& V I C I N I T Y
Wednesday, March 17, 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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Wednesday, March 17, 1999 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Kalagram complex revived
after 4 years No
headway in hit-and-run cases Yet
another woman duped Official
apathy hits village sewerage
5
LPG dealers to be challaned A
source of carbonised smoke
Margin
money scheme reviewed Fasting
teacher shifted to PGI Red
tape blocking school project ‘Souten’
director’s offer to star wannabes Abhineet,
Monika top painting contests |
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| PU misusing funds, says ABVP |  |
School plans project on girl child |
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Kalagram
complex revived after 4 years CHANDIGARH, March 16 — The Kalagram complex, at Mani Majra, Chandigarh inaugurated in 1995, was revived today, with the Governor of Punjab and Administrator, UT, Chandigarh, Lt-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber (retd), performing ‘bhoomi pujan’ at the site, before the start of construction of the first phase of the complex. The Administrator also laid the foundation stone of Chef Kalagram, an integral component of the complex to be built by CITCO. The complex has been awaiting the start of construction for the past four years, when the work was to be executed by the North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC), Chandigarh. Lack of funds and “unseen” problems of sewerage and traffic were cited to be the reasons for the delay. The project, which is now to be executed by the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) and CITCO, has been sanctioned Rs 1 crore by the Central Government. Mr Jagdish Sagar, Adviser to the Administrator, said that the Chandigarh Administration would also build a slip road and an underpass so as not to disturb the heavy traffic in the area, and also make access to the complex easier. According to Lt-Gen Chhibber, the complex, which will have an emporium, open-air museum and art gallery, would be “functional” in about a year-and-a-half. Chef Kalagram, covering a total area of 1077 sq mts, is to be constructed at the cost of Rs 90 lakh, out of which Rs 40 lakh have already been sanctioned by the Government of India. The Kalagram complex, where the work is scheduled to start in the next two weeks, would be constructed in two phases on 17 acres. The first phase is to be implemented with an outlay of Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 3.5 crore is to be spent in the second phase. The NZCC, Patiala,
presented a cultural programme. |
No headway
in hit-and-run cases CHANDIGARH, March 16 — Almost all hit-and-run accidents in the city since the beginning of this year has led to no arrest while offending vehicles remain untraced. A total of eight deaths in road accidents and several cases of injuries since January 1 this year are unsolved. Besides this the police is even clueless about a murder in Sector 26. On the other hand, brutal acts of vandalism like those in the hostels of Punjab Engineering College (PEC) and of accidents caused while eve teasing have led to a fear psychosis. Interestingly, one person, among the several youth, has been arrested so far. Yesterday, the police arrested Vikas Gupta, one of two main accused in brutally battering two students of the Government Medical College Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, almost a month ago. Another case in which scooters and window panes were smashed by drunken youth on the PEC campus has yielded no arrests as the students live under a cloud of fear. Investigations in the murder of a Nepali watchman, Bahadur, has led to a dead end. The watchman was brutally done to death on the night intervening February 4 and 5 and his body was dumped on the roadside. Apart from this a theft that occurred about ten days ago in an electronic goods shop in Sector 20 has added to the insecurity of the people. The SSP when contacted about the fewer numbers of arrests said that the a recent ruling of the Supreme Court said registration of a case does not merit an arrest. Now the police has to make arrests after through investigations. The investigating officer is responsible for the progress of the case and he can be questioned at any time by the senior officials, the SSP said. Besides this the public can contact senior officials in case they face any difficulty. The story of hit-and-run cases repeats itself on each occasion. The police arrive on the spot; the body is shifted to one of the hospitals, a post mortem is conducted and the cases appear in newspapers. That is all. Feeble attempts to trace the vehicle, more often than not, result in a dead end while the relatives of the deceased wait endlessly. Each of the “no clue cases” have a similar story. On March 10 a scooterist, Vipan Kumar, was hit by a matador that sped off. Though the police has the number of the matador, no arrests have been made so far. On March 1, Sardari Lal, a scooterist was hit by a truck near Mani Majra. He died five days later. The status of the case: no arrests. An unidentified man was killed when hit by a blue coloured gypsy in Sector 26 on January 16. There is still no trace of the gypsy. A Panjab University employee, Manmohan Singh and his wife, Pawanjeet, were crushed to death by a speeding half body truck near Khuda Lahora village. This incident took place during the evening of January 20. The very next day, two cyclists , Faquir Chand of Sector 38 and Lakhbir Singh of Ropar were killed after being hit by car and a tractor, respectively, in separate incidents. In all cases the vehicles could not be traced. An officer of the rank of Inspector said that the bystanders do help by noting down the registration numbers of offending vehicles . More often than not, an
offending vehicle cannot be traced without the help from
members of the public. But what about the traffic police
and other cops on duty. Do they not check vehicles that
have visible signs of damage? |
Yet another
woman duped PANCHKULA, March 16 — A 55-year-old woman of Sector 17 here has become the fourth victim of a couple who dupe aged women of their jewellery. The couple while posing as followers of a religious sect dupe their victims of their jewellery. In the latest incident which took place in Sector 17 yesterday the victim, Ms Parveen Gulati, had to part with gold jewellery worth over Rs 50,000. She was going to cobbler in the Sector market when a man in his late thirties approached her asking the address of the Radha Swami Satsang centre. In the meanwhile a woman, who described herself as a teacher, arrived there and told her that the man was a saint. She claimed that she was issueless prior to meeting the saint and assured the aged woman that he would solve all her family problems. What the police suspects is that the victim was brought under some sort of spell by the cheats who made her to part with the gold jewellery — ear rings, bangles and ring — which she was wearing at that time. When she went back home and opened the bundle she found that her gold jewellery had been replaced with steel bangles. The resident are baffled over the incidents. They lament that the police was clueless about the cheats. What is more intriguing is that the couple has, so far, restricted their activity to Sectors 16 and 17. In an earlier incident Ms Sahani Sehgal, a resident of Sector 17, was duped of her jewellery in the same fashion on March 5. In other incidents two women of Sector 16 were cheated of their jewellery on February 16 and 18. In all the incidents the victim is asked not to talk to anybody for at least three hours. The Superintendent of
Police, Mr Alok Mittal, said the police had deputed
policemen in plain clothes to nab the couple. He said in
each of the incident the police was informed a couple of
hours after the incident giving ample time to the cheats
to escape. |
Official
apathy hits village sewerage CHANDIGARH, March 16 — Various development works in the villages of the city are pending due to the alleged apathy of the Engineering Department, resulting in a lot of problems for the people. The estimated cost of the works is more than Rs 80 lakh and the money was deposited with the department before the works began. The projects to lay the sewerage and stormwater drainage have been pending for months despite efforts of the village panchayats and efforts of the Rural Development Department. While some initial work has been started in some cases, others have been left midway. Sources in the department said the sarpanches of many villages had been urging senior officers of the administration to have the works completed in time, but to no avail. A meeting to review the progress of the schemes was recently held and it was felt that the issue should be brought to the notice of the high-ups to be dealt with firmly. The reported reason for the delay in most cases is that the works “could not be completed as per the approved estimates” and that the costs “needed to be revised”. In some cases, the contractors had completed more than 60 per cent of the work before “abandoning” the project, sources added. The incomplete sewerage and stormwater drainage works are located at Kajheri, Daria, Daddu Majra, Hallo Majra, Maloya, Khuda Lahora and Raipur Khurd villages. The modus operandi of the contractors is that they first delay the project by carrying on the work at a slow pace and then “press” for revised estimates in view of the extra time needed and rising cost of materials. The connivance of officials of the Engineering Department could not be ruled out, sources added. While the works have been delayed, projects worth Rs 65 lakh have been completed in time by the Rural Development Department. Many of them have been completed with funds made available from the MP Local Area Development Fund. These include sports stadia at Burail, Maloya, Daddu Majra and Khuda Ali Sher villages. A sum of Rs 26 lakh was incurred. The department has spent Rs 28 lakh on the pavement of streets and construction of drains in Sarangpur, Hallo Majra, Raipur Khurd, Khuda Lahora, Khuda Jassu and Maloya. Similarly Rs 11 lakh have been spent to improve the cremation grounds and construction of sheds in Raipur Kalan, Khuda Jassu, Manimajra and Mauli Jagran. A major demand of many panchayats is that of raising of the grant for sanitation. They say it is too meagre to meet their needs. The grant for sanitation is Rs 18 lakh per annum and there are only 100 sweepers for removing and cleaning of garbage from 18 villages. The amount should be more
than doubled to meet the growing pressure on the existing
staff and in view of the rapidly rising population,
sources said. |
5 LPG
dealers to be challaned CHANDIGARH, March 16 — The Chandigarh Administration has decided to file challans against five local LPG distributors for repeatedly violating the provisions of the Packaged Commodities Act and the Weights & Measurement Act in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate. Last month, a special squad of the Administration conducted raids at the premises of all the LPG Distributors in the city following complaints of underweight refills and overcharging of hot plates forced upon consumers at the time of release of new connections. Five of the LPG distributors have been challaned for the second time within a period of three years. As per provisions of the law, there cannot be compounding of offences if a distributor is challaned again within a period of three years.The challans are now being filed against Shivalik agencies, Sector 26; Nirmal Gas, Sector 30; Bhatia gas, Sector 22; Sunshine Gas, Sector 44 and Numdeepmala Enterprises, Sector 16 in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate. In the case of the
remaining 15 LPG distributors, there was compounding of
offences by Mr Gurmel Singh, Joint Secretary,
Home-cum-Controller, Weights and Measure and a fine of Rs
72,000 was realised from 14 of these distributors. One
distributor, Happy Gas Centre, sought adjournment of date
and compounding in his case is yet to take place. |
Doctor-turned-writer
in city CHANDIGARH, March 16 — It was over cups of coffee and nibbles of lemon cake that the Chandigarhians got to hear the hilariously boisterous dramatised readings of Australian author Nick Earls this evening. On the charts of the Australia’s best-seller lists, with his novels ‘Zigzag Street’ and ‘Bachelor Kisses’, the doctor-turned-writer out excerpts his collection of short stories, `Head Games’. Earlier, at a press conference, Nick said, “I like to write stories about people who are not only functional in a normal and a nice sort of a way, but are also slightly dysfunctional in a personal way”. Explaining why he did not take the expected course of a general practitioner, who has majored in psychiatry, as a medical-thriller writer he said, “First I thought of getting into medicine, then I did a part-time medical magazine editing job, then wrote some books and now I am enjoying writing the screenplay of ‘Zigzag Street’ being produced by Cascade”. For someone who writes about both men and women “from within”, Nick appears to be the quintessential ‘nice guy’. He likes to write what can be read and also read aloud for an audience. Nick, who has travelled to Delhi and Dehradun, said “India has been a great experience”. He is particularly fascinated by the densely packed villages. Born in North Ireland,
Nick Earls moved to Australia at the age of eight and
insists “I am quite an Australian. In every cricket
match which Australia is playing, I want it to win”. |
Ambassador
made member of Rotary Club CHANDIGARH, March, 16 — The Japanese Ambassador, Mr Hiroshi Hirabyashi, was inducted as an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Chandigarh yesterday. Speaking on Indo-Japanese relations, he said Japan and India should cooperate more intensely to address some of the global issues like environment protection, fight against international terrorism, besides eradication of dreaded diseases. The Ambassador said the image of India as a peace loving country was affected in his country following the nuclear tests at Pokhran. Special endeavours were made by the Japanese Embassy to restrict the sanctions to only government-to-government or NGO aids and not to affect business investments, tourism or educational scholarships. He assured that Japanese
companies were here to stay and many more were looking
forward to come here.
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A source of
carbonised smoke CHANDIGARH, March 16 — The hot bitumen mixing plant near the Central Poultry Farm (Industrial Area) roundabout on the Chandigarh-Ambala national highway has been emitting carbonised smoke for the past about five days thereby polluting the air to a great extent. Passengers, pedestrians and residents of the surrounding area have to inhale the smoke continuously. One feels suffocated while crossing this place. This air pollution has become a health hazard for the residents of this vicinity. It is learnt that the plant has not been functioning for the past one week and the workers are extracting the coal tar manually. “One barrelful of bitumen can be extracted from such 50 drums. Moreover, the coal tar scattered around and mixed with trash is being reclaimed so that it can be used,” comments a labourer. Mrs Sunita Devi, a resident of Ram Darbar, complains that the smoke enters their houses and they are bound to inhale it. “There are the possibilities of various diseases from the polluted air. The owner is busy in making money without caring for public health,” she adds. When contacted, Mr R.K.
Gupta, the owner of the plant, admitted that the plant
was under repair and the workers had been deputed to
collect coal tar from the old drums so that their
manpower was not wanted. He added that the process would
be stopped soon after the plant was repaired. |
Margin money
scheme reviewed CHANDIGARH, March 16 — The progress of the margin money scheme of the Kendriya Village Industries Commission (KVIC) was reviewed at a state-level bankers’ workshop organised jointly by the KVIC, the Directorate of Industries, Punjab, and the Punjab Village and Khadi Industries Board here today. Mr O.P. Bhardwaj, Chairman, Punjab Village and Khadi Industries Board, inaugurated the workshop and stressed the need for rightful implementation of the scheme at the grassroots level so that the problem of unemployment and underemployment was solved. Mr Karnail Singh, Director, KVIC, highlighted various salient features of the scheme and said that the KVIC had placed Rs 132 crore as margin money in advance with the corporate office of each bank or a nodal branch designated by the banks in the savings account in the name of the KVIC. The banks would ensure that each project fulfils the criterion of village industries, per capita fixed investment, own contribution and other requirements before advancing money to the units. Under the scheme, more than 1,700 cases amounting to more than Rs 50 crore had been sponsored by the KVIC, the Punjab board and the Industries Department. Of these 460 cases had been sanctioned by the various banks amounting to Rs 13 crore. He requested the bankers to clear the remaining cases also. The workshop was attended by senior officials of almost all nationalised banks, including the Reserve Bank of India and NABARD, in addition to lead bank district managers, the Directorate of Industries and the Village and Khadi Industries Board. Mr D.S. Guru, Special
Secretary, Industries, Punjab, presided over the
workshop. Mr B.K. Garg, member-secretary of the Punjab
Khadi and Village Industries Board, also participated in
the discussion. |
Red tape
blocking school project MULLANPUR-GARIBDASS, March 16 — A proposal for building a school at Mullanpur-Garibdass is waiting to be cleared by the Administration in spite of the project being financed by a charitable institution. An NRI, Mr Nathu Ram who belongs to Mullanpur-Garibdass, had announced Rs 50 lakh for building a school at the village. Mr Arvind Puri, Convenor of the Puri Development Trust for Mullanpur, said that the indifferent attitude of the Administration had delayed the project. “The reason for the delay is said to be the name of the school. The proposed name of the school is M.L. Puri Government Senior Secondary School. The authorities are slow in clearing the name of the school,” he said. The applications’ regarding the matter, written to the Director of Secondary School Education and the DC of Roop Nagar were despatched on September 20 last year. But no step has been taken despite several reminders to the authorities. Interestingly, at a meeting of the Education Department, chaired by Mr Tota Singh, a decision was taken regarding the construction of the school and naming it after some eminent personalities on September 1, last year. It was decided that the project be financed with a fixed amount of donations. Delay in the project is
making it more expensive. Care should be taken in such
matters as NRIs are interested in such fields but
red-tapism comes in the way, Mr Puri added. |
‘Souten’
director’s offer to star wannabes CHANDIGARH, March 16 — For someone who has introduced the likes of Sanjeev Kumar, Anil Kapoor, Neetu Singh and Jr. Mehmood to the Hindi film industry, it is natural to say ,”I like variety in life and know that the audience also loves to have variety. How many more years can Shahrukh Khan go on? He also has had his shares of flops. And newer stuff would keep coming in our industry”. Sawan Kumar Tak, popularly called the ‘Souten’ director-producer, because of the number of films he has made on the subject of the ‘other woman’, was in town today to get the entertainment tax waived in this region, for his latest film, ‘Mother-98’. In an exclusive interview today, Sawan Kumar said, “I ran away from my home in Jaipur, to become a hero. That time nobody entertained me. So when I became a director-producer I wanted to give chance to all those newcomers who had talent”. On ‘Mother-98’, starring Rekha in the lead, he said, “The title has actually been derived from an award that my heroine gets, in recognition for being the best mother. This film is all about a single mother and the hardships she endures and the sacrifices she makes to bring up a child”. “The distributors do feel that I have taken a risk by making this film with ‘old’ stars like Rekha, Jeetendra, Randhir Kapoor and Rakesh Roshan. But I think that since the film’s story demanded such heroes, I took them. It’s also easier for me to work with stars who are no longer in circulation. Not only is there a chance for me to boost their careers, but I also get to work with them without the starry tantrums”, he added. On the subject of ‘the other woman’, he said, “The other woman is always more alluring, more attractive. And how can you deny her existence?”. For a man who has made ‘Souten’, ‘Souten Ki Beti’, ‘Sajan Ki Saheli’, and ‘Hawas’ it was not surprising to hear the analogies of his heroes and heroines to the “divine love” between Radha and Krishna! Dubbing the announcement of the Indian cinema being given the status of an industry as “hogwash and nonsense”, he said, “it is only on paper. What is the use?”. “As for me, I’m
still going strong. But I like to work at my own
pace,” he declared. As a parting shot, Sawan Kumar
said, “I give an open invitation to youngsters, who
have assessed themselves and know they have the talent to
be in films, to come to me or send me their pictures and
bio-data. I would surely give them a chance in my
films”. |
Abhineet,
Monika top painting contests CHANDIGARH, March 16 — The four-day consumer awareness mela organised by the Consumer Forum, Chandigarh, in tandem with the Chandigarh Administration and the Municipal Corporation concluded today, with fun and frolic marking various competitions. As many as 80 students of various schools in the age group 8 to 12 years and 12 to 16 years took part in the on-the-spot painting competition on the mela premises. Keeping in view the ongoing annual examinations, the competition was held in two shifts from 11 am to 1pm and 1 pm to 3 pm. The students enthusiastically painted on the topic ‘Consumerism and Citizen Charter’. The first three winners in the 8 to 12 years group were Abhineet, Shikha Khanna and Kanika. The consolation prizes were bagged by Deepali Thapar and Amandeep Singh Chawla. Monika, Geetika and Ekta were the winners in the age group 12-16. Kriti and Hemant Bansal bagged the consolation prizes. Amrit, Chanchal and Simarjyot were the winners of the inter-college declamation contest. Jagdeep Singh won the consolation prize. Later, in the afternoon, a khula manch on ‘PDS and utility services’ was held. While the District Food and Supplies Officer (DFSO), Mr Gopal Dutt; the Superintendent, Mr K.S Sharma, and Inspector Satya Pal Manchanda attended to the complaints pertaining to PDS, the Mayor, Mr K.K. Adiwal, and Senior Deputy Mayor listened to the complaints for utility services. Most of the complaints were about the maintenance and recarpeting of roads and animal nuisance, underground sewerage, garbage collection, clearance of backlanes etc. The officers concerned assured them of remedial measures. The Mayor informed that Rs 12 crore was to be spent on the maintenance of roads during the year, out of which Rs 5 crore had already been spent. He further added that Rs 20 crore would be spent on this job within two years. Brigadier Phoolka highlighted the bad condition of roads in Sector 2 A and B, the divider road between Sector 2 and 11and flooding of roads during rains. The Mayor presided over the function and gave away prizes to the winners of the declamation contest. While complimenting the voluntary workers of the forum, he said that most of them have more years of social service than their age. He also lauded their role in organising the Khula manch programmes which facilitates interaction between officers and the public. The stall owners, however, were not too happy with the sales. Most of them maintained that the turnout was much below their expectations perhaps because of their examinations. The in charge of the Consumer Forum stall said that the sales here were just about 5 per cent as compared to the cent per cent sales which they have when they put their counters in various sectors. Earlier, while welcoming the chief guest, Mr Jaidev Singh talked about the activities of the forum. Brig Jagmohan Singh
proposed a vote of thanks and thanked the Administration
and Corporation for their help. Brig K.Kumar honoured the
sponsors of various activities. |
Fasting
teacher shifted to PGI CHANDIGARH, March 16 — A former teacher, Mrs Tejinder Kaur, who has been on fast for the past eight days in front of the office of the Punjab DPI (S), and was today shifted to the PGI in view of her deteriorating physical condition amid tight security arrangements. The fast of another protester, Mrs Ritu Joshi from Sangrur, entered its sixth day. The teachers did not allow the police to remove the fasting colleague on the first attempt and additional forces had to be requisitioned to remove the Gurbani-reciting agitator. In the morning, the
protesters did not allow the DPI to attend office and in
view of the slogan-shouting, she had to beat a hasty
retreat. She was later escorted by the police to her
office. |
Telecom
staff meeting begins CHANDIGARH, March 16 — A three-day conference of the All-India Telecom Employees Union (Punjab circle) began here today. During the three days,
employee leaders, will take policy decisions and chalk
out programmes of the union. The formation of the union
branches of contract labourers to fight out their
exploitation; future set-up of the Telecom Department and
review of strikes against privatisation will also be on
the agenda of the union. |
PGI staff
go on casual leave CHANDIGARH, March 16 — A section of the PGI employees today went on casual leave today but this did not much affect the services at the institute. The working of the operation theatres, emergency and OPDs was not affected as no patient was refused treatment, the PGI authorities claimed. The employees had taken mass casual leave on a call given by the PGI Employees Union to demand implementation of a settlement agreed upon two years ago. The Director, Prof B.K. Sharma, clarified that this leave will be treated as “no work, no pay”. A circular was issued three days ago, saying that no pay would be given for the period of mass leave. The same had applied in the case of faculty members, the Director said tonight. The union claims that 1600 Class B, C and D employees were on leave while the authorities say that only 1100 of the 4100 workers went on leave. Work was handled by nurses. A total 835 major surgeries were carried out, while 1800 patients were examined in the OPDs. A statement issued by the union tonight said that an assurance of Mr Satya Pal Jain to initiate a dialogue between the employees and the PGI had proved to be false. It has decided to resort
to an indefinite strike from March 23. |
Staff rally
on March 26 CHANDIGARH, March 16 — Members of the Federation of UT Employees and Workers will stage a rally on March 26 to highlight the callous attitude of the administration towards their demands. According to Mr Rakesh Kumar, president of the federation, mobilisation rallies were held at various places in the city. Many trade unions too had expressed their solidarity with their cause and had promised to make the rally a success. Meanwhile, the federation
has expressed their solidarity with the unemployed
teachers of Punjab and have conveyed their sympathies to
the family of the deceased teacher. They have urged the
Punjab Government to accept the demands of the
protesters. |
CHANDIGARH, March 16 — The re-evaluation result of BSc I and the result of the supplementary examination of B Com I and II, held in October last year, will be declared tomorrow, a press note by the Joint Controller of Examinations, Mr Ashok Raj Bhandari, said here today. Copies of the result gazettes will be available at the enquiry counter of the university in the basement of the Administrative Office on all working days for consultation and telephonic enquiry will not be entertained. Seminar-cum-orientation programme: A two day seminar-cum-orientation course on environmental issues for field functionaries in the Adult Literacy Programme was organised by the Department of Adult and Continuing Education, here today. In his inaugural address, Prof IBS Passi, Dean University Instruction, said everybody must fight for protecting the depleting environment for survival of the generations to come. People must be aware of the cause and effects of the depleting environment. Dr Gopal Krishan from the Department of Geography, stressed that the main cause of the depletion was increasing pressure for food, transport and growth of industry while Dr PD Sharma from the Department of Pharmacy said that the use of coloured and recycled plastic was toxic, affecting the environment and hazardous to health. The Director of the department, Dr Ajaib Singh, nailed the pollution to the growing urbanisation and migration from villages to big cities which is dangerous to the ecological balance. Pollution was taking place due to the unplanned growth of cities without proper civic amenities. The Deputy Director of Adult Education, Mrs Sudesh Kalra, gave an account of the various programmes being implemented in the city for spreading awareness on issues of national importance. The seminar was conducted by Dr Gurdev Singh Gill of the department. About 40 field workers are attending the seminar. The idea is to educate them about the importance of preserving the environment and creating an awareness among people of the villages about the harmful effects of depletion. Partial strike: A partial strike at the various departments was observed to protest against the fee hike. The strike call was given by PUSU, HSA and NSUI combined. Meanwhile, the President of PUSU, Mr Lakhjeet Singh, joined Mr Bhupinder Singh Bhuppi and Sanjay Singh, president and general secretary of HSA, on an indefinite fast. The students have planned to hold a dharna outside the syndicate hall tomorrow to press for their demands. Condemnation: The All-India Federation of University Teachers’ Association has condemned the denial of revised grades for the teachers of private colleges of Punjab and has urged the teachers to boycott examination work in support of the demands of these teachers to enable them the benefit of the revised grades. They further condemned the unprovoked lathi-charge on March 12 on teachers and demanded a judicial probe into the matter. They added that the latest version of the notification of the revised grades did not include the UGC provisions for benefit of service in feeder grade from lecturer to reader and reader to professor and demanded that these be included in another notification by the government. They urged the governments
of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana to sanction the revised
grades for the university and college teachers. |
CHANDIGARH, March 16 — A taxi driver was duped by a trickster, who took away the taxi. The trickster, Kalyan Basu, had hired a jeep ( RJ-02-C-3276) in Alwar, Rajasthan on March 11. He roamed about in Rajasthan for two days and came to Chandigarh on March 14. Upon reaching here he asked the driver, Gajjan Singh, to take him to Hotel Shivalikview in Sector 17 saying his boss was staying there. Once at the hotel , he invited the driver for food. As the two sat down, Basu said that certain files of his were in the jeep. The unsuspecting driver gave him the keys to take out the file. Basu went off with the jeep while the driver kept on having food. After 30 minutes he went to look outside and discovered that the person had vanished with the jeep. The driver asked the security personnel at the hotel, who told him that Basu has asked directions to go to Hotel Mountview. The taxi driver reached the other hotel and found Basu missing. According to police sources a similar incident had taken place a month ago when a taxi driver was duped of his vehicle by a man who gave his name as Basu and that the vehicle had been hired from Alwar. On the basis of the complaints of the two drivers the police have prepared a sketch of the accused and despatched a police party to Alwar. Stolen: The Post office in Sector 21 was broken into and thieves decamped with Rs 11,000 in cash and stamps worth Rs 8,500 . The thieves had entered the building through a ventilator. The Sub-Postmaster, Mr P.K. Sabarwal told the police that the theft had taken place on the night intervening March 14 and 15. Killed: A person riding the pillion of a scooter (CH-01-L-4730) was killed when a tractor trolley hit the scooter in Khuda Ali Sher village late last night. The deceased, Baljit Singh, was rushed to the PGI where he succumbed to his injuries. A case has been registered under sections 279, 338 and 304-A of the IPC. Meanwhile in a separate incident, Om Dutt, of sector 44 was injured when his scooter (CH-01-T-3312) was hit by a car (CHE-5252) driven by Mr R. Kashyap of Sector 44 . The injured was admitted to the GMCH, Sector 32. PANCHKULA Crushed to death: A two year girl child, Satisha, was accidentally crushed under a road roller near Mogi Nand village, near here, last evening. The police has initiated inquest proceedings in the case under Sections 174 of the Cr.P.C. DERA BASSI Three injured: Three persons were injured in two separate accidents here during last 24 hours. In a collision involving three vehicles near Singhpura, 3 km away from Zirakpur, a resident of Pragpur village, Bhagwan Singh, received injuries while a Haryana Roadways bus overturned after hitting a scooter (HR-01-H-7015 T ) and ramming into a tractor trailer. A case under sections 279,337 and 427 of IPC has been registered against bus driver Ishwar Singh. Two residents of Ambala
were injured in an accident between a Maruti van and a
truck near Janet village here yesterday. Both the injured
,Vijay Kumar and Varinder Singh, have been admitted to
the PGI, Chandigarh. |
CHANDIGARH, March 16, — The “stick no bills” warning is hard to come by in City Beautiful. Instead, we find many a wall defaced by bills: telling us to eat sizzlers for breakfast and dosas for lunch, wear tight-fitting jeans in the blazing summer, buy sweaters in June for use in December. Many reject the world of bills by tearing them either partially or fully. What remains neither appeals for a cause nor announces sales of goods (we are forced to want). Each erasing act is an act of rejection or fun or both (depending on the class of the eraser). In Vijay Ozo’s “Billscapes”, a show of photo-images at the Museum of Fine Arts, Panjab University, here, these searing and tearing acts have been turned into brush strokes — some placid; others agitating — to arrive at politically correct images. There are a few comments on fashions and cardboard-patriotism, but not disturbing enough for the politically correct. In some the slogans, and pictures do echo the events. In others grey, white and black remains of bills have been framed in a way to create enigmatic images which neither inform nor educate but make one a witness to sublime perception. The show was opened this
morning by Mrs Geetika Kalha, Secretary, Jails and
Justice, Punjab. |
CHANDIGARH, March 16 — The Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) is likely to auction five parking lots in the city on March 24. According to corporation sources, the parking lots, which are likely to be put under the hammer at Tagore Theatre in Sector 18, will be given to contractors for one year. The parking lots to be auctioned are at the District Courts in Sector 17, Sukhna Lake, Dhillon cinema, Terrace Garden and Shanti Kunj. The Finance and Contract Committee of the MCC had recommended the auction of these parking lots at its meeting recently. While the contracts for the Terrace Garden, Sukhna Lake and Shanti Kunj parking lots expired some time back, the contracts for District Courts and Dhillon cinema parking lots will end on March 31. Meanwhile, the Mayor, Mr Kewal Krishan Addiwal, has nominated Mr R L Arora and Mr O P Goyal, councillors, observers for the auction. Ration cards distributed: Mr Addiwal distributed ration cards among over 200 residents of Kumhar Colony, Sector 25 here, today. He also gave ration card
forms to over 200 residents. |
Demolition
drive continues PANCHKULA, March 16 — More hedges and fences were removed by the enforcement staff of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) on the second day of the demolition drive in Sector 6 here today. Structures in front of government houses — occupied by senior functionaries of the state government — were removed. The enforcement staff led by the Estate Officer and other district officials, supervised the drive. An official of HUDA said
the enforcement staff had been directed not to listen to
the occupants of these houses and carry on the drive.
After removing hedges in Sector 6 the enforcement staff
is expected to move on to Sector 7. |
‘Literature
can change society’ CHANDIGARH, March 16 — The Tripura Governor, Prof Siddheshwar Prasad, has called upon the writers to play an active role in the transformation of society. Presiding over a seminar on “Literature and social transformation in the present context”, organised by the Servants of the People Society at the Lajpat Rai Bhavan, Professor Prasad said though the writers were doing a good job, they should do it on a larger scale. Earlier, Mr Onkar Chand, Secretary of the society, stressed the role of the literature in the social transformation. Prof Joginder Kaushal, former Professor of English of Punjabi University, Patiala, said literature could be an effective instrument of social change. Literature could play a vital role in creating a cohesive society and a better global order, he added. Dr Rana Nayar, Reader in the Department of English of Panjab University, while criticising the National Book Trust and the Sahitya Akademi for their indifferent attitude towards the regional languages, said Indian literature represented only a “minority culture” as over 45 per cent of the Indians were illiterate. Dr Akshaya K. Gupta of the same department, said literature, free from religious and ideological considerations, was yet to be published in the country. Prominent among those who
spoke were Dr Rama Kant Angirus, Kalidas Professor of
Sanskrit, of PU, and Dr D.P. Maini, former professor in
the Department of Hindi, of PU. |
Need to
imbibe Gandhian values CHANDIGARH, March 16 — The Governor of Tripura and noted Gandhian, Prof Siddheshwar Prasad, has stressed the need for inculcating Gandhian values in public life. Delivering a lecture on the “Relevance of Gandhi in contemporary India” at CRRID in Sector 19 here today, Professor Prasad reminded the participants that the esteem of value-oriented persons had never been high in public life. Even in today’s world of seemingly lost values, there were persons, who were committed to values. He regretted that Gandhi had been “buried” during his lifetime, yet his name had been used for political mileage. If Gandhian thought had been taken in essence, two major mistakes — the partition of the country and the structure of governance which had led to complications — could have been avoided. Gandhi had shown us the path of the secular and scientific system of democracy, which suited the unique realities of India. Our governments had deviated from the Gandhian path, leading to confusion and chaos in the social structure, he alleged. Only by imbibing the Gandhian values, the Indian society could find solutions to its problems, he added. Professor Prasad said after Jesus and Buddha, Gandhi had influenced thought and philosophy at the global level by defining freedom and secularism in its true manner. He had challenged the largest empire in the world by the strength of his character. There was a need to redefine the Gandhian thought in the present context, he said. Prof R.P. Bambah, a trustee of the Tribune Trust, who chaired the session, said the need of the hour was to incorporate the Gandhian values both in private and public life. Mr Rashpal Malhotra, CRRID
Director, recalled the sacrifices made by Gandhi and
others during the freedom struggle. The salvation of
society lay in the philosophy of the Gita, which Gandhi
had followed in his personal life, he claimed. |
Panel set
up for Khalsa celebrations CHANDIGARH, March 16
— An 11-member committee has been formed to organise
the celebration of the tercentenary of the birth of
Khalsa at the sector 22 Nehru Park of April 2 from 5 p.m.
to 11 p.m. The members of the committee are Mr Sardul
Singh Vilkhu, Mr Joginder Singh Sawhney, Mr Amrinder
Singh, Mr Bhagwant Singh Chadha, Mr Ajit Singh, Mr Jasbir
Singh, Mr Ajit Singh Ranauta, Mr Amrik Singh, Mr
Saramhinder Singh Anand, Sardool Singh Bhui and Mrs
Surjit Kaur Sandhu. |
Ex-servicemen
lambast BJP CHANDIGARH, March 16 — The All-India Ex-Servicemen’s Party, which met here today under the chairmanship of Brig Harbant Singh(retd), took a serious view of the attempt of the ruling BJP to malign the Administrator of Chandigarh. “In the forefront of this vilification campaign is the local BJP MP, who finds himself beleagured in the quagmire of the internal struggle in the party. These persons are hand-in-glove with the corrupt officers of UT who are facing charges on various counts. A group of corrupt, self-seeking and disgruntled elements, including property dealers specialising in illegal property-grabbing activities, liquor mafia and other shady contractors are organising this vicious campaign as they feel thwarted in their wheeling and dealing by an upright General. Retired armed forces personnel feel outraged at this unfair and motivated targeting. They feel disgusted at the neglect of ex-servicemen, the injustice against war widows and disregard of decorated soldiers,” the resolution passed at the meeting said. It was also decided to
organise a convention of ex-servicemen to discuss these
issues soon. |
Ralhan is
chief of SPCA CHANDIGARH, March 16
— The general house of the local chapter of the
Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA),
which met here today under the chairmanship of the
Adviser to the Administrator, Mr Jagdish Sagar, elected
Mr Jasbir Ralhan as its president. Other office-bearers
elected at the meeting were Dr Satinder Dhillon —
Senior Vice-President; Mr Gian Chand Aggarwal —
Vice-President; Dr J.C. Kochar — General Secretary;
Mr R.S. Vasdev — Joint Secretary; and Mr R.K. Vats
— Treasurer. |
City man
invited to Lahore CHANDIGARH, March 16 — Mr Surinder Sharma, Chairman of the local Citizen Awareness Group, is one of the 24 persons who have been invited to Lahore to take part in the releasing ceremony of ‘Samjhauta Express’, a book authored by a Pakistani writer, Awais Sheikh. The book, aimed at
reducing tension and promoting peace between India and
Pakistan, will be released on March 20, a press note
says. |
School
plans new project on girl child CHANDIGARH, March 16 — The Sector 40-A Government High School authorities have decided to start a new project ‘Chalo Beti School’ in the school premises to promote the education of the girl child. In a press note issued here today, Mr Bahadur Singh, the Headmaster of the school, said under this project 49 girls from poor families would be admitted to the school where they would be adopted by the teacher as far as expenses on education was concerned. The only duty of the parents would be to send their girls to the school, he said. Mr Bahadur Singh, claimed
that the project was the first of its kind in the
country. |
Art
exhibition inaugurated CHANDIGARH, March 16 — Mrs Anuradha Gupta, the UT Home Secretary, inaugurated the Annual Art Exhibition of the Government College of Art at the college Exhibition Hall here today. Mrs Gupta took keen
interest in the exhibition comprising of 650 works, the
theme of most of which revolve around the beauty and
cosmopolitan character of the country. The exhibition
will remain open between 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. till March 20. |
PU misusing
funds, says ABVP CHANDIGARH, March 16 — The Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad has condemned the fee hike by the university authorities. The ABVP alleges that money was not being utilised for the purpose it was meant. Also the “extravagant expenditure by the authorities for their personal comfort” is unjustified, it adds. The parishad has demanded that the Syndicate set aside the proposal of fee hike, a white paper on the misappropriation of funds, maintenance of accounts and causes of the university’s financial crunch. Various student
organisations have joined hands on the issue of fee hike
and are opposing it, though they are critical of the
neutral attitude of the elected students’ council
which has failed to perform and work for the students,
they allege. |
Hotel
management students entertain CHANDIGARH, March 16 — The Dr Ambedkar Institute of Hotel Management, Sector 42, today celebrated its annual day. The chief guest was Mrs Seela Ebert, Regional Director, Commonwealth Youth Programme, Asia Centre, Chandigarh. The function was organised as a joint venture with local hoteliers. Students of the institute presented a song and dance programme. Though goof-ups like electricity failure and later faulty mike systems did take place, the enthusiasm of a young crowd kept up the pace of the cultural programme. The Principal, Mr Navin
Kumar Nanchahal, welcomed the guests. |
Accept
teachers’ demands: CTCC CHANDIGARH, March 16 — The Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee today expressed concern about the ongoing agitation of private schools teachers. The committee also
demanded that the government should give adequate
compensation to the family of the teacher who died in
jail recently. It added that the government should accept
the demands of the teachers before the agitation took an
ugly turn.
|
Cop’s
demotion order stayed CHANDIGARH, March 16 — The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has stayed the order of the Chandigarh police to demote Mr Shiv Raj Singh Sidhu from the rank of Inspector to Sub-Inspector. The Chandigarh police
authorities had demoted the Inspector on February 18,
saying he had complained against senior officials to
higher authorities. The Inspector had contended that he
had sought the permission of senior authorities but he
was refused. The order was issued on March 12, copies of
which were available today. |
Old
Stephenians CHANDIGARH, March 16
— The city-based former students of St Stephens
College, New Delhi, will organise a get-together at the
Sector 26 Police Officers Institute on March 20. |
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