& V I C I N I T Y
Tuesday, April 6, 1999
|
C H A N D I G A R H & V I C I N I T Y |
|
Tuesday, April 6, 1999 |
| weather n
spotlight today's calendar |
 |
|
|
Kiran to get cracking at 9
a.m. daily
|
 |
|
|
Special
trains for Khalsa festival
Meat shop burgled Encroachers
occupy corridors, parking lots TRAI
agenda spelt out Filming
Sikh way of life Protest
against cut in grants Value
education for teacher, taught mooted |
|||||||||||||
| Basant Mela a big draw | |
Rally by college staff |
 |
Kiran to get cracking at 9 a.m.
daily Chandigarh, April 5 — Dr Kiran Bedi, after taking charge as Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Chandigarh, today listed a series of changes, including coordination with NGOs , stringent traffic regulation, surprise visits to police stations, computerisation of police stations, a check on unmetered autorickshaws and a strong beat system. Besides, she assured that social development of families of police personnel was high on her agenda. Immediately after the outgoing IGP, Mr R.P. Singh, handed over charge to Dr Bedi around 11. 15 am, she held a two-hour meeting with the two SSPs , Mr N.S. Randhawa and Mr Ajay Kashyap, and the two SPs, Mr Balbir Singh and Mr Baldev Singh. Later, while talking to mediapersons, Dr Bedi said, " I have fixed no priorities, but every aspect of policing as a whole is my priority. I will first study the ground reality in Chandigarh. Seeking written reports from officers is not my way of functioning. From tomorrow , each morning at 9 am , the SSPs , the SPs and I will be going to one police station each on visits. The SP (Traffic) will be out at 8 am to oversee the traffic deployment ." The 1972 batch UT cadre IPS official said one of the main projects would be computerisation of all police stations and their interlinking . A meeting with the National Informatics Centre (NIC) has been set up and the funds are already there. All traffic challans will also be computerised. Licences of drivers who repeatedly commit traffic violations will be cancelled. She has also fixed a meeting this week is with autorickshaw and taxi drivers. She has already been told about unmetered autorickshaws . City residents would be mailed traffic complaint cards , she added. For all major proposals, the new IGP said, she had been assured of full cooperation from the Home Secretary, Mrs Anuradha Gupta, whom she met last night. She also plans a strong beat system under which about 400 police personnel , including men and women, will be trained to interact with the citizens. During the next 15 days, the IGP, known for her straight talking, will review the crime and traffic management, work out strategies for refresher courses for ministerial staff and initiate the recruitment process, besides meeting the prosecution branch to know about old cases." Crime against women will be dealt with properly,"she said. The country's first woman IPS official , who has carried out major reforms for Tihar jail inmates, said she would give high priority to the welfare of the staff, their housing , health facilities and education for their kids. " We will also arrange stress releasing programmes like meditation programmes for police personnel, " Dr Bedi said. When asked about the
"VIP culture" prevailing in the city, she said,
" I will respond when I face it ". |
R.P. Singh gets farewell Chandigarh, April 5 — The outgoing Inspector-General of Chandigarh Police, Mr R.P. Singh, was given a warm send- off at the Police Lines in Sector 26 this morning. He inspected a guard of honour given by police personnel led by the DSP, Lines, Mr S.C. Abrol. Later, Mr R.P. Singh, who joined here as IGP on December 27, 1995, handed over charge to Dr Kiran Bedi at the Police Headquarters, Sector 9, where police guards in full ceremonial uniform saluted the new IGP. A crowd of onlookers had gathered to see Dr Bedi as she stood outside the headquarters. Immediately after the farewell , the new IG had asked women police personnel about their well being and even posed for a photograph with them. In the evening, the
President of the local unit of the Samajwadi Janata
Party, Mr Devinder Singh Babla, issued a statement saying
that his party would cooperate with the new IG in
improving the law and order situation in the city. |
Special trains for Khalsa festival CHANDIGARH, April 5 — In view of the ongoing tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa, Northern Railways has added five coaches each on to three passenger trains and one express train besides introducing a pair of passenger trains between Sirhind and Anandpur Sahib. Apart from this seven pairs of long-distance trains will halt for two minutes each at Sirhind. Further, to facilitate smooth movement of vehicular traffic the railways will run all goods trains on the route between Sirhind and Anandpur Sahib during night time only. There are three level crossings on major road highways between Sirhind ( the main line) and Ropar. Railway sources said coal had to be moved to the thermal plant at Ropar that at present had stocks for only 10 days. Thus goods trains could not be suspended. During the day time the railways had sought police force from the Deputy Commissioner, Ropar, and had posted additional men to ensure minimal waiting time at level crossings. The new schedule would come into force from tomorrow and continue till April 16, according to Additional Divisional Railway Manager, Ambala , Mr Ashwani Kapoor. Five coaches have been added on to the Himachal Express and the 1/2 USN, 1/2, SUN and 3/4 USN passenger trains, respectively, that run between Sirhind and Anandpur Sahib. The additional pair of passengers trains will leave Sirhind at noon and arrive at Anandpur Sahib at 2:20 pm. On its return journey the train will depart at 3 pm and reach Sirhind at 5:30 pm. The train will make another trip starting from Sirhind at 5:30 pm to reach Anandpur Sahib at 8:20 pm. The same train will start from the holy city at 9 am and reach Sirhind at 11.15 a.m. The special trains will have one minute stoppages each at Fatehgarh Sahib, Bassi Pathan, Nogawan, Morinda, Kurali, Mianpur, Ropar, Ghanauli , Bharatgarh and Kiratpur Sahib. Seven pairs of trains
— Golden Temple Express, Jammu Mail, Pooja Express,
Punjab Mail, Shane Punjab, Amritsar —New Delhi
Express and the Sachkhand Express — will have a halt
at Sirhind for two minutes. |
Minor fire in PU hostel CHANDIGARH, April 5— A minor fire broke out in room number 208 of Kasturba Hall, hostel number 10, in Panjab University here today. Only the mattresses on a bed in the room were destroyed in the fire. At about 1:30pm, residents of Sarojini Hall, the hostel facing Kasturba Hall, saw smoke emanating from a room on the 6th floor of the hostel and raised an alarm. The girls from adjoining rooms rushed out and put out the fire using some water. The rooms belongs to Ms Kiran and Ms Manpreet, both students of the Department of History. They have not been in the town for the past few days and in their absence, the key to the room was reported to have been with one of the hostellers who frequented their room and made use of an electric iron. “Today in the morning, she must have used the iron and forgotten to switch it off. When the power supply was restored at 1pm, the mattress on which the iron was lying caught fire,” the Warden of the hostel, Ms Saroj Ghosh, said. She said regular raids
were conducted on each room to check the use of
electrical appliances, which is not permissible in the
hostel. |
Chief Architect repatriated CHANDIGARH, April 5 — The Chandigarh Administration today ordered the repatriation of Mr S.K. Midha, Chief Architect-cum-Secretary, Urban Planning, to his parent state of Haryana. Mr Sarbjeet Singh, Senior Architect, has been given the additional charge as Chief Architect till a regular appointment is made. By another order, the Administration also decided to repatriate Mr D.D. Gautam, Administrative Officer, Sector 32 Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). Mr Prithi Chand, Director, Social Welfare, will hold the additional charge of the Administrative Officer, GMCH. It may be recalled that some months back, the Haryana Government had asked the Chandigarh Administration to relieve Mr S.K. Midha, Chief Architect, Mrs Sunita Monga and Mr Rakesh Gupta, both Architects, as their services were required in the State. Initially, the Administration reportedly expressed its inability to relieve Mr S.K. Midha “immediately” as he was involved in some major projects of the Administration, including holding of the international conference celebrating 50 years of the idea of Chandigarh. The Haryana Government had then also forwarded a panel of two names for the post of Chief Architect. The names recommended were of Mr P.C. Kansal, who had earlier worked in the Administration as Senior Architect, and Mrs Renu Saigal. The Administration had reportedly returned the panel asking for some more names. Subsequently, in a reshuffle in the Department of Architecture, the Haryana Government appointed Mr P.C. Kansal as Chief Architect. His predecessor in the Department, Mr S.K. Thukral, has been appointed Officer on Special Duty in the scale of the Chief Architect. The post of Chief Architect belongs to Haryana. It may be a strange coincidence that with the repatriation of the Chief Architect today, the additional charge has been given to a Senior Architect from Punjab. Similarly, the post of
Chief Engineer, which before Mr K.K. Jerath of UT cadre
belonged to Punjab, is at present held on current duty
charge by a Chief Engineer from Haryana. |
Get ready
for
another dry summer CHANDIGARH, April 5 — With the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) failing to undertake any major augmentation of the water supply last year, the residents of the city are likely to face yet another “dry summer”. A close look at the demand and supply position of the water supply during the summer months — April to July — shows that the seasonal shortage of water is likely to persist. While on an average, the city requires about 90 million gallons per day (MGDs) of water during this period, the supply position remains stagnant at about 55 MGDs. And out of this 55 MGDs, about 10 MGDs is accounted for line leakages and losses leaving just about half the total quantity of water required for the city per day in the summer season. Despite repeated drives launched by the civic body to disconnect connections of those “stealing” water from the mainlines and the imposition of fines on them, a number of persons indulge in this illegal activity particularly in labour colonies and villages incorporated in the civic body and Mani Majra. And with Punjab claiming its share of 2.5 MGDs from water the city gets from the Kajauli water works in Ropar district, the residents of the upper floors are likely to be at the receiving end with low pressure in the morning as well as evening. The afternoon water supply is likely to be discontinued altogether. Currently, the city receives about 80 per cent of its requirement from the Kajauli water works. The rest of the requirement is met through over 100 tubewells in different parts of the city. It may be recalled that the MCC recently decided to install 20 more tubewells with a view to ease the shortage of water in the summer. According to corporation sources, while more than half of the tubewells are likely to be commissioned by this month making available about 3 MGDs of water, the rest would only be commissioned by June. Sources added that the seasonal shortage of water was likely to continue till major augmentation of the water supply was done. It may be recalled that the revised fourth phase of the Kajauli water works, intended to bring in 60 MGDs of water, had been further delayed, resulting in shortage of water for a couple of years more. Summer requirements such as water for the coolers, bathing and potted plants put additional burden on the water supply, the sources said, adding every year the demand for water rose in summer resulting in the shortage of water. Watering of lawns, particularly in the northern sectors, despite a ban by the corporation, continues unabated making the water supply position acute in the summer. An increasing migrant population in the city has added to the problem of the scarcity of water. The corporation sources,
however, claimed that like past many years there would
not be any major problem this year also. The need of the
hour was to educate the people about conservation of this
precious resource and the civic body was working in this
direction. |
Meat shop burgled CHANDIGARH, April 5 — A youth employed as a helper broke open the ventilator grill of the meat shop where he worked in Sector 31, on the night of April 3 and decamped with a sum of Rs 25,000. The owner of the meat shop, Mr Sunil Kumar, had reportedly kept the sum in the shop to make payment to his suppliers. The helper, who had given his name as Anil Bahadur to the owner, was employed only a month ago. The servant, upon entering the shop, apparently used a sharp-edged tool to lift the locked lid of the green-coloured safe in which the money had been kept. The incident occurred after 2 am that night. According to Mr Kumar, the
servant had seen him keeping the cash inside the safe. |
Encroachers occupy corridors, parking
lots CHANDIGARH, April 5 — Shoppers and pedestrians are an inconvenienced lot in Sector 22-D shopping complex, where shopkeepers and vendors have gobbled up almost entire corridor space by displaying an array of goods ranging from toys to refrigerators in the lanes outside showrooms and business establishments. In the absence of any major drive against encroachments by the local Municipal Corporation during the past six months, the situation has come to such a pass that encroachers have even occupied some parking lots. As a result, a lot of hardship is being caused to pedestrians and motorists, who hardly find any space to park their vehicles, particularly during evening hours when the place is full of vendors and swarmed by a large number of shoppers. During a visit to the place today, a TNS team found that similar situation prevails in the market in the backyard of Kiran cinema and in the market near Bajwara Chowk. At these places, corridors have been encroached upon by vendors to such an extent that there is virtually no place left for those visiting the market for shopping and other purposes. If the corridors of market in the backyard of Kiran theatre are full of goods like toys, readymade garments, rags, rehris selling eatables, posters, crockery items, the Bajwara market corridors are blocked by all types of furniture, tyres, mattresses and folding cots. “You just cannot walk in the corridors, as the encroachers have not left sufficient space even for a single person to pass through these corridors,” said Mr Surjit Singh, a regular visitor to the market. He said the situation had been persisting for a couple of years, but it had deteriorated during the past six months. “Earlier, the problem was visible in the Bajwara market, but now the menace had spread all over,” he added, while demanding an effective step to be taken against those who were carrying out their business from corridors in violation of city by-laws, which prohibit anyone from carrying business from the space left outside the showrooms. Mrs Saroj Gupta, a resident of Sector 22, said the problem was more acute in the rehri market in the backyard of the Azad market. “They have spilled on to the road in such a fashion that it has become a nuisance for residents. We have made a number of complaints to the authorities concerned but nothing has been done so far,” she complained. Mr Devinder Kumar, a shopkeeper, said the presence of vendors in the corridors had affected the business of shopkeepers. “As they don’t have to incur heavy expenditure on rent and other things, they can sell their goods at any rate.” A number of complaints had been lodged by the Bajwara Market Association with the Municipal Corporation authorities, but these had failed to yield any result. “It seems that the MC is not interested in the removal of encroachments from the area,” said a trader on condition of anonymity. Enquiries revealed that in some cases, vendors were being encouraged by the traders to boost their sales. They have been employed by traders on a commission basis, confided a trader. He demanded that action should be taken against traders, who were indulging in such acts. Dr Amarpal, Secretary of
the MC, declined to comment on the issue, saying he was
not authorised to speak to the press. Similarly, Mr S.K.
Gathwal, Commissioner of the MC, was not available for
comments. |
TRAI agenda spelt out CHANDIGARH, April 5 — Improving the quality of telecom services is next on the agenda of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for which a proposal was being made to have an ombudsman, said Justice S.S. Sodhi, Chairman, TRAI, while addressing a gathering of the Rotary Club here today. Guidelines were being developed to ensure value for money for the customer, he said , by proposing a time limit for attending to telecom complaints and in case of default by the operator compensation should be given to the consumer. Commenting upon the new tariff structure suggested by the TRAI, Justice Sodhi, clarified that an attempt was being made to rationalise the telecom tariff structure in view of the competition offered by the new technology. He pointed out that the only point of contention between TRAI and the Department of Telecom (DoT) was the assumption by the latter that reduced tariff would lead to revenue loss , whereas the TRAI was of the firm belief that by making telephone systems affordable to the consumers, the volume of usage and ultimate revenue to the DoT would increase. Justice Sodhi clarified
that the rationalising and balancing the telecom tariff
with costs was also necessitated to save the DoT from the
impending competition from the private operators, who
would be offering lower rates to the subscribers,
primarily those segments who provide maximum revenue to
it, a statement issued by the Rotary Club said. |
Filming Sikh way of life CHANDIGARH, April 5 — “A lot is happening in the 300th year of Khalsa. So, it was inevitable that our thoughts, reflections and ideas were be affected by these celebrations, and we thought of making a series of television programmes called “The Khalsa Series”. We did this to explore the image of Khalsa, to trace its evolution and to understand the significance of this concept”, said G.S. Chani, a television and theatre producer-director and his wife, Harleen Kohli, a theatre person. For them, making this three-part series on Khalsa is like “living the experience itself”. The 30-minute series will include “Sarbat Da Bhala”, depicting the Sikh way of life; “Doosro Na Bhed Koie”, a feature on Sikhs — a synthesis of Indian culture; and “Anhad Naad”, a feature on Guru Granth Sahib. “I was always scared of doing things the wrong way even as a child, whether it was covering the head or reciting the verses. So through this series we would like to emphasise not on the event, but on the people involved in the event”, said Harleen. Chani said, “Many people said that we would need to tread very carefully while making the film. But during our research, we found that Guru Nanak’s religion was that of a dialogue, and not as close-ended as it is supposed to be today. We would like to highlight Sikhism as the religion of liberation.” The television series will include recreation of historical sequences and events, interviews with scholars and social scientists, the daily existence of the “ordinary” Sikh and the musical renderings of poetry from Sikh scriptures. Talking about the interviews with various Sikhs, the shootings for which is already underway, Chani said, “The idea behind interviewing a corss-section of people is to capture their first-hand experience of religion, what they accept or reject in their religion, and the changes over the generations. Surprisingly most of the so-called intellectuals were not ready to talk about these experiences. We captured on camera, some people who said that the attributes Sikhism wanted to get out of, have now apparently engulfed it.” While placing the emphasis on the value system of the Khlasa, the series also plans to present Guru Granth Sahib in a “new and meaningful dimension, through creative juxtaposition of musical renderings and visuals”. Harleen, who has worked extensively in theatre for women and children, said, “Studying the scriptures has pleased even the feminist inside me. I understand the gist as being that “there is no other, but there is just you”. So, even the gender bias is done away with, along with castes and communities.” With the experience of documentaries like “Nihang Singh Ji”, “Holla Mohalla”, the National Award winning telefilm, “Tuttu”, and many others behind him, Channi this time seems to be living an emotional experience by making “The Khalsa Series”. He says, “With this series, I would like to bring out the very resonance of Guru Granth Sahib. Now I believe that Sikh religion has never believed in institutionalisation.” The series is being
produced and directed jointly by Chani and Harleen. The
cameraman for this series in Punjabi-Hindi-English is
Shamu Burma. |
Protest against cut in grants CHANDIGARH, April 5 —A joint rally of over 3000 employees of the Management Federation of Punjab and Chandigarh, the Principal Federation of Punjab and Chandigarh and the Punjab and the the Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU) was held here today at the roundabout at Sectors 9, 10, 16, 17. The non-teaching employees from these colleges also joined them to support the cause. The rally was addressed by Mr Aswani Kumar from the management federation, Mr Tarsem Bahiya and Mr Amrik Arora of the principal federation and Dr V.K. Tewari and Mr S.S. Hundal of PCCTU besides Mr Bharpoor Singh, Secretary of the Sikh Educational Society. In the various speeches that marked the rally, the speakers voiced their dissatisfaction about the proposed cut in grants for the non-government aided and unaided colleges by the Punjab Government. They are of the view that the proposed cut in higher education will hit salaries of employees. An 11-member delegation of the protesting teachers presented a memorandum to Mr G P S Shahi, Education Secretary of Higher Education, Punjab, at his residence, here today. Recently, the Punjab
government has released the pay-scales for teaching staff
of 139 non-government aided colleges and the pension and
gratuity scheme along with the benefits of retirement to
the teaching and non-teaching staff, nearly 7000
employees, with effect from April 1, 1992 against those
posts which are under the 95 per cent grant-in-aid
scheme. |
Rally by college staff CHANDIGARH, April 5 — The non-teaching employees of various private aided colleges in Chandigarh held a rally today at the gate of SGGS College, Sector 26, to protest against the Punjab Government’s move to reduce grants being given to these colleges. After the rally, the
President of the Non-Teaching Employees Federation of
Aided Colleges, UT Chandigarh, Mr RK Sharma, and the
General Secretary, Mr Raj Kumar, lead the employees to
join the protest dharna staged by the members of the
managing committees, principals, teachers and
non-teaching employees of Punjab at Matka Chowk, Sector
17. |
Value
education
for teacher, taught mooted CHANDIGARH, April 5 —The three-day seminar on ``School education and the challenges of the 21st century'' concluded with the adoption of the Khalsa Tercentenary National Declaration on School Education based on the recommendations of four group reports evolved during the business session of the seminar, here today. The text of the declaration presented by Dr B.V. Sharma, Secretary, Central Organisation of Boards of Secondary Education (COBSE), focussed on the eroding values in the present day society and made a call for concrete initiatives for the regeneration of education for containing the violation of human rights and violence against women, children and the weaker sections. Among the many recommendations, the groups of science and technology, teacher education, value education and educational management and planning showed an inclination towards entrance tests, and need to inculcate values at the primary and secondary levels which should be taught indirectly through the syllabi and should be independent of any particular religion. They also recommended a compulsory paper on value education, theory and practical, in all courses of teacher education and desired that the teacher-pupil contact and behaviour should be value oriented. They further stressed the need for a periodical self-evaluation of teachers in the context of values. One of the groups recommended that the curriculum should be so developed as to check the drop-out rate in rural schools, in particular. ``The main thrust of the curriculum should be on receiving and handling of information rather than on retention,'' it said. Periodic planning to review and renew the curriculum should be done and the redundant and obsolete information deleted from the curriculum and fresh and relevant information added to it. These were some of the recommendations made at the group discussions held yesterday. The chief guest at the valedictory function, Yogi Harbhajan Singh, was in favour of the suggestion of sending experts from the USA to impart new teaching skills to teachers and promote student exchange programmes. He commended the positive aspects of the gurukul system of education which aimed at full development of the personality. Mr Swarna Ram, Minister of State Education, stressed the need for modernising the courses of study with computer education playing a significant role. The function was presided
over by the Secretary Education, Punjab, Mrs S.K .Sandhu,
who stressed the need for vocationalisation of education. |
Basant Mela a big draw CHANDIGARH, April 5 — The first ‘Basant Mela’, organised by the Bangiya Sanskritik Sammilani, was a good show. The mela was held at the sammilani premises in Sector 35-C on April 3 and 4. More than 20 stalls of handicrafts, eatables, skill games, and other products were put up. The mela was inaugurated by the President of the sammilani, Dr S.R. De. An aquarium stall from Bengal was the main attraction. Cultural shows, with most participants being children, were held on both evenings. A baby show was also held, in which Subneet, Rupayan and Cholai stood first, second and third, respectively, in group I. In group II, Anandita, Pooja and Ritesh bagged the top positions. The mela also included a fancy dress competition, in which Pompy, Ronie and Tanushree came first, second and third, respectively, in group I. In group II, Twinkle, Neha and Esha bagged the top positions. The prizes were given away by the President of the sammilani. Large crowds were attracted to the mela and the sammilani proposed to make it an annual event. More stalls would be added
to mela in the coming years, said Mr S. Chakrabarty,
General Secretary, Bangiya Sanskritik Sammilani. |
Jarnail Singh honoured CHANDIGARH, April 5 — Mr Jarnail Singh, Controller of Examinations of the Punjab School Education Board, was honoured by Ms S.K. Sandhu, the Punjab Education Secretary, during a function on the concluding day of the three-day National Seminar on School Education and Challenges of 21st Century at the Sector 15 Guru Gobind Singh Bhavan here today. Mr Jarnail Singh was
honoured for his efforts in conducting matriculation and
plus two examinations in spite of strike by school and
college teachers in the state. |
Saket inmates get stationery PANCHKULA, April 5 — The Panchkula unit of the Bharat Vikas Parishad today celebrated its 8th annual function, here. Books and stationery were distributed among inmates of Saket Hospital and orphans of Bal Sadan, Panchkula, free of cost. The chief guest, Mr Shashipal Gupta, Industry Minister of Haryana, lauded the role of organisation. He appealed to the general public to donate for the welfare of needy. Earlier, the newly elected General Secretary of the unit, Mr Jaipal Gupta, read out the annual report of the organisation. An NRI, Dr Devender Kumar, donated Rs 50,000 to the parishad. A cultural function by various school children was also presented. The following have been
newly elected members of the executive body of the
organisation are: President — Mr Chander Bhan Goyal;
Vice-Presidents — Mrs Jagdamba Gupta, Mr Vinod Kumar
Bansal, Mr Triloki Nath, Mr K.N. Gulati; General
Secretary — Mr Jaipal Gupta; Finance Secretary
— Mr Avinash Arora, Senior Organisation Secretary
— Mr Satyapal Kainth; Organisation Secretary —
Dr Suvikram Jyoti and Mr Neeraj Sangal. They were
introduced at the function. |
Housefed
Chairman CHANDIGARH, April 5 — Mr Surjit Choudhry, ex-Youth Congress President, was today elected Chairman of the Housefed at a meeting of the Chandigarh State Federation of Cooperative House Building Societies Limited. Dr S.C. Rajvanshi was elected Vice-Chairman of the federation. Mr Choudhry said the
federation would take steps on a priority basis to
impress upon the Chandigarh Administration for the
allotment of land to societies/members at the earliest. |
Telecom woes of residents DERA BASSI, April 5 — Residents of this sub-division are suffering due to their telephones not working for long hours. The subscribers complain that telephone lines remain dead for hours. Businessmen of this area have to bear losses as they cannot communicate with their clients. Though the telephone exchange has got eight airconditioners, it is working with two of these only. One AC has been installed in the transmission section and another in the exchange section. One AC is regarded insufficient for maintaining the required temperature of below 27° C in the exchange section. This leads to tripping of switches of the exchange when the temperature crosses this limit. Mr P.S. Arshi, Divisional
Engineer of Telecommunication (DET) promised that the
faulty AC's would be replaced soon to keep the exchange
working. |
Rickshaw pullers plan strike CHANDIGARH, April 5 — The New Kranti Rickshaw Workers Union, at a meeting here today, decided to observe a strike on April 19 in protest against the apathetic attitude of the Chandigarh Administration towards its demands. According to a press note here today, the rickshaw pullers will assemble near the Labour Chowk, Sector 20, on April 19 and march in procession to the office of the District Magistrate in Sector 17. The main demands of the union are reduction in the amount of fine from Rs 200 to Rs 50, reduction in the rickshaw passing fee from Rs 90 to Rs 30 and provision of water supply at rickshaw stands. The press note claimed
that the Indian Rickshaw Workers Union had also decided
to participate in the strike. |
Army to provide facilities for
visitors CHANDIGARH, April 5 — The Army will provide a number of facilities for the benefit of visitors to Anandpur Sahib during the tercentenary celebrations of the birth of Khalsa from April 8 to 14. A medical unit with doctors and ambulances will be stationed to extend medical facilities to the needy besides dealing with emergencies in Anandpur Sahib. Water tankers will also be deployed. The Army will also supply heavy and medium supply power generators which will remain on standby for use in case of any major power breakdown. The Army will also set up
first aid and medical aid posts at selected points close
to Army units on the Ropar-Ludhiana, Ropar-Phagwara and
Chandigarh-Ambala sections. |
CHANDIGARH, April 5 — A love affair that led to marriage culminated in the death of a 20-year-old girl, who hanged herself in her Sector 36 home last evening following alleged harassment from her husband and her brother-in-law. The deceased, Neetu Tanwar, married Naveen Bhatia, an insurance agent, two years ago, the police said while informing about the love angle to their marriage. Last evening she used a rope to hang herself to death. The police today arrested her husband and his elder brother, Parveen Bhatia. The father of the girl, Mr Azad Singh Tanwar, a former employee of the Accountant General’s office, alleged that his daughter was being harassed, the police said. A post-mortem on the body was conducted at the General Hospital, Sector 16, today. Woman killed Her son, Santosh, was with her. The rickshaw was hit by a scooter (PB-65-4278) in Sector 45. She was rushed to the PGI where she succumbed to her injuries this morning. The scooterist, Harjeet Singh, of Phase XI, SAS Nagar, is injured and a case under Section 304-A of the IPC has been registered against him. Arrested The minor boy, a student of Class VII, was sodomised by the four on March 29. Before allowing the boy to go the four threatened him with dire consequences if he revealed anything to anyone. Within the next two days the boy fell sick. His parents asked him about the problem and he told them about the incident. The police was informed. The four — Malkiat alias Pamma, Surinder alias Soni, Jagtar alias Tinku and Tajinder Singh — were arrested following a medical examination that was also carried out on the boy. A case under Section 377 has been registered. Surinder and Jagtar are real brothers while Tajinder Singh is their cousin. SAS NAGAR Pocket picked PANCHKULA One killed, 3 hurt Surinder Singh, a resident of Bhir Ghaggar in a complaint with the police said that he was hit by a truck near Ramgarh, while Anil Bhaskar a resident of Delhi said his Tata Sumo was hit by a truck near Fatehgarh village. His vehicle is said to have been damaged in the accident. In another accident, Sonia a resident of Sector 2 here, was hit by a truck, which was being driven by Bhupinder Singh, a resident of Sunam Mandi. The police has registered cases. Liquor bottles
seized |
CHANDIGARH, April 5 — Those who believe that precious stones can change their lot should heave a sigh of relief as the prices of almost all commonly used precious stones have virtually crashed during the past one year. The fall in the prices is such that though most of stones have become cheaper by 40 per cent to 50 per cent, in certain cases it was even more than that due to a number of reasons such as a general recession in the national as well as the international market. During a survey of the market today, it was found that if an average quality ‘panna’ was available for Rs 50 per ‘ratti’ (125 mg) last year, it was priced in the market today for Rs 30. Similarly, the price of the good quality stone has come down from Rs 200 to Rs 120 per ‘ratti’ during this period. The same was the case with ‘neelam’, as its price, too, has stumbled from Rs 1000 to Rs 700 to Rs 800 per ‘ratti’ during this period. The fall was more noticeable in the prices of different varieties of pearls. If pearls used for making beads could be purchased between Rs 150 and Rs 200 per ‘tola’ last year, currently these could be bought by spending Rs 90 to Rs 100. The inferior quality of pearls, used in rings, was, however, available between Rs 15 and Rs 25 these days. The traders attributed the decline in the prices to the ongoing recession in the market and entry of labourers into direct selling of stones during the past one and half years, which eliminated a majority of middlemen from the market. As a result of this, there was a considerable fall in the prices. “As far as pearls are concerned, what effected their prices most, was a virtual flooding of the market with the commodity from Japan and China, where there is virtually no demand for pearls these days. The traders of these countries have dumped the excessive commodity in the Indian market in a big way during the past one year,” said Mr Subhash Kataria, President of the Chandigarh Jewellers Association. Similarly, the price of ‘gomedh’ has come down from Rs 25 to Rs 30 to Rs 10 per ‘ratti’ during this period. Likewise, if a ‘ratti’ of ‘pukhraj’ was available between Rs 1000 and Rs 1200 during the past year, it can be purchased now for Rs 700. A ‘ratti’ of ‘manak’, priced between Rs 150 and Rs 200 during last year, was available these days for Rs 50, and the same quantity of cat’s eye was available today for Rs 10 in comparison to Rs 50 during the past one year. “Moonga” is the
only stone which has witnessed a hike in its price during
this period. A ‘ratti’ of the stone was
available today for Rs 65. Last year a “ratti”
of the stone was available for Rs 40. |
 |
 |
| Nation
| Punjab | Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | | Editorial | | Business | Sport | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
