15072024-CT-01.qxd 7/14/2024 11:39 PM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune RAILWAY EMPLOYEES PRESS FOR OLD PENSION SCHEME DRIVER, HELPER RUN OVER BY TRUCK IN ZIRAKPUR AISHWARYA, KIM KARDASHIAN GO VIRAL ON INSTAGRAM Northern Railway Men's Union, Sirhind Branch, stages a rally against the Central Government. P2 A truck driver and his helper were checking tyre pressure when a truck ran them over. P2 International star Kim Kardashian shared a delightful moment with Aishwarya Rai on her Instagram account. P4 » » CHANDIGARH 91 PANCHKULA 72 MOHALI 84 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD INBRIEF IMMIGRATION AGENTS BOOKED Chandigarh: The UT police have registered cases against immigration consultants for duping people on the pretext of sending them abroad. In a complaint, Jasbir Singh, a resident of Ludhiana, alleged that Kulvir Singh Kaura of Vast Visa Immigration Solution, Sector 17, cheated him out of Rs 6 lakh. Another complainant, Vikram Singh, a resident of Sector 22, alleged that a woman of Mani Majra duped him of Rs 2 lakh on the pretext of sending him abroad. TNS YOUTH HELD FOR CARRYING KNIFE Chandigarh: A 22-year-old youth has been arrested by the UT police for carrying a knife. The suspect, Pardeep, a resident of Maloya, was held from Phase I, Industrial Area. The police have registered a case under the Arms Act. TNS Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 14 Not mincing words over the BJP’s defeat in the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, senior party leader and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said “this was not the seat to be lost.” Addressing a meeting of the BJP’s executive at the party’s office in Sector 33, the minister admitted that the party was confident of winning the Chandigarh seat, which it had won for two terms. “Please all pardon me, but this was not the seat to be lost by the BJP It pained me. May . be God’s grace was perhaps less on us as there was no lack in hard work either by the party or the candidate,” said the minister. She, however, said, “Chandigarh is not to be lost in the coming days. We have to win again. The BJP will wrest the seat. I will be here, if you want me to.” She shared during the meeting, inputs regarding the Lok Sabha election were taken and an analysis was done. A resolution was also passed. The party leaders said they were sure of performing well in the next Municipal Corporation election. Slams Congress for creating ‘fake narratives’ Slamming the Congress, the Finance Minister said the party could not win even 100 Sandeep Rana Tribune News Service seats in the third consecutive Lok Sabha elections. Sitharaman, who also held a meeting with traders to understand their issues, said the Congress could not win even a single seat in 14 states. Thirteen parties under the INDIA bloc could win only 232 seats while the BJP by its own won 242 seats. “But they are celebrating as if they have won the elections. In the past 10 Lok Sabha elections from 1984 to 2024, the Congress could not cross even the 250 mark. But, they have this artificial confidence,” she said. Sitharaman felt the Opposition did not Curtains on Mango Mela contest this election in a fair manner. They created fake narratives. The impact of these narratives was so on the ground that even though you tried to dispel people’s fears, it’s already late. She said statements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari were twisted by the Opposition on several issues and they tried to create a fake narrative. She suggested the BJP should make people aware of the facts to counter these fake narratives. Rahul Gandhi abused the RSS and had to apologise in TRIBUNE PHOTO. NITIN MITTAL the court. The Congress said there was corruption in Rafale deal, and they had to again apologise in the court. But, they are shameless, she added. Former city MP Kirron Kher said she would stay put in Chandigarh and the BJP would perform well in future. City BJP president Jatinder Pal Malhotra said, “The party lost by a small margin. Now, we have to make our future course strong and win all coming elections.” Senior BJP leader Sanjay Tandon said the party was going to achieve more milestones in the third term. Please pardon me, ❝this wasallnot the seat but to be lost by the BJP. It pained me. May be God’s grace was perhaps less on us as there was no lack in hard work either by the party or the candidate. ❞ Nirmala Sitharaman, UNION FINANCE MINISTER allegiance to Tandon, then city unit president, and the others to MP Kher. Whatever their positions were, differences remained. It had been observed that some disgruntled leaders had worked against the BJP candidate. Close associates of those leaders did not campaign and created a political situation instead, which helped Congress candidate Manish Tewari. Sources said the names of certain leaders had been given to the party high command for action. Deadlock over hike in mess diet rates may end today: PU University to give options to protesting students Tribune News Service APNI MANDI: Sector 43, Sector 45 & Maloya MOHALI APNI MANDI: Phase V PANCHKULA APNI MANDI: MDC, Sector 5 Visitors throng the 31st Mango Mela at Pinjore Garden on the concluding day on Sunday. Dera Bassi, July 14 The Dera Bassi-Issapur level crossing will remain closed for repairs from July 15 (8 am) to 19 (6 pm). Residents of more than 12 villages will be affected due to the closure of the crossing. A large number of people, including schoolchildren, employees, businessmen and milkmen use this level crossing every day. They will have to take long detours to reach their destinations, as the newly built IssapurBhankharpur causeway is open to light vehicles only. Heavy vehicles will now have to take the Janetpur, Bakarpur roads. The Chadiala-Dappar road is another option for the road users, though they will have to travel 15 km extra. Railway officials said owing to the increased rail traffic on this section for the past six months, the track needed immediate repairs. Chandigarh, July 14 A month after the Congress wrested the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat from the BJP the , top city leaders of the saffron party today put up a united show at the executive meeting, which was presided over by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Apart from city party president Jatinder Pal Malhotra, former two-time city MP Kirron Kher, ex-BJP presidents Arun Sood and Sanjay Tandon, who was the party candidate for the seat, shared the dais. During the campaigning for the LS election, these leaders were rarely seen together. Some party leaders had felt that Sood, who was among ticket aspirants, was not seen actively campaigning for Tandon, with whom he once shared a good bonhomie. Kher was also not seen campaigning during the election. On the day of result, she had criticised Tandon for keeping her out of campaigning. She had also said works done by her in the past 10 years were not propagated among voters of the city. Tandon and Kher had been at loggerheads in the past. At one time, half of the BJP councillors owed Ex-MP Kirron Kher, BJP national vice-president Saudan Singh, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, city party chief Jatinder Pal Malhotra; and former city presidents Sanjay Tandon and Arun Sood during the executive meeting in Sector 33 on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: PRADEEP TEWARI CHANDIGARH Tribune News Service Top city BJP leaders put up show of unity Sandeep Rana WHAT’S ON Issapur level crossing closed for five days FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE This was not the seat to be lost: Sitharaman Union Finance Minister addresses BJP’s executive in city Mystery shrouds death of PU student Chandigarh, July 14 A student of Panjab University, who was residing in a hostel on the campus, died under mysterious circumstances. The computer science student, hailing from Karnal, had gone for a tour in the hills with a group of her friends. She died on her way back to the city. A resident of Girls Hostel Number 3, the girl had left the hostel around 10:40 pm with her friends. None of the friends is a student studying in the university. According to the hostel warden, Simranpreet Kaur, the university authorities were informed about her death in the morning. She visited the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, where the girl’s body was brought by her friends. According to the warden, the girl’s family members also reached the hospital. The DSW (w) Simrit Kahlon said the authorities were waiting for a word from the police who were investigating the matter. — TNS Chandigarh, July 14 Deadlock between student organisations protesting a hike in mess diet prices and the Panjab University authorities may end tomorrow. After the talks between the Dean, Students’ Welfare, and the protesting students remained inconclusive on Friday, the authorities had decided to hold another meeting at 3 pm on Monday. The PU authorities had hiked the mess diet rate from Rs 39 to Rs 46.25 and special diet price from Rs 44 to Rs 51. The student organisations staged a protest outside the Vice-Chancellor’s office on Thursday against the hike. They submitted a memorandum to the VC demanding a rollback of the increase. They had also demanded that the price of normal died be fixed at Rs 35 and that of special diet at Rs 40. “We are ready to hear stu- MAX 36°C | MIN 28°C YESTERDAY MAX 37.3°C | MIN 27.6°C SUNRISE TUESDAY 5:32 AM Police search houses of Bar Assn chief Chandigarh, July 14 The UT police today conducted searches at two houses in Panchkula and the office of Vikas Malik, president of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association, to recover the hard disc containing CCTV footage of an alleged assault on a lawyer. However, they did not find the hard disc. The police obtained a search warrant from the court and conducted searches at Malik’s houses in Sectors 20 and 21 in Panchkula as well as the Bar Association’s office in the High Court complex. Complainant Ranjit Singh had alleged that on July 1, he and a female advocate visited Malik’s office at the High Court premises to serve summons. Malik and his associates allegedly verbally abused and also physically assaulted him. The incident reportedly occurred in Malik’s office, which had CCTV cameras. After the incident, Malik had allegedly removed the hard disc containing the CCTV recording. — TNS 2 city residents fall prey to cyber fraud Chandigarh, July 14 Two more residents of the city have been duped in cybercrime cases. They have lost a total of Rs 25 lakh. According to the police, Sandeep Gupta, a resident of Sector 49, reported that while surfing social media, he came across an advertisement for an advanced course in stock trading. As he clicked on the link, he received an invitation from an unidentified person to join a WhatsApp group. He joined the group and ended up losing Rs 17.33 lakh. In the other incident, a woman was conned out of Rs 7.80 lakh. She reported that a fraudster fraudulently transferred the amount from her bank account through multiple transactions. The cybercrime police have registered cases in both incidents and started investigation. — TNS 3-yr-old boy falls off roof, dies PHOTO: VICKY AIR QUALITY INDEX TWITTER/THETRIBUNECHD PARTLY CLOUDY SUNSET MONDAY 7.25 PM » MONDAY | 15 JULY 2024 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST Students have food at Hostel No. 1 in Panjab University. dents’ demands. We can offer them various options — diet at Rs 35, Rs 42 or the recently proposed rate. If they want us to reduce the mess diet price to Rs 35, then they should be ready for some compromise on the quality and number of items,” said Professor Amit Chauhan, Dean, Students’ Welfare. The students feel that the increase in the rates puts a burden on their pocket. “This is around 16 per cent hike in hostel mess diet rates, which is quite a lot for a student who has food in the mess daily. The prices have increased but the quality of food has not improved over time. The authorities should roll back the decision in students’ interest,” said Amarpal Toor, a student Continued on page 2 Dera Bassi, July 14 A three-year-old boy, who was the only son in the family, died after falling off the roof of his house in Bhagwanpur village last evening. The victim, Anshul, son of Shiv Sagar, was playing with other children on the roof when he fell off accidentally. His father, an industrial worker, was away for work when the incident took place. The child was taken to the Dera Bassi subdivisional hospital where the doctors declared him dead on arrival. — TNS Licence for New Chandigarh residential colony cancelled: GMADA to HC Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 14 Nearly eight years after a house building society applied for a licence to set up a residential colony on 108.58 acres in New Chandigarh, the “competent authority” has ordered its cancellation. Information to this effect was given to the Punjab and Haryana High Court during the hearing of a bunch of pleas. As the matter came up for a resumed hearing, a status report by way of an affidavit dated July 4, furnished by GMADA Senior Town Planner Harpreet Kaur, was placed before the Bench of Justice Arun Palli and Justice Vikram Aggarwal. Referring to the affidavit, the State counsel submitted that the licence to develop a residential colony over 108.58 acres was issued by the GMADA Chief Administrator based on the approvals/sanctions accorded by the Department of Town and Country Planning for change of land use (CLU). He submitted that the competent authority had ordered cancellation of the licence granted to the Indian Cooperative House Building Society and other respondents and formal orders in this regard were likely to be issued. Accepting his request, the Bench granted him time to furnish a specific affidavit in this regard. Referring to another affidavit, the State counsel submitted that notices were issued by the office of Punjab Director, Town and Country Planning, to the c m y b Indian Coop House Building Society was planned on 108.58 acres landowners, promoters and petitioners for a personal hearing. As many as 13 petitioners/landowners appeared before the compe- tent authority on the appointed date, but the promoters/authorised representatives chose not to appear. “Accordingly, the landowners were heard. Further, pursuant to the proceedings recorded on June 21, the promoters were required to submit the original consent letters with the necessary documents appended therewith on or before July 2 and show if payments were made to the landowners in lieu of the consent letters. However, no response was ever received from them. Therefore, the competent authority shall proceed for cancellation of the permissions/ sanctions accorded for change of land use,” the State counsel added. In one of the pleas, Bahadar Singh and other applicants/petitioners through counsel Charanpal Singh Bagri and Dr Gurjit Kaur Bagri had prayed for a direction to Punjab Urban Development Authority and other respondents to suspend/cancel the licence, CLU, layout plan and the RERA number granted to the respondent-promoters on the allegations that “these were obtained by fraud”. Two more pleas were filed for direction to the official respondents to transfer the investigation of a case registered in November 2022 at a police station in a Mullanpur in Mohali to the CBI as “the petitioners have lost faith and confidence in the investigating agency, as also the process that has been carried out so far”
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