Friday, September 17, 1999
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N E W S Friday, September 17, 1999 |
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Midnight burglary at
knife point PANCHKULA, Sept 16 — In a daring incident, four men aged between 22 and 30 years, broke into a house in Sector 8 after 1.30 a.m. today and decamped with cash and jewellery worth Rs 5 lakh. A case under Sections 458 and 380 of the IPC has been registered. Relating the sequence of events, Mr Munish Goyal, said that his bolted door flew open and four men entered his bedroom and hit him on his head with something heavy and tried to throttle him after which they beat him up while his wife got a sharp whack on her nose. At this point, he asked the four to take away whatever they wanted from the house without hitting him and his wife. The burglars relented and demanded valuables and cash. One of them engaged the couple in a conversation while holding a knife to their throat. They tied the hands and feet of Munish and the hands of his wife as they ransacked the cupboards and drawers of the occupants. The whole operation was carried out in the light from a torch. Suspecting trouble, Munish's father, Mr Pawan Goyal, came downstairs but was asked to return to his room by his son after the assailants threatened the couple with dire consequences if he tried to come to the room. It was only after 3 a.m. that the four went away through the back door after scaling the wall with the booty. Then the family members raised the alarm. The jeep of the Police Control Room in the sector heard their cries and reached the house almost immediately. The team was led by ASI Brahm Singh. The police is of the opinion that the burglars seemed acquainted with the layout of the house and belonged to either Bihar or Uttar Pradesh. It later came to light that they had entered the house from the backside of the house, climbed on to the terrace, reached the front side of the terrace, removed the grill and unlocked the window after which they gained entry into the house and made their way to the ground floor after searching through the drawers in the lobby. Later, the police sought the help of a sniffer dog, but it reached a dead end after losing track on reaching the HUDA store in Sector 9. Before entering the house, the burglars had cut wires of the two telephones, the gate phone, the magic eye and the security alarm installed at the residence of the Goyals. They added that somebody was seen jumping over their wall on Sunday after midnight. Incidentally, an engagement ceremony was held at the house the same morning. A shocked Munish Goyal, who bore the brunt of the attack of the assailants, said that in his conversation one of the burglars admitted that they had attempted a burglary same day but had decided against it after they found them awake. Meanwhile, the police is
trying to establish the identity of the culprits by going
through previous records of suspects and collecting
fingerprints. A team of forensic experts also visited the
house in the evening. |
1,933 violators challaned DERA BASSI, Sept 16 — As many as 1,933 violators of traffic rules have been challaned by the District Transport Authority since August 19 in Patiala district.The Punjab and Haryana High Court orders on traffic rules continue to be violated on a large scale. drivers of two-wheelers along with pillion-riders without helmets were challaned in the district for the first time after the directions of the court.vehicles without first-aid box, drivers and conductors without proper uniform, name-plates,black films, pressure horns, extra lights,school buses without conductors and having a driver with experience of less than five years and cars with unauthorised red lights atop were challaned as per the directions of the court. The drive has been initiated within the district by Mr Kulbir Singh, State Transport Commissioner, Punjab, and Mr Avtar Chand Sharma, District Transport Officer(DTO), with help of some police personnel since August 19. To make road users aware of traffic rules and enforce the court directions in the district, as many as 416 persons have been challaned for not wearing helmets by the teams headed by the DTO and Mr J. S. Brar, Assistant District Transport Officer (ADTO).As many as 356 vehicles have been challaned for over loading; 71 for pressure horns; 42 for extra (sharp) lights; 9 for filmed glasses; 25 for tape recorders; 42 for not having indicators; 139 for plying on the road without registration copy; and 132 drivers who did not have driving licence. Only two drivers were challaned for having red lights atop their vehicles which they were not entitled to and 63 bus drivers without uniform belonging to Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were also challaned during the move. According to Mr Brar,
the district transport authorities have set up a
permanent pollution check- up centre at Singhpura on the
Kalka-Ambala National Highway-22,near Zirakpur. As many
as 631 vehicles have been checked up at this centre since
August 19.Out of these, 521 were found pollution free and
the rest were issued notices to get their vehicles
checked within due course of time. |
Problems in phone bill payment KHARAR, Sept 16 — More than 2800 telephone subscribers in Kharar and surrounding villages are facing a lot of problems as they have to stand for hours in long queues for making the payment of their telephone bills. They attribute this to lack of proper arrangement by the Telecommunication Department. More than 100 subscribers could not pay their bills today and yesterday. They had to go back to their homes after standing in queue for a long time as the clerk refused to accept payment after 12.30 p.m. — the deadline fixed by the department. Mr Gurdev Singh of Halalpur village, Mr Ajit Singh of Mundi Kharar, and Mr Rajwinder Singh, of SAS Nagar said they had been coming here for the past three days but could not make the payment. They said the department could not accept the payment as the link with a computer in Chandigarh was cut off. They said surprisingly the post office which used to accept the payment of telephone bills earlier was not accepting it. According to information collected by this correspondent the department has, in total, 24 hours to receive the payment of about 2800 bills and it was not possible to receive the payment during this short period. This correspondent while visiting the telephone exchange saw that there was no arrangement of sitting, drinking water and shelter for the subscribers who have to stand in long queue for making the payment. Mr Sher Singh, SDE Kharar exchange, said he had no control over the payment of bills. He said, however, he had written to the authorities to increase the number of days so that the subscribers could make payment without any inconvenience. Mr Sanjay Garg, Accounts
Officer of the department, when contacted on phone in
Chandigarh, said he was fully aware of the situation and
had already sent the case file to PGM for extending the
time. Meanwhile, many subscribers have demanded that the
department should make arrangements for the purpose on
all working days and a full-time employee should be
deputed here. They demanded that this time there should
be no surcharge on bills after September 17, as the
department was responsible for inconvenience to
subscribers. |
PU poll code: no convoys,
defacement CHANDIGARH, Sept 16 — A code of conduct has been drawn up for the forthcoming elections to the Panjab University Campus Students' Council for the year 1999-2000 to be held on September 24. The Dean Students Welfare, Prof V.K. Bansal, today held a meeting with the representatives of various student unions to discuss the same. The code envisages that convoys of heavy vehicles and defacement of university property — buildings, walls, trees, poles and roads would not be allowed during the elections. Instead of pasting posters on these places, the students have been asked to put them on wooden boards put up outside various teaching departments and university hostels. They have also been asked to make use of banners, cards and pamphlets. While the use of heavy vehicles such as trucks, buses and tractors will not be allowed for electioneering, the plying of jeeps and cars will also not be allowed after 10 pm. The students have been asked to observe the usual speed limit (40 km/hr) from September 21 to 24. The code further envisages that loudspeakers would not be used during the election campaign and no procession with jeeps/cars will be taken out. Students have only be allowed to organise rallies of their respective organisations and the DSW has to be informed about the same for the purposes of scheduling. The DSW will ensure that no two organisations have rallies at the same time and date. Students have also been asked to abstain from violence and do electioneering peacefully without indulging in character assassination. The emphasis should be more on issues rather than personalities. The code also mentions that canvassing at hostels for girls will not be allowed after 9 p.m. Further, no electioneering is to be done in the classes and no class work will be disturbed by any person/organisation. The students have also unanimously agreed not to allow outsiders to address their rallies and would also not seek the support of any political group. The guests of students will not be allowed to stay in university hostels during the elections. However, in case of an emergency, they should seek prior permission, in writing from the warden. But no guest will be allowed to stay in the hostel on the night of September 23 and if any individual has any relatives, he should seek a special permission from the DSW. The campaigning will end at 5 pm on September 23 and all displayed material will be pulled down at that time. Students have been asked to carry their identity cards at all times, so as to avoid embarrassment at the time of checking. The violations of the election code will be referred to an election tribunal for appropriation and its decision shall be final and binding on all concerned. In case of any other problems regarding elections, students can contact the DSW. According to Professor Bansal, the students unanimously agreed to abide by these decisions and he later also obtained a moral commitment from the students regarding the implementation of the code of conduct. An open house will be held on September 23 at the Students Centre at 12 noon. One representative from each organisation and the presidential candidate or his nominee from the students panels contesting the elections will be allowed to address the students. They will be allowed to speak for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, Professor Bansal informed that chairpersons of various departments will be the returning officers of their respective departments. In case of smaller departments with few students on rolls, 2-3 will be clubbed together for the purposes of counting so as to maintain secrecy. As per the constitution, a department having 100 students or less on its rolls will have one representative, between 101 and 250 two representatives, between 251-500 three representatives and four or more for more than 500 students. The departmental representatives so elected to the students' council will also cast their votes to elect the office-bearers of the executive committee on the day of the elections at the University Guest House. The term of the students' council will be from the date of election to May 31. Campaigning picks up in PU CHANDIGARH, Sept 16 — With the date of students elections announced, it is time once again for rhetorics and long winding speeches by budding leaders of various organisations. The campaigning picked up momentum with the Panjab University Students Union (PUSU) organising a rally at the Student Centre today afternoon. It was attended by supporters of PUSU from the campus and city colleges. While addressing the rally, the former President of the University Students Council, Mr Munish Anand, criticised the functioning of the previous year's council. The PUSU President, Mr Lakhjeet Singh, in his address sought representation for students in the Senate. Among others who addressed the rally were Mr Bhupinder Singh Bhuppi ( Haryana Students Association); Mr Gurvinder Singh Grewal, Chairman of PUSU; Ms Monica Verma (Vice-President, PUSU); Mr Ambuj Sharma (GC-46);and Mr Srinivasan (GCM-1I). Later, the names of Mr Sumeet Chhabra, a B.Com final year student, and Mr Nirmal Singh Brar, a final year student of Government College, Sector 11, were announced for the post of president. They will contest the elections in their respective colleges as their representatives. Mr Nirmal Singh will have a direct fight with Mr Khushbaaz Singh Jattana, a representative of Government College Students Union. While the student centre has already started becoming the hottest spot, with leaders trying their best to impress the student community, tents of various students bodies have already come up at various places and posters exhorting students to support them can also be seen. The supporters are gradually moving to the hostels and colleges. However, election activity is yet to begin in the girls colleges — Government College for Girls, Sector 11; GCG-42; and Dev Samaj College of Education, Sector 36. The alliances of various
students bodies and candidates contesting the elections
are likely to be announced tomorrow. |
Gen Oberoi to be GOC-in-C Chandigarh, Sept 16 — Lieut-Gen Vijay Oberoi will take over as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, on October 15. He is at present the GOC-in-C, Army Training Command (Artrac), Shimla. Lieut- Gen H.B. Kala will assume charge as GOC-in-C, Artrac, according to an Army spokesperson. General Oberoi was commissioned in the Maratha Light Infantry in 1961. He has taken part in the 1965 war and the Goa Operations. An alumni of the US Army War College, he has also served as Director-General, Military Operations (DGMO), and as Deputy Director, Training. An alumni of the National Defence College, General Kala was commissioned in 6 Jat and has commanded a division and a corps in the Western Sector. He had taken over as Western Army Commander in October, 1996. Earlier, there was a proposal to rotate three Army Commanders in a triangular move, which was put on the backburner due to the Kargil conflict. However, it has now been decided to move only two commanders. The Central Army Commander, Lieut-Gen Surjit Singh Sangra, was the third army commander to have been shifted. The earlier proposal were to shift Generals Oberoi, Kala and Sangra to the Western Command, Central Command and Artrac, respectively. The move is the result
of a policy to offset the stagnation caused by the two
years of extension in service. |
HC sets deadline for PGI to
fill post CHANDIGARH, Sept 16 — The Punjab and Haryana High Court today set December 15 as the deadline for the P.G.I. for filling vacancies in the post of Assistant Professor. Handing down a 13-page judgement, Mr Justice Jawahar Lal Gupta and Mr Justice V.M. Jain directed the PGI to scrutinise all applications it received for the post of Assistant Professor "within two weeks after the last date for the receipt. The Selection Committee shall be constituted forthwith. The process of selection shall be completed by November 30, 1999." Speaking for the Bench, Mr Justice Gupta said the Governing Body "shall not be permitted to impede the process of selection and appointment by adopting any dilatory method. Thereafter, further action in accordance with the law shall be taken. The posts should be filled up by December 15, 1999." The delay in filling the
posts was contested by the PGI Faculty Association as
also 28 ad hoc Assistant Professors. They complained that
105 vacancies in the post of Assistant Professor had
remained unfilled at the PGI "since the past number
of years due to the inaction of the respondents." It
was alleged that "only 40 The petitioners had told the court that despite representations, the respondents had not done the needful. They prayed that the respondents be directed "to frame a scheme for regularisation of service of Assistant Professors who have been working in the institute on ad hoc basis." In the alternative, the petitioners had prayed that the respondents be directed to carry out selection to the 94 regular and 11 leave vacancies of Assistant Professors as advertised on November 9, 1998, and to make appointments to the said posts in the respondent-institute as expeditiously as possible. The stand of the PGI on the other hand, was that the claim of the petitioners regarding "regularisation of service ... is not tenable. There is no provision in the rules and regulations to regularise the services of ad hoc Assistant Professors. The present petitioners had not been appointed by the regular Selection Committee ... they had not gone through the proper process of selection." Regarding the delay in regular recruitment, it had been averred that the needful could not be done "due to prolonged litigation on the subject of the reservation first in the Punjab and Haryana High Court and thereafter in the Supreme Court." As for the regularisation of the petitioners, the Bench ruled: "We hold that the ad hoc appointees have no right to claim regularisation of their services. They will, however, be entitled to be considered for appointment if they apply for the posts. Their claim shall be considered in accordance with the criteria that may be laid down by the competent authority. Of course, experience is always one of the considerations." The decision of the PGI Governing Body desiring that the "Director should talk to both groups of faculty members i.e. for and against reservation and try to reach a written consensus in respect of implementation of the decision of the Supreme Court is unfortunate," the Bench held. It added that the two sides had fought the battle before the apex court. The issue had been decided. The PGI had to implement the decision. It was under a duty to do so. It should have performed this duty without delay or demur. The Governing Body failed to do the needful for no justifiable reason. The implementation of the Supreme Court decision could not have been subjected to a "written consensus." The Governing Body, which was charged with the duty of carrying out the decision, had unnecessarily delayed its implementation. "We cannot compliment it." The Judges observed:
"Now the lost time is gone for ever. However, the
needful should be done without any delay." |
Telecom services hit again CHANDIGARH, Sept 16 — For the second time in three days, the working of the telecommunication network in the city and the adjoining areas reportedly snapped today on account of a technical snag, putting telephone subscribers to a lot of inconvenience. Since morning, the the subscribers had difficulty in dialling the telephones connected on to levels 65 and 66 besides other levels. The subscribers received the the taped message saying "all routes are busy, please dial after some time". Persons dialling the 71 level numbers also faced similar problem. It may be recalled that on September 13 the telecommunication services were seriously hampered following the reported snapping of the main optical fibre cable (OFC) linking the two main exchanges in Sectors 17 and 34. The technical snag today was due to the repair work being carried out by the Telecom Department, sources said. Industrial activity came
to a virtual halt today in many parts of the city,
including the Industrial Area and the Grain Market, as
the traders and industrialists could not place orders due
to snapping of the telephone link. |
More sanitation to be
privatised CHANDIGARH, Sept 16 — Faced with an acute shortage of sweepers, the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) has decided to privatise the sanitation in five major labour colonies of the city. According to sources, the sanitation work in Bapu Dham Colony and the Transport Area, Housing Board Colony in Khudda Lahora, Colony No 5, Nehru Colony and Pandit Colony will be privatised. In fact, the proposal had already been passed by the House of the corporation. The tenders for the privatisation had been invited and 12 contractors and private parties submitted their offers, the sources said, adding that the comparative statements of the rates quoted by the agencies had been prepared and were in the process of being finalised. Since the whole work involved financial implications, the contracts will be cleared by the Finance and Contract Committee of the civic body, the sources informed. Explaining the rationale behind the privatisation of the sanitation in more areas of the city, officials highlighted that this was primarily being done on account of the shortage of staff with the office of the Medical Officer of Health (MOH) of the civic body. With hardly any increase in the staff strength since 1987, privatisation had become inevitable. The civic body, the sources said, had about 1,600 sweepers, including daily-wagers, on its roll. Since the population of the city had increased substantially since 1987 with the development of certain southern sectors and mushrooming of slums and labour colonies, the existing staff was insufficient for the whole population which had already crossed the nine-lakh mark. And this coupled with increasing awareness about sanitation among the population and the increase in horticulture waste and stray cattle had put additional pressure on the existing staff. As the civic body had only 14 inspectors to supervise the work as against the requirement of over 30 inspectors, the sanitation work was hampered. If only two sweepers were employed for a population of 1000, then over 1,800 sweepers were required. And if one-third of the reserve sweepers were added to this figure, then the requirement would jump up to over 2,400. Meanwhile, in the wake of the reported ban on fresh recruitments, it is learnt that the the civic body was regularising the daily-wage employees who had put in 240 days of work in a year so that the sanitation work did not suffer. It may be recalled that the sanitation work in the four villages incorporated in civic body — Attawa, Badheri, Buterla and Burail — and their adjoining Sectors, 41,42 and 45 had already been privatised. Besides this, the
sanitation work in Indira Colony and the Modern Housing
Complex, both in Mani Majra, Shivalik Enclave, Mauli
Jagran Colony and Ram Darbar Colony had also been
privatised. Dadu Majra Colony, Maloya Colony and the Milk
Colony, Dhanas, are the other areas where the sanitation
has also been privatised. |
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North Western
Circle is best The Director of the office, Brig K.S. Khatri, gave away prizes to the winners of the Hindi typing, shabad gyan, creative writing and writing competition contests. In Hindi typing, the first prize was given to Ms Shalini Nagi. The second and the third prizes went to Mr Ajit Kumar Sharma and Mr Gopal Krishan. Ms Shalini Nagi and Mr Kanhya Singh were given the first and second prizes in the shabad gyan contest. While Ms Nirmala Pawar bagged the third prize, Mr Shamsher Singh was given the consolation prize. In creative writing, Mr Anil Kumar Dogra and Ms Nirmala Pawar bagged the first and the second prizes. Mr Krishan Lal won the third prize. The writing competition saw Mr Dev Naryan winning the first prize. Mr Phool Singh and Mr Alam Singh were presented with the second and the third prizes, respectively. As part of the "Hindi mass" being organised by the zonal office of the State Bank of India, a letter writing competition was organised. Mr Tara Chand, Mr Parveen Goyal and Mr N.K. Talwar, won the first, second and the third prizes, respectively. Environment Week concludes Dr C.L. Narang, Director of the NSS of Panjab University, who was the chief guest, said too much of industrialisation had become a threat. It was the responsibility of the students and teachers to protect the environment. Dr Satish Narula, local representative of PAU, Ludhiana, who delivered a guest lecture on gardening problems on this occasion, said nothing could be more dangerous for plants than exposing their roots, particularly in case of roses. Encroachments removed The work was supervised by Mr Amarjit Singh Dhindsa, SDM, municipal officers and the police. According to Mr Dhindsa, all temporary encroachments in markets by traders have been removed and sign-boards and boardings have also been removed. He said the campaign would continue for a few more days. Zebra crossings and school signs had been painted and no parking zones and no overtaking zones had been selected and boards about these had been installed. He said anybody violating these directions would be dealt with according to law. Counselling for B.Ed course According to Dr Sudesh
Gakkhar, co-ordinator for B.Ed admissions, admissions
will be made to the 600 vacant seats in the reserved
category, both in Punjab and Chandigarh colleges.
However, the seats which still remain vacant will be
declared open in the general category by the evening. |
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