23,500 take entrance tests today
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 21 — As many as 23,500 students — over 17,000 boys and 6,000 girls — will appear for the entrance tests conducted by Panjab University for admission to the bachelor of engineering, including chemical engineering, B. Arch, and MBBS, BAMS, BHMS, B. Pharm and BSc (Hons School) courses in 103 examination centres, of which 50 are in the city.

The remaining centres are at Delhi, Ludhiana and Kurukshetra.

The papers will be conducted on May 22 and May 23 and the five papers comprising two papers each will be held between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

On May 22, students will appear for their physics, chemistry and biology papers, while on May 23, the students will take their examination for mathematics and architecture aptitude.

The candidates will be required to retain the admit cards till the admission process is over and must produce the same to the Chief Coordinator (Admissions) at the time of counselling for the respective course.

Meeting held: At a meeting of the Panjab University Students Union chaired by Mr Lakhjeet Singh, President of the PUSU, the members have demanded that the various examinations should be reconducted for students who had failed to appear in the examination in the first place on account of shortage of lectures.

A press note issued by Mr Mohan Singh, General Secretary, PUSU, said here today that a total of 200 students were affected by shortage of lectures and the examinations of nearly 165 students were already over. In effect only 30 students of the honours school had been benefited by the decision, but they too had missed a couple of examinations.

A delegation of the PUSU would meet members of the Syndicate and the Vice-Chancellor to request them to reschedule the examinations to enable the students to benefit from the decision of provisional admissions to the examinations taken by the Syndicate at its emergency meeting held on May 20.

ASI in police net, faces probe
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 21 — An ASI, who first freed a young woman nabbed by the police for loitering and then lived with her as her companion for more than 20 days, is facing an inquiry.

The file is pending for action at the senior level in the Police Department, according to informed sources, while preliminary inquiry points a finger at the cop who allegedly used his position to first get the woman out on bail and then live with her.

The ASI, posted in the Police Lines, used a novel way to free the woman and then live with her. The woman, hailing from Himachal Pradesh, and presently based in Sector 18, had been nabbed by the Sector 19 police on April 26 and booked under Sections 41.2 and 109 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr PC).

The next day she was produced before the Subdivisional Magistrate (SDM). As the police was debating if the woman should be sent to the Nari Niketan or not, the ASI sent a friend of his posing as a relative of the woman to get her out on bail. The woman was freed on bail as she was not a minor and she also admitted that she knew the person.

The matter was closed, but a scheme launched by the previous IGP to check what such women do when freed by the police landed the cop in trouble. A woman Sub-Inspector was asked to follow the woman. According to the preliminary inquiry, the SI visited the house of the person who had furnished the bail and found that the woman had been freed at the instance of the ASI who had known the woman from his days as ASI in the CIA wing.

Within a couple of days of the instance a constable on duty at Tagore Theatre saw the same woman travelling in a four-wheeler driven by the ASI .

The cop reported the matter to his seniors who then incorporated the version of the cop in the report of the SI and sent it for action to the senior officials.

Rivulets to be tapped for water
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, May 21 — The issue of tapping sources of water other than deep bore tubewells to cater to the needs of this fast developing township in the coming years has come into focus with the Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, stressing the need to tap fresh water sources.

He has asked officials of Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) and the Irrigation Department to tap the water flowing in seasonal rivulets, passing through the township, which normally flows into the Ghaggar river downstream.

The need to look for alternative sources of water is, in fact, being felt as the deep bore tubewells are not a permanent source of water and cannot be depended upon. In the past 25 years, the water table has dropped from 70 feet to at least 170 feet.

The issue of the construction of a dam on the Ghaggar as an economical source of water to Chandigarh and its surrounding townships of Panchkula and SAS Nagar lies frozen. Differences over sharing the costs between the beneficiary states has scuttled the project.

HUDA had prepared an augmentation plan to meet requirements a few years back. The plan was to tap the Burj Kotian spring water source, located about 8 km from the Sector 1 waterworks here. The source can yield 15 to 20 MGD of water — the total consumption in the town. Since the spring water source is situated at a higher level, the transportation costs would be low, as compared to pumping water from tubewells due to natural gradient.

Another proposal was to take water from the Kajauli waterworks which involves high costs as a 30-km-long supply line has to be laid. The town has a share of 3 MGD of water from the Kajauli waterworks.

The Chief Administrator of HUDA, Mr P. Raghavendra Rao, said the Chief Engineer of HUDA had been directed to submit a study report on ways to tap water sources in the township. HUDA would also write to the Irrigation Department to know about the status of the Ghaggar Dam project.

Gulati appointed Additional SE
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 21 — Mr A.S. Gulati, Executive Engineer (Headquarters), has been promoted and appointed Additional Superintending Engineer by the Chandigarh Administration. The order to this effect has been issued by the Chandigarh Administration in pursuance of an order of the Punjab State Electricity Board of September 22,1997. The redesignation of Mr Gulati as Additional Superintending Engineer will be personal to Mr Gulati only, the order said.

Meanwhile, the Chandigarh Administration, by another order has given the additional charge of Executive Engineer (W&E)-cum-Under Secretary (Engineering) to Mr Gulati. This post had fallen vacant after the dismissal from service of Mr A.K. Gupta on May 10 on account of his conviction in the silt scam.

The order further said that the work pertaining to the Budget of the Engineering Department, both Plan and non-Plan, would be handled by Mr Kuldip Singh, Superintending Engineer, Planning Circle, in addition to his own duties.

Since one more Executive Engineer — Mr K.S. Brar — and a Subdivisional Engineer — Mr Surjit Singh — had also been dismissed from service along with Mr A.K. Gupta, the Administration has also issued orders with regard to the posts that fell vacant as a sequel to the dismissal orders.

In place of Mr K.S. Brar, the additional charge of Executive Engineer, Capital Project Division No 4, has been given to Mr Kuldip Singh, Executive Engineer, Capital Project Division No 5.Mr Ram Singh, Sub-Divisional Engineer, C-9 (under C.P. Division No 9) will hold the additional charge of the Sub Divisional Engineer, Sub-Division No 8.

Suspended cop reinstated
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 21 — Sub Inspector Ved Prakash of the Chandigarh Police, who had been suspended for his alleged involvement in the case of three British nationals, was reinstated by the authorities today. The enquiry would, however, carry on, sources said.

Seven other constables, who were suspended in separate cases, have been reinstated in the past two days.

'Unleaded' shock
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 21 — Owners of four diesel-run vehicles had a rude shock when the oil tanks of their vehicles were filled with unleaded petrol at a CITCO-run petrol station in Sector 9, here, this evening.

One of the chambers meant for diesel was reportedly filled up with petrol by a Bharat Petroleum (BP) oil tanker. It was only noticed when the vehicles, which got their oil tanks filled, stopped a few yards away.

Staff of the oil company were summoned and the petrol was drained out of the pipes. The vehicle owners were compensated and the petrol station functioned normally after about one-and-a-half hours.

Water to all in 2050, a challenge
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 21 — Engineers, planners and administrators in charge of the urban water supply and sanitation have a challenging task of providing safe drinking water to more than 820 million people of the country by the year 2050. If advance planning does not start now, we will be chasing a mirage, they warned.

This observation was made at a seminar on "Water : Vision 2050" held on the occasion of Water Resources Day at Government Museum and Art Gallery, Sector 10, here, today. The function was held under the aegis of the regional office of the Central Water Commission, Indus Basin Organisation, Ministry of Water Resources and the UT Engineering Department.

Speakers assailed the lack of planning and said reluctance to take hard steps would be detrimental to the ecosystem. The answer lay in privatisation.

The need of the hour was reasonable projections of population growth, preparation of basin-wise water resources management master plans, legislation to control unauthorised abstraction of groundwater and protection of drinking water sources from pollution.

Besides this, the need for pricing of water through realistic water tariffs for full cost recovery, protection and maintenance to prevent/control pollution through leakages and timely rehabilitation of systems for their longevity was needed. The privatisation of water supply and sanitation sector should also be pursued vigorously, they stressed.

Dr M.R.Goyal, Consultant, Ranjit Sagar Dam Project, while inaugurating the function, stressed the need of judicious use of water and reviewing the spirit of reverence of rivers as was done by our forefathers. The country should opt for more hydro-projects rather than thermal ones as the latter create a lot of pollution. He suggested harvesting rain water as was being done in Himachal Pradesh and also construction of watershed management dams and small tanks.

Mr R.K.Jain, Chief Engineer, UT, said the administration would approach the Centre for approving the fourth phase of the Kajauli water project. Otherwise, it would adversely affect the development of Chandigarh.

Mr Puranjit Singh, Chief Engineer, Municipal Corporation, said the corporation was spending Rs 35 crore for bringing waste from Bhakra, but it was recovering only Rs 15 crore as water charges from the people. The delay in revision of water charges was affecting the functioning of the civic body.

He suggested an attitudinal change in the use of water as the only way of saving the future generations from scarcity of water.

Mr S.C. Sood,Chief Engineer, CWC, highlighted that the population of the country was expected to reach 1.64 billion by 2050. For feeding this number, 450 million tonnes of foodgrains would be required as against the present production of 200 million tonnes, which is a gigantic task considering the constraints being faced in the irrigation sector.He said 50 per cent of the population would be living in urban areas and 1650 billion cubic metres of water would be needed by 2050.

Mr D.S. Khangura of the CWC expressed concern at the impending crisis in water resources by that year. He said this programme is held every year to generate mass awareness so that a solution could be found to the problem.

Mr J.S. Kalra, Chief Engineer, Punjab Irrigation Department, stressed the need of conserving water by using modern techniques of irrigation as the water table was depleting and rivers getting polluted.

The technical session was held in which many experts, including Prof S.D. Dhawan, PEC, Mr S.K. Mittal, Central Soil and Water Conservation and Research Institute, and Dr D.S. Dhillon, a retired Chief Engineer, participated.

Awards were also presented to students who won the essay writing, painting and declamation contests held on the theme.

The winners of the essay writing contest are Vimalpreet Bajwa (1), Amit S. Rana (2) and Richa Gandotra (3). In the declamation contest Simarleen was declared first while Vimalpreet and Nidhi Puliani came second and third, respectively.

In the senior painting competition, Isha Talwar stood first while Tanja and Priyaula were adjudged second and third, respectively. In the juniors category, Aprimaye Negi was first while Shiwali Jain and Surbhi Sharma came second and third, respectively.

Pankaj to star in ‘Dopehri’
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 21 — Remember the carrot-eating sleuth who cracked many cases on the small-screen, Mohan Das BA LLB and the research-bug stung doctor in the film "Ek Doctor Ki Maut".

These characters and many more were rendered by Pankaj Kapur. He will perform in the play "Dopehri" at Tagore Theatre on Sunday.

This is the story of 65-year-old Amma Bi. She lives alone in Lal Haveli at Lucknow. Her only son Javed is away in America. Pankaj, while essaying the character, makes the audience empathise with Amma Bi's loneliness and fears and how she redefines her existence.

The show has been brought to the city by Indradhanush, Haryana Fine Arts Association and Haryana Cultural Affairs Department.

Work on canal to begin this year
From Our Correspondent

DERA BASSI, May 21 — The construction of the Dashmesh canal, aimed at providing irrigation facilities to some barren areas of Dera Bassi, Rajpura, Ropar and Fatehgarh Sahib, will begin this year. The Punjab Government will spend Rs 270 crore on the canal. The state government has made all the financial arrangements for it, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Finance Minister, said while addressing a gathering at Haripur Hinduan village here today.

The Finance Minister was speaking after inaugurating a tubewell which was sunk at a cost of Rs 18 lakh in the village for irrigation purposes.

After the completion of the proposed canal the farmers of the area would get sufficient water for irrigation, Capt. Kanwaljit Singh said.

The Akali-BJP government had fulfilled most of its commitments made to the public till date and much more was to be done in the next three years. The government would not allow the financial constraints to come in the way of development, the minister said.

The Finance Minister granted Rs 2 lakh for the village circular road, drains and streets, Rs 75,000 for the cremation ground, Rs 50,000 for religious buildings and Rs 1 lakh for the village middle school building.

Earlier, Capt Kanwaljit Singh laid the foundation stone of a link road which would cost Rs 5.5 lakh.

The repair work of all link roads in Dera Bassi subdivision had started and the Jolan-Rampur Sainian link road would be widened to 18 feet at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore, he said.

Mr Sher Singh Sidhu, SDM, Dera Bassi, Mr Bashesher Singh, sarpanch of Lalru, Mr J.S. Dalli, President, Municipal Committee, Dera Bassi, and Mrs Amarjit Singh, Headmistress, Middle School, Haripur Hinduan, were also present.

Use of grant allowed
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 21— The Vice-Chancellor had allowed all 11 research scientists to avail themselves of the grant provided by the University Grants Commission for minor research projects in the current financial year, Dr Satya P. Gautam, Convenor of the Research Promotion Committee of Panjab University, said here yesterday.

He further said that the university office would soon advise these teachers to submit their bills for the release of the first instalment (40 per cent of the grant allotted) within four weeks to enable them to pursue research projects without hindrance.

The said the grant had lapsed with the end of the last financial year and the researchers had requested that it be carried on to the current financial year.

Talk on career in police
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 21 — "Every organisation has a handful of corrupt men and so does the police but being in uniform, they are easily spotted and the entire police force is branded as corrupt.'' This was stated by Mr Alok Kumar, Assistant Superintendent of Police, at a talk on 'A Career in the Police Force', organised at DAV Public School, Sector 8, here today.

After enumerating ways of joining the police force, he explained to the students about entry through the Union Public Service Commission. Going into the details of the examination, he said they had to be mentally tough, since the syllabus was vast. "You have to go through the entire syllabus but have to be selective to cope with the syllabus of the main examination. That is where luck figures in the examination,'' he opined.

Coming to the police force as a career option, he said it was a great opportunity to serve the public. "We have tremendous rights and powers, which are accompanied by duties we have to shoulder. The uniform is a constant reminder that our priority is the best interest of the public,'' Mr Kumar said.

"We have to devise a strategy according to the genesis of crime. The unstable population comprising jhuggi dwellers, labourers and rickshaw pullers creates problems, since we cannot keep track of them. These colonies are the breeding ground of crime," he said, addressing students of Class X.

He differentiated between crime in society and law and order problem, using examples. He explained to the students the role played by the intelligence in the identifying "what can go wrong where and when''. Speaking of the disadvantages of joining the force, he said family life was a big casualty and those employed with the police could be called for duty any time.

Answering queries of the students anxious to add to their knowledge of the force, he said building their image in the eyes of the public was a tedious job, requiring patience. "For every bad example, there are 100 good ones, which the media fails to highlight. Hence the police force comes to be associated with the wrongs in society,'' he commented.

On an enquiry about succumbing to pressure from the seniors to take a wrong decision, Mr Kumar said in the police, nobody was bound to obey illegal orders, since each policeman was bound to the norms of justice and was not committed to do service to any individual. "If this results in a transfer, it has to be borne despite being demoralising to the person concerned. Disciplinary action in the force is the maximum and swift," he stated.

He concluded his talk on the note that people could lose faith when the police was at fault. The need was to build confidence in the public, give priority to the service of society and be upright and honest enough to resist illegal orders.

The Principal, Mrs S. Manuja, had started the idea of organising lectures at the school. She said this was the second lecture in the series of facilitating selection of profession for students.

"The students, in their formative years, have very little information about the options at their disposal and are uncertain. An interaction with professionals from various fields will help them make up their mind,'' she said. The next lecture will be on a career in the armed forces.

Ex-servicemen want revision of pension
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 21 — Defence pensioners of the region today expressed their resentment at the delay by the government in ordering revision of their pension in accordance with the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission.

At an emergency meeting held here today under the chairmanship of Air Marshal Randhir Singh (retd), the pensioners demanded that the orders be issued forthwith as their civilian counterparts had already been given the benefits in December. They said all options exercised by them had failed to draw the attention of the government.

According to Lieut Col B.S. Sekhon, it was resolved that a signature campaign would be carried out to pressurise the BJP Government to issue the notification for revision of pre 1996 pensions before the dates for the parliamentary elections are announced.

The pensioners also urged the former MP, Mr Satya Pal Jain, to intervene in the matter, as promised by him during his previous election campaign. They said a majority of the pensioners were very old and might pass away without getting their rightful due.

‘Main issues skirted’
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 21 — The controversy over Mrs Sonia Gandhi — her projection as prime ministerial candidate by the Congress and the subsequent controversy within the party — are merely blurring the real issues of globalisation or nuclearisation. This was the essence of a panel discussion by political scientists held at the Institute for Development and Communication (IDC) here today.

The participants were Prof Randhir Singh, a noted political analyst, Mr Asghar Ali Engineer, a well-known columnist, and Dr Pramod Kumar, Director, IDC.

Dr Kumar set the ball rolling by posing the question about substance in the contention that foreign-borne citizens should be barred from holding the office of Prime Minister. He also questioned whether being a member of Nehru-Gandhi dynasty bestowed an inalienable right on any individual to bid for the highest office or whether one's being rooted in the soil was an essential prerequisite for occupying the highest post of government.

Prof Randhir Singh viewed the entire issue of the foreign origin of Mrs Sonia Gandhi as being misplaced and merely serving to blur the basic issues of India's economic globalisation and nuclearisation. He felt that the national agenda had collapsed after Independence and the ruling elite had reached consensus on globalisation to serve it own interest. He added that sycophantic appeals to Mrs Gandhi to withdraw her resignation as well as the action against three senior Congress leaders only exhibited political mediocrity.

Dr Kumar opined that the controversy was basically a naked and vulgar contest of struggle for power. He felt that while skirting the real issues facing the country, the debate was giving a fillip to non-democratic tendencies.

Mr Engineer felt that whether one was born in India or not was not the issue. He stated that when the credentials of a person had been checked and citizenship granted to him or her, that person should enjoy all right, including that of occupying the highest post of the country.

Mr Engineer said that the attack should have been on Congress policies rather than on such issues.

Prof Randhir Singh observed that policies and programmes had ceased to be central to Indian politics for a long time and the latest controversy was only a crisis of ruling class politics with no connection with the common man.

Further, the current crises should not be attributed to a political party. The differences between political parties had vanished. Consequently, these parties looked similar to the voters. The mushroom growth of political parties organised around individuals was the natural outcome.

Congress remembers Rajiv
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 21 — Functions to observe balidan divas, the death anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister, were held at various places by Congressmen in the city here today.

A function was organised by the CTCC at Lepers Colony, this morning. Office-bearers of the party paid floral tributes to the departed leader and highlighted his achievements for the country.

A community kitchen was organised on the occasion for the inmates of the colony.

The Mahila Wing of the party organised functions at Dhanas, Mauli Jagran and Colony Number 5.

The territorial wing of the mahila wing took out a parbhat pheri from Sector 30, which after passing through various sectors of the city, culminated in a prayer meeting in the same sector.

The Labour Cell of the local unit held a function in Sector 32 - C to pay homage to the leader. On the occasion, priests of various religions recited from scriptures.

The rural unit of the Youth Congress also held prayer meetings at Dhanas. A chhabil was also organised. The Chandigarh Janhit Sangarsh Morcha also held a function at Sanjay labour Colony.

A total of 205 units of blood were donated during a blood donation camp organised by the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (I) at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) Sector 32 in memory of Rajiv Gandhi.

SNIPPETS

BA II exam out of syllabus
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 21 — Introduction to Broadcasting Media, Paper II of the Functional English course prescribed for BA II did not conform to the syllabus and style of previous papers, students taking the examination alleged here yesterday.

According to the syllabus prescribed by Panjab University, the written paper is of 25 marks while the remaining 75 marks are reserved for the practical test. However, the question paper said the test was of 100 marks and students were required to answer the five questions in 200 to 250 words. This was overlooked by students, thinking that the time allotted to complete the paper was three hours instead of the prescribed two. This led to a confusion about the practical tests slated for June 11 and 12.

Moreover, four questions did not have any internal choice which is against the pattern of the prescribed syllabus. A representation to the Controller of Examinations will be sent tomorrow by the students.

Rs 13 crore grant for colleges
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 21 — The Government of Punjab has released a grant of Rs 13 crore for the first quarter of the year 1999-2000 and the pending grant of Rs 23.61 crore for the non-government-aided colleges of Punjab. This will give relief to employees of these colleges whose salaries were withheld for some time.

Prof N.P. Manocha, Finance Secretary of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union, thanked the Punjab Government for releasing the grant and mitigating the problems faced by teachers. He expressed his gratitude to the Chief Minister for this and requested him to settle other issues confronting the teachers as well.

Prof Manocha expressed anguish over delay on part of the UT Administration in issuing the notification regarding UGC scales for teachers of non-government-aided colleges of Chandigarh. He appealed to the administration to issue the notification soon.

Jain's appeal to Muslims
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 21 — Mr Satya Pal Jain, local member of the dissolved Lok Sabha, has appealed to the Muslims and members of others minorities to strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. He assured them that the BJP-led government would work for the welfare and betterment of the minorities in general and the Muslims in particular. He was speaking at a function held at the Sector 45 mosque here last evening.

Mr Jain said that in 50 years after Independence, leaders of many political parties had tried to garner the maximum Muslim votes but without doing anything for the community as a whole. Muslims continued to be in poverty and their children were not getting education at all. He said that the BJP-led government at the Centre did not believe in religious discrimination.

He further said that during the 13-month BJP rule, there was not even a single Hindu-Muslim clash anywhere and members of both communities celebrated festivals like Divali, Id, Holi and Ramzan together.

Retired staff get cheques
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 21 — A function to hand over cheques to employees on the day of their retirement was organised at the Regional Provident Fund Office here yesterday.

Mr M.L. Meena, Regional Provident Fund Commissioner (1) of Punjab and UT, distributed accounts statements to employers and handed over the cheques to retiring provident fund members.

Mr Meena urged the employers to ensure submission of Form 2 and Annual Returns Form 3-A/6-A by all employees so that PF claims and pensions could be released to them soon.

Blood donation
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 21 — The Thalassaemic Children Welfare Association will organise a blood donation camp tomorrow from 8.30 am to 1.30 pm in the Advanced Paediatric Centre (APC) at the PGI.

Anti-terrorism Day observed
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 21 — Employees of the Chandigarh Administration observed Anti-terrorism Day by pledging to uphold and promote peace, social harmony, understanding among people, besides fighting disruptive forces threatening human lives and values.

The pledge was administered by Mr N.K. Jain, Home Secretary, in front of the UT Secretariat in Sector 9. Senior officials, including Mr Satish Chandra, MD of CITCO and Finance Secretary, were present on the occasion.

The Indian Audit and Accounts Department of Punjab, also observed Anti-terrorism Day here today. A pledge to keep faith in the country's tradition of non-violence was taken by all staff members, including senior officials.