15012023-CT-01.qxd 1/15/2023 1:05 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune MERCURY DIPS 7°C IN A DAY, FOG LIKELY FOR 3 DAYS SCRAP DEALER, 5 OTHERS HELD FOR COPPER THEFTS YEAR ON, NO TRIBUNAL BY RLYS TO HEAR OUT FARMERS The maximum temperature in the city drops by seven degrees, bringing chill back after two sunny days. P2 A Dhanas youth and a scrap dealer arrested, four minors apprehended for copper wire thefts in city. P2 Railways is yet to set up a tribunal for raising relief to owners of farmland acquired for Chd-Baddi line. P2 » » TRICITY COVID REPORT CHD P’KULA MOHALI POSITIVE 99,356 48,434 1,01,163 RECOVERED 98,172 48,013 99,991 NEW CASES 0 0 0 ACTIVE 3 0 4 CHANGE 0 0 1 DEATHS 1,181 421 1,168 NEW 0 0 0 Tribune News Service 342 PANCHKULA 202 MOHALI 194 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD INBRIEF MAN LOSES ~2.5 L TO ONLINE FRAUD Chandigarh: Raj Narain of Sector 22 reported that an unidentified person cheated him of Rs 2,50,960 in an online fraud. A case under sections 420, 467, 471, 120-B of the IPC has been registered by the cybercrime police station. TNS CYCLIST KILLED IN ACCIDENT Chandigarh: An unidentified car driver hit a cyclist near Bougainvillaea Garden, Sector 3, here on Friday. The cyclist was shifted to the GMSH-16 where the doctors declared him dead on arrival. A case under Sections 279 and 304-A of the IPC has been registered at the Sector 3 police station. TNS FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE Kingpin of inter-state cybercrime gang nailed TRIBUNE PHOTO: RAVI KUMAR AIR QUALITY INDEX CHANDIGARH MAX 14°C | MIN 7°C YESTERDAY MAX 13°C | MIN 11.4°C SUNRISE MONDAY 7.19 AM TWITTER/THETRIBUNECHD A tribute to veterans MAINLY CLEAR SKY SUNSET SUNDAY 5.45 PM » SUNDAY | 15 JANUARY 2023 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit lays a wreath at the War Memorial on the Armed Forces Veterans Day at Air Force Station on Saturday. Gandhi Bhawan ex-incharge arrested Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 14 The police today arrested former in charge of Gandhi Bhawan, Sector 16, Dev Raj Tyagi for alleged forgery, cheating and embezzlement of funds and donation received in the name of Gandhi Samark Bhawan, Sector 16. He was produced before the court that sent him to three-day police remand. The police are making efforts to nab the other suspects in the case. During the course of inquiry, the facts were verified from the main branch Gandhi Samark Nidhi, Raj Ghat, New Delhi, and as per their report “no person or association of persons can register any branch of Gandhi Samark Nidhi or any other unit, unless or until, it is resolved in the board of trustees of the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi (Central) at Raj Ghat, New Delhi, which is collaborated with the deed of declaration of the trust and regulations”. Besides, the documents were verified from the DC’s office here and it was found that Tayagi had formed a parallel trust on the basis forged and fabricated documents with the help of selfstyle trustees without the knowledge/approval from the Gandhi Samark Nidhi (Central) at Raj Ghat, New Delhi. A case under Sections 419, 420, 448, 467, 468, 471 & 120B has been registered at the Sector-17 police station against Tyagi and others for forgery, cheating and embezzlement of funds and donations received in the name of Gandhi Samark Bhawan, Sector 16. A complaint was filed by Anand Kumar Sharan, general secretary, Gandhi Smarsk Nidhi (registered as an independent Trust), seeking action against 15 persons for fraud. The complainant alleged Dev Raj Tyagi, former incharge of Gandhi Bhawan, had organised a function on Gandhi Jayanti in 2022 and collected funds for an unauthorised Trust with a similar name to play a fraud on the sponsors. Chandigarh, January 14 The cybercrime police today claimed to have arrested the kingpin of an inter-state gang involved in creating fake helplines of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSEB) and fraudulently withdrawing money from the bank accounts of their victims. A team of the cybercrime police was sent to Jharkhand and Yar Mohammad, alias Guddu Raza, of Deoghar, was arrested on January 10. He was produced before the court that sent him to fiveday police remand. During investigation, it came to light that Guddu’s father, Noshad, is the Sarpanch of Mathadangal village and also Pardhan of the Gram Panchayat. The accused is a habitual cybercriminal. When the cybercrime police of his area conducted a raid to nab him, they were attacked by his accomplices. A case under Sections 147, 148, 149, 341, 323, 353 and 307 of the IPC was registered against Guddu and his accomplices at Palajori, Deoghar, in 2019. They were later released from the jail. The accused has made about Rs 50 lakh through his cybercrime activities as well as other illegal works all over India. He used the ill-gotten money to fund the election Duped Mohali resident of ~3.26L by creating fake PSPCL helpline The accused in custody of the cybercrime police. MADE ~50 LAKH BY CHEATING PEOPLE The accused has made about Rs 50 lakh through his cybercrime activities as well as other illegal works all over India. He used the ill-gotten money to fund the election campaign of his father, purchase luxury cars and to build a new house. MODUS OPERANDI ■ The accused mention their mobile numbers as fake customer helpline of the PSPCL ■ They tell victims that there are some issues with regard to bill payment, new connection, campaign of his father, purchase luxury cars and to build a new house in his village. The case was registered in September, 2022, under Sections 419, 420 and 120B of the IPC. A victim had reported that he had purchased a flat at Signature Towers, Sector 66-A, etc, and make the latter install Remote Access Apps (Any Desk, Quick Support) ■ This way, they get access to the bank accounts of their victims and fraudulently withdraw money Mohali, and needed a PSPCL meter for it. He searched for a customer helpline number (7008677490) of the PSPCL on Google and rang it up. The man who attended the call, posed as PSPCL representative Amit Kumar. continued on page 3 Cycles to be made Bluetooth-enabled Conduct energy PBS PROJECT Company starts trial run, system to be in place by mid-March Sandeep Rana WILL END GLITCHES CAUSED BY NETWORK ISSUE Tribune News Service Aashika Jain new Mohali DC Mohali, January 14 Aashika Jain, a 2015 batch IAS officer, has been posted as Mohali Deputy Commissioner. She replaces Amit Talwar, who has been transferred as Director, Sports and Youth Services, in addition to Special Secretary, Planning. Aashika was earlier Additional Deputy Commissioner, Urban Development, Jalandhar. She has done BA, LLB (Hons) from National Law University (2014) and Masters in Public Management from the JNU. The 23-year-old officer from Ambala Cantonment. — TNS Chandigarh, January 14 Users will be able to operate cycles of the Public Bicycle Sharing (PBS) project using Bluetooth by mid-March. In order to put to end various glitches caused by poor Internet network, Smart Bike Tech Private Limited, the agency managing the project, has decided to put in place a system which will enable a user to lock or unlock a cycle via Bluetooth besides the mobile phone Internet network. Owing to network issues, users faced difficulty in operating cycles with the Smart Bike app. Sometimes, locks did not open despite repeated attempts or users were not able to lock bikes even as ride time kept running. Following complaints by users, the company had earlier put up boosters at ■ Locks did not open despite repeated attempts ■ Users were not able to lock bikes even as ride time kept running 6K VANDALISM CASES A public bike-sharing docking station on Madhya Marg in Chandigarh. TRIBUNE PHOTO: RAVI KUMAR some stations, but those, too, failed to address these issues. From next month, the Hyderabad-based company will start the process of making the cycles run via Bluetooth and the system will be in place by mid-March. At present, a trial run of the same is going on. “All cycles are already Bluetooth-enabled. We just need to make the system run. There were issues of network coverage, which affected the cycle operations. All cycles have An official of the company said 6,000 cases of vandalism of PBS property had been reported. “There is an average of two and a half cases of vandalism per cycle. Some cycles were found damaged with stones while the others had broken pedals. Users also dumped bikes at places far from docking stations,” said the official. GPS and it will work through Bluetooth,” said an official of the Smart City Mission. At present, 2,500 bicycles are being provided at 310 docking stations across the city under the project. On August 12, 2021, the UT Administration had launched the first phase of the project, with 1,250 bicycles at 155 docking stations. There is a plan to take the count of bicycles to 5,000 and that of docking stations to 617. HC paves way for laying of 220 kV double-circuit line Chandigarh-Panchkula transmission system will augment power availability to City Beautiful Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 14 The Punjab and Haryana High Court has paved the way for the laying of “220 kV double-circuit ChandigarhPanchkula transmission line” dubbed as a project of “national importance”. The transmission system, once in place, is expected to augment power availability to the Union Territory of Chandigarh. The Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) is constructing towers for the transmission line. Information available suggests the project entails the raising of 56 towers. The project was approved by the Government of India in January 2016. Dismissing a bunch of three appeals, the Bench of Justice Augustine George Masih and Justice Sandeep Moudgil noticed that 99 per cent of the work had been completed by the Union of India and other respondents. The erection of one tower and stringing of wire between two others remained that, too, because of the pendency of the present litigation. Speaking for the Bench, Justice Moudgil asserted the investment made so far in the project and the fact that the transmission line would be passing over three or five temporary labourers’ huts could not be ignored. Further, the 99% WORK COMPLETE Dismissing a bunch of three appeals, the Bench noticed that 99 per cent of the work had been completed by the Union of India and other respondents. The erection of one tower and stringing of wire between two others remained that, too, because of the pendency of the present litigation. respondent-PGCIL had already shown readiness to bear the total costs for their shifting. Going into the background of the matter, Justice Moudgil observed the appellants before the court were aggrieved by the laying down of the transmission line at Mubarikpur village in Dera Bassi. The matter was placed before the Division Bench after a Single Judge found that the huts raised by the c m y b labourers/workers at a brickkiln were temporary in nature and could be shifted to any other place within the premises, for which the respondent would bear the cost. At that time, it was further observed that 90 per cent of the work stood completed, with the installation of 51 out of 56 towers. Justice Moudgil observed it was evident that a public notice dated July 13, 2017, was duly issued. Admittedly objections were not filed by the appellant to the notice. Referring to the issue raised by the appellant regarding non-mentioning of Mubarikpur village specifically in the public notice, Justice Moudgil observed the wording of the notice were required to be examined in the light of categorical mentioning “in and around the area of and/or between the villages”. It was to be read in a wider sense in letter and in spirit, considering the vital public importance of the project. “This court, in the light of the discussion and on examination of the record before us, does not find any infirmity and perversity in the order dated October 25, 2021, passed by the Single Judge. Therefore, the same is upheld. Accordingly, all present appeals fail being devoid of any merits and are dismissed,” the Bench concluded. audit soon, panel tells UT dept Dushyant Singh Pundir Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 14 To understand energy usage and ways to cut electricity costs, the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) has directed the UT Electricity Department to conduct an energy audit at the earliest. The energy audit will assess the pattern of energy consumption in the residential as well as commercial buildings and provide a complete assessment on electricity consumption and energy efficiency. There was a suo motu hearing in order to ascertain and take on record the work done vis-a-vis targets by the Electricity Department towards replacement of mechanical and defective electronic meters and providing meters for unmetered connections and also action plan for such replacement in 2022-23. The commission has observed that all feeders and substation are not metered and directed the department to submit an action plan within 30 days for the installation of required meters and conduct an energy audit at the earliest. In the compliance report, the department submitted that of 3,134 feeders, electronic meters had been installed at 465 feeders and 234 meters at 2,411 transformers so far. Meters were yet to be installed at 2,669 feeders and 2,175 transformers in the city, stated the department. The department stated the total number of consumers was estimated to be 2,36,654 in the city as per the tariff order of 2022-23. The department further submitted that there are no To provide full assessment of electricity consumption, power efficiency NO METERS AT 2,175 TRANSFORMERS In the compliance report, the UT Electricity Department submitted that of 3,134 feeders, electronic meters had been installed at 465, while 234 meters have been installed at 2,411 transformers. Meters were yet to be installed at 2,669 feeders and 2,175 transformers, stated the department. The department stated the total number of consumers was estimated to be 2,36,654 in the city as per the tariff order of 2022-23. unmetered consumers and the 4,531 defective electronic meters were to be replaced in 2022-23 and meters estimated for new connections were 1,220. They were able to replace 3,952 defective electronic meters and provide 1,561 new connections to consumers in the first and second quarter (from April to September). The department also submitted that 24,230 smart meters had also been installed in the city. However, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had shelved the project, under which smart electricity meters were to be installed in the entire city, in October last year. The Central Government had approved Rs 241 crore in May, 2021, for the installation of smart meters in the city continued on page 3