& V I C I N I T Y
Friday, November 20, 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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Friday, November 20, 1998 |
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MC staff axe encroachments CHANDIGARH, Nov 19 — Amidst protests by residents, enforcement staff of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) today removed encroachments from government land in Sector 7-C here. Tomato prices begin to fall CHANDIGARH, Nov 19 — The prices of tomatoes and a few other vegetables have started witnessing a downward trend. Good quality tomatoes being sold for Rs 45 and Rs 50 a kg during the past one week, were priced today at Rs 25 a kg in the Sector 45 Apni Mandi. British Council library
project cleared |
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  Israeli experts exhibit a cube-shaped air and water tight storehouse used for storing foodgrain. — A Tribune photograph Solving problems of storage CHANDIGARH, Nov 19 — "We have a suitable solution of the problems faced by India on the foodgrain storage front," claims a team of Israeli experts. |
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Students
asked to acquire skills Ex-parte
proceedings ordered Deluge
of music at zone 'A' festival National
Integration Day celebrated |
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MC staff axe encroachments CHANDIGARH, Nov 19 — Amidst protests by residents, enforcement staff of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) today removed encroachments from government land in Sector 7-C here. Led by Mr S.M. Sharma, Assistant Commissioner, a MCC team with the help of a JCB, removed hedges, angle irons and permanent structures in front of about 53 houses that had come right up to the road berms. The operation, which began at around 11 a.m. lasted for about six hours. Residents alleged that the encroachment was removed without any prior notice. They also alleged that the indiscriminate demolitions had badly damaged the runway in front of the houses. However, heavy security arrangements prevented any untoward incident. They alleged that while encroachments in front of their houses had been removed, no attention had been paid to encroachments in front of houses occupied by senior government officials in Sector 7-A. If the MCC was serious about removing encroachments it should do so without any discrimination after issuing a notice, they said. Meanwhile, refuting the
allegations of the residents, corporation officials said
the encroachments had to be removed as the recarpeting
work of V-6 roads in the city had started and it was
necessary to remove encroachment. |
Tomato prices begin to fall CHANDIGARH, Nov 19 — The prices of tomatoes and a few other vegetables have started witnessing a downward trend. Good quality tomatoes being sold for Rs 45 and Rs 50 a kg during the past one week, were priced today at Rs 25 a kg in the Sector 45 Apni Mandi. The commodity was available for Rs 30 a kg in the Sector 45 rehri market. However, in Sector 46 the shopkeepers sold them for Rs 40 a kg. Enquiries with traders revealed that the prices of tomatoes have fallen due to fresh supplies from Maharashtra. Two truckloads of tomatoes arrived in the Sector 26 vegetable market from Mumbai today. The prices had risen due to shrinking of supplies from Himachal Pradesh which is a major tomato producing state. Mr Babu Ram, a vegetable vendor in Sector 45 market, predicted that the prices would further come down due to more supplies from Maharashtra and the entry of local crop in the market. A fall in the prices of fresh potatoes notwithstanding, the pahari variety was still pretty dear at Rs 15 a kg. The same was the case with cucumbers as these were priced between Rs 25 and Rs 28 a kg. According to the traders the situation was the result of short supply of the crop from Himachal Pradesh. A number of vegetables
have, however, started coming within the reach of
consumers if prices at the Sector 45 Apni Mandi was any
indication. If 1 kg of cauliflower was available for Rs
8, the brinjals and gourd were priced at Rs 7 and Rs 10 a
kg. Similarly, onions were available between Rs 15 and Rs
25 a kg and garlic was priced between Rs 30 and Rs 40 a
kg. The price of bitter gourd was Rs 15. However, the
prices of these commodities were much higher in rehri
markets and sector markets where overcharging by
shopkeepers according to their whims and fancies was
common. |
Solving problems of storage CHANDIGARH, Nov 19 — "We have a suitable solution of the problems faced by India on the foodgrain storage front", claims a team of Israeli experts. Talking to TNS here today, Mr Uri Bukshpan and Mr Tom De Bruin said that Israeli experts after prolonged research had developed a post-harvest technology as an answer to the problems faced by tropical, sub-tropical and developing countries in the storage of various foodgrains. Mr Bruin said that India was a country where millions of tonnes of foodgrain worth several hundred crores of rupees were damaged every year due to inadequate and improper storage. A large portion of cereal crops stored in warehouses or in open spaces in gunny bags required to be fumigated at frequent intervals to control insect infestations. Besides this, foodgrain stored in open spaces under polythene covers were also damaged due to vagaries of nature and by rodents. He said that according to an estimate about three million tonnes of foodgrains were damaged in India but no actual assessment could be made as there was no nationally or internationally recognised standards to assess such losses. Mr Bruin said that the technology developed in Israel was very appropriate to situations where storage infrastructure was lacking and could be easily adopted for any level of storage facility. He said that the Haogenplast of Kibbutz Haogen in cooperation with the Agriculture Research Organisation (ARO) had developed storehouses of different dimensions of flexible PVC. Such storehouses, easily transportable from one place to other, had been developed in cube, bunker, silo and some other shapes having storage capacity varying between 5 tonnes and 1000 tonnes. In cubes only bagged grains were kept while in bunkers and silos loose grains could be stored. Cubes could be folded into a carry bag thus enabling transport of storage facility designed to contain up to 150 tonnes of grain in a pick-up van. These hermetically sealed cubes do not require fumigation. Living organisms in the grain, namely insects, micro organisms etc, die inside the system due to non-availability of oxygen after a few days thus saving the grains from damage. Rodents and birds were also kept out by this unique storage system. Mr Bukshpan said that this technology was extremely economical. Initial investments were low and the operating and maintenance cost was negligible. No support system like concrete pads and electricity was needed for cubes, bunkers etc. These airtight and waterproof storehouses were neither affected by floods. He claimed that countries like Thailand, Sri Lanka, Morocco, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan had adopted this technology. They said that they were ready to start a pilot project in Punjab for training the farmers as well as government procurement agencies like FCI for the adoption of this technology. Even this technology could be applied in mandis (foodgrain markets). For instance this year farmer suffered a heavy loss as the paddy brought by them to grain markets for selling was damaged due to rain before the procurement by government agencies. Israeli experts said that farmers could install silos or bunkers in grain markets and paddy or wheat could be protected from rain. They suggest the use of flash drying system to reduce the moisture level in freshly harvested foodgrains like wheat and paddy. They said that within half an hour, the moisture level could be brought down from 25 per cent or more to 18 per cent level by using the flash drying system. He said that after reducing the moisture level to 18 per cent, foodgrain could be safely stored in silos, bunkers and cubes for four weeks. They asserted that the
post harvest technology developed by them was environment
friendly. They claimed that they could solve India's post
harvest problems within a period of less that five years,
thus reducing the losses to an acceptable level of less
than 1 per cent whereas it was quite high at present.
Even cement, fertiliser, sugar, flour, milled rice, dried
fruit such as raisin, dates, dried mango and seeds could
be stored in cubes, silos and bunkers developed by them.
For small farmers family storehouses had been developed,
they added. |
British Council library project
cleared CHANDIGARH, Nov 19 — The project to set up a British Council library in the city, which has been awaiting clearance for a couple of years, is finally through. The project was initially held up because of paucity of funds. The British Council, had at one stage, even tried to rope in some sponsors, including the northern region headquarters of the CII, in the project. The green signal for the project was reportedly received today by the Adviser to the Administrator, Mr Jagdish Sagar. The proposed library will
be fully computerised and will have all the latest
facilities, including information technology, electronic
filing, micro-films. The British Council also proposes to
introduce a counsellor section to help visas seekers to
the United Kingdom for education and specialised courses. |
Dealer ordered to refund amount CHANDIGARH, Nov 19 — The UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (II) has ordered a local dealer in electronics to refund entire amount of a defective television set along with Rs 3,000 as the costs to a local consumer. Mr R.P.Bajaj, president and Mr H.S.Walia and Mrs Kamlesh Gupta, both members, handed down the order on a written complaint filed by Mr Rajinder Pal Sood, a resident of Sector 36. In his complaint Mr Sood alleged that he purchased a colour television of Akai make from Udam Electronics, Sector 22, in June, 1997, for Rs 21,990. In pursuance of a scheme, Mr Sood handed over an old television set valued at Rs 6740. The balance was paid in cash. Mr Sood discovered that the set supplied to him was defective.When this was brought to the notice of the dealer, he replaced the set.The working of the second set was also found to be unsatisfactory. Once again the dealer sent another set. Mr Sood discovered that the reception of the set in his possession was better than that being offered.He refused the third set and approached the forum for relief. The forum said the
complainant had rightly lost faith in the television sets
being sold to him. The forum ordered the dealer to pay
back Rs 21,990 as total cost of the television set within
two weeks of the receipt of the copy of the order.Mr Sood
has also been awarded Rs 3,000 as costs. |
Bail applications rejected CHANDIGARH, Nov 19 — The Additional Sessions Judge, Mr S.S. Lamba, today rejected bail applications moved by Gurcharanjit Singh and Gurvinder Singh, two suspects in the Sector 26 police station bomb blast case in July, 1990. According to the prosecution, Gurvinder Singh had hatched the conspiracy. Gurcharanjit Singh was declared the proclaimed offender in March, 1991. The prosecution told the court that Gurcharanjit Singh, constables Satvinder Singh and Balwant Singh had exploded the bomb in connivance with Daulat Ram. The prosecution further
revealed that Satinder Singh and Balwant Singh were
arrested, while Gurcharanjit Singh and Daulat Ram had run
away. |
Students asked to acquire skills CHANDIGARH, Nov 19 — A two-day national seminar on "Entrepreneurship in 21st century" started today at the Technical Teachers' Training Institute (TTTI), Sector 26, here. While inaugurating the seminar, Dr R.S. Khandpur, Director-General of the Centre for Electronics Design and Technology of India, stressed upon the need to change the mindset of students, especially those studying in the technical institutions, regarding their preferences for government jobs. He said the industry often complained that the engineers and diploma holders lacked adequate knowledge and technical skills. The students needed to acquire these skills so that they were gainfully employed. The acting Principal of
TTTI, Dr S. Krishnamurthy, stressed the need for updating
every individual with latest developments since the
country was passing through an era of information
explosion. |
Ex-parte proceedings ordered CHANDIGARH, Nov 19 — The Judicial Magistrate, Mr KC Garg, today ordered ex parte proceedings against the Zee TV Managing Director and producer of Khubsurat, Rasmi Barmani. This order was delivered
on a suit filed by Nani Nanda. In her suit she stated
that in episode No 103 she was the model of the week. She
was promised four prizes. However, she was given only one
prize. |
Deluge of music at zone 'A'
festival CHANDIGARH, Nov 19 — The Punjab University Zone 'A' Youth Festival being held at the Government College For Girls, Sector 11, got off to a flying start as the Chief Guest, Lt-Gen. (Retd) BKN Chhibber, Governor of Punjab and Administrator Chandigarh, released a bunch of balloons in the air. Besides fine arts events, rangoli and creative writing session, it was a day of melody and a deluge of music. Events of the morning comprised of competitions in shabad, bhajan, Indian classical vocal, vaar singing and Indian orchestra. The well-lighted college auditorium was the venue for 'geet', "ghazal", instrumental music, group song and folk song contests in the afternoon. Mrs Anuradha Gupta, Home and Education Secretary, presided over the function. Principals of six participating college teams were also present. The teams came from
Government College for Girls, Sector 42, Home Science
College, Sector 10, Guru Gobind Singh College for Women,
Sector 26, MCM DAV College, Sector 36, Dev Samaj College,
Sector 45 and Government College For Girls, Sector 11. |
National Integration Day celebrated CHANDIGARH, Nov 19 — National Integration Day celebrations were held in the city here today. The day was celebrated to mark the 81st birth anniversary of Indira Gandhi. At the UT Secretariat, the Adviser to the UT Administrator, Mr Jagdish Sagar, administered a pledge to the UT employees to work to preserve freedom and integration of the nation. The UT Finance Secretary, Dr G.Vijralingam, the IGP, Mr RP Singh, and other senior officers were present. At the Sector 35 Congress Bhawan, Principal Gurbachan Singh led party workers in paying tributes to Indira Gandhi. Congressmen pledged Indira Gandhi's ways. A prayer meeting was also organised by the National Students Union of India at Sector 8. Later, office-bearers of
the NSUI distributed sweets and fruit among slum dwellers
near Kaimbwala village. |
Luxury coach for honeymooners CHANDIGARH, Nov 19 — The "Shivalik Queen", a luxury coach targeted at honeymoon couples on the Kalka-Shimla narrow gauge railway section, will be flagged off by the Governor of Punjab, Lt-Gen BKN Chhibber (retd) at Kalka tomorrow. The coach will be attached
with the Himalayan Queen from Kalka to Shimla and the
Governor was expected to travel in the train till Barog,
Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Ambala, Mr RS Grover
informed today. |
Army school wins poetry trophy CHANDIGARH, Nov 19 — Army School, Chandi Mandir, won the running trophy in the poetry recitation contest on the opening day of the youth festival "Utsav 98" being organised by the Students Welfare Association of Tagore Niketan College for Girls. Sunanda from Army School was the winner in the individual category. Monika from Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 27, won the second prize while Beant from GMSSS, Sector 20-D, stood third. Sacred Heart School won the running trophy in the mono-acting competition. Rukmani, Pratibha and Parul stood first, second and third, respectively, in the individual category of the contest. Sanjay Public School won the running trophy for the solo song contest. Kamalroop was adjudged first in the individual category. Urvashi and Mankiran stood second and third, respectively. Shishu Niketan Senior
Secondary School, Sector 22, stood first in the group
song contest. Sanjay Public School and DAV Senior
Secondary School, Sector 8, Panchkula, were jointly
declared second. |
CHANDIGARH, Nov 19 — A panel of Panjab University has turned down a resolution which proposed that seats be reserved for retired teachers as syndics in various teaching faculties, including arts and languages. The proposed resolution read that "elections shall be held at the meetings of the faculties provided that at least one of the syndics elected by the faculty of languages, two elected by faculty of arts and similarly others shall be heads, retired heads, or retired teachers of affiliated colleges or teaching departments of universities". In the explanatory note it was argued that "a teacher always remained a teacher. However, it is sad to find that a university puts a teacher in the category of non-teacher as soon as he retires. In the interest of justice, retired teachers must be given their due." Mr Joginder Singh argued that a number of persons who were appointed on the senate were non-teachers, representing different fields. When even non-teachers could find representation on the senate, why retired teachers could not specifically be on the syndicate as teachers. One of the members had pointed out that "in service teachers were always in touch with the affairs of the university in a routine way. Prof I.M. Govil pointed out that 90 per cent of the agenda of the syndicate concerned the serving teachers who could always comprehend the problems in a better way. Another member pointed out that under the existing regulations, there was a specific provision for representation of non-teachers on the syndicate. As majority of members disagreed with the resolution, it was turned down. The recommendations of the committee headed by Prof I.B.S. Passi, Dean, University Instruction, will come up for discussion at the forthcoming meeting of the syndicate. Panel discussion: The Industry-Institute Partnership Programme(IIPP) cell of the university in collaboration with the Chandigarh Management Association (CMA) organised a panel discussion on the "Prospects of textile industry — threats, challenges and opportunities" at the ICSSR complex on Tuesday. Prof S.P.
Singh, coordinator of the IIPP cell, highlighted the need
for hard decisions in current harsh environment of the
textiles industry in India. Among those who spoke were Prof K.N. Pathak, Director of the IIPP, Mr Keshav Sachdeva, president of the CMA, Mr Sachit Jain, Executive Director of the Vardhman group of Industries and Mr S.K. Duggal, Managing Director of NITCON. CONDEMNED: The local chapter of the Indian Medical Association has condemned the "unfortunate incident" in which students hampered the functioning of the Health Centre in Panjab University on Wednesday. The association also "deplored" the practice of asking doctors to attend emergency in hostels, particularly those of girls, without presence of responsible personnel. Students
had blocked traffic for more than four hours yesterday
alleging that the doctor on emergency duty had not
responded to the call of a girl who complained of severe
headache a few days ago. |
CHANDIGARH, Nov 19 — For a change it was the police that was at the receiving end today. A woman Home Guard volunteer, posted on traffic duty near the transport area traffic lights, was allegedly harassed and manhandled by a villager coming on a cycle this morning. Mohinder Prasad of Darua village was arrested by the Bapu Dham police. Prasad, allegedly first disobeyed the instructions of the volunteer, Ms Baljinder Kaur, and then abused and manhandled her. She was on duty to divert slow moving traffic onto the slow carriageway along the Madhya Marg. She indicated Prasad to turn to the side lane. He disobeyed the instructions, and when he was caught he allegedly abused her. The police has booked him under Sections 332, 353 and 509 of the IPC. Children hurt: Two children, including a little girl, were injured when they fell off the roof of their respective homes today. Shintoo of Kajeheri village was playing on the roof when he fell of while Aarti an-year-old girl fell off from the roof of her house in Hallo Majra Village. Missing: An official of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), Punjab branch, has been missing from his home in Attawa village since November 17. Some persons reportedly approached Mr Santokh Singh and requested him to accompany them to SAS Nagar in a Tata Sumo on the pretext that they did not know the addresses of some their relatives. He accompanied them in good faith but has not returned since then, according to sources. Theft: A showroom located along the Madhya Marg in Sector 26 was broken into on the Wednesday night. Thieves decamped with small cash. Locks on all entrances were intact and the police suspect that someone probably jumped inside from the adjoining showrooms. A case under Sections 380 and 457 of the IPC has been registered. Held: Rajinder Singh was nabbed from outside Jat Bhawan on the Madhya Marg in Sector 27 for making lewd remarks at passing women, according to sources. A case under Section 294 of the IPC has been registered. Boxed: A wayside wareseller in Sector 17, was allegedly boxed by Ashwani Sharma, according to police sources. The police registered case under Section 325 of the IPC after receiving a medical examination report of the injured, Shankar Lal, from the medical authorities on Thursday. Accidents: Seven persons, including a constable of the Chandigarh Police, and a woman and her son, were injured in three separate road accidents in the city in the past 24 hours. In the first incident, that occurred on Wednesday night, Ramesh Kumar, driving a van first rammed into two cyclists — Tek Ram and Ishwer Singh — and then hit woman during a Kinetic Honda. The woman, Charanjeet Kaur and her son Prabhjot Singh and the van driver have been admitted to the PGI. The police has registered a case under Sections 379 and 337 of the IPC. In a accident in front of the Inter- State Bus Terminus (ISBT) Sector 17, a scooterist, Jagmohan of Sector 7 was hit by Maruti Gypsy. The Gypsy sped off and the scooterist was admitted to the PGI. Lastly, a constable, Paramjit Singh , riding a motorcycle was knocked off by a truck on the Chandigarh- Ambala road on Wednesday night. The injured cop has been admitted to the GMCH while the truck sped off. Assault: A couple faced the brunt of obscene gestures and assault at hands of Devinder Kumar of Sector 27. Manoj Jain has alleged that he and his wife had gone to the market when Devinder committed the act. A case under Sections 509, 354 and 34 of the IPC has been registered. PANCHKULA Death by poisoning: A 65-year-old labourer died of suspected poisoning here on Wednesday night. According to the information available the deceased. Soham Pal, who was engaged as a labourer at a house under construction in Sector 2 here, was admitted to the general hospital after he allegedly consumed some poisonous substance. The autopsy of the deceased indicated poisoning as the cause of death. The viscera has been sent for chemical examination. Fatal mishap: A
pedestrian, Mahadev died after being hit by a Maruti car
at Pinjore near here on Thursday. The victim, a resident
of Saini Mohalla in Pinjore, was hit by the vehicle near
Khera Bhasaula village falling in the Pinjore block. |
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