Wednesday, August 18, 1999
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N E W S Wednesday, August 18, 1999 |
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weather spotlighttoday's calendar |
150 hoardings removed SAS Nagar, Aug 17 — In a drive to remove hoardings and sign boards from road sides, the enforcement staff of the local municipal council today cleared a major road of the encroachments. At least 150 hoardings and sign boards were removed. The drive was launched following the 15 days' time given by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on August 6 to remove hoardings, sign boards and neon signs within 50 metres of both sides of roads. A JCB along with 18 workers of the enforcement wing launched the drive this morning. Hoardings and sign board along the main road starting from Phase 11 to the traffic lights of Phases 3 and 5 were removed. The remaining portion along the main road up to the PTL chowk would be cleared tomorrow. Mr Avtar Singh Kalsi, who was supervising the drive, disclosed that the drive which is likely to continue for five days, will cover other A and B roads in the township. The officials say all boards will be removed during the drive. However, the banners put up by political parties at different points along the roads were not touched. The staff said these would only be removed after consulting the Assistant Returning Officer to know whether any particular sites had been earmarked by him for the purpose. The ARO was not available for comments. Meanwhile, the municipal
council has written to the persons who had taken the
hoardings — about 50 — along the Sohana road on
rent for a year, to remove the same. Sources said the
rent for the remaining period would be paid back to the
advertisers. |
Arya is PUTA President CHANDIGARH, Aug 17 — Prof P.P Arya of the University Business School was today declared elected unopposed to the post of President, Punjab University Teacher's Association (PUTA), for the year 1999-2000 following withdrawal by both his opponents, Dr S.C Kaushal of the Botany Department and Dr Sahib Singh Bhayana of the Department of Correspondence Studies. The two reportedly gave their withdrawals in protest against the rejection of the candidature of Dr S.K Gupta and Dr Raj Pal Sharma, contestants from their group for the posts of President and Vice-President, respectively, allegedly on flimsy grounds. The outgoing President of the association, Dr Satya Pal Gautam, said that the nomination papers of Dr S K Gupta had not been filled properly.,while in the case of Dr Rajpal Sharma, a Reader in the Chemistry Department, his nomination papers had not been proposed and seconded properly. He was shown to be from the Physics Department. Mr Keshav Malhotra of the Department of Evening Studies has been declared elected unopposed for the post of Treasurer. Mr Sudhir Kumar of Evening Studies has been declared elected as member executive, Group-4. The contest will be for the posts of Vice-President, Secretary, Joint Secretary and for the members executive, Group I, II, III and V. While for the post of Vice -President there will be a direct contest between Dr Fateh Singh Nandel ( Bio-Physics) and Dr K.P Singh ( Physics), for the post of Secretary there will be a direct contest between Dr Harjinder Singh Laltoo ( Chemistry) and Mr Tankeshwar Kumar ( Physics) . Even for the post of Joint Secretary, there will be a direct contest between Dr Kiranpreet Kaur ( Sociology) and Dr Nahar Singh ( Punjabi). Dr Kiranpreet wanted to withdraw her candidature but since she reached the PUTA office after 5 pm, the deadline for withdrawals, it was not accepted. Three members of the progressive group were elected unopposed — Dr Fathe Singh Nandel for the post of Vice-President, Dr Harjinder Singh Laltoo for the post of Secretary and Dr Nahar Singh as Joint Secretary. While there are eight
candidates from both groups contesting for four posts of
members executive, Group-I, seven are contesting for the
four posts of members in Group-II following the
withdrawal of Dr K.P Singh ( Physics). There are six
candidates contesting for the three posts in Group-III
following the withdrawal of Dr V.K. Rattan ( Chemical
Engineering). For the post of member executive (
Correspondence Studies), there will be a direct contest
between Prof Ujaggar Singh Sehgal and Mr K.K Sud. The
elections to these posts will be held on August 25. |
Future crime stoppers CHANDIGARH, Aug 17 — Students from various schools took part in a march here today to highlight the importance of keeping Chandigarh beautiful and crime free. The event was organised by the police to sensitise the public about the importance of the Crime Stoppers Cell, having fax and e- mail facilities, which would be monitored by officers round the clock. Hundreds of schoolchildren assembled at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 10, Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 35, and Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 20- B, before fanning out in the city to highlight the message. They were divided into 45 teams and were accompanied by beat officers and other personnel. The placard-carrying children distributed posters and stickers carrying information about the cell to the public. The stickers were pasted on passing vehicles by the students and the police alike. About 45,000 pamphlets and stickers were distributed at 45 predetermined locations. Addressing the children after the culmination of the march at the Sector 17 parade ground, Mr S.K. Singh, IGP, said the children should urge their parents, relatives and friends to bring all unlawful activities to the notice of the police. The children too should lead by example as they were the future crime stoppers of the city, he said. Citing an example, he said a criminal from Delhi, who was wanted in connection with four heinous crimes and had also been featured in India's Most Wanted, a television programme, was arrested in the city following a tip-off through the cell. The participants were given small cards with all the requisite information about the cell for personal use. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr M. Ramshekhar, the SSP, Mr C.S.R. Reddy, the DPI (S), Mr D.S. Saroya, and other senior police officers were also present. On the other hand, there were murmurs of protest from parents of the students. They said the children were made to march through the city on a hot and humid day. As per the programme, buses were not provided for transportation to the assigned locations. Many children complained of dizziness because of walking in the heat and standing for a long period of time. They had been asked to assemble in their schools by 7 a.m. and the programme finished by noon. Residents can inform the
cell about unlawful activity or presence of anti-social
elements in their vicinity from their homes. |
PM to address rally in city
tomorrow CHANDIGARH, Aug 17 — The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, will address a public meeting at the Sector 17 Parade Ground on August 19 at 6 p.m. to launch the election campaign of Mr Krishan Lal Sharma, Senior Vice-President of the party and a candidate for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat. The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, is also likely to join him at the rally. Meanwhile, the local
unit of the BJP will perform a havan at its office -
Kamlam - in Sector 33 tomorrow morning before Mr Sharma
is taken out in a procession for filing of his nomination
papers. Both BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) workers
are expected to join the procession. |
No woman put on poll duty CHANDIGARH, Aug 17 — There has been a 8.5 per cent increase in the number of voters in the Union Territory of Chandigarh against the national average of 2 to 3 per cent, says Mr Rakesh Singh, Chief Electoral Officer of Chandigarh. Talking to newsmen here this afternoon, Mr Rakesh Singh said that this increase is largely because of a continuous inflow of migrant population. For the lone Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, he said, there are 5,83,979 voters, including 3,37,411 male voters against 4,50,599 voters in 1996, showing an increase of 1,33, 380 votes which comes to 33.8 per cent. Mr M. Ramsekhar, Returning Officer for the Chandigarh seat, said that a similar growth phenomenon has been witnessed at SAS Nagar, Kharar and Panchkula. The entire constituency has been divided into 11 zones to be headed by an Assistant Returning Officer. Each of the AROs will have about 60 polling stations under his control. He or she will have five to seven supervisory officers to look after the work who in turn will oversee the polling in 10 stations each. Chandigarh is one of the 46 parliamentary constituencies, Mr Rakesh Singh said, where polling will be through electronic voting machines. The Chief Electoral Officer said that out of 3500 personnel on election duty this time, there will be no woman employee. Further, to train the election staff, two centres have been set up at Punjab Engineering College where batches of 70 persons each attained half-a-day training course. By August 22 or 23, the entire election staff will be fully trained on the voting machines. Talking about sensitive polling stations, Mr Ramsekhar explained that from strategy and logistics points of view, buildings with four or more polling stations have been classified as sensitive polling stations. There has been no previous history of any poll-related violence in Chandigarh. These buildings, 25 in all, have been declared sensitive from the point of crowd management and better control. There will seven to eight hyper-sensitive polling stations because of the large concentration of voters in those areas. Mr Rakesh Singh further said that a decision about provision of security cover to candidates will be taken only after the process of filing of nomination papers is completed. The security cover will depend upon the level of threat to each candidate. Of the three candidates who have filed their nomination papers till yesterday, no one has been given any special security cover so far, he added. Mr Rakesh Singh also introduced two of the three observers of the Election Commission for the Chandigarh seat — Mr K.P. Singh (Expenditure) and Ms Aradhna Johri (General Observer). The third observer, Mr K.B. Bal, is yet to reach here. Mr Rakesh Singh further said that special camps are being organised by sending mobile units to various labour colonies, villages and other areas to educate the electorate about the use of electronic voting machines. The hoardings of the Administration in the city would be painted in Punjabi, Hindi and English about the use of EVMs. Besides, special posters would be displayed outside each polling station for the education of voters about EVMs. Special slides would also be displayed in cinema houses on this new voting technique. Central Polytechnic,
Sector 26; Government College, Sector 11; Government
College for Girls, Sector 42; Government College, Sector
46; and Government College of Education, Sector 20, will
be the counting centres. |
Morni residents to boycott
poll PANCHKULA, Aug 17— A veteran freedom fighter, Mr Sadhu Ram Saini, today announced the decision of the residents of Morni Hills to boycott the coming elections to register their protest against the injustice being done to them. Addressing a press conference today in Sector 9 here, Mr Sadhu Ram alleged that the problems of the area were visualised by the political parties only at the time of elections after which these were forgotten. ``Successive governments have been making promises only to get the votes there. We have been believing them so far but now we are boycotting the elections to register our protest. This will make the different political parties sit up and take notice of our problems,'' he said. His main grievance was that the people had been served with notices to vacate the land which they had been tilling for generations.``The size of the land holdings of the farmers is so small that they are unable to subsist . Consequently, the farmers have to depend on the forest for earning a livelihood which is being denied to them by the Forest Department. Our forests have been taken over by outsiders (Forest Department), while most of the insiders (residents) of the hills can barely manage two meals a day ,'' he added. He recollected that some years ago a Morni Hill Area Development Committee was constituted to go into the problems of the residents and bring the land dispute to an end but in the absence of up-to-date records of land holdings, the committee could not come out with anything concrete. Later, this committee was merged with a board set up to look after the development of the area. ``The board has become a puppet in the hands of the government. After every change of government, we see a new set of people at the helm of affairs and our cause has been lost in the process. Every time we explain our case to them, but even before an officer is convinced and takes action the government changes and all hopes of getting any relief are dashed,'' Mr Saini rued. He said that not
participating in the elections was the only option left
with the poverty-stricken people of the hills. Also, the
Shivalik Vikas Manch had been sending out teams regularly
to educate the residents about the non-performance of
successive governments. A rally would be held on August
22 to obtain the support of the residents for the
boycott. |
Adviser teaches tiny tots CHANDIGARH, Aug 17 — It was a morning with a difference for students of Strawberry Fields in Sector 24, when the Adviser to the Administrator, Mrs Vineeta Rai, spent an hour interacting with them. Mrs Rai not only moved around to listen to the children singing songs to the notes of the piano or watch them swim and paint, but also made an attempt to teach the children herself. To mark her visit, she planted a sapling of a kinnow plant in the school premises. I-Day function A fancy dress competition was also conducted as part of the Independence Day celebrations. It was interesting to watch some of the little ones dressed up as wounded soldiers, for the fancy dress. Exhibition
closes |
Rs 1 lakh donated for
Kargil fund CHANDIGARH, Aug 17—Donations towards the Army Central Welfare Fund by various social and other organisations continue to pour in the office of the Tribune. Staff members, students and members of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) of the Sector 21 Government Senior Secondary School have donated Rs 1 lakh towards the fund. A cheque in this connection was presented to the Advisor by Ms S. Kohli, principal and Mr Bhajan Singh, president of the PTA here today. members of the Government Pensioners Association Sector 8 have contributed Rs 44,505 towards the Punjab War Heroes Families Relief Fund, a press note issued here today by Mr Gurnam Singh, advisor of the association said. Meanwhile, the Chandigarh Chemists Association has claimed that the All- India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists has contributed Rs 31 lakh towards the fund. A cheque of Rs 31 lakh in this connection was handed over to the Union Home Minister Mr L K Advani by Mr Dilip A Mehta, president of the organisation, claimed Mr Prem Sagar Jain, President of the Chandigarh Chemists Association. The Sector 40-C MIG
Residents Welfare association has decided to render
financial help for the education and other needs of Ms
Ritu Rani, daughter of Havildar Hari Om, a Kargil martyr
hailing from village Khungai in Jhajjar district of
Haryana. |
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30 lakh seized
in IT raid Some of the currency notes seized were reportedly getting soiled, suggesting their storage for a long time, sources said. A large number of incriminating documents pertaining to tax evasion were also seized. Seven more file papers Those who filed their papers today are Mr Ravi Parkash Kansal of Lok Shakti; Mr Rajinder Srivastav of Shiv Sena; Ms Bimla Sapna of Bahujan Samaj Party (Ambedkar); Mr Gurnam Singh Sidhu of Khalsa Conference; Mr Ram Pal Hans of New Congress Party; Dr Ved Parkash Aggarwal of BJP Loktantrik; and Mr Kartar Singh Hothi, an Independent. Tomorrow is the last day for filing of nomination papers. Mr Pawan Bansal (Congress), Mr Krishan Lal Sharma (BJP) and Mr Gurbachan Singh (Nationalist Congress Party) are expected to file their papers tomorrow. In the 1998 Lok Sabha elections, there were 23 candidates who had filed their nominations, five had withdrawn and 18 contested. In 1996, the number of contestants was 48. CTCC man joins Pawar group Mr Gurbachan Singh, who was inducted in the party this morning, has also been made the party candidate from here. A large number of his supporters and workers greeted him when he arrived here late in the evening. Mr Gurbachan Singh said that several Congress functionaries would quit and join his party in a day or two. Meanwhile, several senior Congress leaders have condemned the move of Mr Gurbachan Singh, General Secretary of the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee, to contest the ensuing Lok Sabha elections against the party nominee, Mr Pawan Bansal. In a joint statement, they said that Mr Gurbachan Singh was not a committed Congress worker as he had earlier opposed the Congress candidate. The signatories to the statement include Mr Surinder Bhatia, Mr Subash Chawla, Dr O.P. Verma, Ms Kamlesh, Mr Vijay Pal Singh Dimpy, Mr D.D. Jindal, Mr Surjit Chaudhary, Mr Harish Kapoor, Mr Pradeep Chabbra, Mr Sandeep Singh, Mrs Lalit Joshi Bhardwaj, Mr Param Pal Singh Matharu, Mr H.S. Lucky and Mr Manjit Sahdev. Meanwhile, the Chandigarh Mahila Congress Committee at its meeting held today hailed the decision of the party high command to give the party ticket to Mr Bansal. Role of NGOs in education
stressed Senior functionaries of the Administration, including the Home Secretary, Mr N.K. Jain; Joint Secretary, Finance, Mr K.A.P. Sinha, and the Deputy Commissioner, Mr M. Ramsekhar, attended the meeting. Mrs Rai wanted that dedicated and motivated people should be fully involved in the programme. She suggested that the selection of the centre as well as the material should be of high quality and relevant for the purpose. She wanted that panchayats, NGOs, clubs and societies should be involved in implementing the programmes of the Council and opined that the training should be developed imaginatively and carefully. The literacy campaign should be adopted as a mission and made into a people's movement. Mr Ramsekhar briefed the members about the completion of the total literacy campaign and post-literacy campaign and the commencement of the continuing project. The agenda for continuing programme was discussed. Under the programme, 360 continuing education centres and 40 nodal centres will be opened in the Union Territory with main concentration in villages and labour colonies. The venues of these centres will be schools, panchayat ghars, anganwaris and community centres. Each centre will be equipped with a library, sports material and education support material, including maps, charts and models. Campus council seeks more funds Addressing a press conference he demanded that the council should have an independent budget and the amount of the funds given to the council for organising various cultural activities should also be raised from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh. While criticising the functioning of the council under the presidentship of SOPU leader DPS Randhawa, Mr Anand said that no development activity was undertaken in their tenure. In fact, they were a party to the university’s decision for an abnormal fee hike. He has also demanded that a main body comprising of presidents of student bodies of various local colleges and the elected office-bearers of the campus council should be constituted to take up student issues. Resentment among 'sacked' workers Talking to TNS, over 30 workers, who were employed as 'beldars' and performed supervisory and other allied jobs, alleged that though they had been employed for the past about three years on muster roll without any break, they were sacked without being assigned any reason. The civic body authorities had not marked their attendance since August 11, they added. Alleging that the civic body was following a 'pick-and-choose' policy, they said they had been victimised while other workers, including those in the Road Division, had not been touched. They demanded the regularisation of their services since they had completed 240 days of service without any break. Meanwhile, official sources said the workers had not been sacked and would be re-employed after a break of one month. The one-month break had been given since they were not employed through the employment exchange, the sources added. 2 DSPs shifted |
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