Sec 34 blast

City police to interrogate 2 BKI men held in Delhi
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh July 1 — While there has been no breakthrough in the yesterday bomb blast here in an unmanned parking lot in Sector 34, the police is hopeful of achieving something vital with the arrest of two Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) activists from the Inter State Bus Terminus in New Delhi.

A police party from the operations cell today left for interrogating the duo who were nabbed with two pencil timers and 2 kg of RDX explosive while alighting from a bus originating from Punjab. While Balbir Singh Bains hails from Hoshiarpur and is a British citizen, Sukhminder Singh, alias Sukha is a resident of Ferozepore.

According to police sources, the expertise of using high-powered explosives like RDX and PETN is with the BKI who still have some well-trained hardcore activists in the region capable of such strikes. The origin of the RDX found in their possession and the procurement source may help in solving the present incident.

Meanwhile, raids at various suspected hideouts were carried in Chandigarh and neighbouring areas, but no clue has been found so far.

A handicap obstructing the investigations is lack of any identification of the scooter in which the bomb was planted. The chassis number of the scooter had been completely filed off but the police is hopeful that the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) will come up with something. A report is being awaited, the sources added.

A meeting was convened by the UT Administrator, Lieut Gen B.K.N. Chhibber, in this context today. The IGP, Mr S K Singh, reportedly dwelt on the sequence of events that led to the blast and the various theories being explored by the police.

The IGP, Mr S K Singh told TNS that such investigations take some time and they were working on various theories and were hopeful of an early breakthrough. It was too early to comment on who was behind the blast. Things would become clear after the CFSL report.

He, however, said patrolling had been intensified at all vital installations and the general security had been tightened. Since it was not possible to check each and every vehicle and person that enters the city, random checks and nakas would be set up all over the city.

The SSP, Mr C.S.R. Reddy, said in addition to surprise nakas, the SHOs have been directed to go in their areas asking residents for their cooperation. The people have been asked to report any persons moving about in suspicious circumstances in their sector or neighbourhood besides keeping a watch on abandoned or unclaimed objects

The nakas on the outskirts of the city, which were being manned by the personnel of the India Reserve Battalions (IRB), will now be supplemented with local cops.

The police is also stepping up its vigil at the Sector 17 ISBT and repeated warnings on the public address system not to touch any unclaimed object are being aired. The public is also being told to look in their immediate vicinity before sitting down for their journey. Any abandoned objects and articles should be reported immediately, he added.

Meanwhile, before the blast occurred on June 30 at about 12:35 p.m., there was a major power breakdown in the city. A few minutes later, there was deafening sound in Sector-34. Some thought it was a cylinder blast, while a few felt that some AC’s compressor had blown out. But people were startled to find that it was the sound of a bomb that had exploded in a parking place of a commercial complex in the sector.

Following the blast, window panes were broken. People were shocked to see their vehicles shattered into pieces. Some vehicles parked near the spot of blast were engulfed in flames.

Mr M.M. Lohani, Computer Manager, Milkfed, Ms Nidhi, a trainee in the Milkfed, and many others had not even insured their vehicles. Some of these were brand new. “Only the engine of my Maruti van is left, rest has broken into pieces. It involves an expenditure of nearly Rs 17,000. Window panes and other losses are estimated at Rs 8,000 says Mr Deepak, Manager, Meera and Company, Sector-34.

This sector is a developing area with no proper parking system and any watchman. In the past, some vehicles were found missing, but no appropriate action was taken. “Had there been any watch on the parking areas, this would have not happened”, say people of this sector.

“It is a big financial loss to me. I took loan from office and bought a Kinetic Honda in ‘96. I had not even finished paying back the instalments, and this happened”, says Ms Shashi Sidhu, an employee of the Housefed here. It was a big shock for her to see her vehicle smashed into pieces in front of her eyes. The insurance is not going to cover all her losses.

Life was back to normal today, but a question that haunted many was “If it is Sector-34 today, which will be the sector tomorrow?”

Electronic voting this time
By Poonam Batth
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH July 1— Electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be used for the first time in all polling stations of the city during the coming parliamentary elections. Nearly 650 EVMs, one at each polling station, are expected to be used, which will provide the necessary information at the press of a few buttons.

Following the successful use of these machines in the elections to select assembly constituencies in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and the recent byelections in Goa, the Election Commission has decided to extend the use of the same to a few more Parliamentary constituencies, including Chandigarh. Keeping in view the character of the urban population of the city, the experiment of people casting votes through the EVMs is likely to prove a test example.

The UT Election Department is busy gearing up to make the entire process of electioneering more hi-tech. Conduct of polling, display of total votes polled, sealing at the end of the poll and the declaration of results will be done through the EVMs. While the department has 400-odd EVMs in stock, it has requested the Election Commission to provide more machines as following an increase in the number of voters in the revised lists, the number of polling stations is bound to increase. The revised rolls of voters will be displayed on July 21.

The Deputy Commissioner, Mr M. Ramashekhar, who is also Additional Chief Electoral Officer for this constituency, said the installation of these machines would leave no scope for tampered or tendered votes and, thereby, reduce the number of invalid votes. He explained that the machine has an extremely sensitive circuit which takes care of common election errors or malpractices like vote duplication. For instance, if one even tried to press two or more buttons simultaneously, no vote will be cast. In fact, even if there was a micro-second difference in the pressing of the switches, the EVM is sensitive enough to trace and identify the switch that was pressed first.

Moreover, the compilation and processing of data will be much easier and the results declared through them will also be faster and more reliable. "We will be in a position to declare the results in perhaps an hour on the same day, as at the end of polling all that you are required to get the results is to press a button,'' he added. When counting is done manually, the results often come out late at night.

Hence being fast and expedient, the EVM saves considerable time, money and manpower and also helps maintain total voting secrecy. It will also take off the massive burden of safeguarding the ballot boxes at various polling centres before counting begins and the expenditure incurred on deploying security for the purpose. The chances of recounting will also get minimised.

Mr Ramashekhar further clarified that though the mechanism of operating the device is very simple, yet extensive training will be imparted to the presiding officers for its proper use.

How EVM works

The EVM consists of two units that can be inter-linked. One, a ballot unit which a voter uses to exercise his vote. And the other, a control unit used by the polling officials. A simple voting device, it displays the list of candidates. The facility to incorporate party names and symbols is inbuilt. A single ballot unit takes in the names of 16 candidates.

To commence polling, the polling officer activates the "ballot'' switch on the control unit. The voter then has to press the button of his choice on the ballot unit. This is followed by a short beep sound, indicating that the vote has been cast. Once again, the polling officer has to press the "ballot'' switch to clear the machine for the next voter to cast his vote.

Secretariat goes without water
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH July 1 — Nearly 15,000 employees of the Punjab and Haryana Civil Secretariat had to do without water after lunch today. A couple of buckets of water were arranged for some of the VVIPs, including the Chief Ministers and the Chief Secretaries as all overhead tanks went dry and no supplies were made in the afternoon and the evening.

Senior functionaries of both the Punjab and Haryana Governments got in touch with top functionaries of the Engineering Department of the Administration but were rewarded with little success.

A spokesman of the Haryana Government said the Superintending Engineer, Public Health Circle, had assured of restoration of supply within an hour in the afternoon but nothing happened.

The employees resented that inspite of their plight, not a single water tanker was sent to the Secretariat building. They maintained that no efforts were made to make any supplementary supplies to provide relief to thirsty employees.

Sources in the Administration admitted that the water supply was affected for some time because of disruption in power supply to the tubewell that fed the seat of administration of both Punjab and Haryana. They maintained that water tankers were sent and the supply was restored in the evening after the power supply was restored to the tubewell.

Gurdas Mann show for Kargil heroes
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH July 1 — The Strides Charitable Trust will organise a Gurdas Mann nite in honour of the Kargil war heroes on July 4 in the city.

Ms Bittu Sandhu and Ms Ritu Jhingon, spokespersons of the trust, said it was an attempt to show solidarity with the troops fighting in Kargil . Lieut-Gen BKN Chhibber, UT Administrator, will be the chief guest. The trust will make contribution for the families of the martyrs from the proceeds of the nite.

Keeping up the pace of donations and contributions for the welfare of our troops fighting in Kargil, more organisations have come forward to donate liberally to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.

Members of the Punjab Civil Audit Association have donated a day’s salary to the fund. A sum of Rs 2. 21 lakh will be deducted from the salaries of the Group ABC and D staff working at the head office and the offices located at Nangal and Patiala and sent to the fund. Members also expressed their willingness to perform civil defence duties in case of any emergency, according to Mahant Ram Vatsyayan, General Secretary of the association.

Mrs Kamla Sharma, Chairperson, Chandigarh Social Welfare Advisory Board, officers and staff members have donated one days salary to the PM’s Relief Fund. The staff also observed a two-minute silence in the memory of those who have made the supreme sacrifice for the country.

Members of the Haryana State Attorneys Association have decided to donate a day’s salary to the fund. A blood donation camp will also be organised shortly, according to a statement by Mr Y K Sharma, Secretary of the association.

Students and staff of the Jawahar Navodaya Vidalaya have lauded the role of the troops fighting in Kargil and paid tributes to those who have laid down their lives in the conflict. The staff has decided to donate a day’s salary towards the fund.

Members of the Chandigarh UT Subordinate Services Federation and the joint action committee of the Municipal Corporation Employees and Workers and the PGI Medical Technologists Association will also donate a day’s salary for the benefit of those wounded at Kargil.

Members of the Chandigarh Area MES Workers Union will hold a blood donation camp for the benefit of those injured at Kargil.

The local unit of the SJP has written to the Command Hospital in which the names of 25 persons have been listed who will be available for any service whereever required by the authorities.

Meanwhile, the signature and messages on banners for the troops in the Kargil campaign organised by the local unit of the CTYC has received a tremendous response, according to a statement by Mr Chandermukhi Sharma, local unit chief.

The town planners working in the Department of Town and Country Planning, Haryana, have decided to donate a day’s salary to the Haryana Chief Ministers War Heroes Relief Fund.

The Chander Wati Goel Memorial Charitable Institution has donated Rs 1, 100 to the Haryana Chief Minister’s War Heroes Relief Fund.

Computer snag halts PNB work
Pensioners, customers wait in vain
From A Correspondent

CHANDIGARH July 1 — Customers of Punjab National Bank's (PNB) main branch at Sector 17, here, today suffered as no transaction took place due to the failure of the computer software. Pensioners and saving account holders were kept waiting to draw money.

According to a source, the terminals have not been working since last evening. He said that the software package bought for Y2K compatibility had developed a snag and as a result "the day end" was aborted.

Mr V.K. Kapoor, a retired officer, was of the view that although the terminals were not working since last evening, the authorities should have either made alternative arrangement or informed their customers of the fault. He alleged that information was displayed only around 11 a.m. on the notice board.

Mr Tara Singh, employed with the Government of Punjab, who came all the way from Ludhiana to draw money from his savings account, said, "I am here since 10 a.m. and now it is 1:30 p.m. Although the terminals have not got started, I will wait till the closing time of the transaction." He alleged that the manual service was far better than the recently introduced computer system as it was less time consuming.

An old man in his 70s said, "I came from Karnal to draw money to buy jewellery and other items for the marriage of my daughter, which is slated for Friday." He said that he had been waiting since morning in the hope that the computers might start working.

Mr R.C. Sharma, a holder of savings, pension and fixed deposit accounts of the bank, lamented he could not draw payments from any of his accounts. While saying that the bank is known as the "pensioners' bank", as people from far-off places come here to draw their pensions, he alleged that when the air-conditioners donot work, the staff did not transact business and there was inadequate arrangement for senior citizens.

Puspawati, with her swollen legs, who was seen finding it difficult to stand in a queue, alleged, "The pensioners come on the first day of every month, but the bank officials do not cooperate with us. The authorities should give proper attention to the redress of our grievances."

The AGM of Punjab National Bank, Mr S.K. Aggarwal, said that the heavy workload in the quarterly endings led to lack of space in the software which resulted in the halting of the computers. The development of a snag in the Y2K compliant software also made matters worse. He maintained that engineers had spent last night trying to rectify that snag and was hopeful that they would succeed soon.

He claimed that a contingency plan had been worked out under which, arrangements had been made for the convenience of the customers, especially senior citizens. Mr Aggarwal assured that he was trying to begin the transactions manually and payments would be given.

Resolutions await implementation
By Pradeep Sharma
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH July 1 — When it comes to passing resolutions, nobody can match the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC). But the implementation of the resolution leaves much to be desired with the result that a majority of the resolutions passed by the 29-member civic body have remained on papers or have been implemented in their diluted form.

One of the such resolutions passed was regarding the putting up signboards at the sites of works being undertaken by the civic body. The boards were to give details of the projects so that the general public could know the facts about the projects.

The boards were to give the names of the projects and agencies and contractors undertaking the works with their address and telephone numbers. In addition, the dates of commencement and completion and the total cost of the projects were to be mentioned.

The resolution, aimed at bringing transparency in the functioning of the corporation wanted that the main ingredients used in the projects should be highlighted.

Similarly, the name of the area councillor with his address and telephone number was to be displayed.

Participating in the discussion, members had hailed the move as "landmark" which would bring the much-needed transparency in the working of the civic body. It was also contended that the decision would give the public an opportunity to get the details of the projects, mainly funded by taxpayers' money.

But true to its reputation, the civic body has yet to implement the decision even after lapse of several months in a majority of the cases. In the projects where the boards had been put, only partial information has been provided.

In fact, the leader of the BJP-SAD alliance, Mr Des Raj Tandon, had sent a question for the meeting of the House on June 30, which was later adjourned in this regard. The MCC in its reply said: "The necessary instructions to field officers to put display boards at sites had already been passed. It has been confirmed by the executive engineers that whereever possible these instructions are being implemented. They have expressed difficulties in implementing these instructions where the duration of the project is very small. However, these instructions are being reiterated for implementation."

Resolution: "It is resolved that all projects costing above Rs 1 lakh undertaken by the MCC will put up information boards at the visible sites of work in bold letters giving the necessary information and on its completion a certificate will be given by a committee which will include the area councillor".

Seminar on role of open school
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH July 1 — The role of the National Open School in being effective in countering the problem of dropouts, helping in providing education to the underprivileged classes of society and promoting education among women was the central theme of the seminar held at the College of Arts, Sector 10, here today. The seminar was organised by the Punjab School Education Board in collaboration with the National Open School.

In the inaugural session, the Education Minister of Punjab, Mr Tota Singh, appreciated the efforts of the open school in reaching out to those sections of learners who, for one reason or another, could not comply with the discipline demanded by formal education.

Dr Kehar Singh, Chairman, Punjab School Education Board, welcomed the chief guest and delegates, while Dr Gurdev Singh Sidhu, Vice-Chairman of the board, presented the vote of thanks.

Speaking on the ''importance and role of the National Consortium for Open Schooling'', Mr S.S. Sangal, Director (Academic), National Open School, New Delhi, stated that the curriculum design organisation, research on the socio-economic and educational constraints, learning, transaction and delivery through audio-visual means and evaluation of the learning outcome were essential for the success of any academic exercise, especially so far the open school was concerned.

Prof Harlal Singh, Director (Academic), Punjab School Education Board, in his paper on ''Status paper on Punjab Open School'', said the universalisation of education could not be achieved through formal schooling. The essential problems facing the concept of formal schooling, he specified, were the problems of dropouts which was 21.74 per cent at the primary level and 39.22 per cent for middle classes, that of the migratory labour and working children who could not take the advantage of the formal school education, the women with a greater dropout rate than men and lack of proper guidance and supervision by schools due to lack of motivation on the part of the teachers.

Prof N.K. Ambashat, Chairman, National Open School, said that the organisation was helping education to reach every nook and corner of Punjab. He said that this was the first state-level function which would be followed by many such functions and seminars at the district level. ''We are there to provide technical and professional training with an essentially advisory role. In creating the awareness programme about Punjab Open School, we are playing the catalysts and are providing men and material,'' he contended.

The Deputy Director of Punjab Open School, Ms Pavitter Pal Kaur, read out the report of the conference on ''open learning'' organised last October by the Punjab School Education Board and National Open School. She read out a paper on ''Open school learning —a global concept'' in which she explained that there was the need to work honestly at the centres set up to provide education and to campaign extensively to create an awareness about the facility of open learning schools among the rural and backward areas. She added that improvements could be brought about in the system of open school education by introducing vocational subjects, offering additional subjects and using modern techniques and modes of communication.

Engineers threaten protest
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH July 1 — The Association of Power Engineers of the Union Territory of Chandigarh has threatened to resort to work to rule besides going on long leave in protest against their harassment by the Vigilance Cell of the Administration.

All members of the association — today presented copies of their memorandum to the Administrator, Home Secretary and Secretary Engineering of the Administration. It demanded immediate withdrawal of criminal case registered against some senior functionaries of the Electricity Operations Circle on the charges of preparing inflated rough estimates of cable work.

The association expressed its deep concern over the arrest of Mr J.C. Gilhotra, a former Superintending Engineer of the circle, and Mr C.J. Rai, an Executive Engineer. The association condemned the framing of the false criminal cases on flimsy grounds. The routine functioning of the department had been exposed to criminal law without any examination by technical experts.

“The preparation of estimates is normally based on the prevalent instructions of the administration. They are framed as per prevalent practice, i.e., either on stock issue rates for the items available in the central stores or on market rates for the items not available in the central stores. This is the normal procedure of the department and the same was followed by the arrested engineers also. They framed the estimates for providing 11 KV underground feeder from Sector 34 to Sector 11, which the Vigilance Department has taken as an inflated estimate”, the memorandum said.

The association also maintained that no engineer of the department would frame any estimate until clear-cut guidelines were issued by the administration.

No engineer of the Department would go out of the way to make spot purchases to maintain the continuity of power supply to the city.

“Situation calls for withdrawal of criminal cases registered against the power engineers on flimsy grounds and the arrested engineers be released fortwith. In case the administration fails to take these remedial steps, the association will be left with no alternatives but to resort to work to rule and its members will proceed on long leave”, the memorandum said.

Rising to the occasion
From Our Correspondent

KHARAR July 1 — It was a rare act of love for the country which was seen here today when a beggar donated all the money he had collected today for the welfare of the Army men fighting in the Kargil sector.

Mr Vijay Gupta, a member of the local Lions Club, told reporters that the members of the club were collecting donations from the public in Mundi Kharar today when suddenly a beggar asked the members why they were collecting money. When he was told that they were collecting money for the Army men fighting in Kargil, he asked the club members whether they would accept his money.

When the club members replied in affirmative, the beggar happily donated the coins and notes he had collected today. The amount totalled Rs 10.

Mr Gupta said all members were moved by the poor man’s gesture and thanked him for his donation.

SSC to make group ‘B’ recruitment
By Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH July 1 — Recruitment to all group ‘B’ posts in the maximum pay scale of Rs 10,500 has been taken out of the purview of the Union Public Service Commission and given to the Staff Selection Commission.

According to a letter issued by the Deparment of Personnel of the Chandigarh Administration last week, all Administrative Secretaries and heads of departments of the Administration, have been asked to route their recruitments for all group “B” posts through the Deputy Regional Director, North Western Regional office of the Staff Selection Commission in Chandigarh.

The Supreme Court had directed the constitution and functions of the Staff Selection Commission to become effective from June 1 this year in its orders in Radhey Shyam versus Union of India case.

The commission will work as an attached office of the Union Department of Personnel and Training and comprise of a Chairman, two members and a Secretary-cum-Controller of Examination.

Under the Union Government notification, the Staff Selection Commission shall make recruitment to all group “B” and “C” posts in the various ministries, departments of the Union Government and their attached and subordinate offices, except for those which are exempt from the purview of the commission.

The commission will also conduct examination or interviews, as and when required, for recruitment to the posts within its purview. It shall, in particular, hold competitive examination for recruitment to posts of lower division clerks (LDCs), including the Indian Foreign Service (B), Railway Board, Secretariat Clerical service and Armed Forces Headquarters Clerical Service.

It will also conduct competitive examinations for the posts of assistants besides those of Inspectors of Central Excise in different Collectorates of Central Excise, Inspectors of Income Tax, Preventive Officers and examiners in different Customs houses, Assistant Enforcement Officers; Sub-Inspectors in Delhi Police, Central Bureau of Investigation and Central Police Organisations; Divisional Accountants, Auditors and Accountants under the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.

The commission will also hold departmental examination for promotion from group “D” to group “C” and other posts.

None of the engineering posts of group “B” of the Chandigarh Administration fall within the purview of the newly set up commission. Some other group “B” posts in other departments under the Administration may fall within the purview of the Staff Selection Commission.

New guidelines on forest land use
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA July 1 — The Union Ministry of Environment and Forest has issued fresh guidelines on the diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, that are part of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. The chief wildlife wardens have been given more powers in the case of areas which do not fall under a sanctuary or a national park.

The guidelines have been issued after the ministry received a number of proposals from different state governments seeking permission to use forest land for non-forestry purposes even in wildlife sanctuaries or national parks.

Sources said that the ministry had asked the respective state governments to avoid recommending cases for use of forest areas inside sanctuaries and national parks and project tiger areas. The state governments had been asked to get the consent of the Indian Board of Wildlife before getting approval of the state legislatures for denotification of an area as sanctuary.

Besides, the state governments had been asked to seek specific comments of the chief wildlife wardens when it pertained to the use of forest area outside a wildlife sanctuary or a national park.

21 lakh cubic feet of silt removed
Annual shramdan ends
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH July 1 — Nearly 21 lakh cubic feet of silt was removed from the bed of Sukhna Lake during shramdan which concluded here this morning. A total of 20.10 lakh cubic feet of silt was removed by mechanical means while the remaining 8,500 cubic feet was removed manually through shramdan which started on May 7.

Mr N.K. Jain, Home Secretary, presided over the concluding function and gave away prizes to regular "shramdanis" and also to winners of the essay contest for school students organised by the Save Sukhna Lake Society.

The winners of the Narinder Kumar Goyal Memorial Essay Competition are : Class 11 and 12 students -- Reshmi Negi (Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 8)1, Harsharan Walia (DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8) 2, Renu (Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 21-A) 3.

Class IX and X : Rajni Chauhan (Government High School, Sector 7) 1, Maninder Kaur (Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 8) 2, Aniket Prasoon (DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8) 3.

Class VI and VII : Neetu Rani 1, Sarika 2 and Ritu 3 ( all from Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 8)

The regular "shramdanis" honoured today are : Mr Sham Lal Singla, Mr Rakesh Sharma, Mr Harbans Lal Gupta, Mr T.D. Shara, Ms Chandi Sharma, Mr Jagmohan Goyal, Mr M.L. Mittal, Mr G.S. Virdi, Mr G.S. Bachhal, Mr Khem Parkash Mahajan, Mr J.S. Bhogal, Mr Shamsher Singh, Mr Jagjit Singh, Mr Ajit Pal Singh, Mr K.L. Sharma, Mr Dayal Singh, Mr Jatinder Marulah, Mr Naresh Kumar Gupta, Mr Manoj Kumar, Mr Prem Sagar, Mr Kesar Singh, Ms Neelam, Mr Nirbhay Singh, Mr Raman Kumar Gupta, Ms Jaspal Kaur, Ms Kuldeep Kaur, Ms Ganga Devi, Mr Khushwant Singh, Mr Vipin, Mr Sunil Kumar, Mr Vinod Sharma, Mr Vikramjit, Mr Sachdev Sharma, Mr Raj Kumar, Mr Roshan Lal, Mr Hitesh, Mr Balbir Singh, Mr Kamaljit Singh, Mr Manjit Singh and Ms Rozy Sharma.

SNIPPETS

Summer workshop concludes
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH July 1 — Watching their wards perform finer movements of ‘Bharatnatyam’ must have been a delightful experience for parents on the concluding day’s function of the one-month-long workshop on classical dance organised by Punjab Sangeet Natak Academy at the Sector 16 Punjab Kala Bhavan here today.

The summer workshop, meant for students of different schools, was conducted under the guidance of Suchitra Mitra, a renowned classical dancer.

The function took off on a colourful note with about 30 tiny toddlers, attired in bright traditional dresses depicting different nine ‘rasas’ and ‘bhawas’ of the dance with an ‘expert like’ confidence, with Ms Mitra accompanying them.

What attracted the onlookers most was expression of ‘drishti vedha’ (movement of eyes), ‘hast vedha’ (movement of hands), ‘parda vedha’(movement of legs), all basic components of the classical south Indian dance and depiction of fear, laughter and peace.

The workshop, attended by a large number of parents, concluded with ‘swarna mala’, a dance sequence and ‘maushik vahna’, an item in the praise of Lord Ganesha.

FCI, OIC gesture
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH July 1 — To help the soldiers fighting infiltrators in the Kargil sector, employees of different organisations have decided to contribute a day’s salary towards the Army Central Welfare Fund.

In a press note issued here today, the Food Corporation of India Employees Union District Secretary Mr Swatantra Kumar said the employees of the local industrial area district office of the FCI today donated a day’s salary towards the fund.

Similarly, employees of the Oriental Insurance Company (OIC) expressed their solidarity with soldiers by donating one day’s salary.

Railway retirees stationed at Chandigarh, SAS Nagar and Panchkula, paid rich tributes to Kargil martyrs by observing a two-minute silence. During the function organised by the Railways Senior Citizens Welfare Society, the retirees contributed towards the Army Central Welfare Fund.

Pak PM's effigy burnt
From Our Correspondent

DERA BASSI July 1 — In protest against the intrusion from across the Line of Control (LoC) supported by the Pakistan Army, members of the local Rotaract Club and the Yuva Shakti Club burnt the effigy of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif here today.

Earlier the protesters held a procession carrying the effigy through the streets of the city and raised slogans like ''Kargil shaheed amar rahen", "Ghuspaithio vapis jao", "Bharat Mata ki jai" and "Pakistan hai hai".

Mr Harjinder Singh, President, Rotaract Club, and Mr Upendra Chaddha, President, Yuva Shakti Club, along with members of the two clubs take a pledge to make all sacrifices for the motherland. They said they were ready to go to the border after getting the necessary training.