31012023-CT-01.qxd 1/31/2023 12:24 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune CASH, JEWELLERY WORTH ~66L STOLEN FROM P’KULA HOUSE GANG OF CHILD THIEVES BUSTED, FOUR ARRESTED DOCTORS OF PGI PERFORM SIMULTANEOUS TRANSPLANTS Four thieves strike at a locked house in Sector 4 of P’kula, decamp with cash, jewellery worth ~66 lakh. P2 Police bust a gang of child thieves with arrest of four persons, recover a five-day-old baby girl from them. P2 Surgeons of the PGI conduct its first-ever simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplants. P3 » » TRICITY COVID REPORT CHD P’KULA MOHALI POSITIVE 99,360 48,434 1,01,165 RECOVERED 98,179 48,013 99,995 NEW CASES 0 0 2 ACTIVE 0 0 2 CHANGE 0 0 2 DEATHS 1,181 421 1,168 NEW 0 0 0 AIR QUALITY INDEX PANCHKULA 53 MOHALI 54 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD INBRIEF 40-YEAR OLD FOUND DEAD Mohali: A 40-year-old Jharkhand resident was found dead in his rented accommodation at Mohali village on Monday morning. The victim, Sameer, was an employee of a private firm. The police received a call after which a team broke open the door and found the body lying on the bed with blood oozing out of the mouth. The victim used to live in a paying guest accommodation with his partner, who had gone home. The body has been kept in the mortuary of the Phase-6 Civil Hospital, said the Phase-1 SHO. TNS MAN HELD WITH 55-GM HEROIN Chandigarh: The District Crime Cell of the UT police has arrested a 27-year-old man for possessing 55.15-gm heroin. Suspect Manpreet Singh, a resident of Tarn Taran, was arrested near the CTU workshop in Sector 43. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered against the suspect at the Sector 36 police station. TNS Bomb scare at Sector 26 club Chandigarh, January 30 The police today conducted a search at a Sector 26 club following a bomb threat call. The police said manager of ‘ASOD’ received a call from an unidentified person on his phone this afternoon, claiming there was a bomb in the club. The manager informed the police control room, following which teams, including Operations Cell and bomb disposal and dog squads, reached the scene. A search was conducted, but no suspicious object Continued on page 2 Zone-I licencee’s term ends today |No licence to lone contractor Chandigarh, January 30 With councillors tearing into the Municipal Corporation over its move to hand over all 89 parking lots in the city to a lone contractor, the civic body today decided to run these spaces on its own till a new agency takes over. While 57 parking lots in the city had gone free after the expiry of Zone-II agency’s contract on January 23, the contract of Zone-I agency, which is managing 32 other lots, ends on January 31. The councillors, cutting across party lines, refused to accord approval to the agenda to extend licence of all 89 lots in the city to the Zone-I contractor for a period of six months on increased fee or till the time a new contract is allotted, whichever is earlier. The House instead resolved that the civic body would run the parking spaces till the time a new agency was hired. Raising transparency issues and questions over parking branch officers, BJP councillor Saurabh Joshi questioned Mayor Anup Gupta on how the agenda for allocating con- AGENDA FACES OPPOSITION FROM COUNCILLORS ■ Contract for 57 Zone II parking lots expired on January 23, that of Zone I agency, managing 32 lots, ends on Jan 31 ■ Agenda to give licence for 89 lots to Zone I agency for 6 months on increased fee or till a new contract is allotted was tabled ■ Councillors opposed the move and House resolved that MC will run the parking spaces till the time a new agency is hired by the corporation MC TO COLLECT FEE, PAY TO AGENCY MC Commissioner Anindita Mitra has said under their new contract, payment from visitors will be collected through UPI directly into the MC account and the parking contractor will be paid by the civic body later. At present, reverse is being done. tract to the Zone-I contractor had been tabled in the House with his consent. “Why was the agenda regarding new tender not WHY NO TENDER 3 MONTHS AGO? Why was agenda regarding new tender not floated in the House three months before the parking contract was to expire? ❝ — Saurabh Joshi, BJP COUNCILLOR ❞ floated in the House three months before the parking contract was to expire? We have nothing to do with contractors. We all have been Will take up issue of more grants for MC with Centre, says Purohit Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 30 Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit today gave an assurance to the Municipal Corporation House of taking up with the Centre the issue of increased share in grants as per the 4th Delhi Finance Commission recommendations. The assurance came after Mayor Anup Gupta urged Purohit to transfer maintenance of all roads and horticulture departments to the MC besides getting the commission recommendations implemented. In its report submitted in March 2014, the commission had recommended an increase in the MC share from 17.5% to 30% of the total receipts of the UT Administration. Purohit’s predecessor VP Singh Badnore had written to the Centre in this regard, but in vain. In his maiden address to the Punjab Guv and UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit addresses MC House meet on Monday. Mayor Anup Gupta is also seen. VICKY AGENDA ITEMS APPROVED BY HOUSE ■ Allowing land at Sehaj Safai Kendra to process waste of four southern housing societies served notice for violation of the Solid Waste Management rules ■ Rough estimate of ~1.43 crore for creating sensory park in Sector 22 ■ Finance & Contracts Committee formed with Harpreet Kaur Babla and Dalip Sharma (both BJP), Prem Lata and Neha (both AAP), and Gurpreet Singh Gabi (Congress) as members ■ Delegate powers to constitute 3 statutory committees by Mayor ■ Construction of approach road and developing area near Special DG BSF (Western Command) headquarters in Industrial Area, Phase II MC House, Purohit said: “I will take up the Finance Commission grant issue with the Home Minister and find out where and why it is stuck. I will also look into the road demand.” He advised all councillors to Continued on page 2 Chahal re-elected president of Golf Club Deepankar Sharda Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 30 Lt Col HS Chahal (retd) retained the post of Chandigarh Golf Club (CGC) president as he defeated his arch rival Major Rajinder Singh Virk (retd) in a neck-andneck contest. Chahal emerged victorious by 29 votes — the lowest victory margin in a decade. While Chahal polled 591 votes, his rival bagged 562. A total of three votes were declared invalid. On Sunday, as many as 1,156 members out of the 1,800 eligible voters had cast their ballot. Last year, a total of 1,154 members had cast their vote and Chahal had defeated Virk FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE MC to manage all 89 parking lots till new agency selected Tribune News Service 76 MAX 23°C | MIN 10°C YESTERDAY MAX 22°C | MIN 13.7°C SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 7.13 AM TWITTER/THETRIBUNECHD Sandeep Rana CHANDIGARH MAINLY CLEAR SKY SUNSET TUESDAY 5.58 PM » TUESDAY | 31 JANUARY 2023 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST DEFEATS VIRK BY 29 VOTES LOWEST VICTORY MARGIN IN DECADE ■ Lt Col Chahal polled 591 votes against Maj Rajinder Singh Virk’s 562 ■ This is the lowest winning margin for the post in the past decade ■ Last year, Chahal had defeated Virk by a margin of 99 votes WILL DELIVER ON PROMISES We approached voters on the basis of our past performance, and this year too, we promise to deliver. We will work diligently and try to improve the club in all aspects. — Lt Col HS Chahal (retd), CHANDIGARH GOLF CLUB PRESIDENT ❝ ❞ by 99 votes. He had secured 505 votes, while Virk got 406. “The members have reposed faith in me and entrusted us with the baton. We will continue to work towards club’s development. We will bring more facilities for members and focus on developing the sport. My team will create more opportunities at the greens. Our work speaks for itself. Our team worked to the best of its ability. We’ll make the coming year more interesting and fruitful,” said 69-year-old Chahal. Speaking on the upcoming golf league, he said: “This year’s golf league will witness higher participation. We have learnt a lot from the last edition and will try to overcome the shortcomings. Like, the last year’s edition was held a bit late due to delayed polls. This year, the polls were Continued on page 2 c m y b contracted by city residents, who have sent us to the House,” he said, alleging subletting of parking lots was being done and officers were silent over it. Echoing his views, BJP councillor and Senior Deputy Mayor Kanwarjit Singh Rana said: “There should be a committee, comprising two councillors from all parties and nominated councillors, to look into the parking issue. Besides, it should be ensured not even a single rupee under the new parking tender is increased. Officers responsible for the parking issue should be penalised and subletting checked.” Tearing into MC officers, Congress councillor Gurbax Rawat raised questions over “smart parking”. “Before each tender, promise of making parking lots smart is made. But that never happens. Instead, contractors fail to deposit their fee like previous contractor Arya Toll Infra Ltd.” Party councillor Gurpeet Singh Gabi said claims of putting up display boards, installing automatic boom barriers and introducing a Continued on page 2 SHAKING A LEG G20 delegates perform bhangra at Lake Club in Chandigarh on Monday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Coordinated policies needed to meet global challenges: Tomar Two-day financial architecture working group meet kicks off Vijay C Roy & Dushyant Singh Pundir Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 30 India’s chairmanship of G20 is a proud moment for citizens and the nation is aware of the responsibilities that come with it, said Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar while jointly inaugurating the two-day meeting of the first International Financial Architecture Working Group of G20 here with Minister of Food Processing Industries Pashupati Kumar Paras. Tomar said the world was INCLUSIVE AGENDA Through our inclusive & ambitious agenda of G20, we aim to express true spirit of our goal, ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’. ❝ ❞ — Narendra Singh Tomar, AGRI MINISTER facing many complex challenges, which were deeply interlinked and not defined by boundaries alone. “The challenges being faced are global in nature and require global solutions, therefore the world community today needs to push towards globally coordinated policies and actions,” he said. “We will be happy to share our template of development model and also look forward to learning from all. Through our priorities and outcomes this year, and through deliberations, we aim to find practical global solutions. In doing so, we also take a keen interest in amplifying the Continued on page 2