Wednesday, November 24, 1999
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N E W S Wednesday, November 24, 1999 |
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Steps to ensure transparency
in cops’ recruitment Chandigarh, Nov 23 — To ensure transparency and to keep controversy at bay, all officers connected with the recruitment of constables have been directed by the department to submit in writing whether their wards or relatives were appearing for the examination tomorrow. The physical examinations, spread over the next six days, will be held at the Sector 26 police lines from 7.30 onwards every day. The department had advertised for 120 posts of constable and in view of controversies regarding nepotism and alleged corruption during the previous recruitments, the department has initiated certain checks and balances. Besides the undertaking, the officers will also be required to bring it to the notice of their seniors if a relative, ward or a person hailing from their native place was appearing. Sources revealed that another feature this time is that 10 teams, comprising of officials from various levels, have been constituted and will be responsible for conducting the physical examination, measuring the height and chest width, for candidates who have been assigned to their group only. They will also ensure that the testimonials of the candidates were in order. As many as 3,000 candidates would be examined daily. As many as 19,520 candidates have been called for the tests. The entire area of the police lines has been declared as no man's land and no individual, including officers, other than the candidates and those connected with the conduct of the examinations, will be allowed to enter the premises. This has been done to ensure that the candidates could not know who would be taking the tests and subsequently could not be 'approached' ", the sources added. Once the candidates report to their respective teams, they will not be allowed to go outside till the tests of all the candidates was over. To meet the needs of the candidates a temporary canteen serving snacks and other eatables has been set up for the duration. Sources also added that
the recruitment in view of the strict measures is
expected to be fair and above board as even the IGP, who
is competent to grant a relaxation in height and chest
width in deserving cases, has not granted such relaxation
to anybody. |
Plan to document Rock Garden CHANDIGARH, Nov 23 — Mr Nek Chand Saini, creator-director of the Rock Garden, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in Arts by the Save Outdoor Sculpture (SOS) Project, Wisconsin, USA, at a ceremony held at the Rock Garden today. The award, in the form of a plaque, was presented to Mr Nek Chand by Mr Anton Rajer, Director of the SOS Project. He is the first international recipient of this award. The SOS Project is a joint project of Heritage Preservation and the National Museum of American Art Sculpture Inventory Project, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, which, while working with various volunteers, tries to locate, document and advocate the presentation of the outdoor sculpture. In fact, so touched was Mr Rajer by "this cultural property" that after presenting the plaque, he bent down to touch the feet of Mr Nek Chand. The creator-director of the Rock Garden was also presented with an autographed framed work-of-art of Mr Rudy Rotter, an artist based in the USA. Mr Rajer said that in today's time Mr Nek Chand was "the most important living folk artist" who had presented his extraordinary vision to the world. He added that in February, 2001, a team of about 15 delegates from different parts of the world would be sent here to the Rock Garden to hold workshops with Mr Nek Chand and children in order to learn this craft. Mr R.S. Varma, Chief Secretary, Haryana, who was also present on the occasion, said that the Rock Garden was the epitome of "visionary art". He said that though Taj Mahal was the only Indian monument where more number of visitors were recorded every day, yet the Taj was built by a Moghul king who had all the resources to himself and here Mr Nek Chand had to toil all by himself and sometimes even without much support. Later, while talking to the newsmen, Mr Rajer said that the aim now was to work towards the preservation and documentation of the Rock Garden for which the SOS Project would provide technical service. Similar works, he informed, had also been carried out in Argentina, Panama and Australia. He said that it was Mr Nek Chand who had invented the word ''recycling''. As part of the project, Mr Nek Chand would work closely with Col I.J.S. Bakshi, Principal, College of Architecture, and his students, who would document the Rock Garden to produce a written-oral history. Mr Rajer added that Mr Nek Chand's feelings and impressions about the Rock Garden would be recorded, and potentially a book and a video would also be worked at. Acknowledging the award,
Mr Saini said that he was happy that people all over the
world liked the Rock Garden. |
Plans for civil defence
machinery prepared SAS NAGAR, Nov 23 — Following the notification of this town as a civil defence town by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, a blueprint of the civil defence machinery has been prepared by the state Civil Defence Department in coordination with the Ropar district administration. The town along with four other towns of Punjab had been included in the list of civil defence towns. While SAS Nagar and Batala have been notified as category I towns, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur and Patiala have been put under the category II towns. The other civil defence towns are Amritsar, Bathinda, Ferozepore, Jalandhar, Pathankot, Adampur, Nangal, Halwara, Kot Kapura and Ludhiana. Describing the town as a strategically important place due to its proximity to the Air Force base on its south-east and some other defence installations, an official of the Civil Defence Department said the place was also an important industrial hub of the state with some units catering to the needs of the defence forces. Meanwhile, the process to set up the civil defence machinery in the town has been set in motion. A meeting of heads of different departments was called by the Subdivisional Magistrate (SDM), Mr O.P. Popli, here on Monday. As per the norms, the District Magistrate is the Controller of Civil Defence and the SDM is Deputy Controller. The District Commandant of Home Guards, Ropar, Mr Balbir Singh Bedi, who prepared the paper plan of civil defence of the town, said at least four public buildings in the town — the Punjab School Education Board complex in Phase 8, Government Senior Secondary School in Phase 3B1, the PUDA office complex in Phase 1 and a building of the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research in Sector 67 — had been identified where the air raid sirens and hooters would be installed. The blueprint had been prepared for a population of 1.20 lakh. Mr Bedi said the town, which consisted of 26 sectors and 32 major industrial units, had been divided in 15 warden posts and 12 first aid posts. The President of the local Municipal Council had been deputed as the Chief Warden and the Senior Vice-President had been made the Deputy Chief Warden. The councillors had been deputed as sector-level wardens. The rescue services in which there has to be one party for a population of 25,000 are provided by the Home Guards. The repair and demolition squad works are under the Commandant of Home Guards. A direct telephone link to important places and vital installations through a simultaneous broadcasting facility (SBF) would be linked with a regional civil defence control centre (RCDCC) at Ambala. A sub-control centre
would be set up in the basement of the Punjab School
Education Board building here. |
TA faces shortage of
officers CHANDIGARH, Nov 23 — In an endeavour to upgrade the proficiency of its officer cadre and make up for the existing shortfall, the Territorial Army (TA) is now inviting former short service commission officers to enrol as officers in the force. As per available information, the TA has an authorised officer strength of 290 officers with another 40 officers in reserve, but sources reveal that the cadre is already facing a shortfall of about 85 officers. A notification issued by the TA Directorate at Army Headquarters, New Delhi, specifies that short service commission (SSC) officers who were released from the Army after completing five years of service and are below 42 years in age can apply for a commission in the TA. Further, such applicants will not be required to appear for the written examination and the subsequent interview by a regular Service Selection Board (SSB), though they will have to meet the requisite physical and medical standards. ''Like in the regular Army, the TA is also not attracting the desired quality and quantity of volunteers,'' a TA officer said here. ''The existing officer strength is not sufficient to run the force effectively,'' he added. The 40,000-strong force is composed of 25 infantry battalions and 14 ''departmental units'' for handling technical duties like communication, railway operations and field engineering activities and five ecological and wasteland development battalions. ''Although the officer strength authorisation varies between infantry battalions and different departmental units depending on their utility, the current TA officer strength results in having on an average about four or five officers per battalion,'' a source commented. ''Infantry battalions in the regular army, despite the manpower crunch, have an average officer strength of 12 officers even though the authorised officer strength of an infantry battalion is 22 officers,'' he added. ''In order to make up for the deficiency of officer strength in a unit being inducted for operational deployment, officers from other units have to be called in for embodiment,'' a source said, adding that it was a sorry state of affairs where a country of 100 crore people could find even 300-odd able-bodied men to serve a national cause. The offer to ex-SSC
officers for enrolling in the TA comes in the backdrop of
proposals to increase the strength of the ''Citizens'
Force'' for catering to the future security scenarios, as
well as to expand the concept of TA to other arms and
services of the Army besides the infantry, signals and
engineers. |
Ex-Brigadier booked for
fraud CHANDIGARH, Nov 23 — Acting on the complaint of a retired Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel, the local police has booked a retired Army Brigadier for alleged cheating and fraud. Several more complaints are allegedly lying pending or are under investigation against the Brigadier, who reportedly collected a sum of Rs 2 crore from investors — a large number of whom are former defence personnel. The sum was taken on a promised 24 per cent interest and reportedly invested in a country resort type of club near Dera Bassi. In the case registered on November 20, Mr R.K. Gupta has alleged that Brig G.S. Gosal has issued him post-dated cheques in lieu of a deposit of Rs 2.01 lakh. The cheque for the interest bounced and so did the cheque for the principal amount. In the FIR Mr Gupta says he had deposited the sum in May, 1997, for a period of 12 months. Meanwhile, those who
have invested and lost their money in Brig Gosal’s
company have formed a forum and so far 42 persons had got
themselves listed, claimed Mr Gupta, who is also the
Secretary of the forum. Mr Gupta had approached the
Inspector-General of Police , Mr S.K. Singh. |
Poor civic amenities in
populated sectors SAS NAGAR, Nov 23 — Even as the local municipal council is yet to decide on the handing over of sanitation here to private hands, the state of cleanliness is being badly affected in the populated sectors of the town. In some areas, safai karamcharis have not been seen for months together. The worst affected are the residents of Sector 65. Mr Amrik Singh, a municipal councillor of the area, said during the past six months, the sanitary inspector concerned had been approached a number of times to send safai karamcharis but to no avail. There was poor collection of garbage and no sweeping of roads. He said of the total 120 safai karamcharis, at least 43 were working at the residences of senior officials of the Local Government Department and local council. If these employees were put back on their assigned duty, the state of sanitation could improve to an extent, he added. Sources in the council said the privatisation of sanitation was being delayed due to protests by the Safai Karmachri Union. Meanwhile, the issue of selecting a land-fill site for dumping garbage generated from the town is expected to be solved in the coming days. Presently, the garbage was being dumped on the premises of the cremation ground here. An official of council
said a site measuring around 10 acres had been identified
at Badmajra village, near here. The payment to take the
land on lease was yet to be made. |
Fervour, gaiety mark Gurpurb CHANDIGARH, Nov 23 — Traditional fervour and gaiety marked the birth anniversary celebrations of Sri Guru Nanak Dev here today. Special congregations were held at almost all gurdwaras in the city and its surrounding areas where a large number of Sikhs were joined by their Hindu, Muslim and Christian brethren in the celebrations. After bhog of akhand path this morning, special kirtan darbars were held where eminent raghi jathas recited Gurbani. At some of the gurdwaras, school children recited Gurbani and a number of competitions in kirtan and Gurbani recitation were held for school children in different age groups. At some of the gurdwaras, discourses on the life and teachings of Sri Guru Nanak Dev were organised. In the afternoon, community kitchens were organised at various gurdwaras. In the evening, all the gurdwaras and several markets were illuminated. The Sikhs also lighted candles at their homes. Special functions were held at Gurdwara Gursagar Sahib at Sukhna Lake where Sant Pritpal Singh recited Gurbani and delivered a discourse on the teaching of Gurus and their relevance today. At the Sector 8 gurdwara, besides the special kirtan darbar, prizes were also given to the winners of various kirtan and Gurbani recitation competitions for school children. A special ayurvedic medical camp was held at the Sector 34 gurdwara where patients of rheumatic arthritis were examined and given free medicines. Reports of special kirtan darbars have been received from the gurdwaras in Sectors 7, 10, 11, 15, 19, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29, 30, 37, 38, 40, 44, 47 and other places, besides Gurdwara Kanthala Sahib in the Industrial Area (Phase II). Chandigarh Citizens Welfare Society members attended special functions held at Gurdwara Khuda Lahora and Gurdwara Peer Colony in Palsora village. The local MP, Mr Pawan
Kumar Bansal, paid his obeisance to Sri Guru Nanak Dev by
visiting Gurdwara Gursagar Sahib in Sector 28, Ruhani
Satsang in Sector 27, gurdwaras in Sector 40 and Kajheri.
Mr Bansal appealed to the people to follow the teachings
of the founder of Sikhism and said that Sri Guru Nanak
Dev was an apostle of universal love, peace and
brotherhood. |
Lakhs visit Nada Sahib shrine PANCHKULA, Nov 23 — The birth anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Dev was celebrated with traditional gaiety and enthusiasm as thousands devotees thronged Gurdwara Nada Sahib here today. Devotees in large numbers began queuing up outside the gurdwara much before 2 a.m. when the portals of the shrine were opened to the public. Though the early birds managed to get inside in an hour's time those who came later had to wait for over three to five hours to pay their obeisance. The driveway to the gurdwara looked like a sea of humanity where people jostled and pushed one another to get in even as a stray scooter or car which had managed to go right up to the shrine honked to find its way out of the crowd which gradually spilled over to the road. Also, lined along the driveway were small stalls on either side doing brisk business. Special buses had been arranged to bring devotees from Chandigarh and its adjoining areas. Over 1.5 lakh devotees visited the place till late in the evening even as more were expected to flock to the gurdwara before it was closed to the public around midnight. Several ragi and dhadhi jathas performed kirtan at the venue. Elaborate arrangements had been made for ''langar''. Fiftyone persons were baptised on the occasion. Fortunately, there was hardly any traffic chaos with vehicles being directed to either side of the bridge over the Ghaggar, while scooterists were allowed on the road in front of the gurdwara. Parking was in the basement. The volunteers near the shrine had a hard time convincing people to park their vehicles at the place earmarked for the purpose. The ''Panj Piaras''
inaugurated a hall at Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha,
Sector 7, on the occasion. They installed Guru Granth
Sahib in the new hall. Nearly 3,000 devotees visited the
venue and partook ''langar''. Kirtan was performed by
Mitha Tiwanawale Ragi Singh while Bhai Mohan Singh was
the ''pracharak''. |
Gurpurb celebrated with
enthusiasm SAS NAGAR, Nov 23 — The birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev was celebrated with traditional enthusiasm in the township. Thousands of devotees thronged gurdwaras which were decorated for the occasion. Ragi and dhadhi jathas performed at the gurdwaras throughout the day. Devotees irrespective of caste and creed participated in the preparation and serving of the 'langar'. Though special arrangements for devotees to partake 'langar' had been made, devotees jostled with each other to enter 'langar' halls. Medical camps were held at gurdwaras in phases I, II and 3B1. Doctors from the PGI, Chandigarh, General Hospital, Sector 16, Chandigarh, and local dispensaries examined patients. At the Sacha Dhan Gurdwara in Phase 3B1, the health authorities set up a camp to give polio drops to children up to five years of age. Mr Ishar Singh Lang, President of the Gurdwara Talmel Committee of SAS Nagar, said Gurpurb was celebrated at 20 gurdwaras in the township. Arrangements were made to bring ragi and dhadhi jathas, he said. Devotees were asked to
provide clothes and other material for the
cyclone-affected people of Orissa. The material will be
sent by a special train to Orissa on November 25. |
3,254 kids given polio drops CHANDIGARH, Nov 23 — As many as 3,254 children under the age of five were administered polio drops on the second day of the door-to-door and ``spot and vaccinate'' campaigns being carried out by the UT Health Department and the Chandigarh Administration, as part of the intensified pulse polio programme. Of these 2,278 children were given these drops in urban areas and 976 in the rural areas. The response to the mobile vans and health workers undertaking "spot and vaccinate" exercise was better today as children had come out in large numbers to the gurdwaras along with their parents. In one such case, 74 children were given these drops outside one of the gurdwaras. A total of 978 children were immunised through these vans as against 799 yesterday. Giving figures, Dr M.P Minocha, Director, Family Welfare, and coordinator of the drive said that 1,10,003 children had been immunised against polio during these three days. On the first day, a total of 95,917 children were immunised in the city. This included 26,927 children from the rural areas and 68,990 from the urban areas. The mobile vans helped immunise 3,552 children. On the second day, 1,08,32 children were immunised in the door -to-door and ``spot and vaccinate" campaign. These include 2,523 in the rural areas and 8,309 in the urban areas. Of these, 779 were immunised with the help of mobile vans. The target group during these two days were those children in the age group below five years who did not visit the booths on the first day. The second phase of the programme proved to be a success because of the efforts of nearly 1,500 health volunteers, including interns, house surgeons, nurses, anganwadi workers, medical students of Government Medical College, doctors from the PGI and malaria workers along with non-governmental organisations. The next phase of the pulse polio programme will be held on December 19. SAS NAGAR During the two-day door-to-door campaign under the second phase of the pulse polio immunisation drive, as many as 330 children below five years of age were given the polio drops by the mobile posts manned by Government Dispensary in Phase 7 here. Dr R.S.Kang, in charge
of the Phase 7 dispensary, said at a post set up at the
Sacha Dhan gurdwara in Phase 3B 1, at least 42 children
were given the polio drops. On the first day of the
campaign as many as 946 children were immunised. |
Poster, essay contests held CHANDIGARH, Nov 23 — Almost 400 students from various schools of Chandigarh, SAS Nagar, Pinjore, Barwala, Kalka and Panchkula participated in an on-the-spot poster-making competition and more than 100 students from various colleges and universities in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi participated in the Bhai Surinder Singh Malik memorial on-the-spot all-India essay-writing competition, organised by the Jat Sabha at Jat Bhavan here today. Divided in three groups on the basis of classes, students in category A (classes III to V), category B (classes VI to VIII) and category C (classes IX to XII) were given the topic 'Increasing Population of India and its Impact on Society' for poster-making competition. For essay competition, there was one category, class XII and college and university students, for which the topic was 'Increasing Unemployment and its Remedies'. Mr M.S. Malik, Additional Director General, Haryana Police, was the chief guest. Mr Gurnam Singh, Mr R.R. Sheoran, EIC, Haryana, Col O.P. Dahiya, Mr M.L. Dhawan, Advocate, Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh, and Mr Sansar Chand Rana, Chief Architect (retd), Haryana, were judges for the poster-making contest. For the first, second and third positions, the children were given cash awards of Rs 400, Rs 300 and Rs 200. Consolation prizes of Rs 100 each were also given to the winners in each category. Prizes for the essay-writing contest will be given on the eve of the 119th birth anniversary of Sir Chhotu Ram on February 10, 2000. The results of the
poster-making contest are: Group A: Meenaxi Kumar Dhaiya
1, Akshat Joshi 2, Prachi 3; consolation prizes: Himanshu
Verma and Barinder Kumar; Group B: Neeraj Januha 1, Rohit
Luthra 2, Abhishek Dhaliwal 3; consolation prizes:
Navdeep Singh Dhaka and Archita Aggarwal; Group C:
Harkanwal Kaur 1, Lalit Bansal 2, Micky Singla 3;
consolation prizes: Apurav and Simran Dhaliwal. |
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Stir threat by
teachers The PUTA President, Dr P.P. Arya, said today if teachers' demands were not met, the struggle would only intensify. The association, however, said interests of students would be safeguarded at each stage. The general body expressed a strong resentment on "inadequate" representation of the campus teachers on the Senate, which according to it should be at least one third of the total strength. Kamlon Mela concludes The mela ground was packed to capacity and the different stalls attracted the visitors and did good business. Besides bullockcart and horsecart races, wrestling competitions were also organised on the occasion. On the occasion of Gurpurb, the traditional akhand path was organised in different gurdwaras with great pomp and show in this subdivision. Hundreds of devotees visited the gurdwaras. Donation for IAF welfare fund A draft in this regard was handed over to the Air Officer Command-ing, 12 Wing, Air Commodore S.K. Banerjee, by the association's President, Mr. K.L. Ahluwalia, here today. Mahayagya from December 9 A shobha yatra, prior to the 'mahayagya', will begin from the temple at 11.30 am. A 'havan' will begin on December 10. Sadhus of Jammu, Delhi, Chamba, Haridwar and Madhya Pradesh will perform the 'yagya' in Sector 5. Dhindsa's inclusion hailed The association expressed the hope that Mr Dhindsa would help in airing grievances of the Punjab film industry at the centre. The association would organise a function to honour Mr Dhindsa at Chandigarh. Syndicate meeting on Nov 27 Enhancement of the age of retirement of Assistant Registrars, Deputy Registrars and the Joint Controller of Examination figures on top of the agenda.The scheme provides enhancement of the age of retirement from 60 to 62 years. The enhancement in age conditions in the cases of Registrar, Finance and Development Officer and the Controller of Examination has already been sanctioned. The scheme will be applicable after approval of the Syndicate. In another move, the university will seek to suspend at last two candidates from the university examination on account of using fake certificates for securing admission to colleges. Raman is IEST chief A Keralite by origin, Dr Raman has done pioneering work in creating awareness about the environment among school and college students. He has been instrumental in highlighting pollution-causing units in the region. Earlier, he presented his papers on environmental pollution at an international conference of the IEST. He is also an active member of a district-level environment society. Former
bureaucrat
dead Relief sent to Orissa The residents of Mubarikpur and Lalru sent one truckload of relief material each. Nirankari Bhavan collected one truckload and the residents of Dera Bassi donated two truckloads of food and other items. Residents of this subdivision had some days ago sent a truckload of milk powder for the cyclone victims. According to Mr Sidhu, this material will be sent to Orissa along with other material collected from within the Patiala district. The relief material will be sent by a train to Orissa. Mr Sidhu appreciated the
efforts made by different social organisations and
thanked Mr Kuljit Singh Randhawa, President of the Dera
Bassi Truck Union, for transporting the goods free of
cost to Patiala. He appealed to the people to collect
more donations for the victims. |
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