Wednesday, October 6, 1999
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N E W S Wednesday, October 6, 1999 |
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weather spotlighttoday's calendar |
Day of
reckoning for contestants today CHANDIGARH, Oct 5 — After a month's wait, the stage is set to decide the fate of 16 contestants for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat. Counting of votes starts tomorrow morning. The result, expected to be announced in the afternoon, as Chandigarh has been one of the 46 parliamentary constituencies where electronic voting machines have been used for polling, will decide the fate of Mr Krishan Lal Sharma, Senior Vice-President, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who is locked in a straight contest with Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal of the Congress, besides 14 others. Chandigarh recorded 48.5 per cent polling, the lowest ever in the union territory, which has an electorate of 5.83 lakh. Though all arrangements have been finalised, the outcome will influence the future course of local politics, including the functioning of local units of main political parties. The BJP had preferred Mr Krishan Lal Sharma to Mr Satya Pal Jain, who had been successful from here during the previous two elections. On the other hand, the Congress had again put up Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, who had lost in the previous two elections. The major factor in this election was Mr Harmohan Dhawan, a former Union Minister, rejoining the Congress. This changed the complex of the contest from triangular to a straight fight between Congress and BJP. In this election, low polling was not only reported from urban areas but also from certain villages and colonies. The polling mostly remained peaceful. For the past one week, political activity in the union territory came virtually to a halt, except for a brief period when leaders of various political parties were called for a meeting by the Inspector-General of Police. The outcome of the election will have a direct bearing on the future of the administrative machinery and set-up of the union territory. Though both Congress and BJP claim to be beneficiaries of low polling, the result may upset the calculations of many. Other candidates are Mr Mata Ram Dhiman (Bahujan Samaj Party), Ms Bimla Rani Sapna (Bahujan Samaj Party- Ambedkar), Mr Ravi Parkash Kansal (Independent- Lok Shakti Party), Mr Ram Pal Hans (New Congress Party), Mr Kartar Singh Hothi (Independent), Ms Palac Shree (Independent), Mr Dilbagh Singh (Ajeya Bharat Party), Mr Manphool Singh (Samajwadi Party), Mr Gurnam Singh Sidhu (Independent), Ms Gurvinder Kaur Sodhi (Independent), Colonel Harsharan Singh (Independent), Mr S.M. Bhatti (Independent) and Mr Rajinder Srivastav (Independent). SAS NAGAR: At least two sections of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been deployed around the inner security ring of the counting centre at Shivalik Public School in Phase 6 here. An additional 126 personnel of the Punjab Police will be on duty around the counting centre. The Assistant Returning Officer (ARO) for the Kharar segment of the Ropar parliamentary seat, Mr O.P.Popli, said here today that the counting process would start at 8 a.m. He said after the mixing of votes, at least 25 bundles would be made to be distributed among 15 counting tables. A total of 60 employees — counting supervisors and counting officials — had been deputed for the purpose. An additional counting staff of 16 employees would be kept as reserve force. A wire mesh had been erected between the counting tables and the area reserved for the agents of different political parties. The Executive Officer of the local Municipal Corporation and a labour officer would assist the ARO. Mr Popli said carrying and the use of mobile phones, pagers, cigarettes and match boxes had been banned. He said arrangements had
been made to send the results to the Election Commission
in Delhi via the Internet. A computer system had been
installed for the purpose at the counting centre. A total
of 87,892 votes would be counted tomorrow, he added. |
‘Exit
polls biased and premature’ CHANDIGARH, Oct 5 — Credibility of exit polls came under sharp focus today with a cross-section of people terming these as unreliable. They wanted that these polls should only be held after voting for all seats had been completed, so that no political party or alliance could take advantage of the projections in early phases of voting. Most persons the TNS spoke to, however, did not favour a ban on these. They said as part of the right to information, exit polls played an important role in examining current political trends, provided these were handled professionally. Prof P.S. Verma of the Department of Political Science in Panjab University (PU), said these polls could give a fairly correct picture in European countries only. In a diverse country like India where caste, religion, class and money played an important role in the electoral process, these polls did not make any sense. This is true if the projections for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) seats ranging from 287 to 344 by different agencies are any indication. Prof Verma alleged that there was something fishy about these polls this time, as the NDA was given majority by almost all agencies even before the completion of the final phase of voting. He said the Congress was demoralised from the beginning and half of its energy was spent on countering the propaganda of the BJP and its allies that the NDA was heading for a majority. These polls midway the election process, certainly influenced the fence-sitters, he added. He said exit polls should only be held after the end of the all phases of voting to give a level playing field to all political parties. Prof K.C. Kaistha of the Department of Sociology and Director of the Population Research Centre of PU, said the results could be better if these polls were handled by professional persons. He saw nothing wrong in the conduct of these polls as these were part of the right to information. Exit polls midway the electoral process could not influence voters in a highly-stratified society like ours where religion, caste and class played an important role. He said one per cent swing and marginal influence on voters could be there. He stressed the need for such polls to examine current political trends. Prof Kaistha did also said he did not think that the polls were influenced by the government at the Centre. Justice Amarjeet Chaudhary challenges the rationality of exit polls. He says, "Exit polls are managed by agencies and are influenced by political parties. Having vested interests in projecting particular parties, these analysts present the political picture through tinted glasses, making it unreliable and biased. Conducted between different phases of polling, these tend to influence voters' minds. Moreover, such surveys can be collected from strongholds of certain political parties and projected to suit certain groups, influencing the voter who goes to poll in the next phase.'' Justice Chaudhary favours a complete ban on such polls and surveys. He says, "These biased, indefinite predictions by different agencies do not hold any water, which necessitates the need to do away with programmes which project parties in a biased manner.'' An advocate, Mr Jasdeep Singh Toor, is not a vehement critic of exit polls shown on television. He opines, "These are only an indicator of things to come but fail to reflect the true mind of the voter. Party loyalties of agencies effect expected results. During the last assembly elections, the results of exit polls in Rajasthan, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh were in contrast to the actual results.' He added it would take a couple of years for these agencies to mature and not be influenced by personal loyalties. He, however, supported telecast of these polls on television. He said such exit polls shown all over the world conveyed the lead gained by various parties to viewers in no time. These do not influence a voter's mind who goes to the polling booth with a definite mind-set. "He votes for the candidate of his choice whatever the predictions may be," he said. Mr Sidhant Sarup, another advocate, said presenting the true picture, without bias was welcome but opinion coloured with party loyalties did not speak well of the agencies making such programmes. "As children, we did not have access to such programmes and such telecasts are a step in the right direction.'' He agrees that most of
these programmes are mouthpieces for the party in power
and concentrate on marketing an image of the ruling
party's control over the vote bank. There is need to work
on the reliability and accuracy of such programmes. |
No public
dealing today CHANDIGARH, Oct 5 —
Public dealing in the offices of the Deputy Commissioner
and the Estate Officer of Chandigarh will remain
suspended tomorrow due to counting of votes of the
Chandigarh parliamentary constituency. There will also be
restricted traffic movement around the Deputy
Commissioner's office. |
Counting
of votes to begin at 8 a.m. PANCHKULA, Oct 5 — Counting of 1,02,420 votes polled at the 287 booths of Panchkula district, which is a part of the Ambala Lok Sabha constituency, will begin at 8 a.m. tomorrow and for the first time computers will be used to forward information after each round of counting to the Election Commission of India and the Chief Electoral Officer, Haryana. Earlier, the information was forwarded on fax to the officials concerned. While the 264 persons on duty have been summoned at 7 a.m., the counting will get under way at 8 a.m. Also, three magistrates have been assigned duty inside and outside the counting hall. Over 200 police personnel have been put on duty for the counting process which is likely to continue till after 11 p.m. The counting will be carried out at 15 tables which will be given 1,000 ballot papers each in one round after carrying out 20 rounds of mixing of votes from the various booths in the district. With a total of 15,000 votes being counted in one round, the counting process will be completed in seven rounds. Mr A.K. Prasad has been appointed observer for the purpose. Besides the imposition of Section 144, CrPC, which prohibits carrying of arms within a radius of 200 metres of the counting station and assembly of five or more persons, the carrying of pagers, cellular phones and other communication instruments has also been banned. The staff on duty would be allowed to leave the counting hall at BEL Colony only when the process is complete. Sources add that the seven rounds of counting could go way beyond 11 p.m. since the mixing of votes is likely to take time even if everything goes as per schedule. The first counting
rehearsal for the staff was held on September 30 and the
second rehearsal was held at the venue here today. |
Court
directive to police CHANDIGARH, Oct 5 — A city court has directed the police to conduct proceedings under the criminal procedure code, besides getting Constable Bhag Chand medically examined, who was allegedly assaulted by policemen in the Sector 36 police station. The direction was given by Mr Jasbir Singh, JMIC, after the Constable filed a compliant in the court, alleging that he was illegally detained and tortured to extract a false declaration stating that he was involved in the recent spate of chain snatching incidents in the city. Inspector K.I. P. Singh, SHO, Central Police Station, has been asked to inquire into the matter. In an affidavit filed in the court, he has alleged that he returned from Shimla from an official duty on October 1 and had gone to the Sector 22 market to have dinner. While he was having ice cream, a police gypsy on routine patrol at about 9 p.m. spotted him and came towards him. Inspector Baljit Singh Chadha, SHO, Sector 36, who was sitting in the gypsy ordered his men to pick him up saying that he was standing in the market at a late hour. In spite of his pleas that he was was a cop, and was in civvies, they took him to the police station. Then he was taken to a room on the first floor where he was stripped and beaten by SIs Baljit Singh and Sukhjit Singh. All his pleas to verify his antecedents from either the Sector 17 police station, where was presently posted, or his parents, fell on deaf ears. This continued for three days in which the duo kept on urging him to admit his involvement in the chain snatching incidents in the city. During this time, he was also subjected to third degree measures by three officers of the CIA. They, too, asked him to confess his involvement in various crimes in the city. During this time, his friend, Satish Kumar, a Constable with the CBI, presently under suspension, was also called and asked about me. After their torture failed to break him, he was let off with a warning in the presence of his brother, mother and sister. While he was going out SI Baljit Singh threatened him with dire consequences if he brought this matter to the notice of higher officers. Meanwhile, police
sources said that he had been picked up in view of his
previous record. He had a couple of cases pending against
him and was a chronic defaulter. He had worked as a
" cat " during the militancy period and had
been recruited in 1990 as a home guard by the then SSP.
Subsequently, he was absorbed in the police force. |
Rehabilitation
policy may go CHANDIGARH, Oct 5 — Faced with large scale influx of migrants, the deteriorating law and order situation and the changing character of the city, the Chandigarh Administration is all set to revamp or do away with the rehabilitation policy. Action against officers who allow encroachments in their area is on the anvil. The city is reportedly the only city in the country where migrants and encroachers are assured of a plot or a house if they have been living in the city for a fixed period. As many as 22 to 25,000 economically weaker section (EWS) units have been allotted on government land to rehabilitate labour colonies. According to sources, the outcome of the scheme is responsible for the mass influx of migrants over the years, with the result that one-third of the city's population lives in colonies. More than 50 per cent of the allotted EWS units have been sold by allottees, who have encroached on another piece of government land in some other colony. The Administration has taken a serious view of the matter and will initiate strict measures in this context, once the poll results are declared. The top brass is of the view that the policy has failed to achieve its goals and has not only added to the problems of the city, including a drain on available resources, but has been largely responsible for the irrevocable change in the character of the city. The strain on resources can be gauged from the fact while the average consumer has faced three hikes in power tariff since 1994, residents of 25 colonies, on an average, pilfer electricity worth more than Rs 1.5 crore every month, sources reveal. Every move to initiate action on this front has met with stiff resistance from political parties. This time the Administration will convene a meeting of various advisory committees and seek the cooperation and suggestions of the members in tackling this problem at the earliest. A meeting in this context was chaired today by Lt-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber, Administrator, UT, who also took a serious view of the matter and directed the Administration to initiate strict measures to check encroachments in the periphery. Mr R.S. Mann, Punjab Chief Secretary, Mr R.S. Verma, Haryana Chief Secretary, and Ms Vineeta Rai, Adviser to the Administrator, were also present. Measures to check
encroachments and illegal construction in the periphery,
ensuring its planned growth, were discussed. The basic
purpose was to seek the cooperation of Punjab and Haryana
governments to maintain the homogeneous character of the
area around Panchkula and SAS Nagar. |
Encroachment
issue taken up at meeting CHANDIGARH, Oct 5 — The Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Chandigarh, Lieut-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber (retd) discussed various measures to check encroachments and illegal construction in the periphery of the union territory, at a meeting with senior functionaries of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, held here today. The Chief Secretaries of Punjab and Haryana, Mr R.S. Mann and Mr Ram S. Varma, respectively, besides the Adviser to the Administrator of Chandigarh, Ms Vineeta Rai, attended the meeting. General Chhibber explained that the basic purpose of the meeting was to seek the cooperation of Punjab and Haryana governments in maintaining the homogeneous character of peripheral areas, especially the areas around SAS Nagar and Panchkula. He asked the Chandigarh
Administration to strictly check encroachments in
peripheral areas and take strict action against erring
officials who had failed to discharge their duties in
preventing such illegal activity from taking place. He
said land in Chandigarh had to be protected at every cost
and the UT Administration must chalk out suitable
measures to eliminate its misuse. Various aspects of
planned growth of the periphery were also discussed at
the meeting. |
Encroachments
removed CHANDIGARH, Oct 5 — The enforcement staff of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) today removed encroachments from in front of houses in Sector 33-C here. Two bulldozers and five
trucks removed hedges, barbed wires and temporary
structures in the operation which started at around 10
a.m. and continued for about eight hours. |
Navneet,
Mittar win crowns CHANDIGARH, Oct 5 — Navneet and Mittar Bains were crowned as Miss and Mr India North West 99', respectively, at the finals of the beauty pageant at Tagore theatre here today. The event got good
response but it, however, began an hour behind schedule.
As many as 16 girls and 26 boys contested for the final
round. While the girls had completed two rounds in the
past week, the male contenders featured for all
categories today. Navneet won the best hair prize earlier in the contest. Other winners were: Miss smile and skin-Dilpreet; Miss photogenic-Himani; and Miss beautiful eyes-Khushboo Dhillon. The contest in the finals was divided in to several rounds. The show organised by some private companies was hosted by Neera and Atul. The highlight of the show, apart from flashy dresses, was the question-answer round. The male and the female categories had to answer a common question, respectively. The round was not appreciated, as nobody could answer properly. Poor intellectual depth and awareness to happenings around the world were obvious, except in one or two cases. Watching movies and dancing was the response to hobbies in about 90 per cent cases. While talking about their hobbies Navneet says that she is fond of basketball, watching television and movies. A student of plus one, she is five feet seven inches tall and evolved as the crowd favourite. Khushboo Dhillon is a student of plus two and loves painting, swimming and dancing. Mittar Bains is said to be fond of travelling, meeting new persons and shooting. Inderpreet Singh is into business and freaks out occasionally. Dances by Rajeev and
Bulbul were the only relief between rounds. |
Villages around sanctuaries to
get solar cookers CHANDIGARH, Oct 5 — With a view to prevent people from cutting wood for fuel and to reduce pressure on Harike and Takhni Rehmanpur wildlife sanctuaries in Ferozepore and Hoshiarpur districts, the Punjab Wildlife Department has decided to distribute solar cookers among the poor settled in 8 to 10 villages around these sanctuaries on the culmination of the ongoing Wildlife Week celebrations on October 9. The department has initiated the scheme under the eco-development of wildlife and sanctuaries project of the Ministry of Environment. It aims to create awareness among people, particularly ruralities, about the need to keep the environment clean with the use of environment-friendly energy resources and to make them understand why wildlife sanctuaries should remain undisrupted for healthy development of wildlife. According to official sources, though the wildlife sanctuaries in Punjab have been declared reserved areas and rights of people have been settled, there has been unrestricted flow of local population into sanctuaries to cut wood, mainly for using it as fuel. One of the major reasons is the lack of awareness among people about the importance of wildlife and their inability to delink themselves from wildlife. This has led the department to evolve schemes to put an end to the menace by involving people in conservation by giving them some incentive in return. Mr B.C. Bala, Chief Wildlife Warden, Punjab, says the project has elicited a good response from people around Bir Moti Bagh and Bhunerheri reserved sanctuaries in Patiala district, where 188 solar cookers have been distributed. "They have shown a keen interest, particularly in the solar cooker, and are ambitious about it, knowing that it needs no fuel.Villagers are queuing up for registration even as they will be given these cookers during a state-level function at Harike on October 9 ," he says. He adds that 94 solar cookers, costing Rs 1,250 each, will be given to people living around Harike. About the criteria for selecting people for the scheme, Mr Gurmeet Singh, Director, Wildlife, says any yellow card holder, widow, handicapped person or terrorism-affected person can contact the respective village panchayat, which sends its recommendations to the BDO concerned. The BDO, after verification, will route these to the department. A number of solar lights have also been given by the department to some village panchayats in Patiala district, he adds. According to Mr Gurmeet
Singh, 94 solar cookers will be disbursed among people of
these categories, belonging to villages around Takhni
Rehmanpur village, under the next phase within two
months. He says for seeking cooperation and for creating
awareness among local people, the department will depute
its officials, who will visit these villages and contact
the people there. |
Citizen's
charter discussed CHANDIGARH, Oct 5 — The local chapter of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) organised a study circle meeting here today to discuss the citizen's charter issued by the Department of Company Affairs for the benefit of the public, investors and the corporate sector. The members also deliberated upon the other notifications of the department and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), including the regulation for the buy-back of shares by private and unlisted companies, the draft regulations approved by SEBI on collective investment schemes and standardisation of the format of the letter of offer and other returns under Takeover Regulations, 1997. It was pointed out that as per amended Clause 32, in case more than one shareholder had the same address, full balance sheet was to be sent to one of them and the abridged balance sheet should be sent to others having that address. Even after the amendment of Clause 32 despatch of annual general meeting notice to all shareholders was mandatory under the Companies Act, 1956. The amendment would not be cost-effective because the abridged balance sheet and meeting notices have to be sent to all shareholders, it was felt. Mr Anil Aggarwal,
Chairman of the chapter, presided over the meeting. Mr
Punit Abrol, Vice-Chairman, proposed a vote of thanks. |
Painting,
essay competitions CHANDIGARH, Oct 5 — On-the-spot painting and essay competitions were jointly organised by the Indian Council for Environmental Education and the UT Environment Department at the Sector 21 bird sanctuary here today. As many as 480 students from different schools and of different age groups participated in the competitions. Mr Ravinder Talwar, president of the council, said that the venue provided a good place for children as they participated in the competition in the midst of nature and wildlife. He said it was our duty to maintain the eco-balance and to preserve nature. Mr H.S. Sohal, UT Chief
Wildlife Warden, who was the chief guest, said due to
over population there was a shortage of space for natural
habitat of animals in the city. He claimed that the
sanctuary was a home to about 40,000 birds of different
species. |
Drawing
contest for students CHANDIGARH, Oct 5 — The Smriddhi Rastriya Nirman, a voluntary organisation, organised a drawing competition for students of the schools of Ram Darbar here today. According to the chairperson of the organisation and area councillor, Ms Kamlesh, eight schools participated in the contest organised on the theme of different aspects of the life of Gandhiji. While in the category of 6 to 10 years, Asha won the first prize and Neha the second prize. In the 10 to 15 years category, Heena bagged the first prize and Gaurav the second prize. Sonu and Savita were
awarded the first and second prizes, respectively, in the
category of 15 to 18 years. |
Handwriting
contest held CHANDIGARH, Oct 5 — A handwriting contest for school children was held at the State Institute of Education, Sector 32, here today, as part of the state-level competition for primary school children. As many as 360 students from 28 rural schools and 23 urban schools participated. The results were as follows: Urban schools — Class IV: Punjabi: Harjinder (GPS-46) 1, Renu Bala (GGSSS-20) 2, Sarabjit Kaur (GGSSS-8) 3; English: Babita (GGSSS-20) 1, Pooja (GHS-24) 2, Poonam (GHS-7) 3; Hindi: Umesh Kumar (GHS-29) 1, Anita Rani (GHS-28) 2, Pradeep Kumar (GMS-46) 3. Class V: Punjabi: Asha Devi (GHS-37) 1, Asha Devi (GHS-22) 2, Sukh Raj (GHS-41) 3; English: Rekha (GHS-28) 1, Shelly (GHS-22) 2, Rajwant Kaur (GHS-37) 3; Hindi: Vinesh Kumar (GHSS-24) 1, Geeta (GHSS-28) 2, Ritu Rani (GGSSS-20) 3. Rural schools — Class IV: Punjabi: Bimla (GMS-Kaimbala) 1, Sandeep Kaur (GSSS-Maloya) 2, Rajni (GMS-Colony 4) 3; English: Shiv (GMS-Colony 4) 1, Bhupinder Singh (GMS-Kaimbala) 2, Babita (GSSS-45) 3; Hindi Mohd Shahadat (GMS-Kaimbala) 1, Savita (GPS-But) 2, Sita (GPS-Nehru Colony) 3. Class V: Punjabi: Deepak
(Colony 4) 1, Rupan (GMS-Kaimbala) 2, Meera (GPS-Pal
Colony) 3; English: Labh Singh (GMS-Kaimbala) 1, Ashwani
(GSSS-MMT) 2, Afial Ahmed (SPS-Pal Colony) 3.; Hindi:
Mohan Lal (GMS-Kaimbala) 1, Pardeep (GMS-Colony 4) 2,
Neelam (GPS-Colony 5) 3. |
SNIPPETS Arrest warrants for fraud accused KHARAR, Oct 5 — Mrs Neelam Arora, Subdivisional Judicial Magistrate of Kharar, issued arrest warrants for Parvinder Singh and Inderpal Singh, close relatives of a former Punjab Minister belonging to the Congress, yesterday in a fraud and trespass case registered against them by the Kharar police. The complainant Col N.S. Pandher (retd) has reported to the police that these men along with one Baljinder Singh of Kharar trespassed on a piece of land owned by him and his family, situated on the Jandpur road in Kharar. The Kharar police has registered a case under Sections 420, 447 and 120-B of the IPC against the accused. Mr Mohinder Singh, in charge of the Anti-Fraud Cell of the Ropar district, appeared in the court on behalf of the state. PEC festival from October 8 CHANDIGARH, Oct 5 — 'Panoplia '99—The Confluence', the annual technical festival of Punjab Engineering College (PEC), will be held from October 8 to 10. The festival will witness competitions, debates and a demonstration of video conferencing. The event is being funded by the college and some corporate bodies. Various companies will highlight their profile and expertise and spell out their expectations from the future generation of technocrats. Prize distribution function held CHANDIGARH, Oct 5 — The prize distribution function of the World Habitat Week observed by the World wildlife Fund for nature-India (WWF) was held here today. Ms Vineeta Rai, Adviser to the Chandigarh Adminstrator, who was the chief guest, gave away prizes to the winners of different competitions organised during the week. In the inter-school
debate, Taranjot Singh and Harkiran Kaur of Shivalik
Public School, SAS Nagar, won the first postion, while
the first prize for an on-the-spot competition went to
Taranpreet of YPS, SAS Nagar, and Sarina Thakur of the
Sector 36 Guru Nanak School. |
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