IT Chandigarh

Chandigarh: The UT Administration has ordered senior standing counsel Anupam Gupta to step down from his post. Gupta is actively participating in the lawyers’ agitation against the unprecedented order passed by Justice Uma Nath Singh.

Gupta put in his papers as soon as he got the order.

His resignation letter reads, “As desired by you, following my participation in the agitation of the High Court Bar against the order dated July 23 passed by Justice Uma Nath Singh, I hereby tender my resignation as senior standing counsel, Chandigarh Administration. My commitment to the Chandigarh Administration must necessarily yield place to my larger moral convictions as a member of the legal profession, a profession whose dignity, freedom and safety is a necessary guarantee not only of the rule of law but, as the experience of Pakistan shows, even of the independence of the judiciary.”

Gupta has further stated in his resignation, “However, successful it might be, the path adopted by those who have no convictions, or who subordinate their convictions to the lure of office or the oppression of power, has never been my path.”

It may be mentioned here that Gupta had also entered into a war of words with Chief Justice V K Jain in the ongoing Dera Sacha Sauda petition when Gupta had requested the court not to intervene in the issue.

Gupta had earned the wrath of the court, which had directed him and the Home Secretary, Administrator to file an affidavit stating as to whether the averments made by Gupta in the court were of his own or on their instructions.
(more…)

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers’ Union (PCCTU) has demanded a high-level probe into alleged fraud of more than Rs 70 lakh at SGGS College, Sector 26, Chandigarh.

In a letter sent to UT home secretary Krishan Mohan, PCCTU general secretary Kuldeep Singh has expressed disappointment on the reply received in response to a communication sent by his predecessor Jagwant Singh on February 21, 2007, demanding an inquiry into fraud of more than Rs 40 lakh.

He said that the reply was the response of college authorities to the letter in which college authorities had admitted a fraud of Rs 40,42,487.

Saying that he had information that there was another fraud of Rs 30 lakh where the modus operandi was also different, Kuldeep Singh said that the UT administration should immediately order a probe and the guilty must be brought to the book.

Source: The Times of India New Service

Chandigarh: Members of the Periphery Milkman Union Chandigarh-Mohali today flayed the “anti-poor” policies of the central and state governments.

The convention, organised at the Sector 44 Sood Bhavan, was attended by representatives of small retailers dealing in milk, dairy products and confectioners. They stated that the authorities concerned were bent upon crushing the lower strata of society following the guidelines laid down by the World Trade Organisation.

General secretary of the union Baljinder Singh Bhagomajra said the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006, would affect the earning of three lakh families in Punjab and Chandigarh.

The union demanded the Act should be abolished. Under the Act, a vendor, whose samples failed in quality tests would be fined between Rs 2 lakh and 10 lakh besides imprisonment up to 10 years.

Source: Tribune News Service

FIR reveals grave allegations against lawyer

Chandigarh: Tahar Singh’s wife Sujata Sharma, whose complaint against her husband had led to a series of volatile events, today asserted that she never approached the court and did not want her husband to suffer unnecessarily.

She also hammered out the fact that her husband was temperamental but he had never intended to kill her as the contents of the FIR might suggest.Blaming her husband’s volatile nature, she told The Tribune that she was seeking divorce as she was apprehensive about her and her children’s security.

She also emphasised that her husband was an educated man who was sensitive to social issues and not insane.

She said her complaint primarily was on domestic violence and should be dealt on merits and the process of law should take its own course. Sending him to mental asylum was not all desirable and needed. Her current softened stand apart, the complaint filed by her on April 30 with the UT police throws up really serious allegations.

In fact, Justice Uma Nath Singh’s order had somewhat adverse observation against the UT police for going soft on the allegations.

A bare perusal of the FIR no 160, registered at Sector 26 police station, shows that Sujata Sharma, wife of Tahar Singh, is unambiguous about the relentless torture, depression and mental agony she and her children had to bear because of Tahar’s allegedly temperamental attitude.
(more…)

Mohali: The Mohali municipal council is set to go in for computerisation as the house unanimously cleared a proposal to purchase more computers and other related material at a cost of Rs 5 lakh at the monthly meeting held here today.

The council has been chosen as the pilot location to introduce a software of the Microsoft, being provided free of cost.

The software has 15 modules to deal with the work of different branches like water supply and sewerage, accounts, licences, registration of births and deaths, cash collection, etc.

The director, local government, had given instructions that all modules be made functional and more computers and printers be purchased, depending upon the requirement.

The office currently has only three computers and two printers. The office of the director of the local government has sent five computers, four printers and networking material to the civic body office here.

Four more computers are to be purchased to run the remaining modules.
(more…)

Chandigarh: The ‘agencies’ of power that work in conjunction with patriarchy was the principal theme for discussion today on the third day of the workshop on ‘Gender Sensitisation’, being conducted at Government College, Sector 46.

Those who have control have power, stated resource person for the day Jaya Shrivastava. Jaya is an activist and campaigner for rights of women, children, displaced and marginalised peoples’. It was her seemingly simple statement that brought out the complex definition of power.

The emphasis was on clarifying the notion of power through powerlessness, the manifestations and images associated with it. Female teachers spoke of the necessity to wear uncomfortable saris to work as an example of power through hypocrisy. Benudhar Patra, History teacher at GC, Sector 11, spoke expressively of an ingrained belief in existing systems that bind in helplessness. “Concepts such as poverty, fear of being targeted, parochialism and even in one instance, the feeling of helplessness that comes with being the mother of a girl-child, are some of the aspects that perpetuate this vulnerability,” he said.

However, Jaya did not let the dialogue dwell on the negative aspects. “Just as power can be oppressive, it can be creative as well. All of us are ‘artists’. If we have to counter oppression and injustice, we need power to do that. When power operates in a negative fashion, then exposing challenging and creating newer idioms and alternatives to generate that power becomes necessary,” she explained.
(more…)

Martyr’s nephew Prof Jagmohan Singh says there is more to Bhagat Singh than the popular image of a gun-totting extremist. He was an intellectual and the youth need to see him in this light. Our correspondent talks to some youth to find out that this concern is not unjustified

Chandigarh: Bhagat Singh is one icon who needs no resurrection of any sort, for the simple fact that his image never faded from public consciousness. Be it the turbulent days of terrorism when Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale used him as a symbol or the present times when youth in Punjab celebrate his memory with gusto, his posters sell like hot cakes, books on him and papers written by him are being churned out faster than religious cassettes, his stickers dot windscreens and even his moustache style is in vogue.

However, this year, when the world observes his 76th martyrdom day on March 23 and 100th birth anniversary on September 28, the intelligentsia are concerned that the great legend is being wrongly interpreted. For them, there is more to Bhagat Singh sporting a pistol as they want the youth to see Bhagat Singh with a pen.

Their concern is not unjustified. Bhalinder Singh (22), a student at S.C.D. Government College for Boys, Ludhiana, says, “He is the kind of leader we want in the present times. He urged the youth to take up arms and fight for their rights.” And how will this translate in present times. “It is so simple. There is so much corruption around us and now is the time to effectively use what Bhagat stood for. Kill the corrupt,” adds Kulwinder Singh, a Khalsa College student in Ludhiana. And does violence pay. “This is the only way by which some sense can be knocked into the heads of the corrupt. People do not understand the language of love and compassion. We need to treat them the way Bhagat Singh treated the Britishers,” argues Yudhveer Singh, another student.
(more…)

SAS Nagar: Lauding the efforts of the Punjab Rifle Shooting Association, R P S Pawar, principal secretary, Sports, Punjab said the government is poised for the upliftment of the game that has seen Punjab emerging as a leading state in Rifle shooting in the country. Accompanied by Pargat Singh, Director Sports, Punjab, Pawar today visited the ongoing camp for junior shooters being organised by Punjab Rifle Shooting Association at Mohali Shooting Range, Mohali today.

Giving information about the Punjab Government’s recent steps for the game, Pawar said the Government has provided ammunition worth Rs one lakh and twenty Four thousand for the ongoing camp. Raja K S Sidhu, general secretary, Punjab Rifle Shooting Association said the ongoing camp is seeing the participation of seven junior international shooters and the association has hired the services of renowned shooting coach, Sanjay Chakraverty, former coach of Anjali Bhagwat and Gagan Narang. He further said the association will soon request the government for more ammunition and coaching facilities.

SAS Nagar, June 13: Lauding the efforts of the Punjab Rifle Shooting Association, R P S Pawar, principal secretary, Sports, Punjab said the government is poised for the upliftment of the game that has seen Punjab emerging as a leading state in Rifle shooting in the country. Accompanied by Pargat Singh, Director Sports, Punjab, Pawar today visited the ongoing camp for junior shooters being organised by Punjab Rifle Shooting Association at Mohali Shooting Range, Mohali today.

Giving information about the Punjab Government’s recent steps for the game, Pawar said the Government has provided ammunition worth Rs one lakh and twenty Four thousand for the ongoing camp. Raja K S Sidhu, general secretary, Punjab Rifle Shooting Association said the ongoing camp is seeing the participation of seven junior international shooters and the association has hired the services of renowned shooting coach, Sanjay Chakraverty, former coach of Anjali Bhagwat and Gagan Narang. He further said the association will soon request the government for more ammunition and coaching facilities.

Source: Express News Service

They are the omnipresent tribe of the city’s trade facade who dwell and do business on government’s land. A visit to any local market in Panchkula will tell you about the nuisance created by vendors. Shopkeepers too encroach upon the promenade and pavements, thus, restricting the movement of passers-by. Our correspondent explores

Chandigarh: Panchkula is the 17th district of Haryana. The district remained industrially backward particularly till the beginning of the twentieth century but has made rapid progress as it borders Chandigarh- the booming capital of Punjab and Haryana.

The city is growing by leaps and bounds with each passing day. Be its spiralling land prices, markets or the quality of life of its residents. But it does have its fair share of problems and one such issue is - encroachments.

Visit any local market in the heart of the city to find vendors sitting on the pavements outside the shops busy attracting customers with their products and services. With goods littered on the corridors, one hardly gets an inch to pass through the busy markets. The problem is not limited to any one sector; one can find encroachments in all the small and big markets of the city. Thanks to the authorities for turning a blind eye to the menace.

It is not the roadside vendors who have encroached upon the government land; shopkeepers too have a big role to play. They occupy the corridors, thereby restricting the movement of the passers-by. As for the HUDA officials, every time the encroachments are removed, they raise their ugly heads again —just like a phoenix.
(more…)

Chandigarh: A DIVISION bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued notices to UT Administration and the Estate Officer on a PIL filed by Advocate H C Arora.

The petitioner has sought directions to the administration to ensure the completion of construction of the half-built memorial of martyr Udham Singh in Sector 44 C, Chandigarh, within a time frame, by contributing financially.

The petitioner has further submitted that as per information on the subject received by him under the RTI Act, the plot of land was allotted on January 16, 2003 to the General Secretary, Shaheed Udham Singh Memorial Bhawan Society, for Rs 75.22 lakhs on lease hold basis, for construction of a Memorial of Shaheed Udham Singh in Sector 44 C, Chandigarh.

Expressing regret, Arora has stated that the resumption proceedings are pending against the said society as it has not paid the installments due. “The UT Administration cannot be permitted to pass off the buck to any private individuals, the Memorial Societies or other associations, as memorials must belong to the Nation, which owes its debt to the martyrs for the great sacrifices made by them for the freedom of the country” the petition reads.

Source: Express News Service