Thursday, November 4, 1999
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N E W S Thursday, November 4, 1999 |
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weather spotlighttoday's calendar |
Impressive
collections by designers CHANDIGARH, Nov 3 — Twenty six collections by young fashion designers were displayed by 21 top models of the country at the second annual fashion show of the SAS Nagar-based National Institute of Fashion Technology at Hotel Mountview here this evening. The models, including three former Miss India title winners, Manpreet Brar, Priti Mankotia and Annie Thomas, accompanied by 12 children and 6 African girls, had the audience glued to their seats for more than 90 minutes. One set of collections, dedicated to blind children, was exhibited by 6 children having impaired vision. The show, which started behind schedule, had 'Sfumato: a 1,000 years in sand' as the first collection on display. Shyla Lopez and Manpreet Brar were the toast of the first round. The collection got Pankaj Rastogi the best design collection award. In each of the displays, number of models varied between 5 and 9. Reincarnation of Krishna, the second collection, had the 'Hare Rama Krishna' music to support Chetan Spall's creations. Raghbir Singh's Echo, which was later adjudged best commercial collection, was a beautiful blend of black and white, a combination which was subsequently on display in the Darkness of Divine. Jas Arora, Rajat Raina, Praveen, Ajay Balhara, Niketan, Vijay and Aditya Baz were at their best in some of the collections, especially Surabhi Talwar's Rodeo Romeo, which had all male models in virtual 'cowboy' outfits. This collection comprised short jackets, jeans and trouser variations in leather and denim. The colours, blue, green, wine red and tones of brown, went very well. The traditional Indian wear — saree and dhoti-kurta or kurta-pyjama — missed the imagination of designers. The focus was on blending the present with the future. In one of the collections, Y2K, forecasting an end to the world, use of cotton was effective. One-eyed bandits, Paradise Again, were other interesting collections. The most constructive collection award went to Mita Gupta, whose collection 'Sam Sama' was dedicated to the emancipated woman. The best knitwear collection award went to Prachi Joshi's Die Kalt Wohnug, while Kushal Dev's Slum Drum, the last collection on display, had models in colourful costumes with gold silk as the basis. Mr Sucha Singh Langah,
Punjab Industries Minister, gave away the prizes.
Manpreet Brar, Priti Mankotia, Annie Thomas, Sapna, Shyla
Lopez, Priyadrashini Pradhan, Ayesha Prem, Michelle,
Bindu, Sharda, Aparna, Tina, Joey, Swareena, 7 male
models, 6 African girls and 12 children, including 6
children having impaired vision, participated in the
show. It was choreographed by Harmeet Bajaj of the
National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi. |
Four held
for robbery PANCHKULA, Nov 3 — Four persons, Manoj Kumar, Suresh Kumar, Manilal and Shambhu Kumar, were arrested this afternoon in connection with a theft that took place in Sector 6 last night at the residence of Mr Subhash Chopra, a property dealer. The four men, hailing from Bihar, were employed as servants in the vicinity and none of the employers had got their servants registered with the police. While two of them were employed in house number 189, another was employed in house number 218. The fourth was serving in house number 166. Out of the four, Suresh Kumar, was previously employed as a servant with the Chopras and knew the layout of the house. Narrating the sequence of events, family sources said the thieves entered the house after scaling the wall in the backyard of the house, took out the ladder lying in the storeroom and placed it against the wall to get onto the first floor of the house. Once on top, they removed the glass from the wooden panel and opened the door to gain entry into the house. Inside, they thoroughly searched the rooms on the first floor before coming to the ground floor where all three rooms were occupied by family members. Mr Chopra opened his door after hearing a light knocking on the door of his room. In no time, the four, with muffled faces, descended on the couple and began beating them up. Armed with rods, sticks, a hammer and stones, the assailants gave sharp whacks on the heads of the couple. Hearing strange noises in the adjoining room, Mr Chopra's mother woke up his daughter, Preeti, who in turn went to wake up her brother, Yogesh, from another room. As soon as Yogesh knocked on the door of his parents room, the door was opened and he was dragged inside following which he too received a bashing from the men. On this, Mr Chopra appealed to the robbers to stop their act and take whatever they wanted, offering them even the diamond ring he was wearing. While this was on, the loud noises from the house awakened the servant who, in turn, woke up the driver, Vijay. He stealthily raced to police post nearby and alerted the policemen who arrived on the scene. However, one of the thieves who had managed to catch a glimpse of the driver jumping the wall, alerted his counterparts who fled from the scene. The police, on inquiry, stumbled upon some evidence which helped it trace the culprits. Preeti, who had managed a close look at one of them, said that the eyes of one of them seemed to be "popping out''. This provided the police the much-needed clue and they went through their records. Finally, they managed to find one such picture which was shown to Preeti which she identified as one of the culprits. Thus, began the search for the culprits and finally the police managed to track down the culprit who was employed as a servant at a house in the vicinity. On interrogation, he revealed the names of the other three involved in the crime and by 3:30 pm, all four were in the police net. Besides complete recovery of stolen items, the police managed to get hold of the blood spattered cloth pieces which had been used to muffle the faces. Meanwhile, at the residence of the Chopras, a team of forensic experts visited the spot and a dog squad was pressed into service. However, the trail ended on the adjoining Chandigarh-Kalka highway, failing to yield any positive information. The bedroom of the Chopra couple was a gory scene with blood spattered all over the floor and on the walls. Mr Chopra, who was taken to the PGI along with his son and wife, got as many as 34 stitches in his head. It must be pointed out
here that two to three weeks back, a similar break-in
attempt was made at their house. However, that time the
culprits had managed to remove a window pane and gain
entry but finding the only entry point to bedrooms and
lobby locked had returned. The matter was reported to the
police and investigations in the case were on. |
Rape by
Punjab police commandos SAS NAGAR, Nov 3 — A middle-aged woman was raped by at least five commandos of Punjab police at the Commando Complex in Phase XI here. The victim had come to the Commando Complex in connection with a marriage proposal for her daughter with a constable, Pritam Singh, posted there. The incident has raised serious questions about discipline in the police force. The Commando Complex is one of the centres where the commandos of Punjab police are given training and are employed on VIP duties. Adding to it, the police tried to keep the whole matter under the carpet. A case under Section 376 of the IPC was registered by the police on October 30. Even after the registration of the case, the cops were tight-lipped about the episode. While three of the suspects — Devinder, Raman and Ashok — have been arrested, Harvinder and Harnam are yet to be arrested. According to the information available, the victim , hailing from Gurdaspur, came to the town on October 19 and tried to contact Pritam Singh at the Commando Complex from an STD booth at local bus stand. As Pritam Singh was not at the complex, one of his colleagues, Raman, lied to her and brought her on a motorcycle. There he was joined by four other persons at one of the family quarters in the complex. After raping her for the whole night, she was dropped at the local bus stand late in the night. The incident came to light when Pritam Singh visited her at Gurdaspur. The case was registered after the Line Officer at the Commando Complex inquired in to the matter and forwarded the report to the local police on October 29. Meanwhile, three of the
arrested commandos were yesterday remanded in judicial
custody by the Duty Magistrate at Kharar. |
Tortured
by police CHANDIGARH, Nov 3 — A 24-year-old city resident today alleged that he was mercilessly beaten up with a baton and electric shock was applied to his private parts by a sub inspector after being stripped naked. In his complaint before a city court against Sub Inspector Naresh Pal Verma, complainant Gurpartap Walia also alleged that despite loud cries and pleadings, he was thrashed after being forced to go to the Sector 19 police station on November 2 in connection with a complaint. He said he got serious injuries on the left shoulder, head and other parts of the body due to the thrashing. Attempts by a friend who was accompanying him to intervene in the matter proved futile as he was threatened with dire consequences, he added. The complainant was let off only after being forced by the accused to admit the crime in writing, besides feeling sorry for committing it, Gurpartap's counsel Arunjeev Singh Walia stated. Seeking the summoning and trial of the sub inspector, the counsel said, "By keeping the complainant in illegal detention from 1 p.m. to 6 pm, subjecting him to third degree treatment and threatening him with a view to extorting confession, the accused has made himself liable for punishment." Taking up Walia's complaint, accompanied with an affidavit, the UT Judicial Magistrate (First Class), Mr Baljinder Singh, fixed November 18 for examining preliminary evidence. Meanwhile, the counsel
stated that SI Verma, claiming to have received a
complaint regarding the occupants of a car, had forced
the complainant and his friend to accompany him to the
police station. While the complainant drove the car,
Verma and the friend sat on the rear seat, he added. |
Police
admits failure in conducting probe CHANDIGARH, Nov 3 — Following a query from the office of the Home Secretary seeking a status report on two FIRs registered 15 years ago, the Chandigarh Police has sent a reply in which it has reportedly admitted that no investigation was carried out in any of the cases. The cases were the famous ‘“beef tallow recovery ” case of 1983 and a case of seizing prime property, owned by an NRI in 1984. Both cases were reported in The Tribune on October 15 under the heading “15-year-old cases hushed up ”. The office of the Home Secretary based its query on the newspaper report. In its detailed three page-reply, the police has admitted that no investigation was carried out and no one was tried or summoned. No challan was presented in the court. The very basis of any investigation, the ‘’case diaries’’ filed by the investigating officer in the beef tallow case, are incomplete, while they are missing in the property grab case. . The report mentions that “the above said cases have not been sent to court for trial or as untraced and the case files are not available in the police station. The further outcome of these cases is not known”. In the beef tallow case, which was registered on August 10, 1983, under sections 420, 120-B, 467, 468, 471, 295-A, IPC, and under Section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act, it was found that some cops received secret information that four tankers, HRX 8537, DHL 3630, DHG 2245 and DHL 725 loaded with 12 tonnes of beef tallow each were parked in front of plot number 207, Industrial Area. The informer told that Ganga Ram Sharma, owner of Shahji Industrial Pvt Ltd and M\s Overseas Private Ltd, was negotiating deal to buy the tallow at rock bottom prices as the truckers, who had come from Kandla port in Gujarat, were unwilling to go back with their consignment since it had been banned by the government after they started. It was also revealed that the consignment had been brought by preparing fake and forged documents. The sellers were insisting that he buy it since it could be easily mixed in vanaspati ghee and easily sold in the market. The reported stated that the last case diary was submitted in November, 1988 and after that there was nothing on record in connection with the case. The four impounded trucks were subsequently released on superdari by a city court. The orders were taken by the investigating officer of the case. In the second case, which pertained to house number 2174, Sector 21 - C, and belonged to Mrs Gian Kaur, an NRI from Philippines, a power of attorney was given to Shiv Singh, an employee of the local DFO office, so that he could look after the affairs of the property. In 1984, when the owner visited India, she got the power of attorney changed in the name of Mr Mehma Singh, who had cordial relations with her and lived on the top floor of the house. The relations were so good that the courtyard on the ground floor was given to his son, Rocky, for running his property dealing business by the name of BR Property Dealers. All this changed when Mr Manjit Singh, husband of the owner, came to India and was handed over the keys of another portion of the house by another tenant, Mr Acchar Singh. The portion was renovated and one day Manjit Singh was shocked to find that the main door of the main portion of the house had been changed. He visited the Sector 19 police post but was detained on the grounds that the portion was leased out to Rocky. “Fabricated evidence” in the form of a money order of Rs 200 was presented before him. He was told that Rocky was regular with his rent and that he was creating problems for the tenant. He was also threatened by Rocky and some other persons inside the police post with dire consequences and not allowed to leave. It was only after he was forced to append his signatures on some pre-prepared papers claiming that Rocky was his tenant and allowed to leave at 9 p.m. No case diary was prepared and submitted in this case and there was no record in the crime register of the east police station, the report states. Sources said strict
action was on the anvil in this context by the
Administration. |
Sweets for
troops in Kargil CHANDIGARH, Nov 3 — Expressing solidarity with troops posted in the Kargil sector, a local firm donated about 16,500 pieces of specially manufactured “rasgullas” to the Army authorities today. The Commander, N-Area,
Col Shakti Prashad, who received the consignment,
weighing about 600 kg from Mr Parveen K. Gupta of Haryana
Stores Private Limited, said that it would be airlifted
to the forward area tomorrow. |
One
rusticated, 6 fined for ragging CHANDIGARH, Nov 3 — Taking a serious view of a ghastly ragging act which shook the local Punjab Engineering College (PEC) two months ago, the college authorities have rusticated one of the students and fined six others who allegedly subjected four of their juniors to mental and physical torture in a college hostel. The freshers were also forced to commit obscene acts before a group of students by six second and third year students in Himalaya Hostel of the PEC on September 17. It made Sandip, one of the victims, leave the college, in spite of the courage initially displayed by him in reporting the matter to the college authorities. According to an order issued by the Principal of the PEC, Mr Rajnish Parkash, after an inquiry into the incident, Kulwant Singh, a second-year metallurgical engineering student, who was leading the six boys who ragged the juniors, has been rusticated from the PEC for one year. Dinesh Rauniwal and Amit Kaul, both third-year civil engineering students, have been fined to the tune of Rs 10,000 each along with a warning. Gaurav Sachdeva, Mangesh Kumar Meena and Brahmanand, also third-year civil engineering students, and Deepak Kumar, a first year electrical engineering student, have been fined Rs 5,000 and Rs 1,000, respectively, in addition to getting a warning. The order justified leniency in case of some students. It said ragging was a crime against the liberty of an individual and could not be overlooked for that reason. The persons directly involved in the crime deserved the penalty of expulsion from the institute. However, since the parents of two of those found guilty had given an undertaking for good conduct of their wards in future, and considering their young age, a chance might be given to them to continue their studies on certain conditions. Kulwant Singh, who had not only indulged in ragging but whose parents had also not bothered to take responsibility of his good conduct in future, in spite of their signing a declaration to this effect at the time of his admission, however, stood rusticated for one year, the order said. It added that leniency had been shown to him for his young age. Gaurav Sachdeva, another accused, not only became a silent spectator, but enjoyed the brutal act by returning to the scene of crime which amounted to giving 'immoral' support to the act, hence a fine to the tune of Rs 5,000 had been imposed on him, said the order. It added that students who had failed in their duty to inform the college authorities on their own had been fined to the tune of Rs 1,000 each along with a warning to desist from such acts in future. Yellow cards, however, would be issued to all of them who had not been expelled from the college. According to the report of Dr V.P. Singh, in the final inquiry conducted by Dr V.P. Singh, Proctor; Dr Amit Haldar, Chief Warden Hostels; Dr M.L. Gupta and Mr R.R. Singh, it was established that Deepak Kumar, Mangesh Kumar Meena and Brahmanand were not involved in the incident and were only witnesses to it. They had even tried to prevent their fellow students from harassing Sandeep, a first-year civil engineering student, Kartikeya, a first-year computer engineering student, Gulshan Bhardwaj and K. Bhandari, both first-year electronics engineering students. "Their only fault
was that they did not inform the authorities. On the
other hand, Kulwant, Dinesh Rauniwal and Amit Kaul were
involved fully in the ragging incident. They used abusive
language, slapped and forced the first-year students to
perform obscene acts, crossing all limits of
decency," said the report of Dr V.P. Singh.
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Panel
imposes fine on student CHANDIGARH, Nov 3 — A committee of the Department of Physics in Panjab University today decided to impose a fine on Rajeev Thakur, a department representative, and Navdeep Kaur, a student, for the unpleasant incident on October 28 when freshers party was organised. The department also decided to dissolve the Physics Student Forum till further information. Both students have been asked to withdraw their FIRs “so that a cordial and academic environment is maintained in the department”, Prof I.M. Govil, Chairman of the department, said while talking to the TNS following the committee meeting. Students were sitting on an indefinite strike where Rajeev Thakur claimed that he had no association with the boys who had indulged in violence on October 28 — the freshers day function. Following day, brother of the girl was allegedly involved in an incident of assaulting Rajeev Thakur. The girl’s side, however, said that Rajeev Thakur was the main involved in the incident. The department constituted a committee to look into the incident. It was pointed out that on October 28, during the party two ‘outsiders were called’. These outsiders were seen by students and teachers. They passed obscene remarks about girls and made dirty postures. The committee felt that they were guests of Thakur and deserved to be punished for the incident.He had also a moral responsibility to abstain from such an activity ‘being a department representative’. The girl has been pulled up for not informing the Chairman about the incident and taking independent action, Professor Govil said. It was found out that on October 29, two outsiders came twice to the department and assaulted Rajeev Thakur. Meanwhile, PUSU and ABVP
conflict on the issue continued throughout the day.
Rajeev Thakur maintained that he had nothing to do with
the outsiders and he had offered meals to them to avoid a
violent scene. Amarjot Singh of the ABVP was however,
found to be innocent by the committee. |
Parking
lot attendants held CHANDIGARH, Nov 3 — The police has arrested two parking lot attendants at the Railway Station for cheating the public by issuing fake tickets. Several fake tickets of Rs 10 denomination were seized from them. The duo — Ram Vinay Sharma and Naval Kishore — are residents of Sitamarhi in Bihar and have been working for Suresh Manchanda, a Ludhiana-based contractor. He is reported to operate several parking lots in the northern region, according to preliminary interrogation. The arrests were carried out on the basis of information received by Inspector Kultar Singh Kahlon, SHO, Industrial Area, and SI Dilsher Chandel, Incharge of the railway station police post. Sources said although the official charges were Rs 4 for the first four hours, Rs 6 for the next 12 hours and Rs 10 for 24 hours, the duo had printed tickets of Rs 10 and were uniformly issuing them to the public, irrespective of the parking duration. Accordingly, a trap was laid today and a decoy customer was sent to them. They issued the ticket to him and were caught red-handed by the personnel. After initial interrogation, they confessed that they had been doing so for the past many years and had earned a lot of money. The connivance of railway police officers and the railway station authorities could not be ruled out and investigations in this context were underway, sources added. An estimated 2, 000 cars use the parking lot. Since a majority of the travellers by Shatabdi Express are either picked off or dropped by friends on relatives, the overcharging works out to Rs 5 for per car. Eight trains arrive at the station every day. In such a scenario, the contractor is pocketing Rs 10,000 everyday. A case under Sections
420, 468 and 471 of the IPC, has been registered at the
Industrial Area police station and parties have been
despatched to Ludhiana to arrest the contractor. |
Admn
orders reversion of SE, elecy ops CHANDIGARH, Nov 3 — The Chandigarh Administration has ordered the immediate repatriation of Mr P.S. Chawla, Superintending Engineer, Electricity Operations, to his parent state of Punjab. Mr Chawla is from the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) . He will be replaced by Mr J.N. Sachdeva, also from the PSEB, who is presently posted in the Operations Division at Ropar. Officials maintain that Mr P.S. Chawla had completed his tenure and was due for return to his parent cadre in August. An extension was sought for him in view of the major ongoing projects, including the work on the captive power generation for 120 MW, work on the 220 KV substation at Mani Majra and several other major projects. Sources, however, point out that a spate of electrocutions in the city and slow progress on various projects was the reason for prompting the reversion of the Superintending Engineer. During his tenure, Mr Chawla had gone abroad and in his absence the current duty charge was given to Mr V.P. Dhingra, the seniormost Executive Engineer of the UT cadre. Though Mr Dhingra was in the line for elevation as Superintending Engineer, he has already been given the current duty charge of Superintending Engineer, Electrical Circle, after the Administration ordered the suspension of Mr Jagdish Mitter, on the plea that he had turned an approver in the Engineering Department’s kickbacks case. Sources also point out that Mr V.P. Dhingra had not completed requisite number of years as Executive Engineer to be eligible for promotion as Superintending Engineer. Against the requirement of eight years as an Executive Engineer, Mr Dhingra has completed a little more than five years and as such he could not be considered for a position for which he would become eligible more than two years from now. Mr J.N. Sachdeva, who had until been recently a Senior Executive Engineer in the Ropar Operations Division of the PSEB, is expected to take up his new assignment before Divali. Meanwhile, the transfer of all those employees who have been holding sensitive positions for three or more years is also likely to be ordered after Divali. Some of the departments have already completed the exercise of identifying employees who have been holding positions for three or more years and also those who have been at non-sensitive positions for three or more years. The lists are ready. The Home Secretary, Mr N.K. Jain, when contacted confirmed that as per directions of the Central Vigilance Commission, transfers would be ordered soon. He said that instructions had already been issued to all Administrative Secretaries and most of the departments had completed the first part of the exercise. Meanwhile, the Department of Personnel of the Chandigarh Administration, in a letter to all Administrative Secretaries, heads of departments and other offices of the Chandigarh Administration, has reiterated that the provisions of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, which came into force with effect from New Year Day in 1996 should be strictly observed. The provision is for 3 per cent of all positions in all government and public sector undertakings should be reserved for persons with disabilities, out of which 1 per cent each shall be for persons with visual, hearing and locomotor disabilities. Mr Satish Ahlawat, Deputy Secretary, Personnel, in his letter wants all departments to launch a vigorous drive to identify positions and recruit persons with disabilities in accordance with the instructions of the Union Government. By another order, the Home Department has designated four senior functionaries of the Administration as census officers. Those designated are the Deputy Commissioner as Principal Census Officer; the Subdivisional Magistrate (Central) as District Census Officer; the Assistant Estate Officer as the City Census Charge Officer; and the Tehsildar (Revenue) as Census Charge Officer (Rural). These designated officers are also authorised to sign declarations in connection with the 2001 census. The Principal Census Officer and the District Census Officer have also been authorised to appoint Census Officers for their respective jurisdictions. Similarly, the Administrator has also authorised the Director, Joint Director, Deputy Director and Assistant Director of Census Operations to issue and sign declarations in connection with the 2001 census. These officials have also been authorised to appoint Census Officers within the jurisdiction of the Union Territory of Chandigarh. Meanwhile, the Union Home Ministry has cleared the name of Mr Parag Jain for appointment as Senior Superintendent of Police in place of Mr CSR Reddy. A formal communication from the Ministry of Home Affairs has already been received by the Administration, Mr Jain said. Mr Parag Jain, an IPS
officer of the 1989 batch belonging to the Punjab cadre,
is expected to take up his new assignment shortly. DA instalment for UT employees CHANDIGARH, Nov 3 — Employees of the Chandigarh Administration received a Divali gift as they have been given another instalment of dearness allowance with retrospective effect from July 1. The DA would be payable to them at the rate of 37 per cent now and in cash retrospectively from July 1. The new order of the
Administration shall also be applicable to work-charged
employees. However, the staff paid from contingencies,
casual labour, staff employed on daily wages and working
on the piece rate system shall not be eligible for the
payment of the DA instalment.The Chandigarh Subordinate
Services Federation has thanked the Administration for
releasing the additional instalment of DA and wanted that
the bonus should also be released to the employees. |
One-year
term for threatening JE CHANDIGARH, Nov 3 — Convicting a Dhanas resident , accused of threatening and chasing a junior engineer while he was restoring electricity, Judicial Magistrate (Ist Class) Jitinder Walia today sentenced him to one-year rigorous imprisonment, besides imposing a fine of Rs 2,000. Bant Singh was booked by the Chandigarh police on January 18, 1995, under Sections 353 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code. According to the prosecution, he had assaulted and prevented junior engineer Gurbax Ram from discharging his duty. The prosecution had added that the accused had also threatened the junior engineer and chased him with an axe. The engineer was there for restoring electricity, disrupted after a tree axed by Bant Singh had fallen on the electric cable, it was added. When confronted with the
incriminating evidence against him, the accused had,
however, pleaded innocence and asked for a trial. His
counsel had added that Bant Singh was being implicated in
the case. |
Rally by
students against crackers PANCHKULA, Nov 3 — Students of DAV Senior Secondary School in Sector 8 here today organised a rally against the bursting of crackers on Divali. Over 200 students took part in the procession which passed through different sectors of the township. The students carried banners to generate awareness among residents against the use of crackers on Divali. The students emphasised that the money spent on crackers could be used for more productive purposes. Members of the Environment Society of India were present on the occasion to tell the people about the pollution caused by the burning of crackers. Mr S.K. Sharma,
President of the Environment Society of India, said that
self-restraint was the only way to fulfil the objective.
He urged the students to voluntarily decide not to
explode crackers on Divali. |
155
licences for selling crackers PANCHKULA, Nov 3 — The district administration has granted non-transferable licences for the sale of crackers to 155 vendors in the district, of which 122 are in the township. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr S K Monga, under Section 144 of Cr PC has issued certain guidelines in the interest of the public to ensure safety of human life and property on Divali. Only specified places in Sectors 4, 16 and 14 have been marked for the sale of crackers in the town.The guidelines permit the licencee to store only an authorised quantity of fireworks.The term of the licence shall expire on November 8 and fireworks in shops shall be kept in spark proof and dust-free boxes. The guidelines say that no paints, matches or any article of inflammable or explosive nature shall be brought or kept in the licensed premises. The orders do not permit the stalls to be set up facing each other. Each licencee should keep 25 sand bags, a fire extinguisher of 10 kg and a portable water bucket at the approved site. The district health office has also geared up to meet any exigencies. A team of doctors would be available round the clock at General Hospital in Sector 6. An awareness drive for precautions on Divali would be undertaken soon by the department. The district fire
station has made arrangements with the assistance of the
adjoining fire stations to ensure safety of men and
material on the day. |
Nine
papers on Persian presented CHANDIGARH, Nov 3 —The XXI All-India Persian Conference concluded in Panjab University today following presentation of nine papers on various aspects of the language. Mehri Baqari from Tabrez University, Teheran(Iran), traced the cultural relations between India and Iran. Old relations at various fora were cited and various aspects of commonness traced. Mr M.Baqari, a student of library science in Iran, spoke on the book-related history and developments between the two countries. Mr Akhtar Ali from Hyderabad drew public attention, saying that lectures had no relevance unless concrete programme for development of the language were traced. He spoke about the present situation of the Persian language and various problems it faced in popularisation. This was followed by a lecture by Dr Nazma Siddique. Dr Azami Dukht Safavi, President of the conference, said that the language faced certain problems. However, the eternal grace was a surety of its subsistence. As many as 10
participants came from Iran, four from Turkey and three
from Afghanistan. Tasneem Chishti from Jamia Millia
Islamia said that the language definitely was facing
certain problems where plans of actions would be far
better than paper reading sessions. |
10
probationary nurses complete training CHANDIGARH, Nov 3 — As many as 10 probationary nurses of the 34th batch were administered the “Florence Nightingale pledge” on completion of preliminary training at a solemn but graceful ‘’lamp-lighting ceremony’’ organised at Western Command Hospital, Chandi Mandir, today. The ceremony began with the Deputy Director, Military Nursing Services, Western Command, Brig P.K. Sethi, lighting the auspicious lamp and the flame was passed around to light the lamps held by the student nurses by Sister Tutors, Major Mala Singh and Capt Asha Sharma. This was followed by pledge taking, administered by Lieut Col Elizabeth John and thereafter the invocation song, ‘’Give me light in my lamp...’’. Advising them to inculcate the qualities of compassion, dedication and love for work, the Chief of Staff, Western Command, Lieut-Gen B.S. Malik, who was the chief guest, said the most significant aspect of their training had been that they were able to get a first-hand experience in handling battle casualties, which had been evacuated from the Kargil sector. He complimented doctors and staff of the hospital for their role during the Kargil operation. Earlier, in his welcome address, the hospital Commandant, Maj-Gen Virendra Singh, said that it was an auspicious occasion for the student nurses who are taking the first step in their life-long commitment in dedicating their lives towards the care of the sick and the wounded. Presenting the course report, the officiating Principal Tutor, Lieut Col (Mrs) N.G. Shanta, said that all the students, who hail from different parts of the country, had cleared the examination after preliminary training with grades ranging from 65 to 76 per cent. The lamp-lighting ceremony was started more than 100 years ago by the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, popularly known as the “Lady with the Lamp”. It symbolises the transfer of knowledge, skill and spirit in nursing. The probationers had
been enrolled in July last for a three-year diploma
course in general nursing and midwifery. PN Chanchal
Chaudhary and PN Seema Nair secured first and second
positions in the examination held after three months of
preliminary training. They were given prizes by the chief
guest. |
Musical
beginning to fest CHANDIGARH, Nov 3 — A youth festival was held at MCM DAV College, Sector 36, here today. Music on instruments to various ‘raagas’ and vocal performances were well applauded on the first day of the Zone-A Youth Festival. The contest, was first in a series concentrating on local colleges.The university has more than 12 zones, whose winners will feature at the zonal festivals. The team of Dev Samaj College won the ‘shabad bhajan’ contest.Government College for Girls, Sector 11, and Government College for Girls, Sector 42, were adjudged second and third, respectively. Meenakshi, Jasmine Talwar, and Nishi Singh won the individual prizes in the contest. Teams of GCG, Sector 11, and MCM DAV were winners in the Indian vocal contest. The ‘vaar’ rendering contest was won by the host college.Teams of GCG, Sector 11, and GCG, Sector 42, were second and third,respectively. There were no individual winners in the contest. Team of the host college, which was the only entry in the classical (percussion) contest, was adjudged the winner.The classical (instrumental) contest was won by Guru Gobind Singh College. The teams of GCG, Sector 11, and Home Science College were second and third, respectively. In the creative arts (essay writing) contest, Kritika, Prachi Yadav and Vandana Mishra were the winners. Meena, Harpreet Kaur and Sheilja won the creative writing (short stories) contest.In the poetry category of the same contest, Suchita Joshi, Simran and Bhumika Rastogi were the top three winners. Addressing the gathering, Mr I.S. Dhillon, Director of the Youth Festival wing in Panjab University, said this was the first in a series of youth festivals of the university. The response from participants had been encouraging. Other results include landscape — Meryln (GCG-11), Sarabjit (GCG-42) and Reena (GCG-11); still life — Geeta (GCG-11), Kanchan (MCM) and Praneet (GCG-11); drawing from life — Gayatri, (GCG-11), Ratna Gupta (GGS-26) and Tarunjeet (MCM). Shalini Bains from Nursing College won the collage-making contest. Pooja Puri from GCG-11 and Tanya from the host college were second and third, respectively. In clay-modeling contest, Rajni of GCG-11, Rashi Paliwal of GGS-26 and Ayushi of GCG-11 were the winners. In the poster-making
contest, Neelam from GCG-42 bagged the first prize. The
second and third positions were bagged by Monika from
GCG-11 and Vidhi from the same college, respectively.
Cartooning contest was won by Kavita Singh from GGS-26.
Priyanka Rana from the host college and Valley Anand from
GCG-42 were second and third, respectively. |
Body
couldn’t be ‘identified’ CHANDIGARH, Nov 3 — Former Chief Minister of Punjab Beant Singh’s assassination case continued today with prosecution witness Chamkaur Singh stating that the side of the face and other parts of a body were shown to him at the PGI mortuary after the blast. Deposing before the District and Sessions Judge in the makeshift courtroom at Model Jail, Burail, near here, the witness stated that the body could not be identified by him. Chamkaur Singh’s deposition assumes significance as he was Dilawar Singh’s brother. Today, the witness
stated that he had reached the city on September 5, 1995,
before his statement was recorded by the Central Bureau
of Investigation. Chamkaur Singh added that he was in the
CBI’s custody from September 5 to 24. The case will
now come up for further hearing tomorrow. |
Court
order stays demolition work PANCHKULA, Nov 3 — The Department of Town and Country Planning, Haryana, could not carry out the complete demolition of the marriage palace at North Park here today, after owners of the resort produced a stay order from the Sessions Courts, Ambala, on the ‘position and possession’ of the palace. Officials of the enforcement staff of the Department of Town and Country Planning arrived at the venue at around 3 p.m. with police personnel and a bulldozer to flatten the structure. They were accompanied by a truck full of labourers to aid the demolition process. The Senior Town Planner, Mr A K Garg, in charge of the operation, raised objection on the mesh blocking the road, leading to the marriage palace and demanded its removal. This had been put up by the hotel men this morning. Also, the officials demanded the removal of a car parked at the entrance of the parking area. Meanwhile, Vice-President of the hotel Vijay Bahri tried to reason with the officials and convince them that a stay over from the court was on its way, while hectic parleys with the advocates carried on throughout the conversation with them. A few heated words were also exchanged as the officials began to press for the removal of the “obstructions” and make way for the bulldozer to roll in. After about half an hour of arguments, heated exchanges, an exercise in convincing the officials that a stay order had been granted and a copy of the same would soon be made available, the officials insisted on taking the bulldozer right up to the marriage palace. The mesh and the car were removed from the way and the bulldozer came in followed by the police battalion and the labourers at 3.30 p.m. However, just as the officials began to get impatient, a copy of the orders faxed from Ambala was handed over to them and the officials, after consultation, ordered the bulldozer to withdraw from the scene. The whole battalion comprising the bulldozer, the policemen and the labourers marched out of the hotel after informing the higher officials. Mr Garg categorically mentioned the blockades set up by the resort which had delayed action by over 40 minutes. Refusing to comment on
today’s happenings, Mr Garg finally said that the
team had withdrawn following court orders. Earlier, the
men at the resort had stated that the department was
unjustified in carrying out the demolition since it was a
temporary wood structure topped by metallic sheets and
held together by nuts and bolts. |
Mother-in-law
gets life sentence CHANDIGARH, Nov 3 — Nearly two years after a housewife succumbed to burn injuries at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research here, the UT District and Sessions Judge, Mr B.S. Bedi, today sentenced her 60-year-old mother-in-law to life imprisonment, besides imposing a fine of Rs 1,000. Giving the benefit of doubt, the Sessions Judge, however, acquitted two other accused in the case. The mother-in-law, Parkash Kaur, meanwhile, was directed to undergo further three-month imprisonment in default of payment. She and the other accused — Onkar Singh and Baljit Singh — were earlier booked by the Chandigarh police on August 12, 1997, under Sections 498-A, 304-B, 302 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code on the basis of the deceased Kuldip Kaur's dying declaration recorded by the then UT Judicial Magistrate (First Class), Mr A.K. Jain, on August 12, 1997. The deceased had stated that she, disturbed by the bickering and disharmony in the house, had poured kerosene on herself. The mother-in-law, she had added, had set her on fire with a match stick. Alleging "harassment and maltreatment", her father Sukhdev Singh's counsel, Rajan Malhotra, had added that money was being demanded. Claiming to have been implicated in the case, the accused, when confronted with the incriminating evidence, had, however, pleaded innocence and asked for a trial. Denying the allegations, the counsel for the accused had stated that the mother-in-law was with a neighbour when the incident occurred. The counsel had added that the mother-in-law, upon hearing the cries, had rushed to the house to find Kuldip Kaur in flames. He had also added that attempts to extinguish the fire were made by Parkash Kaur. It had also been stated
that neither money, nor any other article, was ever
demanded from the deceased. Further, Parkash Kaur had
never quarrelled with the deceased, the counsel had
claimed.
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Marigold
director Syal surrenders CHANDIGARH, Nov 3 — Director of Marigold Forests Rajesh Syal was remanded in judicial custody till tomorrow by UT Judicial Magistrate (Ist Class) Naval Kumar after he surrendered in three cases before the court this afternoon. The Chandigarh police had earlier sought the help of the Interpol in arresting Syal who had reportedly fled the country after duping investors of crores of rupees. He was director of Marigold Forests and Alpine Floritech Limited, both agro-forestry companies which had been accepting deposits from investors by promising high rates of interest. The company had its head office in the NAC Area, Mani Majra. According to the police, several investors had complained that the company was not honouring its commitment by either paying the interest on their money or the deposits which had matured. The mater was investigated by the special crime cell and a case was registered against the accused. The department had written to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the External Affairs Ministry to seek the help of the Interpol in arresting the accused. A request in this context had also been sent to both ministries. Police sources had said the accused had been siphoning off funds from the company for the past many years and had taken away a vast sum and had reportedly invested it there. He was declared as absconding and an advertisement proclaiming him as wanted had been published on September 16 in newspapers of the region. Following this, the police had launched a manhunt but he could not be found. Syal was a resident of Sector 12, Panchkula. Two cases under Sections
406, 420 and 120-B of the IPC were registered against the
accused at Mani Majra police station. |
SDM for
fresh census in municipal area SAS NAGAR, Nov 3 — The Subdivisional Magistrate (SDM) has written to the Local Government Department to conduct a fresh survey to ascertain the population of the township as the elections to the local municipal council are due in January next year. The issue has been taken up by the SDM after a door-to-door survey conducted by the local Government Department in the wards of the council had shown the population of the town at around 1.06 lakh. The information was revealed by the department at a meeting of a special board on October 22, which had been constituted by the government for delimitation of wards of the Municipal Council. As the necessary information regarding the old and new ward-wise population of the council and maps showing the demarcation of the areas included in each ward had not been provided, the meeting was adjourned to November 5. Sources said the SDM had
taken up the issue of conducting a fresh survey of
population after certain municipal councillors, who are
members of the delimitation board, objected to the
population shown by the Local Government Department.
Taking the figure of 80,553 voters in the town, as per
the recent parliamentary elections, the population of the
town was expected around 1.75 lakh. |
French
Nightingale contest held CHANDIGARH, Nov 3 — Mr H.A. Patcharin, Vani Kaushal and Gunjeet Kaur, all three students of Alliance Francaise, Sector 36, emerged winners of the French Nightingale contest held here today. It is for the fourth consecutive year that the contest has been organised. As many as 13 participants from this region participated in the contest which was jointly organised by the French Embassy and the Alliance Francaise. The first winner of each region would compete at the all-India French contest for the title and would also get an opportunity to visit France. The recorded songs of the winners would be sent to the Embassy for the final selection. Those who participated
in the contest are Anand Mayank (Panjab University);
Arshia, Kamaldeep Kaur, Vidhi Negi, Radha Yashraj
(GCG-11); Kamalpreet (GCM, Sector 11); Vikrant Kapoor,
Rajnish Kumar and Sushil (Guru Nanak Dev University,
Amritsar) and Neetu Virk from Alliance Francaise. |
SNIPPETS Supply of dirty water alleged SAS NAGAR, Nov 3 (TNS) — Occupants in a pocket of HIG (super) flats in Sector 71 here have complained of supply of dirty water containing certain worms. Though the problem has been persisting for the past four months, repeated complaints to PUDA have failed to make any headway. One of the residents, Mr K.S. Nahar, said they were forced to install filters to make the water fit for consumption. CHANDIGARH, Nov 3 (TNS) — Vedant Trivedi and Dipsya Chada won the fancy dress contest at Silver Line Public School, Sector 36, here today. Isha Natt, Rukmanjot Kaur and Shivani Sawhney were the winners in nursery class category. Mehak Trehan and Monika Chauhan and Charu were winners among the KG class students. Kashish Dua was also a winner among pre-nursery class students Sponsorship for computer course CHANDIGARH, Nov 3 (TNS) — The Zila Sainik Welfare Office, Chandigarh, is sponsoring 20 ex-servicemen and their dependants for computer courses to be conducted at Punjab Engineering College for a period of six months. The Zila Sainik Welfare Officer, Lieut-Col G.S. Dhillon, said that no fees would be charged for this course. The screening test for selecting the candidates was scheduled be held on November 17 and the course would commence on November 22. He said that all ex-servicemen and their dependants, who had a minimum academic qualification of plus two, were advised to contact the office to obtain the forms. Application forms duly completed must reach the office by November 15. Lieut-Col Dhillon further said that applications had also been invited from wards of widows as well as ex-servicemen for the award of scholarships to those students who had passed class X. Meanwhile, the
Chandigarh Administration has issued CTU bus passes to
war widows of Chandigarh for travel along with one
attendant. |
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