Chandigarh, October 29
Swami Vivekanand College of Pharmacy today conducted a “Helmet Awareness Campaign” for city women in association with the Chandigarh traffic police on the occasion of Karva Chauth. 

As many as 30 students of the institute gave gifts to women drivers wearing helmet at five busy traffic points in the city. Also, women not wearing helmets were given brochures explaining on the need for wearing these. 

The students, divided into five groups of six each, were earlier trained by the police at the Sector 23 Children Traffic Park in the morning. These teams were deployed at the Press lights point, the Transport lights point, the Piccadily rotary and the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium Chowk.

Manmohan Garg, CEO, Swami Vivekanand College of Pharmacy, said: "On the occasion of Karva Chauth, when women fast for the long lives of their husbands, we have conducted this drive to highlight the need for their own safety”. 

Chandigarh, October 29
For over 100 “blue-eyed” policemen stationed at one place for up to four years, despite transfer orders issued to them from time to time, its time to move. Thses orders have been issued to 67 constables, 23 head constables and 10 women constables. Most of them were posted at the Industrial Area and the Sector 19 police station.

Taking a stern view of their refusal to leave the postings of their choice, SSP S.S. Srivastava has directed that they “ report to their respective units with immediate effect.”

The policemen given the marching orders include 10 women police officials, an SI and three ASI. The SSP has also called for a compliance report on the issue. Further action, if required, will be initiated after going through the compliance report, say the sources.

Even though top police officers maintain the orders are “routine” that are aimed at streamlining the police force, the sources say it may be aimed at shifting policemen who have developed vested interests over the years.

Some men in khaki are “pretty comfortable” with their postings and have a “strong hold” on the area. The possibility of officers using them to carry out their bidding every now and then is not ruled out, say the sources.

The practice, admits a senior police officer, adversely affects the functioning of the police and also harms its efficiency. Certain police personnel were denied a chance to work on postings involving public dealing whereas those deft in making contacts with the high-up enjoyed postings of their choice.

The Police lines, the Police Control Room and the CID wing are the least sought after postings. These are considered “punishment” in police circles. When contacted, the SSP maintained: “Its a continuous process and such administrative orders for the betterment of the police force are issued from time to time”. 

Chandigarh, October 29
Showcasing India's freedom struggle and its post-independence progress, "Azadi Express", a train exhibition, will chug into the Chandigarh railway station on October 31.

The exhibition, which was flagged from New Delhi as part of 150 years of first war of independence (1857), sixty years of independence and the birth centenary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh on September 28, will remain stationed here till November 3.

The exhibition is aimed at instilling a sense of national pride and patriotism in the younger generation.

The 12 train coaches depict historical events with the help of panels, graphics, dioramas, projection screens and an audio system.

The first section portrays events from the Battle of Plassey (1757) to the great revolt of 1857 through through sketches, cut-outs and other audio-visual format.

The second section shows details of the 90 years of freedom struggle beginning with the proclamation of bringing India under the British Crown up to the attainment of freedom on August 15,1947.

The third section is on post-independence era, portraying India’s achievements in various fields such as framing of the Constitution, planned development and achievements in science and technology and economics and IT.

The 12th coach has sales counters for curios and mementos, khadi and other products connected with India’s freedom struggle.

On the last leg of its journey, the train will leave Meerut for Delhi on May 10, 2008, coinciding with the historic march to Delhi by the brave Indian sepoys and the people on that day in 1857.

“Azadi Express" is being run by the ministry of information and broadcasting and the ministry of culture in collaboration with the ministry of railways. 

• No ticket for Azadi Express
• Total coaches: 12
•  Station: Platform No. 5,
  Chandigarh
• Time: 11 am to 7 pm
•  Days: Nov 1 to 3

Chandigarh, October 29
Civil surgeon of the Civil Hospital, Ambala city, Sudhir Kapoor, was held guilty of removing both kidneys of a patient by a probe committee comprising two civil surgeons and the CMO.

The committee submitted its report to Dr Avinash Sharma, director-general, Haryana health department. The kidneys of a Shahbad-Markanda patient, Kanta Devi, were found to be missing byPGI doctors.

Dr Sharma said it was sheer negligence on the part of surgeon Sudhir Kapoor. “The surgeon did not carefully read the remarks put up by a physician on the prescription slip.”

The patient, who had ‘horseshoe kidneys’, required special attention because the kidneys in such cases are conjoined. “The surgeon overlooked this part of the diagnostic test reports.”

Chandigarh, October 29
“The purpose of education should be to unite and solidify instead of dividing society. Universities must locate their life in souls, needs, aspirations, and expectations of society,” averred Prof Mool Chand Sharma, vice-chairman, UGC, while cautioning against too much reliance on the impacts of globalisation and IT revolution.

He was speaking at the inaugural session of the two-day All-India Universities North-Zone Vice-Chancellors’ meet-2007 on the PU campus here today. Dr Sharma observed that it should be ensured that growth, excitement of research, teaching and learning are not affected by the rapid changes.

Talking to mediapersons, he said, “ IT should be given due importance, but the universities must go beyond just talking of IT. Universities must create new ideas and vision for the future and should produce inquisitive minds to generate fresh perspectives.”

In his keynote address, he emphasised the need of relevance and excitement in addition to making higher education accessible to all sections of society. Talking about the inadequacy of competition, he observed that it was important to synthesise and harmonise education with excellence and competence.

With a view to reaching out to all sections of society in every nook and corner, Prof Sharma said that under its various schemes, a central university on tribal studies is also on the cards. “The act has already been passed in Parliament and certain backward districts of India have been identified, but the challenge that still remains is to bring competent and qualified faculty for the purpose.”

Complimenting the PU for its dynamism, he reiterated that universities should remain relevant to present and accountable to the past as well as future.

Corroborating his viewpoint was Prof Yash Pal, former chairman, UGC, who said, “ It is time now to start a new freedom movement for education in our country.” He advocated autonomy for colleges and pleaded for encouraging probity, curiosity, ingenuity, originality, adventure, intra-disciplinary approach and new experiments.

“The objective should not be to produce followers but to create and to lead. We have separated learning from life and we expect autonomy for ourselves. We have imprisoned all learning into disciplines, which is obstructing creativity. You cannot have excellence without giving freedom,” he averred.

Taking a step further, Prof Yash Pal said that IT should allow us to change dimensionality of learning, but for adding excitement, we must experiment. “Education through IT adds to information, but learning comes from human beings. Only CD ROMs and computers cannot provide education, mutual interaction is must.”

Dwelling upon our country’s achievements, he said, “India is the only country to have separate satellite for education. We should make optimum use of it and not just leave it for open universities.”

Chandigarh, October 29
The two-day all-India univerties’ north-zone vice-chancellors’ meet-2007 kick-started today at the Panjab University campus with the finance minister, Punjab, Manpreet S Badal, Prof Mool Chand Sharma, vice-chairman, UGC, and Prof Yash Pal, former chairman, UGC, setting the agenda at the inaugural session.

In his speech, Manpreet Singh Badal said that intellectuals were the torchbearers of society and ideas alone contributed to the advancement of civilisation. “India has always been the fountainhead of knowledge and Indian thought has steered mankind from obscurantism”. The spiritual and cultural heritage had been the backbone of India’s strength and needed to be preserved and nurtured, he added.

Congratulating Prof R C Sobti, Vice-Chancellor, Panjab University, for the approach towards total quality management of education, he candidly admitted that the state had somewhat neglected the cause of higher education over the years and promised to restore the balance and assured all possible support.

Earlier, Prof Sobti briefly outlined the history of Panjab University, its achievements and vision. He thanked the president and secretary-general, AIU, for the opportunity to host the meeting and for cross fertilization of ideas for the cause of education.

Among others who spoke included Prof Y.C.S. Simhadri, president, and Prof Dayanand Dogaronkar, secretary-general, AIU, and Dr V K Anand, organising secretary of the conference.

The dignitaries were honoured and presented mementoes.

Chandigarh, October 29
In Aristotle’s words "Fiction is of greater philosophical importance than history because history represents things as they are while fiction represents them as they ought to be". A literary creation by Preminder Singh Sandhawalia titled "Beyond Identity", launched today at an impressive ceremony at a local hotel today, veritably echoes Aristotle's perception.

Launching the international edition of the book, Harb Dhaliwal, MP from Vancouver and a former senior minister in the Canadian federal government,

complimented the author for epitomising the cultural ethos of the Punjabis, particularly the Sikhs, in the most suitable paradigm of words. Harb, with his eloquent utterances marked with the fluency of Americanised English and chaste Punjabi, said Preminder Singh was an omniscient person blessed with a vision and feel of universal humanism. The author, in oblique references, had depicted the agony of Punjab during the terrorism days and the consequent tragedies of high magnitude in Amritsar and Delhi sufferings all through the life of young Ranjit Singh, the protagonist in the novel.

The issues of minority are a matter of concern the world over and the learned speakers delved deep into the pros and cons with suggestive measures. World-renowned academician Prof Soodursun Juggessur from the University of Mauritius, a proponent of the concept of sharing, gave an overview of the 'Sukhi Parivar' community welfare project launched by him.

Kenya born Parmeet Singh Mohanpal Singh discussed about the roots of the rich Punjabi culture of which the generation next is unaware. Columnist Kishie Singh conducted the programme with excellence.

Earlier, talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Preminder Singh Sandhawalia, educated and raised in Bombay, said during his long stint in alien lands with the UN and Airport authority of India, he never came across a credible fiction or writings on the life and culture of Punjabi Sikhs. Though away from Punjab for very long time, I kept in close proximity with its pastoral life, rich cultural and religious heritage and shared with the world at large the saga of the courageous, bold, benevolent and peace-loving martial community. That is the sole passion which inspired me to sculpt the book 'Noblemen and Kinsmen’ in 1999 and now this novel.

Chandigarh, October 29
Use of agro-chemicals pose a major threat to environment and ecology in the region, especially in Punjab, said Punjab agriculture minister Sucha Singh Langah while inaugurating a conference on environment and livelihood security through resource management in northern India here today. Langah said Punjab contributed 61 per cent wheat and 32 per cent rice of the country’s total requirement whereas the state had only 1.53 per cent of the country's area. However, the per hectare production had reached a plateau and our natural resources had to pay a heavy price to maintain the production levels, 
he added.

Jammu and Kashmir agriculture minister A.A. Zargar stressed the need for adopting the short-term and long-term strategies of integrated farming for sustainable production.

The president of the Indian Association of Soil and Water Conservationists (IASWC), Dr V.N. Sharda, said though the northern states had played a vital role in gaining self-sufficiency in food grain production, yet the productivity was showing a downward trend in the recent past.

Meanwhile, Dr M.L. Khybri, Dr Ram Babu, Dr V.P. Singh, Dr A.K. Tiwari and Dr P.K. Mishra were awarded the IASWC fellowship-2007 while Dr N.K. Sharma was awarded the IASWC gold medal-2007. Shakir Ali was awarded the IASWC young scientist award-2007 and Dr P.V. Firke was awarded the special commendation certificate.

Chandigarh, October 29
Union minister of state for finance Pawan Bansal today announced a grant of Rs 1 crore for UT villages from his MPLAD scheme.

Addressing a rural conference organised by the kisan cell of the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (CTCC) at Attawa village here, Bansal assured the rural population in the city of carrying out the acquisition of their land strictly under the new land acquisition policy of the UPA government.

He said the new policy envisaged compensation at market rates, ownership of a house in case of acquisition of residential property and provision of partnership with farmers.

The central government was also considering an amendment to the Land Acquisition Act,1894 to make it “farmer-friendly”.

Bansal also criticised the imposition of development charges on villages by the municipal corporation of Chandigarh (MCC), terming these “illegal and arbitrary”.

Prominent among those who spoke were CTCC general secretary Bhupinder Singh Badheri, CTCC’s kisan cell chairman Gurdeep Singh Attawa, district congress committee (rural) president Manmohan Singh and market committee’s former chairman Harbhajan Singh.

Mohali, October 29
The election observer, appointed for ensuring free and fair conduct of the Punjab School Education Board Non-teaching Employees’ Association, has suggested a re-poll as he noticed various discrepancies in the elections, held on October 25.

The declaration of the result of the elections was deferred till today.

Vinod Vyas, election observer, said he had submitted his report regarding the elections to the board authority suggesting a repoll because of various discrepancies. He said he had received complaints that the size of the columns printed on the ballot papers were not equal and this created problems for certain employees while casting their votes. The name of one contestant was not printed on ballot papers, for which, stickers were later used. Moreover, he had noticed that one member of the election commission had a biased attitude during the polls, he added.

Three groups - Dhillon-Ranu, Maujewal-Dhaliwal, Dholewal - had contested the annual elections. However, the result, which was declared on the same day each year, was not announced this time as contesting candidates levelled allegations and counter-allegations against each other.

About 2,000 officials and employees of the education board working here as well as in different parts of the state, exercised their franchise in the poll.

Mohali, October 29
The Mohali police prevented lawyers from constructing chambers at the district court complex here this evening.

The police was called in when a group of lawyers objected to another set of lawyers’ move to make space for tables and chairs at the complex.

The police is learned to have told the lawyers that they should undertake construction only with the permission of the authorities and during the court’s working hours.

However, by the time the police reached the scene, some sheds had been constructed.

There is a shortage of sitting space in the complex and lawyers are divided into various groups.

The situation had tensed considerably in the evening when members of the two groups had heated arguments over the issue.

Chandigarh, October 29
Condemning the Gujarat Government’s action of blocking the cable distribution of major news television channels, The Editors Guild of India has demanded action against those responsible for gagging the news channels.

The Guild is also planning to approach the Central Government to intervene on such issues and save the freedom of Media.

In a statement, Guild president Alok Mehta and general-secretary K. S. Sachidananda Murthy have asserted that the government’s action is a blatant assault on the freedom of the Press.

“It is like censorship and the Guild feels that other state government officials can also misuse power and try to impose censorship, they have asserted.

An inquiry team of the Guild, which had probed the media coverage of the Gujarat riots in 2002, had said blacking out of the legitimate media was not only undemocratic, but would lead to rumours replacing news and thereby cause grave damage to social order.

Chandigarh, October 29
“Eleven of the past 12 years (1995-2006) rank among the 12 warmest years in the instrumental record of global surface temperature (since 1850). The rate of warming has been much higher in the recent decades. This has, in turn, resulted in increased average temperature of oceans, decline in glaciers and snow cover,” said P.K. Aggarwal of the division of environmental sciences, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI).

Aggarwal’s paper on “Implications of global climate change on agriculture” was distributed at the conference on environmental and livelihood security, being organised by the Indian Association of Soil and Water Conservationists in collaboration with the department of soil and water conservation, Punjab and Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute.

There has been a 70 per cent increase in the greenhouse gases like CO2, methane and nitrous oxide in the past 34 years in the atmosphere. The global increases in carbon dioxide concentration are because of the use of fossil fuels and land-use change, while those of methane and nitrous oxide primarily because of agriculture.

Aggarwal states in the paper that Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has projected that temperature increase by the end of this century is likely to be in the range of 2 to 4.5 degrees celsius. Tropical cyclones will become more intense. Himalayan glaciers and snow cover have been projected to shrink. Hot extremes, heat waves and heavy precipitation events will continue to become more frequent.

The IPCC and some other studies on global warming have indicated the probability of 5 to 40 per cent loss in crop production in India with increases in temperature. The recent studies, conducted by the IARI, have also indicated the possible loss of 4-5 million tons in wheat production with every rise of 1 degree celsius temperate throughout the growing period.

However, change in the planting dates and crop varieties, suitable to high temperatures, could help in reducing the impacts of climate change to some extent. In other words, farmers will have to adapt to the changing climatic conditions to cut down production losses caused by rising temperature. Increasing glacier melt in Himalayas could affect the availability of irrigation, especially in the Indo-Gangetic plains, which would affect root production, asserts Aggarwal in his paper.

Surface air temperature in the past 100 years in India has indicated a significant warming of 0.4 degree celsius. “It is projected that by the end of the 21st century, rainfall over India will increase by 15 to 40 per cent and the mean annual temperate will increase by 3 degrees celsius to 6 degrees celsius. The warming is more pronounced over land areas, with the maximum increase over northern India,” says Aggarwal in his paper.

Chandigarh, October 29
Opening a new chapter in the management of natural resources through community participation, the Central government has decided to entrust the maintenance of major rural projects concerning conservation of water and soil resources to the panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) along with government agencies.

Under the recent "Haryali guidelines" of the Ministry of Rural Development, the PRIs, especially gram panchayats, would have a decisive say in the upkeep of the projects for their exploitation for the public welfare for a longer period of time, said Dr V.N.Sharda, president of the Indian Association of Soil and Water Conservationists, on the sidelines of a conference on "environmental and livelihood security through resource management in Northern India" here today.

Since the community was the ultimate beneficiary of these projects, it would be able to maintain them in a better way along with the government agencies so that they lasted for a longer period of time for the public benefit, Dr Sharda opined.

Dr Sharda, who is also the director of the Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute, Dehradun, regretted that about 43 per cent of the total area of the northern states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand, was suffering from degradation, playing havoc with productivity.

In fact, a second Green Revolution was the need of the hour by evolving suitable integrated farming systems based on cycling and recycling of inputs to increase productivity and income and employment-generation potential.

Deforestation, groundwater depletion, chemical deterioration, soil sickness, loss of biodiversity and siltation in water reservoirs were the prominent problems plaguing the water and soil in the region.

Stressing the role of the efficient management of the rainwater, Dr Sharda said the rejuvenation of common property resources and organic farming would go a long way in improving the declining productivity and soil health in the region.

Chandigarh, October 29
Residents of Sector 40-B are a harassed due to indifferent attitude of the authorities towards residents’ persistent complaints regarding burning of garbage.

The most recent incident saw the burning of plastic and thermocoal on Sunday morning. The source was a pile of disposable plates and other remnants of a wedding that had been set on fire.

Residents made futile attempts to trace those responsible for the fire. “When we found out the source of the fire, those responsible had already left and only a few children were playing nearby,” said a resident.

The agitated residents, pointing to a number of scorched areas on the ground, said it was a routine affair.

“Every time a function takes place here, the garbage is collected and set on fire. Complaints to the authorities have proved futile so far.”

Passing the buck, officials in the MC said the responsibility of garbage rested with the authority that had given permission for the function.

They added that there was no policy on burning of garbage. 

Chandigarh, October 29
The police today claimed to have solved three cases of robberies committed in various parts of the city with the arrest of four members of a gang.

The police said the accused guised as auto-rickshaw drivers used to target individuals in the late night hours and rob them after taking their targets to a secluded place.

Sector 17 police station ASHO Kulwant Singh Pannu said the four-member gang was busted following a tip-off.

Sub-inspectors Pargat Singh and Ram Rattan raided a rickshaw stand near Gurdial Singh petrol station, Sector 22, and arrested Arjun Singh, Mohan Singh, alias Pandit and Raju, last night.

The police later arrested another member of the gang, Dena Ram, from Colony No. 5.

The accused told the police that the fifth member of the gang, Ram Dev, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, had died. The gang was active in the area around the ISBT, Sector 17.

A victim of the gang, Gurcharan Singh of Moga, told Chandigarh Tribune that he was robbed on October 16 when he was on his way to meet his son in Sector 15. He said he had taken shelter from rain under a veranda when an auto-rickshaw carrying three persons approached him. He boarded the vehicle.

When the auto-rickshaw took a detour, he objected to it but the driver told him that he would go to the sector after dropping other passengers.

The driver stopped the vehicle near Shanti Kunj, Sector 16, and dragged him out. They hit him on head with a stone and assaulted him before robbing him of his belongings.

He was admitted to a hospital, where he received 70 stitches. He today identified the accused in the police station.

The police said the accused had robbed a Karnal resident, Chandeep Singh, on April 25 near Hotel Shivalikview after hitting him on the head with a stone.

They took away four mobile phones and other articles from the victim. Chandeep received 35 stitches. He was stalked by the accused after he came out of a liquor vend.

Another victim Harphul Singh of Bathinda was also spotted by the assailant when he came out of a tavern. 

Chandigarh, October 29
Two persons, including a minor, were arrested on charges of theft from various parts of the city. According to the police, Rajnish of Phase II, Industrial Area, Ram Darbar, lodged a complaint alleging that a 15-year-old boy of the same locality was caught red-handed while stealing telephone parts from his office premises yesterday evening.

The accused was arrested by the police and taken to the Juvenile Home, Sector 25. A case has been registered.