Friday, May 14, 1999
|
N E W S Friday, May 14, 1999 |
|
| weather n
spotlight today's calendar |
Many in
race for DHS post CHANDIGARH, May 13 — A sort of uncertainty is prevailing in the UT Health Department as several doctors are in the running for the post of Director, Health Services (DHS). The present incumbent, Dr R.S. Sandhu, was first repatriated to Punjab upon his promotion as Director in his parent state. Later, he was asked to carry on till further orders. This was done after the authorities in Punjab sent a panel of names of doctors who were junior to at least three doctors of the UT cadre working in senior positions in the Health Department. The Chandigarh Administration considered it inappropriate to post a junior doctor as head of the department when doctors senior to the DHS would have been working under him. The Punjab authorities were asked to send another panel of names who would be of the rank of Joint Director in the state. According to sources, the Punjab authorities have conveyed that they do not have the doctors who could meet the set criterion. The UT cadre doctors are also seeking that they should be given a chance to head the Health Department. Till now all Directors have been from the Punjab cadre. The UT cadre doctors have already moved a petition in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). Interestingly, the rules framed a long ago to appoint a DHS or a Medical Superintendent have no mention of the UT cadre doctors. On the other hand,
Haryana has staked its claim to the post of DHS, saying
it should rightfully go to a state cadre doctor. This,
the state claims, should be followed as the post of Chief
Architect, traditionally a Haryana cadre post, has been
given to a Punjab cadre official, sources confirm. |
Hedges
removed in Sector 27 CHANDIGARH, May 13 — The anti - encroachment staff of the Municipal Corporation uprooted hedges and grills installed by more than 50 residents of Sector 27 - A here this afternoon. The operation began at 3 p.m. and was over by 5 p.m. and was a follow up of another drive carried out earlier. It was aimed at stopping the violations afresh by the residents. A bulldozer was also pressed into service. A large posse of policemen was present to prevent any untoward incident. Sources said there was
no resistance from the people. |
Governor
launches ‘gift-of-life’ project CHANDIGARH, May 13 — The lives of two teenagers — Lobseng Dolma from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh and Uttam Rani of Ambala — will never be the same again. They were born with congenital heart defects but their parents did not have the money required to provide for the expensive treatment. Thanks to a Rs 42-lakh "gift-of-life project" of the Rotary Club Chandigarh, they have become the first and second recipients, respectively, of free treatment from experts at the PGI. The cost of the medicines and equipment for the operation will be borne by the Rotary Club, while PGI doctors will perform the surgery free of charge. Dolma, the first one to benefit from the scheme, was successfully operated upon on May 11. This morning the Governor of Punjab, Lieut-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber (retd), formally launched the project by handing over a portion of the equipment for the surgery to Uttam Rani at the lecture theatre in the PGI, while Dolma accompanied by a companion sat through the ceremony. The next turn to benefit is of Uttam Rani, a daughter of a vegetable vendor. Under the project, the club aims at providing corrective heart surgery to 50 children below the age of 20 from the economically weaker section of society. While inaugurating the project, the Governor said that over a period of time the hard work of ''our scientists and researchers has brought to us technology and medicine'', however, still a sizeable number of people were unable to afford the expenses of high-technology treatment and the congenital heart problem was one such disease, he added. Speaking about the project, Mrs Kawal Bedi, President of the Rotary Club, said that Rotarians from Japan and Germany had contributed to the programme. The past President of the club, Mr R.K. Saboo, said the idea came when the club collected Rs 2 lakh to save the life of a poor young boy, Lakha Ram. The PGI was approached and the Director, Prof B.K. Sharma, agreed immediately, Mr Saboo said. A total contribution from different rotary clubs was $ 1 lakh. The deserving cases would be referred to a selection committee comprising Justice J.V. Gupta, Mrs Usha Saboo, Ms Kanta Swaroop Krishan, Mrs Kawal Bedi , Prof P.S. Chari and Mr Vinod Peshawaria. Prof R.S. Dhaliwal, Head of the Cardio-Thoracic Surgery Depart-ment, said a number of children were born with birth defects . These could be corrected and the children could lead a normal life. Praising the efforts of
the Rotary Club, the Adviser to the UT Administrator, Ms
Vineeta Rai, said in routine these children from poor
families would not have access to such care and expertise
available at the PGI. |
Kiran,
Anuradha cool down CHANDIGARH, May 13 — The war of words between the UT Home Secretary, Mrs Anuradha Gupta, and the Inspector-General of Police, Dr Kiran Bedi, has cooled off partially. While the IG commented upon the statements of Mrs Gupta, the Home Secretary, however, preferred to simply say "no comments". The IG said, " I have nothing to add" but the documents attached with the open petition sent to the Administrator, Lieut-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber (retd) speak for themselves, she added. The IG said if the Home Secretary is terming the demand for redress as rebellion then it is her ( Mrs Gupta's) view point. The force has felt aggrieved that is why the demand for redress. Dr Bedi said. Mrs Gupta was not used having a functioning IG. On the other hand, the Home Secretary , Mrs Gupta, simply said, " no comments " to all queries. Meanwhile the Adviser, Mrs Vineeta Rai, said there was no development on the issue today. However, she confirmed that she had written a letter to Dr Bedi, asking her to clarify reports in a section of the press that had quoted the IG as having said that the five suspended officials are on leave and not under suspension. The IG had replied saying that the officials had been granted leave by their respective SSPs. The Adviser added, " I had asked Kiran to cite a case of interference on behalf of the Administration since she ( Kiran) had joined a month back. On this, the IG said, " I have pointed out that the suspension of an Inspector , an SI and a constable, was within the powers of the IG and the Home Department should not have intervened. In official circles it
is being said that the Administrator has reportedly asked
the the two woman officials to stop issuing statements in
the media. |
GH-16
emergency wing to be redone CHANDIGARH, May 13 — The emergency wing at the Sector 16 General Hospital will be remodelled and relocated to comprise 20 beds with the airconditioned facility. The old system of concrete platforms or unorganised set-up of beds for patients is being done away with as a new unit is being set up in the big hall in front of the main entrance to the hospital building. The work to remodel the emergency wing will cost about Rs 4 lakh only, but it will be of immense help to the patients, the Director-Health Services (DHS), Mr R.S. Sandhu, opined. The old system of doctors room being opposite the emergency hall will be done away with. Under one roof the remodelled emergency wing shall have rooms for doctors and nurses on duty and the connected paraphernalia, besides the beds. Work is expected to be completed within one month. The eye OPD, that was housed in the portion of the hall where the new emergency wing is to be located, has already been shifted to a new place. Besides the renovation of the emergency hall, the Health Department has also procured a sophisticated x-ray machine for the Dental Department of the hospital. This is the second machine of its kind in the region. The machine, called the panaromic view, has the capacity to film all 32 teeth in one go. Another x-ray plant has
been set up at Mani Majra to replace the old X-ray unit. |
Police to
check govt vehicles, finance companies CHANDIGARH, May 13 — From June 1 the Chandigarh Traffic Police will launch a drive to check government vehicles, including those of the police, for various violations. The drive will be to check pollution certificates, possession of driving licences by drivers, proper number plates and indicators. The drive will check vehicles of Chandigarh Police, Haryana Police and the Punjab Police. The Chandigarh Police has decided to keep a tab on local finance and investment companies that promise high rates of interest. Companies that do not follow the RBI guidelines will be checked. DSP Surjit Singh has been asked to collect information through the beat staff of the respective police stations. The beat staff will forward the names of all such finance companies that operate in the city. The DSP will oversee and hold meetings with the SHOs. The SP, City, Mr Baldev Singh will be overall in charge. In the past few years, a
number of finance and investment companies have duped
several investors. |
Candidates
return without interview CHANDIGARH, May 13 — Several persons who had gone to Patiala for an interview for posts advertised by the Army Institute of Law had to return empty handed as the candidates had allegedly been "finalised beforehand". The institute had advertised in leading newspapers on May 5 for one post each of librarian, office superintendent, accountant and steno typist, besides two posts of clerk cum typist and peon-cum-messengers. The candidates had been asked to apply, with complete details of qualifications, experience, postal address and contact numbers, within a week, to the Deputy Judge Advocate General, Headquarters, Western Command, Chandi Mandir. Shortlisted candidates were to be called for the interview at 10 a.m. on May 13 at the Station Headquarters in Patiala. Today, when the candidates, who had been informed through telegrams to appear for the interview, reached Patiala, they found that no list of the candidates had been put up on the notice board. There was no one to guide them about what to do. According to Mr Charanjit Bansal (telegram number 1506), who had been shortlisted for the post of clerk-cum-steno typist, said at about 9.30 a.m., a Major S.S. Nair read out the names of about 10 persons for each post and asked the others to disperse. This was resented by the waiting 150 candidates, including women, who wanted that the list be displayed on the notice board. They demanded that the criteria adopted for shortlisting candidates, whose names had been called out, be made public. The officer replied that only those persons will be interviewed whose names were on the list forwarded by the Western Command Headquarters. Their pleas to allow them to meet Lieut-Col K.L. Gulati, SO (AIL), the officer who had advertised the posts, were futile. They were again asked to disperse when they protested. Mr Jagtar Singh, an
ex-serviceman candidate, along with 40 others, in a
signed statement, said that the entire process was
unfair. In a letter addressed to the Defence Minister,
the Defence Secretary and the GOC-in-C of the Western
Command, they have demanded that the interview be
cancelled, the posts readvertised and the candidates who
were turned back be given due weightage in view of the
harassment which they faced. |
Phone
transfer delay costs telecom department PANCHKULA, May 13 — A Development Officer of United India Insurance (UII) company has been allowed a compensation of Rs 2,500 for being harassed due to delay in issuance of a surrender certificate by the Haryana Telecom Circle, resulting in nearly six months' delay in shifting of his phone connection from Mandi Dabwali to Panchkula. The order was passed by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum on a complaint filed by the Development Officer, Mr Suresh Kumar Sethi. He alleged that during his posting at the Mandi Dabwali office of UII, he had a telephone facility at his residence and on being transferred to Panchkula, he submitted all the relevant papers to the SDE ,Mandi Dabwali, for transfer of the telephone connection to his new place of posting. The telephone connection was not shifted even after a four months . The Chandigarh Telecom district in its reply before the forum said the complainant did not provide the surrender certificate issued by the Mandi Dabwali office of the Haryana Telecom circle. The surrender certificate was mandatory to shift a telephone connection on the All India Shift Scheme. The forum observed that
the office concerned of the Haryana Telecom circle had
indulged in deficiency of services by shifting the
telephone connection after a lapse of one year. The
complainant has been allowed Rs 500 as costs of the
proceedings.
|
BBMB
cultural function CHANDIGARH, May 13 — The Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) organised a cultural programme this evening at Tagore Theatre to commemorate its Raising Day today. The programme started with welcome address by Mr I.C. Sharma, Special Secretary, BBMB, and lighting of a lamp by the Chairman of the BBMB, Maj-Gen R.R. Oberoi. Since the BBMB has four
partner states comprising Punjab, Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh and Rajasthan, the programme included teams from
all these states. The function began with a group song by
a team from Talwara, followed by a western and classical
dance competition. The programme also included a qawwali,
a Haryanavi dance and gidha, besides many group songs by
young artistes. |
Villager’s
complaint to Punjab EC KHARAR, May 13 — Mrs Kamlesh Rani, a resident of Sohana village of Kharar block, has alleged that although she got 117 votes in the elections of the gram panchayat held in June, 1998, a candidate who got 99 votes had been declared elected as member. According to a copy of a complaint sent by her to the Punjab Election Commission and other officers, a copy of which was handed over to this reporter on Tuesday, she has written that in spite of repeated requests, nothing has been done. She has written that at the time of the elections, the presiding officer had declared her elected and she took the oath of office at Ropar on July 26, 1998. She also took part in the meeting of the panchayat. She has written that the September 30, 1998, she was not allowed to attend a meeting of the panchayat by the sarpanch on the plea that her name had not been published in the gazette as elected member of the panchayat. A woman who had secured 99 votes was declared elected in the gazette, she has written. She has demanded that
she should be declared elected and allowed to attend the
meetings of the gram panchayat.
|
“Unchai”
inaugurated CHANDIGARH, May 13 — Christened “Unchai”, a school for children living in slums, was inaugurated at Bhavan Vidyalya, Sector 27, by Mrs Anuradha Gupta, Home and Education Secretary, here, today. Mrs Gupta had an informal chat with the children while she went around the two classrooms were the students are being taught. Speaking at the inaugural function, Mrs Gupta stated that in spite of high literacy levels in the city, there existed some pockets where illiteracy was thriving. Taking a serious view of wrong statistics on literacy levels in the city provided by the government, she said everybody must work to come up with a solution to tackle the problem of illiteracy. Praising the effort of the Bhavan in opening a school for slim children, she said, “All of us have lots of expectations from the system and are concerned about what we can get from it. Rarely do we give a thought to fulfilling our social obligations, which the Bhavan has done with commendable effort”. The Chairman of the Bhavan, Mr R.K. Saboo, said the school was opened to serve that section of society which did not have enough even to sustain itself and that the project was inaugurated after one month of being conceived to ensure the project had taken off successfully.``Our objective is to make them literate and bring them in to the mainstream and if we can do that we have achieved our dream.’’ Others present on the
occasion included Mrs Meenakshi Mohindra, Principal of
Bhavan Vidyalaya, Dr (Mrs) S. Bambah, Mr P.R. Aggarwal,
associated with the project, besides teachers of Bhavan
Vidyalaya. |
Rally by
PRTC employees CHANDIGARH, May 13 — Members of the PRTC Employees Union took out a rally here today to highlight their long-pending demands. The protesters were joined by workers of the CITU, INTUC, Karamchari Dal and the SC/BC Union and raised slogans against the anti-worker policies of the government in general and the roadways authorities in particular. They took out the rally from the PRTC workshop and after passing through various sectors held a dharna near the Housing Board roundabout. The agitators said the system of contractual labour should be stopped and recruitments should be done on a regular basis. Other demands include implementation of the agreement reached between their representatives and the authorities on August, release of bonus, DA and arrears on account of pay revision as per the recommendation of the Fifth Pay Commission and revising the rules of 1981. They also demanded that
the privatisation of bus stands should be stopped, more
government funding for the cash strapped PRTC and
stopping victimisation of trade unionists.
|
Court
notice to Telecom Secretary KHARAR, May 13 — Mr Mandeep Singh Dhillon, Civil Judge-cum-Judicial Magistrate, Kharar, today issued notices to Secretary Department of Telecommunications, Government of India, Deputy General Manager, SDO (Phones), Mohali, and Commercial Officer (Phones), Chandigarh, in a criminal application for taking action against the said officers filed by Mr Ripudaman Singh for May 24 for giving false information in their written application before the court. He pleaded in his application that he had filed a suit to transfer his telephone from Chandigarh to Sector 70, Mohali, and the above mentioned respondents had filed the written statement on 12-5-1999, in which they have stated that the telephone in question could not be shifted since the area is non-feasible. He pleaded that the area
in question is very much feasible as one telephone is
working near the house of the applicant. He said the
persons had made false information before this court and
in this way the respondents had committed the offence
under section 192 of the IPC. He pleaded that the
respondents be summoned and punished according to law. |
Two
killed in road mishap PANCHKULA, May 13 —Two persons, including a 12-year-old schoolgirl, were killed and four others injured in a head-on collision between a Matador and a truck on the Ambala — Shimla national highway near Old Panchkula here today. All victims were travelling in the Matador. According to the information available Shalu, who was returning from her school, died on the spot, while the second victim, Sukhdev Singh, succumbed to his injuries at the local General Hospital. The four injured in the accident are Devinder Singh, Ravinder Singh, Subash and Jagtar Singh. They were referred to the PGI in Chandigarh. The Chandimandir police has registered a case against the driver of the truck (PB-11-H-2793), who absconded soon after the mishap. In another case a
pedestrian, Jasbir Singh, a resident of Kakkar Majra
village in Raipur Rani, who injured after being hit by an
unidentified vehicle at Kakkar Majra yesterday succumbed
to his injuries on Thursday. The Raipur Rani police has
registered a case.
|
Simranjit,
Rashi win painting contest CHANDIGARH, May 13 — As many as 385 school-children from 10 chools of the city participated in an on- the-spot painting competition organised by the Chandigarh District Youth Congress (Urban) at Bal Bhavan, Sector 23, here today. Participants were divided into two age groups. Children between 8 to 12 years were required to draw on “annual sports meet”, while children in the age group of 12 to 16 years painted on the topic of “world peace”. The function was organised in memory of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, fondly referred to as “Chacha” Nehru by the children, and to promote art among them. The contest was inaugurated by Mr Gurmeet Sehgal, President, district youth Congress (Urban), while Mr Chandramukhi Sharma, President, CTYC, gave away the prizes. The results of the contest are as follows: group I: Simranjit Kaur — Shivalik Public School (1), Deepali Thapar — GMSSS-35 (2), Suhasini Raghuvanshi — Vivek High School (3); consolation: Jyoti Sharma — St Anne’s, Akash Sohi — Shishu Niketan. Group II: Rashi Sarna
— Sacred Heart (1) Vijay Kumar Verma — Mount
Carmel (2), Jasleen Kaur — Mount Carmel (3);
consolation: Manpal Singh — Shivalik Public School,
Rahul Bhandari— Shivalik Public School. |
SNIPPETS Free film show for blood donors CHANDIGARH, May 13 — It was a treat for voluntary blood donors of Chandigarh when noted director Govind Nihalani screened for them his film ''Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa'' here on Sunday. The show was held free of charge through the Blood Bank Society of the PGI and sponsored jointly by Piccadilly cinema and Bajaj Travels. This was perhaps for the first time that appreciation of this magnitude was extended to the voluntary blood donors by such a noted film personality. 150
donate blood CHANDIGARH, May 13 — About 150 people donated blood at a blood donation camp organised by the Census Department of Haryana and the Art of Living Foundation at Home Science College, Sector 10, here today. The camp was organised on the occasion of the birth anniversary of the founder of the Art of Living Foundation, Sri Ravishanker. A free clinical laboratory at Hansraj Public School, Panchkula, was also inaugurated on the occasion. In the evening, a maha satsang was organised to observe his birthday. Darshan Singh Kohli dead CHANDIGARH, May 13 — Mr Darshan Singh Kohli, a veteran city hotelier, died of a heart failure on May 11. He was 70. Born at Pinnewal village in Jhelum district (now in Pakistan), he studied at Foremen Christian College, Lahore. He was the founder of the city's first hotel, the Aroma complex, which was set up in 1953. He took active part in the freedom movement as a student and later joined the Communist Party of India. Mr Kohli was the founder president of the Dilkhush Club, an association of morning walkers and like-minded friends. Industrialists resent power cuts CHANDIGARH, May 13 — The Chamber of Chandigarh Industries has resented the unannounced power cuts by the UT Electricity Department in the Industrial Area. The President of the chamber, Mr Inderjit Setia, alleged in a press note issued here yesterday that the industry, which was already passing through a recession, was hard hit by the unannounced power shutdowns. Such power cuts were causing a lot of hardship to industrialists who had to pay to the employees without work, he alleged. Mr Setia further alleged that sometimes there were no power cuts on particular days as announced, but the entrepreneurs had to close their units on these days. Sarpanch’s interference in
school alleged ZIRAKPUR, May 13 — Mrs Kamla Devi, Headmistress of Government High School, Chhat village, near here, has complained that the sarpanch of the village, Mr Gurcharan Singh, along with seven panches and 22 villagers entered the school premises about six days ago and took the attendance register and marked her absent. She alleged that the villagers had also marked some of the teachers absent. Meanwhile, Mr Gurcharan Singh has alleged that the headmistress and some teachers used to come to school late, causing loss to studies of students. Mr Jassa Singh, SHO, Dera Bassi, is investigating the matter. Sector 45-A residents’ plea
to Adviser CHANDIGARH, May 13 — Residents of Sector 45-A have complained of insanitary conditions in their sector. In representations to the Adviser to the Administrator, and the Mayor, the residents alleged that dairies in Burail village near the sector had become a source of nuisance. Heaps of cow dung, which created foul smell, were breeding mosquitoes and flies, they alleged. Besides, the “kabariwalas” blocked the road by keeping the condemned vehicles and items and added to pollution by burning tyres and other materials.They demanded that the road separating Burail village from Sector 45-A be cleared from unwanted materials. Paploha taught 'art of living' PANCHKULA, May 13 — The Art of Living Foundation, a non-government social organisation, has adopted Paploha village in Kalka Tehsil to improve its standard of living and instil the feeling of brotherhood among them. The Sewa Project Director of the foundation, Mr Sunil Gulati, said a five-day camp was started at the village on May 2 to educate the residents about ways to remain free of disease and tension through meditation. In the first batch, 28 villagers were made aware about their responsibilities towards development of their village. In an innovative step, a committee of the villagers has been constituted to ensure that all children in the village went to school. If some family did not send its children to school, the village panchayat would levy a fine of Rs 50. Conference on information
technology today SAS NAGAR, May 13 — A national conference on “information technology for social development and productivity” will be held at the CEDTI here tomorrow. The conference will be
inaugurated by Mr Ravindra Gupta, Secretary to the
Government of India, Department of Electronics. The
keynote address will be delivered by Dr N. Vijayaditya,
Director-General, National Informatics Centre, New Delhi. |
 |
 |
| Nation
| Punjab | Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | | Editorial | Business | Sport | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
