Nikhil Sharma

‘Auto driver, aide had set a target of raping 1,000 girls’

"They claimed to have a target of raping 1,000 girls,” said the 21-year-old woman about the two men who gangraped her at knifepoint in a forested area of Sector 29 on December 12.

Call centre staff gang rape: Cops fail to identify accused, due to faulty CCTV cameras

Women are unsafe in City Beautiful. Danger lurks in public spaces and local transport. Security gaps have only widened. The shocking gang rape at knife point of a 21-year-old call centre employee in the Sector-29 forest area late on Monday evening echoes the bone-chilling December 16 Delhi gang rape four years back. The Nirbhaya case, as it came to be known, shook the collective conscience of the nation regarding crime against women.

ED seizes Rs 2.19 crore cash in Chandigarh

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday late night seized total of Rs 2,19,35,500 from house of a local cloth merchant in Sector 22.He has been arrested by the Sector 17 Police following the complaint of ED officials.

Poor safety record: 25% increase in road fatalities over last year

Three deaths a week or a fatality every second day, that is the poor road safety record that the city has failed to improve upon. Figures made available till November 30 show that 394 road accidents were reported of which 133 proved fatal in which 140 lives were lost, including 119 males.

Jewellers resort to under-billing to avoid income-tax scrutiny in Chandigarh

After the government recalled Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes, many city jewellers are resorting to under-billing to some customers who are buying jewellery for more than Rs 2 lakh so that they do not face the income-tax department scrutiny.

Teachers’ recruitment scam: More toppers from Haryana despite Punjabi language test

Of the first 100 toppers in the scam involving the UT teachers’ recruitment held in 2015 wherein candidates allegedly paid lakhs to get jobs of trained graduate teachers (TGTs) and junior basic training (JBT) teachers in Chandigarh government schools, 85 are from Haryana.

UT sees two vehicle thefts a day, cars without sensors targeted

Two motor vehicles are stolen in the city every day, on average, data with the police department shows. For the 10-months from January 1 to October 31, 540 vehicles have been stolen (360 two-wheelers and 160 cars). Three-wheelers, buses and trucks were among the rest of the vehicles that were stolen. A break-up of the data reveals interesting trends. The first being that 54 thefts are reported every month.

Scam’s worth down from Rs 13 cr in FIR to Rs 25 lakh in CBI challan

The then MC executive engineer RC Diwan and private firm Selvel Media Services Pvt Ltd director Jimmy Subawalla are among those charged with cheating and criminal conspiracy by the CBI in the running and maintenance of 86 public toilets in the city.

Excise dept seizes expired beer bottle served at Chandigarh’s JW Marriott

A team of the excise and taxation department seized a 355ml bottle of Corona beer that was past its expiry date, but was still served to a Sector-33 resident, Gurpal Singh (45), at the JW Marriot Hotel, Sector 35, on Sunday night

AAP’s Sanjay, Durgesh file defamation plea against MLA, Kingra

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak on Friday filed a criminal defamation complaint against their own MLA, Devinder Sehrawat, for writing to AAP supremo and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, alleging that women who want to contest in the upcoming Punjab polls are being “exploited” by AAP leaders.

‘Yes, we killed Beant Singh... have no regret’: Jagtar Singh Tara in court

Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist Jagtar Singh Tara (42) has confessed to his role in former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh’s assassination on August 31, 1995. He admitted that he along with his accomplices planned the murder of Beant Singh for which he doesn’t have any regret.

CAT seeks status of alternative housing for GMCH-32 nurses

Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has asked the Chandigarh administration the outcome of allotment of alternative residential accommodation to the staff nurses working in Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32.

NCB report: Afghan heroin in fewer hands, Africa, Bengal new drug routes

A Chandigarh Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) report suggests that the availability of the Afghan heroin in Punjab has declined over eight years, thanks to extra border security in both India and Pakistan.

Motorcycles with replaced silencers pose health risks to city residents

Youngsters whizzing in their modified motorcycles that create a loud noise are troubling the city residents, especially during the night, causing health problems to the ailing and senior citizens.

Deadline to file ITR extended till August 5, online system cuts queues

The date of filing their income tax return (ITR) has been extended till August 5 from the earlier deadline of July 31.

E-aution: CH-01-BH series a flop show; 0001 fetches all-time low bid

The e-auction of a new series, CH-01-BH, was a major flop, as the number 0001 fetched an all-time low bid of Rs 89,000.

Recipe for disaster: Dangers of the dark hours on Chandigarh’s roads

The roads are wide and there is hardly any traffic. Cops are missing in action or watching the night go by, and traffic lights are either on blink mode or simply ignored. Here’s a perfect chance to drive how you want, and also the perfect recipe for disaster, whether you are trying your luck with speed or someone else is.

In age of online appointments, Chandigarh RLA introduces token system

The Registration and Licensing Authority’s (RLA’s) decision to issue tokens to visitors for work related to driving licences led to a queue of about 70 people at the office on Monday.

From an excited PU to an empty stadium, many shades of Yoga Day in Chandigarh

A holistic aura engulfed the City Beautiful Tuesday morning as about 30,000 people of all age groups took part in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s International Yoga Day event here at the Capitol Complex. Many more took part in the event at other venues across the city. A Hindustan Times team visited a number of venues to assess the response to the much-awaited event.

National consumer panel clean chit to Chandigarh ENT specialist in 2008 case

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has given a clean chit to a city-based ENT (ear, nose and throat) specialist Dr SC Pandhi in an alleged case of medical negligence dating back to 2008, where he, along with Oriental Insurance India Limited, had been asked to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to a patient by the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in July 2011. Litigation costs of Rs 10,000 had also been imposed.

Three Punjab roadways Volvos to be auctioned for not paying arrears

For failing to comply with orders directing the payment of increment amounting to around Rs 3 lakh to a conductor, a local court on Monday issued sale orders of three Volvo buses of Punjab Roadways, Chandigarh Depot, Industrial Area, Chandigarh.

UT has maximum backlog, SAS Nagar judges most burdened

When Chief Justice of India (CJI) TS Thakur broke down in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the burden of work on the judiciary, the huge backlog of cases in courts at all levels came into the limelight. A look at the tricity shows that Chandigarh has the maximum pendency of cases at 33,506 in its district courts at present.

‘Need not visit online retailer’s location for relief from consumer court’

Consumers often feel reluctant to file a consumer complaint against online retailers in order to avoid litigation at faraway places, including Gurgaon and Delhi.

For fire loss due to AC, Samsung, V-Guard to pay Rs 15 lakh

Manimajra woman contended a fire in the AC-stabiliser combo caused her heavy losses

Skechers to pay Rs 3,000 for charging Rs 314 VAT on discounted shoes

Dispute with builder? Moving consumer court is your right

Clearing up ambiguity over jurisdiction of consumer fora in complaints where there is an arbitration clause in the agreement between two parties, the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has said the consumer was well within his rights to move the forum.

Kashish Mittal transferred as per rules: MHA

The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) has contended that the transfer of IAS officer Kashish Mittal from UT is as per guidelines and also questioned the locus standi of the petition filed in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) against the order.

Silence please: Honking outside hospitals to invite Rs 1,000 fine

To ensure that patients admitted to various hospitals are not harassed due to honking on roads around these establishments, the police have decided to step up efforts to curb the practice.

33 drunken drivers challaned on Holi, jailed for one month in Chandigarh

Unrestrained and overboard Holi revelry using alcohol to get a high turned into a traumatic hangover for 33 motorists, some of them college students, who were challaned for drunken driving on Thursday and sentenced to one month jail by the court of chief judicial magistrate Anubhav Sharma on Friday.

Will ensure safety of Pakistani players in Chandigarh: SSP

Presence of the Pakistani cricket team in the city, which is set to face New Zealand for their next T20 match at PCA stadium on Tuesday, is resulting in mounting pressure on the local cops to ensure security.