Tuesday, June 15, 1999
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N E W S Tuesday, June 15, 1999 |
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Baba's
animals find home in zoo CHHAT BIR (Patiala), June 14 — Chhatbir Zoo here has become a second abode for as many as 14 animals, including a full-grown elephant, for the past about 15 days when these animals were brought here after being seized by the Punjab Wildlife Department from the possession of a saint of Ludhiana district. Ten black bucks, 2 blue bulls, one sambhar and a female elephant were sent to the zoo about 10 days back on 'sapurdari basis' following a directive by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ludhiana, to the Punjab Wildlife authorities, which had seized these from the dera of Sant Darshan Singh at Dhakki Kalan village. The animals, all of which are protected animals under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, were reportedly kept by the baba in a 5-acre enclosure at his dera. The animals had been with him for the past about six years after he purchased these from Bihar and other parts of the country. Even as other small animals were seized from Dhakki Kalan, the wildlife officials and the police authorities had a tough time locating the elephant, as fearing the raid, it was allegedly let off by the men of Baba. It was finally captured near Barnala in Sangrur district. Interestingly, though all other animals were brought from Ludhiana by the authorities in vehicles after tranquilising them, Rajkali, the 45-year old female elephant reached the zoo after covering the entire distance on foot in a period of three days. But her long sojourn did not go without partly hurting the bulky animal, "Actually, its feet got hurt as it walked such a long distance, but got fully well withing two days after it was treated for that," said Dr Vinod Sharma, the zoo Director. He said all the new animals were quite hale and hearty. He said the elephant has been resettled into the enclosure for elephants, while the black bucks and a sambhar have been released into the spacious 28-acre Deer Safari, where they were trying to mix up with spotted deer and sambhar. It was observed that black bucks, brought from Ludhiana were apparently reluctant to adopt their new home. They had formed a separate group and were sitting in a shady and secluded corner. "Initially, they were so shy that they won't leave a corner, but now they have started mixing up with other inmates," said Mr Sukhdev Singh. "It is good that black bucks have come to this place. They provide company to the only black buck, which was feeling lonely after the death of its male companion," he added. Before the new addition, the Deer Safari had 54 sambhars and 25 spotted deer. With Rajkali registering
its entry, the number of elephants in the enclosure has
gone up to six. "Actually, she has adjusted herself
at the place so well that nobody will be able to tell
that she is new to the place and is very friendly with
the other inmates of the enclosure," said Mr Sukhdev
Singh. Every care was taken to ensure that there was no
problem for the 'guest' at the place. |
Rakesh Singh is new Finance
Secretary CHANDIGARH, June 14 — Mr Rakesh Singh, an IAS officer of the Punjab cadre belonging to the 1978 batch, today took over as Finance Secretary, Chandigarh Administration, on deputation from Punjab for a period of two years. Mr Singh had earlier worked in the Chandigarh Administration as Managing Director, Chandigarh Industrial Tourism Development Corporation and Secretary, Industries, Tourism, Forests and Environment. Before coming here, he was Managing Director, Electronic Corporation and Commissioner, Faridkot Division.He has come in place of Dr G. Vajralingam who was repatriated to his parent State of Punjab in March this year. A closer look at rehabilitation schemes, upgradation and strengthening of infrastructure, simplification of procedures and changing of existing equations to make it simpler for law abiding citizens to get their legitimate things done in a respectable way appear high on the priority list of Mr Rakesh Singh. With 21 years of experience in civil services — 11 years in industry and industry-related services, six years in the field as Subdivisional Officer and Deputy Commissioner, two years abroad and two years in training and higher education — Mr Singh maintains that priorities of a bureaucrat are the priorities of the Administration he serves. "Since I have been living here and have developed a special liking for this well-planned city, I wish that Chandigarh should become the first wired city. This is ideally suited for the information technology industry, which is non-polluting, does not need much of power supply and can offer the right kind of jobs for people living in this basically a middle class city," says Mr Rakesh Singh. In fact, before coming here, Mr Singh had been closely associated with the development of the software park at SAS Nagar and had recently engineered the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mahindra and Mahindra. He feels that IT-enabled services are key to the future of cities like Chandigarh. "The most important thing for the future of the city is an integrated development plan of its periphery. Chandigarh has been most successful experiment in urban planning and development. The most important thing is how we approach the next millennium. Either we approach mediocrity or go for new objectives and new slogans. "Since cities cannot be static, change with continuity has to be there. We need to have a discussion with Punjab and Haryana over the periphery control. In the absence of any planned growth, unplanned growth will continue to take place. Rather than being stubborn on the Periphery Control Act, involve professionals and others for an integrated development plan so as to go for low intensity and low cost housing in the periphery so as not affect the basic services in the city. See what has happened to Delhi," Mr Rakesh Singh said. Talking about the departments under him, he says that his effort would be to have best value for the money spent. "Since I had a tenure here, I am aware of the feeling people have that the city comprises pampered North and pauper South. This must go. When I talk of upgradation and strengthening of infrastructure, the focus of future planning would be to narrow down the gap between northern and southern sectors by upgrading and improving the infrastructure, including basic services. "Other area to get my special attention would be to minimise the interface between the public and the administration. The constant running of people from one office to another to get legitimate things done must be minimised. Why someone should not get the registration certificate of his new vehicle on the same day? The same has to be done in case of new driving licences, new and renewal of arms licences and also for the building branch of the Estate Office. "The rehabilitation
schemes of the Administration also need a closer look. I
would love to get a survey done, both in Mauli Jagran and
the Sector 15 Day Booths to ascertain how many original
allottees are still there. My hunch is that nearly 60 per
cent of the dwelling units at Mauli Jagran have been sold
off. This whole problem is related to the haphazard
growth of the periphery. We cannot allow the city to die
or gradually move towards mediocrity. Instead, we must
aspire for higher and better growth," adds Mr Rakesh
Singh. |
‘Officials can remove
encroachments’ CHANDIGARH, June 14 — The controversy regarding the removal of encroachments from the road berms has taken a new turn with the Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC), Mr SK Gathwal, ordering that it was well within the rights of the officials to remove the encroachments. The “order” of the Commissioner follows directions from the Chandigarh Administration that the removal of the encroachments was the responsibility of the officials. It may be recalled that last year the House of corporation had objected to the directions of the administration to the MCC officials asking them to remove encroachments. The members had then pleaded that any decision on the removal of the encroachments should be taken with the approval of the House. According to sources, the administration, while taking a serious notice of the MCC resolution, had reportedly got the matter legally examined. Following this, the administration wrote to the Commissioner to remove the encroachments in the city as per directions issued by it. In fact at one of the meeting of the civic body, the Commissioner had said since he was a government servant he was bound to follow the instructions of the administration. It may be recalled that last month, a letter, reportedly written by the Mayor, Mr Kewal Krishan Addiwal, to the Commissioner urging the latter to go slow in the removal of the encroachments had kicked up row. Of late, the ruling
group has started pleading the case for the issuance of
I-cards to the foot path workers more vigorously. This
move by the ruling group, considered close to the former
MP, Mr Satya Pal Jain, is seen as
“politically-motivated” with elections round
the corner.Meanwhile, the enforcement wing of the civic
body is likely to step up its anti-encroachment drive in
the days to come following the “orders” of the
Commissioner. |
BBA, BCA
tests on June 27 CHANDIGARH, June 14 — The entrance test for admission to the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA) at affiliated colleges in Chandigarh and Punjab for the session 1999-2000 will be conducted by Panjab University on June 27. As many as 3000 applicants for BCA and 2000 for BBA will appear in the examination at various centres. According to figures available, 2177 students will appear for BCA and 1350 for BBA from centres in Chandigarh, respectively. While 185 and 88 students will appear from Ferozepur for these courses, 513 and 460 students will sit for the exam in Ludhiana and only 137 and 46 students have applied for the two courses, respectively, in Hoshiarpur. However, the admission process for these courses has been centralised with effect from this year. A 13-member committee constituted under the chairmanship of PU Dean University Instruction (DUI), Prof IBS Passi has decided to conduct the admissions to these courses at Chandigarh and Ludhiana in the first week of August. While admissions to the BBA course will be made at Government College, Sector 46, in the city under the supervision of the college principal, Maj D.P. Singh (retd), the admissions to the BCA course will be done at Ramgarhia College for Girls, Miller Ganj, Ludhiana under the college principal, Mrs Harmeet Kaur. Besides, principals of seven affiliated colleges, the committee comprises PU Registrar, Controller of Examinations, PU and Dean College Development Council. Meanwhile, the principal of SD College, Sector 32 has expressed resentment over the creation of Ludhiana as a centre for admissions to the BCA course. He pointed out that of the total 3000 applicants, 2200 are from Chandigarh. He suggested that like last year, admissions should be either left to the colleges or at least two centres, one each in Chandigarh and Ludhiana should be created for the purpose of admissions. Even the principal of Government College for Girls, Sector 42, Mrs Mohini Sharma feels that it is unfair to make students from Chadigarh go to Ludhiana for admissions forms and it will only add to their problems. This will also defeat the purpose with which the authorities had decided to centralise the admissions, she added. The two seven-member
sub-committees have been set up to work out all other
details such as dates of declaration of results and other
related aspects by the end of this week. |
Rush
causes chaos at VDS centres CHANDIGARH, June 14 — As many as 20,000 consumers submitted applications to the UT Electricity Department to claim benefits under the simplified Voluntary Disclosure Scheme (VDS) till late in the evening today. The scheme draws to a close tomorrow. The response during this period was lukewarm. Only 4,000 consumers applied, in view of which the department had to rope in sector-level commercial and residential welfare associations to urge their members to avail themselves of the benefits. In view of the poor response and the pleas by various welfare organisations, the scheme was extended by the department for 15 days, till June 15. The response during this period — 20, 000 consumers applying with still a day to go — has been termed "tremendous" by senior officials of the department. The scheme, launched on April 16, was open till May 31, initially. In the absence of a proper arrangement for the convenience of the public, people could be seen braving the scorching heat to get their applications submitted. A large number of consumers were women with some even carrying small children. Mrs Sharda Rani, a consumer at the Industrial Area office, complained there were no drinking water facilities and the absence of any shade over the counters had made things worse. This centre witnessed the maximum rush today and the police had to be called in to restore order. Things were hard in spite of the fact that there were separate queues for women. A major grudge of many in the queue was that only one form was being accepted and that too if it had the sum to be deposited clearly mentioned on the form. Mr Narain Dass, another consumer, said the non-availability of forms had been a big problem."I had to plead with another consumer who was in the process of filling in his form to allow me to get a copy photocopied. Moreover, the staff insist on taking down the name of the consumer before the forms are given to the public, he alleged. Others too voiced the same complaint and said the forms, whether complete or incomplete, should have been accepted in order to allow the maximum number of people to avail themselves of the benefit of the scheme. Discrepancies, if any, could have been cleared later, they opined. In many offices, the chaos was compounded by the lack of adequate staff while at others the staff had to repeatedly urge the consumers not to crowd, be in the queue, and not submit incomplete forms. Another problem at some centres pertained to officials accepting forms, of their acquaintances or of the cops on duty, out of turn. This was resented at many places by the public. Meanwhile, officials said that there was no proposal to extend the scheme and that strict measures would be initiated after the expiry of the scheme against the offenders. They also claimed that
adequate number of officials had been put on duty to
scrutinise and accept the applications. A large number of
people are expected to avail themselves of the scheme
tomorrow, they opined. |
Two city
boys for physics Olympiad CHANDIGARH, June 14 — Two city boys, Mayank Rawat and Amit Agarwal, have done Chandigarh proud. They have been selected as part of the five-member Indian team for the International Physics Olympiad (IPHO) to be held at Padua, Italy, in July, according to Mr U.S.Kushwaha, General Secretary of the Indian Association of Physics Teachers. The IPHO is a prestigious international academic event in which students at the plus two level from all over the world compete for honours by solving innovative physics theory problems and laboratory work. Last year, India participated for the first time and ranked 10th among 58 countries. Selection of the Indian team of the IPHO is done jointly by the Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT) and the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Mumbai (HBCSE) with a national steering committee to oversee the whole procedure. The other three members
of the IPHO team are Sandeep Bala from Mumbai, Harsha
Madhyastha from Bangalore and Raju Suvrat from Delhi. |
Women cops
as duty officers CHANDIGARH, June 14 — Women police officials will be now be deployed as duty officers in police stations to deal with the members of the public who come to report. These women officials will be trained at the Institute of Hotel Management in being polite and receptive. This was disclosed by the Inspector-General of Police, Chandigarh, Mr S.K. Singh, while addressing his firstever meeting with the members of the public at the Chandigarh traffic police auditorium in Sector 29 this evening. The IGP said the police administration would be made transparent, and added that the police could not function alone and it needed active support from the public. It was a crowded meeting where members of the public also aired their views. While the beat system was praised, residents had several new ideas and suggestions. Among the more important was the suggestion to have a proper traffic light point crossing at the place where Sectors 38, 39, 40 and west of 38 met . The Beopar Mandal and
senior citizens wanted separate meetings with the IGP as
they had their own problems to relate. |
650
admission forms sold CHANDIGARH, June 14 — About 650 admission forms for class XI in non-medical and medical streams of DAV College were sold here today. The college has 720 seats in both streams. The last date for submission of forms is June 19. The college authorities are hopeful of selling about 1,000 forms by then. According to Mr R.C. Jeevan, principal of the college, the response was good for 480 seats in the non-medical stream rather than 240 seats in the medical stream. Last year, 480 forms were sold on the first day, he said. The merit list of candidates who are eligible for admission on the basis of high scores will be put up on June 21. Admissions will commence on June 22. Meanwhile, prospectuses for admission to Class XI of 28 government senior secondary schools in the city can be obtained from any of these schools on cash payment of Rs 12. While the students opting for non-medical and medical streams are required to submit the forms in GMSSS, Sector 23, those opting for commerce will have to submit these in GMSSS, Sector 22, and those applying for vocational courses and humanities will submit these in GGMSSS, Sector 18. The form should have attested copies of matriculation certificate and marksheet, along with character certificate from the head of the institution last attended, attached to these. The forms should be deposited on or before June 30. Though the normal dates of admission to each of these schools will be from July 6 to 14, admissions will be made till August 31, with the permission of DPI (Schools). The admission guidelines specify that students placed under compartment in the qualifying examination will be admitted provisionally. They will not be allowed to continue if they did not clear their compartment in the first chance offered by CBSE or the board of examination concerned. The students will be admitted in various academic streams according to the merit list of the qualifying examination. The candidates will not be allowed to change their subjects after October 31. The students granted admission will have to deposit the dues on the date of admission, failing which admission will be cancelled and the seat given to the next candidate. According to the
information available, no new vocational courses have
been introduced in any of the schools this year but a
section of computer applications with 25 seats has been
added to GMSSS, Sector 33. The classes will commence from
July 16. |
Challaned
for tints on car pane CHANDIGARH, June 14 — A local resident was challaned for putting black tinted films of the window panes of his car even as the Chandigarh Traffic Police has denied having issued any orders to challan in this regard. Mr Karan Gulati of Sector 21 was driving his car (CH-01-U-2773) when he was stopped outside the Sector 10 petrol station by a Sub Inspector of the traffic police. Mr Gulati says the cop challaned him for black filming on car windows. " I argued that no information has been given to the public through newspapers but the cop said orders had been issued just an hour ago," Mr Gulati alleged. Mr Gulati says a challan number 006338 from book number 6338 was issued. On other hand, the SP, Traffic, Mr Balbir Singh, said no orders had been issued to challan cars with black filming on window panes. It may be recollected
that last July, a large number city residents took off
tinted films of their cars windows after an order of the
Punjab and Haryana High Court. Nearly a week after that,
the orders were stayed by the Supreme Court and since
then, no one has been challaned for black films. A vast
majority of them have got the filming done again to
protect against sunlight and for "privacy". |
Five
booked for abducting girl PANCHKULA, June 14 — Five jhuggi dwellers, including two women of Rajiv Colony here, have been booked by the police for being allegedly involved in a nine-month-old case of abduction of a 15 year-old girl and keeping her in illegal confinement for two days. The victim was allegedly raped and left at an isolated place in an unconscious state. a case has been registered on the directions of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr V.P.Gupta, after the mother of the victim, Latoo Devi, lodged a complaint in the court of the CJM in this regard. The complainant alleged that while her daughter had gone to attend call of nature, five persons — Munna and his wife, Vinod and his wife and Gulab — kidnapped her and kept her in illegal confinement for two days. During her confinement she was allegedly raped by the three men. The victim's mother complained to the CJM that repeated requests made to the police to register a case against the suspects did not yield any result. Even a complaint in this regard was made to the Superintendent of Police on May 31, 1999. She further alleged that to intimidate her, the suspects allegedly tried to kidnap her six- year-old son. The police has registered a case under sections 363, 376 511 and 120-B of the IPC. In another incident,a jhuggi-dweller of Indira colony in Sector 17 in a complaint lodged with the police has alleged that his daughter was allegedly abducted by two persons. The police has registered a case under Section 363 and 366 of the IPC. The complainant, Lokendar Singh, alleged that his daughter who was working as a maid in a house in Sector 16 here for the past five months left house for her work on June 8 but did not return home. Enquires by the father of the girl revealed that she never reached the place of work on that day. The complainant in his
statement given to the police has named one of his
neighbour, Balbir and another person for being involved
in the case. |
Clarification
on CSD sales CHANDIGARH, June 14 — A spokesman of the 3 BRD CSD today clarified that all items sold through the CSD were as per the policy of Air Headquarters and the Ministry of Defence. Only authorised personnel were allowed to purchase liquor and grocery items from the CSD and that also within the limits of their authorised quota. Wg Cdr Narinder Singh (retd), manager of the CSD outlet in Sector 31, kept a strict vigil. He has also denied having made a statement regarding becoming helpless when some senior officers order him to do anything unauthorised. The spokesman further
said that there were a large number of retired defence
personnel residing in civil areas who were authorised
customers of the CSD. Once they purchased their
authorised quota, it became their responsibility and it
was extremely difficult for any unit administration to
ensure any kind of control. |
Nagar
kirtan marks martyrdom day CHANDIGARH, June 14 — A colourful nagar kirtan procession was organised here today to mark the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev. It started from the Sector 23 gurdwara and moved through various sectors before terminating at the Sector 30 gurdwara. The entire route of the procession was decorated with colourful buntings and gates. The route was also dotted with "chabeels". At places, even tea and snacks were also distributed among processionists. The police had made elaborate security and traffic arrangements. Gurbani reciting parties from various sectors and gurdwaras, besides children from various schools, also joined the procession. The main attraction was the flower-bedecked vehicle carrying Guru Granth Sahib. 'Panj Pyaras' walked in front of the vehicle carrying the holy book. Some tiny tots, sporting
saffron turbans and dupattas and carrying kirpans, were
also a major attraction of the procession. |
SNIPPETS Blows exchanged at 'Apni Mandi' SAS NAGAR, June 14 — Tension gripped the 'Apni Mandi' near Yaadvindra Public School here last night following heated exchanges between 'rehri-phariwalas' and farmers over selling of vegetables and fruits at the place. According to sources, the trouble began at around 7 p.m. when some farmers objected to selling of vegetables by 'rehri-phariwalas', who were permitted to do business at the place by the local SDM. Follwing heated exchanges, some members of both sides resorted to exchanging blows. No case has been registered so far. Meanwhile, the Kisan Union Apni Mandi Chandigarh alleged that 'rehri-phariwalas' pelted stones at farmers when they requested them to leave some space for farmers. Mr Rajinder Singh, President of the union, alleged that 'phariwalas' were allowed to do business near 'Apni Mandi' by the SDM under political pressure. He said that farmers would be forced to take a 'direct action' if authorities failed to come out with a solution to the problem. Tehsildar suspended PANCHKULA, June 14 — A Tehsildar, Mr G.S.Virk, has reportedly been placed under suspension in connection with an inquiry into a land revenue case. The Tehsildar, who is currently abroad, had been posted at the local tehsil office. Day's salary donated CHANDIGARH, June 14 — The UT Secretariat Class IV Employees Welfare Association has decided to contribute a day's salary of its members to the Soldiers Relief Fund in aid of the victims of Kargil military operation. Mr Ripudaman Singh, Chairman of the association, conveyed the decision of the association to the Adviser to the Administrator, Mrs Vineeta Rai, here today. K.A.P. Sinha CHANDIGARH, June 14 — The Chandigarh Administration has appointed Mr K.A.P. Sinha, Joint Secretary, Finance, DPI (Colleges). He has been given this charge in addition to his present assignment. The DPI ( Schools), Mr D.S. Mangat, was holding the charge. Training camp ends CHANDIGARH, June 14 — The translation training course for Central Government employees concluded at the CSIO, Sector 30, here today. Ms Inderpal Kaur, Ms Neeru and Mr B.B. Bahuguna were given the first, second and third prizes, respectively, in the examination conducted at the end of the course which started on May 17. The course was conducted by the Central Translation Bureau, New Delhi. The Director of the CSIO, Dr R.P. Bajpai, gave away the prizes to the winners today. Mr Inderjit Chawla, Assistant Director of the bureau, stressed the importance of translation in the day-to-day life. 265 ITBP jawans donate blood CHANDIGARH, June 14 — A voluntary blood donation camp was organised at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) basic training camp, Bhanu, near Panchkula, today. As many as 265 personnel, including three women and five officers, donated blood. The camp, the second of its kind, was inaugurated by Mr S.C. Nayar, ADIG, ITBP. The camp was held in association with the Blood Bank Society, PGI. At the first such camp held on May 27, as many as 500 personnel had donated blood. Mr Nayar said the camps
and other social causes were being pursued by the ITBP to
instill a feeling of involvement in nation building and a
sense of participation in such causes. |
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