Thursday, July 8, 1999
|
N E W S Thursday, July 8, 1999 |
|
| weather n
spotlight today's calendar |
Bodies of 6 Turtuk heroes
arrive in city CHANDIGARH, July 7 — The mortal remains of six valiant soldiers who laid down their life while fighting intruders in the Turtuk sector on July 4 were brought to the N Area by air from Leh here this morning. The bodies, which were expected yesterday, could not arrive on schedule as they could not be retrieved due to the inhospitable terrain, in time to reach the airfield. Therefore the arrangements to give them full military honours had to be cancelled. The coffins carrying the bodies of Lt Amit Verma, Havaldar Suresh Chauhan, Havaldar Karam Singh, Naik K. Rampal, Sepoy Prem Lal and Sepoy Raman Kumar were received here today. While Lt Verma and Sepoy Raman Kumar were in their early 20s and unmarried, the rest were married. All these martyrs belonged to 9 Mahar Regiment. Lt Verma hailed from Bahrai village in the Jhajjar district (Haryana), Hav Karam Singh from Chananrari Sled village in the Hoshiarpur district, Hav Suresh Chauhan from Kaloli village in the Sangli district (Maharashtra), Naik K. Rampal from Salolha village (Rohtak), Sepoy Raman Kumar from Alaniya village (Jammu) and Sepoy Prem Lal from Kho village in the Aligarh district (Uttar Pradesh). The Tricolour-draped bodies were brought to the N Area from the airport in decorated corteges and were accorded full military honours. An army contingent reversed arms as the buglers sounded the last posts. While the bodies of four soldiers belonging to distant places were sent by air to Delhi, the remaining two were sent to their respective destinations by road. Wreaths were laid on behalf of the Army Chief by Brig S.K. Sinha, the Air Chief by Air Commodore S.K. Banerjee, and the Army Commander of the Western Command, by Colonel Shakti Parshad, besides the CO of the 322 AD Regiment. Wreaths were also laid on behalf of the Punjab Chief Minister by Brig K.S. Kahlon, the Haryana Rajya Sainik Board by Major (retd) D.P.S. Badhwar. A wreath was also laid by Mr M.R. Mittal, Vice-President of the Seva Bharti. For the first time since the coffins carrying the bodies of those martyred in Operation Vijay began arriving in N Area of the city, the Chandigarh Administration today deputed its representative to lay wreaths on these. The administration had been criticised for its alleged show of disrespect to the martyrs who had laid down their live for the motherland by the local unit of the Congress. So far, the administration had not deputed anybody to acknowledge the supreme sacrifice made by the soldiers by laying wreaths on their bodies. Wreaths were today laid on behalf of Lieut-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber, Punjab Governor and UT Administrator, by Lieut-Gen B.S. Randhawa (retd) and on behalf of Mrs Vineeta Rai, Adviser to the Administrator, by Lieut-Col G.S. Dhillon (retd). So far the mortal
remains of 68 soldiers have been received at N Area and
sent to various destinations across the region and the
rest of the country. |
UGC
disallows private candidates CHANDIGARH, July 7—The fate of thousands of students appearing in the various degree examinations of Panjab University as private candidates hangs in balance in the wake of a directive issued by the UGC in the letter dated May 17 which says, "No candidate will be allowed to appear in the university examinations as private candidate with effect from the session 1999-2000''. The circular citing the contents of the letter was issued by the Registrar, Prof Paramjit Singh, to principals of all affiliated colleges and chairpersons of all departments of the university. The UGC directive has come as a bolt from the blue for students and the university authorities alike who were caught unawares at a time when they have their hands full and are in the midst of the process of declaration of results. The Registrar, Prof Paramjit Singh, explained, "It is a directive by the UGC and we can do very little about it except make it known. We have made this announcement prior to the commencement of admissions to forewarn students that the facility of appearing privately would not be available henceforth.'' Senators, Syndics and a student organisation has come out strongly against the letter and condemned it as an attempt which would throttle the spread of education, especially among the women and some of the reserved categories among the boys who were earlier allowed to appear as private candidates from the university, their number being about 40,000. Speaking against the letter, Mr Charanjit Chawla, Fellow,opined that it was "illogical and unconstitutional to have issued such a letter without discussing the implications threadbare in the governing body'' and went to the extent of questioning the utility of having the Senate and the Syndicate. Reacting to the contents of the letter, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, Fellow and Syndic, rued, "This was just another instance of the university administration to arbitrarily implement decisions without deliberating on the issue in the democratically elected fora like the Syndicate and Senate, competent to take decisions on vital policy matters. Dr R.D. Anand, Prof Anirudh Joshi, Mr Rajinder Deepa and Mr Dharamvir Arya also expressed their unhappiness over the "hasty decision'' of disallowing private candidates to take examinations of degree classes. "We appeal to the Vice-Chancellor to withdraw the letter immediately and place this before the Syndicate so that the views of the members can be taken in the discussion that ensues. Even though it happens to be a UGC notification, it is clearly mentioned in the statues and regulations that the Senate and Syndicate have the sole authority of amending these as per requirement,'' they said in a joint statement. Condemning the contents of the letter, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad has said that disallowing private candidates from appearing in university examinations was asynchronous with the Indian educational system which is wholly dependent on the marks attained in the examination for judging the capability of the students. Amarjot Singh,
spokesperson for the ABVP, said, "This would deny
many students the right to go in for higher studies since
they can ill-afford college education. It will, further
prove detrimental to those students are making a living
even as they have continued to study by appearing as
private candidates.'' |
Most
streetlights faulty CHANDIGARH, July 7 — Even as the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) pays lakhs of rupees to the Electricity Department of the Chandigarh Administration for the maintenance of streetlights, a majority of the residents continue to grope in the dark on account of non-functioning of streetlights. A quick survey of the city revealed that a majority of the streetlights have been non-functional for quite sometime. And the absence of a clear-cut demarcation of the maintenance work between the civic body and the administration only adds to the problems of the residents. It may be mentioned that the Electricity Department maintained streetlights served through the overhead wires. The maintenance cost of the streetlights, which comprised those on the V-6 roads in front of the houses, was, however, paid by the MCC to the Electricity Department. The streetlights on the other roads — V-3,V-4 and V-5 —served by the underground cables, were maintained by the civic body. According to sources in the administration, the civic body has been paying lakhs of rupees to the Electricity Department for the maintenance of streetlights on V-6 roads by way of service-line charges since the formation of the MCC in 1996. As many as 10 sub-divisions of the department had been sending bi-monthly electricity bills to the corporation on an average basis since a majority of the meters were defective. The MCC is being billed for every streetlight functioning for 10 hours irrespective of the fact whether it is in working order or not. As the the civic body has no mechanism to check whether proper maintenance work had been undertaken, it ends up paying a huge extra amount to the department. The civic body had reportedly taken up matter with the department only a couple of times during the past over three years. It is learnt that out of the Rs 2.35 crore planned expenditure earmarked for new work in the last financial year, only about Rs 11 lakh could be spent. Some of the amount from the planned expenditure was later reportedly diverted to pay the bills. This amount was over and above the non-planned expenditure specially allocated for the payment of bills. The sources said since the department was incurring a loss of over Rs 1.5 crore per month on account of power theft by the labour colony residents through kundi connections, the loss was being recouped by billing the MCC on an average basis. And even after payment of this large sum, the end result had been dark nights for the residents. To top it all, the theft of costly equipment like stabilisers, timer switches and TPN switches from a number of feeder panels, which control the functioning of the streetlights of the respective roads, had made the situation worse. Though the MCC had lodged FIRs with the police, yet little effort had been made to recover the equipment costing over Rs 1.5 lakh. It was found that the locks and shutters of a large number of feeder panels were broken. This was in sharp contrast to the well-maintained feeders panels by the Telecom Department. Moreover, the Streetlight and Electricity Workers Union's intention seems to to make the streetlight system a failure so that the members could be transferred back to the Administration which had been their major demand. It may be recalled that the same staff, to which the civic body added a number of daily wage workers, were maintaining the streetlight quite efficiently before they were transferred to MCC in 1996. Meanwhile, there is
perennial discontent among the union members. They had
reportedly opposed the appointment of an SDO from the
Haryana cadre, who was later given the charge of Xen,
contending that a person from the MCC should have been
promoted. Streetlight complaints of the V-6 roads facing the houses can be lodged with the respective electricity and water bill collection centres. These complaints are in turn forwarded to the centralised complaint centre in Sector 7. Complaints of other
areas are the responsibility of the corporation. |
20 school
buses challaned CHANDIGARH, July 7 — In a drive launched from today to ensure that school buses and other vehicles used for transporting children to schools in the city ply in accordance with the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the State Transport Authority (STA) impounded one bus and challaned 20 others for flouting various norms of the Motor Vehicles Act. The drive was conducted after school hours to ensure that children are not put to any inconvenience and to avoid any confusion. According to sources, the bus which was impounded today, carrying children of Bhavan Vidyalaya, Sector 27, was without a signed long-term lease agreement with the school concerned. On checking by STA teams, it was found that the same was plying as a private bus and was taking children entirely at its own risk and cost. A common practice in the past, particularly in case of big schools, has been against buying their own vehicles and instead entering into contracts with private bus operators for transporting children. However, recent directions of high court do not entertain such contracts in the absence of a proper permission. The Deputy Commissioner had in a meeting held recently with the heads of various private schools specified that schools which do not have their own buses and use the services of contractors should enter into long-term lease agreements with the bus owners with immediate effect in accordance with the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. This step had been suggested only to ensure that schools do not absolve themselves of the responsibility of safe transportation of children. The 21 buses which were challaned today for various offences are being used by St John’s School, Sacred Heart and St Kabir Public School in Sector 26. The offences for which they were challaned include drivers and conductors not wearing uniforms and nameplates showing the name and licence number, buses plying without conductors, not having first-aid boxes and for not carrying a board indicating the name of the school, route and timings conspicuously displayed in front of the bus. The STA had earlier issued circulars to all schools to comply with the directions stipulated in the judgement and submit a compliance report within 10 days of their implementation. The drive would continue
to keep a strict check on the plying of school buses and
two-wheelers by minors. |
Another
first for PGI cardiologists CHANDIGARH, July 7 — Cardiologists at the PGI have achieved yet another first in their field by providing the latest in cardiology. In a complex procedure, they have successfully closed a 1.5 centimetre hole in the heart of a five-year-old child by operating through a guide wire and a catheter inserted through a small hole in the right thigh. This did not need the conventional surgery that required opening up of the entire chest. Besides, the hospital stay was cut down from two weeks to a couple of days. Explaining the technique of eliminating surgery, Prof Jagmohan Varma, Head of the Cardiology Department of the PGI, said the method to put a wire through the thigh to reach the affected part of the heart was the same as used to carry out angiography or implant a stent in case of blocked arteries. A highly sophisticated wire was passed through the right leg of the five-year-old. In this case the wire and the catheter were then directed to the right atrium to close the hole between the right and left artium of the heart. Due to the hole, impure and pure bloods used get mixed, leading to recurrent infections, Prof Varma said. Normally, impure blood from the body, first comes to the right atrium from where it goes to the lungs for purification before entering the left atrium, finally going back in the body. The operation was carried out under local anaesthesia and it was the first time in this part of the country that a hole in the atrium was closed through this technique. Only G.B. Pant Hospital in New Delhi has carried out the procedure in North India. Further explaining the procedure, the doctor said that the two sides of the artium got closed by self opening 'discs' that opened on each side of the artium and were connected to each other. The 'disc' was carried to the hole through the catheter in a closed form. Once the protective cover was removed from the 'disc', it opened by itself, first on one side of the atrium. When the protective cover was pulled back further, the second part of the 'disc' opened on the other side of the atrium. ''All this is carried out through the wire and catheter only under a special watch,'' Prof Varma explained. The procedure was carried out on the child on Sunday and he was discharged on Monday. The child, who used to have infections, was examined by a general practitioner. He referred the child to the PGI where it was found that the child had a congenital defect. The doctor said that the
cost of the operation was around Rs 1.25 lakh as the
equipment was imported from the USA. He hoped that the
cost would come down once more users were there.
Thousands of children are born with congenital defects
each year. |
Sector 38
(W) housing complex hangs fire CHANDIGARH, July 7 — Too many cooks appear to have spoilt the broth as regards the completion of a prestigious Rs 75 crore mega housing complex in the Union Territory of Chandigarh. Although the project covering the construction of 1,692 houses, including LIG, MIG and HIG houses, flats and independent houses over an area of 60 acres west of Sector 38, has been completed for the past several months, the houses have not been handed over to the allottees so far because the Engineering Department of the UT Administration has failed to complete works regarding provision of external services, including water supply, roads, street lighting and sewerage and storm water outflow in the housing complex. As a matter of fact, the Engineering Department is still in the process of inviting tenders and allotting various works for execution. Even if the work is executed expeditiously, it will be months before the services are in places. The buyers who have already invested crores of rupees and have been looking forward to the realisation of the dream of owning a house in the City Beautiful may have to wait for a few months more. The Administration is said to have taken a serious view of the delay in the completion of works with regard to the provision of various services and is contemplating action against certain engineers of the Public Health Department. The engineers concerned have, however, come out with a rather lame bureaucratic explanation — frequent transfers of engineers in the past months which prevented them from concentrating on the job in hand and reallotment of tenders for various works. The main reason for the delay in the completion of the project is stated to be the involvement of two, instead of the usual one, agencies in the execution of the project, namely the Chandigarh Housing Board and the UT Engineering Department. For reasons best known to itself, the Administration decided a couple of years ago that while the buildings in the project would be constructed by the Chandigarh Housing Board, the development and provision of external services would be carried out by the Engineering Department. Protests from the Chandigarh Housing Board officers and their attempts to caution against obvious pitfalls were brushed aside. Their worst fears have now come true. The houses are compete but the development and provision of external services are still in the process being put in place. A major bottleneck is stated to be the construction of the storm water outflow which will take some time. This is not the end of the bad news for the allottees. The delay in the completion of the project has led to an escalation of its cost which in turn could well mean costlier housing units for them. "We are still in the process of working out the exact cost of the housing units", says Dr Mahavir Singh, Chief Executive Officer of the Chandigarh Housing Board. "We will know the true position only after the project is completed. But a cost escalation seems inevitable. However, our attempt will not be to pass it on to the allottees..." Meanwhile, the UT
Administration appears to have learnt nothing from its
bitter experience as regards the delay in the completion
of the west of Sector 38 housing project. It has once
again involved the Engineering Department in the
development and provision of external services in yet
another Chandigarh Housing Board complex consisting of
building 504 EWS and LIG units in Sector 54 at a cost of
Rs 7 crore. |
Stamp on
Jija Bai's anniversary CHANDIGARH, July 7 — A postal stamp to commemorate the 401st birth anniversary of Mata Jija Bai, mother, political guru and mentor of Shivaji, was released at a function held today at DAV College, Sector 10. The stamp was released by Dr Upinderjeet Kaur, Minister for Technical Education and Industry of Punjab. Though it was to be released by Col Tilak Raj, Chief Post Master General of the Punjab circle and Chandigarh, he decided to give this honour to the woman chief guest since the function was also organised to mark the birth anniversary of a woman. Former local MP, Mr Satya Pal Jain, and a councillor, Mrs Shanta Hitabhilashi, were also present on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Suman Sharma, an organiser of the Jija Mata Samarak and Joint Organiser of the Rashtriya Sevika Samiti, said that similar functions had been organised at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and other metropolitan cities of the country to release the stamp. The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, was to release the stamp in Delhi. The Rs 3 stamp in colour shows Mata Jija Bai narrating Ramayana to young Shivaji. Various speakers traced the life history of Mata Jija Bai and the role played by her in the Indian history. They spoke of her valour, wisdom, character and diplomatic governance. Col Tilak Raj said that Mata Jija Bai gave birth to a son in adverse times, who later set up a mighty and independent Hindu empire after defeating the Mughal forces. Dr Upinderjeet Kaur drew
a simile between the mother of Shivaji and the mother of
Guru Gobind Singh who also gave birth to a son who
emerged as the saviour of Hindus. Later, Mr Jain talked
about various aspects which were taken into consideration
by the committee while releasing the stamp. |
Haryana to reorient dental care
services PANCHKULA, July 7 — The Haryana Government has decided to reorient dental care services for prevention of major diseases, including oral cancer, besides expanding the oral health care services network in the state. It also plans to add dental care services in 50 more primary health centres. Inaugurating a three-day orientation camp for dental surgeons appointed in rural areas of the state here today, Mrs Kamal Anand, Health Secretary, Haryana, said 100 dental units had already been set up in the rural areas. The incidence of common dental diseases was very high. For example, 90 per cent of school-going children suffered from caries. This could be easily prevented by maintaining proper oro-dental hygiene. She said dental doctors should strive hard to win the confidence of the rural masses and suggested that village panchayats should be involved actively for promoting the dental health care programme. Referring to the demand of Dr L.K Gandhi for setting up a national dental research centre at Gurgaon, she said the government would consider it sympathetically. Delivering his key-note address, Dr L.K Gandhi, Adviser, Dental Services Government of India, said with the sustained efforts of the Indian dental association the dental surgeons had been placed on a par with the medical professionals. He said in 1947 there were only three dental colleges in India and today we had nearly 120. At present nearly 6,000 dental surgeons were passing out every year. However, he expressed his concern over the mushroom growth of dental colleges in the country. This trend should be stopped forthwith. He demanded setting up of a dental college in Chandigarh and expressed happiness over the efforts put in by the Haryana Government for creating awareness about dental care services. Dr Gandhi said the Indian Dental Association was hosting a mega international congress in January, 2000, under the banner of Third Triennial Commonwealth Dental Association. Dr P.L Jindal, Director-General Health Services, Haryana, said most of the dental diseases cropped up due to lack of precautionary measures. Many mothers gave pacifiers to the new-born infants which was a cause of many diseases. Dental caries was less in children who were breast fed. Dr Manju Dutta,
Director, Dental Services, said the aim of organising the
camp was to create awareness about the dental health care
at the grassroots level. |
Drivers
demand free bus travel facility CHANDIGARH, July 7 — Members of the Chandigarh Administration Field Drivers Welfare Association at a meeting held under the chairmanship of Mr Ujagar Singh Sohi expressed sympathies with the martyrs of Kargil by observing a two-minute silence. They also decided to contribute Rs 11,000 for the families of those soldiers who laid down their lives in Kargil. They urged the Administration to accept their demand for free travel facility in the CTU buses. They said that they had no objection if Rs 30 were deducted from their monthly salaries. The demanded that the drivers of heavy vehicles should be given the scale of heavy vehicle on the lines of the scales paid to the drivers of the CTU, the Fire Brigade, the PEC, etc. The daily-waged drivers should be made permanent and the salaries of the drivers should be at a par with the JBT teachers. They also demanded that they should be given raincoats, soap and oil as was the case in some other departments. They should also be given uniforms. The drivers should be given increments after eight, 16, 24 and 32 years of service, besides family pension increments. Government vehicles should be fully insured so that all risks were covered. The drivers should have a quota in the allotment of houses of the Chandigarh Administration and the Chandigarh Housing Board. They honoured Mr Manohar
Lal, a driver of the Municipal Corporation who retired on
June 30, 1999. The members, by way of a unanimous
resolution, gave the powers of the General Secretary to
Mr Raghubir Singh Rampur, who is already the Finance
Secretary of the association. |
Disrupted
phone services MANAULI (SAS Nagar), July 7 — A disruption in the telecom services in more than 18 villages under the Manauli rural telephone exchange for the past fortnight has become a nightmare for the subscribers. Manauli and its adjoining villages are surrounded by sewer nullah which swells during the rains causing widespread damage. Villagers say that the telephone services should be restored as early as possible as the area is flood prone and gets marooned. In such a situation telephones are the only means of communication to seek help. Consumers complain that telephone services remain disrupted for days together. Mrs Surinder Kaur, a sarpanch, says that on previous occasions also telephone services remained disturbed and it took weeks to restore them. The Manauli, Landran and Mullanpur rural exchanges covers dozens of villages but the consumers complain of poor services provided to them. Villagers say that though the authorities talk of uplift of the rural areas, they are unable to solve these problems. The Landran exchange covers 12 villages, while the Manauli exchange looks after 18 villages. About 20-odd villages are served by the Mullanpur telephone exchange. These exchanges do not have adequate maintenance staff to rectify snag. According to Mr Onkar Singh, a resident of Landran, even after a light shower the telecom services get badly affected. Sources say the underground cables are the main reason behind the snag. Mr R.P. Singh, manager,
Punjab National Bank, Mullanpur branch, says that the
telephone at his office has not been working for the past
two weeks. |
‘Premature
disclosures’ irk Haryana police CHANDIGARH, July 7 — The Haryana Police is livid with rage at what it calls “premature disclosures” about the identity and arrest of suspects involved in the June 30 bomb blast by the Chandigarh Police. Senior officers of the Haryana Police are of the view that by making premature disclosures the Chandigarh Police hampered the investigations and allowed the main suspect, Rattandeep Singh alias Ramandeep, to escape the police net. The SSP, Chandigarh, Mr C.S.R. Reddy, had claimed on July 5 that Sher Singh, an accomplice of Rattandeep Singh, was arrested from Rohad village in Jind district on July 3 while the main accused managed to escape after firing at the police party that had gone there to raid the house of Sher Singh. The Director-General of Haryana Police, Mr A.S. Bhatotia, told a press conference here this evening that not only Rattandeep but Sher Singh and his brother, Satnam Singh, also managed to escape when Rattandeep fired with his mouser at the raiding party of the Panipat Police. However, Sher Singh and Satnam Singh along with Gurbaksh Singh of Ismailabad in Kurukshetra district were arrested by the Haryana Police on July 5. The three have been remanded in police custody till July 12. The SP of Panipat, Mr Manoj Yadav, who was bubbling with enthusiasm at the successful operation which led to the solving of a number of bomb blast cases in Delhi, Haryana and Chandigarh, said let the Chandigarh Police name any of its officers who might have accompanied any raiding party. He said the entire case was solved by the Haryana Police which had been investigating the Holambi Kalan train blast on April 18 last in which two persons were killed and over six were injured. Mr Yadav claimed the Panipat Police was almost zeroing in on the suspects when the Chandigarh Police informed it of the registration number of the scooter used in the Sector 34 blast. “Two things coincided,” he said. Mr Bhatotia said with the arrest of three persons the Haryana Police had solved a large number of bomb blasts and recovered explosive materials. These cases included a bomb blast in Chandni Chowk in Delhi on June 3, an explosion on the Shahabad Markanda railway bridge on April 6 last, two cases of recovery of explosive material at Shahabad and one case of recovery of explosive material at Lal Batti Chowk, Panipat, besides the Holambi Kalan train blast and Sector 34 bomb blast. The DGP also disclosed that the Jind Police intercepted a Maruti car on the night of July 4 in which two boys were travelling. When quizzed the boys escaped, leaving their vehicle and a pocket diary which had certain telephone numbers of the USA and UK. Investigations were on. Mr Bhatotia revealed that Rattandeep was formerly a driver with Paramjit Singh Panjwar of the Khalistan Commando Force in Pakistan. At the same time he was also a “Cat” of the Punjab Police. He had married Balwinder Kaur on April 27, 1997, and his wife accompanied him on various missions. He said Rattandeep and Sher Singh were in regular touch with their masters in Pakistan and used to obtain RDX and other explosive material from Pakistan at Attari and Ferozepure. He admitted that Rattandeep was able to befool the police about his activities by regularly reporting to the Safidon police station where he was registered as a bad character. A number of senior Haryana Police officers were present at the news conference. Ten pencil timers, one
magazine of Mauser and 15 rounds recovered from the
suspects were shown to newsmen. |
Pay
scales to be revised PANCHKULA, July 7 — The salaries and allowances of the employees of the Sainik Parivar Bhavans Haryana will be revised as per the recommendations of the fifth pay commission with effect from January 1, 1996. This decision was taken at the 16th meeting of the management committee of Sainik Parivar Bhavans Haryana, chaired by Ms Savitri Varma, wife of the Chief Secretary of Haryana, at Sainik Parivar Bhavans complex in Sector 12 here today. the other decisions taken during the meeting were approval of budget estimates for 1999-2000 and ratification of expenditure of previous years, preparation of rules for the employees, opening of a computer centre for boys at Rohtak and approval of financial powers under various heads. Brig Satya Dev, Member Secretary of the managing committee, said the Sainik Parivar Bhavans Haryana were imparting training in computers, stenography, tailoring and cutting to war widows, dependants of ex-servicemen and dependants of defence personnel. Coaching for various
entrance examinations was also being provided to
students.
|
‘Pokhran
gains frittered away’ CHANDIGARH, July 7 — The Vajpayee government should convene a session of the Rajya Sabha for a debate on the Kargil issue so that all parties can come out with a resolution in support of the caretaker government which will help the Prime Minister. This was stated by senior Congress leader K.Natwar Singh at the Press Club here today. He was in the city to deliver a talk on India's foreign policy and the situation in Kargil. Ruling out joining issue with the opposition parties to embarrass the government in the session, he said a healthy debate is an integral part of democracy. The government's fear that the convening of a session at this juncture would be unfair to the soldiers was unfounded, he said. "The conflict is of vital national importance and the people of the country are united in supporting the armed forces, transcending political and regional affiliations. By not convening the session, the government is doing injustice to the soldiers as it would have raised their morale," he said. Citing instances from the past, he said the then prime ministers during previous wars had always convened sessions of the House and Jawaharlal Nehru had not only apologised for the 1962 debacle but also sacked the then Defence Minister. Referring to the US-Pak joint statement on Kargil, he said the assertion that the US President will take a personal interest in encouraging Indo-Pak bilateral efforts to resolve their disputes amounted to third party intervention. This would be the second time after Tashkent Agreement that the government had "agreed" to such an intervention. It seems that nothing had been learnt from the past, he opined. Mr Natwar Singh, former Minister of State for External Affairs who is at present in charge of the Congress Foreign Relations Affairs, said the statement made no mention as to who would monitor the withdrawal of intruders from the Indian side of the LoC and how much time it would take. Asserting that Pakistan had internationalised the Kashmir issue, he said a pointer in this regard was the backing of 55 members of the Organisation of Islamic States (OIS) at its recently concluded session in Burkina Faso. Regarding the statement issued by the G-8 nations, he said they had only made a mention of the conflict, feeling the need to respect the LoC and resume dialogue. While condemning the government for altering India's foreign policy and frittering away the consensus after the Pokhran blasts, he said there was no compulsion to write to the US President, giving a clarification of what a sovereign India is doing. Similarly, it has been accepted by everybody, even Mr Vajpayee himself, that the Lahore bus ride was a case of expecting too much from Pakistan. At the end of the session, he refused to field questions about the political situation in Haryana. He also delivered a
largely attended lecture on the topic at Tagore Theatre
later in the evening. |
Cheaper
calls to Shimla CHANDIGARH, July 7 — Telephone calls from here to Shimla and Solan in Himachal Pradesh will be charged at 180 seconds per unit pulse basis as against 14 seconds from today, sources in the Telecom Department said. All stations connected with the Shimla STD code (0177) and Solan STD code (01792), including Parwanoo, Kasauli, Dagshai, Jabli and Barog, among other places , will be charged on 180 seconds per unit pulse. The numbers can be reached only from phones that have STD facility. The officials of the Chandigarh Telephones have sought a clarification from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) regarding Kinnaur revenue district if charging can be at 180 seconds pulse . A reduction in call charges comes in the wake of a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) notification for revised tariff for radial distance less than 50 km. As per the notification all stations within 50 km are to be charged on 180 seconds per unit pulse. Subscribers here would,
however, continue to pay at 14 per unit pulse for places
like Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh even though the
radial distance is less than 50 km, sources said. |
SNIPPETS Blood donation camp at 12 Wing CHANDIGARH, July 7 — The Air Force Wives Welfare Association (AFWWA) organised a blood donation camp at the 12 Wing, Air Force Station, for the soldiers injured during the Kargil conflict. Air Commodore S K Banerjee, Air Officer Commanding, 12 Wing and his wife Mrs Reena Banerjee, who is the President of AFWWA, were the first to donate blood. Most of the donors were wives of the officers besides other unit women. The camp was conducted by Group Captain S V Rao, senior medical officer, 12 Wing, and a medical team from the Command Hospital. Rally by Haryana employees PANCHKULA, July 7 — The Haryana Employees Joint Action Committee here today organised a big rally in support of its demands. The rally which was attended by hundreds of employees, started from ‘Shakti Bhavan’ amidst loud slogans against the Haryana Government. The rally finally concluded at the Panchkula bus stand . The rally led by Mr Bhagirath and Mr Satbir Dhankar criticised the policies of the government for allegedly overlooking the interests of the employees. A union leader of the Electricity Department present at the rally said that the claims of the government to provide round-the-clock electricity in the state were baseless as the department had managed to get only 2400 MW of power against the required 3600 MW for the state. The workers also demanded that all ESMA cases registered in the state against the employees should be withdrawn and the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission should be implemented. The Joint Action Committee also demanded the release of bonus for the last three years on a central basis. Club tackles staff crisis CHANDIGARH, July 7 — After three days of strike by a section of employees of the Chandigarh Club, the club management claimed that all arrangements for the smooth conduct of tambola and other entertainment activities had been made today. Around 40 persons have been hired temporarily from various quarters to tide over the crisis after the employees, including waiters, went on strike, the club President, Mr Chaman Lal said tonight. ‘Faulty transformers not
replaced’ KHARAR, July 7 — The Bharatiya Kisan Union, Kharar block, has alleged that the Punjab State Electricity Board has not replaced faulty transformers for the past two to three months as a result farmers were facing a lot of problems. Mr Shamsher Singh, President of Ropar district unit, and Mr Mehar Singh Theri, Secretary of the unit, in a press note issued here yesterday, alleged that the board was not replacing these transformers.They wondered why the transformers were not purchased before summer. Then the board had claimed that there was no shortage of electricity in Punjab, but villagers were getting electricity only for 10 hours, they alleged. AWWA President visits hospital CHANDIGARH, July 7 — The President of the Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA), Mrs Kusum Kala, visited the recuperating soldiers wounded in the ongoing battle at Kargil at the Command Hospital, Chandi Mandir, today. She was accompanied by
Major Gen R P Arora, Deputy Director, Medical Services,
and Major Gen Virendra Singh, Commandant of the Hospital. |
 |
 |
| Nation
| Punjab | Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | | Editorial | Business | Sport | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
