Membership of BIC begins
By Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 11 — The Chandigarh Administration has released its first grant to Bradlaugh International Centre, (BIC), which is being established in the city on the pattern of India International Centre (IIC) in New Delhi.

The Bradlaugh International Centre Managing Committee has paid the extension fee to pave way for the start of construction work on a prime 1.96 acres plot on Madhya Marg in Sector 15 here. The committee has also started a membership drive.

Academicians, technocrats, policy-makers, diplomats, bureaucrats and other eminent people from various walks of life, especially those belonging to Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, are eligible for the membership, says Mrs Anuradha Gupta, Honorary Secretary of the committee. “The response has been overwhelming. We got 1,000 admission forms printed and a majority of them have already gone,” she said.

The committee, Mrs Gupta says, has made provisions for various categories of members, including life members, regular members, associate members, overseas associate members, temporary members, corporate members, including those from universities and Indian and foreign institutions.

The concept drawings of the proposed BIC submitted by the famous Stein Mani Chowfla team of architects have already been accepted.The society is now all set to get the actual construction work started on the ground as all modalities and formalities under the local bylaws have been more or less completed.

The concept envisages creation of an environment conducive to intellectual, academic and cultural exchange and debate. The centre, to be spread over an area of approximately 8000 sq m, is subject to envelope controls with a permissible single storey footprint of 2,347 sq m and a smaller four-storey block. There are, however, no facade controls.

The site was originally allotted to the Braudlaugh Hall Memorial Society for the construction of the hall. Work on the construction of the basement of the proposed hall was started, but was given up midway. In the concept drawings, they have already incorporated the existing structure to the extent possible.

Located between the Punjab Pradesh Congress Bhavan and International Students Hostel, the centre will essentially have an entrance to the 300-seat auditorium from the basement, lobbies, lounges, dining hall and a library on the top floor of the four-storey block.

The design consists of both public areas and private areas accessible essentially to the members. Attempt has been made to keep the access to public areas as direct as possible, leaving the members’ area relatively remote and undisturbed.

A double-height lobby, off the entrance foyer, forms the pivot of the design with the auditorium, art gallery, dining hall and lounge located around it. A high-level transparency and openness is an essential feature of the design with the major functions opening out onto landscape gardens. The water bodies proposed double up as cooling ponds for the AC system of the centre. Generous lobbies and pre-function spaces are provided adjacent to the conference rooms and auditorium. Maintaining the control footprint of the building, the designers have scooped out pockets to take the garden inside the building envelope.

The designers propose to use materials on the exterior which are sympathetic to the architectural character of Chandigarh. Concrete is proposed to be exposed with cladding of combination of sandstones by introducing a touch of colour with the use of handmade tiles. Interior finishes shall be of low or no-maintenance costs used in a simple, yet elegant and sober manner.

The designers have proposed the library on the top-most floor, the quietest area, with a view out in all directions. The administration, business centre and the manager’s residential suite are on the second floor. The members’ bar has been planned on the first floor and served by a pantry that also looks after the conference area.

The main conference room, divisible into two by means of a removable partition, is located on the first floor and opens out onto the landscape terrace. From the generous entrance lobby the view opens out across the central lobby to the pool and gardens beyond.

The passage swings past the art gallery to the members’ lounge and dining hall, both opening onto quiet gardens. The passage also swings behind the art gallery to the lift, stairs and toilets.

The centre with this design will cost approximately Rs 10 crore. Once completed, this will become the most prestigious place for interaction of intellectuals, policy-makers, academicians, technocrats, diplomats, bureaucrats and other eminent personalities.

The society proposes to restrict the membership with a rigid admission criteria so as to maintain the “exclusiveness” of the centre. Initial funding is expected to be in the shape of grants from both Punjab and Haryana Governments, besides the Chandigarh Administration. Grants from Punjab and Haryana are expected soon.

Running home to escape violent ragging
By Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 11 — Amit Goyal (22) of Sector 35 is yet to come to terms with the agony faced by him at the Institute of Engineering and Technology, Lucknow.

Amit fled the college after facing a month-long ordeal of savaged form of ragging, where he had joined the MCA course. More than two months have lapsed since his father made written complaints to the UP Chief Minster, the IG, UP Police, and the Director of the college, but he has not received any acknowledgement or assurance.

A former student of the local SD College, he was granted admission in MCA after he got the 94th position in the merit list in the Uttar Pradesh Master of Computer Applications Test '99, following which he joined the college on July 30. He and his classmates had to spend the next about one month and half facing cruelty and sexual harassment in the name of ragging, with the management of the college allegedly turning a blind eye to it. He had to leave the course mid-way, incurring a loss of nearly Rs 50,000 spent on fees and boarding and lodging.

"The ragging by second-year students started from the first day, when I went to the college on August 1. I and my classmates were asked by seniors not to wear readymade trousers, formal clothes, watches or black shoes. We took it lightly, particularly when our parents were with us," said Amit, while talking to the TNS here today.

"The traumatic experience started when 'super seniors' (part III students) began dictating rules, according to which we were asked to behave or face action. We were asked to bow before them every time we met them and not to have an eye-to-eye contact with them," said Amit.

"The ugly form of ragging started the day we were taken to the mess for lunch by seniors. As soon as I entered, I was hit by one of them on my back for not showing proper respect to them, with a warning that I will face dire consequences if I narrated anything to my parents," added Amit.

He was subjected to physical and mental torture by seniors. College authorities dubbed the happenings as natural and minor, even after his father lodged a written complaint.

"On August 4, as I entered the college, I was asked by a group of seniors to do sit-ups and when I showed reluctance, I was hit on my back. I was taken to the hostel, where I was told the rules framed by seniors for juniors. 'Rule 90' specified that we had to bow half down and act like touching feet of seniors. 'Rule 180' said we had to do 'dandwat' and lie on the ground whenever faced by a 'super senior'. Such things became a routine for all, including girls," he continued.

"One day I was asked to do 100 sit-ups and when I was unable to do that, I was taken to a room and ordered to disrobe myself and crawl under the table and bed without disturbing the articles lying on these. I was asked to walk on the terrace in the same position. I was kept in the room naked and was continuously slapped by my seniors between 10.30 a.m. and 6.30 a.m., with a lunch break in between," he added.

"The other day when I went to college at around 9 am and was about to return as teachers were not taking classes, I was stopped by nearly 17 seniors. I was beaten up for 45 minutes, following which I fainted. Later I was asked to do sit-ups.

On August 10, I and one of my classmates were taken to the hostel and we were made to act if we were making love naked, in front of about 10 seniors. We were ordered to slap each other 50 times and were abused by seniors, led by Pavitar Kaka, Purshotam Gangwal, Avinash Awasthi and Sanjay Kumar Yadav," Amit stated.

Unable to bear the humiliation, Amit returned home. He was called up by some of his classmates, who asked him to rush back to Lucknow. He did so and found that they were forced to do so by seniors.

"I was called by seniors in a room and was made to apply red, black and blue ink on my groin. I was made to make marks on a piece of paper," said Amit.

On August 23 he decided to bid adieu to the college. "I was so terrified that I could not go to the police station for lodging a formal complaint in this regard," he said.

Amit showed copies of complaints to the UP Chief Minster and senior officers by his father. Mr A.K.Khare, Director of the college, was not available for comment.

New DC, SP take charge
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Oct 11 — The public and affairs related to it top the priority list of the new Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.K. Monga, and the Superintendent of Police, Mr Sudhir Chaudhary, who took charge at the district secretariat here today.

With emphasis on a pro-active approach towards solving problems, Mr Monga said that he aimed at reaching out to the impoverished people and sections of society. ''My idea will be to propel official machinery to solving the problems of the residents, while help from other voluntary and non-government organisations will also be sought,'' he said.

Speaking of the open darbar which was to commence from today, Mr Monga said that such an interaction would provide an insight into the problems taking shape before they actually manifested themselves, enabling tackling these at a very preliminary level.

''Even if the root of these cannot be caught at the initial stages, we can resort to the reactive approach in finding solutions,'' he said. He also indicated that the open darbar would not only be held in the town but a cluster approach would be followed whereby a group of villages would be clubbed in an effort to reach out to the maximum people.

He added that ongoing projects would be speeded up while those in the pipeline and other new projects which required to be initiated would be taken up with enthusiasm by the administration.

Mr Monga is an HCS officer from the 1972 batch and was promoted to the IAS in 1985.

The SP, Mr Sudhir Chaudhary, said that a confidence-building exercise of the police with the public was the need of the hour and would be instrumental in bringing down the crime rate in the city. ''The involvement of the youth, primarily, could prove very beneficial for the success of the drive,'' he specified.

''The apathy and indifference of the people to drives introduced by the police is the major reason behind the growing crime rate. The idea will be to motivate them to cooperate with the police while trying to increase interaction sessions between the two. This would act as a force multiplier with the efforts on the part of the police being supplemented by the public,'' he added.

About paucity of staff, Mr Chaudhary said that a request to the government for more personnel would be made while efforts towards increasing other resources at their disposal would also initiated.

Mr Chaudhary belongs to the 1988 batch and was SP, State Vigilance Bureau.

UT’s lone sniffer dog overworked
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 11 — The police department here has decided to buy six more sniffer dogs. While four fully trained dogs will be bought from the Border Security Force (BSF),Tikanpur, two pups will also be purchased for future use. Presently, the department has only one sniffer dog, which is reportedly overworked.

Of the sanctioned strength of six dogs, the department has to make do with one dog as no purchases were made in the past few years.

According to police sources, the dogs are useful in sniffing explosives and are taken round the venue of various functions which are to be attended by VIPs. Since the city is the capital of Punjab and Haryana, there are many functions here. The dog is also taken to places where the UT Administrator is to arrive.

While the respective states bring their own dog squad to such functions attended by VIPs from their states, the local police takes no chances and uses its own dog.

In addition to this, the dog is sometimes also taken to various crime spots. This tires the dog and there have been instances where the dog was unwilling or only made a half- hearted attempt to do its duty.

The purchases have also been made in view of the increasing workload of the police and the demands made of the dog squad. The dogs are more effective when they are used for specific tasks and are rested for adequate intervals.

In the coming years, the police will also go in for dogs trained in sniffing out drugs and other such substances. It is for this reason that the police has also bought two pups whose area of training has not been decided yet, the sources added.

The department has yet to get the quotations for the dogs but officials are of the view that the purchase will pose no problems as the BSF-trained dogs are very good and the department has been purchasing them in the past also.

PU departments to get extra Rs 2 crore
By Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 11 — Apart from its annual budget, Panjab University has cleared an extra amount of nearly 2 crore to meet additional demands of teaching and administrative departments.

The schedule for demands recommended for consideration by the Vice-Chancellor for the year 1999-2000 has been studied by a committee to suggest ways and measures for augmenting the financial resources, keeping in mind the current financial situation. The total sum proposed for the move was Rs 185,56,000. This included Rs 1,20,64,650 in the recurring and Rs 65,91,350 in the non- recurring estimates.

The schedule also figured non-teaching departments, apart from the library, the Sports Department, hostels and central administration. the Correspondence Studies Department with an estimate for Rs 28,09,000 in the recurring and Rs 18,75,000 in the non-recurring categories figured on the top of the list among all categories for additional grant.

The main reasons given by departments for additional grants were increase in the cost of study material and a jump in electricity charges. The Department of Anthropology which had a provision for Rs 2,600 for electricity has demanded Rs 10,000 extra. The Department of Bio-technology had Rs 10,000 under the electricity charges overhead. The increase makes it Rs 20,000 more.

The Department of Laws demanded Rs 30,000, apart from the existing provision for books. While the Department of Philosophy has asked for 20,000 more, the Department of Mathematics has asked for Rs 40,000 more.

Few other reasons for seeking grants include the need for computers, scanners, postage, furniture and research funds, among others.

The Vice-Chancellor constituted a committee to study the proposals which had met on more than two occasions, once in August and once in September. The panel comprises Prof I.M. Govil, Prof H.L. Vasudeva, Prof S.C.Vaidya, Prof B.B. Goyal, Prof P.P. Arya, Prof Paramjit Singh, Mr M.G. Sharma, Prof V.K. Bansal and Mr S.S. Gill.

Recommendations highlight a considerable hike in rents of commercial complexes on the campus. Gradual increase of fee may be done at regular intervals. The newly-formed centres, including the IAS Coaching Centre and the IIPA where the income does not match with the expenditure will be reviewed.

The committee which met in August cited details given by the accounts branch, relating to grant due from the government, actual payment and the balance due, since the actual maintenance deficit was not paid.

There was a suggestion for interaction between chairpersons of all departments and the Finance Officer at least once in three months to study the existing conditions. That the teaching and non-teaching and technical positions available in the budget should be kept intact was also suggested. These said the vacant posts should be filled when it was urgent.

An urgent exercise was recommended to study the workload. It will probe the latest UGC criteria and make recommendations on teaching posts needed in a department. Similar exercise has been recommended for non-teaching and technical posts to economise on salary and other overheads.

The committee also recommended that the CET scanner purchased last year for processing CET results be put to use immediately to save extra expenditure.

The committee also recommended that as far as possible, the maintenance work on the campus should be given to contractors. Whenever the payment was made to a contractor, he needed to obtain a signature for satisfactory service.

Poor state of funds was highlighted in the meetings. The committee also suggested possible amendments and improvements in the budget under consideration.

PU exams from March 20
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 11 — The annual examinations of Panjab University in 2000 will commence with the practical examinations for various courses with effect from March 20.

According to the schedule released by the Controller of Examinations, the examinations of the undergraduate classes of BA/BSc/B Com/BBA/BCA pass and Honours courses will commence on April 4. The MA/M Sc (Math, Botany, Chemistry) annual system/ MFC/ PG Diploma in Gandhian Studies/ Diploma in Statistics/ Population Education examinations will commence from April 15. The examinations of Prak Shastri/ (three-year degree course) OT/ MIL/ Diploma in Acharya and Guru Grantha Acharya will start from April 20.

The last date for the receipt of admission forms and the payment of fees for private /correspondence candidates is November 3, 1999. However, the same can be submitted with a late fee of Rs 500 till November 10. For the college candidates, the last date for the receipt of forms and the payment of fees is December 3, whereas they can submit these by paying a late fee of Rs 500 till December 10. The last date for the receipt of admission forms with late fees of Rs 1,500 and Rs 3,000 for private/correspondence/ college candidates will be February 2 and March 5, 2000, respectively.

Statements recorded
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 11 — The Sessions Judge, Mr B.S. Bedi, who held court at Burail Jail, today recorded the statements of two prosecution witnesses in the ongoing Beant Singh assassination case.

The first witness, Gurmeet Singh, who runs a sweets shop and restaurant in SAS Nagar, deposed before the court that on August 31, 1995 — the day Mr Beant Singh was assassinated — two youngmen visited his shop around 12 noon and asked him to pack food. Since food was not ready, they bought some “pakoras” and went away. He also told the court that they had visited him on three-four occasions earlier also.

He identified the photographs of Dilawar Singh and Gurmeet Singh, both suspects in the case. He told the court that after August 31, 1995, he had not see either of them, except Gurmeet Singh in the court today.

Another witness examined by the court was Shankar Yadav, who also runs a tea shop and dhaba at the back of the Punjab Civil Secretariat. He stated that Lakhvinder Singh, alias Lakha, one Maula and Chhanna used to come to his dhaba for tea. On August 31, 1995, at 1.30 p.m. Chhanna, Lakha and Maula took their launch at his dhaba and went away.

Symposium on AIDS begins
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 11 — With more than seven million Indians infected with the HIV virus, the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research here has recorded 243 sero-positive cases in the city, the figure having been tabulated till February, 1999.

Such facts were revealed today, on the inaugural day of the two-day national symposium on 'AIDS-Update', being held at the PGI. The conference is being organised by Department of Immunopathology.

The symposium was inaugurated by Prof B.K. Sharma, Director, PGI. In his inaugural address, he took up issues like rising incidence of the disease, need for an effective vaccine and the role of the clinicians in handling HIV-positive cases. A souvenir was released by Dr V.K. Vinayak, Advisor, Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, New Delhi. Dr Sunil K. Arora, Organising Secretary of the symposium, proposed a vote of thanks.

In his keynote address, Dr D.N. Lanjewar from Medical College and Sir J.J. Hospital, Mumbai, discussed post-mortem studies of HIV-positive cases, results of which, he said, could be used to treat patients. He said studies indicated that tuberculosis was the number one infection be found in AIDS patients, followed by bacterial infections. Studies showed that 90 per cent of patients who died were because of pathogenic effects. Listing the symptoms of AIDS, he said such patients suffered from weight loss, chronic diarrhoea that persisted for more than one month, and tuberculosis, in most cases.

On the issue of 'AIDS Virus and Time Trends', Prof Shobha Sehgal, Emeritus Scientist (ICMR), PGI, said Indians were at a great risk of AIDS because of massive tuberculosis and malnutrition. Showing slides of AIDS victims, she said with 33.4 million people living with the HIV virus worldwide, India was a major hot-spot for infection.

Dr Shahid Jameel from the International Centre of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, delivered a lecture on the progress towards an AIDS vaccine. Quoting UNAIDS figures, which stated that new infections by HIV were increasing by at least six million each year, he said India and Thailand faced a major risk from the virus. He said HIV was a difficult target for vaccine development because the virus persistently replicated, leading to diseases without exception. Another reason was that the immune correlates of protective immunity against HIV-1 infection remained uncertain.

Dr A. Wanchu of the PGI talked about the management of HIV-infected individuals and accepted modalities of therapy. His lecture discussed how the present drug being used cost Rs 25,000 per month and in order to provide a cheaper alternative, the PGI had been using an alternative drug for the past one year. He revealed that the alternative drug, which had been tried on 33 persons, had helped patients in regaining weight and increased CD-4 counts. In some cases, patients had resumed work. Despite these drugs, patients had developed opportunistic infection in two cases, he added.

In her lecture on 'Sero Surveillance Activity in PGI, Chandigarh', Dr Usha Datta, Head of the Department of Immunopathology, PGI, presented some alarming figures. According to her, the positive cases screened at the department increased from April to July this year and went up to 13 per cent. Charts presented also showed that the maximum number of cases occurred in the age group of 20 to 40 years and the male to female ratio was two to one in HIV-positive cases.

Discussing the National AIDS Control Organisation's activity in Chandigarh, Dr N.M. Sharma of the State AIDS Control Society, UT, said the awareness level about the disease in males was almost 85 per cent in the city and in females it was 68 per cent. In the migrant population, the awareness level was almost 60 per cent.

Rolling out more figures, Dr V.K. Vinayak said unofficial figures stated the country had almost 50,000 to 60,000 full-blown AIDS cases. He added that the basic issue was awareness because of the lack of literacy and there was no option but to develop a cost-effective vaccine. He revealed that an anti-body test kit had been developed indigenously, which had a specificity and sensitivity of almost 99 per cent. The industry was being upscaled for marketing the kit.

A session on clinical profile of HIV/AIDS patients and their management and the scenario of paediatric AIDS was also held, which included Dr Archana Sud, Dr Wanchu and Dr Surjit Singh. This was followed by a lecture on different methods of diagnosis of HIV infection by Dr Sunil K. Arora and on auto-antibodies in HIV-positive individuals by Dr Ranjana Walker.

SNIPPETS

Discos, pubs to shut at 11.30
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 11 — Discos, wine shops, restaurants and pubs cannot be opened beyond 11.30 p.m., says an order issued by the District Magistrate. The order, issued under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, will also apply to roadside vendors, who sell their wares till late into the night.

The Magistrate has banned the functioning of any commercial establishment between 11.30 p.m. and 4.30 a.m., in public interest for 60 days, from tomorrow.

Pension not paid
From Our Correspondent

KHARAR, Oct 11 — Out of 42 persons of nearby Jandpur village who applied for the old-age pension long ago, four have died, while the remaining applicants are waiting for the pension amount.

Mr Didar Singh, sarpanch of Jandpur (Kharar) village, in a letter written to senior officers has alleged that he had sent 42 forms duly filled and enclosed all required documents but no person had been given pension. He has written that four applicants had already died.He demanded action in this direction.

Wildlife Week function
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 11 — The local unit of the Indian Council for Environment Education and the UT Environment Department jointly organised a prize distribution function of the Wildlife Week celebrations at the Sector 10 DAV College here today.

Mr Ramsekhar, Deputy Commissioner, who was the chief guest, said: ''we should remove wildness from our hearts by preserving wildlife and environment of the city.'' He emphasised that to have enough knowledge about wildlife one should read literature regarding this.

Mr H. S. Sohal, Director, Environment, said the administration had done a lot to protect environment by creating awareness among students of different schools where environment clubs had been formed. On this occasion, Dr G.S. Sodhi of Panjab University was honoured by the council for his services towards protection of environment.

Children’s festival concludes
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 11 — The six-day state level children festival concluded in the State Institute of Education, Sector 32, with a fancy dress show today.

As many as 52 teams from rural and about 30 from urban schools participated in the show.

In the category of urban schools, Anchal Kumari of Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 47, won the first position, while Renu and Atul of Government High School, Sector 24-A, got the second and third position, respectively.

In the category of rural schools, Ashu of Government Middle School, Kaimbwala, won the first position. While the second position was shared by Deepika of the GSSS-38 (West), Amzad of the GSSS, Mani Majra, and Jaspal Singh of the GPS, Jhumru, Preeti of Government Girls High School, Sector 25, won the third position.

Anil Kumar of the GPS, Colony No 5, Burail, won the consolation prize.