Sartaj Gill, by the police yesterday. The call for strike was given by the National Students’ Union of India, the Panjab University Students Union and the Haryana Students Association. Anand, outgoing president of the PU campus council, and Gill were named in the FIR of the shootout incident on the campus on August 21 in which a fellow of the university, Mr Kuljit Nagra, was involved. Members of the three organisations went to classes and addressed students. Classes were disrupted mainly in the first two periods. However, teaching work in a large number of departments continued unhampered throughout the day. Harmohinder Singh Lucky, president of the NSUI, said the arrests were "politically motivated. Why were the students not arrested for over 20 days after the shootout incident when they were roaming freely on the campus? The arrest coincided with the formal notification of the elections", he added. Heavy police deployment could be seen all over the campus throughout the day. Police personnel in antiriot gear and paramilitary staff also could be seen, mainly around the Students Centre in anticipation of a breach of the peace. Mr Vijay Kumar, SHO of Sector 11, said the arrests were not politically motivated. "Police is carrying out its investigations and arrests were made after the process had been completed", he added. The Dean, Student Welfare, Dr R.S. Grewal, has in the meantime released a code of conduct for the elections. The code announces that jeeps and cars will not allowed to be plied after 10 a.m. and the speed limit of 40 km will be observed on the campus. No loudspeakers will be allowed. Carrying of any sort of weapons is prohibited. Guests will not be allowed in hostels. In emergency, they will have to seek the prior permission of the warden concerned. All violations of the code
of conduct will have to be referred to the election
tribunal. |
Dakshin Marg no smooth road to
travel CHANDIGARH, Sept 11 — Dakshin Marg has become a dangerous road to travel, due to faulty designing of roundabouts, increased volume of traffic, want of slip roads and absence of any regulation over fast moving traffic. The entire Dakshin Marg extending from The Tribune roundabout to the roundabout of Sectors 24, 25, 37 and 38 witnesses several minor accidents each day, resulting in damage to vehicles and the road being blocked. One such accident involving a truck and a car took place near the roundabout of Sectors 29, 30, 31 and 32 today. One side of Dakshin Marg dividing Sectors 29 and 31 was blocked during peak rush hour. No policeman was in sight to regulate the flow of traffic and a free-for-all ensued as trucks and buses competed with one another for road space with smaller vehicles. Scenes like these are very common near this roundabout ever since the engineering department dug up one side of the road dividing Sectors 29 and 30 some days ago. Though the repairs were overdue the movement of vehicular traffic could have been managed in a better way, opined a motorist who goes to industrial area daily. Apart from this rotary, three other roundabouts on Dakshin Marg remain choked during daytime due to heavy traffic. The worst are the roundabouts of Sectors 22, 23, 35 and 36 and Sectors 21, 22, 34 and 35. Lately, the roundabout of Sectors 23, 24, 36 and 37 has been witnessing traffic problems. A common complaint of city residents is that the roads around the rotaries are bumpy and need immediate attention. Despite being one of the most busy roads in the city, Dakshin Marg does not have slip roads or slow carriageways. The only slow carriageway on the this road is between Sectors 22 and 35. However, even this is lying unused. The side road that falls in Sector 22 has vehicles parked all along while squatters are all over the road's entrance which falls in Sector 35. Both side roads are damaged. Even the design of the rotaries are defective and it is common for heavy vehicles to overturn while negotiating them. Various proposals over the years have suggested the removal of the rotaries near The Tribune and at Sectors 21,22, 34 and 35 intersections. In the absence of slip
roads all vehicles have to reach the roundabout and then
take a turn accordingly. Though ample space is available
near all rotaries, slip roads were never planned. |
Harassed consumer to get
compensation PANCHKULA, Sept 11 — An 82-year-old consumer has been awarded a compensation of Rs 10,000 by the local consumer court for being harassed by HUDA by demanding exorbitant interest after five years on account of excess area costs. Holding HUDA responsible for deficiency in services, the forum has directed it to calculate the interest from the date the demand was made. The order was passed by the president, Mr R.C. Taneja, and Mr V. Aditya and Ms Rekha Sharma, both members, of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum on the basis of a complaint lodged by Mr O.S. Mahajan, a resident of Sector 17 here. Mr Mahajan in his complaint alleged that he was reallotted a plot, measuring 836 sq metres in Sector 17 in Panchkula in August 1989. In the allotment letter issued to him the area of the plot was mentioned as 878.9 sq metre (an excess area 32.9 cm) but no additional cost was demanded by HUDA, he alleged. A demand of Rs 938 was made on December 16, 1991, and which, he said, was deposited but no details about the demand were provided to him. After that he constructed a house and got a partial completion certificate. Again a demand of Rs 16,415 and Rs 20,638, respectively, was made by HUDA from the complainant. Repeated letters written to HUDA to get the details of the additional amount did not yielded results. Enquires on the part of the complainant revealed that the additional amount of Rs 20,000 was charged as interest compounded at various stages from January 8, 1975, whereas the plot had been allotted to him on August 30, 1989, and the physical possession was given on June 31, 1990. On objecting to the unjustified and exorbitant interest being charged by HUDA, the complainant was informed that instead of calculating compound interest on the basic amount of Rs 2037 it had charged simple interest from January 8, 1975. After repeated correspondence with HUDA the complainant was told to deposit Rs 3500 as interest which, he alleged had been again wrongly calculated. Even as the correspondence was going on between the complainant and HUDA, the former was directed to get the conveyance deed of the above said plot executed within 30 days failing which resumption proceedings would be started against him. On being noticed, HUDA maintained that representations by the complainant from time to time had been considered and he was asked the pay interest on original price and enhancement price from the date of offering physical possession of the plot. The forum observed that HUDA had indulged in unfair trade practice and advised it to take necessary steps in future to ensure that in such cases complete details of the amount being charged shall be furnished to the allottee. The complainant has been
awarded Rs 1000 on account of proceedings. |
Two Communist parties merge CHANDIGARH, Sept 11 — The Communist Party of Indian Union (CPIU) yesterday formally merged with the Marxist Communist Party of India (MCPI) at Comrade Mohan Punamia Hall at Gujjar Bhavan in Sector 28 here. The announcement was made by Mr Sudhir Bhattacharya, acting general secretary of the MCPI and Mr U. Krishanuppa, general secretary of the CPIU, amid applause from more than 250 delegates at the commencement of the four-day national congress of the MCPI from a stage set up in the backdrop of the portraits of Frederick Engels, Karl Marx, Josef Stalin and Lenin. Also present was Mr M. Omkar, a hero of the Telengana movement in Andhra Pradesh. Addressing mediapersons, Mr Bhattacharya said the disillusioned rank and file of the CPM and the CPI were expected to join MCPI as the former parties were collaborating with the enemy, the Congress, to assume power at the Centre. Answering a question, he said the BJP was also "their enemy" due to its communal credentials and was partial to capitalists. Responding to a question, Mr Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri, politburo member of the MCPI, said that there was need to broadbase the scope of the peoples' commission besides setting up more commissions to go into the genesis of the excesses committed during militancy in Punjab. It was the need of the hour to look into the nexus between the bureaucrats, the police and political parties, including pro-police ones like the BJP, the CPI and the CPM, during this period. He said the Akalis had, in their election manifesto, promised to probe into the excesses by setting up a judicial commission but Mr Parkash Singh Badal had backed out from doing so under pressure from its alliance partner, the bureaucrats and police who had benefited the most during the period. Mr Lyallpuri said contrary to the people's belief, the Akalis had miserably failed to tackle any of the problems of the state, including resolving inter-state river and territorial disputes. Corruption had also not been tackled by the state government, he alleged. Later leaders addressed
hundreds of party workers at the ground near the Sector
20 mosque and put before them issues facing the country
and the increasing criminalisation in politics and the
rampant corruption. |
Nagra's gunman gets bail CHANDIGARH, Sept 11 — Mr G.S. Sandhu, Additional Sessions Judge, today granted bail to Asha Ram, a gunman attached to Mr Kuljit Singh Nagra, a Senator of Panjab University. He was arrested in connection with the firing incident on the varsity campus on August 21. The Senator and the gunman were booked under sections 307, 147, 148, and 149, IPC and the Arms Act. According to the prosecution, Mr Nagra had fired shots at a rival group outside the Punjabi department of the university in which two students were injured. The Judicial Magistrate, Mr Jagnahar Singh, today remanded Munish Anand, who was arrested by the local police in connection with this case, in judicial custody until September 25. Anand is the president of
the Panjab University Campus Student Council. |
Processions banned from Sept 15 to 17 PANCHKULA, Sept 11 — The administration has prohibited taking out of processions and assembly of five or more persons within the district from September 15 to 17. The District Magistrate, Mr Anurag Aggarwal, said that the order had been passed in the wake of the strike notice given by the Haryana Karamchari Mahasangh and the workers union of the electricity department. The carrying of weapons had also been banned for the two days. In a separate order the District Magistrate said the gram panchayats constituted under the Gram Panchayats Act, 1994, would be responsible for patrolling in their respective areas with a view to preventing sabotage and to ensure safety of the electrical installations of the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) and the Ambala—Kalka railway line passing through the district. The order will remain in
force from September 12 to 20. The Subdivisional
Magistrates of Panchkula and Kalka and the Block
Development and Panchayat Officers have been asked to
ensure the requisite patrolling. |
CHANDIGARH, Sept 11 — With the Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh authorities and protesters hardening their stances, the stalemate over the paid parking system in Sector 17 continued today. The two meetings of the delegation of protesters with the Adviser to the Administrator, Mr Jagdish Sagar, and the Mayor, Mr Gian Chand Gupta, in the day reportedly failed to break the impasse with respective parties sticking to their stands. After a rally in the morning, a delegation of the protesters met Mr Sagar in the afternoon. The Adviser had reportedly told the delegation that since the parking fee had been levied by the elected body of the people, the Administration was bound to help the civic body in case of any law and order problem. Later the talks between a delegation with Mr Gupta failed as he reportedly rejected the demand for the suspension of the paid parking for a few days. At a meeting the BJP councillor resolved that the system should be implemented with vigour as it was the decision of the House of the civic body. Meeting: The finance and contract committee of the civic body on Friday recommended privatisation of sanitation in Sector 17. The decision will come up for approval later this month. The committee decided to
purchase five more fire engines for the fire wing of the
corporation. Through another decision the safai
karamcharis will be paid cash for purchasing uniforms. |
CHANDIGARH, Sept 11 — A villager, Azad Islam, was allegedly stabbed by a resident of Mani Majra, Kisan Bhadur. The injured person was stabbed with a knife near a dhaba last night. The police has registered a case under Section 325 of the IPC. Meanwhile, in a separate incident a knife was recovered from Jagdish, a resident of Panchkula. He was nabbed near Dhillon cinema. A case under the Arms Act has been registered. Woman's complaint: A resident of Sector 30, Mrs Seema Nayyar, has alleged that the police is not registering an FIR on her complaint against Mr Narinder Singh of Sector 23. On September 4 Mr Narinder had allegedly thrown out the household goods of Mrs Nayyar. She approached the police for registering a case. However, no action has been taken so far. Cyclist hurt: A cyclist, Mr Harpreet Singh of Sector 37, was injured and admitted to the PGI as he was hit by a car driven by Swarn Singh. Meanwhile, a motor cycle, (CHL-5677) owned by Mr Raman Kumar of Sector 22 has been stolen from his house. Two arrested: Two
persons have been nabbed for carrying varying quantities
of liquor without permits in separate incidents. A
Dadumajra resident has been arrested while carrying 35
pouches of country-made liquor while Maya Bel of Bapu
Dham was nabbed with 12 bottles of liquor. |
CHANDIGARH: It was in front of an audience which preferred anything that sounded like "Balle-balle", rather than something soft and mushy, that Vinod Sehgal, of "Chhod aaye hum woh galyaan" fame, performed at Range-e-Ghazal, at Tagore Theatre on Friday evening. The ghazhal nite was presented by Creative Infosystems Ltd. in association with The Daily Sunshine. Blessed with a resonantly rounded voice, Vinod Sehgal began the evening "Banjaran ka chola pehne badla vaish fakrion ka". But the vocabulary of love present in ghazals certainly needs the depth of imagery and multilayered metaphors as well, which perfect it as a poetic form. And this seemed to be missing when Sehgal sang lines that talked of "deemak" (termites) eating love-letters. Seemingly not quite in form, Vinod Sehgal's rendition of Chandigarh based shayar — Ershaad Qamil's — "Apne hothon se teri palkon pe" and "Dhoop ka ek tukda" were lapped up by the audience. His crooning of Ustaad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Saheb's "Yaad piya ke aaye" was not able to evoke the romantic nostalgia and yearning that is otherwise present in this very popular love lyric. The rugged music compositions appeared to be major dissenting factor for Sehgal's otherwise lilting tonal exuberance. The mukhda of "Rooh ban kar zare-zare main sama jaata hoon main", without the strains of music was definitely a pleasure. The "Punjabi audience" obviously demanded something more to make the evening truly rangeen. But just when Vinod Sehgal warmed up to sing a delightful ghazal — Shayari ki hai maine, tijarat nahi ki", the audience compounded the demand for "Chapa-Chapa charkha chale" and "Chhod aaye hum....." with cat-calls and whistles. Relenting to their demand, the minute guitar were strummed for the "Chhod aaye..." song. Vinod Sehgal's singing was joined with people's clapping and their more-than-enthusiastic humming. His song "Potli wala baba" from the tele-serial 'Potli Baba ki' was both refreshing and enchanting. Punjabi song "Laung da lishkara" was obviously heartily welcomed by the boisterously wild crowd. Ved Kumar and Gyan
Chaurasia at the tabla. Sushant Sharma at the guitar and
Arshad at the dilruba accompanied Vinod Sehgal. — Sonoo
Singh |
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