MCA cricket academy opens
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 16 — A cricket academy of the Mohali Cricket Association became operational today on a ground adjacent to the PCA Stadium at SAS Nagar. This academy, to be conducted under the supervision of Daljit Singh, D.P. Azad, Sukhwinder Tinku and Kailash among others, should prove to be a boon to the youngsters of this township.

Inaugurating the academy, Mr M.P. Pandove, Secretary of the Punjab Cricket Association, said the academy would go a long way in promoting the game at SAS Nagar which was yet to develop a cricket culture existing in other Punjab towns like Patiala or Amritsar. He said the PCA would provide all inputs necessary for the successful running of the academy.

The nets have been put up on a space belonging to the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) which has allowed the free use of the facility. Six practice wickets have been laid on one side of the ground. There is also a centre pitch, laid under the supervision of Daljit Singh, who has also laid the pitches inside the PCA Stadium. The district association hopes to conduct matches on the centre pitch.

The Mohali Cricket Association has arranged for a pump house for watering the pitches and the ground. It hopes to add other facilities in the near future. Daljit Singh said the association hoped to make the outfield lush green like inside the stadium. Already, the ground has been provided with a sprinkler system.

So far 80 boys of the township have registered themselves for the nets. The boys belong to under-12, under-14 and under-16 age groups. The association expects more boys to join the nets. While the association is charging a nominal monthly fee from the boys, the fees will be waived once a boy turns out for inter-district tournaments.

According to Mr D.P. Reddy, President of the Mohali Cricket Association, the nets should help to unearth new talent in the township.

The MCA had also planned a Sunday league for the registered players to provide match practice and competition to them, Mr G.S. Walia, Secretary of the association, said.

PGI eye centre plan finalised
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 16 — The plan for the establishment of an advanced eye centre at the PGI has been finalised and work on the project is likely to start soon, the PGI Director, Prof BK Sharma, informed today.

Speaking at the inauguration of the "Ophthalmological Update" at the PGI here, Professor Sharma hoped that with the establishment of the centre, people of the region would not have to travel abroad for the treatment of advanced vision-related problems.

He exhorted the ophthalmalogists to develop standards of eye care delivery so that there was no confusion in the minds of public regarding the use of contact lens, surgery for the removal of spectacles, cataract surgery and the eye donation procedures.

Prof I.S. Jain, Professor Emeritus of the PGI and a former president of the All-India Ophthalmological Society, recalled the contribution of Dr A.D. Grover, founder of the Chandigarh chapter of the society,for tackling the problem of blindness in rural India. He also appreciated the services of Prof Amod Gupta, Professor and Head of the Eye Department of the PGI, the recipient of the prestigious Dr A.D. Grover Memorial Award for this year.

Delivering the Dr A.D. Grover memorial oration on "Diabetic retinopathy" , Professor Gupta expressed concern that over 50 per cent patients did not know that their retina was affected. A diabetic should get his retina examined as the affected retina in this case leads to blindness and makes patient's life span becomes shorter.

Suggesting mandatory examination of retinas of diabetics put on insulin, he appealed to the patients suffering from cataract to go in for treatment before they lose their eye sight.

Dr Jagat Ram, Additional Professor in the Eye Department of the PGI and the organising secretary of the update, informed that over 175 delegates from the region participated in the update and the annual meeting of the Chandigarh Ophthalmological Society.

Later, two interactive sessions in the fields of "current concepts in cataract and refractive surgery, glaucoma surgery and corneal disorders" were held in which 18 faculty comprising Dr DC Bansal, Dr S.P. Dhir, Dr V.L. Bansal, Dr RK Grewal, Dr PS Sandhu, Dr Ravijit Singh, Dr Rohit Om Parkash, Dr Jagat Ram, Dr J.S. Saini, Dr Ashok Sharma, Dr M.R. Dogra, Dr Kanwar Mohan, Dr S.S. Pandav, Dr Arun Jain, Dr Vishal Gupta, Dr Rohit Grover, Dr Sandeep Jain and Dr S.P.S. Grewal participated.

Police party ransacks Sector 42 house
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 16 — In yet another case of highhandedness, a Punjab police party ransacked a house in Sector 42 after barging into it.

According to the information available, a police party from Nawanshahar, comprising an inspector, a head constable, a gunman and a driver came in a Tata Sumo (PB-32-A-3595) looking for Mr Jarnail Singh, a Punjab School Education Board employee. They said he was wanted in a cheating case registered on the complaint of Santokh Singh, a resident of Khurda village in Nawanshahar district.

The brother of Mr Jarnail Singh, Mr Gurdeep Singh, who was informed about the incident by his mother, alleged that the police party wanted to kidnap his brother since he had a long-standing dispute with one L.S. Pabla, a travel agent.

Mr Gurdip Singh alleged that the police party did not even inform the local police. He informed the local police and the four members of the police party were taken to the Sector 36 police station.

They were allowed to go only when they apologised to Mr Gurdeep Singh.

3 cases of intervention
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 16 — “An erroneous impression is sought to be created through statements reported in the press that the functioning of the Police Department had been affected by the ‘excesses and interference’,” said a press release issued by the Chandigarh Administration tonight. This was in reply to Dr Kiran Bedi’s statements in the past few days.

Referring to the statements made by the IGP that “rules were bypassed” and the “IGP was made a zero”, the press release said the statements were incorrect. Besides the IGP’s contention that transfers in the Police Department have been routinely made by the Home Department instead of the IGP, is wrong, the Administration said.

This contention is not based on facts. The functional autonomy of the IGP was always maintained. Nevertheless, the Police Department functions under the overall superintendence and control of the State Government as per the Police Act, 1861, just like other departments under the state government.

The power to transfer the Superintendents of the Police vests with the state government under the Punjab Police Service Rules, 1959. Notwithstanding the powers of the administration to transfer the DSPs, however, the IGP has been invariably consulted and never bypassed. The power to transfer officials below the rank of DSPs rests with the SSP and IGP . The powers were never either taken away from the IGP and the SSP or interfered with. The contention that transfers of constables and SHOs, among other ranks, are made routinely by the Home Department, is not correct.

There have been only three cases in the past three years where the Administration was compelled to take action on the basis of findings of inquiry reports which established serious misconduct on part of the police officials cutting across the ranks.

These three cases pertained to false implication of three British nationals in criminal cases, serious irregularities and forgery in murder investigations, and involvement of an SHO in a public brawl. The state government has the authority and is also bound by law under the provisions of the Police Act and the Punjab Police Rules framed thereunder to make interventions, when it becomes absolutely necessary to avoid miscarriage of justice, the Chandigarh Administration said.

What rules say
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 16 — A careful perusal of the rule books makes an interesting reading. For example, Section 3 of the Police Act of 1861 reads:

“The superintendence of the police throughout the general police district shall be exercised by the state government to which such district is subordinate.” And Section 5 of the Act lays down that the “IGP shall have the full power of a magistrate throughout the general police district but shall exercise those powers subject to such limitation as may be from time to time imposed by the state government.”

In the case of Chandigarh, the powers of the state government have been conferred on the Administrator of Chandigarh by a notification issued on November 1,1966 which says : “The President hereby directs that, subject to his control and until further orders, the Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh shall, in relation to the said territory, exercise and discharge, with effect from first day of November, 1966, the powers and functions of the state government under any such law.”

The routine functioning of the Police Department is governed by the Punjab Police Rules, which have been under review for the past so many years but little has been achieved. The amendment to these rules requires amendments to various laws, including the Criminal Code, the Penal Code, the Evidence Act, and others. These rules have been framed under the Police Act of 1861.

The study of rules reveal that under Rule 16.32 of the Punjab Police Rules, final appeal or revisional jurisdiction in the case of police personnel lies with the Home

Secretary after the order of the Inspector-General of Police.

With regard to postings and transfers, Rule 12 of the Punjab Police Service Rules,1959, reads : “Every member of the service shall be subject to transfer under the orders of the Government from one to another anywhere within the State.”

Under the Delegation of Powers Act, applicable to the Union Territory of Chandigarh, the Administrator has delegated powers to transfer all group “B” employees to the Adviser to the Administrator, while himself retaining the powers to transfer group “A” employees. Since DSPs are group “B” employees, their transfers are ordered at the level of the Adviser in the Chandigarh Administration.

Rule 1.17 of the Punjab Police Rules says: “All postings, removal and transfers of officers in charge of police stations within a district shall be made by the SP with the approval of the District Magistrate”.

Students given study material
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 16 — Over 500 students drawn from 18 schools of the city were provided books, study material, stationery, tuition fee along with uniform at a function organised by the Bharat Vikas Parishad at Guru Gobind Singh Bhavan, Sector 15, here today.

Each year `Sahyog', a project launched in 1987, provides help to needy and deserving students to ensure that they carry on their studies without any hindrance and with confidence.

The project, started with about 75 students, gained popularity with the mushrooming of colonies all over the city and many parents who could ill-afford their wards' education.

Mr Avinash Jain, Organising Secretary of the parishad for Punjab, informed that students who are performing well in the various examinations held at schools are chosen by a committee of the parishad which visits the school on an appointed day. The candidates who want to avail themselves of the facility provided to needy students by the parishad can do so by registering with the school. This is followed by an interview of the students by the committee members and the final list of all such students is prepared. ``We concentrate on schools where proportion of needy students is high and naturally we have a preference for schools in the colonies,'' he says.

Further, the school is willing to give financial support to students beyond matriculation level if they get a score of 70 per cent and above in the examination. Names of students, having received aid from the parishad and doing well in life, were also read out at the function.

The prizes were given away by Swami Pitambara Nand, Secretary of the Ramakrishna Mission, Sector 15. Besides, students topping in their respective schools and were being helped by the parishad were also honoured on the occasion.

Those honoured at the function are: GSSS-15: Manisha and Rajni, GHS-11: Pradeep and Suman Kumar, GHS-28: Usha and Sharmilla, GHS-26: Kalawati, Ashok Kumar and Prabhu Shankar, GHS-41: Goldie, GHS-29: Kavita, Dimple Rana, Tajda, Umesh and Rekha, KRS Vidya Mandir-27: Shikha and Heena, GHS-24: Sumar Thakur, Lalita and Geeta, GHS-25: Reenu, Neelam and Parveen, GHS-35: Ramesh and Neelam, GHS-Manimajra: Arun Kumar, GHS-31: Dinesh Sharma.

'Teacher-parent thinking must match'
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 16—"Parents are the pillars of the education system since they spend more time with the child. They must take over the extended educational activity at home. For the best result in such a venture, teacher-parent thinking must match,'' opined Ms Nisha Peshin, Curriculum Development Officer, DAV College Managing Committee, in an interaction with parents of children aged between 4 and 7 years, at DAV Public School, Sector 8, here today.

Answering a query about shy children, Ms Peshin said children could be made better human beings by presenting virtuous role models to them. "We, parents and teachers, will have to be role models of various virtues and moral values that we wish to inculcate in our children because values are picked up,'' she contended.

She cautioned the parents about being very enthusiastic about forcing children to write at an early age. "In our system of Early Education Development Programme, writing is taken up systematically through the use of plasticine, crayons and sand, so that that child's finer talents are not adversely affected before he is ready to hold and use the pencil,'' she stated.

Earlier, she interacted with a group of teachers of these classes. She suggested to them to be facilitators rather than preachers to their students.

SNIPPETS

Kavi darbar held
From Our Correspondent

MUBARIKPUR, May 16 — The concept of 'Ram Rajya' could take the shape of reality only if selflessness and sacrifice prevailed among the people. This was stated by Mr Dhanwant Singh here last night, while addressing a Sant Kavi Darbar organised by Sant Nirankari Mandal, Mubarikpur.

"Inspite of riches, education and luxurious items, people do not have mental peace. This is due to the lack of the spirit of sacrifice among the people", he added.

As many as 24 poets from Chandigarh, SAS Nagar, Ludhiana, Ambala, Yamunanagar, Sirhind, Moga, Kothaguru, Faridkot, Nabha and Mubarikpur participated in the kavi darbar. They conveyed the message of sacrifice and selflessness through their poems on the topic "Khudgardi Di Nihan Te, Bhagti Da Mahal Khalona Nahin". A ghazal by Sunil Bhandari was appreciated by the audience.

Mr Ramesh Gupta, a former Chairman of the Dera Bassi Municipal Committee, Mr Palla Ram and hundreds of residents of surrounding areas attended the kavi darbar. The mandal also gave mementoes to the poets.

‘Multani used in Granth Sahib’
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 16 — The Federation of the Migrant Groups from North West India, now Pakistan, and the Cultural Department Punjab, jointly organised a seminar, "Multani, Pothohari in Sri Guru Granth Sahib", at the Sector 10 Government Museum here today.

In his keynote address, Dr Harnam Singh Shan, a Sikh scholar, said Guru Granth Sahib was a treasure of Indian languages and Multani and Pothohari had been extensively used in it.

Dr Sansar Chand, a renowned scholar of Pothohar area, said Guru Granth Sahib, was the cementing force of the Indian culture. Prof S.S. Joshi of the Punjabi University Patiala, spoke about the multiplicity of languages used in the holy scripture. He said at the time of the compilation of Guru Granth Sahib, Multani was the vehicle of literature and was used by Baba Farid and first five Sikh Gurus.

Others who spoke included Dr Harkirat Singh, Prof H.C. Rajpal, Dr Jagjit Singh, Dr Manjit Singh, Dr S.S. Mehta and Mr S.K. Sharma, President of the federation.

Union to launch agitation
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, May 16 — The Haryana State Cooperative Land Development Bank Class IV Employees Union has decided to launch an agitation to press for its long-pending demands.

The General Secretary of the union, Mr Chandan Arya, said the main demands of the employees were enhancement in the retirement age from 58 to 60 years, introduction of a pension scheme and removal of the condition of having passed the class VIII examination for appointment as peon on compassionate grounds.

Meanwhile, the following were elected office-bearers of the union: President — Mr Mange Ram; Vice-President — Mr Devi Lal; General Secretary — Mr Chandan Arya; Joint Secretary — Mr Ranjit Singh; Assistant Secretary — Mr Man Singh; Organising Secretary — Ms Sukentla Devi; and Cashier — Mr Satish Kumar.

13-year-old boy missing
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 16 — Navpreet Singh (13), a resident of Sector 32, has been missing since May 14.

The mother of the boy, Mrs Manjeet Kaur, in a complaint with the police, said Navpreet went to the Sector 34 gurdwara to pay obeisance and did not return home.

Balmikis seek 50 pc reservation
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 16 — Members of the Aadi Dharam Samaj held a cycle rally in support of their demands here today.

The rally, which started from the Dadu Majra colony, passed through various sectors before culminating at the Chandigarh Housing Board roundabout.

In a memorandum to the UT Administrator, Lieut-Gen, B.K.N. Chhibber (retd), the samaj demanded 50 per cent reservation for the Balmikis on the Haryana pattern. It also demanded the issuance of identity cards without any conditions.

Representations on the advisory committees of the Chandigarh Administration for the Balmikis, an end to the contract system and more land for plots for jhuggi-dwellers were the other major demands contained in the memorandum.

Literacy camp concludes
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, May 16 — A ten-day literacy camp, organised by the local unit of the NSS, concluded at Rajiv Colony here today. The District Education Officer, Ms Phool Khatri, was the chief guest.

Ms Subash Kumari Anand, the in charge of the camp, said 50 women of the colony were taught by girl students of Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 7. Encouraged by the interest of the participants, a Mahila Saksharta Committee was constituted to continue the literacy campaign in the colony.

Lectures on different subjects were conducted to raise the level of mental awareness of the jhuggi-dwellers. All the participants were examined by doctors and lectures on family planning were also conducted. A rally to spread the message of the literacy campaign was flagged off by the City Magistrate, Mr M.S.Yadav.