Wednesday, May 12, 1999
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N E W S Wednesday, May 12, 1999 |
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Consultancies
allowed in residences PANCHKULA, May 11 — Professionals running consultancy services from their residences in Haryana would not attract any action for misuse of residential premises if they fulfil certain conditions. A decision in this regard has been taken by the government following an amendment to the Haryana Urban Development (Disposal of Land and Building) Regulations, 1978, which govern the land use in all urban estates set up by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA). Thousands of professionals in different disciplines, as specified by the government, in over 20 urban estates stand to benefit from the new policy to grant permission for mixed land use of residential premises. The beneficiaries will, however, have to pay a fee for this. Officials in HUDA said that though a decision in this regard, which had been taken in 1997, was withdrawn after a court case, a fresh notification was issued recently by the government. Sources said that the covered area of a residential premises for rendering professional consultancy services would be limited to 25 per cent or 50 sq metre, whichever is less. Under the policy professionals like doctors, lawyers, tax consultants, architects, contractor consultants, chartered accountants, company secretaries, property consultants and tourists guides, who do not create any nuisance would be granted permission. However, nursing homes have been excluded from the list of professional consultancies allowed by the government. It may be pertinent to mention here that the state unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) had been urging the government to increase the limit of total area allowed to run a consultancy service so as to include nursing homes. For charging the permission fee, the urban estates have been divided into three categories, depending on the real estate prices but irrespective of the nature of trade. Like in Gurgaon, Faridabad and Panchkula a fee of Rs 50,000 will be charged. The fee in the Hisar, Rohtak, Bhiwani, Bahadurgarh, Sonepat, Rewari, Karnal, Panipat, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar and Jagadhri urban estates is Rs 30,000, while in Hansi, Shahabad, Kaithal, Sirsa, Jind, Naraingarh and Dharuhera the fee has been fixed at Rs 20,000. While 10 per cent of the fee would have to be given along with the application, 40 per cent would be charged at the time of grant of permission and the remaining 50 per cent after one year of being granted the permission. Initially the permission would be for five years and would be renewed on the payment of 10 per cent of the total fee. Officials of HUDA feel
this decision could affect the real estate prices in
high-demand urban estates. |
Four
convicted engineers sacked CHANDIGARH, May 11 — The Chandigarh Administration has ordered the dismissal of all four engineers, including two executive engineers, convicted in the “silt scam case”. Those dismissed are Mr A.K. Gupta, Executive Engineer-cum-Under Secretary, Engineering Department, Mr K.S. Brar, Executive Engineer, Mr Surjit Singh, Subdivisional Engineer, and Mr Baljinder Singh, Sectional Officer. They were convicted by the Additional Sessions Judge, Mr M.R. Batra, after the vigilance cell of the Chandigarh Administration investigated charges against them in the removal of silt from the bed of the Sukhna Lake through the use of camels and manual force. Subsequent to their conviction, they filed an appeal in the Punjab and Haryana High Court where their sentence was stayed. Sources in the Engineering Department confirmed that all the four engineers had been dismissed and the dismissal orders sent to them by registered post, besides being pasted outside their houses. The dismissal, the sources said, were on the basis of the recommendations of the Central Vigilance Commission. The Supreme Court had held that once an employee was convicted and his conviction had not been set aside by the appellate court, he or she should be dismissed from service. This is for the first time that four employees, with their sentences stayed by the High Court, have been dismissed in a go. Three of them are gazetted officers. “Since their conviction was not stayed, they could not continue in service,” the sources said. Earlier, the Union Public Service Commission had clarified that in all those cases where the appointing authority was the Administrator, there was no need to refer the case to the Commission for approval for dismissal following conviction of an employee. Only in case where the appointing authority is the President, the consent of the Commission prior to any such action was mandatory. It was on the basis of this advice that the Administration had earlier dismissed suspended Chief Engineer K.K. Jerath. Subsequently, the Administration reportedly circulated the advice of the UPSC with directions to all departments to take appropriate action in all such pending cases awaiting instructions or approval from the commission. The “silt
scam” was brought to the notice of the then Adviser
to the Administrator, Mr Baleshwar Rai, by activists of
the BJP, including Mr Yash Pal Mahajan, besides some
other regular “shramdanis”. At that time, Mr
A.K. Gupta was holding the current duty charge of
Superintending Engineer, while Mr K.S. Brar was even then
an Executive Engineer.
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Punjab
Police cops beat up man CHANDIGARH, May 11 — A Ropar-based person has alleged that he was picked up from Sector 46 here this morning by Punjab Police personnel posted at Sohana police station. “The cops beat me up,” Mr Avtar Singh alleged. He lodged a complaint with the Sector 34 police station alleging that he along with his friend, Labh Singh was coming on a scooter when a Gypsy of the Punjab Police carrying four cops stopped them in Sector 46 around 9 am this morning. This happened when he was coming to the house of his employer, Mr Manjit Singh, in Sector 46. The cops, he alleged, took both of them to the Sohana police station. The two said they were rescued by Mr Manjit Singh. A medical examination
was carried out in GMCH, Sector 32. The SHO of Sohana
police station was not available for comment when
contacted over the phone. |
Alisha
woos music fans CHANDIGARH, May 11 — “Today I need to compete with my album ‘Made in India’, because in the ‘Indi pop’ scene, I have only myself as competition”, said Alisha Chinai today while talking to the press, here in Sector 10. This “Baby Doll” of India who shot to fame with her film song “Tarzan my Tarzan” was in the city to promote her latest album “Dil ki Rani”. Donning dark glasses, the pretty and petite singer, who seemed comfortable talking only in monosyllables or in sentences joined by long pauses, said, “This ninth album of mine means the queen of hearts, and is an out and out pop and dance album. ‘Wah-Wah’, that is being shown on music channels these days, is a ‘funky’ qawwali number and we are busy shooting for another song titled ‘Bas’ “. Emphasising that she had moved along after the resounding success of “Made in India” and had “grown up” since the time she was labelled as “Baby Doll” or the “Indian Madonna”, Alisha said, “These phases were fun and did not limit me in any way. I have come a long way since then”. But how does she explain Madonna’s “Ray of Light” and her “Om”, similar sounding albums with similar looking videos coming out in the market at nearly the same time? “Pure coincidence. I guess great minds think alike!” On the subject of using Punjabi bhangra beats in her music or switching over to Punjabi songs, Alisha replied, “Bhangra is best left to Daler Mehndi. I have a very large Hindi audience so I do not think I would ever switch over to Punjabi numbers. But I have used Punjabi beats in some of my songs”. On vulgarity in music video, she said, “Why do you ask me? My videos are not vulgar in any way, so this thing does not concern me. As far as music is concerned today, songs are just not heard but are also meant to be seen. The whole package of songs, lyrics, singer, video plus marketing have become very important today”. On her success, she said, “I am happy with my success. And if you go by the sale of ‘Made in India’, you could say I am the queen of Indi-Pop”. For Alisha, the entry of the likes of Asha Bhonsle does not mean much competition, because “she is doing what she has to do, and has her own place. Asha is a legend in her own right”. Alisha’s day in the City Beautiful was spent in touring various music centres. She later also visited a discotheque where she jived along with her fans. Meanwhile, the four
lucky winners of the “Dil ki Rani” contest who
got the opportunity to dine with Alisha were Samir Sapru,
Vandana Mathews, Jasmine Kaur Sandhu and Aman Chhibber. |
5-pt party
directive to Kalyan CHANDIGARH, May 11 — The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP ) high command has issued a five-point directive to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh to resolve the ongoing crisis in the state. Talking to newsmen at UT Guest House here this morning, Mr Sanghpriya Gautam, All-India General Secretary of the BJP, said that Mr Kalyan Singh had been asked to change his style of functioning, cancel all controversial appointments, provide security to legislators apprehending danger to their lives, inquire into complaints where people had been implicated in false cases and jointly take decisions with the state party President, Mr Rajnath Singh. Mr Gautam said that Mr Kalyan Singh had been given time till May 15 to follow this directive. The Executive Committee of the state BJP would meet on May 15 and 16. On May 16, the Union Home Minister would visit Lucknow. Talking about growing dissensions in the party, including the Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh units, Mr Gautam said that "nowhere the party has been divided. In Gujarat, BJP legislators left the party and they are nowhere. In Chandigarh, some councillors left the party and are gone." However, he admitted factionalism and indiscipline in the Chandigarh unit of the party. Mr Gautam reiterated that Mrs Sonia Gandhi would not be made an issue in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections."Our fight will be against those who brought her and not against her," he added. "The next election would be mainly between the BJP and the Congress. None could get a clear majority. So coalition was the need of the hour, Mr Gautam said. The BJP-led government at the Centre, Mr Gautam declared, fell not because of the AIADMK but because of the Bahujan Samaj Party and cheating by the Congress which brought the Orissa Chief Minister to cast his vote on the confidence motion. Mr Gautam said that there was a feeling in the party high command that perhaps there was not enough awakening among people. "This is why we have decided to observe May 11 — the Pokhran Day — as jagrat Bharat divas where the party leadership has gone out to people in all bigger cities to create an awareness about the work the party has done in 13 months to remove political instability, social unequality and economic disparities facing the country which has been mainly ruled by either Congressmen themselves or those who left the Congress. Talking about Maharashtra, Mr Gautam said the alliance with the Shiv Sena would continue. Also present at his press conference were local BJP chief Dharam Paul Gupta, local MP Satya Pal Jain and former Mayor Gian Chand Gupta. In the evening, Mr
Gautam addressed party workers and others at the Sector
16 Gandhi Smarak Bhavan. |
Shakti
Divas celebrated CHANDIGARH, May 11 — The Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL), one of the laboratories of the Defence Research and Development Organisation in the city, celebrated May 11 as Shakti Divas. The day has been declared as Technology Day in the country after the nuclear tests were conducted in Pokharan last year. Lectures by eminent scientists and engineers on various important technologies were the highlight of the celebrations. Dr R P Bajpai, Acting Director, CSIO, highlighted the trends in semi-conductor technology and the equipment and critical process which enables providing faster microprocessors at 0.1 micron silicon technology level. He said old ideas continued to be valid but new equipment and technologies enable progress. Prof C. Mukku, Head, Department of Computer Sciences, PU, described the super computing facilities being set up in the university and the type of advance computing proposed to be undertaken. Dr D N Sing, GM (R and D), VLSI, SCL, highlighted the breadth and depth of the information technology revolution and the likely role which India could play on the global canvas. Scientists of TBRL also delivered lectures and highlighted the technology trends in modern armament systems. Mr V S Sethi, Director, TBRL, presided over the function while Mr P H Deshpande, Chief Controller, (R and D), was the chief guest. TBRL is one of the major laboratories which contributed outstandingly to Pokharan II. The Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH) celebrated the first “technology day” today. The IMTECH held a pictorial exhibition on its research programmes and existing capabilities, live demonstration of its computer modelling capabilities and a video presentation were put up for hundreds of students, who visited the IMTECH. A lecture each on the
subjects “research and development capabilities of
IMTECH scientists and technicians” and another one
on “relevance of science today” were delivered.
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Anti-nuclear
protest by students CHANDIGARH, May 11—A meeting to protest against the policies of nuclear weaponisation pursued by the Governments of India and Pakistan was held at Panjab University, here today. This was a part of nation-wide protests being held to mark the anniversary of explosions carried out at Pokhran last year. While safe and regulated research in nuclear sciences may be useful, unsafe usage of nuclear energy is harmful to life on the planet. People all over the world have protested against the development of nuclear weapons ever since the first explosion was carried out in 1945. In a world where most people live in abject poverty, adamant pursuit of policies that will lead to mass destruction is insane, the gathering observed. The students and
teachers demanded that the insane and massive wastage of
resources be stopped and that the government pay more
attention to issues of basic necessities of the people. |
Protest by
PTDC employees CHANDIGARH, May 11—The Joint Action Committee of the Punjab Karamchari Dal and Punjab Tourism Employees Union, Chandigarh, has demanded release of the revised pay arrears without any further delay. Mr Surjit Singh Saini, the convener of the committee, said the arrears should be given from January 1, 1996. He said the enhanced ex gratia grant should be given to the employees of the Punjab Tourism Development Corporation and the backdoor recruitment of executive trainees should be stopped immediately. The union also demanded regularisation of services of ad hoc and daily wage workers who had completed 240 days’ service. The employees demanded
withdrawal of the privatisation policy adopted by the
corporation in connection with the PTDC complexes. |
Minister
hears grievances PANCHKULA, May 11— The Local Government Minister, Dr Kamal Verma, conducted the monthly grievances redressal at the mini-secretariat here today. A total of 10 complaints were received at the meeting of which seven were redressed on the spot. A majority of the complaint pertained to shortage of drinking water. Some residents of Pinjore complained that a depot holder was running eight depot under fake names. The Minister directed the officials of the Food and Supplies department to enquire into the matter. Regarding the shortage
of potable water the Minister directed the officials of
the Public Health department to arrange water tanks.
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Water
shortage in Sector 21-D CHANDIGARH, May 11— Residents of Sector 21-D have complained of shortage of water in the sector. Residents alleged that the shortage of water, which had been continuing for over two months, had become acute in the past few days. The pressure was low even during the morning supply hours. Mr Rajiv Gupta, a
resident, complained that the pressure was so low that
the taps on the ground floor ran dry after some time with
the result that the overhead tanks had become empty.
Residents of the upper floors faced a lot of problems on
account of the low water pressure, he added. |
ITI
parameters of excellence discussed CHANDIGARH, May 11—At the first meeting of the state steering committee of the Institute Managing Committee (IMC) for ITI, Sector 28, chaired by Mrs Anuradha Gupta, Secretary, Technical Education, parameters of excellence to govern the ITI were drawn up here today. The parameters drawn up proclaim that employability of students will be measured by the criteria of employment within one month, three months and six months, in the trade in which they trained , while the industrial training will be measured in the form of man days gainfully spent by students and faculty in the industry. It was also decided that revenue generated will be another criteria of excellence. The decisions taken by the committee include holding meetings of the IMC every three months, besides a review meeting to take stock of developments will be held every month. The admission policy would be changed by giving reasonable weightage to the aptitude test and interview in place of the existing system of marks obtained in the relevant examinations, it was decided. The committee decided to draw up an action plan for the next 12 months , indicating the various criteria for measurement of quality in the existing and proposed system, and that revenue generation will be put up in the form of student welfare fund for which tradewise budget will be prepared. The trades of Letter Press Machine Minders would be upgraded to offset printing and hand compositor to desktop publishing respectively along with computer and moulder trades which would be upgraded by value addition was decided at the meeting. Further, it was stated that examinations would be jointly supervised by the staff of Directorate of Technical Education. The meeting approved these pilot project guidelines framed by Director General of Employment and Training for upgradation of ITI, Sector 28 and decided to hold the next meeting of IMC in August to chalk out the indicators of quality improvement and to work out the modalities of revenue generation. The meeting was attended
by Mr SK Bijlani, Chairman, Technical Education, Dr SK
Aggarwal, Director, Technical Education, and Mr GS Sethi,
Director, Training, DGET, Delhi, besides Mr Vinod K
Peshawaria, Mr Sushil Sharma and Mr TS Bhasin,
representatives of industries of the region, and Mrs
Madhu Pillai from the CII. The institute was represented
by the principal and student representatives and the
employment office by Mr VK Sharma.
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One
convicted for impersonation CHANDIGARH, May 11 — The Judicial Magistrate, Mrs Vani Gopal Sharma, today convicted Ishwar Datt on charge of impersonation in the last parliamentary election in the city at Shivalik Public School in Sector 41. The magistrate, however, ordered his release on probation for six months on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 10,000. In her order, Mrs Sharma held that the prosecution had successfully proved the charges against the convict. She took a lenient view
in the matter of sentence as he was the first offender
and did not have any previous criminal record. |
Conference
on ophthalmology CHANDIGARH, May 11 — The Chandigarh Ophthalmological Society will organise an ophthalmology update and annual conference in collaboration with the eye department on May 16. The newly-constituted A.D. Grover oration has been awarded to Prof Amod Gupta for his work in the field of diabetic retinopathy. During the day, there will be sessions on current concepts in the fields of cataract and refractive surgery, glaucoma, strabismus and retinal disorders. Around 150 doctors are
likely to attend this meeting. |
Punjabi
play in aid of aged CHANDIGARH, May 11 — As part of the tercentenary celebrations of the Khalsa Panth, ‘Khalsa Khas Kahawe Soe’, was organised today at the Punjab Kala Bhavan, Sector 16. The programme,which started more than one and a half hours late, was put up by ‘Own Fantasy Own Art’, an association of artists and artisans, in collaboration with the Punjab Arts Council. Mr Sewa Singh Sekhwan, Minister of Information and Public Relations, Punjab, was the chief guest on the occasion. Punjabi play ‘Zafarnama’, was staged at the function.It was written by Dr Harcharan Singh, Chairman, Punjab Arts Council, and directed by Sanjeevan. The lead role of Aurangzeb was played by Ranjeevan and that of Zeenat by Ramandeep Dhillon. The one-hour long production was followed by the release of a souvenir on the teachings of Guru Gobind Singh. The founder of the
‘Own Fantasy Own Art’, Ms Asha Arpit claimed
that today’s programme was conducted in aid of a
house for the aged at Hoshiarpur. |
SNIPPETS CHANDIGARH, May 11 (TNS) — The Institution of Secretarial Practices and Development — INSPIRE — a non-profit professional body of working secretarial practitioners formed for overall development of the secretarial profession, will celebrate its sixth founder’s day on May 16 at the Sector 23 Bal Bhavan, Mr Jagdish Singh Sarpal, Chairman, INSPIRE, announced today. According to Mr Sarpal, a souvenir will be released on that day to highlight the achievements of the institution. Besides, there will be a variety programme and distribution of prizes to winners of a raffle draw. The Special Secretary-cum-Director of Industries, Punjab, Mr D.S. Guru, will be the chief guest. PANCHKULA, May 11 (TNS) — As many as 350 handicapped and orphaned students of six government primary schools in the Morni area were given free books at a function organised by the local Shivalik Foundation, a charitable society, here on Tuesday. The General Secretary of the foundation said Rs 2 lakh had been spent on various welfare schemes like monthly scholarship to 172 poor students besides financial assistance to 26 brilliant but needy students of middle and matriculate-level. He said the Ministry of Home affairs had given permission to the foundation to receive foreign contributions from its welfare activities under the Foreign Contributions (Regulations) Act. Training programme for police staff CHANDIGARH, May 11 (TNS) — The Chandigarh Police has arranged a seven-day refresher training programme for the benefit of the ministerial staff, posted in the police headquarters, Sector 9. The Mahatama Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration, Punjab and Chandigarh, has agreed to conduct this training programme. The entire gamut of office rules, procedures, including financial and service rules, noting, drafting and time management will be covered during this programme. The programme was inaugurated by the IG, Dr Kiran Bedi, today. CHANDIGARH, May 11 (TNS) — A project of the Rotary Club “gift of Life “ is being launched on May 13. A sum of Rs 42 lakh has been allocated to provide free corrective cardiac surgery to about 50 children from the economically weaker section of the society, informed Ms Kawal Bedi, President of the Club. Rotarians will also take care of post-operation and rehabilitation during this two-year programme. The Governor of Punjab , Lieut Gen B.K.N. Chhibber (retd) will inaugurate the project. Compensation sought for scrap dealers CHANDIGARH, May 11 (TNS) — The Lok Shakti has demanded compensation for the scrap dealers whose shops were gutted in a major fire in Phase II of the Industrial Area here yesterday. A press note urged the Chandigarh Administration to allot sites to the scrap dealers at the rates fixed in 1996 in Sector 29 here. Meanwhile, the Chandigarh Kabari Union, in a press note, alleged that the police was harassing the “kabariwalas” Employment exchange for handicapped CHANDIGARH, May 11 (TNS) — The Chandigarh Administration has set up a special employment exchange for physically handicapped persons under a centrally sponsored scheme at the Sector 17 Regional Employment Exchange here. According to a spokesman of the Administration, the physically handicapped persons desirous of employment assistance can get their names registered with the exchange on any working day. CHANDIGARH, May 11 (TNS) — The annual “urs” of the Sector 29-C Baba Sakhi Sarvar Sultan Dargah Sharif will be celebrated on May 13 and 14. In a press note issued here today, Mr Mohammed Iqbal, a spokesman of the National Welfare Movement, said on the evening of May 13, ‘Rasm-e-chadar’, a ritual, will be held, in which a number of national-level leaders of the movement, including its General Secretary, Dr Anwar Ali, will participate. Besides, qawals will present quawalis during the two-day celebrations. PGI nurses to go on mass leave CHANDIGARH, May 11 (TNS) — The PGI Nurses Welfare Association has said that nurses will go on mass casual leave on May 14. The President of the
association, Mr Lakhwinder Singh, said that the demands
include cadre review, sorting of water and mess problems
in the hostel besides granting transport allowance for
those employees, who use the PGI staff bus to commute to
work. |
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