07112024-CT-01.qxd 11/7/2024 12:10 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune DIGITAL ARREST: 73-YR-OLD DUPED OF ~16 LAKH P'KULA COPS ARREST PUNJAB BANKER FOR ~82L FRAUD I AIM TO EVOLVE WITH EVERY SONG: KARAN AUJLA The victim, Roma Bhalla, lives with her husband in Panchkula, their children are settled abroad. P2 Muktsar-based bank manager allegedly has links with a fraudster who duped a resident for ~82L. P2 The singer, who hails from Ludhiana district, agrees that expectations are 'motivating and daunting'. P4 » » WHAT’S ON CHANDIGARH 46th Annual Chandigarh Sangeet Sammelan: To be organised by the Indian National Theatre in collaboration with the Durga Das Foundation from November 8 to 10, Strawberry Fields High School auditorium, Sector 26. On Day 1, classical vocalist Rutuja Lad will perform at 6 pm, followed by vocalist Atul Khandekar. Fifth edition of the Tricity Theatre Festival: Tagore Theatre, Sector 18, play ‘Poster’ to be staged on November 7 from 6:30 pm, entry by ticket PANCHKULA Abhivyakti Season 4: AWWA Lit Fest, from November 8 to 10, Chandimandir APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 34, 56 and Ram Darbar Mohali: Sector 76 Panchkula: Sector 5 Please send information about events in tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com Housing board officer caught taking bribe Chandigarh, November 6 A Junior Engineer (JE) of the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) was arrested by the CBI for allegedly taking Rs 5,000 bribe from Vikas, a resident of Phase II, Ram Darbar. In a complaint lodged with the CBI, Vikas said he had reported an illegal construction in his neighbourhood to the CHB in September. When no action was taken, he sent a reminder in early October. On October 18, Bhuwan Chand, JE from the Enforcement Wing, visited Vikas’ home and informed him that there was a complaint regarding illegal construction at his own house. When Vikas met the official at the office, he demanded Rs 5,000 to resolve the matter. Vikas approached the CBI. Officers concerned laid a trap and caught the JE taking bribe on Tuesday. — TNS MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 30°C | MIN 17°C YESTERDAY MAX 30°C | MIN 17.3°C SUNSET THURSDAY 5.31 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 6.42 AM » THURSDAY | 7 NOVEMBER 2024 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST TWITTER/THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE High Court junks pleas against privatisation of UT power wing Dismissal clears way for electricity dept to go into private hands Saurabh Malik WHAT COURT OBSERVED Tribune News Service Chandigarh, November 6 Nearly four years after the UT Powermen Union moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the privatisation of the electricity wing, a Division Bench today dismissed both this and another plea. Among other things, the Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Anil Kshetarpal asserted judicial review of policy decisions was ‘extremely narrow. ’ Referring to a Supreme Court verdict, the court observed the judgment held it was neither within the domain of the courts nor scope of judicial review to embark upon an inquiry as to whether a particular public policy is appropriate or whether better public policy can be evolved. The dismissal of the pleas, along with the court’s observations on judicial review, has cleared a significant hurdle in the privatisation process. The court had twice granted stay, which was vacated by the Supreme ■ The court referred to “extremely ■ The court clarified the transfer narrow” scope of judicial review in policy decisions, while citing a Supreme Court verdict. ■ Petitioners had argued the 100 per cent sale of the government’s stake was unjust under Section 131 of the Electricity Act-2003. scheme did not require a prior bidding process, and the service conditions of employees would not be adversely affected. ■ The Bench was told that the immovable assets of the UT electricity wing were not part of the proposed transfer. Court. Meanwhile, the bidding process continued and Eminent Electricity Distribution Limited was considered to be the highest bidder. But a letter of interest was not issued due to the writ petition’s pendency. The company was represented by senior advocates Chetan Mittal and Sumeet Mahajan. The Centre was represented by Additional Solicitor-General of India Satya Pal Jain with senior panel counsel Dheeraj Jain and Neha Sharma. UT was represented by senior standing counsel Amit Jhanji with counsel Sumeet Jain, Himanshu Arora and Zaheen Kaur. The Bench, on a previous date of hearing, was told on the petitioner’s behalf that the union was aggrieved by the decision to privatise the electricity wing by selling 100 per cent stake of the government in the absence of any provision under Section 131 of the Electricity Act-2003. The Bench was also told that the process of privatisation of the electricity wing could not be initiated at all, especially when it was running in profits. The sale of 100 per cent stake was unjust and illegal as the electricity wing was revenue surplus for the past three years. It was economically efficient having transmission and distribution losses less than the target of 15 per cent fixed by the Ministry of Power. It has also contended that the transfer scheme without calling for objections from all the stakeholders could not be legally sustained and acted upon. As per section 131(2) of the Act, power could not be transferred to a totally private entity with no stake or control of the government. The Bench asserted Section 131 did not envisage existence of a transfer scheme before inviting bids. In fact, the transfer scheme was required to be drawn up after identifying a transferee. “The petitioners are the employees of the UT Electricity Department. Proviso to Section 133 itself ensures that the service conditions of the employees shall not be in any way less favourable than those which would have been applicable to them if there had been no transfer under the transfer scheme,” the Bench added. The court added it was clarified during the course of hearing that the immovable assets of UT electricity wing was not proposed to be transferred. Protesters at Group Home in Sector 31 on Wednesday. SHEETAL Group Home ready, special children await admission Tribune News Service Chandigarh, November 6 More than 25 persons with disabilities and their families staged a silent protest against the UT Administration near the new Group Home in Sector 31 here today. The building of Group Home is ready and furnished. But despite multiple reminders, the UT Administration has not recruited any staff and vocational instructors to date. No Parents protest hefty security deposit admission or inauguration date has been fixed yet. “The families are desperately waiting and suffering,” says Tejpal Kaur, 70-year-old mother of an adult girl with intellectual disability. The new Group Home building was completed and handed over to the UT Social Welfare Department in July. Built at a cost of Rs 35 crore, it has a capacity of 90 inmates with mental and intellectual disabilities and is claimed to be the biggest building for such purpose in the country. The UT Administration has missed multiple deadlines for starting admissions to the home. The security deposit of Rs 20 lakh for each resident is unaffordable for most families. Even the EWS category applicants are being asked to pay a security deposit of Rs 5 lakh. continued on page 2 Four arrested for Dhakoli 21-yr-old girl killed at Dhanas, brother held liquor vend robbery Victim was in relationship Tribune News Service Tribune News Service The SUV has been impounded by the Sector 36 police. Pedestrian dies after being hit by SUV Tribune News Service Chandigarh, November 6 A 45-year-old man died after being hit by a Range Rover while crossing the Sector 35/22 road today. His wife narrowly escaped. Sources said the couple was going to the market for Chhath Puja shopping. The victim has been identified Sat Narayan Paswan (45), who worked as peon at Punjab Markfed, Sector 35. The sources he was rushed to the PGI in the same vehicle where the doctors declared him dead on arrival. The police Jaswinder Singh, who is employed as driver, was at the wheel when Victim, wife were going to market for Chhath Puja shopping the accident took place. An eyewitness, Ashish, informed the police about the accident. The sources said that eyewitness told the police that the vehicle was being driven at a high speed. A case under Sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 281 (rash driving) has been registered at the Sector 36 police station and the driver arrested. He was later released on bail. The vehicle has been impounded by the police. Mohali, November 6 The police have arrested four youths who were involved in a gunpoint robbery at a liquor vend in Mamta Enclave, Dhakoli, on the night of November 1. They have been identified as Panchkula residents Nishant Rana (20), Manveer (22), Vishal Kumar, alias Karandi (19) and Pankaj, alias Nikhil (19). The police have recovered two pistols, one cartridge, two bullet shells, two knives and the bike used in the crime. Mohali SSP Deepak Pareek and SP (Investigation) Jyoti Yadav said, “During interrogation, the accused confessed to procuring illegal weapons from Uttar Pradesh to commit robberies. They were produced before the court today and the Judge sent them to police custody.” Manoj Kumar, an employee at the liquor shop in Mamata Enclave, had reported that around 11 pm on November 1, three masked persons entered the shop, while their fourth accomplice waited out- Accused in custody of the Mohali police. TRIBUNE: PHOTO: VICKY side on a motorcycle. Two robbers approached Manoj at the counter. One of them held the employee from behind, pressed a pistol against his back and asked him to hand over all valuables. The other one forcibly took ?10,000 from the cash drawer. One of the robbers fired a shot, which hit the wall in the basement. Hearing the gunshot, Deepak Sandhu, the owner of the shop, came out. The robbers then fired again, hitting Sandhu in the chest. He has been admitted to the PGI here. On a statement of Manoj Kumar, a resident of Balachaur, a case under Sections 309(4), 309(6), 311, 109(1), 332(B), 115(2), 3(5) BNS, and Arms Act was registered at the Dhakoli police station on November 2. Mohali CIA in-charge Harminder Singh said Nishant was 12th pass and was involved in a fraud case registered at Chandimandir. Manveer, 8th pass, was booked in an Excise Act case at Sector 7, Panchkula. Vishal is 6th pass and he was involved in a brawl case registered at the Mansa Devi police station. Pankaj, who is 10th pass, has no criminal history. Chandigarh, November 6 A 21-year-old girl was allegedly murdered by her elder brother, who opposed her friendship with a relative. Laxmi’s body was found at her home in Dhanas last evening. Her brother Vishal has been arrested. Laxmi was in a relationship with a boy she wished to marry, but her brother disapproved of it. On Tuesday, while Lakshmi was alone at home, Vishal arrived there. Heated arguments took place. The investigation suggests that Vishal hit his sister on the head with a stick before slitting her throat with a razor. After the attack, Vishal reportedly locked the house, and gave the keys to a neighbour’s son. Later, the victim’s younger brother came home and found the house locked. When he looked through a window, he saw her lying in a pool of blood. with a relative THROAT SLIT The investigation suggests that Vishal hit his sister on the head with a stick before slitting her throat with a razor. After the attack, Vishal reportedly locked the house, and gave the keys to a neighbour’s son. The door was bolted from the inside. The killers might have exited through a window. The police were informed. A forensics team inspected the crime scene. Vishal’s phone was switched off, but he was nabbed a few hours later. The girl’s father, a tailor, was at work while her mother was reportedly visiting a relative when the girl was murdered. A case has been filed at the Sarangpur police station. “The investigation is at a preliminary stage, as the role of other family members is also being verified,” said a police source. Asia rankings: PU position rises to 269, some pvt varsities fare better Deepankar Sharda Tribune News Service Chandigarh, November 6 After retaining the same ranking bracket for the past four years, Panjab University’s (PU) aggressive approach to find better places in various rankings got a major push as the institution got Rank 269 in the latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) 2025 Asia University Rankings. The private university of the region also performed fairly well in the rankings released today. Since 2021, the PU had been ranked in the 301-350 bracket. Now ranked 269, it shares the same spot with NJSC KIMEP University, Kazakhstan. In the QS World University Rankings 2025, the university was ranked #1001-1200 earlier this year. As per the ranking criteria, the university bagged a score of 31.3 in the overall category, followed by 1.9 in inbound exchange, 76.8 in staff with PhD, 15.6 in faculty-student ratio, 28.7 in academic reputation, 35.1 in citations per paper, 43.1 in papers per faculty, 44.4 in international research network, 6.9 in international students, 1.1 in outbound exchange and 30.7 in employer reputation. “We are happy that our rankings have improved. It INSTITUTIONS OF THE REGION PANJAB UNIVERSITY 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 171-180 201-250 251-300 301-350 291-300 291-300 301-350 301-350 301-350 301-350 =269 CHANDIGARH VARSITY 2022 271-280 2023 =185 2024 149 2025 =120 CHITKARA UNIVERSITY 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 SHOOLINI, SOLAN 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 601+ 601-650 551-600 501-550 399 c m y b 291-300 271-280 251-260 213 168 THAPAR INSTITUTE, PATIALA 2018 210 2019 271-280 2020 261-270 2021 251-260 2022 281-290 2023 228 2024 281-290 2025 =261 has been possible due to efforts made by all stakeholders,” said Prof Renu Vig, PU Vice-Chancellor. Last year, the university was awarded a score of 14.8 in academic reputation, followed by 12.1 in employer reputation, 8.8 in faculty-student ratio, 29.1 in papers per faculty, 24 in citations per paper, 5 in international students, 31.7 in faculty staff with PhD, 25.5 in international research network, 1.4 in inbound exchange and 1.1 in outbound exchange. The university has taken various steps to compete with the private universities, which have taken a big leap in a majority of rankings. Besides improving their staff shortage, the university has focused on involving their research scholars and improving their research network. Compared to last year’s assessment, the university took a big leap in the “staff with PhD” parameter with a score of 76.8, a twofold jump, followed by the same improvement recorded in the international research network, faculty-student ratio, academic reputation etc. The private universities have taken a big leap in the rankings. Chandigarh University, Gharuan, emerged one of the top universities in Asia by rising 29 places to achieve 120th rank. The university has been ranked 1st among all Indian private universities and secured 11th position among the public and private universities. Chandigarh University Chancellor and Rajya Sabha MP Satnam Singh Sandhu said, “It is a proud moment that Chandigarh University has been recognised as one of the top universities in Asia and improved 29 places to achieve 120th place among higher educational institutions in the largest continent of the world.” Chitkara University jumped to rank 399 against continued on page 2