Wednesday, June 23, 1999
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N E W S Wednesday, June 23, 1999 |
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Decision
on PGI Dean, reservations deferred CHANDIGARH, June 22 — The PGI Governing Body at its meeting here today deferred two major long-pending decisions it was scheduled to take regarding the institute. A decision on the long-drawn controversy regarding reservations against top faculty posts was deferred. The much-awaited appointment of Dean, PGI, was also put off after the members could not arrive at a consensus. The Union Health Minister, Mr Dalit Ezhilmalai, who chaired the meeting, later told The Tribune that the Director, PGI, had been asked to evolve a consensus among the faculty members regarding the issue of reservations. The minister added that he would go by the law, rules, and constitutional provisions while dealing with the issue of reservation. Mr Ezhilmalai said he was not prepared to compromise but agreed to postpone the decision to evolve a consensus on the issue. He was not in favour of waiting endlessly and would like to take a decision in this regard at the earliest. A five-member high-power committee headed by the Union Health Secretary was also scheduled to submit its report on reservations against top faculty posts at the PGI. The committee was formed following a meeting on April 6. This was done after the Association of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Caste PGI Employees petitioned the Union Health Ministry seeking modifications in the advertisement inviting applications to fill 140 vacant posts. The issue of reservations has rocked the PGI in the past several years and more than 140 posts are lying vacant while legal wrangling continued. A constitution bench of the Supreme Court in its judgement on April 17, 1998, had said that there would be no reservation against single-cadre posts. On the issue of appointment of Dean, PGI, the Governing Body was divided and the matter was discussed for more than an hour and a half. The members could not reach a consensus on a particular name. In the panel of five for the post of Dean are: Prof R.J. Dash, Prof R.N. Kataria, Prof A.K. Banerjee, Prof Subhash Kumari Gupta and Prof S.K. Sharma. The appointment of Dean will be brought up in the next meeting of body, sources said, adding that the prestigious appointment is being eagerly awaited among the PGI faculty. Almost half of the 90-point agenda has been postponed due to paucity of time. The issues will be brought up during the next meeting. Most of the issues that were postponed were the decisions of the standing finance committee (SFC) and required ratification from the Governing Body. Among the important issues to be postponed was the decision of the SFC that approved one international conference every two years with an allowance of Rs 1 lakh instead of Rs 40,000 for faculty members. The number of national conferences have been increased from one to two each year. Threat to move court If the Governing Body takes no decision on the issue of reservations against top faculty posts, or its decision is not in line with the April 17, 1998, judgement of the Supreme Court, the PGI Faculty Association will move court seeking contempt of court and implementation of the judgement, Dr Ajit Awasthi, President of the Association, said tonight. We will act as soon as the decision of the Governing Body is communicated to us . So far, we have not been aware of recommendations, if any, Dr Awasthi said, adding that “we have not even been officially informed about anything.” The Supreme Court in its judgement had said there would no reservations against top faculty posts. The Ministry of Health got the judgement interpreted through the Law Ministry and the Personnel Department before inserting an advertisement in newspapers inviting applications to fill 140 vacant posts. ‘’ This is a
needless delay that is telling on the morale of the
institute,’’ Dr Awasthi added. |
Three
remanded for murder ZIRAKPUR, June 22 — The alleged illicit relations between the wife of a landlord and his tenant has resulted in the murder of the landlord, Madan Lal of Bhabhat village. He was reportedly killed by the paramour of his wife with the help of the paramour's cousin in a forest nearby after getting him drunk. Ms Neelam Arora, Judicial Magistrate (First Class), Kharar, has sentenced the three accused — Surinder Kaur alias Pinki, Jagtar Singh and his cousin Bhupinder Singh — to judicial custody till July 1 for their alleged involvement in the murder. Pinki, 20 years old, is the wife of the victim. According to police sources, 28-year-old Madan Lal was murdered by the trio in the Bir forest near Dera Bassi on the night of April 14 as he had come to know about the illicit relations between his wife and Jagtar Singh, their tenant. He had reportedly been a tenant for the past many years. Following the murder, Pinki lodged a complaint at the Sohana police station on May 15 about the disappearance of her husband for the past one month. After some days, Pinki informed the police that she had received a letter from her husband, suggesting her to get re-married as he had also re-married. According to Mr Gurinder Pal Singh, SHO, Sohana, Jagtar Singh visited Pinki's house on June 17. Her neighbours objected and subsequently informed the police about Jagtar Singh's visit to the village and hinted about his intimate relations with Pinki. This aroused the suspicion of the police. Jagtar Singh was taken into custody and interrogated about the disappearance of Madan Lal. The SHO said after interrogation, Jagtar Singh confessed to killing Madan Lal along with his cousin Bhupinder Singh, with the consent of the victim's wife, Pinki. Jagtar Singh also disclosed that after consuming liquor with Madan Lal in his house in Zirakpur that day, Madan Lal, Jagtar Singh and Bhupinder Singh drove to Dera Bassi on a scooter (PB-39-0535). They again stopped at a dhaba for more drinks, following which they took him to the nearby forest. They strangulated him and kicked him on his private parts, killing him. Then they dumped the body in a trench in the jungle and fled. Acting on the
information, the police recovered a badly-eaten body,
which had almost been reduced to a skeleton, and a purse,
which had a photo of the victim, from the trench. A case
under Sections 364, 302 and 120-B of the IPC has been
registered. |
Centre to
lay down norms for nursing homes, private hospitals CHANDIGARH, June 22— The Central Government is in the process of drawing up minimum working standards for nursing homes and private sector hospitals in the country, disclosed the Union Health Minister, Mr Dalit Ezhilmalai, while adding that this was being done as a large segment of health-care needs were being met through the private sector. He was speaking while inaugurating the newly-constructed OPD complex (Block-B) of Government Medical College and Hospital, (GMCH), Sector 32, here this afternoon. Block 'B' is a five-storeyed building in addition to a basement. It will house the OPDs and has been constructed at a cost of Rs 16.50 crore by the Department of Engineering, Chandigarh Administration. Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister said that the block was well planned and conceived. He hoped that in coming times all the medical institutions in Chandigarh would be interconnected through computer networking for making full utilisation of the advancement in the field of medical information and technology. Mr Ezhilmalai said that he was fully aware of the needs of this upcoming medical college, particularly the need for more faculty posts for which, he assured, that the Health Ministry would take a decision at the earliest. Earlier, while presiding over the function, the Administrator of Chandigarh, Lieut Gen B.K.N. Chhibber (retd) , said the health parameters of the Union Territory were better when compared to the national goals laid in the national health policy. Some of the parameters like mortality rate (16/1000), the crude birth rate of 15.4\1000, the crude death rate of 3.3\1000 and immunisation exceeding 100 per cent exceeded the national goals to be achieved by the year 2000 , he added. Mrs Vineeta Rai, Adviser to the Administrator, said that the new OPD complex would provide services to 1,000 patients daily. Prof. V.K Kak, Director-Principal of the GMCH mentioned about the various facilities being provided in the OPD complex. In addition to the OPDs
of all the departments, the Block-B will also house a
reception hall, screening OPDs, laboratories for OPD
patients, information and technology services, CT Scan
and a canteen for patients and their attendants. Specific
provision has been made for day care surgery,
physio-therapy and occupational therapy, family welfare
clinic and antenatal clinic. Thus the OPD complex will be
complete in all aspects providing all the facilities for
patient care in the same premises which will make the
treatment cost effective and highly acceptable with very
little inconvenience commonly seen in most of the major
hospitals, Prof Kak said . |
UGC grades
from next month CHANDIGARH, June 22 — With the Chandigarh Administration finally getting down to fixing salaries of the UT government college teachers as per the revised University Grants Commission (UGC) grades, adopting the Punjab Government's notification issued on March 24, teachers can expect the new grades to come into effect from next month. This was stated today by Mr N. K. Jain, Home Secretary of the Chandigarh Administration. He also said that the delay was caused because of a huge numbers of teachers involved in the issue. "Now that the recommendations have been adopted, we will give teachers their due. The same will follow for teachers of private colleges as well, whose cases have now begun to be verified by the Education Department," Mr Jain said. Sources in the Education Department say that all cases of government college teachers of the city have been cleared and sent across to respective colleges. The delay, according to them, was also caused because even though the teachers had filled an undertaking stating that in case of any fixation errors, the lecturer would refund the excess amount, some of the forms had not been filled properly, which then had to be sent back. Government College of Girls, Sector 42, did not, reportedly, wait for any verification from the department and went ahead with preparing salary statements of its teachers according to the new grades in June. Teachers of this college are ecstatic, but authorities are apparently not happy at this decision of the Principal. The Education Department is now verifying the salary statements as per the new grades of this college and according to sources there have not been any discrepancies so far. The only pending issue was fixing of pay of those lecturers (selection grade) and readers in the pre-revised grade of Rs 3700-125-4950-150-5700 who were in these positions on January 1, 1996 and who would now get their pay fixed "at a minimum of Rs 14,940 in the revised scale of Rs 12000-420-18300 as and when they complete five years in the grade". The department has asked for clarification from Punjab in this matter as the clause of "as and when" is "not clear" to it. "This matter is not a bone of contention. We just need to ask for clarification, after which, whosoever would be eligible in this grade, would get the same with arrears," said Mr Jain. According to sources,
this grade will be made available to all those who were
in this selection grade on January 1, 1996 itself. |
City fire
services modernised CHANDIGARH, June 22 — With the acquisition of the dry chemical powder (DCP) tender and four more water tenders, the Fire Department of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) is all set to modernise its operations. The state-of-the-art Rs 11.5 lakh DCP tender, which will be first of its kind in the region, will help the department extinguish fires involving chemicals, petroleum products and electricity, which cannot be controlled by water alone. According to sources, the multi-functional DCP tender has four exclusive fire-fighting features. In case of fires due to petroleum products like at petrol stations, it can spray foam to control the fire. In case of electrical fires, the spraying of a powder comprising sodium biocarbonate and other stabilising agents will help control fires much more quickly than traditional methods. Besides this, the liquefied carbon dioxide stored in it has 500 times more cooling power than water. Apart from extinguishing particular kind of fires, the DCP tender can be used for spraying water in case of ordinary fires, sources say. Keeping in view needs and safety of industrial units, the DCP tender is to be stationed at the fire station in Industrial Area, Phase II. The station will be completed by next month. Since several fires involving chemicals, foams and electricity were reported from Industrial Area, the DCP tender would prove handy in case of any eventuality, The department has decided to impart special training to a batch of fire-fighters so that they can handle such fires in a professional manner. The training will be apart from the general training and young fire-fighters will be targeted for this specialised job, the sources say. Meanwhile, yesterday the Fire Wing got four new fire-fighting vehicles, each with a capacity of 4,500 litres, to augment its existing fleet. The wing currently has 13 fire-fighting vehicles, one water bouser (18,000 litre-capacity), five ambulances and two emergency fire-fighting vehicles. Purchased at a cost of over Rs 32 lakh, the new fire-fighting vehicles have the capacity to throw water at a distance of 35 metres as compared to the capacity of 20 metres only of earlier vehicles. Crowbars, hammers, cutting equipment and spades will be integral part of the fire-fighting vehicles. The 35-metre water
throwing capacity will help fire-fighters put out fires
faster particularly those in labour colonies or areas
which have narrow passages. Besides this, the department
will get a new water bouser of 18,000 litres capacity
next month. |
GMCH staff
gesture CHANDIGARH, June 22 — The staff and doctors of the GMCH will donate one day's salary towards relief for the families of soldiers fighting in Kargil. Expressing concern towards the brave soldiers and their families who are fighting in Kargil and other sectors along the LoC to safeguard the territory of India, Prof. V.K Kak said: '' We are further planning to extend more medical benefits for the bereaved families and our services will be available for the defence forces ". MC staff to donate one day's
salary CHANDIGARH, June 22 — The staff of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) has decided to donate one day's salary to the families of the Kargil martyrs. According to sources, Rs 9.53 lakh would be donated by the civic body staff. Besides, over 300 employees volunteered to donate blood for the injured soldiers. Haryana officers’ decision CHANDIGARH, June 22 — The Executive Committee of the HCS (Executive) Officers Association, which met here yesterday, decided to donate one day’s salary to the Haryana Chief Ministers’ War Heroes Relief Fund as their contribution for the Indian soldiers fighting in the Kargil-Dras-Balatik sector. The meeting also observed a two-minute silence as a mark of respect to those who had made the supreme sacrifice in defending the motherland. The Chandigarh Transport Undertaking Workers Union has also decided to donate one day’s salary to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund in view of the ongoing military operations in Kargil. A delegation of the union met the Adviser to the Administrator, Ms Vineeta Rai, and apprised her of its decision. The Employees Welfare
Association of the Directorate of Industrial Training and
Vocational Education, Haryana, has also decided to donate
one day’s salary to the Chief Minister’s Relief
Fund for the welfare of officers and jawans fighting in
Kargil. |
Agitated
villagers block traffic KHARAR, June 22 — The agitated villagers of Badala on the Kharar — Bassi road observed a dharna and blocked vehicular traffic from 1.30 pm to 4.30 pm here today to protest against the alleged closure of a big drain by a person of the village resulting in the stagnation of dirty water of about 50 houses. They were also protesting against the administration for not taking action although the matter was reported to them on June 10. Ms Guljar Kaur, Sarpanch, and Mr Khushwant Rai Gigs, a former Sarpanch of the village said a drain, about 7 feet wide, was constructed in 1994 by the panchayat. They said the person had not only encroached upon about 11 biswa of common land of the village, but had also blocked this drain on June 10. As a result, the water of about 50 houses started accumulating and rain water entered many houses. A wall had collapsed because of this. They alleged that they had written to the officers of the administration but nothing was done. They said when the residents were fed up, they blocked traffic today. Mr Ashwani Kapoor, DSP, Kharar, and Mr Rajinder Pal Singh Sohal, SHO, Kharar, reached the spot and persuaded the agitators to lift the blockade. Senior officers were informed immediately. Mr Amarjit Singh Dhindsa, SDM Kharar, Mr Ranjit Singh, BDO, Kharar, and Nalb Tehsildar, Kharar, reached the spot. Ms Satwinder Kaur Dhaliwal, a former MP from Ropar, also reached there and alleged that the administration was unnecessarily lengthening the problem. Negotiations between the
parties were started and the officers were persuading the
encroaches to remove the encroachments. |
Rally by
medical practitioners CHANDIGARH, June 22 — Members of the Jalandhar unit of the Medical Practitioners Association of Punjab, today staged a rally and participated in the ongoing indefinite fast organised by the association in the city. They were protesting against the non-acceptance of their demands by the government, besides the cane-charge on protesting members by the local police on May 24. The protesters condemned the government for not calling them to the negotiating table even though their agitation had entered its 28th day today. The major demand of the agitators is that they be allowed to register themselves with state medical authorities and practise in villages. The decision of the
government disallowing them from doing so had virtually
affected more than 1.5 lakh families in the state. |
Punjabi
singer booked SAS NAGAR, June 22 — Surjit Bindrakhia, a Punjabi folk singer, has been booked by the local police after the car he was driving hit and injured a cyclist before ramming into a power transformer in Phase III here yesterday. A case has been registered against the singer following a complaint lodged by Mr Hari Ram, a Sector 25 Ghumar Colony resident. He alleged that the singer was driving his vehicle at a breakneck speed and hit him near the Phase III Micro Tower, resulting in injuries to him. Later, the vehicle rammed into a transformer and damaged it, the complaint said. No arrest has been made
so far. A case has been registered under Sections 229 and
337 of the IPC at the Phase I police station. |
PUDA
removes 65 ‘khokhas’ SAS NAGAR, June 22 — Tension rose as PUDA authorities, in a five- hour operation, removed 65 unauthorised ‘khokhas’ in Phase XI here today. A team of nearly 40 men, including policemen, reached the area in morning to evict encroaches. The eviction work had to be suspended for some time following a tense situation in the area. A few affected persons persons said that PUDA had removed ‘khokhas’ which had been there for “a long time” but had left “untouched” those set up recently. It is alleged that one of the leaders of the ‘khokha’ owners’ body used to take large sums of money to allow the setting up of ‘khokhas’ in the illegal market. Mr G.S. Ghuman, Estate
Officer, said only eight to 10 ‘khokhas’ out of
the 65 removed had come up about two years ago. The
others had come up recently. There were some more
‘khokhas’ which were yet to be removed. |
SNIPPETS No late fees till July 20 CHANDIGARH, June 22 — Class X and XII candidates, who were placed in compartment in the annual examination or whose result was yet to be declared could submit their admission forms without late fees by July 20 for appearing in the supplementary examinations to be held in September. Mr Jarnail Singh, Controller of Examinations, said a late fees of Rs 100 would be charged by July 31 and students could submit their forms with a late fees of Rs 300 till August 7 and Rs 500 till August 13. ‘Remove rank-based aid for
soldiers’ CHANDIGARH, June 22 — Members of the All-India Ex-servicemen Welfare Association have criticised the treatment being meted out to the jawans fighting in the Kargil operations. According to Mr Bhim Sen Sehgal, chairman of the association, the ex-gratia amount announced by various state governments is discriminatory. He said while officers will get Rs 5 lakh and JCOs, Rs 3 lakh, the jawans will only get Rs 2 lakh. All other benefits are also rank-based. The association demanded that all personnel killed during war should be treated equally in the matter of facilities, benefits and ex- gratia and that there should be no discrimination on the basis of rank. Besides, families of those killed should be given Rs 10 lakh as compensation, a minimum monthly pension of Rs 5, 000 for jawans, a monthly sum of Rs 4, 000 for permanently disabled soldiers, and a house and job for the next of kith and kin of the killed soldiers. Yoga camp concludes CHANDIGARH, June 22 — Yogacharya M. Lal, who has taught yoga techniques on the Doordarshan for nearly two decades, demonstrated the same for three days for reconditioning and rejuvenating the body at the Press Club here. Today was the concluding day. Calling upon the participants to devote a few minutes every day not only to keep fit but also to treat nagging problems of spondylitis, backache, frozen shoulder, arthritis of the joints, migraine, and even diabetes, Mr Lal also advocated “pranayama” for pumping in fresh air in the body. Mr Lal stressed the importance of natural foods, wheat bran, in particular, for clearing the intestines and tackling problems of constipation, piles and blood pressure and asked the people to give up “fast foods” and unnatural preparation. He said people should think of getting rid of obesity through yogic exercises as it was the root cause of several dangerous diseases like blood pressure, back pain, knee pain, sciatica and other stress-related problems. For strengthening of mental health, Mr Lal stressed the need for practising meditation. The 56-year-old yoga expert is the son of famous yogacharya Devi Dayal Maharaj and looks after yoga centres in Chandigarh, Panchkula and Delhi. Summer workshop inaugurated CHANDIGARH, June 22 — A summer workshop organised by the Rotract Club (Mid Town) Chandigarh, District 3080, was inaugurated today by Bibi Jagir Kaur, President, SGPC, at Shivalik Public School, Sector 41. Speaking on the occasion, Bibi Jagir Kaur said that youth should concentrate their energies on extra co-curricular activities, especially during vacations, and not spend time watching television alone. She also lauded the role of the youth in organising such events and announced a grant of Rs 11,000 for the club. The President of Rotary, Chandigarh, Mr Moni Kahlon, and Ms Puneeta, President of Rotract Club (Mid Town), Chandigarh, also spoke on this occasion. The summer workshop, which would be on till July 4, includes western dance, painting, poster-making, face painting, wall graffiti and computer graphics and net surfing. According to Ms Puneeta, the timings of the workshop are from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Open to students of all schools, this workshop will culminate with an exhibition of paintings and pots and different dance items in the basement of the school premises on July 4. Union to probe benami property KHARAR, June 22 — The Revenue Patwar Union, Punjab, has decided to collect information and facts about various benami property, allegedly purchased by various ministers and senior officers of the Punjab Government. According to a press note issued here today, the union has mentioned that these facts would be sent to the central government with a demand that an inquiry by the CBI should be conducted into this. The union alleged that a minister of the Punjab Government, who is occasionally issuing statements against the patwaris, has allegedly purchased property worth crores of rupees near Chandigarh and the union was collecting documents regarding this. Meanwhile, all patwaris and kanoongoes of Kharar tehsil are sitting in dharna in support of their demands that the government should implement their already accepted demands. The Patwaris and kanoongoes also paid rich tributes to the martyrs of Kargil and decided to donate a day’s salary towards the welfare of the families of the martyrs and the injured soldiers. Rain brings misery PANCHKULA, June 22 — Residents of a number of houses in a pocket of Sector 10 here are at the mercy of the rain god. Every rain brings in misery for them as they struggle hard to save their household goods from getting wet as their houses get submerged in two to three feet of rain water. This time also, a heavy downpour on last Sunday resulted in rain water entering their houses up to a level of two feet. All this was the outcome of an indifferent attitude of the officials of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) in finding a solution to their problem, residents said. Though the main reason for the flooding of the houses was that these were in a low lying part of the Sector, inability of HUDA in laying a proper storm-water drainage system had compounded their problem. Even on May 24, a downpour had resulted in upto two feet of rain water entering the houses. Mr M.L. Gulati, General Secretary of the House Owners Welfare Association of Sector 10, said that as periodical cleaning of curve channels and road gullies had not been undertaken, it took considerable time for rain water to recede. The anger of residents is vented against HUDA officials as representations given to them did not yield any result. Repair of potholed roads in the sector and proper street lighting have also been demanded by residents. 2 women killed in mishap KHARAR, June 22 — Two women were killed near Kurali and many injured when a three-wheeler tempo overturned yesterday. Giving this information here today, Mr Ashwani Kapoor, DSP, Kharar, said the three-wheeler PB-12-C-1409 was trying to overtake a tractor-trolley near Charherri village when the driver lost control of the three-wheeler and it overturned. He said two ladies Nirmal Kaur and Sunita died when they were being taken to the PGI Chandigarh. Mr Harbans Singh, Ms
Khushial Kaur, Mr Gurmakh Singh and Ms Parkash Kaur were
taken to Civil Hospital, Kurali, for treatment. The
Kurali police has registered a case under Sections 279,
337 and 304A against Jagtar Singh, driver of the
three-wheeler. |
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