& V I C I N I T Y
Thursday, December 17, 1998
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C H A N D I G A R H & V I C I N I T Y |
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Thursday, December 17, 1998 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Police recruitments put off No
decision yet on City: Advani Consultancy
firms submit bids |
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 Work on to reopen
carriageway |
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NDA
jubilee rally in city
Unions
hail decision on deputationists Reserved
seats notified |
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Police
recruitments put off CHANDIGARH, Dec 16 — Recruitment of 14 Assistant Sub Inspectors (ASIs) and 120 constables in the Chandigarh Police has been postponed until February following reported intervention by the Administrator here today. The process of recruitment was to begin later this month after an extension in the last date for applications for the 14 posts of Assistant Sub-Inspector ended yesterday. The candidates were required to appear for physical measurements at the Sector 26 Police Lines on December 22 at 9 a.m. Besides, today was the last date for applications for the posts of constable. The candidates were required to appear for physical measurements on December 29. Police officials maintain that the postponement of recruitment has been necessitated because of administrative reasons and the recruitment process will now start on February 2 for ASIs and February 9 for constables. They say senior officers will remain busy until Republic Day. Sources in the Punjab Raj Bhavan, however, point out that a series of complaints alleging "favouritism" and "irregularities" in the recruitment of both constables and ASIs early this year and impending changes at the top in the Chandigarh police led to the decision of postponement of recruitment at the level of the Administrator. While some of the unsuccessful candidates have moved petitions before the local Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), a number of complaints have been directly made to the Administrator as well as the Administration. In one of the complaints, it has been alleged that one of the ASIs selected never appeared in the list of successful candidates both for physical fitness test and written test but was still selected. The complainant even sent copies of the results of both these tests conducted prior to the final selection of candidates. The police authorities, however, justified the selection of the ASI on the plea that it was his merit in physical fitness test as well as written test that got him through. In the case of constables,
a petition before the local Bench of CAT witnessed
several serious allegations, including
"favouritism", relaxation in qualifications for
candidates belonging to general category in contravention
of the conditions given in the recruitment advertisement
and selection of a number of candidates who have direct
or indirect connections with either members of the
Selection Committee or are related to those working in
the Department. |
Work on to
reopen carriageway CHANDIGARH, Dec 16 — A strong contingent of workers of the Engineering Department of the Chandigarh Administration has been working for the past two days to "reopen" a slow carriageway in Sector 35-C here. The slow carriageway has been lying closed for more than a year now. The problem was highlighted by The Tribune on December 15. Sources in the Engineering Department point out that closing of the road was "unintentional". At the time of widening of the Himalaya Marg, the slow carriageway was probably not cleared of debris, earthwork and the unused stone metal. Because of big heaps of stone metal and earthwork, the road, though closed temporarily, was never restored to its original shape and position. After widening of the Himalaya Marg, the workers left the site. The closed road was gradually converted into an "encroachers heaven" as a number of footpath vendors, engaged in selling paan bidi, chana bhatura, shoe mending and scooter and cycle repair, converged on the road and set up permanent vends there. A couple of rickshaw stands also came up on this closed slow carriageway. When the workers descended on the road, these vendors were taken by surprise. By this evening, the workers had cleared the surface of the slow carriageway of thick deposits of earth, stone metal, debris and other construction material deposited on it. Some truckloads of debris and earth were also cleared. The closing of the "slow carriageway" because of mere negligence on the part of the officials concerned not only denied the vehicle owners rightful use of this road but has also cost the state exchequer a substantial amount of money on clearing it. It may take a couple of days more before the road is opened to vehicular traffic. Work on the other stretch of the Himalaya Marg in Sector 17, however, is yet to begin. This stretch has been in disuse for the past more than 10 years. It is also covered with huge mounds of earthwork and debris of buildings constructed along with it. Similarly, other roads,
including dual carriageway designed for heavy vehicles
for loading and unloading at the backside of showrooms on
Madhya Marg, continue to be in shambles. No attention has
been paid to repair and maintain these roads which were
originally constructed by spending lakhs of rupees on
them. Interestingly, while the roads have been rendered
useless for vehicular traffic, sodium vapour lamps fixed
on them are all functional. Here you have streetlights
but only patches of roads while in the rest of the city,
you have roads but no effective streetlights. |
Exemption
from ESI Act CHANDIGARH, Dec 16 — The Chandigarh Administration has decided to exempt the employees of the Union Territory Red Cross Patients Welfare Meal and Canteen Services, PGI, from the operation of the Employees State Insurance Act until September 30,1999, it was officially stated here today. Reconstituted: The Administration has reconstituted the board of directors of the Chandigarh Child and Women Development Corporation with the Finance Secretary, Dr G. Vajralingam, as its chairman. The other officials members of the board would include the Joint Secretary Finance; and the Principal of Home Science College, while the Managing Director of the corporation will be its member secretary. Dr Savita Malhotra of the
PGI, Mrs Surya Pandit, Municipal Councillor and an
officer of Punjab National Bank shall be the non-official
directors of the corporation. |
No decision yet on Chandigarh: Advani NEW DELHI, Dec 16 (PTI) — The government will try to resolve all outstanding issues in the Rajiv-Longowal accord in a manner acceptable to all concerned, Home Minister L.K. Advani told the Rajya Sabha today. "The government is committed to resolving the outstanding issues and striving for a comprehensive settlement," Mr Advani said while responding to supplementaries by Mr Kartar Singh Duggal (nominated) during question hour. He said sincere efforts were being made to find an acceptable solution in consultation with the parties concerned. Of the 11 demands in the 1985 accord, three issues — All-India Gurdwara Act, the territorial claims and the sharing of the river waters — remained to be implemented, the Home Minister said. Referring to another question on the status of Chandigarh, Mr Advani said no decision had been taken so far. The government would like the state governments concerned to sort out the differences over the issue amicably and would be willing to help in the matter, he added. On the sharing of the waters, he said it would be advisable that the states concerned sorted it out through a political solution on the lines of the Cauvery water dispute settlement. Referring to All-India Gurdwara Act, Mr Advani said Haryana, Maharashtra and Orissa had opposed the move while Bihar preferred not to comment. The decision on such
issues could be arrived at only with the consent of state
governments concerned Mr Advani said, adding "we did
not include the inter-state disputes in the national
agenda for governance of the BJP-led coalition." |
Vijay Divas
celebrated CHANDIGARH, Dec 16 — The 27th anniversary of Vijay Divas was celebrated with great enthusiasm and fanfare by Western Command at Chandimandir today. The day is held to commemorate victory in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. In the morning, homage was paid to those valiant soldiers who laid down their lives for the country at a solemn ceremony at Veer Smriti memorial in the command. Lt- Gen H. B. Kala, GOC-in-C, Western Command, laid a wreath at the memorial. Others included Air Marshal Randhir Singh, Maj-Gen R. S. Mavi, Brig Sant Singh and Brig H. S. Ghuman, all retired officers. General Kala said Western Army captured 825 sq km of Pakistani territory in the Shakargarh, Salient and Chicken Neck area besides making significant gains in Gurais, Tithwal, Poonch, Rajouri, Nowshera in Jammu and Kashmir and many other areas in Punjab and Rajasthan sectors. Later, a series of events were organised at the Raina Stadium to mark the ceremony. They included dare-devilry by Tornadoes, motorcyclists of the Army Service Corps, tent pegging, Lezium and a dog show. The show stealer was the performance by the Tornadoes. For more than half an hour they went through their routine of dare, devilry, including balancing a dozen men on a motorcycle and taking a bike over 20 men lying in a row. The function was largely
attended. A get-together was organised in the evening at
the Command officers' mess which was attended by a large
number of serving and retired officers. |
Thick fog in
region CHANDIGARH, Dec 16 — A thick fog has enveloped parts of Punjab Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh for the past several days. It has seriously affected the movement of vehicular, rail and air traffic throughout the region. The problem is more serious in the areas surrounding water channels, open spaces and irrigated fields. Weather experts explain that a steady drop in early morning and late evening temperatures is the major cause of fog near water bodies and irrigated open fields. It is less acute in towns and thickly populated areas. Reduced visibility because
of fog has also led to a series of road accidents in
various parts of the region. |
NDA jubilee
rally in city CHANDIGARH, Dec 16 — The National Defence Academy (NDA) golden jubilee motor rally reached Chandigarh last evening. The rally would be flagged off by the Punjab Governor tomorrow noon. The academy is located at Khadakwasla, Pune. The nationwide rally has 10 officers from the three services, besides four NCOs and 20 cadets of the academy. The rally would transverse 14 states and four union territories will carry the message of "seva parmo dharma", which is also the motto of the academy. During the course of the journey the cadets will be speaking at hundreds of schools and public forums organised by the Lions Clubs and various NCC units. Informative representations about the achievements of the NDA in the past 50 years would be presented. The aim of the rally is to highlight the need for good citizenship, besides, contributions made by the institution for the unity and integrity of the nation. Meanwhile, the Gujjar
Samaj Bhavan Kalyan Parishad will tomorrow organise a
talk by officers of the NDA on various aspects like how
to join, training, lifestyle, challenges, promotions and
pay scales, besides a general interaction with the cadets
at 10. 30 a.m in the Gujjar Bhavan complex in Sector 28.
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Insurance
staff hold rally CHANDIGARH, Dec 16 — Members of various trade unions of the local insurance sector today went on a lightening strike and held a rally in Sector 17 in protest against the tabling of the Insurance Regulatory Authority Bill in Parliament. The protesters formed a human chain, raised slogans against the government and alleged that the opening of the insurance sector to private and multinational companies would entail an irreparable loss not only for the employees but the nation itself. The government is going ahead with the Bill even after major opposition parties and some coalition partners had expressed their reservations on the issue. The protesters were joined by development officers besides class III and IV employees. A spokesperson of the
Joint Front of Trade Unions of the LIC and the GIC said
that protests would continue till Parliament was in
session.
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Consultancy
firms submit bids CHANDIGARH, Dec 16 —The Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation (CITCO) has sent the bids received from the consultancy firms for suggesting ways and means to privatise its hotels to the Chandigarh Administration. According to the Managing Director of CITCO, Mr Satish Chandra, the bids would be shortlisted by a high-level committee of the administration. Later, shortlisted parties would be invited to give presentation. A total of 23 consultancy
firms, including an American firm, had submitted the
bids. |
Unions hail
decision on deputationists CHANDIGARH, Dec 16 — The Central Government's decision to treat the employees transferred by the Chandigarh Administration to the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) on deputation has been welcomed by various employees unions. A press note of the Joint Action Committee of the Municipal Corporation Employees and Workers lauded the efforts of the local MP, Satya Pal Jain, and the Adviser to the Chandigarh Administrator, Mr Jagdish Sagar. The Municipal Corporation
Employees Union (Engineering Wing) and the Sweepers Union
have also hailed the decision.
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Reserved
seats notified CHANDIGARH, Dec 16 — The Chandigarh Administration has notified the reserved seats for the conduct of panchayat elections in the city. The poll dates will be announced on the arrival of the Election Commissioner. The seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) are Khuda Ali Sher, Maloya, Kajheri and Palsora. The seats reserved for women are Kishangarh, Sarangpur, Daddu Majra, Kaimbwala and Raipur Khurd. The election process is to be completed before January 15. Meanwhile, a deputation of the Pind Sudhar Committee submitted a memorandum to the Finance Secretary(FS) regarding the notification today. Mr Bhupinder Singh Badheri, president of the committee, and Mr Ram Pal Sharma , president, INTUC, said that the reservation of four SC seats were contrary to provisions of Section 12 of the Panchayati Raj Act, 1994. They said as per the 1991
census the number of seats to be reserved for SC were
three and not four. The FS assured them that he would
look into the matter, they added. |
CHANDIGARH, Dec 16 — The Assistant Inspector-General of Punjab Police, Mr Gurdarshan Singh, today reiterated before Mr Justice Swatantar Kumar of the Punjab and Haryana High Court that sufficient evidence was available for launching prosecution against Dr Kewal Krishan, a Cabinet Minister in the Beant Singh Ministry, and seven officers in the sale of three sugar mills. The officers named are Mr A.S. Chatha, Mr I.S. Bindra, Mr Rajan Kashyap, Mr S.K. Tuteja, Mr D.S. Kalha, Mr P.S. Bajwa and Mr I.N. Khanna. In an affidavit filed before the court, Mr Gurdarshan Singh stated that the third report, which was revised and comprehensive, was submitted under the signatures of three DSPs, who were investigating officers, and the deponent. Mr Gurdarshan Singh stated that these officers were identified along with other concerned individuals and their liability was brought to the notice of the Supervisory Officer in the first report. Subsequently, as investigation progressed, more evidence was collected. It was considered that evidence was sufficient for launching prosecution. Therefore, in the third report they had been considered liable for prosecution. Clarifying the difference in the three reports, Mr Gurdarshan Singh stated that individuals who were party to only a single decision and were not consistently associated with important stages of the transactions were not considered liable for prosecution at the time of submission of the third report. The affidavit stated that the final report had mentioned that evidence was not sufficient at present to launch prosecution against those not included in the third report. However, action could be taken against such officers only if more evidence was found. Firm's plea against govt admitted Our Legal Correspondent adds: A Division Bench admitted a writ petition filed by the Associated Cement Companies Ltd. (ACC), challenging the orders of the Haryana Government directing the company not to enter into any agreement for sale of its Surajpur cement plant and that only the state government could purchase it. The petitioner company also challenged the order dated May 8, 1998, passed by Haryana's Director of Mines and Geology whereby it was informed that the state government has decided to purchase the plant and machinery at the zero depreciation value at Surajpur and reserved the right regarding the other plant and machinery installed on leased land. The petitioner had also been asked to hand over possession of the plant and machinery which have "zero depreciated value". It was also directed to hand over possession of the leased land, including building and factory site at Surajpur, to the Forest Department. The petitioner-company stated that the respondents had no right to interfere in the removal of the plant and machinery from leased lands and the action of the respondents in asking the petitioner to hand over possession of the plant and machines having "zero depreciation value" was illegal and arbitrary. It was further submitted that the respondents had illegally claimed that certain assets had zero depreciation value. The petition will come up
for final hearing on January 11. |
CHANDIGARH, Dec 16 — The city police has registered a case of cheating and forging court documents against a city based advocate and his accomplices here today. According to police sources, A.K. Malari along with the proprietors of M/s Standard Construction Company forged the documents of the court of Mr K.C. Garg and submitted them to the Military Engineering Services (MES) authorities claiming that the company had been allowed to carry on with certain works after the tender had been revoked by the authorities for alleged irregularities. The court, according to the documents, had directed the MES authorities to let the company get on with the work. The value of the tender was Rs 3 crore. The cheating and fraud came to light after the documents were sent by the MES authorities to their counsel, who pointed out that although the orders had been issued by the court of Mr Garg, the signatures and seal on the orders were of the court of another judicial officer, Mr B.C. Gupta. The matter was referred to the police and a case under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B, IPC, registered at the Sector 17 police station. Held for theft: The police has arrested Surjit Kaur, a resident of Sector 15, on the charge of stealing an amount of Rs 5 lakh from the house of Mr Ishwar Singh of Sector 18. According to the police, the accused along with her sister approached Mr Ishwar Singh for renting a portion of his house over three months ago. They continued to visit his house and on December 12 Mr Ishwar Singh went to the market to fetch some household articles. On his return he found the cash missing. Mr Ishwar Singh who is in his eighties and is a former businessman, complained to the police which claims to have recovered an amount of Rs 1.42 lakh from Surjit Kaur's possession. Further investigations are on. Gangster held: The police on Wednesday claimed to have arrested another member of the Dheh community allegedly involved in a series of rapes and dacoities in the city recently. On a tie-off a police team laid a naka outside Nayagaon village and arrested a member of the gang, later identified as Netti. Assault case: Mr Dharam Pal, a conductor with Haryana Roadways and a resident of Dobhi village in Hisar district, in a complaint with the police, alleged that he was assaulted by Munshi Ram and Mohinder Singh, both residents of the same village, at the Bus Stand, Sector 17. A case has been registered. Arrested: Balinder Singh, a resident of Sonjani village in Muzaffarpur district of Uttar Pradesh, has been arrested on the the charge of eve-teasing from Government High School, Dadu Majra. Case registered: On charge of obstructing Mr Bhagat Ram, Regional Passport officer, from discharging his duties, the police has registered cases against Daljit Singh, a resident of Karnal, and Bhupinder Singh of M/S Guru Gobind Travels, Sector 34. Car stolen: Mr Satish Kumar Gupta, a resident of Sector 40, in a complaint with the police alleged, that his car (CHK 4456) has been stolen from Sector 17. PANCHKULA Scooter theft: Mr Rajinder Chopra, a resident of Sector 21 here complained to the police that his Kinetic Honda scooter was stolen from his house last night. The thieves also broke a window pane of his car which had been parked along with the scooter. Injured: A
pedestrian was injured after he was hit by an
unidentified vehicle near the Sectors 11 and 14
roundabout. The victim, Om Pal, is a resident of Bapu
Dham colony in Chandigarh. The police has registered a
case under Section 279 and 337, IPC. |
CHANDIGARH, Dec 16 — For those who are familiar only with the "ghoomar" and the "kacchi ghori" dance of Rajasthan, today's cultural performance at Tagore Theatre by the Rajasthan Cultural Troupe was a fascinating experience of the state's little-known colourful folk forms. The show was organised by the Department of Public Relations and Cultural Affairs, Haryana, and Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi. The inexhaustible variety of forms and rhythms of the folk dances and songs of various Rajasthani tribes, created images of brilliance. The show began with "Langha gayaki," which, accompanied by several folk instruments, produced the effect of romantic rain with the soulful "jhuumar barse megh". The audience also appreciated Kohinoor Khan's exuberant exhibition of playing "khartaal", a small wooden instrument heard in almost all Rajasthani melodies. The acrobatic "bhanwai" dance, which seemed like some magical illusion, had the dancer place 11 glasses and 10 saucers on top of her head and dance alternately on spiked boards and swords! Performed by Vineeta Vyas, the dance got more vigorous with each successive glass and saucer placed on her head. The "Bhil dance" was another engaging performance. Extraordinary harmony was achieved on stage by singer Kaushal Ram on a harp-like instrument called "ravan-hatha" and a heavily veilded dancer. Dancing animatedly in a flowing skirt to the smooth sound of the "ravan-hatha," the veiled dancer lifted the veil to reveal "himself" as Thakre Ram! Zahoor Khan, on an instrument called "Bhapang", similar to the 'damroo," entertained the audience with his amusing verses. Zahoor's melodiously gruff voice was accompanied by the sonorous voice of Farooq Khan. The gurgling water sounds made by the "bhapang" and the camel like body movements of the two performers were delightful. The loud applause of the audience clearly made it the favourite item of the day. This was followed by a teerah-taal" dance, that had dancers Nirmala and Manju, dancing while "sitting down. They swayed to the music with lighted candles on plates placed on their heads and swords held between their teeth. The final piece of the show, "Kalbiliya" dance, performed by the Sapera tribe of Rajasthan, could not relive the splendour that is associated with this vibrant dance form, set to the tune of the "been". Mr Attar Singh Saini,
Public Relations, Minister Haryana was the chief guest.
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Writer producer director N. Chandra's 'Wajood' (Neelam, Chandigarh), is an action-packed thriller about love, desire and jealousy between two men and a woman. The film is based on N. Chandra's earlier movies 'Ankush', 'Pratighaat', 'Tejaab', 'Narsimha' and also borrows heavily from 'Yugandhar'. But the film has style and masala in sufficient dollops to keep the viewer entertained. Lavishly mounted and brilliantly acted by Nana Patekar and Madhuri Dixit, Wajood hopefully will do good business at the box office. N. Chandra's 'Ankush' was based on unemployment, 'Pratighat' on dirty politics, 'Tejaab' on new generation, and 'Narsimha' on organised crime. 'Wajood' is the story of today's youth, their dreams, aspirations and their struggle to create an identity for themselves. We have rich, middle and poor class in our society and their generations are worried about their identity. This is the story of 'Wajood' N. Chandra delivers the goods both as director and writer. W.B. Rao's camerawork is excellent. Music is interesting and composed by ace music director Anu Malik. The background music is good and lyrics by Javed Akhtar are also good. Dance director Saroj Khan and Ganesh both have put in enough. Action scenes are well picturised. Unlike some of Nana Patekar's earlier starrers 'Wajood' offers him the scope to display his prowess. Madhuri Dixit seems ideally suited for this role. Mukul Dev and Ramaya are passable. Johny lever, Shivaji Satam, Suhas Joshi and Hema Adhikari are all comfortable in their roles. The best aspects of the
film are Nana's acting and the pace of the film. |
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