& V I C I N I T Y
Saturday, January 9, 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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Saturday, January 9, 1999 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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President to open special
session ITBP
— a force to reckon with |
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 Pros and cons of managerial jobs reviewed CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 — Unless the system acknowledges and rewards the leadership role to the administrator, human resource development is going to remain a mere eyewash. This was stated by Prof Arvind Sharma from the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi. He was delivering a lecture on “Human resource development” at the Department of Public Administration, Panjab University, here today. |
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Ex-AG’s
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President to open special session CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 — The President, Mr K.R. Narayanan, will arrive here tomorrow on a day's visit to the city to preside over a special session of the international conference on "Chandigarh 50 years of the idea". The President was originally scheduled to preside over the opening session of the conference to be held at the Open Hand monument in the Capitol complex in the morning. A spokesman of the Chandigarh Administration said that the President would now arrive in Chandigarh shortly after 3 p.m. and preside over a special session to be held at University Law Auditorium at 4.30 p.m. After the function he would return to the Capital in the evening. The opening session will be held as scheduled. More than 500 leading architects, planners and critics are participating in the three-day conference which is being organised to commemorate the unique experiment in urban development and planning. The participants are from France, Australia, Colombia, the UK, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Switzerland, South Africa, Spain, the USA and SAARC nations besides host India. The participants will critically analyse and examine this planned city and crucial architectural and urban planning issues it has raised in the past 50 years. Among the Indian architects invited as special resource persons are Charles Correa, Balkrishan V. Doshi, Ravi Kalia, Romi Khosla, Jeet Malhotra, Aditya Parkash, Mahendar Raj, Anant Raje, Raj Rewal, Madhu Sarin, M.N. Sharma and S.D. Sharma. The conference will focus on the process of conceptualisation, design and implementation of the city plan of Chandigarh; the critical contribution of Jeanneret, Fry, Drew and Indian architects and engineers; alternative proposals for structuring the growth of the city and defining the direction of future expansion and development; the conflict that arises due to the gap between the architects' intention and the socio-economic realities of a developing nation; the impact of Chandigarh and Le Corbusier's work on the direction of architecture and planning theory and practice; transformation of Le Corbusier's ideas in the past few decades; and the questions that have arisen from the planning of Chandigarh, including the relevance of modernism in the developing world; and what we have learnt both in India and the world from the building of Chandigarh. At the Open Hand monument, finishing touches were being given to the venue of the conference. The entire area has been cleared of unwanted vegetation and concrete slabs have been repaired and a new seating capacity has been added to the monument. The entire area has been given a facelift. A mock structure of Governor's Palace, which was to raised specially for the conference, has been abandoned. Initial work undertaken on the project stands out as some workers were still busy at the site. The police has been deployed in strength in and around the venue for providing security. The organisers have planned to shift the opening session from the Open Hand monument to Panjab University campus in case of rain or bad weather tomorrow. A number of books and other documents are likely to be released on the opening day of the conference. Chandigarh Lifescape, a book on the social history of Chandigarh, is one of such books.
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Security beefed up for
President’s visit CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 — The police has made stringent security arrangements for the visit of the President, Mr K.R. Narayanan, to the city tomorrow. The special aircraft carrying the President and his entourage is expected to arrive in the city around 3 p.m. All along the route from the airport to Panjab University the police has posted stengun wielding policemen for security and traffic cops to control traffic. A total of 600 cops will be deployed to cover the security aspect along the route and the function at the Law Auditorium, Panjab University. Today the police carried out a full-dress rehearsal with vehicles and other arrangements in place. An entire cavalcade of cars started from the airport to the law auditorium and all security personnel, including those posted at the entrance, were in place. There will be no traffic restrictions along the route and no road will be closed. Only when the President's entourage passes, traffic on the road will be stopped for a few minutes. The media has been issued identity cards, keeping in mind the security aspect while the entry will be through invitation only. As per protocol, a car has been especially flown in from Delhi for the President. Usually motor cycle riders precede the motor-cade of the President. However, due to a number of roundabouts in the city and the distance between the airport and Panjab University, a final decision on the motorcycle riders is yet to be taken, according to sources.
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ITBP — a force to reckon
with CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 — There have been incidents of certain persons taking cartridges inside the Punjab and Haryana Civil Secretariat but the attempts were foiled by vigilant personnel of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), deployed for security purposes. This was revealed by Mr J.B. Negi, Deputy Inspector General (Punjab), while addressing mediapersons here this afternoon. He said the cartridges detected on three separate occasions were used in .303 bore weapons. Such attempts could be a way of testing the vigilance and responses of the force by anti-nationals. The persons were handed over to the police and cases registered against them. Similarly, they had also prevented the carrying of licensed small arms into the complex. No weapons are allowed to be carried into the complex, he said. On the presence of the force in Punjab, he said they were also responsible for guarding banks in the state and the security arrangements had been appreciated by the state government and had sought continuation of the arrangement, thereby underwriting their confidence and ability in the force. Two battalions of about 1,800 men were deployed at the secretariat, another four battalions guard banks in Punjab while one battalion is at Chamba. No untoward incident had been reported but several jawans had been rewarded for returning money left behind at the banks by customers. Answering a query on the decision to use this specifically trained force for guard duties rather than the purpose it was meant for, he replied “professionally it was unadvisable to use the manpower elsewhere, but then the decisions of the Ministry of Home Affairs have to be followed.” Other duties performed by the force include relief work during the Malpa tragedy where eight members of the force lost their lives, fighting insurgency in Chamba, foiling the attempts by protesters at the Indo-Nepal border, assisting the authorities at the mishaps in Himachal Pradesh, Garhwal, Kumaon sectors, retrieving vehicles which had fallen into the Alakananda river, besides controlling the fire in Pithoragarh (UP). The force’s first-ever Sena Medal was posthumously awarded to Inspector Raj Kumar during counter insurgency operations in Kashmir. A.K. Rana, Assistant Commandant, also lost his life in the valley. As many as 300 personnel of the force are on assignments to Sri Lanka and the UN. A voluntary contribution of Rs 22.5 lakh was made towards the Gujarat cyclone relief fund to the Prime Minister. The force was also deployed for anti-Naxalite operations following the Jehanabad killings. Welfare measures for the personnel include launching of the Janata Group Insurance scheme to provide an insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh to each personnel on death and disability at no cost to the government. Work on an industrial training centre is under way at Ramgarh (Haryana) and the ITBP is building a community hall at Kauri village. Sub-Inspector Virender
Yadav won a bronze medal in the Sixth International Judo
tournament held in Ho Chi Minh city (Vietnam). Disabled
constable Sheel Kumar represented the country in the
World Disabled Winter Games meet and Rehabilitation
Conference, Colorado, USA. |
Pros and cons of managerial
jobs reviewed CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 — Unless the system acknowledges and rewards the leadership role to the administrator, human resource development is going to remain a mere eyewash. This was stated by Prof Arvind Sharma from the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi. He was delivering a lecture on “Human resource development” at the Department of Public Administration, Panjab University, here today. “The managerial jobs keep the administrator too pre-occupied to enable him to discharge his leadership role. Moreover, if the individual in the workplace does not draw joy from his work then work culture will continue to be a platform for promoting gossip,” he said. He emphasised the need of annual confidential reports and performance appraisal reports which provide an important feedback though this is being used to foster administrative objectives of determining promotability. He said that appraisal ends at appraising and does not graduate to performance management. In the discussions that followed, Mr Y.P. Bhatia, honorary secretary of the regional chapter of IIPA, said that the ACRs and performance appraisal did not serve any purpose as no follow-up measures were taken after the receipt of feedback. There were no incentives to those with good reports. Hence, they did not serve any purpose. Earlier Dr S.L. Kaushik of the Public Administration department introduced the speaker. The discussion was chaired
by Mr B.S. Ojha, chairman of the regional branch of IIPA. |
Ex-AG’s security withdrawal stayed CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 — The order of Punjab's Additional Director-General of Police (security) to withdraw security cover provided to Mr G.K. Chatrath, a former Advocate-General of Punjab, was stayed today by a Division Bench of the Punjab & Haryana High Court comprising Mr Justice J.L. Gupta and Mr Justice V.S. Aggarwal. It was stated in the impugned order that the level of security provided to different categories of protectees in the state was being reduced or withdrawn in view of the improvement in the law and order situation. Security to Mr Chatrath was ordered to be withdrawn from January 7. His Security personnel were told to report to P.A.P. Commandant. The petitioner submitted that during his tenure as Advocate-General, he had the occasion to handle sensitive cases concerning militants in the state. He also represented the state in the case in which Justice A.S. Bains had promised in the High Court to refrain from his involvement with militants, said the petitioner. He also stated that he has been supporting the petition filed in the High Court against the People's Commission. He was also one of the key advisors to the then Chief Minister from 1992 to 1995. On account of these activities, the need was felt to provide security cover to him. He alleged that after the present ruling party was defeated in Adampur byelection, the government decided to review security cover to Congress leaders and their supporters. He contended that the threat perception to his life had not reduced and that the order withdrawing his security was illegal and arbitrary. Stay on SI's reversion A Division Bench comprising Mr Justice R.S. Mongia and Mr Justice S.S. Sudhalkar, stayed the operation of the order of reversion of Mr Baldev Singh, Sub-Inspector, Ferozepore, to the post of Head Constable on the ground that he was promoted out of turn and that being an ad hoc he had no right to claim the post. Challenging the order issued by the DIG, Ferozepore, the court was told that the petitioner was promoted first as Head Constable and then as S.I. on the basis of the government's policy decision to reward persons who courageously fought terrorists to raise police morale. The petitioner in one encounter with terrorists in which one of his fellow policeman was killed snatched a rifle from terrorists. It was also submitted that brother of the petitioner, his cousin brothers and other relatives were involved in combating terrorism. Nine members of the petitioner's family were killed by terrorists at Haddanwali village which fell under Zira police station. The family of his cousin, Mohinder Singh, was killed by terrorists. He was compelled to sell part of his land at throwaway price. Instead of being rewarded, the petitioner and his family members had incurred the wrath of vested interests in Ferozepur district who had sympathy with the militants. They launched a sustained campaign to victimise the petitioner. The Bench issued notice of motion to respondents for March 1. Minority body action for larger Bench Mr Justice N.K. Sodhi referred to a larger Bench, the writ petition filed by Dr K.P. Singh, Head of Department of Surgery in Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana, who had challenged his removal allegedly without following the procedure. It was contended inter alia that sanction from competent authority was not obtained before sacking him. However, the college management took the plea that the institution being a minority institution had right to run its affairs without interference from any outside authority. The judge while referring the case to larger Bench was of the view that the provisions under Article 30 dealing with minority institutions required to be considered in relation to the Act, by a larger Bench. He ordered the case to be placed before the Chief Justice. Ex-ADGP’s bail confirmed Mr Justice B. Rai today confirmed the bail of Mr D.S. Bhullar, Additional Director-General of Police, who was earlier granted bail by the Supreme Court in an alleged triple murder case registered at sadar police station, Khanna, on February 10, 1997. After a complaint to the Chief Minister, the case was investigated by the CBI on the basis of which the case was registered. The petitioner's bail plea was rejected by the High Court but allowed by the Supreme Court, which continued to be extended from time to time. Today's bail is till the conclusion of the trial. The case involves the alleged murder of an NRI scientist who had some business connections with the son and wife of the police officer. The scientist, his driver and another person are alleged to have been murdered and the car with their bodies was allegedly set on fire near Ludhiana.
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A feast for exhibition lovers CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 — Three exhibitions on various aspects of the city were inaugurated at different venues here today. The exhibitions are being organised as part of the international conference on Chandigarh. An interesting exhibition featuring study of students of CEPT, Ahmedabad (Planning, Urban Design and Architecture wings) opened at the Chandigarh College of Architecture. While highlighting the salient features of architecture and land use it also points out the bottlenecks and the handicaps in the city’s future development. Mr Rajeev Kathpalia, one of the project coordinators, said in a way as it could be said that Chandigarh was not a conventional city and faced various handicaps for development. Bureaucracy, retired personnel and students dominated the population. Usually a city would have maximum tradesmen and manufacturing units for growth. The study carried out with the help of various surveys, indicates that the result of strict building codes was that the architects’ freedom has been limited, and the resulting street edges have become monotonous, both in material and form. The results indicate that for the population of Chandigarh there was inefficient use of land. It does not feel like a space filled with activity and seems to lack human presence, because the local level facilities and amenities are diluted. The study on a point of scores for potential for future growth places Chandigarh below Bangalore and Surat. The last part of the exhibition provides possible solutions for future growth, one of which is to develop it as a global city while other suggests promotion of local district business centres. The exhibition of black and white photographs at the Fine Arts department, Panjab University, is an artist’s tribute for his love for the city. Piergiorgio Sclarandis, an Italy-based professional photographer in "Light, Space and Form" presents his response to the architecture of the city and its people. A series is dedicated exclusively to Rock Garden. Sclarandis first visited India in 1963 and subsequently visited Chandigarh on nearly 12 occasions over the years."The idea of capturing the city occurred to me in 1988", he said. " I chose black and white medium because it was more powerful, particularly while experimenting with forms and light" he added. Photographs of the capital project, Panjab University and a few creations of Nek Chand make the visit an enriching experience. "Living Chandigarh", an exhibition of photographs by local artists, began at the Museum Art Gallery, Sector 10. This exhibition is dedicated to Swiss-born French architect Pierre Jeanneret. There are nearly 62 colour and black and white photographs are on display. Jeanneret worked on the Capital Project for 15 years. His notable works in the city include Panjab University campus, MLA Hostels, flats and various low-cost buildings. Mr Jagdish Sagar, Adviser to the UT Administrator, inaugurated the exhibitions.
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Randhawa re-elected WUS vice-chief CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 — In a rare honour Prof G.S. Randhawa, a former Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University, has been unanimously re-elected Vice-President of the World University Service, (WUS). The international organisation, committed to various social services, particularly in the field of education and medical care, has recently shifted its headquarters to Amsterdam after years of its base in Geneva. Talking to TNS, Professor Randhawa said today that several countries of Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe were its members. The major projects in India included health centre in Delhi University, a livestock project in Gujarat and a major project for the underprivileged in Chennai. Professor Randhawa said he had made special efforts to concentrate on student exchange from other countries. As Vice-Chancellor of GNDU, he said scores of students from Palestine, Bangladesh and Nepal were funded entirely for their education, food, lodging and pocket money under the project. Groups or organisations interested in projects may contact the Delhi office which after studying the feasibility and the utility forward it to the headquarters. The projects are then funded by agencies mainly based in Germany, Finland, Denmark and Canada, Professor Randhawa said. The organisation was formed after World War I. Two women in Austria whose family children suffered in their study as the schools were destroyed got together and repaired the building. Soon the concept spread throughout Europe. At the general body meeting held recently at Sharjah, Mr Inder Kumar Gujral, a former Prime Minister of India, delivered a talk as a co-opted member, Professor Randhawa added. The organisation also elected its executive.
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Competition Master contest results CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 — The Competition Master library related competitions 1998, are on, aimed at educating students to love and appreciate reading books. On the topic a lively discussion took place today which was organised by the Chandigarh Librarians' Association and the St Stephens School, putting forward the provocative thesis that "Parents and teachers are responsible for the declining reading habits among students". Those who took part in the discussion came to the conclusion that the title is rather misleading as there are other strong influences the students are exposed to. Still, nobody wanted to object to the fact that it is the task of parents and teachers to guide their wards and students, to pass on their own interest in literature and books and, thus generate in them a consistent interest in reading. The winners of this inter-school debate are as follows: First prize: Anu Priya of Sacred Heart School, Sector 26 and Astha Gupta of Hans Raj Public School, Panchkula. Second prize: Aftab of St Stephens School, Sector 45; and Nisha Pratap of St Johns School, Sector 26 Third prize: Veenu Gill of Hans Raj Public School, Panchkula; and Anchal Dhir of Sacred Heart School, Sector 26. All participants of the inter-school debate were welcomed by Mr J.K. Kataria, president of the association. The next competition is Inter-school Quiz which will be held tomorrow at DAV Public School, Sector 8, Chandigarh. All students are invited
to participate. |
Sect 11 college girl wins first
prize CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 — Neha Gupta of Government College for Girls, Sector 11, has won the first prize in the Bhai Surinder Singh Malik memorial all-India essay writing competition organised by the Jat Sabha on November 22 last year. The results were declared by the sabha, here today. The first prize is a gold medal and Rs 2100 in cash. The second and third places were bagged by Abhijita Kulshrestha of MCM DAV College, Sector 36, and Abhilash Gaur of Government College, Sector 11. They win a silver medal and a cash prize of Rs 1100 and a bronze medal with Rs 700, respectively. The consolation prizes of Rs 400 and Rs 300 have been awarded to Amandeep Shukla of DAV College, Sector 10, and Puneet Sharma of Government College, Sector 10, respectively. The prizes will be given
away on the birth anniversary celebrations of Deen Bandhu
Sir Chhotu Ram on Basant Panchmi, falling on January 22
by Mr Mani Ram Godara, Home Minister of Haryana. |
374 in fray for panchayat poll CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 — As many as 374 candidates are left in the fray for the panchayat poll after the papers of 12 candidates were rejected after scrutiny by the four returning officers for the election. Initially 480 candidates had filed their nominations for 147 posts of sarpanches and panches of 17 villages. While the papers rejected were of candidates contesting for the posts of panches, the papers of all the 94 candidates who are contesting as sarpanches were found in order. According to official sources, there is no consensus on candidates in any of the 17 panchayats of the city. As per figures provided by the Election department today, 374 persons are contesting for the posts of 130 seats of panches and 94 for the posts of 17 sarpanches. The contests in the villages will become clear after the covering candidates withdraw their papers. Hectic parleys are on in many villages for arriving at a consensus, and new equations are being chalked out. The date for withdrawal is
January 9 and withdrawals will be permitted till 3 p.m. |
Students' body opposes hike CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 — The president of Central Students' Association of Government College, Sector 46, has condemned the recent hike of various funds to be charged by the colleges from the new session. The increase in the building fund from Rs 20 to Rs 120 and raise in the amalgamated fund from Rs 200 to Rs 480 is very high and Rs 5 as college development fund is an additional burden on the students, he said in a press note issued here today. The raise in funds was
decided at the principals' conference held on January 3
at Panjab University.
Entertainment tax waived for film CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 — The Chandigarh Administration has exempted Punjabi film, "Shaheed-e-Mohabbat Boota Singh" from entertainment tax in the union territory. The exemption is for two weeks, but the price of tickets will not be raised.
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First day cover on UT today CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 — A special first-day cover (FDC) and a number of publications on Chandigarh will be released at a special function to be presided over by the President, Mr K.R. Narayanan, at Panjab University here tomorrow. The function is being organised as part of the international conference - Chandigarh 50 years of the idea. An atlas of Chandigarh, a couple of books and a special issue of Marg on Chandigarh will also be released. The Union Tourism
Minister, Mr Madan Lal Khurana, will also attend the
special function.
Iftar party organised CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 — The Muslim Intezamia Committee organised an Iftar party at the Madina mosque in Sector 29 here today. Mr Mohammad Sadiq Sheikh, president of the committee, said the party was attended by a large number of Muslims, besides Mr Venod Sharma, president of the CTCC, and Mr Pawan Bansal, a former MP.
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Stolen
Maruti cars recovered PANCHKULA, Jan 8 — The police has recovered two Maruti cars that had been stolen from the township in the recent past. Four persons have been arrested in this connection. According to the police two persons — Namandeep alias Neemi and Karaminder Singh, both residents of Chandigarh — have been arrested for allegedly stealing a Maruti Car (DBG 1015). The car was stolen early last year. Another Maruti car (CH-01-N-1139) which was stolen from Sector 19 in June last year, has been recovered. Two persons — Tara Chand and Brij Mohan, both of Chandigarh, have been arrested in this regard. Three arrested: The Raipur Rani police has arrested three persons, including two women, in connection with two subsequent murders of a labourer, Kalu (54) and Ramti Devi (46) at Raewali village in Raipur Rani in December. The victims had been murdered over a land dispute involving the woman. The police had identified five persons — Khoob Ram, Jagan Bhai, Nanku, Bhoo Devi, Leela Devi and Jagat Pal — for their alleged involvement in the murder. Of these Nanku, Bhoo Devi and Leela Devi have been arrested by the police. Nine booked: The Pinjore police has booked nine persons, including a private contractor for allegedly cremating bodies of three labourers who had died of suffocation after being buried in a quarry in seasonal rivulets at Pinjore, near here. According to information available, the deceased — Parsad, Savitri and Saraswati — died while quarrying in seasonal rivulets at Bhagwanpur and Raipur villages. The contractor has been
booked under sections 140, 182, 201, 337, 304-A and 506
of the IPC. |
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