IT Chandigarh

Chandigarh: Differences between the SAD and BJP will be resolved in a meeting between Punjab BJP incharge Balbir Punj and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on October 19, said BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu today. Addressing press conference here, he said, “Balbir Punj will meet Chief Minister Badal on October 19 in a closed-door meeting in Amritsar to discuss vital issues between both parties.” When asked about his differences with Bikram Majithia, Sidhu said, “I am a sepoy of the BJP and cannot comment on this. I have no differences with him. But there were certain issues that I have brought to the notice of the CM.”

Slamming the Centre for failing to contain inflation, he offered onions and vegetables as “exclusive Diwali gifts” to members of the audience.

Source: ENS

SAS Nagar: Akali dal Youth activists, led by its vice-president Malkit Singh Khalsa, today protested against the alleged misbehaviour of the Mohali traffic police and blocked the main road at Phase VII traffic signal from 7.45 pm to 8.45 pm on Wednesday. The activists demanded the immediate suspension of a traffic police official, who allegedly misbehaved with Khalsa and threatened him to take off his turban.

Khalsa told Newsline that he mistakenly jumped a red light today and a policeman signalled him to stop his motorcycle. Knowing his fault, he stopped his vehicle and apologised for the mistake. Khals said, “One of the constables misbehaved with me and threatened me that he would take my turban off and would beat me up.”

The supporters of Khalsa gathered at the spot and blocked traffic on the main road and raised slogans against the Punjab Police. Mohali SP Varinderpal Singh, DSP (Traffic) Raka Gira and other police officials reached the spot and the traffic jam was cleared after the constable apologised to Khalsa for his misbehaviour.

Source: ENS

Chandigarh: The traditional colours of Punjab were visible at Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26, on Wednesday , where the students were engaged in a wide range of activites including phulkari making and in knitting pakhis. Nearly 13 events were conducted in the college on the second day of the Panjab University Diamond Youth and Heritage Festival.

The literary skills of the students was also tested with a range of competitions on story writing, essay writing, etc. The chief guest for the first session was Sidhu Damdami, Editor of Panjabi Tribune. The session was chaired by R C Modgil. They urged the students to develop interest in creative writing and send articles for publications.

The second session consisted of a number of items related to music. Ajit Singh Kohar was chief guest in the session. He urged the students to unite against the social evils Punjabi University senator Jagtar Singh Sidhu talked about the importance of cultural and heritage festival.

Source: ENS

Chandigarh: Two persons died in separate incidents in the city today. While a Dhanas village resident Anil Kumar (22) hanged himself at his residence, an unidentified woman in her late-twenties was run over by a UCN train going from Ambala to Nangal Dam via Chandigarh this morning near Industrial Area Phase I, Needle Factory.

The first incident took place at about 9 am, when a woman, presumably working at the Needle Factory, was run over by the train. The police recovered a purse containing Rs 317 in cash and some Nepalese currency.

The body has been sent to the mortuary for identification and shall be cremated in two days if not identified.

In another incident, an unemployed youth Dalbir Singh (22) hanged himself at his residence in Ambedkar Colony, Dhanas village. He is survived by his parents and two siblings.

Dalbir Singh was quite depressed for the last few days because of his inability to find a decent job, the police said. His father Dalbir Singh works in the UT waterworks department.

Dalbir’s body was found when one of the women, known to Dalbir’s family, had come to return some money.
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Chandigarh: The foreign junket of the 30 councillors of the Municipal Corporation continues to hang fire, as the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is still to grant clearance to the trip. While the councillors are cooling their heels after their proposed trip to Singapore and Bangkok was postponed at the eleventh hour on October 6 due to lack of MEA’s approval, no fresh date has been decided so far.

The MEA has not only raised objections to the sheer number of members in the contingent, but has also highlighted the lack of coordination and the last minute political clearance sought by the MC.

While Chandigarh Administration had sanctioned the south-east Asian trip last month (after referring it to the Centre), the MEA’s pending clearance has further put the tour in quandary.

But officials say the MEA’s objections may just delay the tour by a few days but would not eventually lead to its cancellation.

“It might be delayed by a few days, though the next date is not finalised yet,” said the official.

The tour has been postponed on several occasions and many eye-brows have also been raised on tour, where, for the first time all councillors are to proceed on the trip together. The tour was proposed to study parking systems, civic amenities, underpasses, etc in the two countries but the planning has come under the scanner due to the lack of a proper official itinerary which would effectively benefit the city’s functioning.

Source: ENS

Chandigarh: Still waiting for official notification from the UT Administration for shifting the old booksellers in Sector 15 to its new location, the Municipal Corporation today removed four unauthorised book vendors still squatting at the old location a few days ago.

While the four book sellers were removed amidst a lot of opposition, president of Old Book Sellers’ Association Anand Singh, at Sector 15, said the delay in the notification is costing the real booksellers who have been sitting at the venue for years together now.

“The new booths have been constructed near the petrol pump but without a notification from the administration, the actual shifting will not be taking place any time soon. Till then, the new vendors will continue to squat at the old venue waiting for their booths,” said Anand Singh, while talking to Newsline today.

The administration had decided to shift the old book sellers’ market from Sector 15 (facing Panjab University gate number 2) to the new location which is near the residential area in Sector 15 B. In all, 36 booths have been constructed for 35 vendors who were found eligible under the scheme.

The issue of allocation got delayed as the residents of the area approached the court against the decision to shift the sellers near residential areas.
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Chandigarh: A Trip to his relatives in Chandigarh proved costly for Moga resident Gurcharan Singh, who is now admitted in General Hospital, Sector 16, with severe head injuries.

Gurcharan Singh was attacked by an autorickshaw driver and his accomplices on Tuesday night on Sector 16-23 dividing road, near Yatri Niwas roundabout. Singh had hired the autorickshaw from ISBT-17.

Singh said when he took an auto from the bus stand, three persons, including the driver, were already sitting in the auto. While one person was on the front seat with the driver, the third person was sitting on the passenger seat.

Singh said when the auto was near Yatri Niwas roundabout, the driver stopped the auto and before he realised, the ‘co-passenger’ hit him on the head with an iron rod.

After that the accused robbed Singh and took away his money, mobile phone and the bag containing his clothes. They then left a profusely bleeding Gurcharan on the roadside.

However, some passers by spotted Singh and contacted the police. He was rushed to the hospital, where he was operated upon. Police have registered a case of robbery and assault.
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Chandigarh: Six days after Rs 2.82 lakh was found missing from the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Sector 17 branch, police arrested one bank employee, who had been suspended also, on charges of theft. Besides, two more employees were suspended for “negligent behaviour” causing theft at the bank’s vault number 2.

The three suspended employees are vault manager Chotu Ram, assistant vault manager S K Dubey, and office attendant Ramesh Chander.

The three were prima facie found guilty of negligent behaviour while performing their duty in the in-house inquiry initiated by RBI officials.

Ramesh Chander was arrested on basis of suspicion, as numerous contradictions were detected in his statement given to the police and the Close-Circuit Television camera’s footage, scrutinised by the Chandigarh Police.

After Ramesh Chander succumbed to police queries and failed to justify his lies, which he told the investigating officials, while being questioned at length, the investigating officials decided to arrest him.

Ramesh Chander is a resident of Pinjore and had left the bank around 12.45 pm on October 12 - the day Bank Treasurer S P Janjua reported the matter regarding the missing Rs 2.82 lakh to the police. According to Ramesh, he walked his way to ISBT-17, from where he boarded a bus to Pinjore. However, the CCTV camera footage clearly showed him leaving the bank premises on a motorbike.
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