NTPC dilly-dally irks UT
CHANDIGARH, Feb 1 — The proposal of the Chandigarh Administration for captive power generation has been bogged down by red-tapism as the NTPC has demanded a fat fee for providing consultancy on the project.

YC to discipline RSS: Tewari
CHANDIGARH, Feb 1 — Mr Manish Tewari, President of the All-India Youth Congress, said today his organisation would "step in to discipline" activists of militant Hindu organisations if these did not stop attacking minorities in the country.

Gilhotra surrenders
CHANDIGARH, Feb 1 — Mr J.C. Gilhotra, one of the suspects in the ongoing kickbacks case against certain officials of the Engineering Department, today surrendered to the Vigilance Department of the Union Territory.

NTPC dilly-dally irks UT
By Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 1 — The proposal of the Chandigarh Administration for captive power generation has been bogged down by red-tapism as the NTPC has demanded a fat fee for providing consultancy on the project.

Sources in the Administration point out that it was not the consultancy fee alone but also the "delaying and dilatory tactics adopted by the NTPC" that was forcing it to look for alternative arrangements.

A decision to entrust work pertaining to the preparation of the feasibility report to the NTPC was taken at a meeting held under the chairmanship of the Union Power Minister at Punjab Raj Bhavan on July 11 last year. Since then, the progress has been limited to an exchange of few letters between the Engineering Department of the Administration and the NTPC.

Initially, the NTPC was reportedly on the wrong track as it was under the impression that the Union Territory of Chandigarh was in immediate need of power. The NTPC offered available power from the Eastern Grid at global rates. The Administration turned down the offer saying it was looking for its own captive power generation units, may be two of 50MW each. It was only after a couple of months of correspondence that the NTPC started talking about providing consultancy on preparation of the feasibility report.

The NTPC has demanded Rs 41 lakh for providing consultancy on preparation of both feasibility report for the captive power generation and the impact or affect it will have on the environment of the union territory. Besides this fat consultancy fee, the NTPC also demanded Rs 5,000 per man day of work it would undertake. The Administration was not clear whether this fee was in addition to the consultancy fee of Rs 41 lakh or was inclusive of it.

Since in seven months no progress has been made on the subject, the Administration is considering other options, including inviting offers from private consultancy services to prepare a feasibility report.

Sources in the department deny that any offers have been invited from private companies to undertake captive power generation. "There is no question of inviting offers as no decision in principle has been taken by the Union Government to allow captive generation here," he added.

The Secretary, Engineering, Dr G. Vajralingam, when contacted said the Administration was considering other options. The options included buying power from some other sources by signing a long term contract.

"We are keeping all options. Whichever is economical and reliable, we will go for that," he says confirming that the NTPC was demanding too much to provide initial consultancy.

The Administration has, in the meanwhile, sought some clarifications from the NTPC.

Where traffic jams are routine
From Rajmeet Singh

Place: The historical Nadha Sahib gurdwara, near Panchkula.

Problem: Inadequate parking area.

History: The problem of shortage of parking space has compounded in the past about six years as the number of devotees has gone up considerably.

The problem is aggravated as the gurdwara is located along the busy Panchkula-Naraingarh state highway. The entire vehicular traffic from Panchkula to UP and parts of Himachal Pradesh passes through this road.

On the occasion of "purnamashi" says the Manager of the gurdwara, Mr Jagjeet Singh, the number of devotees sometimes touches one lakh. The number of vehicles bringing devotees to the gurdwara daily is around 20,000, he adds.

Because of the inadequate parking area, devotees start parking their vehicles along the Panchkula-Naraingarh road blocking the flow of traffic. Another problem is that the traffic on the road, which is also an alternative route to Chandigarh via Derabassi, swells when the Delhi-Chandigarh road is blocked due to some reason. The end result is that traffic blockades at times last hours.

The manager says a two-storeyed structure was being raised adjacent to the gurdwara. The government has been urged to give 5 acres of land near the gurdwara for building an additional parking area. A proposal to build a bypass to the gurdwara along the Ghaggar river, mooted in 1992, awaits government approval.

Another problem being faced by the gurdwara authorities is encroachments by vendors on both sides of the road leading to the gurdwara.

Numerous attempts to remove the vendors have failed, says the manager.

Response from public: The devotees say due to shortage of parking space they have to park their vehicles at a distance from the gurdwara. A number of vehicles have been stolen in the recent past due to absence of a proper parking space.

YC to discipline RSS: Tewari
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 1 — Mr Manish Tewari, President of the All-India Youth Congress, said today his organisation would "step in to discipline" activists of the RSS, the Bajrang Dal and other militant Hindu organisations if these did not stop attacking minorities in the country.

He said his organisation would soon start a nationwide campaign to isolate and confront reactionary elements of the organisations attacking Christians and Muslims. Youth Congress workers would come out on the streets against such forces.

He said such organisations were resorting to fascism in the country and people like Union Home Minister L.K. Advani were providing patronage to them. He said it was a shame that instead of taking action the government was giving a clean chit to such elements.

He said only recently the Youth Congress had organised a dharna in front of the head office of the RSS at Nagpur to urge its leaders to rein in organisations like the Bajrang Dal.

Talking on the increase in the prices of essential items like the LPG and wheat and sugar distributed under the PDS, he said a meeting of state presidents of the Youth Congress would be held on February 16 and 17 in Delhi to chalk out modalities to press the government for withdrawing the hike.

He said the entire working class and poor sections had been burdened due to the decision of Central Government. He said the Youth Congress planned a nationwide agitation against the price rise.

Mr Tewari, who was accompanied by the Punjab Pradesh Congress President, Capt Amarinder Singh, at a lunch hosted to celebrate the appointment of Mr Devinder Singh Babbu as President of the Punjab unit of the Youth Congress, said even a BJP minister had quit on the issue of attack on minorities, admitting that organisations like the RSS were involved in the attacks.

Later, a meeting of unit presidents of the Chandigarh Youth Congress was addressed by Mr Tewari in this evening.

He said the present government had failed on all fronts and the government had done nothing to curb the increasing incidents of communal violence in the country. The present price hike had also added to the burden on the common man, he added.

He exhorted the gathering to fight against the communal forces and defeat the "evil designs" of the RSS, the Bajrang Dal and the VHP.

Earlier, he was welcomed by the local unit president, Mr Chandermukhi Sharma, Mr Ram Pal Sharma, INTUC, president, was also present on the occasion.

Gilhotra surrenders
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 1 — Mr J.C. Gilhotra, one of the suspects in the ongoing kickbacks case registered by the Chandigarh Administration against certain officials of the Engineering Department, today surrendered to the Vigilance Department of the Union Territory.

The Vigilance Department produced him before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr Sant Parkash, who remanded him in judicial custody till February 15.

Mr Gilhotra was Superintending Engineer (Electricity) with the Chandigarh Administration before he was reverted to the Punjab State Electricity Board on his promotion as Chief Engineer. He has since retired.

After the rejection of his bail, first by the Punjab and Haryana High Court and later by the Supreme Court, Mr Gilhotra had been evading arrest.

The allegations levelled against him by the Vigilance Department are that he took kickbacks of Rs 52,000 from three middlemen, Dinesh Sharma, Suresh Sharma and Sunil Kalia, who had obtained supply orders from him.

The middlemen had been arrested earlier after the rejection of their bail pleas both by the High Court and the Supreme Court. After custodial interrogation they were remanded in judicial lock-up. Since the administration had failed to file any challan against them within the statutory period of 90 days, they were released on bail.

Similarly, all other suspects were also remanded first in police custody and later judicial lock-up. All of them have been enlarged on bail.

Mixed reaction to LPG price hike
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 1—The hike in the price of LPG by the government has evoked a mixed reaction among the city residents.

While a number of women, political and social organisations contacted by the TNS described the hike as just another blow to the budget of the middle class, a section of housewives said it was not 'bad' from economy's point of view.

Mrs Reeta Lakhi, a housewife of Sector 45 said by resorting to the hike, the government had further burdened the budget of the middle-class. "It should have been on the essential commodities". The government should have instead increased the price of luxury items like cars, she said. She alleged that the hike was a reflection of the failure of the government on every front.

Mrs Harpal Kaur, a Sector 21 resident, said the hike would fuel the rise of prices of other items of daily use. She said the hike was '"ill-timed" as the failure of the government to contain the prices of essential commodities had already squeezed the budget of housewives. She demanded the hike to be withdrawn by the government immediately.

Similarly, Mrs Gurpreet Gill, a teacher, condemned the hike by saying, that the government was bent upon tormenting common people.

Mr Amarjit Singh Gujral, a Congress activist, said it had exposed the "inflationary policies" of the BJP government. He said it would directly hit the poor and the middle-class.

The local unit of the Samata Party has also condemned the rise in the price of the LPG . Mr Ranjit Singh Dhaliwal, president, said it was for the second time in a few days that the price of the LPG had been increased. He also decried the stance of the government that it would not go back on the issue of price hike.

Views of a section of women were, however, different on the issue.

Dr Promila Kakkar, a resident of Sector 16, opined that since the prices of many things had increased in the recent past, the hike in the price of the LPG was not "unnatural". Moreover, it was proportionate to the hike in the prices of the other petroleum products, she said.

Likewise, Mrs Madhu, a resident of Sector 15, advocated against the continuation of subsidies on essential items. "It is not a right approach towards life, we should be more pragmatic and should bear the actual costs of the commodities," she said, saying it will have little affect on the middle -class.

Idols installed
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 1 — A 10-day programme of installation of idols of Lord Shiva and Hanuman, organised by the Shri Sanatan Dharam Mandir Sabha at Milk Colony, Dhanas, concluded here yesterday, according to Mr N.K. Sharma, a spokesman of the sabha.

Jagadguru Shankaracharya Jyotishpithadhishwar Anant Shri Vibhushit Swami Madhawashram Ji Maharaj, who graced the occasion, unveiled the idols of Lord Shiva and Hanuman installed earlier in the morning amidst the recitation of shlokas and verses from Vedas. He appealed to the people to adopt the path of spiritualism for peace.

Second Delhi police team in city
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 1 — A second team of the crime branch of the Delhi Police, looking for clues to the killers of the Indian Express Principal Correspondent Shivani, arrived here today.

According to police sources, the team, headed by an inspector, would probe the links of the person from Chandigarh identifying himself as Rajeev Bhatnagar, who had visited Shivani on the day her body was found at her Patparganj residence in Delhi.

It may be recalled that Mr Rajinder Yadav, an Inspector of the crime branch, had visited the city in this connection on January 29.

Mr Yadav had reportedly failed to find any clue about the murder. His address in Sector 29 here turned out to be fictitious, the sources added.

Sector 33 residents deplore MC
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 1 — The Sector 33 Residents Welfare Association, which met here today under the chairmanship of Mr H.S. Virk, deplored the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation for its apathy towards the miserable condition of internal roads in Sector 33-A. It was pointed out that the roads had not been repaired for the past more than 14 years. As per rules, the roads should be recarpeted after five to six years. It was decided that in case no action was taken by the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation or the Administration, a delegation of the association would call upon the UT Administrator to apprise him of the plight of the residents of the sector.

Meanwhile, the following have been elected office-bearers of the association: president — Mr H.S. Virk; vice-president — Col P.S. Patheja; general secretary — Mr Jagdish Singh Sarpal; secretary — Mr Anil Chaudhary; and treasurer — Capt Bhasin.

9 panels dissolved amid protests
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 1 — Amidst protests by the BJP-SAD alliance councillors, the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) today decided to dissolve nine committees of the civic body and authorised the Mayor, Mr Kewal Krishan Addiwal, to reconstitute these.

The decision to dissolve the committees, excluding the finance and contract committee (FCC), led to a walkout by the alliance members just before the meeting ended as they disputed the fact that the resolution was approved by show of hands earlier.

Earlier moving the resolution, Mr Prem Sagar Jain,while pleading that the financial powers of the committees should be doubled, wanted an official of the MCC to coordinate the meetings of the committees.

He wanted that the financial powers of the FCC to be doubled to Rs 20 lakh, that of road committee to Rs 10 lakh and the rest of the committees to Rs 5 lakh.

Mr R. S. Kailey (nominated), while supporting the demand for the dissolution of the committee, wanted that every member should be member of at least two committees.

While the alliance members opposed the vesting of power of nominations to the committees in the Mayor, the ruling group supported it and the resolution was passed by a show of hands with the support of nominated members. The charges and counter-charges, meanwhile, continued between the alliance and ruling groups.

Earlier, as soon as the meeting began and the Secretary, Dr Amar Pal Singh, wanted to start the proceedings, the alliance members were on their feet reiterating their demand that Mr Addiwal should seek a vote of confidence through voting. They accused the nominated councillors of running the civic body through proxy.

In the meantime, the ruling group contested against the seeking of confidence vote by the Mayor. Seeing that the alliance was bent upon disrupting the proceedings of the House, the eight nominated councillors, who came in for severe criticism for their alleged role in propping up the ruling group at the hand of the alliance members, came to the rescue of the ruling group and they along with seven members of the ruling group raised their hands in support of the Mayor. At this time, the Mayor adjourned the meeting for tea.

After the tea break, the leader of the alliance, Mr Des Raj Tandon, proposed that a number of estimates pertaining to road recarpeting, regularisation of certain structures in the Mani Majra, providing storm water drainage system in certain areas should be passed without any discussion. This move was opposed by Akali councillor, Mrs Harjinder Kaur, and SJP councillor, Mrs Satinder Dhawan, who staged a walkout.

The Congress councillors — Mr Raj Kumar Goel, Mrs Kamlesh, Mr Gurcharan Dass Kala and Mrs Sunita — also staged a walkout alleging that the House was being bypassed in this regard. The House and not the FCC was supreme and all issues should have been discussed in the House, they added.

Another issue, which generated a lot of discussion was the working of the roads division. Air Marshal RS Bedi (retd) said in the absence of the Xen and the SE in the division, work had come to a virtual standstill to which the Mayor replied that he had already taken up the matter with the Chandigarh Administration. While the Xen would join soon, the matter regarding a new panel from Haryana for the post of SE would be invited soon, he added.

Mr R. K. Aggarwal (nominated) wanted the regular checking of the freshly-carpeted roads so that quality control was assured to which the Chief Engineer, Mr Puranjit Singh, replied that this was done when some complaint about the material used was received by the MCC.

Participating in the discussion on the state of sanitation in the city, Mr Harish Bhanot (nominated) alleged that for days together the sweepers did not show up resulting in the poor disposal of garbage in the city. Mrs Saudamini Bambah (nominated) wanted that a campaign should be launched with a view to educating the people against littering garbage in the backlanes.The Mayor directed the Medical Officer of Health(MOH) to do the needful.

Meanwhile, a delegation of the alliance called on the UT Administrator, Lieut-Gen BKN Chhibber (retd), and complained against alleged indifferent functioning of the civic body.

The delegation complained that the minutes of the the proceedings of the meeting of the House were not being recorded properly . They impressed upon the Administrator that a sustained campaign to demolish fresh encroachments should be launched and strict action taken against the encroachers.

Demanding the scrapping of the voting rights of the nominated councillors, the delegation urged the Administrator to monitor the working of the civic body in the interests of the city.

Need to minimise use of plastics stressed
From Our Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, Feb 1 — Need to minimise the use of plastics in daily life and to revert to the traditional cloth bag was stressed at a discussion on 'Living with plastics' at the ICSSR complex in Panjab University here today.

A former member of Parliament, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, said that recycling of plastic needed to be banned with immediate effect, although it would increase the level of unemployment.

Polybags form a small proportion of the total plastic being used and are most harmful when used as food wrappers. These are taking a toll on the health of the people and serious cancerous and bronchial problems may surface when the coming generations begin to age. This can be checked by regulating the use and recycling it with certain specifications, said Dr P.D. Sharma of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

A cartoonist with The Tribune, Mr Sandeep Joshi said the public was inclined to do what was disallowed. He said it would be better to sustain a campaign, backed by political will and social awareness, against the use of plastics.

Dr R.C. Sobti, Dean, Alumni Relations, said the need was to refuse, reduce, recycle the plastics which had become an integral part of our life. Though biodegradable plastic was available at some places it was very expensive.

Volunteers from the People for Animals distributed handbills about the dangers posed by plastics to animals.

Alumni meeting: A cultural evening for the alumni has been planned for February 19. Those aged 75 and above will be honoured at the function. The Dean, Alumni Relations, Dr R.C. Sobti, has invited information from these members.

Science quiz: The Punjab University Zoological Society is organising a quiz on the subject of life science at the Department of Zoology at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. Twenty five teams from various colleges and departments will participate in the contest.

Lecture: Prof Philip Morrison, a scientist from the Massachusets Institute of Technology, USA, will be giving a series of lectures in collaboration with his wife, Mrs Philis Morrison, an artist, at the campus. Prof Morrison has been instrumental in popularising science as a subject. The first lecture will be held on February 4 at Gandhi Bhavan at 5.30 p.m.

Condolence resolution: Members of the faculty, non-teaching staff and students offered their condolences to the bereaved family of Mr Inderjit Singh Kang, Lecturer in English, Department of Evening Studies, who passed away on January 28.

Sector 22 resident stabbed
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 1 — A Sector 22 resident, Mrs Suman, was stabbed by two persons in her house this morning.

According to the police, Mrs Suman, whose husband lives abroad, was allegedly stabbed by Sonu, a distant relative of Suman from Amritsar, and one of his accomplices.

The police said the assailants first tried to strangulate her and when she resisted, they stabbed her with a knife. The accused later decamped with cash and ornaments. She was rushed to the PGI where she is stated to be out of danger.

Case registered: On a complaint of Mr Narinderjit Singh, an employee of Punjab State Co-operative Bank, Sector 20, the police has registered a case against a former manager of the bank, Bharpur Singh.

Liquor seized: The police has seized 17 bottles each from two persons — Kuldip Singh and Jarnail Singh. A case under the Excise Act has been registered.

Car stolen: Mr Jagdish Khurana in a complaint with the police alleged that his car (CH-01-M-2299) had been stolen. A case has been registered.

He infuses life into wood

CHANDIGARH: To have an exhibition of driftwood artefacts is not something usual. Driftwood is generally thought of as not so attractive, drab and lifeless. But there are people like Jaswant Singh Chandoak who like to infuse life into it by creating different shapes out of it.

Having been in the Army for 29 years gave him ample opportunities to travel. It was during these visits that he developed an interest and passion for it. Now for the past eight years, Jaswant has been collecting driftwood and crafting magnificent shapes out of it. He claims to have no formal training in painting and sketching, which also he does with aplomb.

His driftwood work shows his receptive mind and gives an idea of the artist's concept, taste and imagination. He has made some beautiful pieces like a dinosaur, a scarecrow, a stag a dancing lady and a few lamps.

Jaswant has also started working with materials like burnt hedges and dead vines. He has crafted a crow, a duck, a penguin, human form, faces of a grown man and a child from these products. Plus he has made a lamp by joining two pieces of grape vine artistically.

He is holding his third solo exhibition at Indus Ind, Bank Art Gallery till February 15.

B.S. Malhans is a name known for pen and ink sketching. No, he does not choose easy subjects. Rather, he takes up those subjects which require precision and an eye for detail. The two put together make the work laborious and time-consuming.

But Malhans in spite of all these factors comes out with masterpieces which make one marvel at their clarity and accuracy. The training he has to boast about is the training in the classrooms of the schools where everyone used to compete with each other to make a better car.

He made use of his ability to draw and paint better and became a painter. Till 1984, he was playing with brush and colours and these creations told about him as a man. Then he switched over to pen and ink and started working for others. He made frames which he wanted the public to see. In his words "one piece takes eight hours daily for about three weeks to take the final shape. "

Malhans, an alumns of Lawrence School, Sanawar, in his present exhibition has depicted historical monuments of the famous places of our country like Agra, Rajasthan, Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Gwalior, Narwar and Shivpuri. How can he miss out Sanawar when he has special affection for his old school? Le Corbusier's Chandigarh also finds a place among the exhibits.

Why has he chosen only historical monuments? "Well", he says, "these historical buildings are immortal indicators of our cultural heritage. Besides, architecture is my forte so the interest in them is automatic". These delineations bring out the delicacy and smoothness of marble, the coarseness of limestone or granite very vividly.

Apart from pen and ink drawings are decorative theme maps. One of the maps shows the important places of a city. This kind of map was introduced when travelling for leisure was started. The other is a Tibetan calendar, just like a ‘tanka’, which is based on the new millennium. It has all specific symbols and colours generally used by the Tibetans while making a ‘tanka’.

This exhibition is being held at the Bank of Punjab Art Gallery till February 15. This is the first show after the inaugural exhibition and the bank plans to give the space free of cost to promote upcoming artists of the region. — Priti Verma