Saturday, July 17, 1999
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N E W S Saturday, July 17, 1999 |
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Traffic
challaning from today CHANDIGARH, July 16 — A word of caution for traffic offenders in the city. The Supreme Court has vacated the stay on the operation of the Punjab and Haryana High Court judgement handed down in July, 1998. Traffic cops will swoop down on non-users of helmets, those plying their vehicles with sun control films, pressure horns, red lights without permission, minors driving two wheelers, besides other traffic violations, from tomorrow. The HC judgement also makes the use of helmets by women drivers and pillion riders, including Sikh women, mandatory. However, a petition filed by former SGPC Chief, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, and other persons seeking exemption for Sikh women from the use of helmets is still pending. The case is fixed for July 19. Mr Balbir Singh, SP, Traffic, said challaning for the traffic offences would be carried out in a routine manner and no particular category of offenders would be targeted. He said the drivers of school buses would also be covered and the offences listed under the Motor Vehicles Act covered. The punching of licences for each offence would also be done, he added. The court, while rejecting the petition, had demanded to know the steps taken by the administration to check the sale of helmets on the black market. The list of vehicles authorised to ply with red lights had also been asked for. It may be recalled that the administration, on the pleas of various social and political organisations, had at the time of giving an exemption on helmets, said that it was prejudicial to the outcome of the petition to be filed in the court. Following this, cops had challaned more then 350 offenders for various offences all over the city on June 25. The offenders included those plying their cars with sun control films, helmetless driving, and plying vehicles with red lights without authorisation. A large number of police and official vehicles were also challaned. The drivers and conductors of long-route buses were also checked to ensure that they were sporting name plates, besides wearing the prescribed uniform. The vehicles were also checked to see whether they carried first aid kits or not. The direction of the court had drawn sharp protests from Sikh organisations even as the cops started a drive to challan women drivers, including Sikh women, on June 27. Till the afternoon of July 28, as many as 270 women without helmets had been challaned. The drive was suspended following the decision of the administration to move a special leave petition in the Supreme court. However, the fate of those challaned is yet unknown. Similarly, to comply
with the orders of the court, the traffic police had
challaned 20 buses ferrying children to school, besides
impounding one bus. All the challans were done in
accordance with the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act.
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Infectious
diseases 're-emerging' CHANDIGARH, July 16 — Infectious diseases are re-emerging and resistance to antibiotics is also developing while at least 17 million people worldwide are dying only from infectious diseases. The South-East Asian region that includes India accounts for 40 per cent of these deaths, thus putting an additional economic burden. This was pointed by Dr Manju Sharma, Secretary, Government of India, Ministry of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, while delivering a lecture on ''interaction of medicine and biotechnology.'' She was the chief guest at the opening of the 31st PGI academic session here this morning. In her opinion diseases like cholera and TB had dominated the scene, but now even kala azar, malaria and plague have reappeared. All forms of hepatitis ''B'', ''C'' and ''E'' are causing a major health problem. The factors could be poverty, unhealthy living conditions, environment degradation, population growth, malnutrition, besides poor quality of water, said the doctor. Discussing the latest, she said recent advances in molecular biology and genetics had provided an unprecedented insight into genetics relations to many behavioural traits and susceptibility to diseases. A comprehensive programme on sequencing of the human gene is expected to be completed by the year 2003. Data emerging from such studies will have profound repercussions on human health management as numerous laboratories across the globe are working to involve curative measures to replace defective genes by normal ones. Besides this biotechnology had been extended for the development of new antibiotics, drugs, diagnostics and vaccines. Transgenic animals and plants now offer a better source of production of important therapeutics. Biotechnology research had brought out a paradigm shift in the healthcare regime. In the USA 35 new biotechnology-based medicines were under development, Dr Sharma added. At present the under development drugs were largely for cancer. The vaccines were targeting HIV infections and different types of cancer, heart diseases and Parkinson's disease. Biotechnology also offered innumerable possibilities like diagnositic kits, vaccines, including edible vaccines, which were in great demand. At the moment an HIV vaccine was undergoing human trials in the USA. In India, she added: ''We have isolated the strain that is causing HIV.'' All HIV-related research was at an advanced stage. A gene construct was being carried out for application in gene therapy. Earlier, Prof B.K. Sharma, Director of the PGI, in his welcome address said that the opening of the academic session of the PGI was done traditionally by inviting a distinguished scientist. The Director said that the faculty and the residents had published a total of 430 research papers in national and international journals. In addition to this, the faculty had published eight books and contributed 60 chapters in various books. Last year the institute awarded 16 PhDs; 28 DM/M.Ch; 119 MD/MS; 15 MSc and MSc medical technology; 22 BSc medical technology; 49 BSc nursing and 6 MSc nursing degrees. The institute organised
nine international conferences during the year. Prof S.
Suri and Prof S. Majumdar were awarded the Dr B.C. Roy
national award; Prof Amod Gupta the A.W. Sheriff memorial
award by the Karnataka State Ophthalmological Society; Dr
R. Sehgal the Wellcome Trust Travel award; Dr R.K. Bhasin
the Olympus-Mitra award by the Indian Society of
Gastroenterology and also the SISCO--PENTAX oration; Prof
S.K. Sharma the Teacher Travel Fellowship of the
Urological Society of India; Dr S.K. Jindal the R.
Viswanathan memorial oration of the National College of
Chest Physicians; Prof P.S. Chari the Ethicon Travelling
Professor; Dr J.D. Wig the Dr G.P. Ramayya oration award
of the Andhra Pradesh Chapter of Association of Surgeons
of India; Dr P. Bhambery the Henry Marquis memorial
oration; Dr D. Ghosh the Dr James Fleff Endowment award
in social and preventive pediatric; Dr Inderjeet Walia
the award of honour from the UT Administration; Dr Ashish
Arora, Dr A. Avasthi and Dr P. Kulhara the best paper of
the Indian Psychiatry Society; Dr Sumit Gupta, Dr P.
Kulhara and Dr S.K. Verma the award of the Indian
Psychiatry Society (best paper); Dr Pramod Kumar, Dr A.
Avasthi and Dr D. Basu the Dr Buckshey award (best
paper); Dr Sanjay Suri the award of India Orthodontic
Conference and Dr Kartar Singh, President, Indian Society
of Gastroenterology. Brain research unit for Gurgaon CHANDIGARH, July 16 — A state-of- the-art National Brain Research Centre to study the unknown and intriguing complexities of the human brain is to be set up in Gurgaon. The centre will have connectivity with nearly 30 hospitals all over the country, disclosed Dr Manju Sharma, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, while talking to The Tribune today. She was here as the chief guest on the opening day of the PGI’s academic session. Elaborating on the brain research centre, she said Rs 3 crore had been allocated for it in the current financial year. Another Rs 14 crore had already been allocated for the next two financial years of the ongoing Ninth Plan. Financial estimates for the project to sustain it through the Tenth Plan would be drawn up afresh, Dr Sharma, who is also the Secretary of the Society of the National Brain Research Centre, said. The society is to be headed by the Union Minister for Science and Technology, would manage the centre. A scientific advisory board comprising top scientists had been set up as part of the society. Before the building in Gurgaon is ready, the centre was being temporarily run from the interim facilities housed in the building of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, where an entire floor has been allocated for the purpose. Dr Sharma said the research centre would work to solve the mysteries of the brain, which is a complex structure with several unknown aspects like ageing and memory having become very important. " We will have the best of scientific community on the advisory board when the new recruitment starts within the coming months,"she added. Within the next 12
months, new laboratories would be re-located at Gurgaon.
The idea of a national brain research centre was
conceived in 1990 by the department of Biotechnology.
Once the laboratories become functional, the project
would have connectivity with around 30 hospitals through
tele-medicine and provide a brain bank. The connectivity
would be with hospitals in major cities and a
bio-informatics centre would also be set up, she added. |
Badhran
consumer forum member PANCHKULA, July 16 — Mr Baldev Singh Badhran has been appointed member of the District Consumers Disputes Redressal Forum. Mr Badhran's appointment has come in the wake of applications called by the Haryana Government after the quashing of an earlier appointment of members by the Punjab and Haryana High Court a few months ago. No case could be decided during the past three months in the absence of a member. At least 200 cases have piled up. The new member is expected to join duty by Monday. Mr Badhran is a
practising lawyer at the Punjab and Haryana High Court. |
Power
situation grim PANCHKULA, July 16 — With monsoon rains playing hide and seek, the power situation in the township and its surrounding areas has once again worsened. Rural areas are the worst-affected with unscheduled power cuts continuing for hours. The problem of power cuts has become more acute in the past few days. Unscheduled power cuts, at least 8 to 10 times a day, have left people reeling under the effects of hot weather. The local MLA, Mr Chander Mohan, today said that he had been receiving a number of complaints about pitiable power situation from the rural areas of the district. He said if the power situation did not improve by July 18, party workers would start a relay fast to highlight the problem. An agitated resident of Sector 4, Mr S.D. Sharma, said “It is possible to withstand power cuts of short duration during the day. But the unscheduled cuts during night make life miserable”. His comments were seconded by Mr Sanjeev Chopra, another resident. Talking of the much-hyped Chief Minister’s June 30 deadline for normalisation of power supply, the General Secretary of the National Lok Dal, Mr Pardeep Chaudhary, said; “The worst sufferers were the people in the rural areas who had to spend hours waiting for power supply to resume”. Mr Natha Singh, an aged farmer of Barwala, while explaining the plight of the people, said: “Our daily chores and agricultural activities suffer”. Mr Gursewak Singh, a resident of Saketri village, also complained about the erratic power supply in his village. Officials of the Uttar
Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam maintain that the power
problem was existing in sectors 2,4,5,6,7,12, 12-A,20,21,
Mansa Devi Complex and Old Panchhkula, being fed from the
66 Kv sub-station in Sector 1 here. They claim that the
Sector 1 sub-station was getting supply from the Ropar
Thermal Grid which has been facing the problem of under
frequency relay. |
Decision
awaits implementation CHANDIGARH, July 16 — Even after one year of passing the resolution by the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) regarding the levy of charges on the cable TV operators, the issue still hangs fire. The civic body, at one of its meetings on July 28 last year, had passed a resolution for the imposition of charges on the cable operators. Mr O.P. Goyal, a councillor, while moving the resolution, said that cable operators be levied charges for taking cables overhead the roads. If that was not possible, Mr Goyal said, the cable operators be directed to have the cables carried through underground on payment for the road cuts to be made by them. The issue remained in the cold storage till the MCC woke up earlier this year and framed guidelines for levying charges on main cable operators for laying cables from the main relay centres to various sub-centres and from sub-centres to consumers. Under the new proposal, the cable operators were to deposit a monthly charge of Rs 12,000 for the densely-populated areas and Rs 6,000 for other areas. Besides this, the cable operators were to deposit a refundable security of Rs 5 lakh. While Rs 3 lakh was to be refunded after the laying of the cables, Rs 2 lakh was to be kept as security for any damage to underground services and this amount might be refunded after five years. And a bank guarantee of Rs 5 lakh was proposed to be taken from the applicants for five years and the amount was to be utilised for any damage to the existing services. Though officials had sent the proposals last month to the Mayor, Mr Kewal Krishan Addiwal, for inclusion into the agenda of the Finance and Contract Committee, the latter had failed to do so allegedly for political considerations. In fact, at a meeting of
the committee here today, the issue was not taken up for
discussion. |
More
donations pour in CHANDIGARH, July 16 — The local police department has contributed Rs 7.12 lakh towards the welfare of jawans fighting in Kargil. A cheque for the Army Central Welfare Fund was presented to the UT Administrator, Lt-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber, by Mr S.K. Singh, IGP. The IGP informed the Administrator that the amount had been collected by the department by voluntarily contributing their one day’s salary and additional gestures by some personnel. The Governor appreciated the initiative of the police. He said it would boost the morale of those fighting for the country. Mr C.S.R. Reddy, SSP, Mr Ajay Kashyap, SSP, and Mr Balbir Singh, SP, Traffic, were also present. Children of Sacred Heart School have collected Rs 1.60 lakh for the welfare of the soldiers. The amount was collected by the students with contributions from the teachers as well, according to the Sister Gloria, Principal of the school. Employees of the Punjab Chemicals and Pharmaceutical Limited have contributed Rs 1.18 lakh towards the Army Central Welfare Fund. The amount is the total of one day’s salary of the employees, besides an addition of Rs 57,000 by the company management, according to Mr A.S. Kalsi, Director, Administration. Members of the Marble Traders Association have donated Rs 1.01 lakh towards the fund for the welfare of the jawans fighting in Kargil. A cheque for the amount was handed over to Ms Vineeta Rai, Adviser, by Mr N.M. Gupta, president of the association. The Lions Club Chandigarh Central has contributed Rs 81,000 to the fund, according to Mr K.K. Sharma, immediate past president of the club. Employees of the Department of Agriculture, Punjab, have contributed Rs 72, 000 towards the fund, which is the total of one day’s salary, according to Mr P.R. Luthra, Chief Architect. Members of the Chandigarh Taxi Workers Union have donated Rs 68,601 towards the Army Central Welfare Fund, according to Mr Naresh Thakur, General Secretary of the union. The devotees of the Sri Sidh Baba Balak Nath Temple, Sector 29, have contributed Rs 31,000 to the fund. The villagers and shopkeepers of Mullanpur Garibdass, near here, have collected Rs 25,000 from the village for the fund. The members of the Old Phari Market Association have donated Rs 11,000 towards the fund, according to Mr Pratap Singh, president of the association. The students of St Kabir Public School and Rising Scholars,an organisation have donated items of daily use to the jawans convalescing at the Command Hospital, besides a draft of Rs 20,000 to the Commandant of the hospital. The members of the Hallo Majra Shopkeepers Association have contributed Rs 11,000 towards the fund, according to Dr B. Sethi, a member. The members of the Association of LIC Agents have contributed Rs 7,350 towards the fund, according to Mr I.C. Dharmani, president of the association. The members of the House Owners Welfare Association have contributed Rs 16,450 towards the fund. The employees of the ESI Corporation Union have donated one day’s salary towards the Army Central Welfare Fund, according to Mr A. Chawla, General Secretary of the union. The Principal, staff and students of Government College, Sector 46, have held a condolence meeting for those who laid down their lives for the motherland. The Payal Musical Club has donated Rs 6,000 out of the proceeds of a programme in the memory of Kargil martyrs towards the fund, according to Mr Y.P.S. Chauhan, president of the club. Mr Baij Nath Sharma, a retired officer and founding father of the Senior Citizens Welfare Society, Sector 21, has donated his one month’s pension, Rs 6,300, towards the fund. Unique offer In a unique gesture, a city-based journalist had offered to marry a war widow. Mr Bhupinder Sharma, a
reporter with Siti Channel, said he has decided to do so
as he was deeply moved by the supreme sacrifice made by
the soldiers at the frontier. He has also appealed to
other eligible bachelors to come forward to set an
example for others to follow. |
Lobbying
for Congress ticket begins CHANDIGARH, July 16 — Aspirants for the Congress party ticket to contest the forthcoming Chandigarh parliamentary election scheduled for September 4 have begun lobbying in the right earnest. Soon after the announcement of the poll schedule by the Election Commission on Sunday, several local Congress leaders started making a beeline for the AICC headquarters in New Delhi to test political waters and for a “darshan” of the party heavyweights who matter. Although the elections were due and the political parties had been preparing for them ever since the Lok Sabha was dissolved a few months ago, the Kargil conflict overshadowed all political activity. With public attention rivetted on to the armed action in the barren hills of Kargil, the political parties were forced to scale down their activities. Nobody was sure which way the war will go, how long it will last and whether it will be possible to hold elections on schedule. Therefore, when the announcement about the poll came from the Election Commission on Sunday, it caught many ticket aspirants by surprise. They lost no time in making a dash to Delhi. Although there are any number of ticket hopefuls in the city, only a handful are regarded as serious. These include the former Union Minister, Mr Venod Sharma, the former MP, Mr Pawan Bansal and the President of the Indian Youth Congress, Mr Munish Tewari. Two other Congress leaders, Mr Chaman Sharma and Mrs Manjeet Kaur, are also in the race. A politician of long-standing and a businessman, Mr Vinod Sharma was president of the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee when he was asked to step down by the high command because of the alleged involvement of his son in the infamous Jessica Lal murder case. There is a feeling in some circles in the party that the high command’s decision to ask him to resign as CTCC chief was perhaps hasty. Mr Sharma visited Delhi earlier this week to make an assessment of the situation. While Mr Sharma himself is silent, sources close to him say that he regards himself as the “natural choice” for the party ticket for Chandigarh. The sources claim that nobody in Delhi has told Mr Sharma that he would not be given the party ticket because of the alleged sins of his son. Mr Pawan Bansal, who has represented Chandigarh in the Lok Sabha for one term in addition to a six-year term in the Rajya Sabha, believes that the Congress cannot find a candidate better than him in the city. He claims popularity among party men as well as various sections of the electorate. He was replaced by Mr Sharma as the CTCC chief. Mr Bansal lost twice to the BJP leader, Mr Satya Pal Jain, in the last two elections to the Lok Sabha and therefore, may attract the provision a Congress resolution which seeks to deny ticket to a candidate who has lost the poll twice in a row by a substantial margin. Mr Bansal is of the view that he lost the election on both the occasions by about 10,000 votes which was not substantial and can be easily made up. Therefore, there is no reason for denying party ticket to him. The third aspirant, Mr Munish Tewari who is president of the Indian Youth Congress, is also no lightweight. He is supposed to be close to the powers-that-be and it would be no surprise if he walks away with the party nomination for Chandigarh parliamentary seat. Mr Tewari belongs to Chandigarh and is son of a prominent Panjab University don, late Dr V.N. Tewari. But the point being held against Mr Tewari is that he almost migrated from Chandigarh to Delhi after the assassination of his father during the years of terrorism in Punjab. Mr Chaman Sharma is an income tax practitioner of Chandigarh who has also been active in the social and political fields. Mrs Manjeet Kaur is another active Congress leader who hopes to be nominated if the party decides to field a woman in Chandigarh. A predominantly urban
constituency, Chandigarh has generally been regarded as a
Congress stronghold. But in recent years, it has been
preferring nominees of other parties as well including
the BJP and the Janata Dal (Mr Harmohan Dhawan). In the
dissolved House, Chandigarh was represented by the BJP
leader, Mr Satya Pal Jain. He was elected twice and is
now looking forward to a third term in the Lok Sabha. |
Akademi
holds open forum CHANDIGARH, July 16 — The Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi today held an ‘open forum’, a meeting with the citizens of the city to share ideas, at the Government Art Museum auditorium, Sector 10. The main aim of the meeting, according to Mr G S Chani, the newly-appointed Chairman of the akademi, was to interact with people regarding the cultural life in the city. A handful of persons, from theatre, arts and teaching, attended the forum. Some interesting ideas were shared regarding the various activities that could be planned by the akademi. The main point raised by many attending the meeting was whether the akademi had a place to itself where the activities could be planned. It was unanimously agreed that the Sector 34 building should be immediately given to the three akademis in Chandigarh. The three akademis are still to form their respective councils and none have received their grant of Rs 1.2 lakh each. At the forum, most of the participants dwelt on planning activities for senior citizens and children. Some youths suggested that there should be certain places where the youth could meet and share their interests. Teachers suggested that children from not only the so-called ‘elite schools’ but from ordinary schools should be targeted. Activities should be planned for these children, they said. It was also decided that
since the akademi dealt with various forms of arts, in
order to cope with multi-faceted dimensions, trainers
needed be trained. |
Building
roads with computer data CHANDIGARH, July 16 — The Finance Secretary-cum-Engineering Secretary, Mr Rakesh Singh, today called upon highway engineers to treat the construction of the two super expressways connecting north-south and east-west, announced by the Prime Minister, as a challenge and build them according to international standards. Mr Rakesh Singh was delivering the keynote address at the fifth training workshop on "Computerised information system in road sector using NICNET" here today. Expressing concern at the non-uniformity in road signs in various states, he said the South-East Asian countries had overcome this problem. He hoped that the computerised data and information on national highways and roads would be used to advantage in decision-making. The UT Chief Engineer, Mr R.K. Jain, proposed that characteristics of road-making materials, climatic conditions and monitoring of riding surfaces be included in soil data being computerised while using NICNET. The President of the Indian Road Congress, Mr R.K. Rajoria, while interacting with the delegates through video-conferencing, stressed the need for the use of technology to build roads of the desired standards to enter the next century. He urged the states to utilise contingency provisions of estimates for the purchase of computers and software. Representatives from the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, the Union Territory of Chandigarh and the regional offices of the Ministry of Surface Transport participated in the workshop. The participants were
taken to the local centre of NIC for bringing awareness
about the data transmission of NICNET. |
DC
listens to public grievances KHARAR, July 16 — Mr Kulbir Singh Sidhu, Deputy Commissioner, Ropar, has asked the officers of all departments in the district to visit the villages to solve various problems faced by the people and to supervise the development works. Mr Sidhu was addressing a gathering at nearby Majat village today, organised in connection with the Sangat Darshan programme to hear the grievances of the people and to take steps to solve these on the spot. Mr Sidhu heard the problems of people regarding disposal of rainy water, supply of drinking water, basic amenities in government schools, shortage of health facilities, repair of link roads, old-age pensions, encroachments on government land. He asked the department concerned to take necessary steps to solve the problems. He asked the officers concerned to work on the issues raised by the sarpanches of Majat, Jhanjherri, Dhadak, Kailon, and Landran villages. Mr Amarjit Singh
Dhindsa, SDM Kharar, assured the people that steps would
be taken by him to solve the various problems faced by
them. Mr Gurmeet Singh, SP Ropar, and Mr Ashwani Kapoor,
DSP, Kharar, were also present on the occasion. |
SNIPPETS BA (III) results today CHANDIGARH, July 16 — Panjab University will declare the result of BA III (General) (English compulsory compartment only), held in May, on July 17, a press note issued by the Joint Controller of Examination, said here today. Copies of the gazette will be available at the enquiry counter of the university in the New Enquiry Building for consultation by the students on all working days. Entrance test: The entrance test for admission to MA I (English) will be held on July 30 instead of July 19. The postponement of the test has been on account of postponement of the last date of submission of forms. Admission: The Department of Punjabi, will begin admissions on July 19 at 10 am for students of MA Part II (on-going), while outsiders will be given admission in the same class on July 27 at 10 am. Students applying for admission to Part I will be interviewed on August 3 and M Phil (Punjabi) and M Phil in Guru Granth Studies will be held on August 5 at 10 am. Diploma courses in translation(English to Punjabi)/diploma in Punjabi language and culture/ certificate course in Functional Punjabi on August 6. ‘Punish’ erring
officials KHARAR, July 16 — The Youth Welfare Association of the nearby village Jhanjherri has demanded that action should be taken against those persons who have allegedly used substandard material in the construction of a building of the government primary school in the village. They have alleged that the condition of the building, which was constructed about nine months ago, is miserable and cracks could be seen in the walls. They have demanded that the officials who were responsible for the construction should be punished and a new building constructed. Another Nari Niketan runaway held CHANDIGARH, July 16 — Yet another inmate Durga (16) of the Nari Niketan, Sector 26, who had been absconding since July 14 from the institute premises was caught by the police today .Eight girls had managed to run away from the Nari Niketan on Wednesday, out of which one came back to the premises on her own the same day. On July 15, the police had traced Nisha (16) from the Sector 25 Kumhar Colony.Meanwhile, Durga was brought to the police station today by Mr Navjeet Brar, a local resident, who spotted her in the Sector 17 market. According to reports, Durga stayed in one of city’s Gurdwaras for two days, but she failed to specify the sector or the location of the Gurdwara.Earlier, in 1997 also she had tried to run from the Nari Niketan and had been caught by the police from the Mansa Devi Housing Complex, Panchkula. According to sources, it was allegedly in connivance with a sweeper’s husband, working at Niketan, and a boy living in Sector 19, that Durga had managed to escape two years ago. The case is still pending in court.Interestingly, sources revealed that two years ago when this incident of girls absconding from the Niketan had taken place, Kanta, a worker at the premises had been on leave and this time again the day she had taken leave, a set of seven girls managed to escape from the premises. 18-hour power cut in Sec 41-A CHANDIGARH, July 16 — Residents of parts of Sector 41-A are a harassed lot. They have been bearing the brunt of alleged apathy of the Electricity Department. They went without power for 18 hours yesterday and today. From 7 p.m. on Thursday to 1 p.m. on Friday, there was no electricity in their homes, leading to a sleepless night and ensuing inconveniences. Such long, unannounced power cuts have been a regular feature in their locality in the past few months, making the summer unbearable, they add. Residents allege that complaints to the Maintenance Office of the Electricity Department fall on deaf ears. Most of the time, their pleas on the phone are not entertained. Staff on duty express helplessness due to non-availability of conveyance, driver, wires and other equipment. The residents have to fetch the electricians personally to get their problem solved. 70 admitted to arts faculty CHANDIGARH, July 16 — Seventy students were admitted in the arts faculty of Class XI at Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 18, here today. Also, there are 170 vacant seats in the vocational stream. In the arts stream, students with 33 per cent marks and above will be interviewed tomorrow and the admissions are likely to continue for a couple of days while compartment cases will be considered only after the process of normal admission is over. “We have sent the forms of compartment cases to the respective schools according to the first preference filled by students. Most of these candidates will be accommodated in the schools of their choice since we usually have seats after the regular admissions are over,” Mrs Rajesh Chaudhary informed. She adds that if the seats in the school of the student’s choice is full he will be accommodated elsewhere but the situation will become clear when the ongoing admissions are complete. “Moreover, according to the CBSE, students with compartment cases are not allowed admission. So, if they fail to clear their compartment in the first go, their admission would stand cancelled and they would be forced to drop a year. Anyway, these students are likely to be interviewed on Tuesday in the respective schools,’’ she says. Power restored to tubewell KHARAR, July 16 — The administration took serious view of a news published in Punjabi Tribune today that the electricity wires of the tubewell of the mother of an Army Major of nearby village Rasanhori, who is fighting in the Kargil sector, had been stolen and power supply had not been restored despite repeated re quests and ordered the PSEB to immediately restore electricity supply. Mr Amarjit Singh, SDM, Kharar, said here today that as per the directions of the Deputy Commissioner, Ropar, he talked to the PSEB authorities and they assured him that the supply would be restored by July 16. He said that an FIR had
been registered about the theft of wires. He said he had
asked the police to take steps to arrest the culprits. |
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