Monday, October 4, 1999
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N E W S Monday, October 4, 1999 |
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Water
tariff may be doubled today CHANDIGARH, Oct 3 — To raise resources, the Finance and Contract Committee (F&CC) of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) will take up the issue of the revision of water tariff tomorrow. Auctioning of the parking lots in certain sectors of the city and handing over of the public toilets to private agencies for maintenance are other important issues slated to come up for discussion at the meeting. According to sources, the civic body proposes to almost double the water tariff rates for different categories of consumers, including the domestic water supply and that for the government and non-government institutions and for industrial purposes. At the lowest level, the proposed water tariff for the domestic supply is Rs 1.40 per kilolitre as against 70 paise per kilolitre at present. It may be recalled the civic body had been under tremendous pressure from the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, to revise the water tariff before the case for the revised plan of the fourth phase of the water augmentation scheme at Kajauli is considered by the government. This, coupled with a letter from the Chandigarh Administration to Mayor, Mr Kewal Krishan Addiwal, recently to raise resources to bridge the gap between expenditure and the receipt had left no alternative with the civic body but to revise the water rates. In fact, the water tariff revision was overdue. The civic body had last revised the water rates in 1994, the sources said, adding that since 1995 the administration had revised the the electricity rates three times. The corporation had only been able to collect Rs 13 crore from the water receipts and still had a deficit of about Rs 17 crore per year. Though the Public Health Division of the corporation had proposed the agenda for the revision of water tariff many a time, the elected members of the F&CC have been reluctant to take a decision on it, which in any case, is a politically unpopular decision. Another important issue with wide ramifications is the proposal to levy parking fee in several sectors of Chandigarh, including Sectors 7, 8, 9, 17, 22 and 35. The paid parking system in Sectors 8 and 17 was suspended last year in face of stiff opposition from the traders, political parties and employees. The handing over of 100 public toilets to private parties, which was deferred at one of the meetings of the F&CC, is also on the agenda. Auction of SCOs,
booths: The MCC will auction 15 SCOs and 23
booth sites at an open auction at the Tagore Theatre,
Sector 18, on October 28 on a lease-hold basis for 99
years. Besides, three built-up shops in the Community
Centre of Thakurdwara (Mani Majra), will also be put for
bidding on monthly lease basis. |
Lacklustre
beauty contest PANCHKULA, Oct 3 — The second preliminary round for Mr and Miss India North West '99 titles, held here today, was a lacklustre affair. The seating arrangements on the stage were being made while the first dance by Bulbul began. The stage and the venue remained busy with movement of organisers and viewers, which hampered public attention throughout the presentation. Only two of the three judges turned up and outsiders could be seen conferencing with them while results were being prepared. The noise of fans and loud voices of the uninterested audience did not add to the grace. Banners and the information given to the press read that the contests were in Mr and Miss categories. However, no similar subtitle contests in the Mr categories were held. Himani was chosen as Miss Photogenic, while Khushboo Dhillon won the best eyes contest and Harpreet was given the title for best body. Himani is fond of dancing and watching television, Harpreet loves painting and dancing, and Khushboo Dhillon loves painting, swimming, riding and shooting. The contests held today had only two rounds on stage. One round had title aspirants dressed in short dresses and the other had them attired in sarees. The highlights of the show were dance items. Bulbul and Neerja, both young artists, showed grace. Sukhbir and Sonoo were also appreciated for their dance. A press release said 16
out of 77 applicants for the contest had been chosen for
the final round. Most of the fashion contests aped the
West blindly. The contest aimed to present a show with
distinct Indian component, the note added. One of the
viewers said there was hardly any difference in the
contest as compared to other fashion contests. |
Truck
driver found dead CHANDIGARH, Oct 3 — The body of a truck driver lying in a pool of blood was found inside a truck near the Steel Authority of India yard in Darua village last night. The deceased, identified as Dalip Sarkar hailing from West Bengal, had been working as driver with Darshan Singh, a Ghaziabad-based transporter, whose truck had been attached with Verma Transport Company based at Darua for the past one month. He had been missing since September 28 after he reported to have informed the owner of the truck on telephone that he was going to load the vehicle with steel from the city for Bhuntar in Himachal Pradesh. According to the police, Dalip Sarkar was suspected to be killed by Rakesh, alias Mukesh, who had recently been employed as cleaner with the truck. The accused is suspected to have taken away Rs 25000, which was in possession of the driver, before fleeing. Police parties have been despatched to various possible hide-outs of Rakesh by the local police authorities. Giving the sequence of events in a complaint to the police, Mr Darshan Singh, said about 10 days back Dalip Sarkar informed him on telephone that Suresh, who was working with him as cleaner had gone to his native village and Rakesh, alias Mukesh, had been deployed by him in the former's place. On September 28, he again called up Darshan Singh to inform him that he was going to load steel from the local steel market for Bhuntar in Himachal Pradesh and after that he would get the truck repaired in the city. After that there was no word from his side. Getting suspicious, he rushed to the city to enquire about Dalip and the truck, but he could not locate him and the vehicle, till last night when he along with some residents found the truck parked near the SAIL yard. When he inspected the vehicle closely, he found that the truck was locked and Dalip Sarkar was lying in a pool of blood with a blood stained screw-driver nearby. An amount of Rs 25,000 was also missing. Mr Darshan Singh suspected that the crime had been committed by Rakesh to lay his hands on the cash as the latter could not be traced. A case under Sections
302, 379 of the IPC has been registered at the Industrial
Area Police Station. The body has been sent to the Sector
16 General Hospital for post-mortem. |
PU
appointments on Syndicate agenda CHANDIGARH, Oct 3 — Fifty one appointments in Panjab University are likely to come up for approval in the next Syndicate meeting. Reliable sources said the list of appointments also included at least three cases which were pending in the High Court. The agenda mentioned that they would be confirmed only after court notings. These appointments are in the Punjabi and Bio-physics Departments. The Syndicate will also discuss a University Grants Commission intimation regarding filling up of posts. The circular says that no new posts be created. However, universities should have a free hand in filling up vacant posts. An important item pertains to giving VC the approval for allowing candidates to continue in studies who did not fill the minimum requirements for entry into various courses. This has been allowed in anticipation of the approval of the Syndicate. Reliable sources said the issue was debatable. Like in one case, a student of Dev Samaj College had scored less than 45 per cent marks, the minimum requirement for admission into a course. Mr S.K. Sharma has been appointed the Returning Officer for elections to 15 posts each of teachers and principals of the academic council. The tenure of the council will be from February 2000 to January 2002. The Syndicate will also take up the item about confirmation of the appointment of Dr S.K. Kulkarni as the Honorary Director of the RSIC and the USIC. He was appointed in July 1999. Appointment of Mr Chander Mohan Behl as System Manager and the Director in Computer Science also features on the list. The letter of resignation of Mr Randeep Surjewala from a sub-committee will also come up for approval. The Syndicate will take
up the case of granting approval to DCM College,
Ludhiana, to increase the student seats from 60 to 120.
The procedure regarding action taken reports will also be
studied. |
Sector 7
traders observe bandh PANCHKULA, Oct 3 — A complete bandh was observed by the Market Welfare Association, Sector 7, here today in protest against the failure of the police to arrest those involved in the beating up of a local businessman, Jaspal Singh, on September 29. In a memorandum submitted to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Vivek Joshi, and the Superintendent of Police, Mr Alok Mittal, the association threatened an indefinite bandh till those accused in the FIR were arrested by the police. The police, meanwhile, said it was on the lookout for the accused. President of the Association B.B. Kochhar said that the police had no intention to arrest the culprits."It is only making empty promises and employing delaying tactics. In the face of inaction, we are being forced to believe that some political pressure could be at work to save the accused.'' members of the association held a meeting with presidents of market associations of other sectors in the morning. the role of the police was condemned and the police was given time till Monday evening to arrest the four persons who ran away after the incident, failing which all markets in the town would remain closed from October 5. Meanwhile, the two persons apprehended by public right after the incident have been granted bail by the district courts. Mr Alok Mittal said that
two accused named in the FIR, Nitin Modi and Nazir
Mohammed, had been arrested by the police from the Sector
7 market. He said that raids had been carried out at the
residences of other accused. Efforts were on to find out
their whereabouts.
Cops held for beating driver PINJORE, Oct 3 — The beating of a local resident by Punjab Police personnel led to a blockade on the busy Ambala-Shimla national highway for more than two hours here today. Long queues of vehicles could be seen on the road. The problem was compounded as the protesting residents blocked the Pinjore-Nalagarh road. The problem started when the Punjab Police personnel, who were the security guards of a woman claiming to be an advocate, allegedly thrashed a truck driver, Joginder Singh. The beating of the truck driver, who happened to be a resident of Rathpur village here, enraged the residents leading to the road blockade. Sensing the mood of the crowd, the local police called for more force to avoid any untoward incident. The blockade was lifted only after a case was registered under Sections 323 and 506 of the IPC against the Punjab Police personnel for assaulting and intimidating the truck driver. Though the residents claimed that at least five policemen were involved in the incident, the case had been registered against only three policemen — Kirpal Singh, Resham Singh and Sukhjinder Singh. The other two managed to escape from the police station. Investigations revealed that the policemen were accompanying Ms Virender Pal Brar, who claimed that the security was provided by the Punjab Government. She further claimed that her brother was a senior official in the Punjab Government. The complainant, Joginder Singh, alleged that he was beaten by the policemen when he was travelling in the truck. There were five security men at the time of incident, the complainant alleged. A dispute over some land between Mr Diwan Chand, a local resident and Ms Brar was said to be the reason behind the incident. The victim, Joginder, happened to be a friend of Mr Diwan Chand. A medical examination of
the victim conducted at the Civil Hospital mentioned the
injuries as simple. The woman was allowed to leave. |
Surgeons
remove diseased uterus CHANDIGARH, Oct 3 — A one-of-its-kind operation, laproscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy, for the removal of a diseased uterus, was carried out by a team of surgeons at a private hospital in Sector 34 here. The operation was performed on Ms T. Kaur (36), who was having uterine problems for many years. It was performed presumably for the first time in the city. The team was headed by Dr Navin C. Raina, who was assisted by Dr Diljot Malhotra. According to Dr Raina, the operation entails a part of dissection by a laproscope, introduced through a sub-umbilical port, and subsequently, part of lower dissection and vaginal delivery of the uterus is carried out. After delivery of the uterus, vaginal vault repair is carried out trans-vaginally. It involves minimal invasive surgeries, which reduce hospital stay, and is cosmetically superior to abdominal hysterectomies. According to Dr Malhotra, since this operation involves less morbidity, it is convenient for the patient. Ms T. Kaur was discharged from the hospital after a post-operative stay of 45 hours. Dr Raina intends to
extend the application of laproscopic surgery to urology
and cancer. |
Held for
making hoax bomb calls CHANDIGARH, Oct 3 — An employee of an industrial unit here has been arrested for allegedly making false telephone calls to the police control room to create a bomb scare. The accused, Chander Mohan, was arrested this afternoon. It so happened that the police exchange in Sector 9 received a call at 11.33 a.m. The caller claimed that a bomb had been planted on the busy Tribune chowk. Dog squads and bomb disposal squads were rushed in. Meanwhile, the police used sophisticated technology, known as the calling line identification (CLI), that flashes the telephone number of the calling person on the PBX console. The number was
identified as 657929 that is installed in the Industrial
area (phase II), sources in the police said. The police
reached the spot and arrested Chander Mohan. He was
booked under section 182 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
This sections deals with deliberately providing false
information. |
CBI probe
demanded in fake SP case CHANDIGARH, Oct 3 — Certain members of the Chandigarh Youth Congress have demanded a CBI inquiry into the fake SP case in which an imposter made a fool of the city policy by claiming himself to be an IPS officer. In a statement issued
here today, Mr Manjit Sehdev, Mr Vikram Sharma Dicky, Mr
Rajwant Rai Raju and Mr Naveen Gupta alleged that the CID
wing of the Chandigarh police failed totally in
apprehending the fake SP. |
IAF might
on display CHANDIGARH, Oct 3 — People here today were shown aeromodels and an MI-17 helicopter at the sports ground of the 3 BRD of the Indian Air Force, where the IAF had organised a show of its flying machines as part of its 67th anniversary celebrations. The show began at around 9 a.m. Different choppers and the massive MI-17 helicopter, which remained actively engaged in the anti-insurgency operations during the Kargil conflict, were on display. Air Commodore Arvind Agarwal along with his subordinates answered the queries of the public, which mostly centered on the capability of a small engine to push through the huge structure of MI-17 even in harsh climatic conditions and heights of about 17000 feet. "Even most of US-made choppers can give their best up to an altitude of 6000-7000 feet, but this multi-utility fighter machine with a heavy lift and a high manoeuvreability, even when loaded with 192 rockets, its optimum capacity, was a grand success during the Kargil conflict," the officers told a group of people gathered around the chopper. Children could be seen engaged in getting photographed with the chopper. Another attraction at the place was a show of a remote controlled aeromodel, sponsored by the local chapter of the Aeronautical Society of India. The show was put up by Paramjit Singh and Upinder Singh of the Air Squadron under the local NCC directorate. Air Commodore Agarwal
said MI 17 helicopters and other gunships as MI 25 and MI
35 were being repaired and overhauled at the depot. The 3
BRD also organised a lottery raffle on the occasion. |
Drive
against parthenium PANCHKULA, Oct 3 — A congress grass removal and cleanliness drive got under way in Sector 10 here today. The drive to tackle the problem was initiated by the House Owners Welfare Association to clean the sector of unwanted weed. It was inaugurated by Mrs Sumita Singh, Administrator, Haryana urban development authority. The general secretary of the association, Mr M.L. Gupta, said that an appeal to cooperate in the drive against congress grass and maintain cleanliness in their vicinity had been issued to the residents of the sector. Mr S.K. Jain and Mr G.L. Sahni, patrons of the association, contributed their two months' salaries for the maintenance of cleanliness. The president, Mr K.N. Gulati, submitted a memorandum containing grievances of the residents to Mrs Sumita Singh. The administrator went
around the sector and instructed HUDA officials to clean
all plots by the end of October, to recarpet the roads
and ensure proper maintenance of parks. |
Advancements
in radiology discussed CHANDIGARH, Oct 3 — On the final day of the sixth National Conference of the Indian Association of Radiological Technologists at the PGI, organised by the Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging here, the participants today held a session on the 'Future and manpower development in radiological technology'. The session, chaired by Dr K S Parthasarthy, Mr Arjan Singh and Mr D R Goyal, discussed recent advancements in the field of radiological technology and stressed the need for continuing professional development for radiographers. radiological technologists opined that looking to the future of radiological technology with digital imaging and the internet will bring improvement in communication and handling of images, thus improving the level of patient care. In the second session of the day, various radiological techniques were discussed, including MR Imaging of spine and spinal cord, its use to study the structure of brain and the evaluation of magnetic resonance (MR) technique for urography. The main issues dealt by this three-day conference were radiation protection in radiography and radiotherapy, assessment impact of quality assurance and mammography and breast cancer. High on the agenda of
this conference was the issue of registration of the
Indian Association of Radiological Technologists (IART)
which the technologists said was one of their major
demands pending with the Ministry of Health, New Delhi.
it was felt that since the association was not
registered, there was a plethora of unqualified
technologists in radiology, and also there existed no
uniform qualification, designations or nature of jobs for
these technologists. |
SNIPPETS Punjab AIG (Welfare) Hundal dead SAS NAGAR, Oct 3 — Mr Randev Singh Hundal, who was posted as Additional Inspector-General (Welfare), Punjab, died at the PGI, Chandigarh, today. He was admitted to the PGI this morning when he complained of chest pain. Before being posted as AIG (Welfare), he was SSP at Khanna and Fatehgarh Sahib. He is survived by his wife and two sons. His funeral procession will start from his Phase 7 residence at 11.30 a.m. tomorrow. Dhaba owners resent sales tax CHANDIGARH, Oct 3 — To protest against the recent imposition of sales tax on dhaba owners, a meeting of the Chandigarh Dhaba Owners Association was held today. The owners said that the association had been formed to take up the issue with the Chandigarh Administration as to how 8.8 per cent sales tax could be levied on customers. The following were elected office-bearers of the association: President — Mr Tehal Singh; Vice-President — Mr Davinder Chawla; General Secretary — Mr Baldev Raj Sagar; Secretary — Mr Vijay Kumar; Office Secretary — Mr O.P. Kalyana; Joint Secretary — Mr Inderveer Singh; Propaganda Secretary — Mr Baldev Raj; and Treasurer — Mr Jawahar Lal Nagpal. Healthy baby show held SAS NAGAR, Oct 3 — The local City Beautiful Club yesterday organised a healthy baby show in aid of poor and needy students to celebrate Gandhi Jayanti. As many as 150 children in the three different groups from one to four years of age participated. Mr Vishal Sharma, President of the club, gave away prizes to the winners. The winners in different categories are: Group A ( one to two years) — Piyush 1, Shubam 2 and Sheffali 3. Group B ( two to three years) — Supreet 1, Udhey 2 and Amarjyot 3. Group C (three to four years) — Swati 1, Kanik 2 and Kshitij. Councillor’s son dead SAS NAGAR, Oct 3 — The son of the General Secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee and local municipal Councillor, Mrs Lakhwinder Kaur Garcha, succumbed to accident injuries at the PGI yesterday. Mr Balwinder Singh (30), who had met with an accident on September 18 in Chandigarh, sustained a head injury. He was in the intensive
care unit of the PGI. The cremation here was attended by
a large number of local residents and political leaders. |
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