Saturday, May 8, 1999
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N E W S Saturday, May 8, 1999 |
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8 trapped in lift for two
hours CHANDIGARH, May 7 — Eight persons, including three women, underwent a harrowing experience at the Sector 9 Additional De Luxe Building this afternoon, as they remained trapped inside a lift stuck between the ground floor and first floor for nearly two hours. Fortunately for those trapped inside, the door of the lift opened a bit, making room for a continuous communication between those trapped and others watching helplessly from outside. There was a regular supply of water and even glucose water to the trapped persons from outside. The sweltering heat and cramming of eight persons in the lift must have added to great discomfort to the persons stranded in the well of the lift's channel. The incident took place around 1 o'clock when eight persons, including three employees of the office of the DPI (Schools), started shouting for help from inside the lift. They thumped the door of the lift and tried to press the alarm button. As all efforts to push the lift either to the first floor or the ground floor failed, some of the employees rushed to the Maintenance Section of the Engineering Department to complain against the snag in the functioning of the lift. "But no one turned up for more than an hour. Only when we threatened to call the media and paged local newsmen that maintenance staff moved into action. They did not know what to do. All their attempts to make the lift to one of its stations — on ground floor or first floor — failed," complained an employee. It was after more than an hour that workers from the company that installed the lift a little more than a year ago were summoned. They opened the gear box and lowered the lift to the ground floor. Meanwhile, workers of the Engineering Department had punctured a hole in the wall to facilitate eviction of those trapped inside. A spokesman from the maintenance wing of the company said that in such a situation, the maintenance staff could have lowered the lift to the ground floor by simply opening its gear box. The experts felt that the lift got stuck primarily because of "bushes". Meanwhile, the administration has ordered an inquiry into the circumstances leading to the sudden stoppage of the lift. The lift was installed in July,1996, and is under maintenance with Otis Elevators. Mr R.K. Rao, Assistant Commissioner,Municipal Corporation, will conduct the inquiry and submit his report within 15 days. He would be assisted by an expert from Punjab Engineering College and a CPWD engineer. They would find out whether the failure was because of a manufacturing defect or maintenance lapse and the steps to be taken for inclusion in the maintenance contract in future. A number of employees
complained that the problem with this particular lift was
chronic as every other week, people get stranded inside
it. But in the past, the failures were mostly for five to
15 minutes and never more. But this time, it remained out
of operation for more than two hours with a number of
people inside. |
Sale of uncovered food items
banned CHANDIGARH, May 7 — The District Magistrate of Chandigarh, Mr M. Ramsekhar, has imposed a ban on the sale all kinds of sweets, cakes, biscuits, bread, parched grain (unless fresh parched) and all other articles of food, including cut fruits, grapes and dates and drinks, including lassi, sugarcane juice and sharbats, unless these items are properly protected by wire gauze or glass against contamination by dust and flies. The ban order issued today also covers the sale of unauthorised drinking water through water trollies obtained from unauthorised sources and ice, ice candies and aerated water sold through outlets under unhygienic conditions. The food articles so banned could be seized, removed, destroyed or disposed of in any manner by the Assistant Commissioners, the Secretary, the Medical Officer of Health, the Assistant Director, Malaria, the Anti-Malaria Officer, the Entomologist-cum-Parasitolo-gist, the Superintendent, the Slaughter House-cum-Meat Inspector, all Health Supervisors, the Superintendent Vaccination, the Chief Sanitary Inspector, Sanitary Inspectors, Meat Supervisors working in the Municipal Corporation and all Judicial Magistrates, Exceutive Magistrates, the Principal Medical Officer, all Medical Officers, PCMS, HCMS Class Iand II, and Food Inspectors working in the Chandigarh Administration in their respective jurisdictions. All of them are also
authorised to enter and inspect any market, building,
shop or place used for manufacturing, sale or
distribution of any article of food and drinks and
examine these articles. This order shall remain effective
until December 31. |
Zirakpur made Nagar Panchayat CHANDIGARH, May 7 — Zirakpur has been made a Nagar Panchayat by the Punjab Government, which issued a notification in this regard here today. According to sources, the notification declaring the town as a Nagar Panchayat was issued here this evening by Mr N.K. Arora, Principal Secretary, Local Government, Punjab. According to the notification, Mr Surjit Singh, a Deputy Director of the department, has been appointed Administrator of the newly created panchayat, in which Lohgarh, Dhakauli, Bartana, Dhakaula, Bishanpura, Bishangarh and Zirakpur have been included. The town had also been
included in Patiala district after excluding it from
Ropar district, the sources said. |
Pvt music students may lose
year CHANDIGARH, May 7 — Scores of students, mostly from Jammu who are appearing as private candidates for MA ( I) music of Panjab University, have alleged that due to frequent postponement of examinations and subsequent change in date sheets they were not sent any intimation about the practical examinations, which were conducted on April 16 and 17. Hence they were unable to appear for those exams. They have further alleged that they received their roll number and date sheet for the theory examination on May 5, while their first theory paper was slated for that date itself. Highlighting the negligence of the authorities, they wondered how students were expected to appear for an examination on the day of receipt of the information and that too from a far off place like Jammu. Hence, they could not take their first paper also. And when they came here today to appear for their second theory paper tomorrow, they learnt that it has been postponed to May 25. They had no prior information of this also. All this has put a question mark on their careers as they may lose a year. All their efforts to contact the authorities concerned did not yield any results today. They have demanded that at least the practical examinations should be conducted again as they are being made to suffer for no fault of theirs. The Assistant Registrar
( Conduct) said that action would betaken on the basis of
the report of the examination branch. The students should
contact the assistant registrar of the examination
branch. |
PSEB cashier suspended LALRU, May 7 — The Punjab State Electricity Board has suspended Gurbaksh Singh, a cashier with the board, for his alleged involvement in an electricity bill case. Earlier the board had suspended four employees — Swaran Singh (Accountant), Salochana Devi (Sr. Accountant), Harvinder Singh and Prem Chand (both Cashiers), for their alleged involvement in the case. J.N. Casting, a Lalru-based industrial unit, had deposited Rs 23,77,775 as its power bill on December 26, 1997. A sum of Rs 20, 52,775 was deposited by cheque, while the remaining amount (Rs 3,25,000) was paid in cash. The cheque issued by the factory management was dishonoured when presented in the bank the first time and the last date for clearing the bill got expired when the payment was made the second time. The Electricity Department had levied a penalty of Rs 4,61,479 on the factory. The department had disconnected the power supply to the unit. For this the proprietor of the factory had secured a stay order from the court against the board. The amount was deposited
through a draft, but when the record was checked on court
order it was found that the draft was related to a
different company. |
Heart on right side! Chandigarh, May 7 — A farmer from Sangrur, who did not know that his heart was on the right side of his chest, came to the PGI with a massive heart attack and while treating him experts at the PGI have performed one of the rarest cardiac procedures. The patient has become the first person in India with a right side heart to get a stent that will keep open his blocked artery. Mr Jagpal Singh of Chathenacte village in Sunam block of Sangrur district has all his body organs on the reverse, a very rare disorder, say doctors. "So far we have seen only four cases of all organs being on the reverse side, " said Prof H.K. Bali, who treated him. He is the first man in India with the heart on the right side to get a stent, a hollow steel cylinder that is implanted into the blocked artery to keep it open, thus facilitating proper flow of blood to the heart, claimed Professor Bali. Only nine such patients all over the world having the heart on the right side have been implanted with stents. Talking to mediapersons, Jagpal Singh said, " Till now I never realised that my heart was on the right side of the chest. " Professor Bali says when the patient came he was given clot dissolving treatment. However, it was ineffective as he continued to have chest pain. There are two categories of the heart being on the right side. The first category of people are those who have only the heart reversed and all other organs are normal.In the second category, in which Mr Jagpal Singh falls, all organs are reversed. These people develop diseases like any other normal person would. Such conditions are not
hereditary, opine doctors. |
5 cops served orders of
suspension Chandigarh, May 7 — After a days' wait, the Chandigarh Administrator this evening ordered that suspension orders be served on the two DSPs, one inspector, one sub-inspector and one head constable. The orders to suspend these five officials were issued yesterday by the UT Administrator, Lieut-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber (retd), but since the Inspector-General of Police, Dr Kiran Bedi, had wanted to present the case of the police, the serving of the orders was kept in abeyance. This morning the IG made the presentation. The IG said that she was not shielding anyone but presenting the police side of the story as the head of the force. After listening to all sides, the Administrator ordered that the suspension letters be served. Charge sheets will be served to the officials concerned within one week while a criminal case will be registered against one of the DSPs for allegedly reconstructing the file in one murder case. Two files of murder cases pertaining to 1983 had gone missing. During the course of the inquiry, 15 witnesses, including these officials, were examined and handwriting experts called in, who ruled that these were freshly prepared files, according to sources. It was found that the file of one of the murder cases was reconstructed and because of the seriousness of the crime, it was decided to register a criminal case against the DSP. In case the murder is
untraced, the police has to present the fact in court.
However, in these two cases no such report was sent. The
inquiry also found that one of the DSPs took away the FIR
register with him, sources said. |
Shramdan at Sukhna Lake begins CHANDIGARH, May 7 — Work on the manual and mechanical desiltation of Sukhna Lake got under way here this morning. The Adviser to the Administrator, Mrs Vineeta Rai, formally inaugurated the shramdan by digging silt from the bed of the lake. Also present were the Mayor, Mr Kewal Krishan Addiwal, the Home Secretary, Mrs Anuradha Gupta, and the Deputy Commissioner, Mr M. Ramsekhar, besides the Managing Director of CITCO, Mr Satish Chandra, and Chief Engineer of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, Mr Puranjit Singh. A large number of regular shramdanis, activists of the Environment Society of India and children were also present. Mrs Gupta, who is also the President of the Save Sukhna Lake Society, traced the history of shramdan and efforts being made to save the lake from siltation. She said that 150 silt retention dams have been constructed in the catchment area of the lake to help reduce the inflow of silt. A large number of trees have also been planted in the catchment area. Mrs Rai also inaugurated the mechanical desiltation operations in which one dragline, one poclain, two JCBs and 14 tippers of the Municipal Corporation and Engineering Department of UT, BBMB and Haryana Irrigation have been pressed into service for removing the silt from the dry bed. Verka Milk Plant, as a
gesture of goodwill, distributed pens to the
participants. |
Another judge questioned CHANDIGARH, May 7 — The Sessions Judge, Mr B.S. Bedi, who held court at the high-security Burail jail, today recorded the evidence of Mr Rajinder Kumar, Metropolitan Magistrate, New Delhi, in the Beant Singh assassination case. During his examination, Mr Rajinder Kumar said he had recorded the statements of Gurpreet Singh, Tejinder Pal Singh and Gurinder Singh under Section 164, Cr PC. He told the court that DSP S.K Saxena, of the C.B.I. had produced these persons in his court. Later he had asked each one of them whether they were making the statements without any duress or coercion. They said they were making the statements voluntarily. After recording the statements, he issued a certificate that they had made statements without any duress. Their statements were sealed. The C.B.I. was directed to deliver the statements to the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Chandigarh. The DSP had also asked
for a copy of the statements. The Metropolitan Magistrate
said since he had prepared a carbon copy, he gave it to
the DSP. |
Woman duped by couple PANCHKULA, May 7—A woman of Sector 16 here has been robbed by a couple of her jewellery. This was the sixth incident in which aged women were duped by the couple, who pose as followers of a religious sect. In the latest incident, which took place near the road dividing Sectors 15 and 16, Ms Sudesh Khular, had to part with gold bangles and earrings worth over Rs 6,000. She was going from Sector 15 to her house in Sector 16, when a couple asked her the way to Sector 14. The police has registered a case under Section 420 of the IPC but is clueless about the couple. In the last five incidents, a similar modus operandi was adopted by apparently the same couple. For example, in the incident on March 8, a 60-year-old woman of Sector 16 was robbed of jewellery worth Rs 25,000, when she was crossing the road dividing Sectors 9 and 10. The victim had described the couple as a man of medium height in his late thirties and a woman with short hair in her early forties. All the incidents had taken place around Sectors 16 and 17. The police suspected that the victim was brought under some sort of spell by the couple. Though policemen in
plain clothes have been deputed to nab the culprits,
success has eluded them so far. The residents complain
that the police is clueless about the identity of the
couple. |
Eyeing Special Olympics glory CHANDIGARH, May 7—After three years of rigorous training and winning state-level events, followed by gold medals at the national-level games, six children have set their eyes on the Special Olympic World Summer Games ‘99, scheduled to commence on June 26 at North Carolina, USA. They are students of the “Special Cell” at Bhavan Vidyalaya School, Sector 27. Aged between 14 and 18 years, these students are among the eight persons selected to represent the north-west zone at the games and will be managed by two coaches, Ms Vidya Kurekar and Mr Govind Singh, also of the same school. The games will have over 7,000 competitors from 150 countries. These athletes attended an India camp held at Hyderabad in November and another in March at Bangalore.The contestants are preparing two dances on ``Chappa chappa charkha chale’’ and ``Bharat humko jaan se pyara hai’’ for the cultural evening at the games. ``In the morning, we have an hour’s session of exercises, while skill training in the respective games is undertaken every evening. This is a two-hour session and the students are exhausted by the end of the day,’’ Ms Kurekar explains. However, Sunaina, participating in the aquatic event, is doing her training at Chandimandir and the arrangements have been made by her parents. ``The students were selected from the 65 students which make up the Special Cell of the school. We observed them while they played the various games and selected a handful to represent at the state level. After that there was no looking back for them,’’ Mr Govind Singh adds. The badminton team comprises Richa Devgan and Davinder Sood. The table tennis team will be represented by Kirti Rattan and Neeti Singh. Sunaina is the lone participant in the aquatics event and Tarandeep Kaur will participate in the roller skating competition. The Principal, Mrs
Meenakshi Mohindra, is very proud of their achievements
and says,``Bagging six of the eight seats from the zone
is a major achievement. We are leaving no stone unturned
to ensure that our students are given the best possible
training.’’ |
SNIPPETS Frequent transfers hit civic body Mr Varinder Sandhu who was appointed here on June 17, 1997, remained till January 7, 1998. Then came Mr Amrit Lal Bansal on January 9, 1998 and he was here till July 24, 1998. After that, Mr Charanjit Singh was executive officer from July 25 to August 17, 1998, and Mr Lachman Singh from August 18, 1998 to April 30, 1999. Then the charge of Kharar was given to Mr R.D. Jindal. Mr Gian Chand Gupta took over the charge of the Kharar Municipal Committee on May 5. For how many days he will be here is yet to be seen. Super Bazar staff seek arrears Mr Khem Singh, President of the union, said their demands included release of arrears of revised pay scales, shortage claim, common cadre for salesmen and clerks, besides removal of pay anomalies. The protesters also demanded an inquiry into the bunglings in the organisation. Punjab, UT staff hold rally The agitators raised slogans against the Punjab government and alleged that it was pursuing anti- employee policies. They demanded that the concessions withdrawn recently should be restored at the earliest. Their main demands include release of bonus for the previous year, release of DA, restoring HRA recovery at the rate of 10 per cent of pay or charging standard rent whichever was lower, besides grant of promotional scales after four, nine and 18 years of service. Housing societies demand land Mr R.K. Ahuja, General Secretary of the committee, said even though the Chandigarh Housing Board had collected crores, it had done nothing towards providing them land. He demanded intervention of the Adviser in the matter for speedy redress of their problem. Painting workshop held at school The workshop inspired the children to use their imagination and create various designs and experiment with colours. A painting competition was also held in which Kavya Bali and Kriti Bali secured the first position, Abhinav Jain and Saloni Verma were placed second and Abhishek Dhiman got third place. MFC issue with Syndicate The regular candidates of MFC II (session 1998-99) who could not clear their MFC re-appear part I in the admissible one chance may take their MFC II examination currently being held provisionally at their own risk and responsibility. Therefore, they may collect their roll numbers from the Department of Correspondence Studies, Panjab University, on May 10. Anger-driven sacrilege The man, who also beat up his father, is absconding. The holy volumes could not be saved in spite of efforts of the neighbours. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has expressed shock over the incident. A case has been registered against Chhattarpal Singh under Sections 295 and 506 of the IPC. Truck union move resented In a press note, Mr Vijay Kumar Aggarwal, President, of the association, alleged that some members of the truck union had started charging from the trucks without prior notice. Trucks load and unload stones, sand, concrete at various crushers in the area. The truckers are being given receipts by the collectors who are charging the amount, he added. He said Mr Kuljit Singh Randhawa, the Truck Union President, had told him that the collected amount would be spent to construct a building for the union’s office. After discussing the matter with Mr H.S. Bhullar, Superintendent of Police, the case has been sent for consideration to Mr Sher Singh Sidhu, Sub Divisional Magistrate, Dera Bassi. Water pressure low in Sec 29 The pressure is so low that water does not reach the overhead tanks with the result that the toilets have run dry. There have also been complaints of low voltage, rendering the electric gadgets like water coolers and fans ineffective. May 9 closed day in Mani
Majra This decision has been taken in view of the revision of electoral rolls being conducted on May 8 and 9. Cell's plea on voters' I-cards In a letter to the Chief Election Officer, Ms Bhajan Kaur, Vice-President of the cell, said the residents were facing a number of problems in getting these cards. For instance, if a person went to the Election Office for the card, the officials there demanded a ration card and when the person contacted the Food and Supplies Department for the ration card, he was asked to bring the voters' identity card, she alleged. Similarly, residents whose names figured in the previous gazette but not in the latest one were being harrassed. Officials get notices They demanded the defendants to make their telephones in Mauli Baidwan village operative and to maintain them in working condition. They also wanted the defendants not to issue the bills for April, 1999, to them and adjust the excess charges taken by the defendants in the bills. They pleaded before the court that their telephones were not working since March 25, 1999. They had made many requests in this regard but to no avail. They have contended that
since their telephones were not working since March 25,
the defendants, under rules, were not entitled to take
rent for April, 1999. |
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