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Two run over by train near Sec 47
Chandigarh, December 30 The victims have been identified as Kishan Lal and Jaspreet Singh. They were in their mid-twenties and originally hailed from Gonda district in Uttar Pradesh. They were working with a Mohali -based private company. The accident took place at around 9.30 am and the train dragged one of the victims to a distance of about 30 metre. The body of Kishan Lal was chopped off and was cut into two pieces. They were found lying at different places. The body of Jaspreet was recovered from a dusty path between the train track and the nearby fields. He died of serious head injury. However, there was no other injury mark on his body. The bodies kept on lying on the track for over three hours and the police initially faced difficulty in identifying the youths. They recovered a photograph of one of the victims with his name written overleaf, but the identities were only confirmed after the police contacted their employer. According to eyewitnesses, both victims were seen quarrelling on the track before the mishap. Even though the train driver honked repeatedly and also applied brakes, they failed to move out of the track and ultimately got hit by the approaching train. The train halted at some distance away after the spot. A number of lottery tickets were found scattered on the track. Besides this, a bag containing clothes was also found there. However, the Government Railway Police (GRP) believed that it was an accident as the victim’s employer told the investigating officials that both were good friends and had cordial relations with each other. The investigating officers (IO) of the case, Assistant Sub-Inspector Balkar Singh, said the employer told them that the duo sought permission from her to go for a pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi a few days ago. A colleague of the victims added that they had left their accommodation in Ram Darbar at around 6.30 am. IO Balkar Singh further added that families of the victims had been informed about the accident and they were on their way to the city. Meanwhile, the bodies were kept in the GRP police post near the railway station.
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Poll awakens ‘sleeping’ PU Senators
Chandigarh, December 30 Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, though a nominated member of the Panjab University Senate for the past two years, has never attended even a single meeting of the senate. However, he arrived at the university today to cast his vote in the syndicate elections. Accompanied by supporters and a cavalcade of over 30 cars, Mr Badal’s arrival caused quite a sensation. He left immediately after casting his vote. Sources added that he had come to the university to support Mr Dharinder Tayal, the candidate backed by the BJP. Since the contest was expected to be close, special efforts were made by contenders in the medical science faculty to get their supporters to come in and vote. Octogenarian former Member Parliament, Lala Lajpat Rai, arrived in the university from Ludhiana accompanied by doctors. The lift in the Administrative Block was specially made functional for Lalaji, who supported by other senators, managed to cast his vote. Mr Badal was not the only MP to have cast his vote. Mr Avinash Rai Khanna, MP and President of the BJP in Punjab, also cast his vote during the elections in the Languages and Combined Faculty. Former MP, Mr Satyapal Jain, who leads the “Rotation Group’, was present throughout the day at the venue. Interestingly, Ropar MLA, Rana K.P. Singh, also came to cast his vote. He too has never attended any meeting of the senate. While ‘sleeping’ members of the senate made their presence felt, some of the important members were conspicuous by their absence. The absence of three members of the ‘Rotation group’, said to be the group losing two seats to the GK Chatrath group, was very conspicous. On the other hand, the absence of Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal seemed to have titled the balance further in favour of the ‘Rotation Group’. The close competition between Mr Ashok Goel and Dr Prithpal Singh Kapoor provided a nail-biting end to the rather staid elections. Mr Ashok Goel, considered to be a member of the GK Chatrath group managed to get 33 votes out of the total 73 votes that were cast, sending shock waves among core members of the Rotation Group. Though the candidate of the Rotation Group won with 39 votes, sources added that this pointed towards the fact that the group was indicating signs of break-up.
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PU syndicate poll a one-sided affair
Chandigarh, December 30 Normally a low-key affair between academics, today’s elections, however, attracted senior politicians, including Members of Parliament Sukhbir Singh Badal and Avinash Rai Khanna, MLA from Ropar, Rana K.P Singh and former Members, Parliament, Lala Lajpat Rai and Satya Pal Jain to the floor of the senate hall for voting. Conspicuous by his absence was Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, Union Minister of State and MP Chandigarh, the price of which his group led by Mr Gopal Krishan Chatrath paid. The three syndicate members from the arts faculty elected unopposed include Mr Mukesh Arora, Mr Jagpal Singh and Mrs Devi Sirohi. The three syndicate members from the science faculty elected unopposed include Mr Dinesh Talwar, Mr CL Duggal and Mr Ganesh Dutt Bhardwaj. Voting took place for election of two members of the syndicate from the languages faculty. Ms Tejinder Kaur and Mr Harpreet Singh Dua were declared elected when they got 18 and 16 votes, respectively, as opposed to Mr SS Hundal and Mr RN Sharma who got 12 and 11 votes, respectively. Ropar MLA Rana KP Singh came to cast his vote in this faculty. Voting also took place for electing syndicate members from the medical science faculty. Veteran lawyer and PU Senator Mr Gopal Krishan Chatrath and his group member Mr Jarnail Singh got 17 votes each. Mr Ravinder Kumar and Mr Dharinder Tayal, both from the Rotation Group, got 15 and 14 votes each. Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal accompanied by his supporters who arrived in the university in a cavalcade of cars and jeeps, too cast his vote in this faculty. Mr Manoj Kumar and Mr JC Bansal were elected unopposed as members of the syndicate from the Law faculty. Mr AK Sahajpal and Mr Satish Sharma were elected to the syndicate unopposed from the teaching combined faculty. A stiff contest took place for the lone seat to the syndicate from among the combined non-teaching faculty. Mr Prithipal Singh Kapoor, a former Prof Vice-Chancellor Guru Nanak Dev University, was declared elected with 39 votes. He defeated Mr Ashok Goel who managed to rustle up 33 votes from among a senate that was otherwise extremely lopsided in favour of the Rotation Group. Members of the Senate today elected 15 representatives to the Syndicate, from six different faculties. The term of these syndics begins on January 1, 2007 and would end on December 31, 2007. None of the outgoing members of the syndicate were re-elected to the new syndicate. Prof KK Talwar, Director, PGI, was elected unopposed as the Dean, Medical Sciences, while Dr Sanjiv Handa of the PGI was elected as the secretary of the faculty. Mr GC Garg, a lawyer at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, was elected unopposed as Dean of the Law faculty while Prof Shashi Sharma will be the secretary. Mr Kehar Singh was elected unopposed as Dean, Dairying Animal Husbandry and Agriculture. Mr Kamajit Singh will be the Secretary of the faculty.
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Nithari murder case: family rallies around Mohinder
Chandigarh, December 30 Responding to repeated media queries at his Sector 27 residence, Mr Karandeep Singh, son of Mohinder Singh, asserted that it was improbable that his father could be involved in such a heinous crime. “I have no knowledge about such an incident”, he added. Meanwhile, mediapersons continued to throng the residence of Mohinder Singh. His son also informed that the local police had searched their residence till wee hours today and the family was cooperating with the police officials. Police sources said while the main investigation was centred around Noida, the police has been keeping a watch on the house. UT Senior Superintendent of Police Gaurav Yadav said the Noida Police had not formally approached the local police about the case for any help. The Noida Police has also arrested Surinder Singh, a servant of Mohinder Singh, who lives in a house owned by Mohinder Singh in Nithari village for sexually abusing children and then killing them.
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Rs 1 lakh stolen from parked car
Panchkula, December 30 After withdrawing the money, he made a brief halt at the Punjab National Bank in Chandimandir, on the Panchkula-Kalka highway. When he returned to his Alto (HR OU1 0011), he found that the window glass had been smashed and the briefcase containing the cash was missing. An eyewitness in the case, a handicapped boy from Saket Hospital, said he saw a man break open the car window and take out something from the car. The man, then, sat in a white car parked on the road and drove away. The incident took place around 12.30 pm. The police reached the spot and was investigating the matter.
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What is the mega mart concept? The idea is to provide the customer all products ranging from soaps to clothes under one roof. We have a whole range of products which are produced and retailed by at the mega marts. What is the target of the company for this financial year? We are hoping of a turnover of Rs 600 crore. We are also planning to open more stores in Punjab and Chandigarh before this year closes in March. While we plan to expand in Haryana as well, we already have two stores in Gurgaon and Hisar. How is the opening of more mega marts beneficial for the consumer? We essentially cater to the masses who come from the middle class. They are our target audience and mega marts provide products at affordable rates. — G.G.
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Produce evidence or face defamation cases: INLD tells BJP
Panchkula, December 30 In a press conference, seven of the nine councillors, led by Vikas Chaudhary, said that the BJP leader should produce evidence to substantiate his claims that they had received a bribe of Rs 2 lakh against the promised Rs 4 lakh. "We did not support the candidature of Manveer Gill for money. We had been directed by the party high command to support Gill in the House," Mr Vikas Chaudhary said. Mr Sunil Talwar, Councillor, Ward No 14, said that the BJP should prove its allegations or face defamation cases against Mr Ravinder Sehgal. "We are also planning to sit on dharna outside the BJP office if they do not produce the required proof," Mr Amar Singh Saini, a councillor of Ward No 31 said. The councillors also maintained that a certain BJP councillor was keen on becoming Vice-President. "We rejected his offer. Therefore, he has retaliated by pointing his guns on us," they opined.
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Residents opt for a quite evening on New Year’s Eve
Chandigarh, December 30 It’s a big no to the outrageously expensive bashes being organised across the city, and go in for private parties with a limited get together. “I have decided not to ring in the New Year amongst a crowd of unruly strangers. I would rather be with my loved ones and watch the dawn of a new year,” says Rakesh Sharma, a senior official in Tata Indicom and his lawyer wife, Monica Sharma. The New Year parties in the city not only attract the residents , but also people from Punjab and Haryana. All the parties are generally choc-a-bloc and inspite of the presence of bouncers many a ugly scenes are witnessed there. Since these parties are a major money raking exercise for the hotels, discotheques and pubs , with couple entry passes ranging from Rs 1500- Rs 6500 - the passes are sold without keeping in mind the capacity of the party hall. Says Anup Sharma, a businessman in Sector 21, “Last year, we had a bad experience at one of the New Year bashes in a top hotel. The complimentary snacks ran out of stock; there were drunken brawls; and, many guests could not fit in the hall. So, this year I have organized a small party at my own house to celebrate New Year in peace, with my family and friends”.
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Marla house owners, administration at loggerheads
Chandigarh, December 30 At a meeting here, the Chandigarh Marlas/Flats Houses Residents’ Welfare Association came down heavily on the administration for its "repressive" policies aimed at harassing marla house owners in the city. Mr Surinder Pal Chauhan, President of the association, claimed that it was decided at the first meeting of the Administrator's Advisory Council on January 31, 2005, not to execute the demolition and to serve resumption notices till recommendations of the committee on building bylaws were finalised, but that was not followed. It was also observed that there was a definite need for liberal amendments to building bylaws as over 99% of all of houses in Chandigarh had been altered and piecemeal amendments can not solve the problem. The association members also said that even the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, in one of its reports on administration of UTs, favoured liberal amendments in the existing bylaws. "The situation that has arisen in Chandigarh is more or less similar to that of Delhi in the recent past," they said. To avoid such a situation in Chandigarh, the committee feels that the government should bring about a practical solution to the problem by looking again into the building bylaws of Chandigarh, which are quite old, the committee feels. Official sources, on the other hand, claim that notices were being issued and demolitions were being carried out only on those houses which encroached upon public land. Moreover, owners who had been served noticed had not bothered to give a reply, thus necessitating the demolition drives.
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Protest against cops’ ‘inefficiency’
Panchkula, December 30 Nearly 100 persons gathered at the Court Complex to pay their challans and recover their documents from the court. However, much to their surprise, they found nobody at the counter for accepting the challans and returning the documents of vehicles. "We had been given this date by the police to get back our documents. However, on coming here, we found that there were many others like us who had come to pay up their challans but nobody was here to attend to us," Mr Subhash Sharma, a resident, said. Protesting against the "careless attitude" of the police and for wasting his time, an angry Jaswant Singh said he had left work to pay his challan and get his papers back. "This only shows that the police does not know what it is doing. Their strategy in dealing with violations is very erratic. There are hardly any cops on the road. They only get together to challan us," he added. There were people from all age groups waiting at the Court Complex to take back their documents. However, despite approaching the people present on the premises as well as the police, they went back empty-handed. They have been asked to return when the court reopens after the winter break.
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UT police to obtain ISO certification
Chandigarh, December 30 Highly placed sources in the Chandigarh Police said the consultancy work for obtaining the certificate for CRU and PWS will start on January 2, 2007. Similarly, in order to give a new face to the force, senior officials have decided to standardise the functioning of all the police stations. They have decided to obtain ISO 9001 certification for the eleven police stations of the city. The police has engaged the National Productivity Council (NPC), an expert organisation functioning in the Ministry of Industry, Government of India, to provide the required consultancy services. NPC officials will frame the format master, quality manual and work instructions manual. The CRU deals with redressal of community grievances, monitoring door-to-door visits, servant verification, and coordinates with the work of public windows. The PWS provides services like passport verification, receipts of complaints, arms licenses, and other such verifications. UT Senior Superintendent of Police, Mr Gaurav Yadav, said the ground work is almost complete. The project will cost the police about Rs 5 lakh. The consultancy fee of about Rs 4 lakh has already been paid to the NPC. He added the ISO certification will enable transparency in the organisations.
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CCTV cameras to monitor traffic in Mohali: Dhillon
Mohali, December 30 The
SSP added that 40 points in the town had been marked to seal the town
whenever the need arose. Out of these, 20 points are linked to other
states and the Union Territory. Every officer from the rank of SSP to
SHO will be involved in the plan and deployed at the fixed nakas.
Vehicles, wireless sets and two weapons will be provided at each naka,
apart from other required equipment. He said the “sealing” plan was
ready and a drill will be carried out by December 31. Mr Dhillon
further said that he would like to form a committee; as he had done
earlier in Sangrur; of representatives of welfare bodies, heads of
educational institutions, representatives of NGOs and important retired
persons, to look into various aspects of police functioning.
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FPAI conducts workshop on importance of girl child
Panchkula, December 30 Mr Manoj Kumar Garg, from the FPAI Panchkula branch, spoke about the activities, strategies adopted, interventions, difficulties and the impact of the organisation under the girl child project that is being run and maintained by it. He further briefed the gathering on various socio-economic issues and health implications of the sex-ratio. He suggested that many concerns related to female foeticide require to be expressed together. He added that a holistic and integrated approach is desirable instead of fragmented and isolated action. Mr G.L. Singal, Assistant State Drug Controller, briefed the participants on the implementation of the PNDT Act in Haryana and spoke about unregistered prenatal diagnostic centres that have been raided by the Haryana Government. He said that violation of the Act will lead to a fine of Rs 50,000 to 1 lakh and imprisonment of three to five years. The film "Atmjaa", based on the prevention of female foeticide was also shown.
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Doctor denies charges of negligence
Chandigarh, December 30 He said side-viewing endoscopy (not surgery) of the patients was done by himself with the assistance of Dr Arun Prasad, another doctor at the centre. “I did not wait in the room toward the end of the procedure and the patient was shifted out by nurses under the supervision of Dr Arun Prasad, a GI doctor of repute, as per the routine,” he claimed. He added that the patient did not suffer any harm or complication.
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Is your masala packet worm-free? Check out
Chandigarh, December 30 On opening the packet, she found worms in the packet. Speaking to The Chandigarh Tribune here today, Ms Sharma alleged that it happened a few days ago when she had bought a similar packet of the same company and found worms floating on the curry. As a precautionary measure when she bought the packet for the second time, she dissolved the contents of the packet in water and to her utter surprise she discovered worms come alive on the surface. The packet has August 2006 as the manufacturing month and July 2007 as the expiry month.
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Kharar reports maximum road accidents
Mohali, December 30 According to figures put forward by the police, the number of deaths in Kurali, Zirakpur, Dera Bassi and Lalru was 17, 30, 25 and 40, respectively. The number of persons injured in these towns was 35, 59, 14, and 60, respectively. The total number of deaths in these six towns- Mohali, Kharar, Kurali, Zirakpur, Dera Bassi and Lalru- was 193 during this period.
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Lineman electrocuted
Panchkula, December 30 Taking a serious view of the incident, the Electricity Board authorities have ordered an inquiry into the incident. The officials assert that power supply to the transformer had been switched off for carrying out the necessary repair work. In all probability, power from a generator switched on by a resident resulted in the mishap. Giving details, the sources added that the lineman had gone to rectify the problem of low voltage faced by the residents of Azad Colony since a couple of days. Just as he was getting down after putting back a conductor, he found another one that required replacement. However, in the process he was electrocuted.
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Shiv Gujral wins Santro in lucky draw
Chandigarh, December 30
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Awareness camp
Chandigarh, December 30
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Mathoda is acting IT chief
Chandigarh, December 30 Mr Mathoda, who has been working as the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax in Shimla, will replace Ms S.K. Aulakh, Chief Commissioner, who will retire from the post on superannuation on December 31. Earlier, Mr Mathoda had worked as the Commissioner of Income Tax here.
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3 arrested for selling helmets without ISI mark
Chandigarh, December 30 Vehicles Stolen
Mr Manwinder Singh of Mani Majra lodged a complaint with the police alleging that his Pulsar motorcycle (CH-03-S-1715), was stolen by Kishangarh resident, Mr Prem Singh, from near Mohalla Dehra Sahib Majra at around 7 pm on Wednesday evening. In another incident, Mr A. K. Sangar complained that his scooter (CH-01-S-8383) was stolen from behind the showrooms in Sector 35 on December 23. Two separate cases have been registered.
Theft
Mr Tarlok Singh of Sector 15 reported to the police that the battery of his inverter was stolen from his residence on Wednesday evening. A case of theft has been registered in the Sector 11 police station in this regard.
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Brig Jaswal case: Police fails to complete probe
Chandigarh, December 30 The UT police had entrusted the inquiry of the matter to DSP, Mr Davinder Thakur, and asked him to submit his report within two days. The complaint was lodged with the police on December 26. The police said the inquiry will be completed next week as it had to cross-examine statements recorded by the complainant and other persons.
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Tricity to become new business hub
Chandigarh, December 30 The fact that the tricity is seen as a perfect place to test waters for expanding their business in North India will help in the expansion of business activity here. Because of its cosmopolitan image and individuals with high disposable incomes, most business houses will continue to be attracted towards Chandigarh. The real estate business here will continue to bloom with each and every realtor worth his name in the country, as also foreign realtors, eyeing for space in the tri-cities and its periphery. Even Tata’s and Birla’s have been looking for consolidated chunks of land in this region to start their housing projects. Mohali’s realty dreams will continue to soar, albeit these would come to a grinding halt in the first quarter of the year because of the Punjab Assembly Elections. This, irrespective of the fact that the Chandigarh periphery falling in Punjab hardly has any consolidated land left. This means that the surrounding areas of Haryana will see a lot of real estate activity, especially with Sabeer Bhatia promoted Nanocity taking off in Raipur Rani. Interestingly, though there would be a lot of development in real estate sector, the sky-high property prices in the region will come down. With supply far exceeding demand of flats/ houses, the realtors will not be able to hold on to the present prices and will have to bring down prices to get returns on their investments. Giving stiff competition to Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park, Panchkula Technology Park, too, will finally see the light of day. Offering a higher Floor Area Ratio (FAR) and The coming year will also see all big agri-retail chains in the country making an entry in the tri-city. Though ITC has already set up a shop in the city with Choupal Fresh, other agri retail majors like Reliance Fresh, Godrej Agrovet’s Nature’s Basket, and Subhiksha are all set to offer the choicest and high- quality fruits and vegetables in the air- conditioned and clean environs of a showroom, without causing a dent on your household budget. If the beginning of the year will see a change in the food retail sector, the later half of the year will see a change in the consumer retail also. The shopping malls cum multiplexes in Panchkula are expected to become operational by the end of next year. Joining Louis Vuitton and Tommy
Hilfiger- who have set up shop in the city, many other international fashion houses could set base in these malls. The neighbourhood retail - agri and consumer retail would have to face stiff competition as the upwardly mobile population would shift towards the hi-end retail stores. Joining Louis Vuitton and Tommy
Hilfiger- who have set up shop in the city, many other international fashion houses could set base in these malls. The flip side, however, will be that the manufacturing sector in the tri city will get a beating as more and more industrial units use the conversion policy and shift to the retail sector. |
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