& V I C I N I T Y
Sunday, January 24, 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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Sunday, January 24, 1999 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Usurping land with impunity
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Husband,
parents get 7 years’ RI for dowry death Parliamentary
system is dead: Shanta
Plea
to simplify norms for registration Rain
brings down day temperature Youth
education meet at GMCH |
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Usurping
land with impunity CHANDIGARH, Jan 22 — Roads are getting narrower with the each passing day in Sector 10-A, thanks to encroachments by residents on the government land outside their houses. Angle iron, hedges, barbed wire and concrete structures outside the houses have virtually reached the road berms, resulting in little space for the pedestrians to walk. The parking of vehicles on the roads adds to the problem. Residents alleged that despite repeated representations to the authorities concerned nothing had been done to remove the encroachments. Even the recent anti-encroachment drive in connection with the recarpeting of the roads in the sub-sector was half-hearted and all encroachments were not removed, alleged Mrs Gian Chauhan, a resident. Mrs Chauhan, in a letter to, among others, to the local MP, Mr Satya Pal Jain, the Adviser to the Administrator, Mr Jagdish Sagar, and the then Mayor, Mr Gian Chand Gupta, had brought the problem of the encroachments to their notices but nothing seemed to have been done. Though Mr Jain had urged the Mayor to act on the application of Mrs Chauhan on January 5 yet the matter rests there. In her application, Mrs Chauhan had also urged the authorities to provide a footpath alongside the boundary wall of Hotel Mountview. The absence of footpath was exploitation of pedestrians' rights and led to perfect situation for inviting accidents and congested lanes, she added. A visit to the area today revealed, that while certain residents had encroached upon government land by landscaping the area, others had planted trees right on the edges of the roads, thereby making the roads narrower. Motorists find it difficult to pass through roads as a number of vehicles are kept parked on these roads. Moreover, the washing of
cars on roads by residents against the rules continues
unabated. |
BJP
sponsoring terrorism: Sahai CHANDIGARH, Jan 23 — The BJP government is "sponsoring terrorism" and the recent incidents in Gujarat and other parts of the country is a pointer of things to come. It is a shame that people like Bal Thackrey not only held the country to ransom but also forced the the Prime Minister and the Home Minister to their knees. These observations were made by Mr Subodh Kant Sahai, President of the Campaign for National Unity and a former Minister of State for Home, while addressing mediapersons in the city this afternoon. He is here to mobilise people for a mass convention on the state of affairs of the country to be held in Chandigarh on February 21. People from Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh are expected to attend. Elaborating further, he said as a Home Minister keeping in view the law and order situation of the country he had stopped the rath yatra and arrested Mr L.K. Advani. The tacit support of the BJP to the Shiv Sena would send a wrong signal to other like minded organisations in the country. It was due to BJP’s support to acts of vandalism and lawlessness that had emboldened people like Mr Simranjit Singh Mann in Punjab to announce that they would observe the birth anniversary of late Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. This portends for a state that was engulfed in the fires of militancy for more than a decade. He alleged that the SAD government has done nothing for the people of Punjab even though the party is a coalition partner of the BJP. The damage to the crops has not been assessed till date nor has anything been done about the debt related deaths in the state. The Badal-Tohra feud was nothing else but a fight over the spoils of office and legacy of the Shiromani Akali Dal, he added. He said the Congress was
on the upswing and would fight elections on issues
related to the common man. |
Colourful
start to college fete CHANDIGARH, Jan 23 — The two-day fete at Dev Samaj College for Women, Sector 45, got off to a colourful start with competitions in rangoli, fabric painting, poster making, drawing and painting, here today. Other contests held on the first day include fresh flower arrangement, poetry recitation, folk singing, mehndi, embroidery and poetry recitation. The drawing and painting competition open to children between eight to 10 years attracted the maximum number of 175 participants while 52 girls from local colleges participated in the embroidery contest. The flower arrangements titled "Tranquility", "Freedom", had a green backdrop with peach and yellow roses standing tall and one-layered red zinnias in a row, one slightly longer than the other supporting the caption "Higher, higher and still higher" were awarded the first, second and third prizes, respectively. A cow on a green background and a picture of Lord Ganesha, drawn on the floor using coloured saw dust were judged first and second, respectively. A self-composed poem, "My Mother", was declared first among 20 participants in the poetry recitation competition held in the afternoon. There were 60 stalls put up in the college grounds. These included stalls of games like tambola, joy rides for children in mini trains and a giant wheel, autos and a request stall which did brisk business. The fete was inaugurated by Deputy Mayor, Mr Bachan Singh, and Mrs Hit Abhilashi, a Municipal Councillor. They promised to provide the sewage connection to the college which had been hanging fire for quite some time. The results of the various competitions are as follows: Drawing and painting — Shifa Mahajan of St Xavier School (first), Gundeep Kaur of Shivalik Public School (second), Deepak Sharma of Shivalik Public School (third). Poster making — Kanika of St Xavier School (1st), Ankita of St Xavier School (2nd), Paritosh Verma of Government Model School, Sector 35 (3rd). Rangoli — Vandana of Government College for Girls, Sector 42 (1st), Bindia of B.Ed College (2nd), Harminder Sodhi of Food Craft Institute (3rd). Fabric painting — Damandeep, Ritu Bhasin, Nira Sagar; Mehndi — Mukti Kalra, Priyanka Malhotra and Priya. Fresh flower arrangement
— Palwinder of Dev Samaj School, Pooja Khosla of
B.Ed College (2nd), Deepinder Kaur of D.S.College.
Embroidery — Navneet Kaur of GCG-42 (1st), Nitu of
Guru Gobind Singh College (2nd). Folk singing —
Gurinder Kainth of GCG-11 (1st), Meenakshi Thakur of Dev
Samaj College (2nd). Poetry recitation — Sahiba of
the Department of Correspondence Courses and Navjot of
Dev Samaj College of Education (1st), Aditi Guleri of the
Department of Hindi, Panjab University (2nd) and Akarshan
of DAV College (3rd). |
Kalka-Mumbai
train soon CHANDIGARH, Jan 23 — The Railway ministry has agreed in principle to start a direct long distance train between Kalka and Mumbai, it is learnt. The new train is likely to be announced soon and included in the next time table of the Railways that is printed after the presentation of the Railway Budget. While confirming about the acceptance of the new train, well-placed sources said that the railway authorities were impressed by the demand. Special trains between Kalka and Mumbai were operated in October and in the first week of November to clear Pooja holiday rush. A large number of passengers had preferred to travel on the train rather than go to either Ambala or Delhi to catch a Mumbai-bound train. Even when the special train was started it was known among railway circles that the ministry would finalise this train as it was a long-pending demand of the residents of this area and tourists going to Shimla from the western part of the country. The introduction of the train may have been announced earlier but for the problem of "cracks" on the Delhi-Ambala track. The scheduling of the train is being worked out to enable tourists descending from Shimla to board the train at Kalka. All narrow gauge trains between Shimla and Kalka, on their downward journey, reach Kalka in the evening hours. The track between Ambala
and Chandigarh is now being electrified and upgraded.
Already provision is being made have six tracks at
Chandigarh station. |
Adventure
festival from Feb 1 CHANDIGARH, Jan 23 — The fifth National Adventure Festival will be organised here from February 1. Announcing this here today, the President of the National Adventure Club, Mr Ram S. Varma, said over 500 participants in the age group of 15-35 years were likely to participate in the two-week festival. He said Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal had already confirmed their participation in the festival. Mr Varma, who is also the Chief Secretary of Haryana, said the participants had been divided into six broad groups which would proceed to different destinations under the guidance of respective event-coordinators after reporting here. During the festival each participant would participate in three or four adventurous activities like snow skiing, river rafting, trekking, kayaking, canoeing, roller skating and para-sailing. This year also the club would give "Bharat Gaurav" award comprising Rs 11,000, a plague and first class train fare and "Adamya Sahas Puruskar" comprising Rs 1100 and first class train fare to those sports persons who excelled in various adventure sports like mountaineering, trekking, rock climbing, water sports and aero sports or any other dare-devil activity. The awards would be conferred during the closing ceremony here on February 14. The Haryana Governor, Mr
Mahabir Prasad, will be the chief guest at the closing
ceremony, the highlight of which would be a dare-devil
show by sky divers of the Indian Air Force. |
Plea to
simplify norms for registration CHANDIGARH, Jan 23 — Mr Chaman Lal Sharma and Mr Amarjit Singh Sethi, president and general secretary of the Chandigarh Nagrik Sabha, respectively, have urged the Administrator of Chandigarh, Lieut-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber (retd), to take immediate steps for the simplification of the procedures for registration and payment of stamp duty. In a joint statement here they hailed the stand of both Mr Satya Pal Jain, local MP, and Mr Pawan Bansal, a former MP, to reduce the stamp duty from 12.5 per cent to 6 per cent to bring it on a par with Punjab. They maintained that in 1985, the Administration had revised the stamp duty from 8 per cent to 12.5 per cent to bring it on a par with Punjab. Now when the Punjab has already rolled stamp duty back to 6 per cent, Chandigarh should follow suit, they added. Mr Sharma and Mr Sethi also wanted the Chandigarh Administration to send teams to Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to study the changes incorporated in the existing laws as regards registration and stamp duty. They also suggested that
bylaws of Chandigarh should now be modified suitably in
the wake of the suggestions and recommendations made by
eminent architects from all over the globe who were in
the city in connection with the international conference
on Chandigarh. |
‘Kirtan
darbar’ on Jan 26 CHANDIGARH, Jan 23 — To commemorate the tercentenary celebrations of Khalsa, the Sector 19-D Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha will organise a ‘Kirtan darbar’ on January 26 from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eminent raghi jathas, including Giani Prem Singh, Giani Ajit Singh, Giani Jaswant Singh, Giani Narain Singh and Giani Daya Singh Dilbar will participate.
Bhai Surinder Singh of
Mitha Tiwana will perform kirtan at the gurdwara on
January 25 evening and on January 26, both morning and
evening, Mr Satpal Singh Bhatia, general secretary of the
gurdwara, announced today. |
Founder’s
day celebrated CHANDIGARH, Jan 23 — Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26, celebrated the college Founder's Day, today. ‘Shabad kirtan’ was performed by Bhai Ajit Pal Singh Paras and Mr Hardip Singh, Member of the SGPC. Mr Karam Singh Raju spoke on the life and philosophy of Guru Gobind Singh and highlighted the tenets of the Khalsa Panth. The function concluded with ‘Guru ka Langar’ which was attended by more than 1000 devotees. The principal, students,
staff members and members of the managing committee were
present. |
LPG dealers
defer strike CHANDIGARH, Jan 23 — The LPG distributors of Chandigarh, Panchkula and SAS Nagar at an emergency meeting here today decided to defer the proposed strike on January 25 to the middle of February. Mr Sharanjit Singh, secretary of the Chandigarh LPG Distributors' Association, said in a statement after the meeting that after the two-day strike by LPG distributors, the oil companies had taken up the matter with regard to allotment of sites for LPG godowns. The Administration has reportedly assured the oil companies that the earlier decision would be reconsidered in view of the objections raised by the LPG distributors and a final picture would emerge after a couple of weeks. The association felt that in view of the developments and assurances by the Administration, no useful purpose would be served by the January 25 strike. The association, however,
reiterated its demands that sites should be allotted to
distributors and not to oil companies on a 99- year lease
and not 15-year lease; rent should not be more than Rs
1,000 a month and allotment procedures should be
simplified and sites should be developed and provided
with road, water and power connections. |
Husband,
parents get 7 years’ RI for dowry death CHANDIGARH, Jan 23 — The Sessions Judge, Mr B.S. Bedi, today convicted Ram Sanjivan and his parents, Ram Bakshi and Mati of the charge of dowry death. The judge sentenced them to undergo imprisonment for seven years apart from slapping a fine of Rs 2,000 on each of them. According to the prosecution, Mrs Sushil Devi, a resident of Sector 24, had died at the PGI on July 12, 1996, due to poisoning. Her father, Mr Babu Ram, a resident of Nadampur village near Patiala, had lodged a complaint with the police that her daughter’s in-laws had been pestering her for dowry and demanded a sum of Rs 20,000. He also told the police that he was making arrangements for the money with the help of the village sarpanch. In the meantime, he received a message that his daughter had been admitted to the PGI. And when he reached here he found her dead. A case under Section 304-B
was registered by the Chandigarh Police on July 17, 1996.
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Rain brings
down day temperature CHANDIGARH, Jan 23 — Yesterday's welcome bright sunshine over the city and its surrounding areas gave way to overcast conditions and rain today. The maximum daytime temperature in the city was 4°C less than yesterday. The daytime temperature was 20.6°C today, a drop of nearly 4°C since yesterday when the daytime temperature had gone up to 24 °C. Yesterday was the warmest day since December 20. The minimum temperature rose by 4°C and was recorded at 10.4°C today. The weather office
recorded 2 mm of rain in the past 24 hours. |
| Parliamentary system is dead: Shanta Tribune News Service CHANDIGARH, Jan 23 —The parliamentary system in the country is dead.We only continue to carry its corpse.This is time for the country to consider the introduction of presidential system "with minor changes" which can cure many a disease of the existing system. These views were expressed by Mr Shanta Kumar, a former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, while delivering a lecture on "Parliamentary versus presidential forms of government" organised by Panchnad Shodh Sansthan here today. Mr Shanta Kumar, who is a member of the Lok Sabha said that the country should have one administrator chosen directly by the people. He should have a limited term and should choose his ministers who should not be elected members. The role of the elected members should only be framing laws. Mr Shanta Kumar was critical of the frequent elections. "The entire democracy seems to have been reduced to elections and poll processes." Each year there are either elections for a few seats of the Centre, states, corporations, committees and pachayats. A lot of precious time and energy is lost. There should be just one election schedule which should be common to all elections", he averred. On
introspection, after 50 years of Independence the
majority feels that the country has not reached where it
should have. The system has collapsed. The fundamental
problems have not been addressed and naturally no
solutions have been found, he said. |
Youth
education meet at GMCH CHANDIGARH, Jan 23 — The Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, is holding the "North Zone Obstetrics and Gynaecology Conference" at 10 a.m. tomorrow. Eminent speakers from northern India, including the PGI, GMC, Shimla, Ludhiana and Jalandhar, will take part in it. The conference will start with a symposium on hormones and lectures on toxoplasma infection and pregnancy. A panel discussion on various problems of adolescents related to sexual maturity and the role of sex education will be held at 11.30 a.m. There will be an open session with free communication. The venue is Lecture
Theatre (4th floor), GMC Hospital, Sector 32, says Dr
Sarla Malhotra, Professor and Head, Department of
Obstetrics and Gynaecology, GMC. |
CHANDIGARH, Jan 23 — The annual examinations for undergraduate classes of Panjab University are likely to be advanced by six days. These will now commence from April 1 instead of the earlier announced date of April 6. Although no formal announcement in this regard has been made by the university, a proposal has been cleared at various levels.The final clearance, however, will be made by the Vice-Chancellor or the Dean University Instructions , it is reliably learnt. The university will not conduct any examination between April 7 and 15. This is being done in connection with the celebrations of 300 years of the institution of the Khalsa, sources said. A detailed datesheet for various classes is yet to be prepared by a subcommittee. Meanwhile,Panjab University has also planned a series of activities for the coming tercentenary celebrations of Khalsa. Work is being carried out separately in the sports and the academics fields, it is learnt. Among several earlier
proposals were naming the Muktsar centre as Guru Gobind
Singh Centre; institutions of fellowships; sports medals;
setting up an institutional complex and Guru Gobind Singh
Chair; besides several long-term and short-term
programmes. |
CHANDIGARH Jan 23 — A woman has died after falling off the roof of her house in Pinjore while the body of a new-born male child has been found in a garbage bin in Sector 23 here. The woman, Uma Mittal, a resident of Saini mohalla, Pinjore, had died by the time she was brought to the PGI. Meanwhile, the finding of the body of a new-born child sent shock waves in Sector 23. The police are clueless in the matter. Four injured: Four persons, including a woman, have been injured in separate road accidents in the city. Mr Rajeev Chaudhary of Sector 27 was hurt when the scooter he was riding collided with another scooter on the road dividing sectors 2 and 11. A Sector 38 resident, Mr Tarun Sethi, was injured after his scooter collided with a Maruti van. A Sector 37 resident, Mr Rajinder Singh, sustained injuries when his scooter skidded in the same area. Devki Devi of Badheri village was injured when she was hit by a scooterist on the road dividing sectors 45 and 46. Car stolen: A Maruti car ( CH-01-H-0037) owned by Mr Lalit Kumar of Sector 27 has been stolen. Meanwhile, a resident of Sector 36 Sunny, alleged that an employee of his, Irshad Khan, had stolen his purse. Takes poison: A resident of Sector 45, Amandeep, has been admitted to the PGI after he reportedly consumed some poisonous substance. Panchkula Boy arrested: A 19 year-old boy was arrested on Saturday by the police while trying to sell 'charas' to migratory labourers at a construction site in Mata Mansa Devi complex here. The youth, Ajmer Singh, a resident of Rohtak, was caught with 250 gm of charas, valued at Rs 1300 by a team led by ASI Tarun Kumar. According to the police, Ajmer, after having failed to clear senior secondary examination, turned to the profession of selling the contraband to make a fast buck. He purchased the charas from an unidentified truck driver for Rs 1300 and planned to sell same to labourers in small quantities at a profit. He has been booked under
the NDPS Act |
PANCHKULA, Jan 23 — The 70th annual exhibition of the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS) was inaugurated by its Chairman, Mr Manohar Kaul, at the regional centre of the society here today. Mr Kaul said arts and culture were not being given adequate coverage by media. Secretary of AIFACS S.S. Bhagat, said more exhibitions would be held at the regional centre of the society here. The part one of the exhibition, which consists of paintings and graphics, includes 146 works. The society received over 2000 entries for the part one exhibition of which 81 were selected. The show was held at Delhi last month. An entry titled 'The Yellow River' by Ananda Moy Banerji of Delhi was selected as the best exhibit. The best in the graphic section which have been awarded include "Untitled II" by Parth Pratim Sarma, "Etching I" by Ajoy Kumar, "On My Mind" by S.M. Dhanasekaran, "Framed Image" by Archana Rajguru, "Solitude" by Atin Basak, "Untitled" by Rajesh Ambalkar, "Untitled" by Barun Choudhury, "Preserved" by Rajib Choudhury and "Untitled" by Ghanshyam Gupta. The award winning entries
in the painting section are one by Vijaya Bagai,
"Shakti III" by Surinder Chopra, "Untitled
I" by Rittick Bhardwaj, "Fantasy Moods" by
Dr M.S.Randhawa, "Composition I" by Alok
Chakraborty, "Great Indian Bustard" by Mohd.
Firozuddin, "Silent Dialogue" by Shabir Hussain
Santosh, "The Winters Tale" by Nandita,
"Smell" by Harjit Dhillon, and
"Garden" by Tapan Kumar Das. |
CHANDIGARH: Aa Ab Laut Chalein" (Piccadily): Legendary Raj Kapoor's," Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai" was one of the outstanding films produced under the R.K. Films banner and "Aa ab laut chalein" was a purposeful song in the film. After 38 years, "Aa Ab Laut Chalein" has been released as a feature film. Made under the R.K. banner, it is produced by Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor and Rajeev Kapoor and is directed by Rishi Kapoor. "Aa Ab Laut Chalein" is a film about love, peace and harmony. It is made in the late Raj Kapoor style and has a social message for every Indian. The story is passable, the best aspects of the film being its pace and attractive visuals. The music has been given by Nadeem Shravan and the lyrics are by Sameer. Unlike some of Akshaye Khanna's recent starrers, Aa Ab Laut Chalein" offers him ample scope to display his prowess as an actor. Aishwarya Rai is chirpy and lively throughout the film. Character artistes like Jaspal Bhatti, Satish Kaushik, Kadar Khan and Paresh Rawal are comfortable in and well-suited to their roles. Rajesh Khanna's contribution to the film is commendable. Hu Tu Tu (Jagat): After the thought-provoking "Maachis", critics said Gulzar had become a serious director. However, his latest film (under the banner of Time Films International) "Hu Tu Tu" is a light musical. It is about the choices one has to make in the face of difficulties. The film also attempts to show how corruption has become part of our lives: and the complacency that has set in. Technically, the film is superb, with Gulzar's excellent direction and an efficient team of performers and technicians. "Hu Tu Tu" has powerful melodies by music director Vishal which are fused with Gulzar's brilliant lyrics. Sunil Shetty's performance
in the film is impressive and Tabu comes across as a
transformed, mature actress. Suhasini Mulay, Shivaji
Satam, Dr Mohan Agashe and Kulbhushan Kharbanda are
perfectly suited to the characters they portray in the
film. |
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