350 traffic rule offenders challaned
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 25 — The Chandigarh traffic police today started the drive to implement new traffic regulations that have been formulated following a judgement of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

More than 350 drivers, including 54 bus drivers, were challaned for various traffic violations, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Traffic, Mr S.S. Randhawa, said this evening.

In the morning, teams of the traffic police checked vehicles for helmetless driving, unauthorised use of red light on cars and films on window panes. A few police vehicles using the red light were also challaned.

The police did not implement its plan of not allowing rickshaws inside the main Sector 17 market. The drive that includes checking of school buses and people not stopping at zebra crossings, among several other violations, will be implemented in phases. Police officials said that there was only a limited number of traffic staff and all aspects of the special drive could not be started simultaneously.

In the evening, long-route and local buses of state transport corporations were checked to see if conductors were wearing the prescribed uniform. Among other things checked were first-aid boxes, driving licences of the drivers and use of name plates by the conductor and the driver.

Helmets for women must from Monday

Women riding or driving two-wheelers in the city will have to wear helmets from Monday or face challans, the SP, Traffic, Mr Balbir Singh, clarified today.

No woman was challaned today, but a special drive will start as the judgement of the Punjab and Haryana Court says it clearly that women will have to wear helmets, the police said.

Women two-wheeler riders are exempt under the Chandigarh Motor Vehicle rules, 1990, from wearing a helmet. The Chandigarh Administration's view is that it has filed a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court against the judgement of the high court.Till the case is decided by the Supreme Court, women in the city will be challaned for helmetless driving.

City school results below average
By Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 25 — If the Class X results of the Central Board of Secondary Education are any indication, Chandigarh, in spite of having the best of infrastructure in the country, is lagging behind both Chennai and Ajmer in school education.

The only redeeming feature for Chandigarh has been the results shown by its government schools. Against a national pass percentage average of 33.9, Chandigarh tops the list with a pass percentage of 51.7. Next on the list in this category is Delhi with 33.8 per cent followed by Chennai 27.9 per cent and Guwahati 27.6 per cent.

But in all other categories — Kendriya Vidyalayas, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, Independent schools and even private students category — Chandigarh is far behind other major educational centres like Ajmer, Chennai and even Allahabad.

For example, in the category of independent schools, it is Chennai which heads the list with an impressive record of 93.2 per cent. Last year, Chennai had topped the list with 94.0 per cent. Ajmer, like last year, is next with 89.9 per cent. In the case of Chandigarh, the pass percentage has been 84.6, which is below the national average of 86.5 per cent. In this category, Chandigarh boasts of some prestigious institutions, including convents.

Chandigarh is also below the national average in yet another category of schools— the Kendriya Vidyalayas. Against a national pass percentage average of 77.9 , Chandigarh recorded 75 per cent. In this group also, Chennai tops the list with a record 85.8 per cent followed by Delhi 81.5 per cent and Ajmer 77 per cent.

The performance of Chandigarh in the category of JNVs is almost the same as of the KVs. The Chandigarh pass percentage of 80.7 is far short of the national pass percentage average of 84.7 per cent. Here also Chennai heads the list with an impressive 89.8 per cent followed by Delhi 86.3 per cent and Allahabad 86.0 per cent .

If one looks at the results of the past two years, both boys and girls of Chandigarh are also far behind their counterparts from Chennai, Ajmer and Allahabad.

In the case of boys, Chandigarh recorded 77.7 per cent against 83 per cent each by Chennai and Ajmer and 78.9 per cent by Allahabad. In the girls section, the situation is no better. With Ajmer girls topping the list with 83.8 per cent and followed by Chennai 80.2 per cent and Allahabad 79.2 per cent , Chandigarh girls had a pass percentage of 78.4.

The results of last year have been more or less on the same lines with Chandigarh boys and girls occupying lower positions than those from Chennai, Ajmer and Allahabad.

The figures, however, present a dismal scenario as far as government schools are concerned throughout the country. A pass percentage of less than 32 , with the exception of Chandigarh, against the national average of 64.4 per cent, does not speak well of the State-sponsored high school education programme throughout the country. Even the matriculation exams conducted by State School Education Boards have shown almost identical and poor results by government schools.

Patient gangraped in hospital
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 25 — A 22-year-old married woman who came for treatment at General Hospital, Sector 16, has been allegedly gangraped by three employees of the UT Engineering Department, who were posted in the hospital as lift operators.

The woman had come to the hospital on June 18 where she was allegedly lured by Vijay Kumar on the pretext of getting her examined by a doctor. According to sources in the hospital, she is a case of primary infertility and used to often come to the hospital for treatment.

She lodged a complaint with the police yesterday and a case under Sections 376, 506 and 34 of the IPC has been registered against Vijay Kumar, Dhani Ram and Liaka Ram. In her complaint to the police the woman said she had returned home after having told senior hospital authorities that she did not want to register a case due to social embarrassment. But when she told her husband about it, he asked her to lodge a compliant.

She alleges that she had come to the hospital for treatment and Vijay Kumar lured her by promising a check-up. He allegedly took her to room and raped her. Later, he was joined by the other two — Dhani Ram and Liaka Ram — who took turns raping her.

Hospital authorities said that the lift operators are under control of the Engineering Department. When the department was informed about their misbehaviour with a woman, an Executive Engineer reached the spot. An on-the-spot inquiry was conducted in the presence of a senior woman official.

Illegal parking fee at Dhillon complex
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 25 — Can a contractor, who does not have the permission for running a parking lot, charge parking fee? The answer may be no but this is happening at a prime parking lot near the Dhillon cinema complex allegedly in connivance with the staff of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC).

Though on paper the parking lot is being run by the civic body by employing daily-waged workers, the employees of the contractor also charge the parking fee in violation of the norms. Only a nominal amount is deposited with the civic body with the result that it was losing thousands of rupees every month allegedly in collusion with the staff of the corporation, according to sources.

It may be recalled that the parking lot could not be auctioned reportedly due to lack of response when four other parking lots at the Sukhna Lake, the District Courts, Shanti Kunj and the Terraced Gardens were put under the hammer a few months back.

Why the parking lot could not be auctioned is an interesting story. The sources said the reserve price of the parking lot was reportedly fixed on a high side at Rs 3.72 lakh.

Even as the contractor prospers, the civic body seems to be least bothered. Apart from the "illegal" collection of parking fee by the contractor, there have also been complaints of overcharging from the movie buffs, a majority of whom were not aware of the fact that the parking fee charged from them was illegal.

A fee of Rs 5 and Rs 10 is being charged from two-wheeler and car owners, respectively, for a period of three hours, the duration of a show. It may be mentioned here that for a period of up to four hours, Re 1 for parking a two-wheeler and Rs 2 for a car is fixed by the corporation at the other parking lots auctioned by it.

It is not for the first time that the contractor has been collecting parking fee without authorisation. A couple of months ago, the contractor at the Sukhna Lake, besides overcharging from the public, was levying the parking fee well after his contract had expired.

VDS ends with 32,067 disclosing load
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 25 — The simplified Voluntary Disclosure Scheme ( VDS), which concluded here today has received an encouraging response from the residents of the city. The UT Electricity department has collected a total of 32,067 forms from consumers voluntarily disclosing and seeking regularisation of unauthorised power loads in the city.

The scheme, which was launched on April 15, was to close on May 31 but following persistent public demand it was extended twice, first till June 15 and then till June 25. According to figures available, the response was rather luke warm in the first phase with only 4000 applicants submitting the forms . subsequently ,the scheme caught up with as many as 26,000 consumers applying till June 15. The remaining 6,000 applied in the last 10 days. Nearly 1500 forms were submitted at 10 electricity substations today itself.

The rush ,which was at its peak , following the first extension till June 15 had declined considerably in these last 10 days with only few people visiting the electricity centres. The response has been more in the southern sectors as compared to the northern sectors.

Even though the timings of the submission of forms were between 9 am to 1 pm, some of the offices kept the public windows open till evening so as to help maximum consumers avail the benefits of the scheme. However, at some centres people did complain of the reluctance on part of the staff on duty to accept forms after 1 pm.

others who have not been able to apply till date want the scheme to be extended by a few more days.

The authorities, when contacted, said the staff had been clearly instructed to accept the forms till people keep come and had also been asked to assist people in filling the forms.

With curtains down on the scheme, the department will now initiate strict action against the offenders. A load surcharge at the rate of Rs 750 per kw will be levied for single phase connections and Rs 1500 per kw for three phase connections. The department may even disconnect power supply wherever unauthorised load extensions are detected during checking.

File IT returns in Sector 17 plaza
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 25 — For the convenience of income tax payers, the Income Tax Department has set up counters for accepting income tax returns in Sector 17 plaza.

The eight counters, which have been functioning for the eight wards of the city since June 21, have been set up in the open space by the department since there is rush at this point of time for filing returns. June 30 is the last date for filing the returns.

Officials highlighted that apart from the counters, a facilitation counter manned by at least four officials of the department has been set up to guide the tax payers and verify documents. If the return was "defective" the tax payer was told to rectify it and he did not have to waste time standing in the queue.

A majority of the income tax payers filing returns at the counters comprise the salaried class. The assesses could file returns on any form — saral, 2-A and 3 — anytime between 10 a.m. and 3.30 p.m. After this time, bulk returns like those from institutions and advocates are received by the department, the officials said.

According on Mr A.K. Luthra, Commissioner of Income Tax, the department had received about 10,000 income tax returns per day and till yesterday. Over 50,000 tax payers had filed the returns.

It may be recalled that for the year 1997-98, the department had received a record 1.66 lakh returns up to March 31.

Car thief remanded
From Our Correspondent

KHARAR, June 25 — Ms Neelam Arora, Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Kharar, today remanded Balbir Bansal to police custody till June 28.

Mr Baljit Singh Sahota, Assistant Public Prosecutor, and Mr Balwant Singh, SHO, Phase 8, SAS Nagar, told the court that the accused was a member of an international gang of thieves which stole gypsies and cars, prepared fake sale letters, registration papers and other documents and sold stolen vehicles. They informed the court that the accused was earlier arrested by the Solan police and fake stamps were recovered from his possession.

According to police sources, enough information about various vehicles which were stolen from the SAS Nagar area was expected from the accused. The police has registered a case under Sections 382, 401, 471, 411, 420, 465 and 468 of the IPC and under the Arms Act. The court also ordered that medical examination of the accused should conducted today.

Five booked for assault
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR, June 25 — The Sohana police has booked five persons, members of two groups and residents of Gobindgarh village near Sohana, for indulging in a brawl and causing injuries to each other.

According to the police, Birbal, Resham, Rampal and Mohinder of Gobindgarh village were booked following a complaint by Jeet Ram of the same village, who had alleged that the former had hit him with a tractor while he was going to his fields, thus, injuring him.

On the other hand, a case has been registered against Jeet Ram, after the other party lodged a complaint alleging that he had attacked and injured Birbal and others, who had been sent for medical examination.

Two cases have been registered under Sections 324 and 326 of the IPC at the Sohana police station.

KHARAR

Booked for carrying liquor

The local police has booked Swaranjit Singh of Abhepur village near here for carrying nine bottles of country liquor.

According to the police, the accused was nabbed by a patrol party near Bhajauli village while was carrying liquor in a plastic bag. A case under Sections 61/1/14 has been registered against him.

Running from pillar to post
From Bipin Bhardwaj

DERA BASSI, June 25 — Mr Pritam Singh, an ex-worker of Gajraj Beverages Private Limited, is running from pillar to post, seeking justice from the management of the company but to no avail. Pritam, a teenager hailing form Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, has left no stone unturned to get re-appointment and compensation from the company. He was reportedly assured by the manager of the unit when he met with an accident about two months ago.

Pritam got electrocuted by high-tension transmission wires crossing over the water tank of the unit, while he was trying to open a wheelball-bulb for more water pressure on April 19. He got burn injuries on his throat, chest, left hand and both feet. He was then admitted to the local Civil Hospital in an unconscious condition and then referred by doctors to Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector-32, Chandigarh. The victim was discharged by the hospital authorities after 12 days, suggesting him throat operation as he was feeling complications in grasping and swallowing.

Paritam said the unit authorities had assured him of a permanent job in the industry and a compensation for the expenditure of his medicines but was refused this later. He alleged that the authorities had advised him not to disclose the whole episode to anyone. The authorities not only sacked him but refused any compensation, he alleged.

Mr Dalelu Ram, the father of the victim, said they had given a representation to Mr S.S. Sidhu, SDM, regarding their grievances. Mr Sidhu forwarded the case to the local police for an inquiry. He said when police personnel were contacted, they told him to seek labour courts’ help. Mr Dalelu Ram, a 60-year-old handicapped man, said Paritam was the only son of his parents who could feed them in their old age.

When contacted, Mr P.M. Sharma, manager of the factory, said Pritam was appointed along with 35 more workers in the factory by a contractor, Mr Brig Mohan Sharma, haling from Meerut. The contractor had been told not to appoint minors in the unit. Now it is his job to grant him compensation, he added.

SNIPPETS

Discussion on Kargil held
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 25 — Jan Shakti, a social organisation, organised an open discussion on “the role of community and Kargil” at the Lajpat Rai Bhavan, Sector 15, here today.

Presiding over the discussion, Mr Radhe Shyam, a senior journalist, while condemning the military invasion of Pakistan, advised it not to survive on the hatred campaign against India.

Prof PS Verma from Panjab University appreciated the role of the Muslim-dominated Kargil community which had stood by the Indian troops despite repeated attempts by Pakistan to woo it.

While Air Marshal GS Punia (retd) suggested the concept of total involvement of the people in the war, Wg Cdr Man Mohan Singh (retd), wanted that even napalm and chemical weapons be used against the enemy.

Gp Capt PS Soni (retd) wanted more independence to be given to the armed forces to deal with the Kargil situation. Brig ML Kataria expressed concern at the the people being uprooted from the border areas.

Arhtias donate Rs 1,01,100
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 25 — The Grain Market Arhtias Association, Sector 26, has donated Rs 1,01,100 to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund for the soldiers fighting in the Kargil sector.

At a function organised here today, the association handed over the cheque to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr M. Ramsekhar. Two other cheques for Rs 21,000 and Rs 5,000 were also handed over to Mr Ramsekhar on behalf of the ''paledars'', labourers and employees of the grain market.

The President of the association, Mr Sushil Mittal, said the association had volunteered to arrange 100 blood donors for the injured soldiers.

Meanwhile, the BJP-SAD alliance councillors at a meeting here decided to donate one month's constituency allowance to the fund.

2 electrocuted
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 25 — Two persons were electrocuted in separate incidents here today.

According to the information a vailable, Pinki of Sector 42 got an electric shock at her residence.

Rajesh of Sector 38 got electrocuted when he was passing by a transformer in Sector 25.

Both were declared brought dead at the PGI. A labourer had died yesterday following electrocution, while he was engaged in construction activity in Sector 11.

Muslims protest infiltration
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 25 — Muslims from all over the city today protested against the Pakistani infiltration in Kargil and Dras areas by burning the effigy Pakistan Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif at the Sector 20 Jama Masjid.

Earlier, members of various regional societies took out a procession under the banner of the Muslim Welfare Society. They marched from different mosques of the city with the effigy till they reached Jama Masjid.

Addressing the members, Mr Khalil Ahmed, President of the Muslim Welfare Society said the Muslim community of the city would donate part of the salary and other funds to the PM’s relief fund in aid of Kargil martyrs and injured soldiers. They have also sent a fax message to the Pakistan ambassador expressing their resentment against Pakistani infiltration.

In another letter to the Secretary-General, UNO, Mr Kofi Annan, they appealed him to pressurise Pakistan to withdraw its forces immediately from all over the territory and stop further infiltration.

The regional societies which protested were members of the Muslim Intezamia Committee, the Anjuman Agwamul Muslim, the Muslim Rehnuma Committee, the Muslim Sheraf Committee and the Muslim Welfare Committee.