Owners of hotels, eateries told to maintain records of customers

Panchkula, January 21

The district police chief has ordered owners of cyber cafe, hotels, restaurants and other business establishments to maintain records of customers visiting their outlets.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Hamid Akhtar in a press note stated that the orders had been issued taking preventive measurers and to maintain law and order situation in the city.

The owners of these business establishments have been told to maintain registers of customers visiting them. They should also get identity proof from the latter.

They have also been directed to install CCTVs at their establishments and keep the recording of the same for six months. In case they notice any suspect or anti-social element in and around, the information must be passed on to police help line numbers - 100 and 0172-2582100, he added.

37,000 sit for CTET in tricity

Chandigarh, November 18

About 37,000 students appeared for the Central Teachers Eligibility Test (CTET) held at 67 centres around the tricity.

Started by the CBSE in 2011, CTET is mandatory for any teacher who wants to join a government-aided CBSE school, and schools run by the Centre such as Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, and those managed by the union territories.

As far as passing percentage is concerned, CTET has seen poor results so far. In the second edition, more than 92 per cent teachers failed to pass the exam, where as the maiden exam in 2011 saw more than 85 per cent teachers failing to clear the exam. More than 7 lakh candidates appeared for this year’s exam across India.

No service tax to be levied on NRI remittances: Finance Ministry

New Delhi, July 10

The Finance Ministry today clarified that no service tax would be levied on NRI remittances from overseas.

The clarification by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), which functions under the Finance Ministry, follows concerns over reports that there was a move to levy 12 per cent tax on money sent back home by Indians abroad under the changed service tax regime from July 1.

The CBEC said in a circular “that the matter has been examined and it is clarified that there is no service tax per se on the amount of foreign currency remitted to India from overseas”. In the negative list regime, “service” excludes transaction in money. As the amount of remittance comprises money, the activity does not comprise a “service” and is not subjected to service tax, the circular clarifies.

It further added that “in case any fee or conversion charges are levied for sending such money, they are also not liable to service tax as the person sending the money and the company conducting the remittance are located outside India. Such services are deemed to be provided outside India and thus not liable to service tax”.

It has been further clarified that even the Indian counterpart bank or financial institution which charges the foreign bank for the services provided at the receiving end, is not liable to service tax as the place of provision of such service is outside India.

The clarification will alleviate concerns of NRIs as India is one of the top recipient of remittances ($64 billion in 2011), according to the World Bank data. Given the dire need for dollar at a time when current account deficit is high and Rupee is under pressure, any move to levy service tax on NRI remittances would have been disastrous.

CMs of Punjab and Kerala, which are among the states receiving the largest remittances from NRIs, had taken up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

M Rafeeque Ahmed, president, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), said that towards addressing the trade deficit, remittances were the single largest source of unconditional flow of foreign exchange into India, according to estimates by the World Bank. Given the slowdown and declining levels of foreign exchange, service tax could only act as a deterrent to precious incoming foreign exchange, he added.

He said the waiver of service tax on the same would ensure that this stable source of foreign exchange would continue to maintain the delicate balance of payments position of India at this moment of global crisis. 

WHY THE CLARIFICATION  Concerns were being expressed over reports that there was a move to levy 12% tax on money sent back home by Indians abroad under the changed service tax regime from July 1 THE FINAL WORD  The matter has been examined and it is clarified that there is no service tax per se on the amount of foreign currency remitted to India from overseas  As the amount of remittance comprises money, the activity does not comprise a “service” and is not subject to service tax  In case any fee or conversion charges are levied for sending such money, they are also not liable to service tax as the person sending the money and the company conducting the remittance are located outside India

Aaya Saawan Jhoom Ke

Monsoon arrives in North India

Dangerous - Do not drink Coka-Cola and eat MENTOS together...!!! Seeing is believing ?don't you think ?!!! Last week a little boy died in Brazil after eating MENTOS and drinking Coka-Cola together. One year before the same accident happened with another boy in Brazil .. Please check the experiment that has been done by mixing Coka-Cola (or Coka-Cola light are the same) with MENTOS........ So be careful !!

 
 
 

Freak weather baffles city

Chandigarh, April 11
City residents witnessed heavy rain accompanied by strong winds here late last evening. The city came to a halt due to the downpour as the roads leading to the main sectors were filled with water. Strong wind knocked down tree branches in various sectors, including Sectors 27, 15, 22 and 24. There were reports of windscreens of vehicles being smashed in the rain.
The newly constructed road at the NAC, Manimajra, was waterlogged. Strong winds began blowing around 8.30 pm, followed by a dust storm and heavy rain, which lasted for about an hour.
People who had parked their motorcycles in Sector 17 were in for a rude shock when they saw all two rows collapse on their return. Harinder Singh, a bank manager, said: “It seemed someone had broken the pipe of the oil tank of my mobike. I saw another bike whose lights had been smashed.”
Shalini Dogra, a schoolteacher, had a nasty experience when she turned towards Sector 16 from Madhya Marg. The wheel of her car hit a manhole cover lower than the road. In the process, her daughter's head hit the dashboard and began to bleed. She had to rush her daughter to a private clinic, she said.
The dust in the air resulted in poor visibility.
RD Sharma, a resident of Sector 30, said: “We have been hearing about an earthquake in Indonesia which measured 8.6 in magnitude. People in the coastal areas of our country are fleeing their homes. The winds here today were also not normal. It could have been a possible impact.”
Weather experts have predicted that barring some drizzle in certain pockets of Punjab and cloud formations in the tricity region, weather is likely to improve within the next 24 hours. There would also be an increase in the day temperatures.

MDC residents move court against opening of liquor vends

Panchkula, April 8
The residents of the Mansa Devi Complex (MDC) have moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the opening of liquor vends in the area.

Devinder Mahajan, president, MDC Residents Welfare Association, in his petition said they were not against the opening of the liquor vends, but wanted these to be shifted to some other place.

He urged the court to direct the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) to cancel the sites of liquor vends.

Mahajan also urged the state government to declare the MDC area as a sacred place like Kurukshetra, Pehowa and Thanesar where the sale of liquor had been banned by state government. He said similar restriction should also be imposed in the area as lakhs of people from across the country visit Mata Mansa Devi Temple during Navratra Fair held twice a year.

He said small liquor vends had been opened on all roads leading to the shrine. He said one of the shops was 20 m away from the Singh Dwar constructed by the Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board at an estimated cost of around Rs 10 crore. He said on the one hand, the state government wanted to beautify the area to attract the attention of the devotees in the country while on the other it had allowed the opening of liquor vends in the area thus hurting the religious sentiments of people.

Echoing similar sentiments, patron of the RWA Maj Gen (Retd) GS Hundal said the opening of liquor vends in the MDC area was undesirable. He said the government should take immediate steps to maintain the sanctity in the 3-km radius of the shrine. He said they were not against the opening of liquor vends as it generated income for the state government. He said keeping in view the faith and feelings of the general public, the government should immediately shift these to some other place.

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.

Quake jolts tricity

Chandigarh, February 10

An earthquake of moderate intensity shook the tricity about half an hour past Thursday midnight. The quake, measuring 5 on the Richter scale, hit parts of Punjab and Haryana and Uttarakhand. The epicentre of the quake was stated to be in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand and was also felt in many parts of the northern region. However, there were, however, no reports of loss of life or property from anywhere in Punjab and Haryana.

The tremors triggered panic in a lot of areas, particularly in the Yamuna Valley area of Uttarakhand, with people coming out of their homes. Though some houses reportedly developed cracks in the Barkot area of Uttarkashi, there were no reports of any major damage to life and property in the region, which was the epicentre of the devastating 1991 earthquake that left hundreds of people dead.

Rajesh Kumar, a resident of Sector 11 here, said that he had returned to the city after finishing his official assignment at Delhi. He said he was going to bed when he noticed tremors and virtually remained sleepless.

Biggest-ever haul of stolen vehicles

Chandigarh, January 10
The UT police today made its largest-ever seizure of stolen vehicles by recovering 58 vehicles (mostly Boleros and SUVs) and bikes of different makes from six members of an inter-state gang.
The value of the stolen vehicles is said to be Rs 4 crore. The police has identified only 12 of the recovered cars stolen from the tricity and districts of Haryana and attempts are on to identify the rest and trace their actual owners.
The gang was active in Chandigarh, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, UP and Uttarakhand over the past many years, with many of its members arrested time and again by the police of various states.
One of the gang members, Bhim Pattan, has over 100 cases registered against him and confessed to the police that he used to target the cars while he was to appear in courts in various cases registered against him.
A team headed by DSP Roshan Lal comprising Inspector Ranjit Singh Dhillon and Sub Inspector Rajdeep Singh got the lead on December 24 with the arrest of one of its members, Amit Kumar, a resident of Rohtak. He was arrested in a case of fake number plates and his sustained interrogation led the police to crack the gang.
The police then arrested four more persons, identified as Bhim Pattan, Dharam Pal, Suresh Kumar, alias Nintu, and Sunil Kumar. The police then arrested gang member Harvinder Singh, alias Laddi, a resident of Kaithal district in Haryana, and a stolen Maruti Zen was recovered from their possession. Their accomplices, Rambir of Haryana and Paresh of Nagaland, are absconding.
Certain cars were recovered from certain sarpanches in Haryana who, in their ignorance, had purchased the stolen cars.
Accused Dharam Pal's daughter Olympic player: The daughter of an accused Dharam Pal participated in the handball competition in the Beijing Olympics, while his second daughter is an airhostess. His son is doing civil engineering. He is involved in crime since 1995 and faced more than 97 cases for this. He has his own gang, with whom he committed the crime whenever Bhim and other accused Sunil were in jail. Out of the other accused, Amit Kumar, is a postgraduate.

Modus operandi: They used to steal the vehicles and then punch the new engine number and chassis number on the stolen vehicles. Thereafter, they used to prepare forged registration certificate, insurance certificate or used to get the vehicles registered by preparing forged sale letters. While punching engine number and chassis number on the stolen vehicle, the accused person would always keep in mind the series. Interestingly, the gang members stole the vehicles on the date when they used to appear before courts for hearing of their cases. They used to sell it off to laymen through their middlemen in Nagaland and Nepal. The police has recovered an L-key, ignition sockets, punching kit, fake engine and chassis number plates, maker of fake engine number, chassis number plates, paint spray, blank insurance cover notes and sale letters from their possession.

Recovered vehicles: The recovered vehicles include a number of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and high-segment cars comprising 21 Boleros, four Tata Trucks, one JCB machine, one Pajero, one Honda Civic, two Toyota Innovas, two Scorpios, two Tata Safaris, one Chevrolet Tavera, six Hyundai Vernas, one Maruti Swift, one Tata Indigo, one Maruti Zen, three Hyundais, two Mahindra Jeep, one Tata Indica, one Hyundai Accent, two Maruti Altos, one Hyundai Getz, one UVA(Chevrolet), one Tata Ace (loading tempo), Kinetic Nova (scooter), Bajaj Pulsar (motorcycle, Kinetic Honda scooter. These vehicles have been recovered from the purchasers of the stolen cars, the police said.

The police is also examining the role of the employees of different registration authorities and some agencies (dealers) into the cases of tampering of chassis and engine numbers.

The registration certificates prepared with forged sale letters, engine and chassis number will be deleted from the record of the registration authorities concerned after proper verification.

Main accused opened Bolero in 90 seconds
The prime accused Bhim Pattan demonstrated to the police the swiftness with which he opened the locks of Bolero jeeps. The entire operation of opening the lock with a scale, an L-key and inserting an ignition socket takes a little over one minute for him. However, cars with central locking and gear locks were not easy to unlock for him and old cars were on his priority list, said the police.
‘Son selected in Delhi Police’
Prime accused Bhim Pattan’s son was selected as a sub-inspector in the Delhi Police recently, but is yet to join, as a writ petition is pending against him owing to his father's criminal past. Pattan's daughter is pursuing LLB at his hometown in Hisar. His second son has cleared state eligibility test for the post of teacher. Bhim Pattan (46) is the kingpin of the vehicle-lifters and is involved in crime since 1991. He has more than 100 cases registered against him so far. He has 70 gang members working under him who are wanted by the police of various states. He used to steal cars while appearing before courts of various states. "Stealing vehicles is a business for him, he has no remorse and still says he will take to the crime again after getting released," said an investigating officer.
Hollywood parallel
Seeing the size of recovery of stolen vehicles, a top cop made a comparison of the catch with a famous Hollywood flick ‘‘Gone in 60 Seconds”, released in 2000, starring Nicholas Cage and Angelina Jolie. Cage, a master car thief, is forced to return to Los Angeles and steal 50 cars in 72 hours for a British boss