Unity eludes Chandigarh BJP
By Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 19 — Unity eludes the Chandigarh BJP despite the presence of the Prime Minister in the city and despite hectic four-day-long efforts by senior RSS leaders.

According to informed sources, a unity move was initiated by Mr K. N. Goswami, President of the Punjab and Chandigarh units of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a front organisation of the RSS, and a local RSS activist, Mr Bal Krishan Kapoor, a few days ago.

Sources say that it was agreed to admit all eight municipal councillors owing allegiance to Mr Satya Pal Jain, former MP from Chandigarh, who were expelled from the party after they joined hands to defeat the official candidate of the party for the post of Mayor.

However, negotiations broke down yesterday following which the Mayor, Mr Kewal Krishan Addiwal, who is among the expelled councillors, issued a press note alleging that the reconciliation process was sabotaged by some vested interests and local hierarchy of the BJP.

Without naming Mr Dharam Pal Gupta, President of the Chandigarh BJP, Mr Addiwal went on to allege that the local leadership had failed to realise the need for unity of the party, particularly when an “outsider” had been fielded from here.

Not to loose heart by this setback, Mr Goswami and Mr Kapoor today again made another attempt. Sources say that on the insistence of the official group, the expelled members agreed to make a written request for their re-admission into the party in the larger interests of the country and to strengthen the hands of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. It was also agreed that once the written request was received, Mr Gupta would revoke their expulsion.

The sources say the agreement was not honoured by Mr Gupta even after the receipt of written request. Since the expuslion was not revoked till the start of the Prime Minister’s public meeting, the announcement about the unity could not be made in the rally as was planned earlier. Neither the expelled members attended the meeting.

The BJP General Secretary, Mr Narendra Modi, who is in charge of the party affairs in Chandigarh, had convened a meeting of the local party leaders late tonight to sort out the problem. The meeting was continuing in the BJP office till the time of reporting.

There is a feeling in party circles that Mr Gupta might have delayed action on the written request of the expelled members to deny Mr Addiwal an opportunity to share the dais with the Prime Minister in his capacity as Mayor. Certain party leaders who favour the unity move feel that the official group is over-confident about the party’s prospects from Chandigarh and that is why it is adamant on not taking the expelled councillors along.

The sources say the Intelligence Bureau has assessed the BJP’s prospects of winning the Chandigarh seat as very bleak, which has shaken the Prime Minister, who personally chose Mr Krishan Lal Sharma as the party nominee from here in view of the serious infighting.

Mr Modi, who, right from the Gujarat days, has the reputation of advocating a tough line against the dissidents, is being blamed for the sorry state of affairs in the Chandigarh BJP, which was able to win the seat for two consecutive times.

Many party leaders feel that it was the duty of Mr Modi not to allow the issue of party infighting linger on so long when it was known that the elections could come anytime. No action was taken by the party high command even after two enquiries were held into the Chandigarh BJP affairs.

A senior RSS leader remarked that while the BJP had slowly learnt the art of coalition politics, it had not learnt to keep its flock together.

Meanwhile, a former Senior Deputy Mayor, Mr Prem Sagar Jain, said it was immaterial whether he was in party or outside it. He could never think of working against the interests of Mr Krishan Lal Sharma or the BJP to which he had dedicated his life.

He also termed a report on the breakdown of the unity moves published in a section of the press as highly exaggerated and said he was not associated with it.

With a remorse in his voice over the attitude of the official group, Mr Jain said even Mr Ved Prakash Aggarwal, who filed his nomination papers as a BJP rebel candidate, had agreed to withdraw his papers in favour of Mr Sharma.

The party circles were hopeful that Mr Modi would have something good and positive to serve Mr Vajpayee along with his morning cup of tea at Punjab Raj Bhavan where the Prime Minister is staying for the night or at least before Mr Vajpayee addresses a press conference at 9-15 a.m.

Body of pilot arrives
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 19 — The mortal remains of Flying Officer Gursimrat Singh, who was killed in a flying accident at Srinagar yesterday, were received at the 12 Wing Air Force ground here today.

There were heart rending scenes at the tarmac when the coffin was taken out of an aircraft . Mr Gurbaksh Singh, the grieving father, hugged the coffin along with other relatives. He was consoled by relatives and senior officers.

Also present to receive the body were Air Commodore S.K. Banerjee, AOC, 12 Wing and the Chief Operations Officer, Group Captain R.N. Merani. The body was accompanied from Srinagar by Wing Commander N.K. Tandon, Commanding Officer, 51 Squadron, and Squadron Leader G.S. Bedi.

The body will be kept at the Military Hospital, Chandi Mandir for the night before being taken to the HMT Colony, Pinjore, for cremation at 11 a.m. tomorrow.

The 26-year-old did his schooling from the local St John’s School and did his plus two from DAV College. He was selected for the NDA in 1991 and was commissioned in December 1995. He was presently posted to 51 Squadron stationed at Srinagar.

Gursimrat is survived by his parents. His father is the Deputy General Manager, Tools Engineering, and his younger brother is pursuing computer engineering at Malout Engineering College.

Meanwhile, relatives and friends continued to pour in to offer their sympathies to the bereaved family. A large number of HMT employees could be heard discussing the young pilot whose bright career had been cut short in a tragic incident. The mother, Pritpal Kaur, was unconsolable.

Gursimrat was at Pinjore on Friday to see a girl as his parents wanted him to get married soon.

The accident occurred when two MiG 21 jets of the air force crashed shortly after take off from Srinagar airport. According to air force authorities, the two planes, on a routine sortie, took off from runway 31 at about 1. 30 p.m. and had a safe distance of 1, 000 yards.

Newspaper reports quoting sources said the aircraft flown by Gursimrat was seen getting out of control and swerved to its left following which the control tower asked the pilot to eject. The jet crashed next to the runway as it had hardly gained any height. The pilot was killed.

The pilot of the other aircraft Flight Lieut Deswal too baled out leading to the crash of the other MiG.

This version has reportedly been disputed by the father who claims that the jets were scrambled from the air base after receiving information that an enemy aircraft had entered Indian airspace and needed to be intercepted.

One nomination paper rejected
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 19 — One nomination paper was rejected while a decision about another was held in abeyance till tomorrow noon as the remaining 18 nomination papers were found in order for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat here today. The scrutiny of nomination papers was taken up in the presence of the observers appointed by the Election Commission.

The nomination papers of Mr Sham Lal Gupta, covering candidate for the Congress nominee, Mr Pawan Bansal, was rejected on technical grounds. In case of Mr Gurbaachan Singh, nominee of the Nationalist Congress Party, no decision was taken today as certain clarifications were sought. The decision has been held in abeyance till midday tomorrow, a spokesman of the Election Department said today.

The nomination papers of Mr Mata Ram Dhiman (Bahujan Samaj Party), Colonel Harsharan Singh Sandhu (Rashtriya Raksha Dal), Mrs Gurvinder Kaur (Independent); Mr Ravi Parkash Kansal (Lok Shakti); Mr Gurnam Singh Sidhu ( Khalsa Conference); Dr Ved Parkash Aggarwal (BJP Loktantrik); Mrs Bimla Sapna (Bahujan Samaj Party-Ambedkar); Mr Rampal Hans (New Congress Party); Mr Kartar Singh Hothi (Independent); Mr Pawan Bansal (Indian National Congress); Mr Krishan Lal Sharma ( Bharatiya Janata Party); Mr Inderjit Gupta (Independent); Mr Dilbagh Singh ( Ajeya Bharat); Ms Palach Shri (Independent); Mr S.M. Bhatti (Independent); Mr Manphool Singh (Samajwadi Party); and Mr Jaspal Singh (Independent) were found in order.

Rise in viral fever cases
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 19— Cases of viral fever, a self-limiting disease which starts off with body ache and fever, have become rampant in the city. This was stated by doctors of the city, who added that the cases seem to have risen over the past couple of years.

most health experts are of the opinion that viral fever takes almost a week's time to subside since there is no treatment till date for this disease.

As per the health authorities, the General Hospital, Sector 16, has been registering almost 40 such cases per day, since July. These include almost 20 cases in the out-patient department (OPD), about 10-12 in the children OPD and almost 7-8 emergency cases. But only one case has been that of "confirmed viral fever".The poly clinic, Sector 22, had registered 672 cases of pyroxia of unknown origin (PUO) in July and in August, it has registered 385 cases of PUO till date. Those cases are taken as PUO in which the origin of fever is not determined.

The two most common types of viral fever include influenza viral, which lasts for almost six to seven days, and coryza viral, a low-intensity viral.

According to Dr Joginder Singh, these days not only viral but bacterial fever is also common in the city. Bacterial fever, which includes sore throat and for which antibiotics are required, is associated with tonsillitis. But for viral fever, doctors prescribe only symptomatic treatment for body ache, fever or for vomiting.

Dr Pawan Kumar Kansal,a medical specialist, added that the recent cases of fever, also include viral hepatitis and malaria. All cases which include chill and stiffness of body are treated as malaria cases. He also said that because of the prevalent weather, these water-borne diseases are rampant.

The Civil Dispensary, Sector 8, according to the In Charge, Dr J K Kalra, has also seen a rise in the upper respiratory infections, which include fever, sneezing and coughing. The dispensary is witnessing more than 50 per cent of viral fever cases out of the total number of cases being registered here daily.

Teachers on long leave sacked
By Poonam Batth
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 19 — Mrs X, a chemistry lecturer in GMSSS-10, applies for ex-India leave for a period of 180 days (October 14, 1994, to April 11, 1995) on the grounds of visiting her mother-in-law in the USA. She gives the mandatory undertaking before proceeding on leave that “in case I do not return after the expiry of leave sanctioned, action for termination of services may be initiated or I may be repatriated to my parent state as the case may be.’’

She also promises in her affadavit that she will not apply for extension in leave, she will not accept any kind of employment direct or indirect during her stay abroad and that she will also not take part in activities prejudicial to the interest of the State. She is granted leave subject to these conditions.

But at the expiry of the said leave, she applies for extension for a period of another six months till October 8, 1995, on the grounds that she gave birth to a child in November, 1994, and sends a medical certificate showing her inability to travel as she has been advised rest. The department refuses leave and asks her to join duty within 15 days, following which disciplinary action will be initiated against her. After this, she neither replies to the department’s correspondence nor joins her duties. The department on expiry of her medical leave sends her a notice that they propose to hold an inquiry against her under Punishment and Appeal Rules, 1970, and asks her to send her defence within 15 days of the receipt of the memo. But the envelope containing the memo returns as she moves away from there without informing the department.

Subsequently, an inquiry is initiated against her as she has misconducted herself by remaining wilfully absent from duty after April 11, 1995. A public notice is given in 2-3 leading dailies asking her to attend the inquiry proceedings or they shall proceed against ex-parte. Despite repeated letters at her last known address, she does not respond back. Following inquiry, the charges are proved and she stands guilty. She, vide a public notice and letters, is again given the last opportunity to reply to the inquiry report within 30 days. But since she fails to do so, her services are terminated.

Hers is not the only isolated case. According to the figures made available by the UT Education Department, as many as 25 teachers working in various government schools in the city, including one or two couples are presently on ex-India leave and have extended their stay beyond the sanctioned leave period. Most of them have gone to the USA, Canada and Australia.

Coming down heavily on some of these cases, the DPI ( Schools), D.S. Saroya has during the last one month recently terminated the services of five teachers. These include a lecturer couple, Mr Harjinder Singh, a lecturer in geography of GMSSS-10 and his wife Mrs Kashmir Kaur, a chemistry lecturer in the same school, Mrs Harpreet Kaur, a lecturer in biology, GMSSS-33, and two others.

While the first two are in the USA since 1994, the third who had applied for maternity leave is somewhere in Australia, according to reliable sources. All these teachers, who kept seeking extensions one after another have been charged of “acting in a manner unbecoming of a government servant, thereby violating the provisions of Rules 3 of the Punjab Government Employees Conduct Rules, 1966, applicable to the UT employees now.’’ Two other teachers Mrs Rajni, a JBT teacher of GSSS-8, who overstayed for 2 months in Canada and Mrs Maninder Kaur, a Punjabi teacher who overstayed in Germany for 15 days have been repatriated to their parent state Punjab.

The UT Home-cum-Education Secretary, Mr N.K. Jain when confronted with the problem posed by such teachers who wilfully absent themselves from duty for long periods during ex-India leave said that strict disciplinary action will be initiated against all those who stay beyond the sanctioned leave period. “While in case of teachers on deputation from Punjab and Haryana we repatriate them to their respective parent State on expiry of their sanctioned leave, the problem is acute in case of the UT cadre teachers where we conduct proper inquiry proceedings before terminating his services,’’ he explained. Mr Jain said with a view to check this tendency on part of teachers we shall be more strict in sanctioning leave, particularly in those cases where leave is sought for a period of six months or more. We shall try and sanction only 3-4 months and that too on solid grounds. We shall also ensure that teachers are not granted leave during the peak academic session so that the studies of students do not suffer.

A perusal of few such cases reveals that most of them, who are sponsored by their relatives residing there, go with the intention of settling there and once they get their green cards, they keep sending medical excuses to extend their leave. The excuses normally pertain to their own health or the health of their spouse and leave sanctioned depends on the leave they have accumulated.

The cases of proceeding on this leave are more than their male colleagues as most of them go to settle down with their children who are already there.

Mr D.S. Saroya, maintains that such teachers who have served for so many years should have the moral courage to admit at the time of applying for leave that wish to settle abroad or are thinking in terms of changing their profession. Accordingly, they should apply for 2-5 years of extra-ordinary leave so that the department makes alternative arrangements well in time in the interest of students. He further said that teachers should not abuse their profession by making such excuses, when in most of these cases it is a premeditated move on their part to run away. From now on, we will be more cautious while granting leave and will also try and persuade them to be honest to admit their lure for greener pastures.

The DEO, Mr Brahmjit Kalia, who has also been a Principal, points out that long absenteeism on part of teachers has grave repercussions for “we do not get substitutes to teach for short periods.” It also adds to the burden of the existing teachers, who are forced to take the work load of these teachers. As a result, they are unable to do justice to the students. He also laments that the entire exercise of initiating proceedings against a teacher, including giving advertisements and public notices causes immense wastage of money and time. The teachers should refrain from such practices, which means massive loss to the state exchequer.

Threat electronic vandals pose
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 19 — Along with the growth of digital global connectivity through Internet, a new breed of electronic vandals have emerged. Their favourite targets are the data streams and pools of information once thought to be secure from the ''interlopers''.

These views were expressed by Dr M.J. Zarabi, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Semi Conductor Complex Limited, S.A.S. Nagar, while inaugurating the two-day national seminar on computer safety and security, organised by the Loss Prevention Association of India (LPA) at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) auditorium in Sector 31 here today.

Dr Zarabi said the current perpetrators of these digital break -ins include students, researchers , mathematicians, hackers, activists and joyful troublemakers from around the world. In fact, several of them have hacked through corporate firewalls and intercepted secure and encrypted messages with diverse collection of goals in mind, he opined.

He said one of the important technologies was the ''smart card technology'' . Major financial transaction sectors like banks, restaurants, shopping complexes, transport ticketing and health care had already imbibed this technology in their business operations . It is believed that by the year 2000 all the home PCs would be attached with a smart card reader along with the traditional floppy drives and CD drives. These cards provide safety for the individual as well as for the data being stored in the card.

Earlier, in his presidential address, Mr D.B. Malik, Managing Director of the LPA, Mumbai, said the Y2K problem was at least being talked about. However, many other problems of the computer installations and their applications do not find place in the common person's discussions. The problem of fire safety in the installations was still not recognised as a serious one.

Duplicating the data and storing it in a different place may be a simple method of ensuring availability of data even after a major loss. Apart from this, a list of contingency measures and plans of action should be drawn up to cater for loss of equipment and records due to fire, faults or major failures.

In his keynote address, Mr Sanjay Dhawan said in today's business environment ''information'' was probably the most important asset for an organisation. The information technology (IT) was today not just a business asset but also a national asset as it touched our everyday life.

The railways , the defence, the media, the government and other public utilities make use of information technology.

This had helped better utilisation of scarce resources and had enabled better quality of life for people in general. Information technology assets not only included the hardware but includes amongst others , the software, the communication links, the documentation related systems and more importantly the knowledge and skills required to maintain these assets.

More than a 100 experts in information technology delegates participating in the seminar.

'Globalisation in second phase'
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 19 — Military and economic impact of the emergence of trends towards a unipolar world were central to a lecture by Prof S.P. Verma, editor of the Indian Journal of Public Administration of the Indian Institute of Public Administration, in a lecture at Panjab University here today. The lecture was organised by the regional branch of the Indian Institute of Public Administration, in collaboration with the Department of Public Administration, Panjab University.

He said globalisation was not something new which was taking place after the collapse of the Soviet Union but was in its second phase. He stressed the need for better public administration in this phase.

Professor Sharma said China had made the system flexible during the changing times, without disturbing the political system. The advantages of liberalisation had not flowed down to the rural masses, he stated.

He said globalisation was taking place in India without transfer of technological advancement. The masses were still suffering from lack of basic amenities, he lamented.

Prof S.L. Kaushik, chairman of the department, welcomed the guests. Professor Kaushik, Prof B.S.Ghuman and Prof Shital Parkash were the other participants. Mr B.S. Ojha proposed the vote of thanks.

SNIPPETS

Nursing courses' results awaited
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 19 — The results of BSc Nursing, Parts I, II and III, MSc Nursing, Part I, and Post Basic Nursing Diploma of Panjab University have still not been declared.

Expressing concern over the matter, Dr Inderjit Kalia, Principal of the College of Nursing, PGI, Sector 12, said if results were not announced soon, it would jeopardise the future of the students since they would not be eligible to appear for examinations to various posts at the PGI. Students had not been getting remuneration for their PhD theses for the last three years.

Dr Kalia said as examiners for practical examinations, who came from distant places like Bangalore and Delhi, had not been paid their dues since 1997, no one was ready to come to the city. It was difficult to find internal examiners as the Panjab University authorities had not been paying the dues of internal examiners.

The students also expressed their anguish at the non-declaration of results. They said since the results of various examinations held in December, 1998, had not been declared so far, they feared that the results of the examinations held in May and June, 1999, would not be declared before October this year.

200 firearms deposited
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Aug 19 — A little over 200 persons have deposited their firearms in the six police stations of the district though there are over 550 firearms licencees in the area. With only about 37 per cent of the firearms having come in, the Police Department has decided to extend the last date for depositing firearms by a couple of days following which the licence of the individual will be cancelled and proceedings initiated against him under the Arms Act, 1959.

The Superintendent of Police, Mr Alok Mittal, stated that the State House Officers (SHOs) of various police stations had been directed to get in touch with those who are yet to deposit their firearms and take these in their custody. ``We have also directed them to begin combing operations in areas under their jurisdiction and to check for unlicensed firearms. Besides, we are organising surprise traffic checks at key points,'' he added.

The police station at Pinjore has the highest number of licencees — 190 — while Sector 5 has over 120 registered firearms owners. Chandi Mandir and Kalka have around 80 licensed weapon owners each. In Sector 19 and Raipur Rani there are over 40 listed licensees. Arms can also be deposited with shops trading in these though the receipts for the same have to be shown at the police station in the vicinity.

Section 144 was imposed in the district on August 11 for nine weeks which disallowed individuals from carrying weapons in public places or keeping these with them. Earlier, the last date for depositing weapons was fixed at August 16 but was extended to August 18 after which the department has given an extension of a couple of days.

The Haryana Governor, Mr Mahavir Prasad, has further authorised all Executive Magistrates and police officers (SHOs and above) in the state to make searches and seizures in accordance with the provisions in Section 24-B of the Arms Act.

Seminar on female foeticide
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 19 — To focus on the worsening inverse sex ratio in India, a one-day seminar on ‘Towards prevention of female foeticide’ is being organised tomorrow at the ICSSR complex, Panjab University.

The seminar is being organised by the Voluntary Health Association Punjab (VHAP), in collaboration with the National Foundation of India and the Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI), New Delhi.

Bedi is INSPIRE Chairman
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 19 —The sixth annual general meeting of the Institution for Secretarial Practices and Development (INSPIRE) held here elected Mr D.M.S. Bedi and Mr N.P. Amoli as Chairman and Secretary-General, respectively.

Other office-bearers elected at the meeting are Vice-Chairperson — Ms Lalita Tandon; Finance Secretary — Mr Hardeep Singh; and Auditor — Mr H.R. Bansal.

The newly elected Chairman and his team assured the members that they would strive to increase the professional activities of INSPIRE.

A resolution appreciating the services of the outgoing Chairman, Mr Jagdish Singh Sarpal, was placed on record.

Major power breakdown at Ropar
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Aug 19 — A major power breakdown at Ropar resulted in an unscheduled power cut for over five hours in Panchkula district today.

By afternoon, the electricity department made alternative arrangements and power was drawn from Kunihar sub-station in Himachal Pradesh.

Sources in the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam said the district was being supplied electricity from Ropar and Kunihar. The supply from the Kunihar sub-station had been suspended on account of repair work for the past few days.

However, with this breakdown, the department sought electricity from Kunihar. It took some time before a link could be re-established with the sub-station.

Meanwhile, most of the officers of the electricity Department were in Ropar and work continued till late in the evening.