& V I C I N I T Y
Monday, February 15, 1999
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C H A N D I G A R H & V I C I N I T Y |
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Monday, February 15, 1999 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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50 trees on Dakshin Marg
face the axe
Slush,
slum surround Sector 48 flats |
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 Files missing from police station CHANDIGARH, February 14 — Even as an inquiry into the case of missing files of a political activist’s murder is still on, the local police has found case files of another murder, committed in 1983, are also missing, along with several FIR books.
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Singer
on verge of starvation
Petrol,
diesel likely to cost more IAF
skydivers steal the show Religious
fervour marks Shivaratri Helpline
wing for ex-servicemen |
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50 trees on
Dakshin Marg face the axe CHANDIGARH, February 14 — Nearly 50 grown-up trees on Dakshin Marg will be felled during the next few days to make room for slip-roads to ease congestion on this busy dual carriageway. The felling has been approved by the Chandigarh Administration. This will be the biggest-ever official felling for widening of intersections and roundabouts in the city. The last major felling was at the intersection of Sectors 27 and 28 where more than 30 trees were cut down late last year. Earlier to that, trees were felled on Himalaya Marg near the intersection of Sectors 17 and 18. To expedite felling, the Administration has set up its own subcommittee to assess the value of trees to be felled so that these can be auctioned. Previously, the Administration, after grant of permission for felling of trees, used to refer the matter to the Punjab Forest Corporation, to assess the value of the trees on the basis of their species and age. It used to take long. The committee now comprises representatives of the Forest and Engineering Departments. The trees are now to be auctioned before they are felled. Almost half of them are to be axed to make room for slip-roads at the busy intersection of Sectors 21, 22, 34 and 35. Up to this intersection, the road forms part of national highway 21. Other trees facing the axe are along four sections of this highway. The Chief Engineer, Mr R.K. Jain, confirms that estimates for the provision of slip-roads at The Tribune intersection (junction no 38) and Loha chowk (junction No 37) have been approved. The number of trees to be felled at these two intersections is about 40. “But this includes even small trees. The actual definition of a tree is that it should have a minimum girth of 300 mm,” he adds. Similarly, the Sectors 21, 22, 34 and 35 (junction No 34) and the Sectors 22, 23, 35 and 36 intersections were also to be provided with slip-roads. The number of trees at each of these intersections was about 20, the Chief Engineer said. Since the work on the development of Sector 34 has been given to the Chandigarh Housing Board, a number of grown-up trees have also been identified for felling. The only possibility of them being saved is by reducing the width of the proposed slip-road from 22 ft to 18 ft. The same yardstick may be applied to the slip-roads on other side of the road. Environmentalists and others have raised objections to these fellings in the name of development. “If in a city like Chandigarh, they have to fell 20 to 30 trees each time they want to restructure a traffic rotary, one wonders at the planning. I do not know how long avenues identified with special varieties of trees grown in the city would survive this ‘onslaught’ in the name of development,” says a horticulturist-turned-environmentalist. The work on tree count, as envisaged in the Trees Preservation Order, is yet to be undertaken by the Chandigarh Administration. Others corroborate his viewpoint. They maintain that everytime a group of trees is felled, the Administration promises to replace them with double the number of plants. “But this has not been done in any of the previous cases. They felled trees at two places to make room for booths in the Sector 20 market. “Then they cut down
trees on Himalaya Marg followed by another major felling
on the Sectors 27 and 28 intersection. But not a single
new sapling has been planted at any of these
places,” laments Mr S.K. Sharma, President,
Environment Society. |
Love: a
matter of cars, cards... & cops! CHANDIGARH, February 14 — Cards, candies, cars and cops made up for the Valentine’s Day celebrations in City Beautiful today. Unlike last year when rowdyism had marked the lovers’ festival, this year was a relatively lean day for all the lonely hearts doing the rounds of Chandigarh. The city came to life at midnight itself, when people were seen whizzing past out into the streets to wish “Happy Valentine” to each other. But the day being a Sunday obviously did take its toll on the expected hype surrounding the festival. And it was the heavy security cover provided by the Chandigarh police at most “sensitive areas” which made it a safe Valentine. The Panjab University campus,which otherwise holds an annual fete on this day, had banned the celebrations this year. And with the main gate closed, the campus wore a deserted look. Gates to the hostels for girls were also closed, and no male visitors, except parents and senior guardians, were allowed to enter. It was the ‘gheri route’, in and around Sectors 10 and 11, which had the air of festivity around it. But with only young guys in fast cars playing loud music and hardly any girls on the scene, it was more of a wait-and-watch situation for most. Also, with several batches of policemen posted at various corners of the route and barriers at various points , all those committing “visible” offences were chased and nabbed. Some were given punishment in full public view. With red roses being sold at the price of Rs 40 each, some innovative chaps were even seen carrying cauliflower-flowers in their hands! But with the absence of girls on the streets and in most ‘happening’ joints, Cupid could do little to strike at the love-lorn hearts. Even the former Miss India, Nafisa Joseph, failed to keep her date with the city. The discotheques of the city, teeming with people, did their predictable rounds of songs and dance. Hearts, flowers and candy all over the place, along with well-positioned bouncers, did little to jazz up the occasion. A couple of fetes in the city also wore a deserted look. At the Leisure Valley, where the number of organisers seemed to outdo the number of visitors, proved to be lacklustre affair. Foodstalls, game counters and even flower and request stalls complained of poor sales. Traffic and the day’s activity was minimal in the southern sectors. Vehicular movement was disrupted for short intervals when volunteers of the local unit of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) took out a procession through some sectors in the city before concluding outside a popular restaurant in Sector 17. Along the way volunteers of the BJYM distributed pamphlets condemning the attitude of the Indian youth in aping the West by observing Valentine’s Day. Saint Valentine had nothing to do with sentiments or business of love, according to a pamphlet of the BJYM. “Flower Party” was the theme for a dance party held here today. Keeping in tune with the
theme, bunches of flowers adorned the walls of the den,
disco lights danced with the swaying couples and smoke
created magic on the floor packed to capacity. Also,
couples flocking the venue were welcomed with flowers by
the organisers of the show.
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Slush, slum
surround Sector 48 flats SAS NAGAR, February 14 — Even after securing possession, the allottees of 226 high income group dwelling units (HIG) in Sector 48 here are finding it difficult to move into their houses owing to alleged delay in the development of the area by the Punjab Urban Area Development Authority (PUDA). As many as 30 of the allottees, most of whom are retired Punjab Government employees and have started work on the half-finished houses, are finding themselves at crossroads as the area has no civic amenities such as streetlights, roads and sewerage. According to the allottees, PUDA had promised to provide these facilities before handing over possession of houses to them. Another deterrent is the location of a slum just in front of the new houses. In the absence of any boundary wall, the incomplete units are being used as toilets by the slum dwellers. “Because of PUDA’s inaction, the 60-foot road from house number 1 to 25 has become a pond of slush due to the continuous flow of water from the slums,” says Mr B.M. Khanna, general secretary of the Senior Citizens Housing and Welfare Association. He says as there is no protection, thefts are a routine feature in the area. A dead body, found in an empty dwelling unit scared the allottees. It had resulted in the stoppage of work by the owner. But even this had failed to move the authorities to provide a boundary wall. Mr Khanna demanded a police post in the area till the jhuggis were shifted away. “As we cannot shift to our homes in these circumstances, we continue to pay rent ranging from Rs 3,500 to Rs 5,000 per month from our hard earned pension,” says Mr Goyal, adding that the construction cost of the houses had risen manifold due to the “inaccessibility” of the area. “Nobody is ready to deliver the construction material here without taking extra money ,” he maintains. Mr M.L. Katyal, an allottee, complained that they have been discriminated against as they were charged more money than the dwelling units of the same size in Sector 70. “ We retired people had to shell out Rs 8.60 lakh for each unit with lesser facilities, than the Sector 70 allottees who were made to pay only Rs 8 lakh. Is this an incentive to the retired people?” he questions. Mr Katyal demanded that though the higher authorities of PUDA had assured that Rs 55000 will be refunded, but nothing had been done. Accusing PUDA of playing a cruel joke with them, Mr Khanna said they had been allotted only skeletons of houses rather than the promised “partially finished” houses. “Usually, under the norms, the partially finished houses ought to have doors both in the front and at the rear side, besides floors and plaster on walls, but no such things have been provided,” he alleged. Ms Seema Jain, Additional Chief Administrator of PUDA, claimed that the houses were provided with all that had been promised in the brochure supplied by PUDA along with the application form. She said the estimate for the construction of a boundary wall around the cluster of houses had been approved. While claiming that she was doing everything to remove the grievances of the allottees, Ms Jain, said the case concerning the issue of payment of the excess amount had been sent to the higher authorities. Mr G.R. Jakhu,
Superintending Engineer of PUDA, said the roads would be
completed within three months as a dispute with the
farmers, whose land fell in the area, had been resolved.
He said the boundary wall will be constructed within
three months. |
Files
missing from police station CHANDIGARH, February 14 — Even as an inquiry into the case of missing files of a political activist’s murder is still on, the local police has found case files of another murder, committed in 1983, are also missing, along with several FIR books. The police has found that the FIR books of 1983, bearing serial numbers 59 to 109, and of 1984, bearing serial numbers 155 to 264, are missing from the records of the Malkhana in the Sector 26 police station. Details of the cases are not known, according to highly placed sources in the police department. Mr Baldev Singh, Superintendent of Police, has been asked to inquire into the episode. In an important discovery, the police has found that the files pertaining to murder of Ganpat Rai, in 1983, are missing, besides other important files. Even some pages of the daily diary reports (DDRs) have been torn off the record books, according to the sources. As it had happened in the murder of Hindu Suraksha Samiti President, Inder Pal Gupta, Ganpat Rai’s murder was never tried in court. None of these cases were mentioned in the notes written by various senior officers, during periodic inspections conducted by them. Rai was a watchman in the Industrial Area, and was allegedly murdered by five persons. His body, bearing stab marks in the stomach, was found lying in a pond in Sector 46. The deceased lived in a house, that was under construction in Sector 32, with Sajan, Harbhajan and Raju. The police, in its FIR, had established that Rai had been murdered by Babu Lal, Som Lal, Sajan, Harbhajan and Raju. The deceased, aged about 25, had come from Bareilly, and he allegedly had illicit relations with Jayanti, wife of Babu Lal. While Babu Lal and Som Lal were brothers, Sajan, Harbhajan and Raju were brothers of Jayanti. The brothers of the woman had followed Rai to Chandigarh with a motive to kill him. The contractor had told the police then that the three men had come to work the day before, but were, however, missing since then. About 10 days ago The
Tribune had broken a story as to how the murder of Inder
Pal Gupta, a trader from Sector 27, was hushed up by the
police. These findings had been made after a scrutiny of
police records was carried out to dispose of pending
cases. |
Singer on
verge of starvation CHANDIGARH, February 14 — Even as upstart pop singers rake in lakhs, the only “special class” artiste of All-India Radio (AIR), Ustad Lachhman Dass Sandhu, is virtually living in penury and is on the verge of starvation. Trained in the Patiala gharana, 75-year-old Sandhu is today a disappointed man as even after a 60 years long singing career, he is still struggling hard to make both ends meet. The decline of the radio as a principal source of entertainment, coupled with the changing tastes of the audiences have only added to his woes. Having a musical family background, Sandhu began his musical journey at the young age of 13 years from AIR, Lahore, when his thumri was broadcast on May 2, 1937. As his grandfather, Asa Ram and uncle, Sahdu Lal, were noted singers of that time, he came in close contact with the leading singers of Lahore, the Mecca of top singers in the then undivided Punjab. Training under top teachers like Ustad Barkat Ali Khan, brother of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, and Ustad Ali Baksh Zahoor, sharpened the talent of the budding artiste, who became a well-known name in the world of light classical music at the time of Partition. Partition landed him in Delhi and thus began his long association with AIR and later with Doordarshan. A purist to the core, he refused to change his “original” style which perhaps proved costly for him. With AIR paying peanuts, life became tough for him in Delhi and he shifted to Chandigarh. But this did not force him to “compromise” on the traditional style of gayaki. A dedicated purist, he continued to pursue his style for which he was even complimented by none other than Bade Ghulam Ali Khan at Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan in Jalandhar. It is only lately that Doordarshan gave him certain assignments which “mitigated” his financial problems to an extent. His programme, “Aradhana” is currently being relayed on Doordarshan during early morning. He has a modest one-room house in Sector 22 here. Sandhu says that no government agency has come to his help. “It is only with financial assistance from certain philanthropists like Mr K.C. Talwar, a prominent jeweller, that have been able to pull along during difficult times. I have heard of the government’s pension scheme for senior artistes but I do not know whom to approach”, says the veteran singer in a choked voice. The main comforting factor for him has been his wife, Sheela Sandhu, who has stood by him through thick and thin. “My wife, who had to do odd jobs to supplement my meagre income, has been a big support to me”, he admitted. Ms Sandhu says, “The rent of the room and the skyrocketing rise in the prices of essential goods has made life difficult. Some financial assistance from the government can help us immensely.” Commenting on the current ghazal singers, he says, “The ghazals are not sung in the traditional style and are highly commercialised today. Even Ghulam Ali, my ‘guru bhai’ and disciple of Ustad Barkat Ali Khan has renounced the traditional gayaki and gone commercial. “The only real ghazal
singer was the late Begum Akhtar with whom I shared the
stage at a concert in Delhi”, he recollected. The
rest of the singers have degraded the “true”
form of the ghazal and other traditional styles of
singing, according to the veteran artiste. |
My heart
is here: Gul CHANDIGARH, February 14 — “At heart, I am a Chandigarh girl”, said Gul Panag, Miss India Universe, 1999, while addressing the convocation of the National Institute of Fashion Design (NIFD) here today. Gul said she felt wonderful being here, away from the “madding” crowd of Delhi and Mumbai. When asked to comment on what she thought of beauty in the Indian context during a chat session, Gul said it enshrined “karam, dharam and sharam. Beauty is not restricted to the face alone. Physical beauty may last 10, maybe 20 years. It is what you are at heart that matters”. When asked about her main asset, she said at the end of a day in a contest, everything boiled down to confidence. One has to strike the right balance mentally, physically and spiritually to have the winning edge. Gul repeatedly laid stress on immense family support, particularly from her mother that she received in her modelling career. “I knew whatever the outcome of the contest, for the family I would be a winner. Winning was not a personal goal. It was a matter of representing the nation at the international level. So, I wanted only the best to win.The first emotion that came to me on being announced the winner was, ‘Thank God’.” Gul is keen on carrying on with modelling for a couple of years. Then she wants to complete her postgraduation in developmental economics. She also wants to pursue a career in research activity. “One should get married only if one is willing to take the responsibility and has the commitment. Otherwise, don’t get married. My dream man would be someone who is successful, loyal and trustworthy. He has to have a vision. Trust and fidelity will be the key qualities in my man”, she said. Gul Panag, when asked whether she wanted to join Hindi films said, Rab,rab karo. Haale tak kuchh nahin keh sakdi (God bless my heart. I cannot say anything on this front as yet). After the function, she continued her informal interaction in Punjabi, her mother tongue. The Miss India said fashion shows of quality were not merely about beauty. They were more about personality. The concept has changed particularly over the past five years.People have become more aware. She said even she had taken the contest as a challenge. Earlier, Ms M.L. Prathima, Administrator of the local centre of the NIFD, welcomed the guests. Ms Aditi Srivastava read the corporate report. Others who spoke on the occasion were Mr M.S. Malik, an IPS officer, who was the guest of honour and Ms Ritu Raghuvanshi, the institute Director. Fashion design and allied courses were creative outlets and a good career option for several students who otherwise had an average academic record, she said. Rupinder Pal Singh who won
the best physique contest at the Mr India contest was
honoured on the occasion.Gul ended her convocation
address saying, “Just decide what you want to
achieve and go get it with a golden heart and mind”. |
Petrol,
diesel likely to cost more CHANDIGARH, February 14 — Another hike in the prices of “motor spirit” — petrol and diesel — is on the anvil. The Chandigarh Administration, which had proposed to levy a 2 per cent sales tax on the sale of “motor spirit” from February 3, is now considering to further raise this tax to 6 per cent. The argument advanced is that in Punjab and Haryana, the sales tax on “motor spirit” is higher. Even after this upward revision of sales tax, both petrol and diesel in Chandigarh would continue to be cheaper than the neighbouring States. Since consumers in Chandigarh pay CST on “motor spirit”, the new rates of petrol and diesel would be at least 50 paise a litre lesser than those in Punjab. Punjab has also decided to
raise the sales tax on “motor spirit” from 7
per cent to 10 per cent. |
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youngsters challaned CHANDIGARH, February 14 — Apart from handling love-lorn youngsters, the Chandigarh police had a tough time dealing with armed guards of VIP children wooing women. Though the police was strict with the youths, a navy blue Jeep carrying four youngsters and two guards brandishing arms was let off after a traffic challan. The jeep was without registration plates. More than 70 traffic
challans were issued while some were let off after
warnings. Ankur Dangwal , Manish and Gautam Shivani were
nabbed for eve-teasing while Rajpreet Singh from Mansa
was booked for drunken driving. |
IAF
skydivers steal the show CHANDIGARH, February 14 — A 16-member skydiving team of the Indian Air Force stole the show at the concluding ceremony of the Fifth National Adventure Sports held at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium here today. The breath-taking show held the audience spellbound for more than half an hour with people craning their necks to see the team members against the glare of the bright sun in the sky. There were sighs of relief as all members landed safely in a circle earmarked for them. The demonstrators were led by Group Captain T.K. Rath, Director, Air Force Adventure. The team included Squadron Leader Sanjay Thapar, who is a Guinness Book record holder for the maximum number of jumps in a single day and also for making a skydive at the North Pole. He has also set a world record by jumping with the national flag, weighing 65 kg and measuring 2226 sq ft. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Bansi Lal, Chief Minister of Haryana said there was a need to promote adventure sports as these not only provided an opportunity to people, especially the youth, to come close to the nature but also inspired them to preserve its beauty. He also conferred Bharat Gaurav Puruskar on Dicky Dolma and Deepu Sharma — both from Himachal Pradesh — for scaling the Mount Everest in an all-women expedition, led by Bachendri Pal in 1993. The award carries a sum of Rs 11, 000, a memento and a citation. Ms Dolma, however, could not attend the ceremony due to some preoccupation. Adamya Sahas Puruskar was presented to Mr Rajiv Midha of Haryana and Sabita Kumari Panda of Orissa for scaling the 25, 447 ft high Mount Kamet last year. The award carries Rs 1,100 in cash besides a citation and a memento. Mr Bansi Lal expressed concern over the problem of environmental degradation and said that bookish knowledge was not enough to bring people close to nature. He also presented mementoes to the members of the skydiving team. Earlier, Mr Ram S. Verma, president of the National Adventure Club and Chief Secretary, Haryana, thanked the participants and extended his gratitude to the IAF and the Indian Oil Corporation for making the festival a success. Those present included Air Commodore S.K. Banerjee, AOC, Air Force Station, and the Executive Director of the IOC, Mr S.K. Saini. A colourful cultural
programme was also presented on the occasion. |
Religious
fervour marks Shivaratri CHANDIGARH, February 14 — Mahashivaratri, the birthday of Lord Shiva, was celebrated with religious fervour and gaiety in the city and the surrounding areas today. Thousands of devotees thronged various temples in the city and its satellite towns — SAS Nagar and Panchkula — since early morning. Devotees made offerings of fruit, milk and cash in the temples. There were long queues outside the temples, especially outside the Shiv Mandir in Saketri, near here, where devotees had to wait in queue for several hours for their turn. Most of the devotees, particularly women, observed a fast for the day. Bhajans were sung and havans and kirtans were organised in temples. Langars were organised in various temples and other places in the city. Food was distributed among the poor at a number of places. Members of the Shree Sanatan Dharma Sabha, Sector 41 have been taking out parbhat pheris for the past three days in connection with the festival. Episodes from the lives of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, were also narrated. At a function, organised by Brahamkumaris at Raj Yoga Bhavan in Sector 33, leaders of various religions expressed concern at the rising violence in the world. Earlier, in the morning, some Brahamkumaris and Brahamkumars organised a parbhat pheri through Sectors 33, 34, 44, 45 and 46. Hundreds of devotees
visited the Pracheen Shri Maha Mritunjya Temple on the
Mata Mansa Devi Road at Bhainsa Tibba village in
Panchkula and offered prayers before the
“shivalinga”. The “Shri Shiv Bagulamukhi
Purscharan” was also performed. |
Helpline
wing for ex-servicemen CHANDIGARH, February 14 — The All-India Ex-servicemen Welfare Associ-ation will form a helpline wing to extend a helping hand at short notice to ex-servicemen and their families in times of need. Mr Bhim Sen Sehgal, Chairman of the association, said the wing would consist of well-settled ex-servicemen residing in the city, SAS Nagar and Panchkula. The names of such
individuals who volunteer for the same will be published
in a directory to be circulated among members of the
association to be brought out soon, he added. |
Sorry, no
place for sentimentality CHANDIGARH, February 14 — The world of Mrs Tina Whig came crashing down on June 4, 1997, the day her husband, Major Mohit Whig of 5 Gorkha Rifles, was ambushed by militants belonging to the Hizbul Mujahideen while on patrol in Kupwara. The brave front and cheerful visage put up by her cracks as she recalls the unfortunate incident. He had been there for 10 days only after completing a course from National Defence College when he was ambushed. The militants had reportedly buried more than 30 kg of explosives a couple of years ago on the stretch on which the road was laid. That day when the convoy passed by, the explosives were triggered by the militants lying in wait. “Although the jeep of my husband was bulletproof, it was unable to withstand the huge explosion. It killed him and three more jawans”, she recalls grimly. Today she is trying to pick up the threads of her life and is faced with the prospect of bringing up two children, one of whom is a spastic, all by herself. While Zorawar is four years old and is relatively quiet, it is three-year-old Fateh who has all the attention of the family and guests in the household. She now stays with her father, Maj-Gen S.S. Grewal (retd), in Sector 35. At present, she is pursuing her MBA (part time) from Panjab University but cannot have a regular job. “Bringing up Fateh is a full-time job as due to various complications, he requires attention round the clock.” Her parents take care of the children while she attends classes in the evenings. Facing the difficulties, she has concluded that once your husband is dead, no one bothers for you, “least of all the Army”. The Defence Minister assured her that she would be allotted a gas agency but nothing has been done till date. “It is not that one is asking for special favours. Whatever is being demanded, is one’s due. Imagine a lady with two small children, nowhere to go and on top of that the recurring expensess of bringing up a spastic child,” she says. In her case, her father has been helpful but even then money is required, especially when the children grow up, particularly Fateh who is going to need a series of operations to set some things right when he is older, she adds. The costs of the operations and CAT scans are not reimbursed by the Army and whatever is being done is as a special case. She has to go all the way to Delhi for attending sessions arranged by the Spastic Society of India to learn special exercises for Fateh and to the CMC, Vellore, for rehabilitation. There should be an institutional mechanism to make the families of widows secure is her view. She should be given the bare necessities like accommodation and a secure job. She cites the example of many widows being denied the benefits of the Fifth Pay Commission. While the salaries have been enhanced from January, 1996, the insurance cover has been increased from September, 1997. The insurance cover of an officer has been enhanced from Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 8 lakh, but the benefit of this enhancement is being denied to those women who became widows between January 1996 and September 1997. When this point was
brought to the notice of the mandarins of the Ministry of
Defence, their reply was, “Madam, we do not decide
such issues on the basis of sentimentality.” |
CHANDIGARH, February 14 — In order to plug allegations of paper leakage during annual examinations, Panjab University will have two paper setters for each paper. This has been recommended by a committee constituted by the Vice-Chancellor. Each paper setter will set two question papers. All sets will be made available to the Controller of Examination who will pick any one of the question papers at random to be forwarded for printing, sources said. One paper will be picked for the September examination. Currently only one examiner sets three question papers. One of them was used during April examination and another one during the supplementary examination in September. The left-out paper was often used in the subsequent year. This increased the chances of the paper being out of syllabi, sources pointed out. Following complaints of paper leakage, it was suggested that more options be made available to the Controller of Examination. The matter had come up for detailed discussion during syndicate meeting. Members pointed out that it was wrong to implicate teachers for paper leakage. The syndicate suggested that three teachers be appointed for setting a set of two papers each. The Vice-Chancellor constituted a committee to look into the matter. The committee comprised among others Prof B.S. Brar, Prof Charanjit Chawla, Dr Harinder Singh, the Registrar and the Controller. At the meeting of the committee, the Registrar suggested that three paper setters would mean extra financial burden on the university. Therefore, a committee finally agreed that two teachers be appointed for the job. Another significant recommendation of the panel pertains to the recommendation of names of paper setters by the Board of Control of Studies. It has been suggested that departments send a panel of teachers instead of sending individual names. In certain cases teacher
whose name was recommended by the board of studies turned
down the university request to set the paper. The
examination branch had to once again request the teaching
department to send another name. This proved to be more
time consuming. The examination branch, if it has panel,
can appoint another teacher according to seniority, it
was suggested. |
CHANDIGARH, February 14 — Two youths riding a scooter were crushed to death by a truck on the Panchkula — Chandigarh road this evening. The two were coming from Saketri temple. Devinder Kumar, alias Puppy, and Ramesh Saini, were coming from Panchkula on their scooter (CHJ 7916) when it was hit by a truck (HR-49-G-A--0106 ), killing the two on the spot. The truck driver, who had fled from the spot, was later arrested. Devinder Kumar ran a cloth business and a cycle stand at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Sector 32, while Ramesh Saini was the son of a photography-shop owner of Sector 14. Devinder was living on rent in a Sector 15 house and Ramesh was living on the ground floor of the same house. The truck driver has been
identified as Ram Kewal from Uttar Pradesh. He is
employed with a Panchkula-based hotelier. A case under
Section 304 of the IPC was registered at the Mani Majra
police station. |
Bad lighting It is quite surprising that the electricity department of the Chandigarh Administration has given little attention to the lighting on the main roads which either remain dark or are inadquately lighted during the evening hours. Even portions of Madhya Marg remain dark quite often and the road users have to rely either on the lights of their vehicles or some light coming from the signboards of shopkeepers. It is unfortunate that the city which once took pride in good lighting now suffers from the malaise of inadequate lighting. As no efforts are generally made to clean up the lamps, accumulation of dust in the lamps also decreases the amount of light falling on the road. Increased foliage hampers the lighting on the roads, particularly on Sarovar Path. Parking space With an ever-increasing number of cars in the city, it has become difficult to find a parking place in the busy shopping centre of Sector 17. Perhaps, time has come when the engineering department and the police department found ways and means to increase parking space in the main shopping areas of the city. Quite often even the areas meant for parking behind the big showrooms are also fully occupied by cars. Mr Baldev Raj Gulati, President of the Traders Association (Sector 17-E), who has been leading a campaign for improved parking in the area, suggests that the planners ought to think of reducing the area covered by pavements on all sides in the shopping complex. If one takes a look at the pavements in the E portion of the sector, the parking area can be doubled, of course at the cost of beauty and spaciousness. But in the shopping complex, the convenience of the shoppers must be given preference over all other considerations, particularly when it comes to the parking of the vehicles and their safety. Moreover, the police on the spot should also give due consideration to the need for checking the practice among scooterists and cyclists to park their scooter/cycle anywhere they find place between two cars, thereby blocking the parking space of a car. Occasional File "The occasional file" is the name of the in-house newsletter of the Punjab IAS Officers' Association, which has re-emerged after a long hibernation. The 20-odd pages, covered from cover-to-cover provide some thought to chew. The "file" has in Mr Sarvesh Kaushal a new editor. His editorial comments give a profile of the service as he perceives it and how, perhaps, public looks at it. With his interplay of words he has, nevertheless, told his fraternity in so many words that it is time for "self introspection" and the "new year" is the best to do so. The new "File" contains some juicy and tongue-in-cheek style write-ups, including the one by Ms Ravneet Kaur on "pumpkin flower". In an earlier issue when the "File" was still young, she had written the Cindrella story. The "file" now promises to become more "regular". This issue gives the news of 1984-batch IAS officer Dharm Vir getting married to Kavita and also information on "new arrivals": not babies, but new IAS "probationers" (1997-batch) in Rakhee Gupta, Krishan Kumar, Rahul Bhandari and Varinder Kumar Meena. Young scientists Two young scientists have brought laurels to Panjab University with the "Indian Science Congress Association(ISCA) Young Scientists Awards" at the 86th Indian Science Congress held at Chennai recently. Keerti Vardhan Madahar, a research scholar in the department of mathematics, has been awarded for his work on triangulation of the complex projective plane with minimum number of vertices by using topological methods.The same triangulation was used by a German mathematician, Wolfgang Kuhnel, in 1980 by using a computer algorithm. Dr Salabh, a lecturer in the department of statistics, was awarded for the work in his field. Software contest Gurvinder Pal Singh, a third year student of the local Punjab Engineering College, stood first in the Infosys Open Software contest at Tech-Fest 99 organised by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai, recently. The prize involves a cash prize and two-month training with a leading software company. Over 70 teams from all over the country participated in this event. Tech-Fest is considered a mega event among engineering colleges. This year over 60 institutions participated. Industrial exhibition, open software and hardware contests, debates and symposium were organised during the event. Unique hobby Mr Sucha Singh, Block Forest Officer of the UT Forest Department, is a unique "collector". He has collected nine currency notes of Rs 100 denomination with the last three digits ending with 786 — 5 FG 635786; 9BR 710786; 9BR 938786; 9BR 760786; 9FF 699786; 9BR 795786; 5FG 325786; 5FG 268786 and 3FG 626786. He has been collecting such currency notes for the past one year. He started with collecting notes of Rs 500 but succeeded in possessing three of them. Owing to the paucity of funds, he could not retain those notes for long. Mr Sucha Singh has
collected the notes from his regular earnings. He has
never approached anybody for help. |
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