2 booked for hacking facebook account

Chandigarh, March 23
The UT police has booked two residents of Karnal for hacking the facebook account of a person and posting obscene comments and pictures on it. Sahil Pandhir and Neeraj Pandhir, both residents of Old Housing Board Colony, Karnal (Haryana), have been booked for hacking the account of the complainant’s son and posting obscene comments of her daughter on it.
A case under Section 66 of the Information Technology Act has been registered in the police station of Sector 17.
The hacking came to light when the brother of the woman in Sector 22 started receiving dirty phone calls and then noticed comments of facebook visitors on his account.
Neeraj Pandhir is the husband of the woman.
The police said a matrimonial dispute between Neeraj and his wife was already pending with the crime against women cell (CAW) of the Chandigarh police. Though Neeraj is pursuing his engineering in a private institute at Rohtak, co-accused Neeraj is studying in Chandigarh. Police sources said the suspects had hacked the his brother-in-law’s facebook account from their computer in Rohtak. 

PU Syndicate Meeting

Chandigarh, March 23
After a series of amicable meetings, Saturday Syndicate is expected to be stormy, especially, for the Vice-Chancellor (VC) who seems to have run into trouble with the Chatrath Group over with the faculty change issue after their letter to VC, 11 senators of the GK Chatrath group have approached Chancellor Hamid Ansari accusing the Vice-Chancellor, RC Sobti, of disrupting the democratic set up of the PU Senate.
Accusing Sobti of actively participating in Senate politics by intentionally helping a particular group, the senators, in their letter, have claimed that the permission to change faculty is against all the norms and that of PU calendar.
“The VC has no authority to grant any such permissions and the unlawful act is aimed to help handful of people in forthcoming Senate elections. How can we justify people changing their faculties after four years in house and selecting syndicate? It has never happened before and arbitrary attitude of RC Sobti is disrupting democratic set up of academic bodies,” reads the letter, which seeks immediate intervention of Chancellor.
In addition to the issue of the university giving two hoots to propriety and going ahead with recruitments despite search committee being framed for the new VC will also rock the house. While the VC claims to be continuing with recruitment as per directives of last syndicate a majority of syndicate members refuse to take it.
“He should have done only urgent and need based appointments but going by the current trend it appears that we are trying to adjust as many people as we can before change of power which is unethical. Not only the VC search panel has been declared but also the Senate election has been scheduled, so any fresh appointment is against propriety. We can understand one or two appointments but hundreds of screenings is unacceptable,” said a syndic.
Interestingly, the skeletons will also tumble out of cupboards with syndics ready to take up the issue of deteriorating condition of the HSJ Dental College. In its latest letter, Dental Council of India has threatened to disaffiliate the PU’s BDS course in a view of ailing infrastructure and staff crunch. Interestingly, the PU had recently bypassed syndicate and senate and proposed to the council allowing it to start the MDS; the council however, felt that organisation is not fit to even have the BDS course.
“We granted them recognition when former Director Dr Guaba was in his exit mode. They proposed to have the MDS but our visits to the college have revealed that they are currently not even fit to have the BDS course. The number of the OPD patients has dropped from 400 to 70 patients everyday. There are no proper equipments and skilled teachers even the current head is not from the subject. We have given the PU three months time to work out the things failing which we will have to disaffiliate its course,” said a member of the Dental Council of India.

Navratra Fair: 80,000 throng Mansa Devi Temple

Panchkula, March 23
More than 80,000 devotees paid obeisance at the Sri Mata Mansa Devi Shrine, near here, on the first day of the ‘Chaitra Navratra’ festival that began with traditional fervour today.

A devotee crawls towards the temple

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda accompanied by his wife Ashaperformed a yajna and paid obeisance at the holy Shri Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Complex.
Principal secretary to Chief Minister Chattar Singh, political adviser to the Chief Minister Prof Virender Singh, principal, OSD, MS Chopra, MLAs DK Bansal and Zile Ram Sharma, Deputy Commissioner-cum-Chief Administrator, Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board, Panchkula, Ashima Brar, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Manish Chaudhary and City Magistrate Ashwani Malik also participated in the yajna.
The shrine is one of the 51 shakti peeths mentioned in the ‘Tantra Chudamani’ and it is believed that the forehead of Sati fell at this place. The sacred temple was got constructed by Maharaja Gopal Singh, son of King of Mani Majra Garib Das years ago.
Meanwhile, the shrine board has received cash offerings of Rs 16.15 lakh, besides 10 and 163 items of gold and silver, respectively. However, no foreign currency was received on the first day.
DP Dattana, chief executive officer (CEO), Shri Mata Devi Shrine Board, said special arrangements were made to deal with huge rush of devotees. A team of doctors was also deployed to deal with any emergency.

BOOTH ALLOTMENT ROW

Allottees seek disclosure of inquiry report

Chandigarh, March 23
Using the RTI as a tool to delay the inquiry proceedings in the infamous booth allotment scam, 65 allottees, instead of filing their reply to the notices issued by the UT administration, have filed RTI applications seeking disclosure of the present status of the probe.
The allottees have told the administration that they would file their reply only after receiving their replies.
After sitting over the inquiry report, which had rocked the city, the UT Administration in November last had termed the report prepared by former UT Additional Deputy Commissioner PS Shergill as incomplete and had issued directions to the Deputy Commissioner for a complete probe.
After the directions from the UT Administration, the Estate Office in January, this year, had issued notices to 88 booth allottees and had asked them to file their replies.
Show-cause notices were issued, as there were serious allegations against these allottees in the inquiry report.
Sources said records of all 88 beneficiaries who were allotted the booths were checked thoroughly and then matched with the points of contentions raised in the inquiry report.
A senior official of the UT Administration said out of 88 beneficiaries, 65 allottees had not filed their reply to the notices but submitted RTI queries.
In his approximately 1,000-page report, Shergill had pointed to the involvement of top politicians and senior officials, including city MP and Union Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, former UT Adviser Pradip Mehra, former Deputy Commissioner RK Rao and former Mayor Pardeep Chhabra, among others.
The report had stated that the financial dimensions of the fraudulent allotment ran into crores, including money paid to politicians, police officials and officials of the estate office.
The Estate Office, further strengthening the claims of illegal allottees, had done several bogus surveys and inspections, the report had stated.

City Admn renews rent lease of 16 showrooms

Chandigarh, March 23
After the Chandigarh Administration shelved its proposal to auction prime commercial property in Sector 17, the UT Estate Office has extended the rent lease of its 16 showrooms in Sector 17-E for another five years at a nominal amount of Rs 54,000 per month.
The rent hiked from the previous Rs 39,000 per month is still comparatively less than the rent of around Rs 7 lakh charged for renting out a private showroom in the commercial centre. The rent has been hiked under a working formula that allows the Estate Office to increase the rent by 15 per cent after every five years.
Assistant Estate Officer Rahul Gupta said the lease had recently been extended as per the laid down rules.
Sources said going by the market rentals, the administration was losing lakhs of rupees every year. Collecting the lease money from the allottees of showrooms and booths in the commercial centre was another point of concern for the Estate Office.
Besides, about 50 built-up showrooms and booths in the bridge market were given on lease in early seventies to attract shopkeepers. “At that time the city was being developed and there was need to set up business activity. The showrooms and booths had been given on lease for five years,” said a senior official.
From a few hundreds, the lease money was increased by the Estate Office to Rs 14,000 per month in 1992 and ultimately to the present rent. In the past, all steps by the Administration to realise the increased lease money was met by strong opposition by the shopkeepers.
Acting on a request of the allottees about five years ago, the Estate Office made a proposal to transfer the properties in the name of the allottees for about Rs 2 crore for a showroom. The shopkeepers refused to accept the price, stating that it was too high. They demanded some concession as they were the original allottees and had played a key role in the development of the sector.
The issue raised its head once again when the ground floor of a showroom (SCO 51, Sector 17) was auctioned for about Rs 5 crore. “The total auction price of all three floors, if auctioned, works out to be about Rs 10 crore,” said a senior official in the Estate Office. After the auction, the Estate Office cannot sell any property below the auctioned price. The sources said some of the allottees had either sub-letted their premises or had undertaken major building bylaw violations in the shops.

Over 200 selected in mega job fair in Jaulan Kalan

Dera Bassi, March 23
An impressive mega job fair was organised by the Swami Parmanand Group of Colleges, Jaulan Kalan (Lalru), wherein more than 1000 engineering, management and diploma final year students from 30 colleges of Punjab and Haryana participated. 19 companies took part in the selection and placement process.
Prominent among the companies which participated in the fair were Godrej, Videocon, JCBL, MSL, Dibbon, HCL, Spanco, Future Edge, Allena automobiles, Intelligence Tech, and Empee Group. 125 students of the Swami Parmanand Group of colleges and 100 students from other colleges were recruited for different posts at handsome packages by the companies.
JCBL and MSL conducted a written test and GD round in the campus before shortlisting them for HR and technical rounds. Similarly, Dibbon Group conducted an online test in the campus and have called short listed students for HR round.
Inderjeet Bajaj, chairman, Swami Parmanand Group of Colleges, thanked the participating companies and congratulated the selected students, wishing them a bright future. He assured that such placement drives would continue in future.

Institute organises tech fest
Sri Sukhmani Institute of Engineering and Technology, Dera Bassi, has organised a technical fest in the premises of institute. More than 30 activities, like paper presentation, extempore, sudoku, debate, hobby exhibition, ad-mad, online gaming, robotics, nail art, rangoli , debate , group discussion and face paint were held during the event.
SDM, Dera Bassi, Rajesh Tripathi was the chief guest for the occasion. In the valedictory function, Dr GN Verma, principal SSIET, welcomed the chief guest. Rajesh Tripathi gave away the certificates and awarded prizes to the winners in various competitions.
Amit Sharma, Ankush Rana, Ashish Rana, Manoj Kumar, Mayank Rawat, Narendra Singh, from mechanical stream, won the first position for their project ‘Automatic Drilling Machine on a Circular track’. The winning team from the electrical stream comprised of Harsh kumar, Mukesh kumar, Atul kumar, Abhishek Kumar, Harinder Singh, and Neha Sharma, and were awarded for their project ‘Smart traffic light control system’. The first prize from the computer science stream was bagged by the team of Gurjeet Singh, Karamdeep Singh, and Narinder Kumar for their project ‘Huffman Compression Technique’.
Chief guest congratulated the winners and praised the efforts of faculty members and student organizers for arranging such a nice event. He also appreciated the Innovative methods used in various Projects designed and displayed by the students of various streams.
Prof Avtar Singh , exhorted all the participants and said that winning in the competition is no doubt important but above all lies the spirit to accept the result in cheerful manner. He also said in his speech that participation in such activities helps in boosting the morale and also teaches the lesson of accepting the challenges. 

Liquor to remain cheaper in chandigarh

Chandigarh/Mohali, March 23
Chandigarh would continue to be favourite with boozers, as according to the proposed Excise Policy 2012-2013 of the UT, liquor in the city will remain cheaper than that sold in Mohali.
Though the UT is yet to come out with its new excise policy, Punjab’s decision to increase the excise duty by 15 per cent and increase the quota of liquor would see bacchus lovers from the region heading towards the city.
The difference in the liquor prices at the two cities, varying between 10 per cent and 20 per cent, would remain despite the UT proposing to generate more revenue from the sale of liquor vends by basing the last year’s highest quoted price of each vend as the base licence fee of the respective vend. Last year, at least three vends on the outskirts of the UT had fetched over Rs 2 crore as licence fee.
By doing so, the department would do away with the prevailing system of fixing a uniform licence fee. The new Excise Policy of the UT is expected to be out next month.
On the other hand, the Punjab Excise and Taxation Department, in its new policy 2012-2013, has announced to continue with the prevailing system of draw of lots. For the draw of lots to be held on March 28, the excise department had formed 25 groups with maximum concentration of vends along the Punjab border with the UT.
UT Finance Secretary VK Singh said various issues related to the new excise policy were today discussed at a meeting. “Nothing has been finalised yet,” he said.
“The increase in the licence fee will certainly have an effect on the liquor prices but it will still be cheaper than liquor sold in Mohali as the Punjab Excise and Taxation Department has not only increased the excise duty, but has also increased the liquor quota,” said a senior official.
Though the UT officials are tight-lipped on the excise policy 2012-13, it is believed that the proposed move to substantially increase the licence fee would fetch a much higher revenue than the last year’s projected revenue of Rs 127 crore. The exact tax structure would be known once the UT comes out with excise duty. Sources reveal that the department was also seriously considering to lower the fixed liquor quota from the existing 27 lakh liquor cartons, as the traders had not been able to lift 13 lakh cartons.
With over a month still left for the start of the new policy (May 2012), the traders had yet to lift around 9 lakh cartons. The Punjab excise officials said after fixing the quota, smuggling of liquor from the UT had come down.
To further curb the menace, Punjab had doubled the fines under the excise laws. Regular checks on the border had also been proposed by Punjab. By rough estimates, the price of popular brands of the IMFL were expected to increase by around Rs 15 per bottle, a bottle of beer is expected to cost around Rs 60. On the other hand, the price of IMFL would increase by anything between Rs 30 and Rs 50 per bottle while a bottle of beer would cost around Rs 70 per bottle.
No opinion on social aspect
A few years ago, former Adviser to the UT Administrator Lalit Sharma had constituted a committee of experts from the police, health and social organisations to analyse various aspects of the liquor policy. Issues like location of vends at spots prone to road accidents and public nuisance were discussed. But this year, no such public opinion has been sought by the UT.

World Water Day: What’s your water footprint?

Did you know it takes about 1,500 litres of water to produce one kilogram of wheat, and 10 times that amount — 15,000 litres — to produce the same amount of beef?

The United Nations is drawing attention to numbers like these as it marks World Water Day Thursday.

As the world’s population grows, so too does the global demand for food and water. This year’s theme, water and food security, highlights the global need to produce food with less water.

Consider this:

If you take a whole-wheat bun from Saskatchewan, add an all-beef patty from Alberta, and top it off with some slices of Ontario cheese, you’ll end up with a hamburger that required 2,400 litres of water, according to Canada Water Week.

Even though a person needs to drink about 3 litres of water each day, the amount that goes into producing daily food intake worldwide is between 2,000 litres and 5,000 litres. In fact, about 90 per cent of the water a person consumes comes from the food they eat or the water used to make it.

And, the average water footprint for a Canadian is 6,392 litres a day — that’s the total volume of freshwater used to produce the goods and services we consume.

Here’s the down low on H2O:

70 per cent of the world’s water is used for agriculture

1,755 litres of water required to make one sausage.

160 litres of water is used to produce one large banana

230 litres of water are used to make one 200-ml glass of apple juice.

1,040 litres of water are used for 1 kg of potato chips

50 litres of water is used to produce one tomato; about 530 litres to produce 1 kg of tomato ketchup

500 litres of water goes into producing 100 grams of cheese

1,260 litres of water goes into one margherita pizza

120 litres of water is used to make a 125-ml glass of wine

74 litres of water is used to make a 250-ml glass of beer

30 litres of water is required to grow enough tea leaves to make a single cup of tea

30 percent of the food produced worldwide is lost or wasted every year.

50 per cent reduction of food losses and waste at the global level would save 1,350 cubic kms of water a year. (By comparison, the volume of Lake Ontario is 1,640 cubic kms.)

Sources: United Nations, Canada Water Week, Water Footprint Network and One Drop.

Reduce waste, recycle food, reuse water and review menu planning.

Those are some words of advice from Montreal chef François Martin, director of food services at Cirque du Soleil.

“Don’t waste food,” implores the chef, noting that tossing out food items is akin to wasting countless litres of water.

He suggests crumbling up old muffins and re-using them to bake a cake or a fresh batch; recycling leftover Shepherd’s Pie into a soup; and saving the water used to cook pasta and reusing it in soups, bouillons and sauces.

Carefully planning upcoming meals before going grocery shopping should help cut food waste, he says. That is, provided that you don’t end up eating out for dinner.

Martin became aware of his water footprint after getting involved with ONE DROP, a non-governmental organization started by Cirque founder Guy Laliberté that is committed to fighting poverty by supporting access to water.

Martin says he’s become much more conscientious about his water use and food consumption, opting to use more grains and cereals in his recipes because their production requires less water.

To help mark World Water Day, Martin developed low-water recipes for ONE DROP as part of an initiative called, ‘There’s Water on Our Plates.’ The awareness campaign is aimed at making people aware about their food choices and promoting eco-friendly food behaviours.

MSN's 8 green cities of India

CHANDIGARH

This is one city that can be a leading example when it comes to being environmental friendly (and a lot of other things as well, actually) and it very appropriately is known as the Green City of India.

Living up to its reputation of being the greenest city in India, Chandigarh's green cover has increased to 38.5 percent in 2009 from 35.7 percent in 2006 says the latest state forest survey report. From 1991 to 2007, nearly 17,000 trees came under axe in this city but during the same period the city planted over 21 lakh trees.

Under the Greening Chandigarh Action Plan 2009-10 of the forest department, Chandigarh has decided to plant at least 69,581 trees and 48,406 shrubs by March next year. The credit for the increase of trees and forest cover in the city easily goes to eco clubs started in educational institutions.

Most of Chandigarh is covered by dense Banyan and Eucalyptus plantations. Asoka, Cassia, Mulberry and other trees flourish in the forested ecosystem. The city has forests surrounding it which sustain many animal and plant species. Deers, Sambars, Barking Deers, Parrots, Woodpeckers and Peacocks inhabit the protected forests. Sukhna Lake hosts a variety of ducks and geese, and attracts migratory birds from parts of Siberia and Japan in the winter season.

Green Chandigarh Action Plan

UT Admn to plant 2,50,000 saplings in 2012-13

Striving to augment the green cover of the City Beautiful, the UT Administration would plant nearly 2,50,000 saplings in the city during this year under the Greening Chandigarh Action Plan 2012-13.

A timeline for plantation and active contribution of Green Task Force would also be followed like the current fiscal year 2011-12. The City Beautiful with the total area of 114 sq km has a green cover of nearly 26.78 sq km (excluding Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary) that makes the Le Corbusier Ville Verte (green city) Chandigarh, one of the greenest and beauteous cities in the country.

“Persisting in their endeavour to increase and maintain the green cover of Chandigarh, the administration targets to plant 2,50,000 saplings in Chandigarh under the Greening Chandigarh Action Plan 2012-13. During the current fiscal 2011-12, the UT Administration had planted 2,30,000 saplings across the city,” said Santosh Kumar, Chandigarh conservator of Forests-cum-Chief Wildlife Warden while talking to The Pioneer.

“Under the plan, extensive tree plantation drives throughout the year would be carried out by the UT Forest Department in collaboration with the Municipal Corporation, UT Engineering Department, Horticulture Department schools, colleges and various NGOs,” he said.

The Greening Chandigarh Action Plan 2012-13 was released by KK Sharma, Adviser to UT Administrator on Wednesday.

Butterfly Park inaugurated in City Beautiful

CHANDIGARH: The UT forest and wildlife department celebrated the World Forestry Day by inaugurating the Butterfly Park in Sector 26 on Wednesday. The park, however, hardly witnessed any butterflies, despite the department having planted host plants to attract them. The officials said the season is not of butterflies and the windy weather has kept them at bay. The park was inaugurated by UT adviser K K Sharma, who released the 'Greening Chandigarh Action Plan 2012-13' for the coming plantation season. 

It took the forest and wildlife departments nearly two years to develop the fruit nursery to a beautiful Butterfly Park. Sharma exhorted city residents and various NGOs and Eco Clubs to actively participate in the Greening Chandigarh Action Plan, besides the participating government departments like forest department, municipal corporation and engineering department. 

Santosh Kumar, conservator of forests-cum-chief wild life warden, UT, said the Butterfly Park is spread over an area of 7 acres and forest department has planted more than 50 species of host plants and nectar plants to develop it into a congenial habitat for butterflies. Out of 65 butterfly species reported to be found in Chandigarh, around 35 varieties would be seen in this park over a period of time.  

Fake degrees gang busted

Chandigarh, March 20
The special investigation team (SIT) of the UT police today arrested nine members of a gang operating from tricity who were providing fake degrees of universities, fake birth and death certificates, marriage certificates, income tax documents, bank documents as well as ration cards to a large umber of clients against a heavy price. The certificates were being used for obtaining visas, jobs as well as other purposes. The total number of certificates recovered from the gang is over 1,000. In addition, stamps pertaining to the Food and Supplies Department, UT, and marriage certificates were also recovered.

Prominent among the universities and educational institutions whose certificates were forged by the accused include Panjab University, Punjab Technical University, Andhra Pradesh University, Punjab School Education Board, Haryana State Education Board, CBSE and the Delhi Board. In addition, the gang members are also adept in forging certificates of National Trade Certificates, fake passbooks of the State Bank of India, Fake ILETS certificates, voter cards, driving licences as well as income tax returns.

A case under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 120-B of the IPC has been registered.

The police has not ruled out the involvement of employees of the universities in the scam and their role was being investigated.

The police said it had deployed a decoy customer to unearth the gang and the exact number and profile of their clients who purchased the fake degrees from them was being investigated.

Those arrested included Manjit Singh, Amandeep Gora, Sushil Kumar, Surinder Saini, Sandeep Kumar Kokhar, Puran Chand, Varinder Kumar, Raman Sharma and Sushant Saini.

Out of the arrested, Raman and Varinder, Mohali residents are the prime accused. They used to give advertisements through a website and then meet their clients at different places.

DSP Anil Joshi said the forged certificates were being provided at a cost ranging from Rs 60,000 to Rs 80,000 while the accused used to charge Rs 30,000 for other documents.

The police said the clients were mostly from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. In addition, involvement of four companies in the scam had also come to light. These four include I.S. InfoTech, Sector 35, Chandigarh, Way to fly Company, Sector 34-A, Global Communication, Sector 70, Mataur, Sohana in Mohali and Bhogal Communication, also in village Sohana. The accused used to prepare documents while sitting in these cyber centres.

In addition, the SIT has also recovered two laptops, two scanners-cum-printer, one coloured printer, sheets (used for certificates and documents), one cutter (used to cut the papers according to the size of required certificates/degrees) which was used to prepare the fake certificates.

Bogus stamps belonging to superintendent, District and Sessions Judge, Ludhiana, examiner, Copying Branch,

District and Sessions Judge, Ludhiana, Registrar Birth and Death, Registration Unit, Municipal Committee, Hisar, Union Bank of India, Phase-1 Mohali, Krishana Auto Sales, Khajuria, Phagwara, Registrar Death and Birth, Kharar, Executive Magistrate, Karnal, Principal, Guru Nanak Dev Polytechnic, Bidar, Inspector Food and Supply, Assandh, Karnal, State Bank of Patiala, Phase 10, Mohali Assistant. Food and Supplies officer, UT, Chandigarh, Punjab National Bank, Patiala Punjabi University and Kurukshetra University were also recovered.

Mukul Roy sworn in as new railway minister

President Pratibha Patil (L) administers the oath to Mukul Roy as new Railway Minister at the presidential place in New Delhi March 20, 2012. 

New Delhi, 20 March 2012 - Mukul Roy was sworn in as India's new railway minister on Tuesday amid signs the UPA government would bow to the wishes of a petulant coalition partner and initiate a partial fare rollback this week.

Roy, 57, was inducted as a cabinet minister just hours before a debate on the railway budget in the Lok Sabha and replaces his Trinamool Congress colleague Dinesh Trivedi.

Trivedi quit on Sunday after the Trinamool Congress, a key ally in the UPA government, said it was displeased with his decision to raise passenger fares for the first time in eight years.

The unpopular policy step was cheered by investors but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government was seen bending to the wishes of its coalition partner.

"The new Railway Minister … will have the onerous duty of carrying forward the challenging task of modernizing our railway system," Singh told lawmakers in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

Roy, junior minister for shipping in Singh's council of ministers, represents West Bengal in the Rajya Sabha, and had served as the junior minister for railways in 2011.

Illegal mining faces curbs

Administration initiates many steps to check the practice near various river beds

Chandigarh, March 19
Excavating deep into the issue of illegal mining in Panchkula, the district administration has initiated a slew of measures. These include a ban on the plying of vehicles used for quarrying and ferrying material in the vicinity of river beds.

In a reply placed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Assistant Commissioner of Panchkula Police Rajbir Singh asserted: “On March 3, an order under Section 144 of the Cr PC was issued by the Deputy Commissioner of Police and an earlier order was made more strict and wider.”

Elaborating, Rajbir Singh in his reply placed before Justice Ranjit Singh asserted: “It has been ordered that no tractor-trolley fitted with hydraulic jacks, tractor-trolley having four tyres, and iron cart to be pulled by tractor is allowed within 200 m radius.”Rajbir Singh added: “No JCB machines or any other excavation machinery or transport vehicle like dumpers and no screening or stocking or mining material is allowed within a radius of 1 kilometer of the riverbeds in any matter whatsoever.”

“Any steps taken by the administration to curb illegal mining activity like digging of trenches etc are not to be interfered with any manner.”

In his detailed reply, he added: “To curb illegal mining in the police district of Panchkula, an order under Section 144 Cr PC was issued earlier also by the DCP, Panchkula, on December 19, 2011, as a measure of emergency and it was ordered that no tractor-trolley, JCB machine or any other excavating machinery will be admitted, parked or used between 7 pm to 7 am within 100 meters of the riverbeds in any manner.”

The High Court, on the previous date of hearing, had taken cognisance of illegal mining going on in the State, while hearing a petition filed by a Panchkula resident, Rajesh Kumar. He was seeking anticipatory bail in an alleged illegal mining case.

Declining the anticipatory bail plea, Justice Ranjit Singh had asserted: “It is seen that a tractor-trolley was seized at the scene, whereas the person ran away. This was Rajesh Kumar who was booked on February 4 under the provisions of the Mines Act and also for theft, criminal conspiracy and other offences. The FIR was registered at the Chandimandir police station.”

MEASURES STARTED

n Ban on plying of vehicles used for quarrying and ferrying material in the vicinity of riverbedsn No tractor-trolley fitted with hydraulic jacks, tractor-trolley having four tyres, and iron cart to be pulled by tractor to be allowed within 200m radiusn No JCB machines or any other excavation machinery or transport vehicle like dumpers and no screening or stocking or mining material to be allowed within a radius of 1 km of the riverbeds

CHB told to pay interest: UT Consumer Court

Chandigarh, March 19
The UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation for causing mental agony and harassment to a local resident who had applied for a house under a scheme, but was refunded the amount after a long delay.

The complainant had moved the consumer forum, claiming interest on the amount of Rs 1.22 lakh. She was unsuccessful in the draw of lots.

The complainant, 54-year-old Chandan Lata, a Sector-23 resident, stated in the complaint that she had applied for a house under the self-financing housing scheme, 2008, for employees of the Chandigarh Administration for allotment of dwelling units.

She had paid Rs 1.22 lakh as earnest money in March, 2008. In August, 2011, she had received a letter and a cheque for Rs 1.22 lakh as refund as she was unsuccessful in the draw of lots.

It was alleged that the CHB had utilised the amount of Rs 1.22 lakh for three years and she lost the interest on the amount. She had then moved the forum, seeking interest.

In its reply, the CHB, through its chairman, stated that the complainant had given an undertaking not to claim any interest on the amount and had signed a declaration in this regard.

It was also replied that due to the pendency of litigation in the high court pertaining to the scheme under question, the draw of lots could not be held till November 4, 2010. It was stated that this had led to the delay in refund. The CHB refuted all allegations.

Passing the order, forum president PD Goel and members Rajinder Singh and Madanjit Kaur stated that it could be legitimately concluded that the CHB was under a legal obligation to refund the amount of Rs 1.22 lakh to the complainant without interest on or before December, 2010, when the draw of lots was held.

It further said the CHB refunded the amount in August, 2011, after delay and so, was liable to pay interest and compensation.

“The CHB is directed to pay interest on the amount of Rs 1.22 lakh at the savings bank rate from December 4, 2010, till payment. It id also directed to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation for mental agony and harassment, besides Rs 5,000 as costs of litigation,” read the order.

Bandra train returns today

Chandigarh, March 19
After its successful maiden run, the Chandigarh-Bandra train will return to the railway station at 4:20 pm tomorrow.

The 12451 Bandra-Chandigarh train was running full to capacity and no seats were available. All seats from the commercial capital in the newly launched train had been reserved till June.

The train, which would leave the city every Sunday at 5:45 pm, would enable young IT professionals from the city employed in Mumbai to join duty on Monday as the train would reach there at 9:20 am.

Rakesh Sharma, a computer engineer with Infosys, who boarded the train on Sunday, said though an announcement to ply the train twice a week had been made in the Railway Budget, the train should be run daily as a large number of IT professionals from the city were working in Mumbai and Pune.

Formal arrangements had been made at the local railway station for welcoming passengers arriving here in the evening.

Station superintendent Parveen Kumar said arrangement had been made and a welcome message for passengers returning by the train would be flashed on screens at the railway station.

TRIBUNE OPEN HOUSE RESPONSE

Impose drunk-driving penalty according to alcohol content 

Chandigarh - In future, if one commits a driving-related offence, he or she may have to shell out a fine up to five times the existing penalty. It’s a wonderful Bill, in case, implemented in order to curb the rising number of road accidents. A Bill proposing amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, is likely to be introduced in the Rajya Sabha during the coming budget session. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways should display the Cabinet-approved amendments adequately in newspapers, on signages and even on its website. The state police headquarters should form youth cells and rope in youngsters for night patrolling in the city.
This is the second time the Bill is being introduced in the Rajya Sabha. The previous effort was made in 2007. The UPA government is now introducing a strong Bill against traffic offenders. Hope the new law will equally apply to the top brass who generally park their red-beacon vehicles on roadsides. First, there must be a proper computerised record-keeping system interlinked throughout the country.
Computerisation will help in keeping an updated track record of all drivers which will help keep a watch on habitual offenders. Cases of drunk driving should be dealt with according to the quantity of alcohol found in the blood of an offender instead of a general law applicable to all such offenders. A person having 300 ml of alcohol in his blood should get a different punishment compared to those found with lower alcohol contents like 30 ml in their blood.
For the last over 7 years, I’ve been writing letters to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and many city police officials on the matter. The government and city top brass must enforce tough traffic laws in our city and no interference should be entertained.

Er Sachin Sharma, Chandigarh

Hefty fines can help check violations

These days more people die in accidents on the roads than of any diseases. The number of deaths caused by over-speeding and drunk driving is persistently on the rise as every year a large number of youngsters lose their lives in road rage. The state governments are not able to control the number of accidents through law enforcement alone and a heftier financial penalty may be a deterrent to rash and negligent driving. There is nothing wrong with the new proposal of charging huge fines as it is for the safety of people. People who are caught for violations just give a Rs 100 note to traffic cops and drive away. Nobody is afraid of this Rs 100 fine. So the amended Motor Vehicle Act is expected to bring in good results and reduce traffic violations. Anybody found drunk while driving must not be spared and suitably punished. Apart from charging hefty fines, the traffic police must ensure that checks and nakas are held on a daily basis and not only on special days. Signboards clearly indicating the permissible speed limits should be erected on roadsides.

Vineet Kapoor, Panchkula

Need to curb rash driving

Everyday a number of people are injured and killed in road accidents. These accidents occur mainly due to the negligence and carelessness of drivers, lenient traffic rules and to a large extent due to drunk driving. The move to impose hefty fines for offences like over speeding, drunk driving and using mobile while driving will help curb the menace of rash driving. It is high time that something stern and effective needs to be done.

Drunk driving, an illegal act, should be governed by stern laws which entail not only levying hefty fines or revocation of licence, but also prosecution of a violator on criminal charge. The police is ought to be more strict while enforcing traffic rules. No offender should be exempted from punishment, come what may. Also, there should be strict checking in the middle of the night when most crimes and cases of road rage occur. Different sectors, government and public, should also come forward and join hands to make the Indian roads safer. The education sector and the media can create enhanced community awareness and understanding of causes and consequences of road accidents.

Dr Shruti K Chawla, Sector-38C, Chandigarh

Step up media coverage

The aggressive media coverage of the cases of court punishment for drunken driving, which was witnessed in the city a couple of months ago, has lost steam in the recent past. The news that hit the page one consistently for some time seems to have lost its attraction.

These days drunk-driving cases are getting lesser prominence in the city newspapers. It is felt that when an offence becomes too common, it becomes less important for the Press.

The police and the media, too, need to keep addressing issues like drunk driving and this should be their top priority. Instead of just carrying pictures of the offenders in newspapers, the issue needs a wider coverage. In fact, cases of road accidents due to drunk driving needs to be highlighted.

Rakeshwar Katoch

Pinjore-Parwanoo bypass work still on

Panchkula, March 18

Commuters using National Highway 22 are likely to have a harrowing time for another two weeks as finishing of the 10-km Pinjore-Parwanoo bypass is still going on.

A random survey of the bypass, comprising eight bridges and four underpasses, has indicated that the centre medians on road dividers are being installed at various places.

Grills are also being installed at various places on the hilly track near Parwanoo, which will help restrict landslides during the rainy season.

The construction was started two-and-a-half-years ago. The project was supposed to be completed in December last.

The detailed project report prepared 10 years ago had to be revised as many structures had come up on the route, said an official with the construction company on the condition of anonymity.

Following this, new alignment of the road had to be devised, which also contributed to the delay in meeting the deadline, he added.

Once the bypass was thrown open, commuters would no longer be held up in traffic jams for hours at the narrow road passing through Pinjore and Kalka.

While a toll plaza had been set up at Surajpur, near Pinjore, there was also a proposal to instal CCTV cameras at the bypass.

Despite repeated attempts, NHAI Director Anil Dahiya could not be contacted as he did not respond to phone calls.

The trial run at the toll plaza had been started by the staff of the construction company. According to sources, toll would be charged from April 1.

A chart displays toll rates for vehicles.

A view of the toll plaza on the highway. Tribune Photos: Nitin Mittal

A view of the Pinjore-Parwanoo bypass.

Person loses Rs 8,000 to online fraud

Chandigarh, March 18
A city resident was defrauded of Rs 8,200 by online fraudsters who assured her a job in a multinational company. The case of online job scam surfaced after the UT police realiSed that the accused had similarly cheated more than 40 other persons in various parts of the country. The Cyber Cell of the UT police has registered a case under various Sections of the IT Act in the Sector 11 police station. The police is yet to find out the identity of the accused.
A Sector 15 resident and an advocate by profession, Prerna, was promised a job in Wipro Technologies for the post of executive manager. She received an email asking her to deposit an amount of Rs 8,250 as fees for security, air travel and other expenses. She was told that the amount was refundable. She deposited the amount in a bank account of Raj Kumar in the PNB bank.
After that there was no response from the company and Prerna realised that she had been duped. She then reported the matter to the police.
The police said the mail to the victim was sent from wipro@tech-centre.com and as per the instructions in the mail, the girl had deposited the money in the account.
Later, the police traced the bank account to Dehradun branch of the bank. The bank authorities told the police that they had received over 40 complaints pertaining to the particular account in the last week. However, the address given by the owner was fake and even the guarantor was fake, making police investigations fall flat.
No success

The Cyber Crime Cell has registered atleast four cases of online job scam in the past. However, none of the cases have been solved. One such case reported in 2008 was of Surinder Chauhan, a resident of Sector 32, who lost Rs 50,000 after he responded to a fraudulent email. A case was registered on January 16, 2008. The sender lured Chauhan by asking him to send his resume for a lucrative job in Mela International - a hotel in the UK. Later, he received a reply, stating that he had been selected and was asked to deposit a sum of Rs 15,000. After he transferred the amount, a caller from the UK asked him to deposit another Rs 35,000. The case has been marked untraced.

Train to Bandra flagged off

The Chandigarh-Bandra Express train which was flagged off in Chandigarh on Sunday. It will leave city every Sunday at 5.45 am for Bandra in Mumbai.  

Chandigarh, March 18
To increase the connectivity between Chandigarh and Mumbai, the the country’s commercial capital, the much-awaited first direct long-distance train from the city to Bandra was flagged off amidst much fanfare by local MP and Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources Pawan Kumar Bansal at the railway station here this morning.
On day one, the train ran to its full capacity of 422 passengers, indicating its popularity. Arvinder Kaur, a Mohali resident, said, “It was a long-pending demand. The train is of interest to tourists, businessmen and those who want to meet their relatives in the commercial capital.”
The new 18-coach train would connect religious, commercial and places of tourist importance like Gurgaon, Ajmer, Abu Road (Mount Abu) Ahmedabad, Vadodara. In view of the non-electrified sections, the train would take 27 hours to cover 1,605 km compared to the Paschim express link train, which takes about 29 hours.
According to information, no seat is available in the train up to May 31.
The express weekly train will run from the city every Sunday at 5.45 am to reach Bandra Terminus at 9.20 am the next day, and from Bandra Terminus it will start every Monday at 12.05 pm to reach Chandigarh at 16.20 pm the next day. The fare for the sleeper class is Rs 453, for AC 3-tier and AC 2-tier, it is Rs 1,219 and Rs 1,607 respectively.
Interacting with mediapersons, Bansal said the Chandigarh-Bandra train would shortly be made twice a week and added that the train from the city to Dibrugarh would also ply twice a week very soon. He said the double tracking of the Ambala-Dappar line would start soon and an amount of Rs 30 crore had been sanctioned for the same in the recent budget. He said the work on the underpasses near Mauli Jagran and Mani Majra Housing complex would also be started soon and four meetings had been held between the technical committee of the Railways and the Chandigarh Administration in this regard.
Expressing ignorance about the lukewarm response and the demand for the change in the timings of the Amritsar-Duronto Express train from evening to morning, he said he would take up the matter with the ministry in this regard.
The MP while informing about the new rail link from the city to Yamunanagar, said the Railways had already finalised the proposal and sent it to the Planning Commission for concurrence. He hoped that the new proposal would be cleared soon. Commenting on the upgradation of the railway station to world standards, he said the Railways was already facing financial crunch and the city has other priorities. He said the city was well connected by rail and air and the passengers require better facilities and more train connectivity from the city to other parts of the country.

Defending the Railway and the General Budget 2012-13, Bansal said the increase in fare was long needed to improve the services and it was in the interest of the commuters. He, however, refused to comment on the ongoing controversy involving the railway minister Dinesh Trivedi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. On the general budget he ridiculed the opposition leaders for terming the budget as anti-people. He said the main emphasis had been given to the manufacturing sector to create more jobs for the unemployed. He said that he was surprised over the response to the budget by opposition leaders. He said on the one hand they do not want the subsidies worth Rs 1.88 lakh crore on the fertilizers and petroleum products to be waived off, on the other they were forcing the government to roll back the increase in taxes.

City Mayor Raja Bala Malik, divisional railway manager (DRM) and Sr Divisional Commercial Manager Ambal P K Sanghi and GM Singh, respectively, additional DRM, Pramod Kumar and senior officers Ambala Railways division were among those present on the occasion.

Welcoming highly educated immigrants- a good economic policy

 

Edmonton - Allowing immigrants with good qualification is a good strategy for the growth of a nation’s economy and Quebec government needs to follow this.

This is keeping in view the fact that just like any other advanced economy, Quebec is facing the challenges of demographic declines leading to acute shortage of required workforce.

The scenario is going to worsen as the population of this Canadian province reaches old age.

Need for boosting Quebec immigration--Several business groups in Quebec say rather than cutting down annual immigration intake in Quebec, focus should be on allowing more immigrants into this Canadian province.

The provincial government must chalk out ways to increase immigration levels in Quebec to deal with the problem of scarcity of qualified and skilled workers here. It may be worth considerable that government of Quebec intends to cut immigration levels by around eight percent by 2015 from the current immigration levels.

And this has naturally invoked serious concerns from several business groups of Quebec. Hence, they have urged Quebec government to work towards improving the scene in the economy by lifting the limits on new immigrant arrivals in Quebec.

The current proportion of immigration in Quebec is only 19 percent of the total Canada immigration although Quebec has 23 percent of nation’s population, as per figures for the year 2010.

Quebec witnessed arrival of 11.6 percent of total temporary foreign workers arriving in Canada last year while Quebec accounted for 15 percent of total foreigners coming to Canada for studying here.

Quebec must improve job prospects for immigrants—Currently, the employment scene for new arrivals in Quebec is not very encouraging. And this is due to two factors, namely, delay in recognition of foreign credentials and poor work experience.

And the onus lies on not just the provincial government but also on Quebec employers for enabling new immigrants get integrated successfully into their new workplace easily.

President of Conseil du patronat, Yves Thomas feels need of the hour is to attract immigrant investors and skilled immigrant workers in Quebec.

Moreover, the province should work towards fast recognition of foreign credentials of immigrants to help them get jobs in accordance with their acquired qualifications, skills and work experience.

Government must reconsider its plans to cut its annual immigration rate and focus on increasing immigration levels at least for the next decade or so. Only then can Quebec cope up with exit of ageing baby boomers from the workforce.