Sunday, April 18, 1999
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N E W S Sunday, April 18, 1999 |
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PU
exploring alternative on exams CHANDIGARH, April 17 — “We are exploring the idea of conducting examinations in schools and even in government colleges for the final year students if the stalemate between the Punjab government and the federation of managements and principals continues. This, though, is not feasible since we will require staff for the purpose and we do not have enough strength in government colleges to deal with the situation. Moreover, all cities do not have government colleges to accommodate the students,” Prof Paramjit Singh, Registrar of Panjab University, said here today, when asked about the alternative arrangements the university was making to conduct examinations. “Though disaffiliation of these colleges is possible, it is a long and tedious process and the university is not contemplating any such action. Further, if the university does resort to any such measure, nothing will be achieved though the workload of the university will be increased manifold. We will have additional burden of adjusting students and teachers of these colleges,” he added. He said the university would give at least a week’s time to the students before the commencement of examinations and that the authorities have their thinking caps on and are working on various theories.” We are concerned about the fate of these students but are not in a position to do anything about it,’’ he added. Moreover, he said the university was only a little behind schedule if a comparison with the previous examination dates was made. “Only in the last two years the examinations have begun a little early. Prior to that the exams would commence around the end of April. Even if we hear from the government now, we will be able to manage very well,” he said. Dismissing the idea of promoting the students without examinations as preposterous, the Vice Chancellor, Prof MM Puri, opined, “If the government has priorities other than the future of the youth, the university cannot be held for ransom on the issue. We are in a tight corner and can do very little about the prevalent situation.” He said that the university had already spent a fortune on getting the date-sheets printed and posting them wherever required. “A lot of hard work is behind all this and we strongly resent any aspersions regarding our efficiency. We are at our wits’ end and want to get the business of conducting examinations over as quickly as possible.” Gulveen Somal, a student of second year at a local college, said, “The postponement of examinations has upset my applecart. My plans to go abroad have been messed up and I’m no more interested in my studies. I’m taking life very easy since the last postponement. However, when the exams actually take place, I will be most unprepared for them.” She condemned the inaction of the universities against these colleges. “If the university cannot force the affiliated colleges to conduct examinations, what purpose are they serving and what meaning does the affiliation have,” she asked. Shweta, in her final year, was of the opinion that the university should declare it a zero year and bring to an end the prevailing uncertainty which was keeping the students on their toes. “At the moment we do not even feel like taking our exams. Competitive exams and applying to outside universities is completely out. If the exams go off well after all this anxiety, it will be good enough,” she added. “Since the university has been rendered helpless in conducting examinations or even making their voices heard to the government, the students should team up and protest against this injustice. Moreover, it does not behove of educationists to be pressing for their demands at the cost of the future of the whole student community,” Bipin Dhiman, a private student, taking his second year exam said. Reacting to such statements Dr B. Sahota, a lecturer at MCM DAV College, Sector 36, said, “The agitation was launched quite some time back and if the government does not take any action, we are not to blame. The ball is in its court and it must shoulder the responsibility. We also have the students’ interest at heart but if they are adamant on pushing us into a corner what can we do?” Another lecturer, Mrs
Inderveena Sharma, Government College for Girls, Sector
11, said the issue must be resolved soon. The students
are in a fix and are suffering the most. The hostellers
in spite of wanting to go back home and study can’t
do so because they might have to return immediately, she
added. “We must see to it that the students
don’t suffer on any account. Whatever is best for
them should be done and at the earliest.” |
Training
of poll staff begins CHANDIGARH, April 17 — The two-day training session of staff which will check claims of city residents for inclusion in the electoral rolls got underway at the Bhargava auditorium at the PGI here this morning. About 1,000 employees from various educational institutions took part in the exercise. The revision is scheduled for April 24 and April 25 and on May 8 and May 9. The dates for deciding the claims have been fixed as May 3 and May 17, respectively The date for the final publication of the electoral rolls is July 21. The training is a statutory provision and has to be carried out before the electoral rolls are finalised and published. The staff is explained on how to entertain claims for correction, alteration, deletion, or inclusion of entries in the rolls. The requests for issuance of voter identity cards would also be entertained during the campaign. Mr M. Ramshekhar, Additional Chief Electoral Officer, told TNS after the training session that the attendance was compulsory and more than 2, 000 employees will be manning 524 booths. Each booth would have four members who will receive the claim applications, the forms to be filled in case of various corrections and process them accordingly. As all the staff could not be accommodated in one go, the session had been divided into two sessions. The second session will he held tomorrow at the same venue. The three-hour session begins at 9 a.m. Teachers who were initially reluctant to shoulder the responsibility were told by officials present that they were government servants and they had to do it and it would be better if it was done willingly. Meanwhile, a meeting of the chiefs of the local units of various political parties was held by Mrs Anuradha Gupta, Chief Electoral Officer, in the afternoon today. She urged all present to educate the people so that eligible voters could submit their claims for the inclusion in the rolls on the prescribed dates and help them in the special revision. She said the draft rolls of the Chandigarh parliamentary constituency would be available for inspection in the election office and the offices of the 11 Assistant Election Returning Officers by April 20. Persons who have attained the age of 18 and are bonafide residents of the city will be eligible to make their representations for the inclusion of their names in the voters list in this special drive. She appealed to the city
residents whose names have not been entered in the lists
to utilise this opportunity and get themselves
registered. The campaign was similar to the pulse polio
campaign as 524 polling stations would work
simultaneously for updating the rolls. |
12 illegal
taxis challaned DERA BASSI, April 17 — The local police today challaned 12 Maruti vans and cars for plying as taxis from the local bus stand without permit . The private vehicles were challaned on the directions of Mr H. S. Bhullar, Deputy Superintendent of Police, under Section 207 of the Motor Vehicles Act. The police has impounded all vehicles. The malpractice of
plying of cars vans and jeeps bearing private numbers as
taxis was highlighted by the Chandigarh Tribune under the
headline, "Illegal taxis a nuisance" on March
20. Taking into consideration the news, the DSP visited
the spot and ordered the SHO, Dera Bassi, Mr Jassa Singh,
to take action against the defaulters. |
Structures
demolished PANCHKULA, April 17 — The enforcement wing of local estate office demolished unauthorised structures raised in the premises of Pashu Nath Mandir near Mata Mansa Devi temple here this morning. The two-hour drive which
started at around 7 am ended after two hours was
supervised by the Estate Officer and DSP( City).
According to the information available the unauthorised
structures had been raised in an area of about three
kanals. No resistance was offered by the temple
authorities. |
Sewers
choked in Industrial Area CHANDIGARH, April 17 — Entrepreneurs of Industrial Area, Phase II, have been at their wits’ end to get the problems of inadequate water supply and choked sewers solved for the past many months. The problem has aggravated with the onset of summer where they have to bring drinking water from their residences not only for themselves but also for their customers and staff. The toilets too have been blocked for the past many weeks with the result that all the workers have to answer the call of nature in the nearby open areas. Mr Gulab Jain and Mr Krishan Dutt, both factory owners, said despite repeated representations to the authorities concerned nothing has been done so far. Such is the callousness of the officials that they had now even refused to acknowledge their oral complaints. The stock reply everytime someone lodged a complaint was “ someone will be there today”. But that today had not arrived yet, they lamented. Meanwhile, the stink had affected the working conditions on some of the premises. The stench did not allow workers to carry on with their work for a long time at one go. In some factories the toilets had been locked up, they added. Mr Ram Charan Gupta and Mr Madan Lal said that they had faced a similar position a few years ago and the department had used a pumping machine to rectify the condition. But for the past couple of years no such exercise had been carried out as the equipment was under repair, they said. Similarly, the condition
of drinking water was no better. The supply was received
between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. which did not suit them as they
opened their factories after that time. As such they had
to either come early or had the water stored the previous
evening. |
Vigilance probe: UT’s rejoinder The following is the rejoinder issued by the Director, Public Relations, UT, Chandigarh, to The Tribune story titled “Charges against ex-DC one-sided, unfair” published on April 16, 1999: “The Chandigarh Administra-tion is surprised at the lead-report carried by Chandigarh Tribune which inter alia seeks to create an impression that the vigilance enquiry against the former Deputy Commissioner, Mr K.K. Khandelwal, about which a report appeared earlier on March 24, 1999, is a one-sided enquiry motivated by ‘certain administrative rivalries and jealousies’. This report concludes with a statement that the newspaper while carrying the earlier report dated March 24 was taken for a ride. The Administration notes with regret that neither at the time of carrying the earlier report dated March 24 nor the latest report, the version of the Administration was obtained resulting in two newspaper versions of the same matter, both of which were based only on selective leaks and incomplete facts. Not surprisingly, therefore, both reports have failed to capture the essence of the vigilance enquiry report which is specific, supported by extensive documentary evidence. Clearly, the newspaper has been taken for a ride not once but twice. “The Administration also strongly feels that a vigilance enquiry should not be reported prematurely before the same is evaluated by the Central Vigilance Commission and a final decision taken on the action to be taken against the guilty. Having made this mistake, the newspaper cannot try to rectify its mistake by sitting in judgement over the intention and merits of the enquiry. Yesterday’s report states that the enquiry is one-sided without notice, to the concerned officer and ‘without caring to obtain his version’. This is factually incorrect; in this case, as in other cases, the officer had been served with written questionnaires and several opportunities were given to him to present his point of view on various aspects of the enquiry to which he failed to respond though. Any vigilance enquiry is conducted not as a ‘fishing exercise’ as alleged, but with a sense of utmost responsibility and the same is subject to scrutiny and evaluation by the Ministry of Home Affairs and later by the Central Vigilance Commission. The findings of the vigilance enquiry are supported with extensive evidence, both oral and documentary, and this particular case has been no exception. The track record of the vigilance department in the recent past has been rather exemplary. “The Chandigarh Administra-tion has always maintained, and also appealed to the press in the past, that there should be no trial by media, that stories / gossip / information selectively should not be lapped up, and also that official version of the Administration should be invariably obtained in all such cases to avoid misreporting. Unfortu-nately, this has not been done by The Tribune either at the time of printing the initial story on March 24 or now. Worse still, the effect of earlier report has been sought to be undone through an incorrect portrayal of facts.” We stand by our April 16 story based on extensive documentary investigation. For a full three weeks after the publication of the earlier report on March 24, highly favourable to the Administration, the latter kept quiet. No rejoinder was sent, no attempt made to contradict or question it as a “selective leak” based on “incorrect facts” or as a “trial by the media”. No “official version” of the Administration was supplied as he has been done now. Had the follow-up report, setting the record straight, not been published on April 16, the Administration would not have reacted at all. It is apparent from the rejoinder itself that the Administration has been impelled now to react only because it feels that “the effect of earlier report has been sought to be undone”. As for the claim that Mr Khandelwal was given several opportunities to present his point of view on various aspects of the inquiry, we would welcome documentary proof of the same. Why, however, would the Union Home Ministry write to the officer, seeking his version, if that had already been done? For all its prolixity,
the Administration’s rejoinder does not specifically
dispute a single fact disclosed by TNS on April 16
regarding the merits of the vigilance case. Clearly,
therefore, The Tribune was taken for a ride earlier but
not this time. |
'Distinguish
between faith, religion' CHANDIGARH, April 17 — The fourth meeting of 'Khayal', a multilingual group of intellectuals, poets and writers of Chandigarh, was held in the shape of a seminar-cum-poetic symposium at Lajpat Rai Bhavan, Sector 15, today. The theme was 'Power of Faith'. Mr R. D. Sharma 'Taseer', an Urdu poet, said that a poet always starts with a doubt, and that actually is his faith. He then read out some of his ghazals to an appreciative audience. Dr Sampooran Singh, a metaphysicist, said that every human being lives in a construct of his own mind, and the mind creates its own thought and power of faith. He dwelled on how to develop the power of faith, because it arises from a state of the mind. Mr Dharmendra Goel said that since he was a rationalist and also "somewhat of a skeptic", he would talk of being rational in this irrational world. But he added that the desire to find reason is as much a matter of faith as it is of an individual's idiosyncrasy. Mr L. H. Naqvi, Assistant Editor, The Tribune, said there is need to distinguish between faith and religion, which generally tend to get mixed up. Talking about the 'placebo affect', Mr Naqvi said that faith could be used in a positive manner, but unfortunately the power of faith was being used towards negativity. Others who spoke on the
occasion included Mr Amarjit Amar, Mr Madhav Kaushak,
Prof B. M. Sagar and Mr R. D. Vij. |
Police-NGO
body envisaged CHANDIGARH, April 17 — A meeting of all Chandigarh non-government organisations (NGOs) and the Chandigarh Police will be held on May 1, in the traffic auditorium in order to have a police-NGO set-up that would work towards effectively dealing with problems concerning women, children and other social issues. This was announced today by the Inspector-General of Police, Chandigarh, Dr (Mrs) Kiran Bedi, at a seminar, “Empowerment of women”, organised by the Chandigarh chapter of the Indian Council of Social Welfare (ICSW), at the All-India Women Conference Hall, Sector 11. Dr Bedi said that after the meet on May 1, beat officers would regularly meet social workers of the NGOs and try and solve their problems. She said in the days to come, a place for women social workers would also be made in the duty officer’s room in various police stations. These social workers would be available from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. “Chandigarh is a city where I can give all my experiences. As I myself have been a community worker, I will not take long to understand your problems. I have the resources, which I would like to share with you, and would like that you participate with us to make policing better”, the IGP said. Dr Bedi said, “The police is not pro-women or pro-men. It is only pro-justice”. Mrs Shrestha Mehta, Honorary General Secretary of the ICSW, Chandigarh chapter, announced that it would volunteer under the patronage of Mrs Rani Sharma, President ICSW, Chandigarh chapter, to run two creches in the police line for children of the police personnel. Mr P. G. Gawai, IAS (retd), Mr P H Vaishnav, IAS (retd), Mrs Harjinder Kaur and Dr Vinita Gupta also spoke on the occasion. The gathering was also
entertained by a cultural programme, which included
songs, dances and a one-act play. |
Medical
reps plan protest CHANDIGARH, April 17 — The Punjab and Chandigarh Medical Sales Representatives Union (PCMSRU) has decided to organise a demonstration on April 28 to protest against the government decision to pass the Patent Amendment Bill. A two-day state conference of the PCMSRU started here today. The amended Bill could have easily waited till the year 2005 when the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) writ started. The amended Bill would now push up the drug prices by more than 20 times, thus taking the prices of life saving drugs out of the reach of the common man, the union said. So far, the prices of drugs in India were the lowest as compared to the rates in other countries. The union said that the pharmaceutical industry was making profits, but the medical representatives were not being paid well. In the evening the union
held a public rally in Sector 27.
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PEC
students get degrees CHANDIGARH, April 17 — Degrees were conferred on over 300 students of Punjab Engineering College, Sector 12, at the 28th annual convocation of the college here today. As many as 142 students secured first class with honours in the BE examinations. The Administrator’s gold medal for overall outstanding performance was awarded to Ankur Aggarwal of Mechanical Engineering, the Advisor’s gold medal for best sports performance went to Aman Sharma of production engineering and the Miglani Memorial gold medal was given to Amrit Kaur of computer science. Besides, seven students were given gold medals for standing first with honours in the university while eight students were given silver medal for standing first in the major project. Delivering the convocation address, Punjab Governor, Lieut-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber, said expansion of technical education had seen a phenomenal growth during the last 15 years.It was controlled by the needs and requirements of the economy and India having decided in favour of free economy should re-engineer its training programmes to suit the demands. Technical education should be dynamic and capable of responding to the changes in the socio-economic conditions of the country, he added. Earlier, the Principal,
Prof Rajneesh Prakash, read out the annual college report
and highlighted the achievements of the college in
academics, sports and co-curricular activities. |
‘More centres to handle trauma
cases needed’ CHANDIGARH, April 17 — There should be more centres in the country to handle trauma cases for implanting amputated body parts like toes, fingers, hand and limbs, opined Dr R. Sabapathy from Coimbatore at the PGI today. At present the few places in the country where micro surgery techniques are carried out are at par with the developed world. The number of such centres is, however, very few. People just do not know where to go in case of an emergency, said Dr Sabapathy while talking to media persons on the second day of the three-day national workshop on “ Microsurgical reconstruction of extremities”. The need is to create awareness among people about the possibilities of replantation of amputated body parts. At Coimbatore , the number of injuries is primarily industry-related, he pointed out. A majority of the injured go back to work after the surgery. Public needs to be educated on what could be done through replantation, he said. Prof G. Balakrishnan, from Stanley Medical College, Chennai, said time between injury and surgery was vital. “In our country due to climatic conditions the tissue of the amputated parts dries up faster while infections are common,” Prof Balakrishnan said. For finger and toe amputations, the best time is between 6 to 8 hours after the injury. If the amputation is nearer to the elbow then the patient should be brought in even earlier. The next important step is proper packing of the amputated body part. In the south, he said, close to 60 per cent of the people come to the hospital with properly packed body parts. At Chennai, Prof
Balakrishnan is handling almost 30 cases of various hand
injuries per day, while one or two replants of the hand
are done each week. At the institute, his team maintains
a record of injuries and type of injuries. If suddenly
some specific injuries increase, teams of the institute
go and discuss the matter with the industry. Apart from
this, the hospital is also carrying out reconstruction of
the “cleft lips”. |
Karsan
school pass percentage up CHANDIGARH, April 17 — Government Senior Secondary School, Karsan, has bagged several medals at state-level championships during the last academic year and improved upon its pass percentage. According to Mrs Kamlesh, Councillor of ward number 18, the pass percentage has increased from 36 to 58. Besides, students of this school won 12 gold, six silver and nine bronze medals in various competitions. Two students also
represented the city in the national championships in
wrestling and badminton. |
Kavi
sammelan PANCHKULA, April 17 — Noted Hindi poets recited their poems dedicated to Maha Kavi Surdas at a kavi sammelan organised by the Haryana Sahitya Akademi in collaboration with the State Cultural Affairs Department to celebrate the 521st birth anniversary of Surdas at the Yavanika Open Air Theatre here yesterday. The Finance Commissioner, Education, Mr Vishnu Bhagwan, who inaugurated the sammelan, said the history of Hindi literature could not be written without mentioning the name of Surdas. Even world literature was indebted to Surdas in the context of Vatsalya, Viyog and Shringar Rasas, he said. Those who participated in the sammelan included Mr P.D.Kashyap. Mr Surender Dube, Mr Rajender Rajan, Mr Raj Gopal Singh, Dr Saraswat Mohan Manishi, Mr Mahadev Kaushli, Ms Archana Thakur and Mr Manjeet Singh. The Secretary of the Haryana Urdu Akademi, Mr K.L.Zakir, also recited poems in Urdu. Later the Finance Commissioner gave prizes to the winners. The awards carried a cash prize of Rs 5,000 each. In the Hindi section, Mr Mahendra Pratap won the prize for his poem " Dahan". Dr Rak Kumar Bhardwaj and Ms Anita Bhardwaj bagged the cash prize for folk literature " Lok Kavi and Natyakar Ali Baksh". In the Sanskrit section, Dr Madan Lal Verma was given the prize for his book ''Uchhvasana Pritchchhaya" and Captain Ram Bhagat Sharma for his book ''Poona-horse Vijay". In the short story
competition, Dr Puneet Bedi won the first prize for his
story " Sirf Panch Pratishat". Dr Ram Singh
Arya and Ms Sudershan Ratnakar bagged the second and
third prizes for their stories ''Do Pedo Ke Beech"
and " Sambandhon Ka Ehsaas", respectively |
SNIPPETS Special kirtan darbar today CHNADIGARH, April 17 — A special kirtan darbar dedicated to Bhai Dharam Singh, one of the five Panj Pyaras of Guru Gobind Singh, will be held at the Sector 40 Gurdwara Sri Guru Arjan Dev tomorrow. Eminent religious personalities, including Sant Niranjan Singh of Jawadhi Kalan, Bhai Balwinder Singh Rangila, Bhai Nirmal Singh and Bhai Surinder Singh, will participate in the darbar. A special langar will also be organised. Complaint against private
operators BARWALA, April 17 — Employees of the Haryana Roadways have alleged that the "Maxi cab", a private bus service, has been interrupting the government bus services on the Chandigarh-Naraingarh road. In a representation to the General Manager, Haryana Roadways, drivers and conductors have complained that these private bus operators forcibly pick up passengers by parking their cabs in front of government buses in Sahjadpur and at the local bus stand and do not let them take over on the way. This has been causing revenue loss to the government. They have alleged that the private operators are plying their vehicles from the bus stands unauthorisedly. SR
Workers Union continues dharna DERA BASSI, April 17 — In favour of their demands, members of the S R Workers Union, Dera Bassi, staged a dharna on the second consecutive day here today. More than 250 members of the union joined the dharna and raised slogans to press their demands. The union is seeking bonus and the provision of ESI facility to the workers and full payment against overtime. It is also demanding the regularisation of the services of daily wage workers after the completion of 240 days on duty. Mr Ajaib Singh, President of the union, alleged that managerial personnel misbehave with workers, including females, and threaten to sack them. Mr Inderjit Singh, Secretary of the union, said that the daily wage workers were being either terminated or re-appointed by the management after a gap in their contract of 240 days, so that they could not claim regular appointment. He also alleged that the management forcibly gets their resignation letters. However, Mr R. C. Mahajan, Managing Director of R C Industry denied the allegations. "It becomes compulsory to take action against workers when they do not work according to the rules framed by the management", added Mr C.N. Tikko, General Manager of the factory. Fire
victims' memo to Chhibber CHANDIGARH, April 17 — Members of the various societies and organisations today held a procession from SAS Nagar to Sector 7 in support of the fire victims of Sector 53 here. Later a deputation of the processionists met the Administrator of Chandigarh, Lieut-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber (retd), after the procession was stopped at the Sector 7 barrier. The deputation claimed that more than 60 shop owners of Sector 53, who had been operating from makeshift furniture shops, had suffered a loss worth several crores of rupees in a devastating fire a few days ago. It demanded a high-level judicial inquiry into the circumstances leading to the breaking out of fire in the market. The inquiry should also assess the exact loss suffered by each shopkeeper so that he could be compensated accordingly. The deputation also demanded suitable and secure workplace for those rendered jobless by the fire incident. For the time being, they wanted to be permitted to work from the adjoining area till suitable sites were made available to them. The deputation was led by Mr Lekh Raj Parwana, General Secretary of Humanity International and Sant Avtar Singh Ghuman of the USA. Meanwhile, Sant Ghuman has set up a langar for the fire victims. Award for student CHANDIGARH, April 17 — Anjalika of Government High School Sector 40-A has won a cash prize of Rs 2100 for standing first in Government Ordinary Schools in Chandigarh in the middle standard examination this year. She is the only student from the government ordinary schools who has been placed in the merit list. City girl honoured CHANDIGARH, April 17 — Ms Shaleen Chauhan of Chandigarh, a Class IX student of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 10, has been given the National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement, 1997. She has got this award for her achievements in sports, particularly in gymnastics and rifle shooting. The award has been given by the Department of Women and Child Development, of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. It was presented to her by Ms Uma Bharti, Minister of State for Women and Child Development, on April 15 at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. A member of the
Gymnastics Club, Chandigarh, she has participated in many
state-level championships. She also participated in a
taekwondo tournament in South Korea. She participates in
karate, yoga and tennis meets as well. |
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