& V I C I N I T Y
Tuesday, March 16, 1999
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C H A N D I G A R H & V I C I N I T Y |
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Tuesday, March 16, 1999 |
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Vajralingam repatriated to Punjab CHANDIGARH, March 15 — In a surprise move, the Union Home Ministry has ordered immediate repatriation of Dr G. Vajralingam, Finance Secretary, Chandigarh Administration, to his parent state of Punjab. Illegal hedges, fences axed HUDA targets Sectors 6, 7 of Panchkula PANCHKULA, March 15 — Enforcement staff of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) today demolished hedges, fences and other types of enclosures raised unauthorisedly in front of at least 35 houses in Sector 6 here. |
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Mafia
rules Bollywood, says Ranjeet Vasudeva,
Dhatt on consumer disputes panel
Teachers
observe black day
UGC
course inaugurated Three
recommended for Commissioner’s post
Dripping
water poses traffic hazard PSEB
makes students ‘powerless’ Housing
Board’s order set aside Symposium
decries female foeticide Summons
to more respondents Hot
plate issue continues to burn CTCC
okays new constitution Marble,
stone prices stable GMCH
plans project on environment Get-together
of Lahauli students ‘Better
ties with China needed’ |
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Vajralingam repatriated to Punjab CHANDIGARH, March 15 — In a surprise move, the Union Home Ministry has ordered immediate repatriation of Dr G. Vajralingam, Finance Secretary, Chandigarh Administration, to his parent state of Punjab. Dr Vajralingam, who belongs to the 1986 batch of the IAS, had joined the Chandigarh Administration in July last year . His appointment then had raised some eyebrows as his predecessor, Mr N.S. Kang, who had requested for his repatriation, was asked to relinquish charge in a sudden development which also led to the replacement of Mr K.K. Khandelwal, the then Deputy Commissioner of Chandigarh. It may be a mere coincidence that both Dr G. Vajralingam and Mr R.K. Rao, who succeeded Mr Kang and Mr Khandelwal, respectively , are also being replaced almost simultaneously. Mr Ramasekhar, an IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, has already been appointed Deputy Commissioner-cum-Estate Officer of Chandigarh to relieve Mr Rao of the additional charge. The Home Secretary of Chandigarh, Mrs Anuradha Gupta, will hold the additional charge of the Finance Secretary till further orders. No reasons are being given for the sudden repatriation of Dr Vajralingam at a time when the closing of the financial year is just 16 days away. Only on March 12, Mr K.A.P. Sinha of Punjab had assumed charge as Joint Secretary, Finance, to relieve Mr Prithi Chand, Director, Social Welfare, of the additional charge. Dr Vajralingam had earlier
worked in the Chandigarh Administration as Joint
Secretary, Finance, before he was recalled by the Punjab
Government for appointment as Deputy Commissioner. Before
taking up his present assignment, he was Managing
Director, Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation
(PSIEC). |
Illegal hedges, fences axed PANCHKULA, March 15 — Enforcement staff of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) today demolished hedges, fences and other types of enclosures raised unauthorisedly in front of at least 35 houses in Sector 6 here. The drive was launched as part of a major exercise to remove encroachments on open spaces. Under the HUDA Act, the open space in front of houses is meant to be used for laying of essential services like water, sewerage and telephone lines. In today’s drive, the enforcement staff of HUDA aided by two bulldozers and police force removed hedges, fences and other types of enclosures raised by the residents in front of their houses. Some of the affected residents, however, alleged that enforcement staff had left out the houses of certain influential persons. The drive is expected to continue tomorrow. The drive was supervised by the Estate Officer, City Magistrate and DSP (City). As had been decided by the HUDA officials, the first phase of the drive would be limited to Sectors 6 and 7. The residents had been given time to voluntarily remove hedges in front of their respective houses before HUDA swung into action. A similar drive had been launched by HUDA in 1997 during which hedges, especially in front of corner houses were removed. The drive was, however, given up allegedly due to lack of official will. The issue was also raised
by the Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, during a press
conference here last year. He had asked HUDA officials to
look into the matter as the effective width of the roads
was reduced due to growing of hedges by the residents.
Moreover, the hedges, especially in front of the corner
houses, reduced visibility of road users, leading to
accidents. |
Internet: 120 lines & 5,000
users CHANDIGARH, March 15 — Internet services in the city have gone from bad to worse since yesterday. Getting a connection has become very difficult as the network is clogged with users trying to reach it for hours at a stretch without any success. Connectivity onto the internet node has been bad since March 10 but things have gone worse since yesterday. Sources said the server was overloaded that is why the problem had occurred. The network in Chandigarh has 120 lines for the Internet and around 2,500 registered users. All lines are used heavily as businessmen are realising the advantage of communicating through the net. The load factor is further increased as Internet users living in the industrial hub of Ludhiana can also reach the Chandigarh node through a local call. Apart from this, travellers, who come to the city and download their e-mail, add to the load factor. According to Mr Vivek Bansal, President of the Internet Users Association, “ keeping in mind all factors I would say the users are close to 5,000 while the department had allocated only 120 lines.” Another thing that adds to the load is the fact that several people pool in resources to take an account, thus all of them can use the account on the basis of the same password. Apart from this, government departments and big private firms have one connection and multiple users in the same office. People are known to have programmed their modems for automatic dialling in the early hours, thus blocking the lines for several hours in advance. Some users, especially those using the Internet on official expenses, are known not to log out of the net. All these things are never considered by the department, while calculating the ratio of telephone lines with the numbers of subscribers, Mr Bansal says. On paper the idea of the department to have 120 lines for about 2,500 users is right but these additional factors have to be taken in consideration before deciding upon the capacity. A source in the department says that the bandwidth that allows data to be downloaded needs to be increased as users have been complaining that downloading becomes slow as the entire bandwidth gets used up. A problem for the e-mail recipients is that the entire mail gets mixed up with no space between different mail. A user has to make an effort to know one mail drop from another, a Sector 18 Internet user says. The Principal General Manager , Telecom, Mr Prithipal Singh, had said four days ago that the problem had occurred as the process of expanding the server and increasing the number of lines was under way. At present the use of
lines is close to 24 hours, thus the users, who do not
get a connection, means loss of revenue for the
department, points out an official. Besides this
non-connectivity means incalculable loss for the users,
who have programmed their working schedules according to
the Internet connectivity. |
Truck driver gets 2-year RI PANCHKULA, March 15 — A truck driver has been sentenced to two years of rigorous imprisonment by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr V.P.Gupta, for negligently driving his vehicle, leading to the death of a cyclist at Surajpur seven years ago. The CJM passed the judgement against the truck driver, Mukh Raj, a resident of Majri in Old Panchkula. The driver had been booked by the Pinjore police under Sections 279 and 337 of the IPC on March 8, 1992. Later Section 304-A of the IPC was added to the case after the victim succumbed to his injuries at the PGI in Chandigarh. According to the complainant, Kartar Chand, he along with his cousin, Satpal, had come to the bus stand at Surajpur on their respective bicycles. While the duo were on a ‘kutcha’ path along the road, a truck driven allegedly rashly and negligently by the accused hit Satpal from behind, injuring him. The victim was moved by Mr Hans Raj, Sarpanch of Rajjipur village, to the hospital where the latter succumbed to his injuries the next day. The post mortem of the deceased revealed that he had died of shock and haemorrhage. After hearing counsel of
both the parties, the CJM in his judgement said that
since that negligent driving by the accused had lead to
the death of the victim, beneficial provisions of
probation as had been pleaded by the accused, could not
be extended to him. The accused has further been
sentenced to six months of rigorous imprisonment. Both
the sentences shall, however, run concurrently. |
Mafia rules Bollywood, says
Ranjeet Chandigarh, March 15— “For 20 years I have ‘violating the honour’ of all my heroines. In fact I think that my heroes, who had to run after trees and sings songs to get to their heroines, felt jealous of me, because I could get to them so easily and also have all the fun”, said yesteryear’s Hindi film villain, Ranjeet. Addressing a press conference today, at a hotel in Sector 22, Gopal Bedi, who was given the screen name Ranjeet by Sunil Dutt, while shooting for the film ‘Reshma Aur Shera’, said, “Acting is all about switching on and off. And as far as villains and character actors are concerned, they are never affected by hits or flops”. Ranjeet is in town to shoot for Raj Babbar’s Punjabi film, ‘Shaheed Udham Singh’, in which he plays the role of Giani Singh, a mentor of Udham Singh. In fact, dressed in a white toga and a scarf on his head, Ranjeet looked nowhere near the looting-plundering villain, dreaded by every woman! Ranjeet, whose villainous ways reached infamous heights with the rape scene in the film ‘Sharmilee’, with Sharmila Tagore, while commenting on the social responsibility of an actor said, “When my mother first saw that scene she cried and said that her head was now hung in shame. But if I had not acted that part somebody else would have. Also, the villains of Hindi films always have met with a gruesome end, a way of showing that good always wins over evil”. Expressing his displeasure at the new crop of brazen actors, he said that with money they could be bought to “do anything at all. “What is the difference between a gyrating Madhuri Dixit of today wearing a short skirt and a shorter choli, and that of yesteryear’s vamp Helen doing the same?”, he said. These days Ranjeet can be seen on Zee TV, in the comedy serial ‘Baat Ban Jaaye’. He said television gave him more scope for acting and certainly more money, because of “my star status”. About the film industry he ruefully said, “The underworld mafia rules Bollywood. And exhortations and kidnappings seem to have become a part of the industry today”. For someone who has done
the roles of a frightful and an outrageous villain in
more than 400 films, it was natural to say, “I got
bored of all that after some time”. His production
and directorial forays did not too well for him,
“but I did try”, Ranjeet said.
‘Karnama’, written and directed by Ranjeet,
with Vinod Khanna and Kimi Katkar, and also ‘Gajab
Tamasha’ with Rahul Roy and Anu Agarwal, did not do
well at the box office. Ranjeet has now launched his
television company under the banner ‘Ranjeet
Reels’. |
Vasudeva, Dhatt on consumer
disputes panel CHANDIGARH, March 15 — The Chandigarh Administration today appointed Col P.K. Vasudeva (retd) and Mrs Devinderjit Kaur Dhatt as members of the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. The appointments were made after both members of the commission, Mr Sada Nand, a former Financial Commissioner of Punjab and Mrs P. Ojha, a former Principal of the Government College for Girls, Sector 11, retired some time ago. Under the rules, an appointment on the commission is made either for five years or till the age of 67 years, whichever is early. While Col Vasudeva is associated with the Chandigarh Chapter of Indian Management Association, Mrs Dhatt has worked with cooperatives. The commission has one position for a woman representative. The state commission is
headed by Justice J.B. Garg. Besides the state
commission, Chandigarh has two district consumer forums. |
Loudspeakers, blaring music banned CHANDIGARH, March 15 — In view of the ongoing annual examinations of various educational institutions , including the board examinations, the SDM , South, Mr Ashish Kundra has imposed a ban on playing loud- speakers or blaring music from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. The ban will be in force in Sectors 32 to 46 , 49, 51 and 55. The ban will be enforced in the villages of Kajeheri, Attawa, Dadu Majra, Maloya, Palsora and Burail. Besides, Nehru Colony , Pandit Colony, Mazdoor Colony, Rajiv Colony, Lal Bahadur Shastri Colony, Colony No. 5 and Shahid Bhagat Singh Colony will also be covered under the ban. The order shall remain in
force for a period of 60 days beginning on March 12. |
Teachers observe black day CHANDIGARH, March 15—The Association of Principals of Non-Government Colleges and the local unit of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union observed a black day to protest against the lathi- charge on teachers on March 12 and the non-implementation of the UGC pay scales at Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26, here today. Teachers and principals from various non-government aided colleges assembled at the premises of the college and held a rally to observe the black day. The rally was addressed by Dr R.N. Sharma, Prof N.P. Manocha and Prof R.R. Rawat. They condemned the police action and the “anti-education” and “anti-teachers” attitude of Mr Rajan Kashyap, Finance Secretary. Three principals, Mr P.S. Sangha, Dr A.C. Vaid and Dr (Mrs) Satinder Dhillon, along with three teacher representatives, Prof NP Manocha, Mrs Uma Joshi and Dr RN Sharma, met the Governor of Punjab, Lieut Gen B.K.N. Chhibber, and submitted a memorandum to him after apprising him of the situation and informing him that if their demands were not met immediately, there was every likelihood of the written examinations being delayed. The Governor responded positively to the demands. Later, a delegation of teachers met the Home and Education Secretary, Mrs Anuradha Gupta, and brought to her notice the attack on the teachers and the release of the UGC pay scales. She, too, responded positively to the demands of the teachers. The members of the PCCTU of the district council of Ropar also observed a black day and Dr Surjit Singh, District President, called upon the government to save the educational environment in the state from further deterioration and to notify implementation of the UGC pay-scales. Meanwhile, a meeting of teachers, organised by the All-India Federation of University Teachers Association, was held at Gandhi Bhavan, Panjab University, here today. Speaking at the meeting, Prof Satya P. Gautam and Dr Rajiv Lochan emphasised that the teachers needed to talk about their work and make it public as very little was usually known about it. This gave rise to unnecessary comments by people on account of absence of information. They also demanded that the government should fix responsibility for lost days of work after a detailed inquiry into the matter. They wanted the government to fix responsibility for the delay in the implementation of the UGC pay scales, which had led to a loss of working days. A silent procession of
teachers marched from the Gandhi Bhavan to the office of
the Vice-Chancellor where Dr Lochan appealed to the
teachers to start performing if they felt they were
overpaid and underworked. |
‘Men empathise with Kanwaljeet
in Saans’ CHANDIGARH, March 15 — For those who enjoy emotive family dramas and tear-jerkers, Lekh Raj Tandon’s ‘Kahan Se Khan Tak’, being aired currently on Zee TV is something to look forward to. With 25 episodes already shot, Lekh Raj Tandon was at Manikpur Sharif, around 20 km from Chandigarh, today with his crew to shoot for a part of his serial, set in the pre-Partition times. The director of ‘Daraar’ — a popular serial and ‘Dil Darya’, Lekh Raj said, “This serial is about the fact that people on both sides of the border are shareholders of the verses of Bulle Shah and Baba Farid, the smells, scents and feel of our land, our food, our music and our culture”. Somewhat autobiographical, he says the serial has been inspired by Tandon’s own life in Sayedwalla village, where he was born before Partition. ‘Kahan Se Khan Tak’, which stars Kanwaljeet, Arundhati, Pawan Malhotra, Shikha Swaroop and Rishabh Shukla in the main lead, is “also about the way civilisation slowly crept into our lives, with the coming of the bus, cycle, sewing machine etc. and changed it drastically”. Kanwaljeet, the main lead and who is these days seen on Star Plus as the ‘bigamist’ Gautam Kapoor in Neena Gupta’s ‘Saans’, said, “Every serial is a learning experience. After acting in ‘Saans’ many men came up to me and said that they were in the same quandary that I am in the serial. And interestingly, my fans are not seeing my role as a negative one, instead most men are empathising with me”. Commenting on the strong woman characters in ‘Saans’ Kanwaljeet said, “My role has a lot of shades, and is very realistic. And it is not that both the women in my life, in the serial, have overshadowed me. But the fact that I’m receiving many accolades for my role is proof enough that my character has been accepted as ‘normal’. In fact , when it started, it was Gautam Kapoor all the way”. While on the issue of strong women characters, Arundhati, playing the romantic lead opposite him in ‘Kahan Se Kahan Tak’, and seen as a strong Muslim girl Shama in ‘Adhikar’, said, “The role of Shama has a good progressive graph. I like playing the role of docile girl turning into a an assertive woman who learns to live on her own terms”. Arundhati added, “I love to act in Lekhji’s serials because only there is a vast scope for emotions.” She also paired with Kanwaljeet in ‘Daraar’. Her forthcoming projects include Jogi Dyal’s serial ‘Antaraal’ on Star Plus, and Vijay Anand’s film, ‘Jana Na Dil Se Door’, in which she plays Shabana Azmi, the actress. Rishabh Shukla, remembered for his role as king Shantanu in B.R. Chopra’s ‘Mahabharata’ and the main villain in ‘Jaan’, said, “I worked with almost the same unit in ‘Daraar’ as well. I don’t think there would be any actor uncomfortable doing a role with Lekhji, who is defiantly an actor’s directors. Talking about Punjab, where Rishabh is shooting for the first time, he said, “At most of the places where I have shot, it is so difficult to quieten people. But here the director has to shout ‘silence’ only once and the people actually stop talking. I love the warmth and the hospitality here”. ‘Kahan Se Kahan
Tak’, written by Mir Muneer, also stars Gracy and
Smita, both seen in the popular serial ‘Amanat’
about seven sisters. |
UGC course inaugurated CHANDIGARH, March 15—The UGC sponsored vocational course on “Foreign Trade: Procedure and Practices” was inaugurated at the University Business School, Panjab University, by Mr LSM Salins, Managing Director, Haryana Financial Corporation, here today. Mr Salins said that exports from India were hardly anything as compared to world exports which have risen immensely over a period of time. Due to the on-going recession in the economy, the demand for loans and credit had plunged and everything had taken a down-turn. There had been a significant decline in the foreign exchange reserves and the Reserve Bank of India was slow to appreciate problems of the financial institutions. Twentyfive teachers from Coimbatore, Pollachi, Hyderabad, Delhi, Khanna, Gurdaspur and the city are attending the one-week refresher course which will discuss all aspects of foreign trade including the Exim policy, trade blockades, distribution channels and international marketing research. Being coordinated by Dr
Suresh K Chadha of the UBS, the course will be held in
two sessions every day. |
Three recommended for
Commissioner’s post CHANDIGARH, March 15 —— The Punjab Government has recommended a new panel of three IAS officers to the Chandigarh Administration for the post of Commissioner, Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. The officers are Mr Tilak Raj Sarangal (1985 batch), Mr Manikant Prasad Singh and Mr Amarjit Singh (both 1986 batch). Earlier, the Chandigarh Administration had approved the name of Mr Kirpa Shankar Saroj, an officer of the 1989 batch of the Punjab cadre, for appointment as Commissioner. The Union Home Ministry, however, had referred the recommendation back to the administration, suggesting that a fresh panel be sought. Mr Satish Gathwal, the present Commissioner, who belongs to the UT cadre, has completed his tenure here. Though the post originally
belonged to the UT cadre, it was subsequently decided
that it would go to the Punjab cadre, while the Haryana
cadre would be given the post of the Chief Executive
Officer of the Chandigarh Housing Board which earlier
also belonged to the UT cadre. The post of the CEO, CHB,
is also lying vacant. |
Face-to-face with NRI poet CHANDIGARH, March 15 — The Punjab Arts Council, under the chairmanship of Dr Harcharan Singh, organised a face-to-face with Dr Stephan Gill, a Punjabi-English poet living in Canada, at Punjab Kala Bhavan, Rose Garden, Sector 16, today. Born in Sialkot, now in Pakistan, Dr Gill, likes to be known as a poet, but has also ventured into prose-writing. He has also written a Punjabi novel titled ‘Aman di Khoogi’. Claiming to have been recommended by an Arabic magazine, ‘Mauhap’ for the Nobel Prize in literature, Dr Gill said, “Punjabi writing in Canada is still in its infancy, and writers on Punjab seem to be living in the past”. In today’s session, he read out his poems written on global peace, “a subject closest to my heart”, in Urdu, Punjabi and English. His English poems were received well by the select audience. The audience also had the
opportunity to meet Darshan Bulandwi, a Punjabi poet
residing in England, who read out from his collection of
Punjabi poems, ‘Dhup da Jagda Diwa’. |
Dripping water poses traffic hazard CHANDIGARH, Place: “Bib tap” opposite the Sector 39 Waterworks. Problem: Water leakage from the “bib tap”. History: Despite the fact that the ‘bib tap’ was just at a stone’s throw from the waterworks, the water had been leaking for the past several months. The public health wing of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) seems to be least bothered even as hundreds of litres of water go down the drain. In the absence of storm water drainage of the requisite capacity, the area around the “bib tap” gets flooded with the result that one side of the road has been damaged. The damaged portion of the road is a serious traffic hazard for two-wheeler drivers. In the absence of streetlights, the problem gets compounded during the night. Response from the public: Residents and passers-by have urged the civic body to take immediate steps to stop the leakage of water from the “bib tap”. If water leakage from all “bib tapes” and standposts in the city was stopped, the “water crisis”, especially during the summer months, can be averted, said Mr Kishori Lal, a vendor selling namkeens, who often passes by the “bib tap”. Official version:
Officials say that following complaints from the public
regarding the leakage from various standposts and
“bib taps”, the corporation was seized of the
matter. Keeping in view the shortage of water during the
summer, a special drive to stop leakage of water is in
the offing, they added. |
PSEB makes students
‘powerless’ SAS NAGAR, March 15 — Even as summer is still away, the residents of the city, particularly school and college students who are preparing for their examinations these days, have started feeling the pinch of power failures. They have been facing the problem for the past more than a week, during which unannounced power cuts have been frequent. The power situation has deteriorated, particularly in Phases IV, V and VII of the city. “We are the worst victims of unannounced power tripping as it occurs too often,” said Gurmeet, a student of the local Government College. He said to cope with the situation, he had to buy an LPG lamp costing Rs 1500. Ms Poonam, a school student, said she had to do without electricity for two to three hours a day due to which she was facing problems in preparing for her matriculation examinations. She said the Punjab State Electricity Board authorities should ensure that there were no power cuts, at least during the examination days so that the students might not suffer on this account. “The problem was acute from Monday to Wednesday when there was no power between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.,” said Ms Sheela Devi, a resident of Phase VII. She said even these days, the power situation was not normal as electricity eluded residents for two to three hours daily. She said her two school-going children were most affected by the cuts as they were preparing for their examinations. Another resident of the sector said there hardly was any electricity when he returned home from office in the evening during the past one week. Mr D.S. Bhatti, a resident, said the problem was mainly due to the ‘unannounced’ power cuts. He demanded that if the authorities concerned had to impose power cuts, they should do it after informing the residents so that they could make alternative arrangements. Mr R.R. Garg, Senior
Executive Engineer (Operation Division, Mohali) was not
available for comments. |
Housing Board’s order set
aside CHANDIGARH, March 15 — The Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Chandigarh, comprising its President Justice J.B. Garg, and member, Mr Sada Nand have set aside an order of the Chandigarh Housing Board which revoked an allotment of a HIG dwelling unit at Mani Majra out of the discretionary quota. Earlier, in a complaint case, the complainant Mr S.S. Sandhawalia, a former Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, had alleged that he was allotted a HIG (Upper) Category-I flat in Modern Housing Complex, Mani Majra, vide letter dated December 8, 1989, issued by the Chandigarh Housing Board after fulfilment of all formalities. This allotment was arbitrarily revoked on January 11, 1989, for the reason that the complainant also possessed a dwelling unit of the Delhi Development Authority at Sarita Vihar in Delhi. The Board, while admitting the allotment in 1989, contended that the allotment was subject to relinquishing the rights by the complainant in HUF property. It was further contended that `` had the complainant revealed that a flat was allotted to him in New Delhi by DDA at fixed/reserved price which was defined as concessional rate, the Governor/ Administrator would not have favourably considered the proposal of the complainant for allotment of the flat at Mani Majra. The Commission observed that the reconsideration of the allotment was wholly unjustified and uncalled for. They held that the subsequent ``cancellation at the level of the officers of the board without the knowledge of the Administrator/ the whole Housing Board amounts to deficiency on the part of the respondents.” “The matter has to be
decided at the appropriate level and the complainant is
entitled to an opportunity of being heard,” the
Commission added. |
Symposium decries female foeticide PANCHKULA, March 15 — The law banning female foeticide alone will not succeed in achieving its aim unless it is backed by a strong social movement. This was the unanimous view at a symposium on female foeticide organised at Red Bishop, a Haryana Tourism complex, here yesterday. The symposium saw the release of a book on female foeticide, “Ardhjanama” written by K.P. Singh, an IPS officer of the Haryana cadre, by the Chief Secretary, Mr Ram S. Varma. Initiating the discussion, the Project Director of the Haryana Women Development Corporation, Dr Kiran Sharma, said the law enforcement and development machinery needed to be gender sensitive to create a social milieu against female foeticide. Regretting that the practice of female foeticide had social sanction, Dr Sharma said it was an example of violence against women. Dr Renuka Nayyar of Dainik Tribune said female foeticide symbolised a sense of insecurity from which the women still suffered. The discussion soon became a pro and anti-abortion debate. The Director of Public Relations of Haryana, Mr R.K. Khullar, and Mrs Sucheta Malik, a social scientist, did not favour a total ban on abortions. The Director of Women and Child Development, Mrs Dheera Khandelwal, regretted that women were not being allowed to be born. Dr Yojana Rawat of Panjab University said the writer had portrayed the pangs of motherhood without being a mother. The Chief Judicial Magistrate, of Panchkula, Mr V.P. Gupta, said the book should also be circulated among doctors to make them realise the gravity of the sin they committed by assisting in female foeticide. Dr Sonia Khullar admitted that for some doctors, abortions were their bread and butter but, she said, some times abortions were necessary for the health of the mother. Prof Devendra Raheja of the Department of Laws of Kurukshetra University , regretted that even those laws which were supposed to be pro-women did not favour women. The Managing Director of the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation, Mr Y.S. Malik, sought to put the blame for female foeticide on mothers by suggesting that the desire to have a son was more in mothers than in fathers. The Inspector-General of Prisons of Haryana, Mr V.B. Singh, took exception to the general feeling that policemen were insensitive. He said sensitivity was not the monopoly of particular professions. The Editor of Dainik Tribune, Mr Vijay Sehgal, said the writer had raised the issue of female foeticide like a sociologist and had moved his readers. Mr Radhey Shyam Sharma of Divya Himachal said the writer had forcefully written against a social evil. The Editor of Jansatta, Mr Om Thanvi, said the book exposed hypocrisy of our society. Mr Varma blamed the concept of family for all social evils and advocated its abolition on the pattern suggested by Plato in his work, The Republic. Among others who
participated in the symposium included Dr K.S. Arya,
former Principal of the DAV College, of Chandigarh; Mr
Ranjeev Dalal, I.G. of Haryana and Sardar Anjum. |
Summons to more respondents CHANDIGARH, March 15 — The Judicial Magistrate, Ms Jatinder Kaur, today issued summons for June 8 to left-out respondents on a suit filed by D.S Rajput, a local advocate, praying for issuing a decree in his favour for Rs 60 crore to be recovered from the respondents for their “mala fide act” to defame him. He alleged that FIR No. 109 dated June 11, 1998, registered under Sections 419,420,425-B,468 and 120-B IPC read with Sections 4,5, and 6 of the Explosive Substances Act was lodged with mala fide intention and misuse of power to harass and humiliate him with a view to restraining him from pleading cases against police officers. Among the 35 respondents
lined up by Rajput in his case are the Punjab Governor,
Lt Gen. B.K.N. Chhibber, who is also Administrator of
Chandigarh, the Home Secretary and the SP (Headquarters) |
Hot plate issue continues to
burn CHANDIGARH, March 15 — On the third day of the consumer awareness mela today, a healthy baby contest was organised by the Consumer Forum, Chandigarh. A total of 24 children participated in the contest, which was organised into three categories — up to one year, one to two years and two to three years. All the participants were examined for perfect health and vaccination against all diseases available in the country. Sharin, Harnoon and Anahita Bedi were the first three winners in the first category. While Tavleen, Vaibhav and Jairoop were the first three winners in the second category, Jabeez Singh and Abhinav Kaplash emerged winners in the third category. Dr Jagjit Singh Virk, Dr Anita and Dr J.Singh examined the children. A total of 130 patients were examined in the dental care check-up camp and almost the same number at the free medical and dispensing camp organised in the mela complex in coordination with Servants of People Society on the second day today. However, the highlight of the day was the khula manch on LPG cooking gas which was organised for redressing the complaints of the consumers pertaining to bulk gas connections of all three oil companies. The majority of the complaints pertained to forcible selling of hot plates by the distributors. The consumers said even though nothing is required if one is buying the hot plate from the distributor, every possible hurdle is created before issuing the gas connection to the buyers who either already possess the hot plate or want to purchase from the open market. A few consumers alleged that while the distributors charged Rs 1,400 for the hot plate, the same is available for Rs 500 in the market. Mostly people do not have any evidence of purchasing the hot plate from the distributor as they are not issued a cash memo or an amount less than that actually charged is shown. The worst affected are the people belonging to the lower middle class families who already have a hot plate. They further alleged that oil companies seemed to be in no mood to rescue the consumers from the malpractices being adopted by the gas distributors. The complaints also pertained to supply of underweight cylinders, leakage of cylinders, delay in deliveries and distributors not delivering the cylinder on the second floor and the facility of booking a gas on the pager not being functional. It was also suggested that various agencies supplying the cylinders should put up suggestion boxes to know the time when the working couples would like to get their cylinders delivered at their residences. Most of the complaints pertained to the Indian Oil Corporation which were taken care of by the Area Manager, Mr J.K. Luthra, and his two officers. While Mr Rajiv Saxena represented Hindustan Petroleum, Mr Ashu Bharti, Sales Officer, and Mrs Amandeep Kaur represented Bharat Petroleum. Among the gas agencies, most of the complaints were about Happy Gas, Navdeep Gas Service, Capital and City Gas. Giving details, President (Complaints), Mr H.S. Ahluwalia, said that two cases of change of name, one of transfer after death to the blood relation, five of non-issue of new gas connections, two cases of refund on account of forcible sale of hot plates and one pertaining to issue of new cylinders in lieu of one lost in theft were brought to the notice of the officers. The day concluded with a
recreation programme presented by the Song and Drama
Division, Government of India. |
CTCC okays new constitution CHANDIGARH, March 15 — The boycott by the Pawan Bansal group and frontal organisations notwithstanding, the executive of the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (CTCC), at its meeting here today, approved the new constitution. According to sources, under the new constitution, the number of blocks has been increased from 15 to 25. Consequently, a new executive would replace the current executive. The meeting, which was presided by the CTCC President, Mr Venod Sharma, also decided to raise the number of districts from two to three. The 33 per cent reservation for women and 20 per cent reservation for the backward classes and the scheduled castes are the other highlights of the new constitution. Among those who boycotted the meeting were Mr Pawan Bansal, Mr Subhash Chawla, Mr Surinder Bhatia, Mr D.D. Jindal, Ms Kamlesh, Dr O.P. Verma, Mr Sandeep Singh, Mr Pradeep Chabbra and Mr Harish Kapoor. Mr Ram Pal Sharma, INTUC President, Ms Lalit Joshi Bhardwaj, Mahila Congress President, Mr Parampal Singh Matharoo, Seva Dal President, Mr Chander Mukhi Sharma, Chandigarh Territorial Youth Congress Committee President and Mr H.S. Lucky, National Students Union of India President, were also conspicuous by their absence. Meanwhile, the leaders,
who boycotted the meeting, held a separate meeting to
finalise their future strategy, sources added. |
Marble, stone prices stable CHANDIGARH, March 15—The prices of commonly used marble and stone have been stable in the local market during the past one year. A survey of the local market today revealed that prices of most varieties were almost the same as had been prevailing during last year, mainly due to stiff competition among traders of marble and stone in the local market, concentrated mainly on the outskirts of Mohali. If a 4’x5’ marble slab of ‘Makrana’ variety was priced at the rate of Rs 70 per square feet during the past year, it was still priced in the market at the old price. The price of a 3’ x 6’ marble slab of the same variety was also priced at the same rate and there has been no change in it during the past one year. The ‘Rajnagar’ variety is cheaper as compared to the ‘Makrana’ variety of marble and its prices also remained stable during this period. A 4’x5’ and a 3’x6’ slab priced between Rs 40 and Rs 45 per square feet during last year, was still available today at the same price. Small-sized slabs were, however, cheaper as compared to larger ones. Both of the 1’ x 1’ and 2’x 2’ slabs of the ‘Makrana’ variety were priced at a rate of Rs 40 per square feet as it had been priced during last year. Both sizes of the ‘Rajnagar’ variety of marble were available between Rs 25 and Rs 30 per square feet. Similarly, smaller slabs of common sizes such as 9”x 15 “ and 9” x 12” have been priced in the market for Rs 25 (Makrana), and Rs 20 (Rajnagar). Similarly, barring red stone, there has been no fluctuation in the prices of other stones used in buildings such as black granite, red stone and Kota stone. Though the price of black stone varies between Rs 100 to Rs 250 per square feet depending upon its quality, yet the most commonly used ‘Bangalore’ variety of the stone ranges between Rs 135 and Rs 150 per square feet and there has been no change in the price of any of the varieties during the last one year. If a square feet of red stone, mostly used for showroom flooring, was available for Rs 10 during last year, it was available today for Rs 11. There is, however, no change in the price of Kota stone as its different sizes were available in the market for Rs 13.50 (11 “ x 11 “), Rs 14.50 (22” x 11”) and Rs 38 (22” x 14 “). There has been a minor hike in the price of ‘chips’ as its price has gone up from Rs 30 to Rs 32 per 25 kg bag. There has been, however, no change in the price of ‘crazy’ as it was still available between Rs 100 to Rs 225 per 25 kg, depending upon different colours. The price of slates were also stable as these were available at the old prices between Rs 10 to Rs 20 per square feet. According to Mr Gurmukh
Singh, Vice-President of the Marble Traders Association,
the prices were stable due to stiff competition among
traders, the number of which had been on a rise in the
local market.” At present, there are 68 traders and
on an average six to seven traders are joining the
business every year in this market alone,” he added. |
GMCH plans project on
environment CHANDIGARH, March 15 — The Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, will participate in a National Environmental Awareness Campaign in Chandigarh by doing a project titled “Environmental Health Intervention Project” in Sector 25. This will be a month-long project beginning tomorrow and it has been sanctioned by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The theme of the campaign will be “keep our water resources clean”. As per a baseline survey carried out by the Department of Community Medicine it was found that the main reasons for environmental insanitation is the fact that 60 per cent people prefer open defecation and 60 per cent of them throw the refuse in the surroundings of their homes. Moreover, the storage of drinking water and its use is nor proper. These three issues will be the main area of focus during the campaign. Medical students and interns will be actively involved in imparting health education by making a house-to-house visit and having group discussion. This month-long campaign will also see procession by students of the Local Government High School, Sector 25, who will carry display cards and banners. Besides this a street
play, songs and giddha will be organised on the theme of
the campaign. On the concluding day on April 15, a poster
competition shall be held. In the end a post-evaluation
of the impact of campaign be carried out, Dr H.M. Swami,
Head of the Community Medicine Department, said. |
Get-together of Lahauli
students CHANDIGARH, March 15—- Dr Ram Lal Markanda, Minister of State for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Himachal Pradesh, presided over the annual get-together and cultural function of the Lahaul-Spiti Students Association held at Bal Bhavan here last evening. Dr Markanda appreciated the efforts of the students in promoting and preserving the rich cultural heritage of the Lahaul-Spiti area. He said such functions not only acquainted the people with their cultural heritage but also strengthen the bonds of love and affection. Reacting to the demand of the association for constructing of a hostel at Chandigarh for Lahaul-Spiti students, the minister asked the members of the association to have a plot for the purpose so that the matter for raising a building could be taken up at the government level. He said the pace of development in Lahaul-Spiti district would be accelerated and priority would be given to the construction of roads and opening of new schools. The minister released a souvenir brought out to mark the occasion. He gave away prizes and mementoes to the students who excelled in the academic, sports and social service fields-during the preceding year. A variety of Lahauli folk songs and dances were presented on the occasion. Earlier, Mr Kunal Thakur,
President of the association, welcomed the minister,
while the General Secretary, Mr Sudershan Thakur, read
out the annual report. |
‘Better ties with China
needed’ CHANDIGARH, March 15 — A lecture on the “evolving India-China paradigm” was organised at the 17th Tara Chand Gupta Memorial Lecture in the ICSSR complex, Panjab University, here today. Prof S.S. Mahapatra, former Member of Parliament, emphasised that the relationship between the two countries depended on cooperation and friendship between the two. He advocated the need of China’s support to India for membership of the Security Council and highlighted that China was a practical democracy with ingredients of dictatorship. He said that the Tibet problem could be solved by providing autonomy to it within the framework of the Chinese constitution and India was willing to be a mediator in working out a solution. Since India and China from 40 per cent of the world population, they must grow together and play a role in bringing about peace in the world. The cultural counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in India, Mr Jiang Weiming, stressed the need of a close relationship between the two countries for better understanding and mutual benefits. Earlier, Major Jiwan
Tewari, President, India-China Friendship Association,
welcomed the participants from Delhi, Punjab and the
city. |
CHANDIGARH, March 15 — A “Mahayagya” was organised at Student’s Centre, Panjab University, this morning by the Haryana Students Association (HSA), to protest against the proposed fee hike by the university. Members of the National Students Union of India (NSUI) and the Panjab University Students Union (PUSU) also participated in the “mahayagya”, which was organised to “cleanse the campus atmosphere of the ‘ghost’ of the Dean Students Welfare (DSW)”. The Chairman, HSA, Chand Singh Madaan, announced that members of the association would be on fast till the time the proposal for the fee hike was withdrawn and the DSW, Mr R.S. Grewal, resigned his post. At the
“mahayagya” the DSW was seen arguing with the
student leaders regarding “verbal assaults being
made on him”. |
PANCHKULA, March 15 — A couple allegedly posing as employees of a gas company deprived a woman of her jewellery and Rs 300 cash after tying her hands at her house in Sector 9 here on Saturday evening. The couple allegedly
entered the house of the woman when she was alone. After
tying her hands at her back, the couple decamped with
gold jewellery and cash. Two
die in road accident PANCHKULA, March 15 — Two persons died and another received injuries in two separate road accidents in the district during the past 48 hours. Two persons travelling in a jeep died after their vehicle collided head-on with a truck near Barwala near here. A third person accompanying the deceased, however, escaped with minor injuries. According to information available, Narinder (35), driver of the ill fated jeep, Surjeet (45) and Raghbir, were coming from Raipur Rani when the mishap took place resulting in the death of Surjeet and Narinder. The identity of the truck driver is not known. The police has registered a case. The autopsy of the victims was conducted at the local General Hospital. In another case Gulshan Kumar, a resident of Sector 15 here complained that his father was injured after being hit by a scooterist, Parmod Kumar, a resident of Kharak Mangoli here. A case under Sections 279 and 337 of the IPC was registered. Suicide: Rekha (23), a resident of Rajiv colony in Sector 17 here, allegedly committed suicide after hanging herself in her jhuggi here on Sunday. The autopsy was conducted at the General Hospital here. Liquor seized: Karnail Singh, a resident of Bhausala village here was arrested while carrying 10 bottles of IMFL. He has been booked under the Excise Act. CHANDIGARH Shop broken into: An electronic goods shop was broken into and goods worth Rs 50,000 are missing from the shop. A VCD player, two VCRs, a VCP, a computer keyboard and around 20 VCD are among the items missing from the shop, Naveen Video Mixing in Sector 22. The shop owner, Mr Naveen Raj, said he had locked his shop on Saturday night. He returned on Monday morning to find that the main door of his shop had been broken into. He told the police about the missing items. A case under Section 380 of the IPC has been registered. Satta: A man was arrested from a shop in Sector 23 while indulging in satta. Kuldeep Singh of Sector 23, was nabbed by a team of the CIA wing of the Chandigarh Police around 8 p.m. yesterday. Motorcycle stolen: A Hero Honda motorcycle (PB-10-A-7540) was stolen from Sector 17 last evening. Arrested: The police on Monday arrested Vikas Gupta, an accused in the assault case on students of Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, on the Punjab Engineering College campus last month. According to police
sources, the anticipatory bail of the other accused,
Rajan Jindal, has been rejected by the court. |
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