2 DSPs, Inspector indicted
By Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 4 — In the case of the controversial disappearance of two files pertaining to murder cases, the Legal Remembrancer (LR) has submitted his inquiry report in which two DSPs, an inspector and two lower rank functionaries of the Chandigarh Police have been indicted, highly placed sources confirmed tonight.

A decision on the disciplinary action against these officials is likely to be taken in a day or two. Sources informed that the inquiry report says that the files pertaining to the murders of political activist Inder Pal Gupta and a city resident Ganpat Rai had gone missing from the Sector 26 police station.

The police officials have been indicted for forgery and mala fide intention. Even the sudden appearance of the files after an inquiry was constituted has been specified as an act of deliberate intention in the report of the LR. A decision on the nature of action against the cops is yet to be taken.

This has actually become an issue in itself between the police authorities and the Chandigarh Administration. The IG when asked about the action this morning had said the law would take its own course. To prevent such a thing in future, Sub Divisional Police Officers (SDPOs) have been asked to give in writing if all files in police stations in their respective areas were complete, the IG added.

The LR, Mr Sanjeev Kumar, had been asked to report by the UT Administrator, Lieut-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber (retd), who took action after The Tribune had carried two successive stories on missing files on February 5 and February 15. The case had sent shockwaves among local police circles.

When an inquiry was announced, the files were found under mysterious circumstances in an abandoned store room on the first floor of the Sector 26 police station on February 21.

According to sources in the police department, Inder Pal Gupta, the political activist, was gunned down in Sector 27 while the body of Ganpat Rai was found in Sector 46. The cases are more than 15 years old. Before the inquiry by the LR was announced, Mr Baldev Singh, SP, City, was also carrying out a departmental inquiry.

During the course of his inquiry the SP had issued notices to an inspector, who was the then investigating officer, asking him about the whereabouts of the files. When the SP came to visit the police station, one of the lower level cops pointed out that a room on the upper floor of the police station had not been searched.

Within minutes the two files were found. How the files, that were said to be missing till then, were suddenly found is a mystery. A senior police official confirmed that during the previous inquiry, the munshi and the malkhana munshi had both said that the files were not in the police station.

This finding of the files has been taken seriously by the inquiry of the LR. Then the inquiry of Mr Baldev Singh was suspended. Among police circles the finding of the files had been taken with surprise.

Venod Sharma admitted to PGI
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 4 — A former Union Food and Civil Supplies Minister, Mr Venod Sharma, was admitted to the PGI here this afternoon after he complained of chest pain.

Doctors attending upon the former MP, admitted to a private ward, said he had accelerated hypertension. At the moment, the suspicion is that he may be having coronary artery disease. Tests are being conducted on Mr Sharma, the results of which will be known in the next 24 to 48 hours.

Meanwhile, the search by the police to locate Mr Sharma’s son Sidharath, alias Manu Sharma, has not yielded any result. A party of the Delhi police continued raids in and around Chandigarh. Mr Venod Sharma was questioned by the Delhi police in Delhi yesterday.

Couple beaten up by police
From Our Correspondent

SAS NAGAR, May 4 — Mrs Ranjit Kaur and her husband were allegedly beaten up by policemen in front of the local SP’s house last night.

Mrs Ranjit Kaur sustained injuries on her chest and leg and was admitted to the local Civil Hospital. A doctor at the hospital said she had been injured with a blunt weapon.

Mrs Ranjit Kaur, who was weeping while sitting on her bed in the women’s ward of the hospital, said she and her husband, Mr Darshan Singh, an SDO with the PWD (B&R), had been called to the SP’s office to show some documents. These related to the house given on rent by them to the police which was now occupied by the SP, Mr B.S. Randhawa. The house in Phase IV and the SP’s office in another house, adjoin each other.

Mrs Ranjit Kaur claimed that the DGP had ordered the vacation of the house and the local police had called them to see the relevant documents.

She and her husband reached the SP’s office last evening. They were made to wait for quite some time and finally they decided to leave. She said they had possession of one room in the rented house where they had kept some household items. Before leaving they decided to pick up their cooler from the room.

As they approached the house, they were attacked by some policemen. She alleged that eight to 10 policemen beat them up with rifle butts and also kicked them with their shoes.

Mrs Ranjit Kaur said she was detained in the SP’s office for about two hours. No woman constable was present.

She said she was then taken to the Phase I police station and detained for some time. Around 11.30 p.m. she was taken in a Gypsy and pushed out of the vehicle near the house of her relatives in Phase III B2. Her husband, she said, was still under detention with the police even till mid-day today.

She said telegrams had been sent to the Punjab Chief Minister , the DGP, and the Human Rights Commission.

Mr Randhawa said he had not called the couple to his office to show documents. They had come on their own with an intention to create a scene. He said earlier Mr Darshan Singh had been told that his house would be vacated as soon as the department found any other suitable accommodation.

He said the couple forcibly entered the house and threw away the plastic chairs that were lying in the front courtyard of the house.

He claimed that nobody had beaten Mrs Ranjit Kaur and neither had she been detained by the police. Instead she kept abusing his staff.

Mr Randhawa said a case had been registered under Sections 452/332/186/34 of the IPC on the statement of Mr Janak Raj and Mr Darshan Singh had been arrested from the scene.

‘Give UT students more seats’
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 4—The Mayor, Mr Kewal Krishan Addiwal, has urged the UT Administrator and Punjab Governor, Lieut-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber (retd), to remove the discrimination against the students of Chandigarh seeking admission to engineering courses in the Union Territory for 1999-2000.

In a letter to General Chhibber, Mr Addiwal brought to his notice that Panjab University (PU) and Punjab Engineering College (PEC) were sticking to 60 per cent reservation for the students who had passed their plus-two examination from Chandigarh, though the local Government Medical College reserved 85 per cent of its seats for local students.

The letter requested the Administrator to ensure that 85 per cent reservation was made in Punjab Engineering College, the College of Architecture and the Department of Chemical Engineering and Technology of Panjab University for the students passing the qualifying examination from Chandigarh.

Cash counter closed before time
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 4 — Many persons, who had come to pay electricity and water bills at the Sector 32 cash collection centre, had to return disappointed today as the counter closed before time.

A number of persons, hailing from different parts of southern sectors, alleged that they stood in the queue in such hot weather from 9 am to 12.45 pm. Without any prior notice, the counter was closed before time, they complained.

Nothing was done even after the persons at the counter and other staff were approached, they alleged.

They urged the authorities concerned to ensure that such a thing did not happen again so that the public was not harassed.

Meanwhile, some persons at the Sector 18 cash collection centre alleged that due to inadequate staff at the centre, it took them a lot of time to pay the bills.

Today being the last day for paying the bills, a long queue was seen outside the centre. Though two persons were deputed for collecting the bills, instead of one person on normal days, several consumers had to wait for over two hours to pay the bills.

Moreover, the only fan in the room was inadequate for persons who came to pay the bills, particularly with the mercury crossing the 40 degree mark.

Also, water containers, old chairs and trunks lie dumped in a part of the room, adding to the shortage of space in it.

School celebrates annual function
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 4 — The Air Force Regional School, 12 Wing Air Force Station, celebrated its annual function at LECMA at the air force station, here today. A cultural programme was presented by the students.

The show began with 'Vande Mataram', a dance presentation by senior students. This was followed by "My heart will go on'' from the movie 'Titanic'. Dressed in pink frills, the girls were led by boys dressed in black trousers and white shirts. 'Gudiya ki Shadi' was the next presentation.

A skit, a Rajasthani folk dance, fairytales and dances to popular numbers were the other items. Students of the Sector 28 branch of the school presented a lively 'bhangra' pop, which was appreciated with a thunderous applause. Students of the Sector 47 branch of the school presented a dance.

A prize distribution function was also held. Manish Singh of Class X was declared the best student of the year and Amit Kumar was adjudged the best sportsman of the session. While 44 prizes were given in academics, 50 students were honoured for extra-curricular activities and sports.

Air Commander S.K. Banerjee was the chief guest. Ms R. Jain, the Principal of the school, read out the annual report in which she highlighted the activities and achievements of the school.

Project guidelines for ITI approved
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 4 — The pilot project guidelines of Director General, Employment and Training (DGET), regarding upgradation of the industrial Training Institute (ITI) in Sector 28 in terms of courses and infrastructure to meet the requirements of industry, were approved at the first joint meeting of the State Steering and Managing Committee, here today.

The meeting, chaired by the UT Home-cum-Technical Education Secretary, was attended by Mr S. Krishnan, DGET, Ministry of Labour, Govt of India, Mr S.K. Bijlani, Chairman, Technical Education and Training Subcommittee of the CII, Dr S.K. Aggarwal, Director, Technical Education, UT, and some representatives of the industry. The ITI was represented by its Principal, a group instructor and a student representative.

It was decided that the SWOT analysis of the ITI would be carried out with special reference to the capacity utilisation of equipment. The indicators of quality improvement would be quantified so as to give a clear picture of the progress made by the ITI. While working out the modalities, it was agreed that revenue generation and its utilisation would be decided in terms of external cash flow and that the Administration would provide a suitable matching grant to the revenue generated.

Mrs Anuradha Gupta stressed the need to build a mechanism of inherent flexibility to quickly shift from one course to another and to have an exit policy,which required decentralisation of power from the Central Government to the UT Administration. She also emphasised the need for continuous upgradation of infrastructure, for which investments had to increase in the form of sectorial allocations.

Mr S. Krishnan said vocational training faced the challenges of resource constraints, new trade technologies and inability of the industry to specify its requirements. He said the ITI had been selected to implement the pilot project with involvement of the industry to freeze the non-plan expenditure. The main aim of the Managing Committee was to generate a revolving fund by undertaking job orders from the industry and the same would be used for modernisation of equipment and training of staff to bridge the gap between ITI students and requirements of the industry.

Dr S.K. Aggarwal emphasised the need for optimum utilisation of existing infrastructure to avoid duplication. He brought up the problems regarding the affiliation of recently-introduced courses with the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT). Dr S.K. Bijlani emphasised the concept of developing multiple skills among ITI students.

The next meeting of the committee is scheduled for May 11.

SBI explains schemes for NRIs
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 4 — The NRI branch of the State Bank of India organised a meeting of travel agents and immigration consultants here this afternoon to apprise them about various foreign exchange facilities extended by the bank.

Mr D.P. Singhal, Deputy General Manager (Punjab) of the bank, who addressed the travel agents and immigration consultants, also answered their questions and other queries with regard to release of foreign exchange . Mr L.C. Hans, Chief Manager, NRI branch, also explained the facilities the bank extended even to non-resident Indians.

Travel agents and immigrant consultants also raised several pertinent questions about the problems they faced in getting foreign exchange released and also about the non-availability of certain prescribed forms under different schemes to get the foreign exchange released.

The bank officials explained to them the facilities extended to MPs, MLAs, officials of the Central or State Governments, officials of the Comptroller and Auditor-General on their posting abroad, about business trips sponsored by companies or journalists deputed on short-term assignments abroad by newspapers, journals or for self-employed professionals like solicitors, chartered accountants and others for their visits abroad.

Similarly, procedures for other categories of travellers, including business and trade associations, teachers, doctors, by private and public sector bank officials, foreign exchange for training, study abroad and even for medical treatment abroad was also explained at the meeting by the ban officials.

The Bank officials also explained the procedure for extending financial assistance for maintenance abroad of close relatives and also for sending gifts to close relatives.

Bravery awards for six
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 4—The eighth Red and White Bravery Awards for Punjab and Chandigarh were given away at Tagore Theatre here today. Lt-Gen B.K.N. Chibber (retd), Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Chandigarh, presented these awards to six persons in a glittering ceremony.

The awards were presented in two categories, physical bravery and social acts of courage. Winners in each category were awarded gold, silver and bronze medals along with cash awards and certificates. Mr D.V.K. Kak, Director-Principal-cum-Secretary, Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh Administration, and Air Comm S.K. Banerjee, VM, Air Officer Commanding, 12 Wing, comprised the jury.

In the category of social acts of courage, the gold medal was given to Mr Vineet Khanna of Chandigarh, the silver medal to Mr Bihari Lal Bansal of Sangrur and the bronze medal to Mr Rajesh Kumar of Ludhiana. In the category of physical bravery, the gold medal was given to Mr Ajay Kapoor of Ludhiana, the silver medal to Mr Tilak Mohan Chibber of Ludhiana and the bronze medal to Mr K.S. Rai of Jalandhar.

Mr Vineet Khanna, Director of the Youth Technical Training Society (YTTS), a voluntary organisation for rural and slum youth, also runs Pustak, a literacy workshop for street children, and VAMA, a non-formal education and sewing workshop for rural and slum women, in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh. Forced to be bed-ridden for the last 25 years because of a medical blunder, Mr Khanna suffers from a kidney problem. But his physical disability never proved an impediment in his work.

Mr Khanna has also been the co-winner of the Sat Paul Mittal Award, 1997, for his outstanding service to humanity, and the winner of a fellowship from Ashoka Foundation in the USA in 1995. The Chandigarh Administration has given him the State Award for his social work. "But these awards mean very little when compared to the results of these social projects," he said.

The octogenarian, Mr Bihari Lal Bansal, fights against social evils like child marriage and dowry. "I try and utilise my experience to unite broken families and give a new lease of life to helpless women," Mr Bansal said. He is also involved in other social activities like tree plantation and performing the last rites of unclaimed dead bodies.

Mr Rajesh Kumar is doing a course in Bachelor of Education. He is engaged in the education of children. His students include boys who polish shoes, beg and the work at local shops. Providing these children with pencils and notebooks, he instils in them the importance of education and tries to inculcate moral values in them.

Mr Ajay Kapoor narrated how he caught two armed burglars trying to snatch a bag of money from a person. In August last year, when Mr Kapoor was driving his car along with his two-and-a-half year-old son at 11pm, he heard cries for help. Seeing the armed burglars, who fired two shots at the person, he followed them in his car and hit one of them. The other burglar threw stones on the wind-screen, injuring his son, but Mr Kapoor drove to the police station to report the incident. The police arrested the entire gang.

Mr Tilak Mohan Chibber is a manager in a regional branch of the Punjab and Sindh Bank. Last year, he was informed about the bank catching fire in the morning. He rushed to the bank to find the fire brigade trying to control the fire. The major concern was the breaking open of the back door of the bank, which contained inflammable items like generator sets and diesel cans, and the keys of which were not to be found. Mr Chibber entered the bank and found the keys, preventing massive losses to the life and property.

Mr K.S. Rai stopped a speeding train approaching a railway crossing gate at GT Road, when the gate was open. Mr Rai stopped the traffic from both sides. The driver of the train heard the shouts of Mr Rai and halted the train, avoiding an accident.

At a press conference in a hotel in Sector 10 today, these winners rued that though they were written about in newspapers, the administration did not give them any recognition.

The Red and White Bravery Awards, which were instituted in 1990, recognise and honour men and women who set example for others in society by their brave deeds.

HUDA gets tough with house owners
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, May 4 — The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has decided to get tough with house owners who dump their construction material on roads. Fresh directions have been issued to the field staff to keep a check on all such violators.

Dumping of construction material or malba by people who raise or add structure on their plot has, in fact, become a headache for HUDA as each year it has to spent lakhs of rupees to clean roads covered by construction material.

To begin with, the SDO (Survey) and the JEs concerned in the local estate office have been asked not to issue a DPC unless the plot holder removes temporary structure raised on a road berm . No Provisional Occupation Certificate (OPC) will be issued to the allottee till the construction material dumped on a road in front of the house, is removed.

The final Occupation Certificate (OC), say officials, will be issued only after the house owner clears the construction material or malba in front of his house.

The problem of people dumping their construction material on roads is more visible in this town as a lot of construction activity is taking place, especially in the new sectors. A number of internal sector roads suffer damage as heaps of construction material blocks the natural flow of water.

This results in stagnation of water thereby damaging the roads. Besides, sand and bajri lying on the roads flows in road gullies choking the storm water drainage. The resident affected by the problem say that though a plot holder has to deposit "malba fee" before undertaking construction on the plot nobody from HUDA checks when the fee has to be refunded.

To further check the violators, the Engineering Cell of HUDA is studying the penal rate structure for dumping of construction material approved by the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh. HUDA proposes to give powers to the Engineering Cell to impose penalty upon the house owners who dump construction material without valid permission, said sources.

Injury to leopard ruled out
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, May 4 — Wildlife officials today ruled out the possibility of the female leopard, which escaped after being entangled in a locally made trap near Dhandiwala village in Pinjore, having received any injury.

One of the feet of the wild cat remained entangled for more than six hours. The officials, who conducted a search in the jungle area where the cat was found yesterday, said there were no blood stains or any other visible sign of injury.

Meanwhile a spotted dear which strayed into Bhudia village from Bir Shikargah wildlife sanctuary on Tuesday, was tranquillised before being sent to the deer park at Chandi Mandir.

The deer had entered the house of Mr Dhuni Chand who informed the wildlife officials.

Painting contest for kids held
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 4—An on-the-spot painting competition on "Keep our water resources clean'' under the National Environment Awareness Campaign of the Ministry of Environment and Forests was organised at DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, here today.

Over 500 students from 23 schools of the city, along with students from Panchkula and SAS Nagar, participated in the competition.

Dr K.K. Garag, Joint Director, Northern Regional Office of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, inaugurated an exhibition on the occasion.

He emphasised the problem in conservation of water resources the country was facing.

Mr Ravinder Talwar, Principal of the school, stressed the need for and gave practical tips for conservation of water resources.

Dr S.K. Sharma, President of Environment Society of India, highlighted the local problems about water.

The results of the painting contest were: Group A : Piyush Goswami—DAV, Sector 8 (1); Dilpreet Kaur—DAV, SAS Nagar (2); Garima—DAV, Sector 7 (3); and Minti—DAV, SAS Nagar (consolation prize). Group B : Esha Khanna—DAV, Sector 15 (1); Arjun Morya—DAV, Sector 8 (2); Gaurav Saxena—DAV, Sector 8 (3); and Navneet Kaur—DAV, Sector 15 (consolation prize).

Campaigning picks up for Chandigarh Club poll
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 4 — Campaigning has picked up for the annual election of Chandigarh Club scheduled to be held on May 8. More than 4,000 members of the club will vote to elect the President, the Vice-President (one) and eight members of the Executive Committee of the club.

For the post of the President, the present incumbent, Mr Chaman Lal Sharma, a former President of the Chandigarh Income Tax Bar Association, is facing Mr Harish Dhawan, a younger brother of the former Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Mr Harmohan Dhawan, in a straight contest for his second term.

Mr Sharma had been a member of the Executive Committee of the club three times before.

There are three candidates for the post of Vice-President. They are Mr Vinod Gupta, Mr P.S. Tiwana and Mr R.S. Sachdeva. And for the eight positions of the Executive Committee, there are 16 candidates in the fray. The candidates are Mr Sunil Gupta, Mr Sunil Khanna, Mr Sanjay Ahuja, Mr Ashok Jindal, Mr Inderjit Bajaj, Mr R.K. Mittal, Mr Praveen Talwar, Mr Gopal Gupta, Mr Gurdial Bhasin, Mr Jaspal Singh, Mr Rupinder Singh, Mr Ashwani Malik, Mr Vineet Peshawaria, Mr C.M. Munjal, Mr Subash Mahajan and Mr H.S. Chauhan.

Mr Chaman Lal Sharma, who entered the election fray last time after the club was involved in a series of litigations, claims that he has been able to fulfill most of the commitment he made to members before his election last year. Audited accounts since 1993, which were pending finalisation, have been approved. Mr Sharma says that during his tenure as President, there has been an improvement in the ambience of the club with the provision of a family lounge, a TV room, a tombola room, a billiards room, a library and a non-smoking bar for the families. Besides, the sports facilities in the club, including refurbishing of the squash rackets court, have been improved.

Mr Sharma says that to complete some of the incomplete tasks he is seeking a second term as he feels that there is great need to reinforce the sports tradition by adding a health club, providing synthetic courts for tennis and a driving range for golf. The present team will carry on the tradition of administrative and financial transparency, promises Mr Chaman Sharma.

Mr Harish Dhawan says that his focus will be to improve the club atmosphere. "Because of unwieldy membership - there are more than 4200 members --the family atmosphere has been missing from the club.My foremost endeavour will be to restrict membership and restore the family atmosphere.

"Besides, I am going to focus on sports and cultural activities. I had been an active sportsman myself. The club swimming pool needs to be improved. Other facilities are to be strengthened. The hall also needs immediate attention.

"I am an old associate of the club and feel pained at the poor state of affairs in the club," adds Mr Dhawan.

Both Mr Chaman Lal Sharma and Mr Dhawan along with their supporters and panelists have been campaigning from door to door. The hot and dry weather conditions notwithstanding, the campaigning is expected to pick pace in a day or two.

Shopkeepers get one month
Violation of HUDA rules
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, May 4 — Shopkeepers facing eviction from booths taken on lease from the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) in different sector markets during the late eighties have been given a month's time to represent their case before the State Government.

A decision in this regard has been conveyed to a delegation of the Market Association of Sector 15 which met the Administrator of HUDA, Mr Devinder Singh, seeking certain relaxation in this regard . The shopkeepers have been asked to write to the Chief Administrator of HUDA.

The issue flared up after officials of the local estate office went to the Sector 15 market to get the booths evicted, given on a lease for 11 months in 1989, on Saturday last. The shopkeepers had downed their shutters in protest.

The shopkeepers were allegedly violating the terms and conditions of the lease besides not paying rent for the booths resulting in a revenue loss of lakhs of rupees to HUDA. Such erring lessees had been asked to vacate the booths within a month of being served eviction notices.

While the shopkeepers have been demanding that they should be allowed to run their commercial activity from their respective booths, the officials of HUDA are reported to have conveyed that such a decision required a policy decision at the government level. The officials say that the only option could be that the shopkeepers were allowed to purchase such booths at the reserved price whenever their auction was held. This offer, however, is not acceptable to the shopkeepers.

The shopkeepers say that HUDA had constructed the booths in different sector markets during the eighties to give a boost to commercial activity in the township. As there were few takers for the booths during auctions, the premises were rented out for Rs 1,800 per month.

Such booths had been rented in Sectors 2,6,7,8,9,10, 15 and 16 Whatever decision HUDA takes would be applicable to such booths in its different urban estates, say the officials.

Claiming that HUDA had terminated the rent agreement while acting injudiciously, they say that they had been paying rent on time. Moreover, they quote a clause from the lease agreement which says that the agreement would automatically be renewed after 11 months.

The HUDA officials on the other hand say that they were examining the agreement papers in their records.

“Good luck” bat campaign
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 4 — A “good luck” bat campaign for the cricket World Cup was launched by a company manufacturing confectionery items.

The campaign had started in Calcutta and Indore a few days ago, but now it is running simultaneously in 18 cities across the country.

Signatures of people from all walks of life are being sought on the bat. Prominent former cricketers, coaches, administrators and Olympians are expected to append their signatures.

Salaries not paid for one year
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 4 — The Officers welfare Association, Punjab Power Packs, SAS Nagar has criticised the management of the organisation that had not paid salaries to the employees for the last one year.

In a press note issued here Mr Jaspal Singh, the President of the association, alleged that though employees had approached the Punjab Government regarding this nothing had been done so far.

He further alleged that there was no power supply to the company since the past one year and the employees had to work without fans in the ongoing spell of sweltering heat. He demanded that salaries of the employees should be released without any further delay.

SNIPPETS

VIPs’ children served notices

CHANDIGARH, May 4 (TNS) — Children of VIPs holding arms licences have been served notices to appear for interviews before the SSP (security) and submit their requirement for a licence.Besides, personal security officers (PSOs) earlier posted with the VIPs have been asked to provide details of the behaviour and conduct of wards, sons and relatives of VIPs.This has to be done as we cannot wait for a thing like the Jessica murder case to happen here also, police officials opined.

PU exam dates changed

CHANDIGARH, May 4 (TNS) — Panjab University has rescheduled the examinations of all classes to be held on May 8, a press note issued by the Controller of Examination, Dr Sodhi Ram, said here today.

May 8 has been declared a holiday on account of the college staff being put on election duty for revision of electoral rolls as per the orders of the Election Commission of India.

The revised dates are as follows: BA/B.Sc I and III — May 21; BA/B.Sc II, BBA I, B.Com II, M.Ed, MA I and II — May 25. The examination centres will remain the same.

Powermen protest

CHANDIGARH, May 4 (TNS) — Members of the UT Powermen Union held a rally to protest against the alleged manhandling of an employee by the sarpanch of Hallo Majra village late last night.

The agitators alleged that upon receiving a complaint at 1 a.m. last night a team led by Mr Ram Bhore, lineman, and accompanied by Mr Satai Ram and Mr Darshan Singh, reached the village to check the fault which was traced to a transformer.

They conveyed the same to the villagers and the sarpanch and said since it was a major fault it would be repaired in the morning. Upon hearing this, the sarpanch reportedly abused and manhandled the trio.

They later held a rally at the 66-KV substation, Industrial Area, Phase II, demanding adequate security for employees, besides action against the accused so that others could perform their duties without fear.

Aptitude test

CHANDIGARH, May 4 (TNS) — Rahul Tayal and Ruhee, students of class VIII of Kailash Bahl DAV Centenary Public School, Sector 7, attained the seventh and 19th position, respectively, in the all-India bright career scholarship aptitude test in mathematics conducted for 1998-99.

Both students have received an ''achievement award'' along with a gold medal and a merit certificate each. The Principal of the school, Mrs Madhu Bahl, announced a special prize as a gesture to encourage the students.

The results were declared here yesterday for a test which saw about 7,500 participants from over 205 schools. The school has bagged the 71st position among the participating schools.

Circus show for handicapped

PANCHKULA, May 4 (TNS) — As many as 178 handicapped and orphaned children from different local institutions in the town enjoyed a show of circus at Chandigarh on Tuesday. The trip was arranged by the District Council For Child Welfare.

The District Child Welfare Officer, MS Anita Arvind, said no fee was charged by the circus management for the show. The children were from the Saket Institute for Orthopaedically Handicapped, Ashiana, the Welfare Centre for Hearing and Speech Handicap, and slum areas.