New York: As India mar-ked the 68th Republic Day,several Sikhs held protestsoutside the UN headquar-ters here against the Indi-an Constitution, raisingpro-Khalistan slogans anddemanding the world bo-dy’s intervention to pro-tect the community.

The Sikhs held a “libe-ration rally” on Thursdayalleging the Indian Consti-tution denies religious fre-edom to the Sikh communi-ty. Carrying placards thatread ‘Wake up UN’ and‘Sikh Referendum 2020’,they shouted slogans de-manding “freedom” forPunjab.

The protesters also de-manded a UN interventionto protect Sikhs and raisedslogans in favour of an in-dependent Sikh state ofKhalistan.

Rights group Sikhs forJustice sent a communi-que to Ahmed Shaheed, UNSpecial Rapporteur on fre-

edom of religion or beliefurging him to condemnprovisions of the IndianConstitution, which theyclaimed violate religiousfreedom and identity ofSikhs by labeling them as‘Hindus’.

SFJ legal adviser saidthe group will lobby withthe UN for bringing a reso-

lution in the General As-sembly on the issue ofSikh's religious freedom inIndia.

The rally was organisedby the Gurdwara Sikh Cul-tural Society of RichmondHill with the support ofmanagement committeesof Gurudwaras in the tri-state area. PTI

Sikhs protest outside UNheadquarters on R-Day

Members of Sikh community demonstrate outside the UN head-quarters in New York on Thursday

PTI

Chandigarh: On Friday,Punjab and Haryana goven-ments received notice fromthe Punjab and Haryanahigh court on a plea seekingdirections to make the billsat all liquor vends compute-rized in the upcoming exciseand policies of both the sta-tes.

The matter reached befo-re the HC in the wake of a pe-tition filed by a local NGO Ar-rive Safe headed by its presi-dent Harman Singh Sidhu.

The petitioner informedthe court that issuance of in-voice on all liquor vendsacross the states would havethreefold benefit — mainte-nance of accounts and checkon the cash/credit transac-tion, and computerized bil-ling would help in boostingrevenue to the state, which

can be used in other welfareprograms. Thirdly, a compu-terized invoice with vend co-de and actual price chargedfrom the consumer would actas a safeguard for the consu-mer who would then be assu-red of quality. A dissatisfiedconsumer would be able gethis grievance redressed inappropriate forum againstthe liquor vendor.

It was further argued thatwith the issuance of a com-puterized bill across allvends, the menace of spurio-us liquor which is being soldat vends shall come to a halt.

According to latest statisticspublished by national crimerecords shows that in the ye-ar 2015, more than 10 lakh lit-res of spurious liquor was se-ized by the police in Harya-na, whereas more than fourlakh litres of spurious liquorwas seized by police in Pun-jab.

Hundreds of people dieevery year after consumingspurious liquor, and unfort-unately except some pressreports there is no accurategovernment data availablefor the same. The vendor is-suing a computerised bill

shall understand his respon-sibility and then can at leastbe dealt with under the rele-vant provisions of criminallaw, and some innocent pre-cious lives could then be sa-ved, said the petitioner. Peti-tioner further stated thatwith the use of one small ma-chine, which should not pro-ve a burden to the vendors,and with one/two men opera-ting it, it will not not cost theliquor vendor much, ratherit should be promoted as a sa-ving measure to save the costof human life.

Petitioner has sought di-rections to issue directions/make provision in the upco-ming excise policy for the ye-ar 2017-18 regarding issuanceof computerized bills at all li-quor vends across Haryanaand Punjab, prior to the auc-tion of liquor vends for thenext financial year.

Computeized Bills Will Check Sale Of Spurious Liquor: Petition

HC notice to Punjab, Haryanaon digital bills at liquor vends

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kurukshetra: Kurukshetradistrict administration geared upto inaugurate SaraswatiMahotsav from Saturday. Theevent will conclude on February 1. District deputy commissionerSumedha Kataria said, “The aimis to spread awareness about theexistence and historicalimportance of the river.” TNN

Saraswati Mahotsavbegins today in Hry

Amritsar: A 48-year-oldwoman was run over by‘Dosti’ bus, which pliesbetween Nankana Sahib(Pakistan) and Amritsar,on Friday.

According to reports,the victim identified asSatbir Kaur, Nangli villa-ge resident, was ridingpillion on a motorcyclewith her husband when itwas allegedly hit by thebus.

She fell from the bikeand her head was crushedunder the wheels. Bus dri-ver Azhar Hamid didn’tstop and instead spedaway.

Protesting against thedriver, residents of near-by villages staged a dhar-na and blocked traffic fornearly two hours.

48-year-oldrun over by‘Dosti’ bus

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

THE TIMES OF INDIA, CHANDIGARH SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2017 7HARYANA | PUNJAB | HIMACHAL

According to the petitioner, themove would have threefold benefits – boost revenue, help inproper maintenance of accounts andgive customers quality assurance

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ludhiana: An attempt to take a selfie on the railway tracks cost

a 22-year-old his life near Dhuri Lines on Wednes-day. Government Railway Police (GRP) identified the vict im as Gaurav Sahni, aresident of Hai-

bowal Kalan and owner of a restaurant on Hambran Road.

Gaurav, along with his friends Piyush and Saurav Garg, had gone to Dhuri Lines to see a property in the evening. Once there, he asked his friends to wait for him at a nearby res-taurant, while he checked the property with a realtor. Later, he called up his friends to pick him up.

“I reached there on a two-wheeler to pick up Gaurav and saw him lying on the railway tracks. I requested those pre-sent there to help us, but no one came forward,” said Saurav. He said people there told him that Gaurav had walked towards the railway tracks to click pictures with train in the background. A passenger train hit him while he was clicking selfies around 6.21pm. “Gaurav was fond of uploading his pictures on social networking sites,” he added.

“I called up ambulance hel-pline 108 and was asked to reg-ister my request. I called up again after 10 minutes, but the driver said the request was not registered as I’d not given my name. I then took a hawker’s cart and and rushed Gaurav to a nearby hospital, where doc-tors declared him brought dead. I had even called up po-lice helpline 100, but no one took the call,” said Saurav.

GRP SHO Inderjeet Singh said, “More than 180 to 190 trains pass through the city. Every day, trains cause two to three deaths in Ludhiana and on the 143km track outside the city. Youngsters should be care-ful and not click pictures on railway tracks.”

22-yr-old crushed under train while taking selfie

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ludhiana: Sadar police, Khanna, booked the unidenti-fied driver of a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) for causing death due to negligence after he allegedly hit a bike rider and later abandoned his body at the gate of civil hospital on Friday. The deceased was iden-tified as 30-year-old Pawa-ndeep Singh of Man-dyala Kalan, who worked in a fac-tory in Doraha.

O f f i c i a l s said, on Friday around 1pm, Pawandeep left for his office on his bike from his village. When he reached near Manji Sahib Gurdwara, a speeding SUV bearing number CH41T-2918, which was overtaking a truck, hit the bike from be-hind.

Cops said that Pawandeep

suffered serious injuries. They said the SUV driver put Pawandeep in his vehicle and drove to the civil hospital but he died on the way.

In-charge of Kotan Police Post, Pargat Singh said the driver abandoned the vehicle outside the gate of the civil hospital and ran away. A few passersby saw the damaged

vehicle near the hospital and informed the po-

lice. Investigating of f icer Amar Singh said they got the name of the vehicle own-er and will take

action after ques-tioning him. He

also said the SUV has a temporary number.

A case has been regis-tered against the unidenti-fied driver under sections 279 (rash driving), 304 A (causing death due to negligence), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees).

Driver leaves body in SUV after crash

ABANDONED: The SUV parked outside civil hospital on Friday

Pawandeep left for office

around 1pm. When he reached near Manji

Sahib Gurdwara, a speeding SUV, which

was overtaking a truck, hit his

bike

Ludhiana: Police booked ayouth of around 20 years of agefor raping a minor. In her policecomplaint, mother of the 17-year-old victim said the accused be-came friends with her daughterand on May 22 last year, he tookher home and served her colddrink laced with intoxicants.

She said he raped her and lether go. But he continued to ha-rass her after that, she said, add-ing that she informed the policewhen she came to know aboutthe incident.

Police received a complainton September 8, 2016 and SHO,Meherban conducted an inquiryinto the matter. Meherban policebooked the accused. Investigat-ing officer, Sohan Lal said man-hunt has been launched to arrestthe accused. TNN

Ludhiana youthbooked for

raping minor

Shimla: Sewage treatment plants of Shimlacontinue to contaminate water sources and spe-ad disease. A woman from Mashobra was hospi-talized in Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital onWednesday after she tested positive for jaundicevirus. Several other cases have been reported atIndira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital(IGMCH). Meanwhile, Shimla municipal corpo-ration officials claim they need another sixmonths to fix the plants.

As per Himachal health department reports,9,265 people had tested positive with jaundice in2016 while 34 had lost their lives. The reason be-hind it was mixing of sewerage waste with Ash-wani Khud source which was supplied to onethird population of Shimla.

BJP councillor of Benmore ward Anup Vaidsaid as Shimla’s water comes from nullahs andsmall tributaries, so it’s not clean enough to beconsumed directly.

Shimla deputy mayor Tikender Singh Pan-war said around Rs 20 crore will be spent on fix-ing all six sewerage treatment plants. TNN

Jaundice returnsto haunt Shimla

election,then Singh isset to becomethe chief mi-nister for theseventhterm, they

said.Revealing his inten-

tion to field his son, Singhwhile addressing a gathe-ring of employees ofShimla Rural constituen-cy and office bearers ofparty at his official resi-dence Oak Over, said, thathe himself wishes to con-test from a seat from whe-re Congress has neverwon. He, however, said itdepends on the people ofthe state.

“I have got plenty of lo-ve from the people ofShimla Rural seat, as I gotfrom my own traditionalhome constituency,” hesaid.

He said people shouldnot think that he was lea-ving Shimla Rural assem-bly as he would be presentthere and people would ha-ve two MLAs instead.

Shimla: Days before theannouncement of assem-bly election in HP, chiefminister Virbhadra Singhhas announced the candi-dature of his son Vikramaditya Singh,state youth Congress pre-sident as the next probab-le candidate from ShimlaRural constituency.

Virbhadra’s announ-cement has increased po-litical heat as people arewondering from where hehimself would contest af-ter giving up his own seatto launch the political ca-reer of his son. The partyhas already announced tocontest assembly elec-tions under the leaders-hip of Virbhadra Singh.

Sources said it is notthe announcement oflaunching his son that hasleft many party leaders inuncomfortable positionbut the announcement ofchief minister to contestfrom different seat. IfCongress wins the coming

Virbhadra announcesson’s candidature

from Shimla(R) seatTIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: The Delhi SikhGurdwara ManagementCommittee (DSGMC) pollsare all set to be held onFebruary 26. With the stategovernment and lieutenantgovernor Anil Baijal appro-ving the notification, the polldate and schedule is expec-ted to be notified on February1. The DSGMC is a 55-memberbody with 46 elected mem-bers. Ten historical gurd-waras and 30 educationalinstitutions come under itspurview. This announcementhas also kicked in the elec-tion season in the Capital,where civic polls are expec-ted to be held sometime inApril.

Student’s bodyfound in canalLudhiana: The police foundthe body of a BA student fromSidhwan canal, near Sunetbridge, on Friday. The decea-sed has been identified asManjeet Kaur (20) of RishiNagar, Y-Block. A womanspotted the body in morningand informed Raghunathpolice post. After it wasbrought out, pictures of thestudent were shown topeople in the area. A PAUemployee, her neighbour whowas passing by, identifiedher, following which Manje-et’s father Manmohan Singh,an auto-rickshaw driver, wascalled up.

8 students hurtin bus accidentShimla: Eight students ofclass IV were injured in anaccident near Kandraur ofBilaspur district on Fridaywhen their mini-bus driverlost control of the vehicle.The students were of ShivayeInternational School in Ghu-marwin. Bilaspur SadarPolice SHO Bhupinder Singhsaid an inquiry revealed thatthe accident happened whenthe driver was negotiating aturn on a narrow road. Heescaped unhurt.

HP police now on WhatsAppDharamshala: Kangrapolice has now come up witha WhatsApp number forbetter connect with people.The move has been initiatedto seek information fromresidents on flesh trade, drugpeddlers, liquor smugglersand more. The helpline wasstarted on Thursday. SanjeevGandhi, SSP, said, “It will be24*7 service.” The WhatsAppnumber is 8988800100.

NEWS DIGEST

DSGMC polls onFebruary 26