Lalru, February 9
On the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the police today rescued 51 persons, including children and women, allegedly being held as “bonded labour” at a brickkiln in Bassi village, near here.

Led by the local SHO, Mr Nachhatar Singh Bhullar, a police party raided the brickkiln and rescued the persons, who had allegedly been held “captive” at the brickkiln since December 11 last year.

As many as 30 children and 11 women were among those rescued by the police team, which was accompanied by the complainant, Naushad, a resident of Navada village in Muzaffarnagar district in UP, his counsel, Mr Diwan Chand, an advocate of the high court, and Mr B.K. Giri, an advocate from Meerut.

Naushad had moved the high court through Mr Diwan Chand, alleging that the persons were being held as “bonded labour”. Certain children, who had taken ill, were living in sub-human conditions and they were not being given money to buy even medicines, he had alleged.

Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, the victims alleged that they were brought to the brickkiln on December 11 by a contractor, Naseer. “Since the past several weeks, we have been having difficulty in making both ends meet as the contractor disappeared leaving us in the lurch,” Thakir (75) and Musharraf (30) alleged. Two women, Sanjita and Samo, alleged that they had been living at the mercy of the villagers for meeting their daily needs.

Ilyas Ali (50) alleged that the contractor had lured them by promising regular payments. “However, once at the brickkiln, we were confined to sub-human conditions and a close watch was kept on us,” he said.

However, the brickkiln owner, Mr Ravi Kumar, claimed that Rs 1.10 lakh was given as advance to Naseer to arrange for the labour. An amount of Rs 88,000 had also been paid to the labour at different points of time, despite the fact that their “output was much less than agreed upon with the contractor”. The victims alleged that Naseer did not pay them at all. Meanwhile, it is learnt, the problems of the victims compounded when Naseer, who allegedly has a criminal record, was involved in a case back in UP. He is now reportedly lodged in a UP jail.

Chandigarh, February 9
The Chandigarh Administration is planning to house at least 18 lakh persons in and around the city by 2021. A draft proposal on ‘‘Chandigarh Perspective: 2021’’ with regard to housing for the population growth awaits a formal clearance of Gen S.F. Rodrigues (retd), the Governor of Punjab and the UT Administrator, sources said.

The expected ‘‘massive’’ population jump from the current approximately 11 lakh has been charted in the plan corresponding to different zones in the city with a clear vision to ensure compliance with the corresponding greenbelt cover. The figures worked out under the draft plan show a corresponding increase in the density of population which has different figures for the northern and the southern sectors.

The Phase I of the city covering Sectors 1 to 30 showed a population of 2.5 lakh in 2001. The projected figure in 2021 is between 3.5 to 3.75 lakh. A senior official of the Urban Planning Department said the density of population in these sectors was about 35 per acre which was far lesser than the total average of the city because here plots were very big in size, some measuring two to four kanals. With permission for the apartments, a two kanal house will be able to have six dwelling units.

The phase II of the city covering Sectors 30 to 47 had a population of about 2.7 lakh in 2001. The units have increased under the new ‘Apartment rules’ and the projected figure in 2021 is four to four and a half lakh. The existing density is about 65 persons per acre.

Phase III of the city covers Sectors 48 to 56, including parts of Sectors 61, 62 and 63. The zone has several group housing schemes and has a density of 140 which is the highest in the city. Against the population of about 88,000 in 2001, the city expects to have population of about 2.75 lakh by 2021. Manimajra expects an increase of over one lakh and increase of more than one lakh is expected in the UT villages.

The official said ‘‘there was a major scope of building residential apartments in the northern sectors, the Phase III and Manimajra areas. A careful planning needs to be carried out in Phase II particularly with regard to saving the green cover area and space for parking as the number of vehicles was expected to increase corresponding to the population growth. 

Chandigarh, February 9
The country's renowned bio-chemist and drug discoverer, Prof G P Talwar, today exhorted scientists to focus on anti-bodies as agents of therapy rather than just being agents of diagnosis.

Prop Tawlar was delivering the key note address at the inauguration of the two-day symposium on "Emerging Trends in Biochemistry" organised by the Department of Biochemistry Panjab University, here today.

Stating that high affinity mono-clonal antibodies by virtue of their property bind uniquely with their

target ligand, sparing other tissues, Prof Talwar pointed out that these were the safest drugs for therapy devoid of any side reactions.

Talking to The Tribune after the inaugural session Prof Talwar, who is the Director of the Talwar Research Foundation, New Delhi, said his centre was working on three such antibodies.

"I have publically discussed one such antibody which should lead to more effective cure to cancer than chemotherapy. This is the antibody that reacts with the HCG-the growth harmone that is released in the body of the woman after she conceives. However, HCG is also released in cases of terminal cancer among men and women. We are working on humanising this antibody, after which it would be expressed using plants. We also realised during the course of our research that plants are very faithful agents through which humananised antibodies can be expressed. Attached to a radio isotope this antibody can be used against HCG and held curing cancer even when it is in an advanced stage," he said.

Stating that the duration between discovering a drug and finding it in the market varies a lot, Prof Talwar said nothing could be said when this anti-cancer drug based would be in the market.

Known the world over for his contribution towards the discovery of the birth control pill for women, Prof Talwar said drugs based on antibodies would be much safer. "Because of high specificity, the antibody would attack only the cancerous cell unlike traditional chemotherapy which has widespread harmful affects on the general health of the patient," he said

Inaugurating the symposium Dr A.R. Kidwai, Governor of Haryana said India had a natural advantage for biochemical genomic studies because of the immense diversity among its population.

Chandigarh, February 9
“Do not enter into a ‘love marriage’ of two Punjabs without understanding the mindset of Punjabis on either side of the Indo-Pakistan border”, cautioned Mr Tahir Malik, Group Co-ordinator of the Pakistani delegation at a seminar on “Developments in Pakistan Punjab”, organised at the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development here today.

Mr Malik was speaking on the mindset of Pakistan Punjab’s journalists. He said post-1947 the mindset of the Punjabi in Pakistan was anti-India as it was he, who had suffered the greatest damage and seen the carnage of Partition. The issue of sharing rivers waters and its control had left an even deeper scar on the thought process of the Punjabi in Pakistan.

India, he said, was a big country and should have treated Pakistan with respect after Partition. He said both the countries were at crucial juncture and this opportunity of history should not be missed. Time that has gone past has gone, it cannot be reversed.

His colleague, Mr Jalil. H. Akhtar, made another important point. He said: “So far peace is our final destination. It has to become a habit for both countries to live peacefully. He said the time was for economic sharing.

Mr H.K. Dua, Editor-in-Chief of the Tribune group of newspapers, who chaired the session, said: “I would be cautious in my approach as there were enough people on both sides of the border, who could scuttle the peace process”.

There is no choice but to have peace. Mr Dua said people of both the countries were ignorant of each other as there was no information being exchanged through newspapers. He opined: “I do not see what security threat can a newspaper pose to either India or Pakistan”. Mr Dua, who plays an active role in the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA), once again championed the cause of posting more and more Indian correspondents to Pakistan and vice versa.

Earlier, in the morning during the presentation on cultural exchanges between two Punjabs, Mr Nadeem Mizra suggested that there had to be a provision of free travel pass to move across two Punjabs divided across the Radcliffe Line. He reminded the audience that language was the strongest bond between the people. Folk tales, drama, poetry and music of both the Punjabs were common.

Among others, this session was also attended by Gen V.P. Malik (retd), who led the Indian forces during the Kargil war. General Malik said things were moving in the right direction and setting up industry in the border belt would provide for economic security that could prevent war. Economic goals stand a better chance than military might, said the General.

Mr Omer Farooq Mannan listed what could be shared between farmers of both the Punjabs to improve upon the existing conditions. The possibility of religious tourism to Sikh shrines and Hindu temples in Pakistan was presented by Mr Khalid Pervez.

Chandigarh, February 9
The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr R.S.Baswana, today granted bail to the CFSL scientist, Dr Paul Ramesh, who had been accused of trying to commit unnatural sexual act with five youth at different times. Earlier, he was sent to judicial custody.

The victims had been sent to the CFSL for a lie-detector test by the crime branch of the police. The counsel for the scientist said his bail application would come up for hearing before the Magistrate tomorrow.