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Saturday, November 14, 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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Saturday, November 14, 1998 |
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"Pustak" for slum dwellers CHANDIGARH, Nov 13 — "Pustak" (Book) does not merely mean the literal translation of the word to Youth Technical Training Society. Thanks to a pilot project of the society, hundreds of slum dwelling children now have access into vistas of non-formal education. Feast for
the eyes of cactus lovers |
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 "Nation's interest first" CHANDIGARH, Nov 13 — Youngsters of today should put service to the country before anything else on their priority ..., said Mrs Serla Grewal, a trustee of The Tribune group of publications,while addressing students of St John's High School here today. |
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Panchayat
poll officers meet Novel
way of protest Environment Court at Panchkula sought |
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"Pustak" for slum dwellers CHANDIGARH, Nov 13 — "Pustak" (Book) does not merely mean the literal translation of the word to Youth Technical Training Society (YTTS). Thanks to a pilot project of the society, hundreds of slum dwelling children who probably never had the opportunity to study while financially supplementing the family income have now access into vistas of non-formal education. The society, set up in 1980, was formally registered in 1986 as a non-profit voluntary organisation. In 1989, the services besides youth welfare activities extended into providing education to children who "continue to be silent victims of poverty that is the scourge of the nation". Children's Day is the right opportunity to acknowledge the services of the society which endeavours to pull away at least a few from the dragnet of illiteracy, destitution and exploitation. A functionary said "the idea of imparting non-formal literacy is that children come and go to school at their own convenience, no rules or regulations are binding on them so that they can themselves pick the threads and move on ." The objective is to make the children realise that there was no future in the mainstream without education. Education is imparted in the elementary form. Apart from education , mid day meals and clothes are provided to them, most of whom are malnourished. YTTS-Pustak which is the pilot project needs no introduction in the city. It has nearly 550 children as its beneficiaries. The centres include Mauli Jagran (215 children); Indira Colony, Manimajra (47 children); Labour Colony, Sector 31 (180 children); Burail (68 children) and Dhanas (36 children). The YTTS is a voluntary service organisation with the avowed objective to rehabilitate rural youth by imparting training and helping in employment. The duration of training varies between 6 and 12 months during which the trainee gets a stipend. The YTTS also runs project VAMA for women. More than 150 women have been benefitted at the craft centres at various slums and institutes in the city. The leading light behind the organisation is a man to whom the nature has not been kind. Yet his work could inspire a song for humanity. Mr Vineet Khanna was confined to bed after a medical blunder which left him totally confined to bed in 1972. Despite a massive stroke in 1996, his quest for service continues unabated. Born in 1952 at Shimla, Mr Khanna graduated in psychology and sociology from Panjab University. His story of success is one of the triumph of the spirit over the body. Mr Khanna was nominated on the executive of an apex body, the National Committee on AIDS of the Health Ministry, by the President between 1993-95. He is the recipient of the state award for social service by the UT Administration and a certificate of merit from the Health Department. He was honoured with the Sat Paul Mittal award where he was the co-winner and the fellowship of the Ashoka Foundation, USA. Even with severe
Ankylosing Spondylosis Mr Khanna is shuffling between
various places in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and
UT carrying the torch of dedicated social service high.
He is also associated with a number of health projects. |
Feast for the eyes of cactus
lovers CHANDIGARH, Nov 13 — It was a feast for the eyes of hundreds of cactus lovers for as many as 2,561 rare and exotic varieties of cactus and succulents were on display at the 22nd Annual Show organised by the National Cactus and Succulent Society of India at Lajpat Rai Bhavan here today. As many as 53 competitors from all over the country are participating in the three day event, which will be thrown open to the public tomorrow after the inauguration by a Delhi-based entrepreneur, Mr Rajesh Prashad. However, for the participants the show was opened from today itself. Rare varieties of cactii and succulents such as Ariocarous Agavoidis and Escobaria Sneedii, both of Mexican origin were among the cactus plants which attracted onlookers due to their unique colour and formation. According to Dr. J.S. Sarkaria, the Curator of the Panchkula based Cactus Garden, Ariocarus Agavoidis is one of the rarest cactii which has virtualy disappeared from its place of origin in Mexico. Escobaria Sneedii too is rare and its collection has been banned by the Mexican authorities. Anyone found doing so is fined $ 10,000. The other attractions include flower-bearing varieties like Notina, which looks like a fountain. According to the show chairman, Col. C.S. Bewli, another interesting aspect of the show is that all plants on display are of foreign origin and have been made to acclamitise to the local environmental conditions. Later, a 30-year-old cactus plant Astropytum, belonging to Mr Anil Kaushik and Adenia Spinosa to Dr J.S.Sarkaria were crowned as "king" and "queen" of the show. The Sarkaria trophy, for maximum points in the senior league, was won by Mr Ramji Lal, while Mr.B.P.Singh bagged the NCSSI trophy for maximum entries.In the junior league, the Bhullar Bowl was won by Mr Jagtej Singh Bewli and the trophy for the best cactus and succulent in the novice section went to Ms Satinder Kaur and Mr Ravi Mahajan, respectively. Similarly, the Cactus and Succulent Botanical Garden, Panchkula, lifted the Union Bank of India and the NCSSI trophies for the best institutional participation. Following are the other results: S.P.Bhandari trophy — Cactus Garden Panchkula; Anup Trophy — Mr Ramji Lal; O.P.Bansal trophy — Cactus Garden Panchkula; Kewal Singh Bains plate — Mr Ramji Lal; Dawer trophy — Cactus Garden Panchkula; NCSSI Challange trophy — Shant Bhupinder Singh; M.R. Agarwal Trophy-Ramji Lal; Mrs Surindra Goel memorial trophy — Xen HUDA; Bhupinder Singh Memorial Trophy-Anil Kaushik; Capt J.N. Sood memorial trophy — Cactus Garden Panchkula; Malik Sukhdayal trophy-Mrs Ramji Lal and Cactus Garden; UBI trophy — Cactus Garden Panchkula; Hari Ram trophy — Ramji Lal; BML Sharma trophy — Jagtej Singh Bewli; Aneesh Bansal trophy — Mr.B.P.Singh; A.S.Walia trophy — Ramji Lal; ISOCS trophy — Dr J.S. Sarkaria; and NCSSI trophy for best outstanding participation — Mr D.S. Sharma, GPI Nalagarh. The panel of judges
included Mr C.P.Mehra, Mrs Meena Singh, Mr S.P Bhandari,
Dr Dayal and Mr Rajesh Bindra. |
"Nation's interest first" CHANDIGARH, Nov 13 — Youngsters of today should put service to the country before anything else on their priority while they shoulder the responsibility of carrying the country into the 21st century, said Mrs Serla Grewal, a trustee of The Tribune group of publications,while addressing students of St John's High School on the eve of Children's Day here today. One of the flaws in the present day generation was that they wanted to achieve success even by adopting backdoor methods like money and "sifaarish". The most deserved and satisfying success was the one attained through hard work and dedication, Mrs Grewal said. "You are a privileged lot in terms of financial support of parents for studying in good schools. Think of millions who have not seen the light of day in matters of education. Each student should endeavour to make a contribution in this direction", Mrs Grewal said. While praising the school authorities, Mrs Grewal said schools of this league made tremendous contribution in inculcating discipline and sincerity among students which were vital for work ethics. Apart from the contribution of parents, schools had a definite role to play in this direction . Mrs Grewal underlined the need for population control. "The quality of youngsters had suffered on account of over population .The country has great machinery and institutes of science and technology. Much will depend on how much and how quick the youth was ready to give ", she added. Mrs Grewal who is also a trustee of the Durga Das Foundation handed over the cheque of Rs 51,000 to Gautam Tevatia, a student of Class X, for the award in overall excellence instituted in the memory of Vivek Singh, the late son of ghazal singer Jagjit Singh. The singer had himself announced the award a few days ago. Mr D. Abreau, Principal of
the school, introduced the guest. The school also
presented a march past. |
Fans burst crackers after
India's win CHANDIGARH, Nov 13 — Sparkling lights of crackers lit the dark wintery skies of the city as Sachin Tendulkar dispatched the ball to the boundary which marked India's victory over Zimbabwe in the Coca Cola Cup finals in Sharjah tonight. Joy was writ large on faces of youngsters who took to streets on their two wheelers and cars at various places. Groups of family members could also be seen in compounds of their houses discussing the highlights of the game. Mr Vijay Kumar, a student of a sales institute said, "Cricket seems to be the only symbol of nation's glory for the past couple of years. The rising prices and muddle of politics hardly leave a scope to be proud of our country. Mr Kishan Kumar, a resident of Sector 37 found it "heartening to see the opening pair click after a long time. The Tendulkar juggernaut continues to give nightmare to opponents. Poor Zimbabwe, whose hopes were raised after the victory on Wednesday, were shown that they still had miles to go as far as cricket was concerned". The common rooms of
hostels in the university were packed to the capacity
with the avid fans appreciating each shot. "Zimbabwe
was always a weak team. More than the victory, it was the
speed with which it was executed which interested the
viewers," Mr Sanjay Singh, a student of the Law
Department said. |
Children's Day celebrations CHANDIGARH, Nov 13 — Entertainment programmes, sports events and competitions marked the "Bal Divas" celebrations in different parts of the city and surrounding areas today. A function in this connection was organised by the Army School, Chandimandir at Manekshaw Auditorium. More than 700 students participated in an on-the-spot painting competition, a fancy dress competition and a one act play organised by the school authorities. Col. I.S. Punia of Education Headquarters, was the chief guest and Mrs Sneh Punia gave away the prizes to winners. A colourful function marked the Children's Day celebrations by the Mount Carmel School, (Sector 46) at LECMA in 3BRD here today. A traffic education
programme was jointly organised by the Shemrock Angel,
Shemrock Foundation, Mohali and the Traffic Warden Cell
of the Chandigarh Police at the Sector 23 Children
Traffic Park. Fun races, were organised at the DAV Senior
Secondary School (Sector 8) on the occasion. |
Panchayat poll officers meet CHANDIGARH, Nov 13 — A meeting regarding the UT panchayat polls was held with senior officers of the Chandigarh Administration by Mr Onkar Singh, Joint State Election Commissioner for Delhi and Chandigarh, here today. Mr Singh met the officials in the afternoon. He also listened to the fears expressed by the deputations of villagers in the forenoon. The villagers were mainly apprehensive about the reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and women candidates. Deputations led by Mr Harbhajan Singh, president of the Action Committee for the Development of Villages and Mr Bhupinder Singh Badheri, president of the Pind Sudhar Committee met Mr Singh and urged him not to yield to the political pressures being exerted on the commission and local authorities. It was also brought to his notice that two seats were reserved wrongly in the municipal polls due to political interference. Mr Singh assured them that everything would be done as per norms and the 1991 census would be followed for resevation of the seats. Mr Singh told them that
the date of the polls would be announced by the Deputy
State Election Commissioner. |
Novel way of protest CHANDIGARH, Nov 13 — Adopting a noval way of protest, as many as 200 families belonging to Sector 32-C, swore they would not use onions until their price came down to Rs 2 to Rs 4 per kg. The protesters, mostly women, took an oath to shun onions during a meeting of the Mazdoor Sudhar Sabha, which was presided over by its president, Mr Ram Avtaar, a sabha press note said. While addressing the
gathering, Mr Ram Avtaar, demanded that the
administration should withdraw the recent hike in power
tariff. |
Environment Court at Panchkula sought PANCHKULA, Nov 13 — The Panchkula Congress has demanded that an Environment Court should be established at Panchkula to deal with cases relating to the Shivalik Hills. In a statement issued here
today the Chairman of the Legal Cell of the Panchkula
District Congress, Mr Vijay Bansal, said at present two
Environment Courts were functioning at Faridabad and
Hisar. However, forests in Haryana were primarily
concentrated along the Shivalik Hills. Therefore, the
people of this area had to travel all the way to Hisar
for attending cases in the Environment Court there. |
50 pc seat quota in CTU buses
sought CHANDIGARH, Nov 13 — A deputation of Yuvsatta, a local social outfit, met the Director, Transport, UT, here today and urged him to reserve 50 per cent seats in CTU buses. Mr Pramod Sharma, president of the organisation, said such a policy existed for senior citizens and handicapped persons sometime back. A statutary warning on penalty for those attempting to outrage the modesty of women should be prominently displayed in all regional languages in the buses. Mr A.S. Yadav assured the
deputation that their demand would be met with soon. |
Showroom owner acquitted of murder
charge CHANDIGARH, Nov 13 — The Sessions Judge, Mr B.S. Bedi, today acquitted Sunil Bansal, owner of a saree showroom in Sector 17 here, his father Jai Chand Bansal and his mother Kanta Bansal of the charge of murder. They were booked by the local police under Sections 302, 304-B, 498 and 120-B, IPC, after Raj, wife of Sunil Bansal, and their minor son, Akash, had died after consuming poison. The complaint was lodged
by the father of the deceased woman alleging that the
suspects were demanding dowry and Rs 5 lakh for the
purpose of renovating a showroom. |
CHANDIGARH, Nov 13 — Dharna by students of the Department of Education continued for the second day in succession at Panjab University here today. Students are demanding that the compulsory submission of the dissertation at the conclusion of the M.Ed. course should be made optional. Mr Akhil Goyal, secretary, Panjab University Campus Students Council, said the agitation would be intensified in case the demands were not met till Monday . A student of the Education Department said while submission of the dissertation was compulsory for regular students the students of correspondence studies were granted relaxation in this regard . Also the submission did not carry any weightage at the time of interviews since no special marks were allocated for the purpose. This also extended the total time taken for completion of the course, the student added. Minor altercation: A minor altercation between two student groups was reported in Hostel VI of Panjab University, sources said here on Friday. Two students Sandeep Sharma and his friend, reportedly received minor injuries. They were attending a birthday party of their friend when the incident occurred. Copies of the complaint have been forwarded to the DSW and the security staff .The police, however, did not confirm the incident . National symposium: A national symposium on the role of microbes in the management of environmental pollution being organised by the Department of Microbiology, Panjab University was inaugurated here today. Inaugurating the symposium, Mr N.S.Tiwana, executive director of the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology said the technology developed for pollution control in brick kilns had earned the council a sum of Rs 2 crore. Among those who spoke on the occasion were Mr F. Lal Kansal, Prof K.G.Mukherji and Prof Lalit Kumar Gupta. Lecture: The MR Sahni memorial lecture will be delivered by Dr D.K.Chadha, chairman of the Central Ground Water Authority at the seminar hall of the Department of Geology in Panjab University on November 17, an official press release said here today. Seminar: The
Regional Sophisticated Instrumentation Centre and
Biophysics Department of Panjab University will organise
a one day seminar on High performance liquid
chromatography on November 16, an official press release
said here today. |
CHANDIGARH, Nov 13 — A Chandigarh policeman and his two brothers allegedly maltreated and harassed their own teenaged cousin, who was staying with one of the married brothers in Maloya village. The Pune-based girl, Reeta Handa (13), reportedly "escaped" from the house of her cousin Raju and reached the Phase VI gurdwara in neighbouring SAS Nagar. Certain compassionate workers of the gurdwara approached the Chandigarh branch of the Indian Council for Social Welfare (ICSW) besides calling up the girl's parents in Pune. The father of the girl, Mr Satish Handa, was united with his daughter today. The father, accompanied by workers of the social organisation lodged a formal complaint against the brothers at the Maloya police post this evening. Though no case has been registered so far the police called in Vinod Oberoi, the policeman in question, for interrogation. His two brothers, Raju and Sonu, are said to be away to Pune, according to police sources. While talking to The Tribune, Mr Handa said his daughter had been brought to Chandigarh from Pune by Vinod Oberoi around six months ago. He had promised he would put the girl in an educational institution so that she could pursue her studies. Sonu had been staying with the Handas in Pune for the past 14 years. His mother had died when he was a toddler and his father married for the second time and he was brought up by the Handas. "That is why we trusted them", Mr Handa added. Upon reaching Chandigarh, Vinod allegedly left Reeta with his elder brother Raju, a photographer by profession, and himself continued living in the police lines. The girl said, "I was never sent to any school and instead asked to do all household chores from cooking to cleaning in Raju's house." This carried on for several months. Reeta said her complaints to Vinod and Sonu fell on deaf ears. Last week, Raju alleged Reeta had stolen a sum of Rs 600. "After this, he thrust a bundle of notes in my hand and asked me to stand besides my suitcase," Reeta alleged. Raju then allegedly started blackmailing her by saying that if she ran away then he would present the photo to the police and prove that she was a thief. Raju then went about convincing his brothers that Reeta was a thief. Afraid with the developments, Reeta said she decided to leave home. The brothers did not even lodge a missing persons report at the police station. Proclaimed offender:
The Sector 39 police has arrested Bhagat Ram, a
proclaimed offender wanted in cases of burglary. He had
been declared offender around 14 years ago, according to
police sources. |
CHANDIGARH: For music lovers of the City Beautiful, Dolly Guleria is not only the daughter of the Nightingale of Punjab, Surinder Kaur, but a singer in her own right who has successfully and surely emerged out from her mother's shadow. Thursday evening, which was celebrated as the National Thalassemia Day, at Tagore Theatre by the Thalassemic Children Welfare Association, Chandigarh, in collaboration with KB DAV Centenary Public School, Sector 7, Chandigarh, and Vir Deva Foundation, presented the programme to a packed auditorium. Beginning the evening with the first sholakas of the Rehraas Sahab, "Dukh daaroo, sukh rog bhaaya", Dolly set the mood for a round of some excellent bits of poetry in her smooth voice. The singer is in a fact known to pick up the finest of poets, and the choicest of their poetry, which further heightens the quality of her honeyed voice. "Raat chandni main turan, mere naal ture pharchawan" by her favourite poet, Shiv Kumar Batalvi, followed. The rendition of Prof Mohan Singh's heer, a soul-stirring composition, "Mood de ni, Mera Ranjhana wey ni", brought out the melancholic strains of the love between Heer and Ranjha. The combined effect of Amrita Pritam's "Aaj akhan Warris Shah nu" and Dolly's resonating voice could well have had a goose-pimple-raising effect, but the loud orchestra seemed to mar the stirring tenor. The continuous search for seats, by the audience, in the over-crowded hall proved to have its own distracting effect. The organisers could also have checked the incessant rippling noises of packets of chips and popcorns. It was Batalvi's "Meri jhanjhar tera naam laindi.... kare chhum-chhum-chhum", which uplifted the mood of the evening, and many a person from the audience could be seen walking up to the stage to request for popular songs. Dolly was accompanied by Murlidhar Soni on the keyboard, Lalit Kishore and Ashok Sehgal on the dholak, Ajit on the octopad, Prakash Thakur on the tabla, Sharma on the flute and Ravinder Rana on the Spanish guitar. A film on thalassemia was also presented. — S.S. |
CHANDIGARH, Nov 13 — Following the advice of the UT Legal Remembrancer, Mr Sanjiv Kumar, all meetings of the Finance and Contract Committee of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC), held after September 24, will be valid. Announcing this here today, Mr Gian Chand Gupta, Mayor, said legal advice had been sought following objections from two BJP members of the committee — Mr Prem Sagar Jain and Mr O.P. Goyal — that quoram was not complete at the meetings. Saying that for a meeting to be valid at least three of the five elected members should be present, they had called for declaring the meetings to be "invalid". Mr Gupta said now of the eight members of the committee, three members constituted the quoram. With this, the controversy regarding the quoram of this policy-making body of the MCC had been cleared. Now the meeting could be held even if none of the elected members of the committee turned up for the meeting as the Mayor, ex-officio chairman, the Commissioner, ex-officio member, and the Secretary, ex-officio secretary, would constitute quoram. Mr Gupta flayed certain councillors, who intentionally disrupted the proceedings of the House. The residents of the city would never forgive them as they were playing havoc with the development of the city, he said. Demanding action against those indicted in the inquiry report in the Mani Majra land acquisition case, Mr Gupta informed that he met the UT Administrator in this regard, who assured him of early action against the guilty. He said a committee would
be formed for looking after the properties of four
villages incorporated in the civic body. |
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