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Wednesday, December 5, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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Tax collection a shade below target Chandigarh, December 4 The slight shortfall is largely due to the fact that the Government of India has jacked up the collection target for the Chandigarh Administration by a whopping Rs 114 crore — up from Rs 544 crore to Rs 658 crore. Though the collection is just a shade below what it should have been from the revised target, officials expect that the target will be met as more and more of sales tax and excise duty is deposited towards the end of the financial year ending March 31. Traditionally more collections are made in the post-Divali phase, says sources. The issue was tabled in the quarterly senior officers conference held here today with the Adviser to the UT Administrator, Ms Neeru Nanda in the chair. Originally the Government of India had fixed the revenue collection target at Rs 544 crore. However, later this was hiked to Rs 658 crore. This was done keeping in mind the unique situation created by Chandigarh Administration during the last financial year. The collection of revenue had been Rs 82.74 crore more than what was the expenditure of the Administration. With this in view the revenue collection was hiked. During the financial year ending
March 31, 2001, the revenue receipt was Rs 608.56 crore as against the net expenditure of Rs. 525.83 crore. This achievement had come about mainly due to the significant increases in revenue generation by departments like sales tax, stamps and registration, printing and stationery, power and transport. Chandigarh’s entire expenditure is met directly from the Consolidated Fund of India. Similarly, all its income goes directly to the Consolidated Fund of India. Therefore, all budgetary functions of the Administration are presented to Parliament as a part of Demand for Grants of the Ministry of Home Affairs. For the year 2000-2001, Government of India decided to adopt additional resource mobilisation methods. Also discussed during the SOC today were the audit paras regarding the Education Department and Engineering wing. Officials expressed confidence of meeting budgetary targets and also revenue collection targets.
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‘Unwritten’ records
led to Dr Nagi’s dismissal? Chandigarh, December 4 The Punjab and Haryana High Court, while setting aside the appointment of Dr O.N. Nagi as Dean, PGI, observed among other things that, “No record whatsoever is available, which could remotely suggest, consideration by the competent authority for making the appointment; oral recommendation ex facie indicates lack of due application of mind and fair consideration of other eligible candidates; no reasons have been stated and no record has been produced before the court to show why the recommendation of the recommending authority was not accepted by governing body.” (Pg. 65 of CWP No. 11211 of 2001, Dr Sudha Suri v/s Union of India and others.) The PGI was unable to produce the necessary records before the court simply because it had no record of the “business conducted” in the meetings of the governing body in connection with the appointment of Dr O.N. Nagi as the dean. All that the PGI had, was a record of the decision taken to appoint Dr. Nagi in the form of a “resolution”, and the Court clearly found that insufficient. The High Court had observed, “It is unfortunate that the entire record produced before us only contains the decision of the governing body. Besides the above four lines, there is, no record produced before the court which could even remotely suggest as to what weighed with the recommending authority or the GB for finding the other senior candidates, as unsuitable for appointment to the post of Dean. All that is expected and desirable is a definite expression of opinion by the concerned authority, which could clearly show the proper decision making process culminating in a just and final decision.” Sources state that a detailed discussion did take place in the governing body on the suitability of various candidates. However, since no record of this discussion has been maintained, there was nothing to show before the court. Similarly, there was no record of the names recommended by the Director, PGI. The PGI Act, Rule no. 20, regarding Record of Business of Governing Body states: 1. “A record shall be maintained by the Secretary of all business transacted [repeat, of all business transacted] by the Governing Body.” 2. “All decisions of the Governing Body, shall, as far as possible, be recorded in the form of resolutions and an entry of such decisions in the book of proceedings of the Governing Body shall be conclusive evidence of the fact that such decisions were taken by the Governing Body.” The Director is the ex officio Secretary of both the bodies. He maintains the proceedings, with the help of the Committee Branch of the PGI. Mr Verma, the Committee Officer of PGI, maintains that no where in the Act does it state that all the deliberations of the meetings are to be recorded. “As a result no discussions are recorded. Only the resolutions passed are. All these resolutions are considered unanimous if the majority members of the relevant body agree. The names of the dissenting members are also not recorded. And this is a system we have been following for the past 40 years.” The PGI Employees Union President, Mr Subhash Nirankari, however feels that not even one of the members of these august bodies have all these years insisted that the records of proceedings be maintained properly, as laid down in the PGI Act and they have all approved the minutes without demanding that “all business transacted” be recorded in the proceedings. He also alleges that the proceedings of these meetings are routinely tampered with. Significant additions are made. “Important points which are not to the liking of the authorities are not included. Even the objections raised by various members of the respective bodies regarding the veracity of the proceedings recorded are not maintained, neither are the objections met,” he says. |
Fans
throng stadium to watch their heroes SAS Nagar, December 4 The second day of the India-England Test saw a large number of fans thronging the stadium with maximum rush witnessed in general stands and the pavilion block. Today, the PCA pavilion played host to students of Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, dressed in school uniform. Though many preferred to watch the Test on their television sets, the mad rush present at the venue was mainly of youths and children to have a glimpse of Sachin Tendulkar. But for many, it was nice to watch strokes of Deep Das Gupta who made his first Test hundred.
Sidelights *A large section of crowd was perturbed by the negative bowling by the visitors and the lethargy shown when they dropped a number of catches. *American Paints personnel were busy selling tickets as given to them by PCA officials in return for their paint job done. *Mr G.S. Walia, PCA Treasurer, was at times seen making hectic rounds of each gate to ensure that no blackmarketing of tickets or any other modus operandi to sell the complimentary tickets could be noticed. *Lot of pull and pressures were seen and heard to acquire free entry passes of the pavilion block. *The autograph seekers sometimes had to go back demoralised when the former cricket commentators Ravi Shastri, Arun Lal and Sanjay Manjrekar did not oblige these fans. *There was commotion in the general stands when one of the spectators jumped into the moat around the boundary line. The ball also fell into the moat thus creating interesting scenes for the crowd. *A number of former cricketers including the selectors today preferred to watch the Indian side while sitting in the pavilion hall where huge TV screen was also put up. |
A providential escape Dera Bassi, December 4 Mr Arya was on his way from Panchkula to Yamunanagar. The driver of the loaded army truck (010130596L) lost control over the vehicle and dragged the car (HR-02G-7547) for a long distance before crushing it. Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Mr Arya said that his car overturned after being dragged by the truck to a ditch on the roadside. He said ‘‘I opened the seat belt and then some persons extricated me from the badly damaged car after breaking open its doors with rods.’’ Later, while being taken to the Civil Hospital at Dera Bassi, I rang up my parents in Yamunanagar and fell unconscious, said Sushil. Mr Gian Chand, father of the victim, reached the spot along with other family members. Eyewitnesses said that some army men from the truck jumped and pushed back the vehicle. Mr Arya was later referred to the PGI in Chandigarh and was discharged today morning. No case was registered with the Dera Bassi police station as the matter was solved through a compromise between Mr Arya’s family and the Army authorities in the afternoon. |
MC cuts sorry
figure before bank SAS Nagar, December 4 The employees apprehend that with the abolition of octroi, the financial situation of the civic body — which had 90 per cent of its total income from octroi collection — was going to become grave. The concerned employees gathered at the office of the civic body to decide on the future course of action. Sources in the civic body said only the salary of the firemen and the safai karamcharis had been paid. A petrol pump in Phase 7 which was authorised outlet for the fleet of the vehicles of the civic body had also reportedly refused to fill the tanks of the vehicles of the council. Around Rs 4 lakh was pending against the civic body, it is learnt. The civic body had a fixed deposit of Rs 1 crore in a Phase 1 bank. The President of the civic body, Mr Kulwant Singh, was not available for comments. |
YOUNG
VOICE FOR Reetika Khanna, life is a matter of spirit and service. During the past nine months she has earned a greater introduction than “the wife of Vineet Khanna, the man behind Pustak”, who has left many tasks undone. As his better half, Reetika could not have taken over his regime better than she actually has. It has only been nine months since she took over the charge of the Youth Technical Training Society (YTTS), the organisation dedicated to the empowerment of disabled street children in the city. As executive director of the YTTS, Reetika is overseeing the planning of education, health and nutrition of about 1500 slum kids in about 18 centres of the city. Her organisation operates in 12 slums. The welfare project runs from grants being received from the USA. The work being done is tremendous and, more importantly, it is well-suited to street kids for all practical purposes. “We run one year non-formal education programme under which we cover functional literacy. Basic alphabets and financial deals are talked about. We teach kids how to transact their own business,” says Reetika. Most kids are absorbed by government schools later. The YTTS is running morning and evening schools so that working slum children can walk in for getting educated anytime. “The kids must feel free. There should be no binding,” says the girl who refuses to be pinned down by her emotional slumps. The latest area of Reetika’s concentration is accessibility for the disabled. “What depresses a disabled person most is his inability to access places he wants to,” she says. |
BJP, SAD focus on national issues Chandigarh, December 4 The alliance has called a second Chief Minister in a week, deciding to call Uttaranchal Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshiari for campaigning tomorrow. Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal held meetings yesterday. The coalition partner of the BJP at the Centre and in Punjab sought to remove doubts about alliance with an incarcerating SAD chief Parkash Singh Badal sending one of his ministers to clear confusion about the alliance two days before campaigning stops. Mr Badal’s emissary and Punjab PWD Minister Ajaib Singh Mukhmailpur today came to clear confusion about the alliance created yesterday by a reported statement of SAD local unit chief Gurpartap Singh Riar and former BJP president Dharampal Gupta. The Gupta-Riar duo had said that the BJP was committed to support only those candidates proposed by Mr Riar. Mr Mukhmailpur said the alliance was on those seats which were decided by the high command of the two parties. He said the Mayor, Ms Harjinder Kaur, Ms Paramjit Kaur, Mr Swarn Singh Dhiman and Ms Amarjeet Bhuller were the official party candidates. The Ramvilas Paswan-led Lok Jan Shakti party national general secretary, Mr Lalit Gautam, held meetings in support of five party candidates, including the party local unit president, Mr Jalis Ahmed, who is contesting from Ward 20 as an Independent. Congress MP Pawan Bansal and Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee president B.B. Bahl addressed several meetings in support of Kamaljit Panchhi, Subash Chawla, Lalit Joshi, Uma Wadhera, Gita Chaudhary and Surinder Singh. The party candidate from Ward 2, Ms Anu Chathrath, got the support from the Progressive Mahila Samiti headed by Ms Hema Kakkar. Mohmmed Idris of the Sunni Gharib Nawas Committee assured support of the Muslim community to the party. Chandigarh Vikas Manch supremo Harmohan Dhawan and CVM campaign committee chairman Devinder Singh Babla held paddyatras in support of the CVM candidates, including Jitender Bhatia.Haryana Government employees extended support to Bhatia in the ward. The Azad Hind Navyuvak Sangh supported the BJP candidate from Ward 15, Ms Anita Devi, who was also supported by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. The Rashtriya Raksha Dal, which has fielded two candidates, today extended support to an Independent candidate, Mr Ranjit Singh, an ex-airman, from Ward 17. The Deputy Speaker of the Himachal Assembly, Mr Ram Dass Malangar, held corner meetings in support of the BJP candidate from Ward 1, Mr Balkishan Kapoor. Akali Deputy Mayor Mohinder Singh and BJP leaders campaigned for Mr Singh’s wife, Ms Paramjit Kaur, in Ward 13. The Congress candidate from Ward 16, Ms Pushpa Sharma, went door-to-door. |
Candidates registered as voters at 2 places Chandigarh, December 4 While the Mahila Congress president and a party nominee from ward number 5, Ms Shyama Negi, is under the Election Commission’s scrutiny and her election may be open for an election petition, the other party candidate from ward number 19, Mr Balraj Singh, is also alleged to have done the same thing. An independent candidate from ward number 5, Ms Balbir Kaur, has given Ms Negi’s details of two votes and asked the EC to take action against her. Ms Negi is registered as Shyama Negi, wife of S. S. Negi, a resident of 2876. Her voter number is 1027 and part number is 356. Identity card number is 0000067. Her age is mentioned 48. In the second case, she is alleged to be registered at Jhuggi No. 633, Palsora, Colony-2, part 16, and her voter number is 306. Though her age here is alleged to be 46, the name of the husband is the same but the name is a little bit different. Her name here is alleged to be Shirama Negi and identity card number is 000598. The names of Mr Balraj Singh, his father and wife are the same at Sector 24-C and Kumhar Colony, Sector-25. Mr Singh (42), son of Ram Singh, has voter number 299 and his wife Usha Rani has voter number 300 at booth number 201. At Kumhar Colony, jhuggi number 522, booth number 208, his number is suspected to be 1266 and that of his wife 1267 with the same name and father’s name also the same. However, the wife’s age at the two places is 36 and 39 but Mr Singh’s is suspected to be 42. Mr Singh’s case was found out through direct scrutiny of voter lists and the EC has not yet been informed on the matter. When the EC’s comments were sought, a spokesman said that the registration of vote at two places at the same time was an act punishable for a year but at this stage they cannot be debarred from contesting election, even if the information was found to be correct after an inquiry. |
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Bhattal has dig at BJP Chandigarh, December 4 Mrs Bhattal, who came to Chandigarh for the campaign of the Congress candidates for the Municipal Corporation elections, including Mrs Lalit Joshi, who is contesting the elections from Ward 15 comprising Sector 29, the Industrial Area (Phase I), Labour Colony No 4 and Sanjay Colony, said the country had been shattered by the BJP rule. Most of the industries had been shut down and there were no jobs for youngmen. Heavy taxes had been imposed and foodgrains produced by farmers were not lifted by the government. She said the BJP had formed a coalition with a militant-supported Akali Dal in Punjab. it had embraced all those Akali leaders who had “gunned down” a large number of innocent people in Punjab. She said Mr Hit abhilashi and Mr Harcharan Singh Longowal were killed by militant elements. It was only the Congress which provided a secular rule in the country. She had a dig at the BJP when she said that it had failed to introduce a Bill for making 30 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and assembly. “It is the promise of the Congress that it will introduce 30 per cent reservation for women in assemblies and Parliament.” She said the Congress had given a ministerial berth to Mr George Fernandes as Defence Minister of the country who was charged with indulging in corruption in defence deal. Accompanied by Mr O.P. Rattan, former Congress MLA from Una district in Himachal Pradesh, Mr Thakur Ram Lal, former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, appealed to the electorate that if they wanted proper development of the city and rehabilitation of labour colonies, they should vote for Mrs Lalit Joshi of the Congress. The impact of the Municipal Corporation elections in Chandigarh will have its impact on the assembly poll in Punjab. He said if the Congress was returned to power there would be industrial growth, unemployed youth would get jobs and there will be allround development of the economy. He said during the BJP regime the country had become poor. Raising the slogan “Jaat pe na paat pe vote lagao hath pe”, Ms Krishna Mohini, Women Congress chief in Himachal Pradesh, announced that if Mrs Lalit Joshi was voted to power, labour colonies would be properly rehabilitated, there would be enough potable water, no scarcity of electricity and Chandigarh would be properly developed. Among others who addressed the rally were Mr Pawan Bansal, local MP, Mr B.B. Behl, Chandigarh Congress chief, and a large number of other Congress leaders. |
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JD-U promises free water, power Chandigarh, December 4 The JD-U while releasing its manifesto promised free water and electricity for the poor living in rehabilitated colonies, villages and tenants of the city. Both the parties promised to remove the contract system permitted by Union Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, in this Budget of the country. While the LJP, headed by Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, has focused on colonies and villages promising that colonies would be provided facilities equal to sectors, easy availability of SC/ BC certificates, rickshaw and rehriwalas be rehabilitated, extension to Chandigarh Housing Board houses will be allowed and licences for rehri-phariwalas will be issued. Releasing the manifesto, national party general secretary Lalit Gautam said the party would also make efforts to provide rehabilitation to those living in jhuggis, the best of teachers will be provided in schools in colonies, each colony will have a TB centre, a community centre, interest-free loan to those being rehabilitated and the parking fee will be removed. The JD-U, headed at the national level by Union Minister Sharad Yadav, promised to provide special sheds to rickshaw-pullers and auto-rickshaw drivers, mobile health centres in villages and colonies and licences for roadside workers, among other things. The JD-U local unit president, Mr. Surinder Bhardwaj, attacked the BJP and the Congress for ignoring Muslims, while giving party nominations and accused the BJP of not accommodating its coalition partner in the city. He said that the party had asked for five seats in the municipal elections and the BJP had offered only one. |
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Not many hopes from candidates Chandigarh, December 4 Five women candidates from different political parties talked about their manifestos under the same roof provided by the Senior Citizens Council, Sector 38, at Sri Guru Harkishan Model School here today. The candidates who were present in today’s meeting were Chandigarh Vikash Manch candidate Ms Gurdeep Kaur Brar,Congress candidate, Ms Manjeet Kaur, B JP candidate Ms Kamla Sharma, Samajwadi Party candidate, Ms Motia Rani, and Independent candidate, Ms Neena Tiwari. “What do you expect from a bunch of candidates who cannot even speak convincingly,” asked Mr S.D. Khorana, a retired Superintendent from the Haryana Vidhan Sabha who attended the meeting. “Our past experience has shown us that all the promises made before the election are simply forgotten, as the councillors get too busy fighting amongst themselves,” he said. So only time will tell how much of our existing problems will be solved during the next five years, he added. “The Rs 7 lakh ‘green belt’ project which was started by the previous council simply got stuck midway, leaving Sectors 38-C and D without any greenery,” said Mr S.P. Sharma, a retired Electoral Officer from the Punjab Government. “Even the main market in our sector is functioning with only one entrance without much parking space,” chipped in Mr Harbhajan Singh Wadi, president of the Main Market Association. Dr Sukhdev Singh, chairman of the Senior citizens council, Sector 38, said we do not even have a post office in our area. |
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Uphill task for Golden Forest investors Chandigarh, December 4 With almost 50,000 cases pending before the lok adalat and an average of 200 new cases being filed each day, the earliest dates these investors can hope to get for a hearing at the lok adalat is some time in 2003. Sources inform that cases against the main accused, R.K Syal, were pending all over India— about 186 cases against the company were pending in various courts at Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana and 20 winding-up petitions were also pending in the Punjab and Haryana High court — and a number of cases against the accused company were also registered with the Vigilance Department. Sources added that there were 30 lakh investors all over India who had invested Rs 4000 crore in various schemes of Golden Forests. The company had reportedly earned hundreds of crores of rupees from investors from all over the country. Cases against the accused have been filed by the investors in various courts all over the country as cheques issued by the company had been dishonoured by various banks. The investors have been approaching the lok adalat as the MD of the company had agreed to pay the principal amount to the depositors. On the other hand, the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the Golden Forest, R.K Syal, who was presently lodged in Burail Jail, has filed a case against the Permanent Lok Adalat, Chandigarh District Court. The High Court had issued a notice for December 20, 2001. The accused petitioner, R.K Syal, stated in the petition that around 50, 000 investors have approached the permanent lok adalat, UT Chandigarh, and a couple of thousand have made beeline at Patiala’s Lok Adalat under the aegis of the Punjab State Legal Services authority. He added that necessary arrangements for the payments of their claims shall be made by selling land measuring 1227 kanals 352 marlas at Jaula Kalan village. The tentative price of the said land is Rs 35 crore. Mr R.K. Syal also stated in the petition that the company desires to compromise and make arrangements in the prevailing circumstances before the lok adalat respondent in the manner and procedure followed earlier only with the prior approval of the company court in the interest of investors who are a separate class with their demand restricted to principal invested amount. When the authority concerned was contacted, he said that the pendancy of the cases was due to
insufficient staff. There is only one judge in the Permanent Lok adalat and few staff members to handle so many cases. |
Unauthorised constructions continue Mullanpur-Garibdas (Kharar), December 4 Construction activities in the periphery had picked up after the announcement by the Punjab Government to regularise unauthorised structures till November 3. But on November 9, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the announcement. The efforts of the Punjab Government declaring Karoran, Nada and Kansal villages to be a “transitional area for the purpose of constituting the Nagar Panchayat at Naya Gaon”, were also affected after the High Court stayed its operation. Fresh constructions could be seen in Naya Gaon and Kansal villages. Some constructions are in progress in the villages. Construction activities could also be seen in the Mullanpur-Kharar-Dera Bassi belt. The enforcement wing of PUDA had demolished a few unauthorised structures in the periphery to discourage people from raising constructions after November 3 but the move has failed to deter people from raising constructions. |
Customer sold ‘damaged’ car ? Chandigarh, December 4 In a communication, he said he had booked the car by depositing a sum of Rs 50,000 vide receipt No.Veh/01223, dt 10.10.2001. It was confirmed to him that the vehicle would be delivered to him on October 17-18, 2001. But he made numerous visits to the showroom and each time he was told that “the vehicle has not come from the manufacturer”. Finally he got a call on October 23 that the vehicle had been received and would be delivered the next day. He was given delivery of the vehicle on October 25 when he pointed out thefollowing defects: there was a white spot on the left front door and the paint was rough and the Palio emblem/logo on the rear side was broken. He was told that the white spot would be removed, while the logo was fixed with an adhesive. He later learnt from a friend that his left front door had been repainted. Further inspection at the showroom revealed that even the dicky bore marks of denting and painting. He therefore demanded that the vehicle be replaced. But Mr Ashwani Anand, director, Anbros Motors Pvt. Ltd, when contacted by TNS said that the vehicle was sold to Mr Malhotra in “perfect condition” after pre-delivery inspection at our dealership. Before taking delivery of that car, Mr Malhotra had personally inspected the car and signed the satisfaction note. However, Mr Malhotra approached the dealer on November 20, 2001 after about 26 days of taking the delivery of the car and informed him that they had delivered a damaged vehicle to him. It was explained to Mr Malhotra that the car was delivered to him after he had seen and found the car in perfect condition”. |
Navy Day
celebrations Chandigarh, December 4 Navy Day is observed on December 4 each year to mark the highly successful missile raid by the Indian Navy’s Osa Class boats on Karachi harbour and the nearby oil refinery during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. A large number of serving and retired officers attended the function. The Navy Day cake was cut jointly by the seniormost naval officer present, Commodore Narender Singh (retd), and the junior most sailor posted at the cell, LSA Bishnu Sahu. The Air Officer Commanding, 12 Wing Air Cmde V.S. Govindarajan, was the chief guest on the occasion. Welcoming the guests, the Officer-in-Charge, NLC, Commander R.P.S. Josen, read out the message of the Naval Chief, which stated that the year 2001 has been an eventful year, with the International Fleet Review taking the centre stage. The Navy’s professionalism and its stabilising role in the region has been felt by the world, he added. The local NCC naval unit had also set up a display of static as well as remote-controlled working models of various ships in service with the Navy. The NLC was established in 1982 for liaisoning with 3 BRD for repair and overhaul of engines and certain components of Russian origin aircraft in the Navy’s inventory, including IL-38 and TU-142 maritime reconnaissance aircraft. The engines of the Navy’s Kamov helicopters will also be overhauled by 3 BRD in the near future.
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Membership of British
Library opens Chandigarh, December 4 “There has been tremendous pressure from the people here to expand our membership strength,” said Mr Sushant Banerjee, manager of the library. “Keeping it in view we are going to add 1,500 more members in the next session,” he added. The authorities has fixed January 2 as the last date for adding new members. The applicants will be chosen on the first-come-first-serve basis, informs Mr Banerjee. Though the library encourages all kind of readership, this year it is going to focus on young students and professionals. And to encourage the youngsters to develop reading habits, Mr Banerjee has already chalked out a plan to add a children corner and a section for romance fictions. The modernisation plan that started in the library some time back is going to be completed soon. The library is going to have video conferences, e-journals and e-magazines as part of the plan.
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DC holds meeting
to assess progress Panchkula, December 4 It is learnt that the meeting was attended by the SDM, Mr M.S. Yadav, Panchkula, the City Magistrate, Mr Rajesh Jogpal, the Estate Officer, Ms Geeta Bharti, and the Executive Officer, Mr O.P. Sihag, among others. Sources inform that the two places identified earlier for the setting up of the dairy complex and shifting of around 180 dairies operating in the town, have been disregarded because of the problem of acquiring of land. It was decided to identify another suitable place at the earliest. Meanwhile, the EO of Municipal Council, Mr O.P. Sihag has called a meeting of all dairy owners on December 6, to discuss the issue and the stray cattle menace. |
Looking for ‘phoren’ pastures YOU just can’t miss her nostalgic charms. She is a glamour girl in one moment and an earthy beauty in the other. It is this versatility of Raveena Tandon which has brought some plum assignments her way. It would be highly unfair to state that Raveena has consciously diverted to the art circuit because she did not do very well in the commercial cinema. The fact of the matter is actually otherwise. Her success in the many commercial ventures opposite Govinda had tremendously added to her box office image. It was around time that ‘Daman’ happened. Director Kalpana Lajmi chose Raveena for the flexibility of her appearance and of course for the substance of her acting. No wonder the former girlfriend of Akshay Kumar now has a lot of success backing her. Apart from the hugely entertainment-based stuff she did for director David Dhawan, Raveena today has some reasonably good performances to her credit. Her roles in ‘Shool’ and ‘Daman’ have been widely appreciated. News has it that this Punjabi lass who made her debut opposite Salman Khan in ‘Pathar ke Phool’ ...is now considering some international ventures. The Raveena of ‘Aatish’ and ‘Mohra’ will thus soon have a lot of ‘phoren’ clout supporting her. |
A clarification Starfizz, the organiser of the Mahindra talent search competition which was held on December 1 at Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, claimed today that the write-up on the event carried in Chandigarh Tribune was “not true to the facts and details given are incomplete”. It claimed that the event was well organised. Starfizz had already organised three such events in the past. The Mahindra talent search competition held four events — on-the-spot painting competition, flower arrangement, clay modelling and dance competition — which took place in the evening. All the participants were given free drawing material and clay along with refreshment. The winners in all the categories were given mementos, prizes, gifts and certificates. Clearing its stand on the payment issue of their employees, Ms Baljeet Kaur and Ms Pawanjeet Kaur, the letter signed by the company manager Mr Atul Kumaria, said that those two girls were no longer employed with Starfizz as they were found collecting participation fee from the school. However, they were still asked by the employer to come and collect their remaining salaries after the event. But instead they started threatening the staff members and created a chaos at the venue, the letter added. (The correspondent covering the event stands by her version of the story.) |
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