The Tribune...Chandigarh

C H A N D I G A R H
& V I C I N I T Y

Friday, July 17, 1998

weather n spotlight
today's calendar

Downpour in city
CHANDIGARH, July 16— Life in the city and its adjoining areas was disrupted as the Union Territory had one of the heaviest downpour of the season today...
PGI ad hoc staff on tenterhooks
CHANDIGARH, July 16 — The PGI, already reeling under a severe staff shortage, has suffered another blow on the same account...
Making hay while distributing directory
CHANDIGARH, July 16 — A local courier company, entrusted with the task of distribution of the Chandigarh telephone directory-98...
On threshold of molecular biology
CHANDIGARH, July 16 — How about eating specially produced tomatoes and potatoes to prevent the formation of kidney stones...

Selling bricks with impunity
CHANDIGARH, July 16 — A spurt in the construction activity in the periphery of the city has resulted in "illegal" sale of bricks from Zirakpur village, near here...
10-year-old fraud unearthed
PANCHKULA, July 16 — A fraud, committed 10 years ago,in the sale of an allotted plot through personation in the urban estate of HUDA has come to light..
Four-year RI for bank clerk

Flight safety trophy presented
CHANDIGARH, July 16 — Lt-Gen H.B. Kala, General Officer, Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, presented the flight safety trophy to 8 Reconnaissance and Observation Unit...
Raid sparks chemist shops' closure
SAS NAGAR, July 16 — Shops of chemists remained closed in today protest against a raid conducted by the Ropar Civil Surgeon on a chemist's premises here yesterday...
Three IAS officers transferred
CHANDIGARH, July 16 — Three IAS officers, belonging to the UT cadre, have been transferred out of Chandigarh Administration...

.........

Downpour in city
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 16— Life in the city and its adjoining areas was disrupted as the Union Territory had one of the heaviest downpour of the season today.
The rain, which started at around 7 a.m. continued unabated for about five hours, resulting in flooding of roads, especially low-lying areas such as colonies and villages. However, the intensity of rain was not much in the nearby townships like Panchkula, Manimajra Banur and Kharar where the downpour was rather less as compared to the city.
The rain wreaked havoc in colonies such as Colony no. 4, 5 where hundreds of jhuggis were submerged in four-foot deep water, resulting in damage to property.
Mr Mohan Lal Hans, a BJP leader belonging to Colony no. 4, said hundreds of jhuggi dwellers were rendered homeless because of the heavy downpour. Similarly, a municipal corporation cattle shed in Sector 45-D was flooded with knee deep water. The situation was no different in government school Colony no. 4, where leaking roof and accumulation of rain water in the school premises made the students go home early.
Tribune reporters could come across a river like scene in certain places. In southern sectors, gushing waters even entered houses situated along the roads. In all these areas vehicular traffic almost came to a standstill due to accumulation of water on roads. On the road dividing sectors 19 and 20, as many as 70 vehicles were seen stranded. The situation was the same in the road dividing sectors 27 and 30, where a long queue of vehicles, including big vehicles and mini trucks could be seen stuck in water.
However, the flow of traffic was near normal on the Chandigarh-Patiala and Chandigarh-Panchkula roads as these areas, along with Banur and Kharar, witnessed comparatively mild and intermittent rain.
According to the met office, the city received 14 cm of rain — the highest in the region and compared to 13 cm of rain recorded on July 10. On the other hand none of the major cities in the entire northern region had more than 3 cm of rain till 8.30 a.m. today.
Reports indicate that Jammu received 29.8 mm of rain followed by Safdarjang (17.8 mm) and Patiala (10.9 mm) whereas Amritsar and Ludhiana had less than 1 cm of rain.
Water level in the Ghaggar is raising fast with heavy rain in the catchment areas. Sources said the water level of the river in the evening was 2026.77 cusecs as compared to 591.79 cusecs recorded by the Haryana drainage department yesterday.

PGI ad hoc staff on tenterhooks
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 16 — The PGI, already reeling under a severe staff shortage, has suffered another blow on the same account. Annual extensions in service of ad hoc appointees have not been cleared by the Union Health Ministry despite representations sent by the PGI authorities.
As a result more than 10 faculty members working on ad hoc basis will not be getting their salaries and have been left high and dry due these unprecedented happenings in the past two months. Sources said these extensions used to come as a matter of routine and it was probably for the first time that such a controversy has been raised .
Though no new appointments have been made to the PGI since 1994, ad hoc faculty members are recruited to tide over the staff shortage on a regular basis.
At present around 70 doctors are working on an ad hoc basis and their annual extensions are due in a staggered manner throughout the year depending upon the time of their respective appointments. Approximately 120 of the 325 faculty posts are lying vacant as the issue of appointments is stuck in long drawn legal battles.
Ad hoc appointments are made after the PGI sends letters to nearby hospitals and puts up notices seeking staff and those wishing to join have to undergo an interview conducted by experts. The Director of PGI enjoys powers to appoint a doctor for one year . Further annual extensions have to be granted by the Union Health Ministry.
Sources inform that the ministry reportedly raised objections to the category under which appointments were made. The PGI has reportedly clarified as to why and how these people were appointed on an ad hoc basis.
The latest happenings have sent shock waves among the faculty members as they have been demanding better pay packages while the ad hoc appointees face an uncertain future. With extensions of more ad hoc doctors due next month, the issue is likely to snowball into a major problem for the institute.

Making hay while distributing directory
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 16 — A local courier company, entrusted with the task of distribution of the Chandigarh telephone directory-98, by the Department of Telecommunication (DoT), has been pursuing its business interests along with the distribution of the directory by enrolling members for its various paid services.
This act of the company, apparently violative of its agreement with the DoT, has been resented by telephone subscribers as they have to shell out Rs 10 for its membership card along with the directory. Gullible subscribers think that the card is mandatory with the directory, and they don’t mind paying Rs 10 to the distributor of the directory.
The modus operandi of the staff is simple. They visit various sectors in the city during daytime when menfolk are away. The staff explain the benefit of the card to the housewives and various services listed at the back of it. The firm offers services, including rail ticket booking, deposit of water and electricity bills, and services like that of electricians and plumbers. All these services are for a price but subscribers think that Rs 10 which they would pay for the card would entitle them for free services which is not the case.
It may be recalled that there are about 1.5 lakh phone subscribers in the city. If even half of the subscribers were to buy the card the company would be raking in over Rs 7.5 lakh.
Officials of the firm, however, do not see anything wrong in enrolling members for the services. Mr Dinesh Gauba of the firm, said it was not mandatory for a subscriber to enroll himself as a member of the company.
He claimed that the firm had actually refunded the money of subscribers who did not want to avail of the paid services of the company.
The Principal General Manager, Telecom, Mr Prithipal Singh, when contacted said that the DoT had nothing to do with the membership drive of the firm. He added that his department had already asked the firm not to link the distribution of the directory to its membership drive.

Campus Beat
PU move on Kashmiri teachers
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 16 — Panjab University is considering a move to adopt a "special scheme" of the University Grants Commission for allowing Kashmiri migrant teachers to take part in minor and major research projects.
The matter is on the agenda for the Syndicate meeting of the university scheduled for July 18. The UGC is already providing teaching and research facility to the displaced migrant teachers from Kashmir University and its affiliated colleges under the "visiting faculty" scheme.
The UGC has also decided teachers drawing "Visiting fellowship" under this scheme can apply directly to the commission for participation in national and international conferences, fellowships, seminar and symposia through respective institutions where they are working at present, in place of their parent institutions and universities, as was the practice earlier.
Teachers will also be allowed travel grants schemes and similar facilities. The migrant teachers have also been advised "in their own interest" to apply for permanent faculty position whenever advertised under direct recruitment quota in any recognised institution or university." Their applications for such positions shall be treated by the appointment authority on a preferential basis", the UGC letter says.
After repeated requests from teachers in Kashmir University for allowing them teaching and research assignments outside the valley the UGC created certain positions of "visiting faculty" in various universities.
These teachers continued to draw salaries from their parent university and colleges in addition to the honorarium from institutions where they were allowed research and teaching work. The tenure was one academic year or two semesters.
Students harassed: Students seeking admit cards for B.Ed. entrance examination in Panjab University faced harassment for the second day in succession here on Thursday. Due to the ongoing postal strike, the university has set up special counters for distribution of admit cards. Hundreds of students and parents queued up for receiving their cards outside the Department of Laws braving torrential rains in the morning. An additional counter was opened on Thursday.
Students complained of inadequate staff. A staff member at the venue expressed his inability to help beyond his limit. "Many members of staff got delayed today because of the heavy rain", he added.
Meanwhile, various student organisations, including the Students Organisation of Panjab University and the NSUI have demanded more counters for the benefit of students.
Admission schedule: The following is admission related information for various teaching departments of Panjab University:
Chemistry: Interviews for admission to 10 additional seats in MSc (honours school) (first-year) will be held on July 27 in the department, a press note said today.
Library and information science department: Interviews for bachelor in library and information science will be held on July 23. Interviews for the course in master in library and information science will be July 24.
English dept: Interviews and admissions to MA II (for department students only) will be held on July 28, an official release said.
MBA (PT): The final results of MBA (PT) entrance test have been declared and displayed on the notice board of the University Business School. Applicants who appeared for the group discussion and personal interview have been asked to report on August 3 along with original documents. Admission however will be on merit.
M Com: Interviews for master in commerce degree will be held in the University Business School on July 22. No separate intimation will be sent to students due to the ongoing postal strike, a press note said.
MFC I: PU has decided to hold a re-examination for MFC I, paper I, for the benefit of those students who could not appear on May 18, an official release said. The test will be held in the afternoon session on August 8.
Roll numbers for the examination will remain the same as the ones that were issued for the examination on May 18.
Admission forms: Candidates who had sent their admission forms by post and have no information about the date of interviews have been asked to contact the respective coordinators of admissions or chairpersons by July 20, Dr I.B.S Passi, Dean, University Instructions, said in a press note.
The offices concerned of the university will remain open on Saturday and Sunday, it added.
BA II results: Results of BA II (general) examination conducted by Panjab University in April will be declared on Friday, an official release said here on Thursday.
The results will be declared simultaneously at Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur. Copies of the gazette will be available at the inquiry counter of the university in Gymnasium Hall, extension library, Ludhiana, and VVBIS and IS, Sadhu Ashram, Hoshiarpur, on all working days.

On threshold of molecular biology
By Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 16 — How about eating specially produced tomatoes and potatoes to prevent the formation of kidney stones and to enhance nutrition , respectively? Well, the era is around the corner and the world is standing on a threshold of an exciting field opened up by molecular biology.
A portion of the credit goes to Prof Asis Datta, Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, who holds a patent for this development in tomatoes and potatoes. He is optimistic about the scope of using other plants to correct certain genetic diseases.
Professor Datta was here to deliver his inaugural address titled " Contribution of molecular biology to research in the field of medicine" at the onset of the new academic session of the PGI this morning.
A recipient of the prestigious S.S. Bhatnagar Award, Professor Datta, a molecular scientist, while talking to The Tribune said that edible vaccines like engineered (also known as transgenic) vegetables would take some more time to be commercially marketed.
Giving an example, he said, tomatoes would prevent oxalic acid which is a factor for kidney stone formation. These tomatoes would not catch fungus, thus leading to better crop yield. Explaining the process he said scientists only need to produce seeds for further distribution to the farmer. Besides tomatoes, spinach was also a major factor in causing kidney stones.
At present specially engineered rice and wheat are also being used as vehicles to transform the genes. A revolution in this field has occurred in the past 15 years and laboratories are working to advance the knowledge, he added.
Talking about development of AIDS cure, he said that people die of the primary infection that allows "candica" — existing in all humans — to take over the immune system and no one knows how to control it. Professor Datta said he was close to achieving a breakthrough and would tell the factors that caused "candica" to take over .
Earlier during his lecture he said that genes control the entire spectrum of human life. The mutation of the genes were responsible for blood, cancer, muscular and heart diseases. Molecular biology and biotechnology techniques could be used as sophisticated tools for the structural and functional analysis of genes.
The knowledge of molecular genetics has progressed rapidly in the past 30 years. Thus allowing combat of diseases through genetic diagnosis and several problems had also been diagnosed at the DNA level.
Genetic engineering - the most upcoming science — aims at producing enzymes that function specifically at the deranged organ. More and more genes are being identified for certain genetic disorders. Now alzheimer's disease, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, and blood diseases could be diagnosed by accurate DNA sequencing.
At present research on gene therapy focuses on diseases of the bone marrow and blood which is caused by a single gene defect.
Based on the technology of " gene trapping " quite a few drugs have been developed and many more drugs are at different stages of development. Thus many diseases which so far have been incurable may become curable, Professor Datta observed .
Many human diseases could be linked with diet and some of these are coronary artery diseases, many forms of cancer, gallstones, kidney stones, obesity liver cirrhosis, and neural diseases.
Earlier, the Director of the PGI, Prof B.K. Sharma, told the gathering that the PGI faculty published 430 papers last year while 21 Ph.Ds were awarded . He listed out the names of those doctors have been either granted Fellowships or have been given awards. Notable was the names was of Prof N.K. Ganguly , who has been appointed Director of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Dr J.D. Wig, Additional Professor of Surgery, organised and supervised the show and made it a success.

Crime File
Servant decamps with cash, jewellery
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 16 — A local resident who, along with his wife, had gone to pick up kids from a school this afternoon returned home to find that his domestic help had decamped with ornaments worth Rs 5 lakh and Rs 2. 5 lakh in cash.
Tikka Navdeep Singh, a guest house owner of Sector 21, has lodged a complaint with the police in this regard. Navdeep and his family were occupying the top floor of the guest house.
Vehicles stolen: Two cars and a scooter have been stolen in separate incidents in the city. Mr Sharda Prasad Mahapatra's Maruti Esteem (DL-6 CC-5330) was stolen from outside a hotel in Sector 35 on Wednesday night. Mr Jagdish Singh Chauhan's Maruti DDC-892 was stolen from outside his Sector 22 residence. SAS Nagar resident Balbir Singh found that his scooter ( CH-01-C-8089 ) was stolen from Sector 37.
Body found: An unidentified body was found in Industrial Area, Phase II, on Thursday. The police said the body could not be identified as documents in the pocket got wet due to rain.

PANCHKULA
House burgled: Mr J.C. Khanna of Sector 16 reported to the police that his house was burgled on Thursday afternoon. Thieves reportedly decamped with a TV set, two stereos and other household goods. Sources said the thieves ran away when an alarm was raised by neighbours.A case has been registered in this regard.
2 killed: Two persons died in two separate incidents in the district. Sudhir Kumar (25), a resident of Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh died after he was hit by a truck on the Shezadpur road near here. A case under Section 279 and 304-A of the IPC has been registered with Raipur Rani police. The post-mortem of the deceased at the local General Hospital revealed death due to a head injury.In another case, Shankar Manji (40), died following an accidental fall in Chandimandir.

Selling bricks with impunity
By Pradeep Sharma
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 16 — A spurt in the construction activity in the periphery of the city has resulted in "illegal" sale of bricks from Zirakpur village, near here.
The shortage of bricks in the periphery, coupled with the lower prices in Punjab, have made Zirakpur a favourite haunt of brickkiln owners of Punjab and other "middlemen", who supply several truckloads of bricks to the area, particularly Panchkula and neighbouring parts of Haryana without paying any sales tax to the authorities concerned in Haryana.
A visit to the scene of parking of brick-laden trucks on the Baltana-Zirakpur road revealed that a majority of persons going in for construction in Panchkula and adjoining areas preferred to buy bricks from the place.
As the price of one truckload of bricks ranged from Rs 1,800 to Rs 2,000, — lower than about Rs 2400 in the periphery of the city — a majority of persons buy bricks from the site. Moreover, as the home delivery system was there, it was much cheaper to buy bricks from here.
Enquiries revealed that most of the supply to Haryana areas was made early in the morning with a view to avoiding the sales tax. When a Tribune correspondent posed as a customer, Ashok Gupta, a booking agent asked him to give the number of construction site in Panchkula or come early in the morning for supply. He, however, refused to divulge the route to be taken by the truck.
It is learnt that supplies of bricks came from as far as Patiala, Sangrur, Budhlada and Sunam, among other places. The trucks on their way back to the brickkilns picked up supplies from the stone crushers near Zirakpur. This way the brickkiln owners could afford to sell bricks at a price lower than the price prevalent here.
Meanwhile, the number of trucks parked along the Baltana-Zirakpur road have become a source of nuisance for residents of the Baltana village and Tribune Model Gram, Baltana. Residents alleged that as the trucks continued to be parked on the road, particularly in the morning hours, when the road was busy, it had become a serious traffic hazard.
The residents also alleged that a number of make-shift shops that had spring up to cater to needs of the truck drivers at the other side of the road have made the driving on the narrow road a risky affair.
It is also alleged that a property dealer of area charges Rs 30 a truck as "parking fee" though most of trucks remain parked on the side of the road.

Flight safety trophy presented
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 16 — Lt-Gen H.B. Kala, General Officer, Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, presented the flight safety trophy to 8 Reconnaissance and Observation Unit at the inaugural ceremony of the two-day Army aviation conference at Chandimandir today.
The trophy, which has been instituted this year, is given to the unit attached with the command for accident-free record, operational, ground and fly tests, maintenance and proficiency. Maj S.V. Pandya received the trophy on behalf of the unit for the year 1997-98.
Earlier, General Kala stressed the need to take all precautions and follow established norms of flight safety. The Army aviators should check the machines regularly and ensure that the men and the machines were in top condition, he observed.
Lt-Gen H.R.S. Mann, Chief of Staff of the command, congratulated the Army Aviation Corps for maintaining an accident-free record in the nine years they have been with the command.
senior officers from the headquarters dealing with aviation are attending the conference which would discuss various flight safety measures.

Four-year RI for bank clerk
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 16 — The Additional Sessions Judge, Mr S.S. Lamba, today convicted Ram Kumar, a clerk with Bank of India’s Sector 17 branch, of cheating and fraud.
The judge sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for four years apart from slapping a fine of Rs 5,000.
According to the prosecution, Ram Kumar had withdrawn a sum of Rs 6.21 lakh from the saving bank accounts of certain account holders by filling in loose cheques and withdrawal slips in his favour. He had forged the signatures of the bank officers concerned. He deposited the amount in his account with Syndicate Bank’s Sector 17 branch.
The plea of the defence was that he had falsely been implicated in the case. His services had been terminated much before the alleged fraud had been committed as he was involved in another Rs 6,000 fraud case. Handwriting experts had not followed the proper procedure.
The defence also pleaded that according to the law, the disputed and model signatures ought to have been of the same nature.
The prosecution had failed to establish that the account had been opened by the accused as the introducer was neither cited as a witness nor was he examined.

Raid sparks chemist shops' closure
From Our Correspondent
SAS NAGAR, July 16 — Shops of chemists remained closed in today protest against a raid conducted by the Ropar Civil Surgeon on a chemist's premises here yesterday.
Patients and others faced a lot of inconvenience as they had to go to Chandigarh to get medicines requirement.
According to Mr M.L. Gupta, District Drug Inspector, a meeting had been fixed among the Ropar Civil Surgeon, drug control officials and representatives of the Mohali Chemists' Association at Civil Hospital at 10 a.m. today. Though officials kept waiting till 11.45 a.m., no representative of the association turned up. The association, however, denied that any such meeting had been fixed with its members.
Mr L.D. Jindal, president of the Mohali Chemists' Association, said the representatives of the association submitted a memorandum to the SDM, who assured them to hold an enquiry into the matter.
Mr Jindal claimed that yesterday's raid was unauthorised as the Civil Surgeon was not accompanied by any drug inspector and had not disclosed his identity. The Civil Surgeon, he said, also took away a box of medicines before getting the shop sealed.
Dr Rajinder Singh, Civil Surgeon, Ropar, said he had been asked by the Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Mr Inderjit Singh Zira, and the Director, Health Services, Ms Manmohan Kaur, to inspect the chemist's shop near the Phase VI Civil Hospital.
He said when he went to the shop he was Ms Raj Rani, the proprietor, and her husband Mr Inderpal Singh selling medicines. They could not produce the licence to run the shop. The licence, the Civil Surgeon said, was in the name of Ms Harmeet Kaur who was not present in the shop at that time.
He said after the inspection he took away a box of expired medicines lying near the sales counter.
The same evening the Director, Health Services sent Mr A.S. Salwan, Assistant Drug Controller, Mr M.L. Gupta, District Drug Inspector, and Mr V.K. Jindal, District Family Welfare Officer for further action in the matter. The local Chemists' Association however insisted that further inspection of the shop should be done in the presence of the Civil Surgeon, the proprietor and two representatives of the association. Today when the officials kept waiting for representatives of the Mohali Chemists' Association at Civil Hospital nobody came for the meeting which the association members claimed they were unaware of.
Meanwhile, the association has decided to continue with its strike tomorrow.

10-year-old fraud unearthed
By Rajmeet Singh
PANCHKULA, July 16 — A fraud, committed 10 years ago,in the sale of an allotted plot through personation in the urban estate of HUDA has come to light.
The case appears to be another addition to the well-organised racket in the sale of allotted plots in the urban estate, which was unearthed last year. The issue has rocked HUDA when the involvement of some of its employees had been proved.
In the recent case the 'victim' is a non-resident Indian (NRI), Ms Kirpal Kaur,who had purchased a one-kanal plot(no. 61) in Sector 4. She was at her wits' end when she saw that a house had been built on her plot and that,too,without her knowledge.
Enquires by her with the local estate office revealed the startling fact that somebody posing as Ms Kirpal Kaur and her late husband, Zora Singh, had got the plot transferred in their name only to be sold further. Moreover the said plot had been sold at least five times.
Quite shocked with the facts, she lodged a case of cheating and fraud against five persons, including a PCS officer and a property dealer, with the police, alleging that they had hatched a conspiracy to gobble up her property,on the basis of which the police registered an FIR.
Sources in HUDA say that in this case and even in the previous cases the personators in connivance with HUDA officials targeted those plots in which either the allottee had died or had been living abroad. Even in this case an role of an assistant, then posted in the local estate office, has come under scrutiny. Investigations by HUDA officials on being requested by the police authorities revealed that the NRI had purchased the plot of Ms Sharda Devi, a resident of Sector 21 in Chandigarh, in 1984.
The NRI had finalised the deal through a Chandigarh-based property dealer. Allegedly taking benefit of the fact that Ms Kirpal Kaur was residing in England , the property dealer, connived with Mr Ashok Sikka, then working in the office of the Financial Commissioner Punjab, and Mr Zora Singh, who was employed as a steno with Mr Sikka, to commit the fraud.
Ms Gurmel Kaur, wife of Ms Zora Singh, taking advantage of the fact that the name of the late husband of the NRI was also Zora Singh got a conveyance deed executed in her name in April 1988. Then she through her husband, acting as her general power of attorney(GPA) got the sale deed executed in favour of Ms Madhu Mati, wife of Mr Ashok Sikka.
The plot was then sold to another person, Mr Ashok Handa, who further sold it to Mr Amarjit Chadha. All this happened in connivance with an assistant posted in the estate office.
The Superintendent of Police Mr Alok Mittal, said one of the main suspect, Zora Singh, had been arrested by the police and sent to judicial custody. He said the allegation of the complainant that Mr Sikka through his subordinate, Zora Singh, got the plot transferred in the name of his wife only to be sold further can be verified only after investigations into the case were complete.

Three IAS officers transferred
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 16 — Three IAS officers, belonging to the UT cadre, have been transferred out of Chandigarh Administration.
They are Mr Amar Nath, Ms Rinku Dugga and Mr Sanjiv Khirwar. They have also been promoted to senior scale.
While Mr Amar Nath has been transferred to Pondicherry, the husband-wife team of Mr Sanjeev Khirwar and Ms Rinku Dugga have been transferred to Goa.
Mr Amarnath was Subdivisional Magistrate, South, Mr Sanjeev Khirwar was Subdivisional Magistrate, East, and Ms Rinku Dugga was Secretary, Chandigarh Housing Board.
The union government is yet to name replacements for the three officers.