Tracking Tricity: Good, Bad and Ugly
The news events and newsmakers that dominated the year— all in 14 points.
(Illustration: C R Sasikumar)
NEWS EVENTS
1. The city was on alert after a dead duck at Sukhna Lake tested positive for H5N1. More than 100 geese and ducks — an attraction for visitors — were culled on the island at the lake. For the first time, entry to the Sukhna Lake was banned.
2. Five constables of the Chandigarh Police were acquitted of gangrape after the complainant turned hostile. While yoga guru Ramdev had visited the “victim”, local politicians and women organisations had supported her cause. But she retracted her statements twice in the court.
3. Two firemen lost their lives after a three-storey building in Sector 17 collapsed following a fire. The fire-fighting operations went on for several days. The issue brought in focus violations of building bylaws, fire safety norms in buildings, and the lack of structural safety of buildings.
4. Continuing with its winning streak, the National Students’ Union of India bagged three out of four posts in the elections of the Panjab University Campus Students’ Council. The NSUI clout at PU kept increasing, eclipsing the SOPU and PUSU that traditionally dominated the campus scene.
5. After a wait of several years, the road underbridge providing an alternative route between Chandigarh and Panchkula was completed. Apart from reducing traffic congestion, the RUB also cut short the distance for commuters. The railway crossing at Mauli Jagran was a major bottleneck.
6. On December 10, PGI surgeons performed the first pancreas transplant in the region. The transplant was done on a 25-year-old type 1 diabetic patient from Solan. The pancreas transplant is a ray of hope for hundreds of patients suffering from end-stage diabetes and suffering from other health complications like kidney failure. Last year, PGI surgeons had performed first-ever heart transplant. However, the patient died in January this year.
7. Surgeons from the department of urology, PGI, performed the first robotic-assisted surgery. The surgery was performed by a team of surgeons led by Dr A K Mandal, head of the urology department. The operation, robotic-assisted laparoscopic pyeloplasty (surgical reconstruction of the renal pelvis), was performed on a 20-year-old boy. The robotic surgery unit was purchased in June 2013 by spending Rs 20 crore.
8. The rescue and relief operation for Jammu and Kashmir flood victims witnessed a brilliant performance of fixed-wing aircraft (IL-76 and AN-32) of the Indian Air Force. The IL-76 aircraft of 44 Squadron conducted 131 sorties, rescued 8,402 people and airlifted 987 tonnage of load. Similarly, the AN-32 aircraft of 48 Squadron conducted 212 sorties, carried 294.8 tonnage of load and evacuated about 4,056 people.
9. In A rare case, doctors at the Western Command Hospital, Chandimandir, saved the life of a rabies patient. This is the second such case in the country. Hira Singh, 16, from Gurdaspur was bitten by a stray dog on March 25. In May, after he slipped into a coma, he was shifted to the Command Hospital with a diagnosis of rabies. After five months of treatment, he was discharged in October.
10. Ten days after he was kidnapped, the highly decomposed body of Mehram Singh Sandhu, 6, was found in a pit in Mohali. The news sent shock waves. Police investigation revealed that it was a neighbour who had murdered the kid.
11. The Chandigarh Administration cleared around 200 acres of land from illegal occupation by holding massive demolition drives. Among the biggest slums to be removed was Colony Number 5. Several other slums were also removed. Proposals are now afoot for development of these tracts of land.
12. The Ministry of Cultural Affairs as well as the Ministry of Home Affairs approved Chandigarh’s case for inclusion in the transnational dossier for getting UNESCO heritage status. Chandigarh would be seeking heritage status for the works of Le Corbusier along with five countries.
13. Facing losses, IT giant Dell shut shop in Mohali this year, leaving the staff in the lurch. Protests were held on the premises, but the company offered the employees an option to shift to other centres.
14. Four lion cubs delivered at Chhatbir Zoo after a gap of 15 years gave the authorities a reason to cheer for. The zoo authorities monitored the cubs through CCTV cameras for three months and provided them special care.
NEWSMAKERS
1. Shivraj V Patil, Punjab Governor and UT Administrator
In the last year of his tenure, the administrator faced criticism from several quarters. Industrialists, traders and some BJP leaders gunned for him and demanded that he should be shifted. Patil on his part claimed that policies could not be changed because of 0.1 per cent of the city’s population.
2. Mohammad Shayin, Deputy Commissioner
Many of his decisions faced public criticism and a few were set aside by the Home Secretary and the Finance Secretary. The High Court pulled him up on more than one occasion. The DC also had to approach the police after a sleazy picture showing him with a woman circulated on the social media which, he claimed, was morphed.
3. Kirron Kher, Chandigarh MP
Elected as the first woman MP of the city, Kirron Kher’s victory gave the BJP a taste of success after a long hiatus of 15 years. Her entry into the city after she was named as the candidate was marked by protests and a show of black flags. Kher, however, won by a record margin. In a first, the administration allotted her a government house as well.
4. Pawan Kumar Bansal, Former MP
After remaining the city MP for 15 consecutive years, Bansal was defeated by more than 69,000 votes, his biggest loss. The year also witnessed a revolt against him in the party with there being several contenders for the Lok Sabha ticket.
5. Gul Panag, AAP candidate for Lok Sabha
A political novice, Panag managed to make a mark for herself in the Lok Sabha elections. The AAP chose her after Savita Bhatti, wife of the late Jaspal Bhatti, withdrew her candidature. Panag’s active campaign had even her opponents talking about her.
6. Gian Chand Gupta, Panchkula MLA
The former Chandigarh mayor became the first BJP leader to be elected as Panchkula MLA. An RSS worker, Gupta started his political career in Chandigarh and shifted base to Panchkula in 2002. He promised to make Panchkula a smart city.
7. Yuvraj Singh, Cricketer
The local lad who scripted India’s World Cup triumph in 2011 missed out on India probables list for the next World Cup to be held in Australia in 2015 due to bad form. He was seen playing for Punjab in various domestic tournaments under the leadership of Harbhajan Singh.
8. Yograj Singh, Former cricketer
Yograj underwent a surgery for throat cancer in the United States of America. The news came as a shock to the cricketing world as his son Yuvraj Singh too had to fight lung cancer two years back. Yograj was also in the dock after being arrested for a brawl over parking in Panchkula.
9. Rajesh Shukla, Inspector
He was arrested along with two others by the CBI while allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 10,000. The CCTV footage of him being manhandled by a CBI inspector went viral following which the CBI took action against its inspector. Shukla alleged he was being framed due to politics in Chandigarh Police.
10. Lt Col Bikram Jit singh, the martyr
Lt Col Bikram Jit Singh of 16th light cavalry was martyred in a battle with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir in September 2013. “For his speedy, tactically sound actions, courageous and bold leadership in the face of mortal danger”, he was posthumously awarded “Shaurya Chakra”.
11. Gautam Cheema, Inspector General of Police, Punjab
After the arrest of his friend-turned-foe and alleged conman Davinder Singh Gill, the IPS officer was booked by the Mohali police after he allegedly kidnapped a proclaimed offender from the Phase I police station, took him to a nearby hospital and thrashed him in front of Davinder’s wife Kricspy. He was booked again on the complaint of Kricspy, who said he, along with a suspended defence accounts officer, had molested her at gunpoint. After being on the run for more than a month, the High Court stayed his arrest following which he joined investigation.
12. Savita Bhatti, Actor and Social Activist
Bhatti’s candidature for the Lok Sabha elections led to protest in the local unit of the Aam Aadmi Party. Following this, she decided to withdraw from the race. Due to her entering the electoral fray, Chandigarh Police had decided to remove her husband, the late Jaspal Bhatti, as the brand ambassador of its campaign to promote road safety. Following her withdrawl, the honour was restored.
13. Sanam Singh, Tennis player
Sanam enjoyed a few memorable outings in 2014, the most vivid one being his performance in Asian Games at Incheon, where he partnered Somdev Devvarman to win silver in men’s doubles category. At the ATP circuit, he won three Challengers titles — Kolkata Challenger, New Delhi Challenger and Pune Challenger — and also added an ITF futures men’s title to his kitty, all with his doubles partner Saketh Myneni, this year. The 26-year-old former CLTA trainee also turned out for Delhi Dreams in the inaugural season of the much-hyped Champions Tennis League.
14. Gunbir Singh Sidhu, Film producer
There is one producer from Chandigarh whose films have been making all the right noise and news. Be it the superhit romcom Jatt & Juliet and the first-ever sequel to a Punjabi film, Jatt & Juliet 2, the entertainers Best of Luck, Romeo Ranjha and Tu Mera 22 Main Tera 22 or this year’s phenomenal piece of cinema 1984 Punjab, Gunbir Singh Sidhu put his money where his heart was.
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