Young car thief in police net
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 31 — A young car lifter landed in the police custody after his attempt to lift a car from outside Gurdwara Kanthala Sahib, near The Tribune roundabout, resulted in an accident here this afternoon.

As the car lifter tried to flee from the scene, he was chased and overpowered by policemen on duty nearby. He was later identified as Gurpreet Singh, a local resident.

According to Mr Ranbir Singh Malhi, a resident of Sector 32-A, he had parked his Maruti car (CH-01-A-0160) outside Gurdwara Kanthala Sahib in the morning where a seminar organised by the Institute of Sikh Studies was being organised.

"Shortly after 4 p.m., I heard a noise outside the gurdwara and came out. I was shocked to see my car stuck into another car. I was told that a young boy opened the door of my car and tried to escape in it. While he was trying to get away from the parking lot of the gurdwara, he probably panicked and hit another car parked on the edge of the road. The second car, also a Maruti (HR-01-F-3102), was also badly damaged. Because of the heavy impact on the second car, it tilted on the left side and hit a stationary Matador, also parked there. One person, who was standing nearby, was hurt in the mishap."

"The car lifter tried to escape but was chased by policemen, caught and taken to the Sector 31 police station," Mr Malhi said.

The police later said two separate cases — one of an attempted car theft and the other of causing accident by rash and negligent driving — have been registered against the arrested boy.

Illegal possession: The local police has arrested one Narinder Kumar, a resident of Milk Colony Dhanas for illegally possessing 273 kg of crackers.

According to the police, the accused had stored fireworks for selling these during Divali festival. A case under Sections 4,5 and 13 of the Explosives Act has been registered in the west police station.

Motor cycle stolen: Mr Sandip, a resident of Sector 20, has reported that his Hero Honda motor cycle (CHQ-8998) has been stolen from the Sector 26 Grain Market. A case has been registered.

Arrested: The local police has arrested one Ashok Kumar, a resident of Bapu Dham Colony, for indulging in 'satta', a form of gambling, in Sector 26. A case has been registered against him.

Liquor seized: The local police has arrested Joginder Kumar and Bansi, both residents of Sector 24, for carrying 60 pouches of liquor near Batra Cinema and from the road dividing Sectors 37 and 38, respectively. Two separate cases have been registered.

Satpal, a mechanic in Sector 35 has been arrested for possessing five blue-film cassettes. A case under Section 292 of the IPC has been registered.

A roller-coaster on sarangi

CHANDIGARH, Oct 31-- The three-day-long Chandigarh Sangeet Sammelan concluded this morning with a new hope for the revival of Indian musical tradition in the next millennium. The morning began with an element of surprise when Fakhruddin (18) enthralled the audience with his musical roller-coaster on the sarangi, a difficult instrument to handle with 40 strings that is breathing its last. Fakhruddin's father , renowned harmonium player Mehmood Dhoulpuri, had a duet with him in raga Bhairavi.

The young artiste attempted to play difficult items like `Chhoot ki taans' where the sudden ascent and descent of notes is mind-boggling and 'matti ki firat' where the 'laya' is constantly played on the tabla and the instrumentalist has to introduce taans in between, keeping a fine balance of 'sur' 'taans' and 'laya'.

Pandit Pawan Kumar Verma provided rhythmic support to this jugalbandi that blended with the harmony. The newcomer was blessed by the presence of Satguru Jagjit Singhji of the Namdhari sect whose great service to the field of classical music needs no introduction. Music transcends all boundaries.

Then, it was Padma Talwalkar who sang ragas Todi and Lalit to the audience's great content morning. Her gambhir gayaki was full of technical virtuosity. She sang Guru Nanak's bhajan 'Simran kar Le Mere Mana' in the honour of the Satguru. But the audience loved her rendering of the thumri 'Ka karun sajni' in Sindh Bhairavi.

The previous evening music lovers were given a taste of the vastness of our music when Pt. Ajay Pohankar, a singer of Kirana gharana, chose to sing in Patiala style of gayaki. He rendered raga Darbari, an evening raga in Patiala flavour. The vilambit khayal 'Aur Nahin Kuch Kam' in ektaal had aesthetic blendings of Tihaais and Palte ki taans, a speciality of the Patiala gharana. 'Mora pyara nayar nahin aavat' in raga Soni reminded of Ustad Barkat Ali Khan's gayaki.

Before him Dr Vandana Katti gave some highly emotional renderings in raga Jan Sammohini' a raga of the Karnatic style. 'Kaise main paaun chain saiyan bina' had beautiful a blend of emotional intensity and perfection of expression. The singers were supported on the harmonium by Mahmood Dhoulpuri and on the tabla by Pt. Pawan Kumar Verma.

— Vandana Shukla

Mudgal to perform today
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 31 — Renowned ''Hindustani'' vocalist Madhup Mudgal features in a classical performance to be organised by the Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture amongst Youth (SPICMACAY) at Punjab Engineering College tomorrow evening.

Mudgal is a son of late Pt Vinay Chandra Mudgal, founder Principal of Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, Delhi. The son is seen as the front rankers on the Indian music scene today. He was also a disciple of two great masters, Pt Jasraj and Pt Kumar Gandharva.

Madhup combines styles of the two great masters lending himself a finesse and uniqueness. His subsequent performance will be at Tender Heart School on November 2. The great maestro will be accompanied by Shambhunath Bhatt on the tabla and Pitamber Pandey on the harmonium.

Vegetable prices fall again
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 31 — After the truckers' strike has ended, prices of vegetables have started coming down in the local market.

After a survey of the market, it was found that if a kg of cauliflower was priced at Rs 14, past week, it was available at Rs 10 today. The price of cabbage was stable at Rs 10 a kg in retail and at Rs 40 per 5 kg in the wholesale market.

The biggest fall was in the price of brinjal. Its price has come down from Rs 10 to Rs 5 a kg in retail and from Rs 40 to Rs 20 per 5 kg in the wholesale market due to enhanced arrivals from parts of Punjab and Haryana. Same was the case with peas as arrival of fresh crop has led to a fall in its price from Rs 40 to Rs 25 a kg in retail and from Rs 170 to Rs 100 per 5 kg in the wholesale market. Tomato was stable at Rs 10 a kg in retail and for Rs 40 per 5 kg in the wholesale market.

Beans were available at a cheaper price. A kg of the vegetable, priced at Rs 20 just two days back, was available today at Rs 12. The wholesale price has come down from Rs 80 to Rs 50 per 5 kg in this period. The price of ginger has come down from Rs 40 to Rs 28 a kg in retail and from Rs 170 to Rs 130 per 5 kg in the wholesale market.

Radish price has come down from Rs 10 to Rs 4 a kg in retail and from Rs 40 to Rs 15 per 5 kg in the wholesale market. The price of onion has decreased from Rs 14 to Rs 12 a kg in retail and from Rs 60 to Rs 50 per 5 kg in the wholesale market.

Gourd did not witness any change in its price. It was priced at Rs 10 a kg in retail and for Rs 40 per 5 kg in the wholesale market. Potato could be bought at Rs 4 in retail and at Rs 15 per 5 kg in the wholesale market.

Rotary team operates in Ethopia

IN a novel "people to people diplomacy", a 17-member Indian Rotary Medical team comprising 12 doctors and five volunteers, visited Ethiopia for 10 days. The doctors and volunteers were from Chandigarh, Yamuna Nagar, Dehra Dun, Pune and Sholapur. During eight working days the team performed 450 eye operations, including intra- ocular lens implants, operated upon 134 children for polio and other orthopaedic corrective surgeries with some children having multiple surgeries, and undertook 27 functional plastic surgeries, including cleftlipped children.

The team carried most of the medicines, including intra-ocular lenses and other necessary equipment for the surgeries and the treatment. In fact some quantities of callipers were also part of the supplies provided by the Indian Rotarian. The team had more than 500 kg of lenses, medicines and equipment with it which was all left in Ethiopia either used for treatment or for the use of local doctors.

Dr SPS Grewal, a known ophthalmic surgeon, Dr P.S. Chari, Head of the Department of Plastic Surgery at the PGI, undertook the trip at the cost of their professional work and even took earned leave. From Yamuna Nagar came Dr Pradeep Kohli, an orthopaedic surgeon. Doctors from Dehra Dun were Dr Dinesh Bhandari, an orthopaedic surgeon, and Dr Suksham Bhandari, an anaesthetist.

Raja Saboo and his wife, Usha, as also Rotary Governor, Mr Arun Sharma, and his wife, Suneeta, were volunteers as part of the support system for cleaning, carrying and caring the patients before, during and after surgeries.

For Raja Saboo, who has held the highest position in Rotary International being its President on the world level,"it was one of the most enriching and fulfilling experience of my Rotary life". According to him children and older people suffering from disabilities are the same anywhere in the world.

The team not only provided the treatment for the needy people of Ethiopia, it also imparted training and expertise to the local surgeons hoping that work would continue even after their return.

Since the suffering was immense, Dr Chari wished he could stay longer. All he could do was make a promise. Ethiopia does not have any experienced plastic surgeon.

Since the team did not have any direct media promotion in Ethiopia but its work was widely carried by the electronic and print media. At one of the official gatherings, the President of Ethiopia walked up to the Indian Ambassador, Mr K.P. Ernest, and congratulated him for the remarkable service activities carried out by the Indian Rotary medical team.

For training: Dr Jaspal Singh Gill of the Department of Ophthalmology of the Sector 16 General Hospital has been selected to go to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, for two-month training in intra-ocular lens transplant technology. Dr Gill will attend this course beginning November 1.

Parking loot: The Consumers Rights Protection Association, a Sector 35-A based organisation, has filed a complaint before the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-II over the issue of fleecing of vehicle owners at the Railway Station parking. The Association has based its complaint on the basis of news item which appeared in Chandigarh Tribune on October 1 and an item in these columns last Monday.

The case was fixed for preliminary hearing on October 25 itself. The District Forum, after hearing the arguments, issued a show cause notice to the Station Master, Chandigarh Railway Station, as well as contractor of the parking area for January 6 2,000.

Lake a "jagir?:Do you think that the Sukhna Lake can be a "jagir" of an individual? Yes, if an unjustified and an uncalled for objection raised by a middle rung UT Engineering Department official against clicking of photographs of a visiting Dredging Corporation of India team by a Tribune photographer is taken into account.

It so happened that last week the team had to visit the lake for studying the proposed dredging process to be carried out at the lake for its conservation and a meeting in this regard was to be chaired by the UT Finance Secretary, Mr Rakesh Singh. As soon as the team members and Mr Rakesh Singh proceeded to inspect the area, The Tribune photographer politely sought permission to take photographs from Mr Kuldeep Singh, an SE (Planning Circle). But the official instead of showing the same level of courtesy refused saying: "We have not invited The Tribune to cover the event. So do not click any photograph," without thinking that the meeting was not a secret affair related with the security of the country.

On the other hand, when the photographer contacted Mr Rakesh Singh, with the same request, the officer was not generous enough to allow him to do his job, but also posed for that along with other officials.

Dispensaries: The Residents Welfare Association, Sector 46, has urged the Chandigarh Administration to change the timings of dispensaries in the city so that residents can take full advantage of the services.

In a representation to the administration, the society has pleaded that the timings of dispensaries be changed to from 8 a.m. to 12 noon and from 4.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. for the benefit of a large number of employees of the city, who remain in the office till 5 p.m. with the result they are unable to get treatment at the dispensaries.

The only way for the employees to get treatment is from private clinics in the evening for which they have to pay abnormal charges. At present, the dispensaries function from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Over-zealous cops: Residents of SAS Nagar are unhappy with the police for overstepping its duty while keeping a tab on anti-social elements in the wake of the recent incidents of purse snatching in the township.

They lament that cops under the guise of checking vehicles harass people. Mr H.S. Grewal, a resident of Phase 11, in a complaint to Sentinel said the over-zealous lower-level cops, who were not empowered to issue challans were harassing people.

Anybody questioning the cops about their authority to challan was taken to police stations. Chaos in the parking areas of different sector markets is yet to catch the attention of the police.

Water wastage: The local Municipal Corporation, it seems, is bogged with an unusual problem of having plenty of drinking water these days, at least, as is indicated by the water post located in the Sector 17 Bank Square. (See Picture).

The unrestricted flow and wastage of water from the post on account of the missing tap has been continuing for the past two weeks. But none of the officials concerned have allegedly taken care of the problem despite a number of complaints by shopkeepers in this regard.

Small ramps: It has been very thoughtful of the Municipal Corporation to keep in mind the handicapped and little children. The corporation has added small ramps at the entry of the popular Fragrance Garden in Sector 36.

This will enable the handicapped, including those on wheelchairs to enter the garden without any difficulty. Earlier the handicapped used to have great difficulty. At the entrance a step had to be taken to approach the gate of the garden from the parking lot. Another step had to be taken when getting off the gate area to the green.

Young mothers with little ones in prams, those on crutches or wheelchairs, the old and the infirm had to make an extra effort to enter the garden. Now with a ramp on both sides of the brick gates such people can also enjoy the freshness of the garden without bothering others for help at the entrance.

One wishes all such popular places like cinema houses, parks, main markets, bus stations or railway platforms have easy access for the handicapped and for little children.

'Best Fighter Award' for city girl
By Arvind Katyal

CHANDIGARH, Oct 31 — The captain of the ten-member Indian women roller hockey team, Meenakshi Kohli of Hansraj Public School, Sector 6, Panchkula, was given the 'Best Fighter Award' by the organising committee at the 8th Asian skating championship, which concluded at Shanghai on October 23, where India finished third.

She entered this game in 1995. She won the gold medal in three national skating championships in roller hockey and the silver medal in the national championships in 1996. She won district, state and other championships of the region from tme to time. She was honoured by the Governor of Haryana last year for winning the bronze medal in the 7th Asian skating meet held in Korea.

On the question of the team's performance, she said Italian coach Baraldi Aldo should have come earlier during the camp as they could not get adjusted to the few days of training imparted by him, though he was present during the matches in China and gave last-minute tips. Asked about her continuing skatin, she quipped that her ambitions in the game were not over and she would like to go for the World Cup.

She was grateful to Ms Rajni Thareja, Principal of the school, and Balwinder Singh, the coach. Her parents encouraged her. Her aim was to win gold medal at Asian meet.

PNB championship: The 18th inter-region sports meet of Punjab National Bank concluded at DAV College, Sector 10. Best region trophy in athletics went to Rohtak region and best performance in team events trophy went to Chandigarh region, while Parween Kumar of Shimla was declared best athlete. Mr A.K. Bhargava, General Manager, North Zone, Punjab National Bank, gave away the prizes.

Results: table tennis — Love Kumar 1, Pankaj Rana 2; badminton — Parveen 1, P.K. Verma 2; carrom — Rakesh Sood 1, Manwinder Sandhu 2; chess — Pawan Gupta 1, Kiran Suri 2.

Athletics (men): 100 m — Parween Kumar 1, Balwant Singh 2; 200 m — Parween Kumar 1, Parmod Kumar 2; 400 m — Parween Kumar 1, R.C. Verma 2; 800 m — Som Dutt 1, R.C. Verma 2; 1500 m — Som Dutt 1, A.S. Yadav 2; 5000 m — Som Dutt 1, A.S. Yadav 2; 10 km walk — A.S. Yadav 1, O.P. Reddu 2; high jump — Dharamchand 1, Narinder Kumar 2; long jump — Balwan Singh 1, Parwan Kumar 2; triple jump — Balwan Singh 1, Parween Kumar 2; shot put — O.P. Reddu 1, Balwan singh 2; discus throw — O.P. Reddu 1, N.K. Saini 2; javelin throw — N.K. Saini 1, Parween Kumar 2; hammer throw — O.P. Reddu 1, Ran Singh 2. Athletics (women): Anita Gahlot — 1, Kamlesh 2; discus throw — Vimal Jass 1, Anita Gahlot 2; long jump — Kamlesh 1, Vimal Jass 2.

NPS triumph: Hosts New Public School, Sector 18, and Guru Nanak Public School surged ahead on the opening day of the 3rd Jai Singh memorial basketball tournament.

In group A, GNPS pipped MRA Senior Secondary School, Sector 27, 44-12. The half-time score was 25-7. Jagpreet scored 23 points and Bineypal 9. Nitin scored 8 points for the losers.

In the same group, NPS defeated SD Public School, Sector 32, 44-32. At half-time NPS were trailing 18-21. Sundram Suri scored 22 points for the winners. Chander Prakash scored 16 points for the losers.

Cricket tourney: The team of Saurabh Vij of Sector 23 defeated the team of Surjit Singh of Sector 42 by four wickets in the second match of the Lajpat Rai memorial cricket tournament. The tournament is being organised by the Masters Sports Welfare Society and the Servants of the People Society. The former achieved the target of 108 runs in 17 overs.

Inter-house meet: In the Blessed Edmund Rice inter-house cricket tournament held at St John's High School, Maher house beat Morissey house by seven wickets and Burke House defeated Rice house by eight wickets.

Parking blues in Sector 17

A few years ago one would have hardly thought that traffic problem in Chandigarh would assume such an enormity that soon it would be difficult to find parking space in the city’s business sectors.

In the 70s and 80s things were quite comfortable, a few vehicles were on roads and there were far fewer automobiles. Mostly there used to be bicycles and scooters. The situation has since taken a reverse-turn.

Bicycles have been replaced by mobikes, scooters and mopeds and the latter by automobiles. In fact, the city’s vehicle population per person is the highest in the country.

While the vehicle population is zooming, the city hardly has roads to accommodate these. These issues are generally overlooked by the Administration. There is no coordination between the rising vehicle population and the state of roads and parking areas. The result is chaos, traffic jams, even accidents, pollution and inconvenience to the public.

Take Sector 17, the city’s most prestigious commercial and business area. This sector is under high traffic pressure with a large number of vehicles moving in and out with a high frequency. Naturally, office-goers, bank employees, business firms as well visitors have to park their vehicles somewhere; here motor cars outnumber other vehicles and are in dire need of more parking space.

The situation should not be allowed to deteriorate. If not checked, think of the next decade, what to talk of 2025, the terminal year of Chandigarh’s perspective plan that the Administration had announced with great enthusiasm a few years ago.

With hardly any open space left for parking, the only solution is to go in for multi-storey parking complexes which have already gained popularity in metropolitan cities. Chandigarh should adopt such a parking model which would help to accommodate a large number of vehicles.

The open space between Udyog Bhavan and the State Bank of India on Himalyan Marg (Sector 17) looks to be an ideal place for it and it can be conveniently approached from the bank square and other nearby crowded areas, thus freeing the bank square from traffic nuisance.

Open space thus available would help to create a modern park befitting the dignity of city’s finanicial centre.

Another parking slot needs to be planned for the increasing traffic on the space between the Reserve Bank of India and the GPO.

Similarly, the existing parking areas, which lie in a neglected state and are poorly managed, should be planned properly to accommodate large number of vehicles.

Also it is noticed that the upcoming SCOs on Madhya Marg in Sector 9 (opposite to Sector 17) are crowded with vehicles much beyond the parking capacity, which also shows how the Administration has faltered while preparing the building plan of this area. They should have learnt from the experience of other SCOs on Madhya Marg where the existing parking space is quite insufficient to cope with the fast flow of traffic. It’s time to look into this aspect carefully before planning more SCOs.

V.S. Mahajan
Chandigarh

Woes of Panchkula: Your news item (Chandigarh Tribune, October 10) about the water and power problem of Panchkula was informative but not exhaustive. Many problems faced by residents of Panchkula are as follows:

1. Sanitation is at its worst with garbage littered everywhere.
2. Pigs are a common sight.
3. Erratic power cuts defy all logic.
4. Tubewells are dependent on power availability. The pressure of water never builds up to reach even the first floor on account of frequent trippings. Diesel-generator sets installed in the tubewells are non-operational on accouts of non-availability of battery and diesel. The water problem has driven the residents to instal pumps in their houses for lifting water to the first floor. This illegal practice has made the situation worse.
5. Law and order situation is poor.
6. HUDA has got fixed to the idea of demolishing the space maintained by residents outside their houses at enormous cost.
7. HUDA has not developed spaces meant for parks. 8 The condition of roads is miserable with pot-holes and stagnant water.

Iqbal Singh
Panchkula

Pyrotechnics and crackers: ‘Supervise kids playing with arrows, crackers (Chandigarh Tribune October 19)’ brought home a thoughtful and timely warning with Divali round the corner. The fervour and gaiety of Divali celebrations are marked every year, without fail, with reports of injuries and loss to property, inflicted though accidents caused due to firecrackers.

News reports after Divali bear sad testimony to the devastating impact of fooling around with crackers. Sadly, there is not going to be any exception this year either, unless there is a change in our mindset. Needless to say that mirth and entertainment are both essential ingredients for a healthy and happy life, as are seriousness and sobriety. What use, however, is such entertainment as ends up taking away one of the most previous senses — the eyesight, or otherwise causes irreparable loss and damage in terms of life, limb and property.

Considering such high cost, wouldn’t it be desirable that bursting of crackers by individuals is banned in our country? Instead of risking precious life and wasting so much money — literally burning it up in smoke — it would certainly be more appropriate in contemporary context, if a grand display of pyrotechnics were arranged by specially trained groups of people. Taking into account safety aspects, this could be held at open places like the parade ground, Sukhna Lake, the university grounds and other such places selected and specified by the Administration, with fire-engines and other emergency services in attendance. Interested people may gather at these places to watch and enjoy.

Indeed, this is the normal practice in many countries. China, the birthplace of pyrotechnics, has already taken the wise decision to do away with crackers. I’m sure better and safer ways to celebrate and express jubilation are around and quite easily found.

Vivek Khanna
Panchkula

Amend laws: In India, the crime rate has risen alarmingly during the past few years. Women and minor girls in a large number are becoming victims of rape, molestation and murder, committed by sex maniacs, hardened criminals and drug addicts. After following a very lengthy legal process, the perpetrators of such heinous crimes are awarded sentence.

In order to protect the female population from physical abuse and exploitation, the government has set itself the task of making rape punishable with death sentence as a deterrent for those who have criminal tendency.

At the same time, it is desirable to make procedure of trial simpler, less winding, less cumbersome and less time-consuming. In order to realise these objectives, it will be necessary to suitably amend relevant provisions in the IPC, CrPC, Law of Evidence, CPC.

The victims of rape and molestation would come forward in increased number to file complaints if trials take place in camera in judicial courts presided over by lady judges/judicial officers as far as possible. They also need protection against re-traumatisation at the hands of defence whose tendency is to grill the victims with nude and unsavioury questions. It may be found desirable to set up special courts to try cases of rape and physical abuse of females, for dispensation of quicker justice.

The National Commission for women is requested to draw up a comprehensive draft to protect the female population in every manner in view of their vulnerability for consideration of the government.

Courts in India are already bogged down with litigation work. To lessen their work-load, more courts should be established on the pattern of Lok Adalats.

The Law Ministry at the Centre may carry out a thorough study to do away with those Laws on the statue book as have become obsolete or irrelevant in relation to the prevalent country’s administrative and socio-economic systems.

The growing need is that the cost of litigation should be affordable for a common man. At present, the professional fees of advocates are rather high. The new entrants to the legal profession or those with short standing are not able to attract much clientele for various reasons. Most of them in these categories do not possess personal libraries and are not fully conversant with the procedure of various courts on account of lack of exposure. They need encouragement. Short term/correspondence courses dealing with the procedure of courts functioning at every level may be organised for their benefit.

G.L Dham
Mani Majra