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Monday, October 5, 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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Monday, October 5, 1998 |
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We feel peaceful here: NRIs CHANDIGARH, Oct 4 — Away from the hard and stressful life of the Western world and to seek "real solace", a group of eminent businessmen, industrialists, professionals and sportsmen — all non resident Indians — are here to participate in the ninth Vishav Ruhani Mission's annual samagam at Ratwara Sahib, near here. Air Force Day: Sukhoi aerobatics key
event
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  Jaspal Bhatti's dig at onion price CHANDIGARH , Oct 4 — The poker-faced satirist is at it again. Soaring price of onions and the government's inability to control prices caught the fancy of Jaspal Bhatti as he showed his protest in yet another unique fashion here today . |
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Christians
look to minorities panel Ex-Servicemen
want Home, Defence ministers to go 'Shobha
yatra' marks Valmiki Jayanti Animals
Day celebrated Former
CJ calls for review of judicial system |
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We feel peaceful here: NRIs CHANDIGARH, Oct 4 — Away from the hard and stressful life of the Western world and to seek "real solace", a group of eminent businessmen, industrialists, professionals and sportsmen — all non resident Indians (NRIs) — are here to participate in the ninth Vishav Ruhani Mission's annual samagam at Ratwara Sahib, near here. They include India's former star triple jumper Mohinder Singh Gill and builder Gurmez Singh Bains. Besides, Mr Sukhjinder Singh Khera, Mr Makhan Singh Khera, Mr Ravinder Singh Takhar, Mrs Sukhdev Chima, Mrs S.K. Gill (all from England), Mr Tarsem Singh Bains, Mr Kehar Singh, Mr Tara Singh Bains, Mrs Karam Kaur Bains (all from Canada), Mr Gurdial Singh Johal and Mr Jaggi Takhar (both from the USA), Mr Jeewan Singh, Mr Charanjit Singh Randhawa, Mr Hardev Singh and Mr Joginder Singh (all from Australia) are other NRIs who are here for the samagam. "Life is becoming more and more stressful. The problems are more with our younger generation which is gradually drifting away from us for want of knowledge about their roots, their origin, their culture and heritage. The main problem has been paucity of quality literature in English", says Mrs Sukhdev Chima. Mohinder Gill, a former Asian Games and Commonwealth Games gold medallist, says that Vishav Ruhani Mission is, perhaps, the first spiritual organisation to realise the significance of quality literature. It introduced Atam Marg, the largest circulated magazine, which gives scientific and modern interpretation of Gurbani. Besides, the Mission started its web site. "Gurbani has universal appeal. It is wrong to say that it belongs to one particular community. We need saints and other spiritual leaders to interpret this Gurbani and explain to us in simple language. Holy scriptures and granths are useful only if we read them and are able to understand them. No useful purpose is served in just keeping them without ever opening them", says Mr Gurmez Singh Bains from Canada. "We feel so peaceful here that we do not want to leave", says Mrs S.K. Gill. Some of them, including Mr Mohinder Gill, Mr Jeewan Singh, Mr Sukhjinder Singh Khera, had been here before to take part in earlier samagams. "I cannot believe it. I am here for the past two days and the peace I get listening to discourses throughout the samagam is unbelievable", says Mr Gurmez Singh Bains. "What we need is some good magazines, preferably in English, so that we can guide and educate our younger generation about our rich cultural heritage, our religion and our history. Introduction of 12 pages in English in the monthly Atam Marg has been of great help in bridging the existing communication gap", says Mr Kehar Singh from Vancouver, Canada. Mr Mohinder Gill says that during the last visit of Sant Waryam Singh, Chairman, Vishav Ruhani Mission, a piece of land measuring about 40 acres, was donated for the construction of a centre of the Mission in the United States. "The work on the construction of an office at the proposed centre has started. We want it to be a centre for propagating the message of spirituality. What we need is spiritual solace which we think can be provided only through scientific interpretation of Gurbani". "When Sant Waryam Singh went to California, we organised our samagams in a Hindu temple. The idea is to bring the people together and not to distance them from one other. In February, we propose to have Swami Ved Bharti in North America and the UK for a month", says Mr Gill. All these NRIs feel that learned people and saints have a very constructive role to play in the present-day tense and stressful life. They provide the much-needed "peaceful respite. It is why we all travel long distances to listen to them", adds Mr Gurdial Singh Johal from the USA. "These NRIs are keen to have a new modern colony here provided they get a good piece of land", adds Sant Waryam Singh, chairman of the mission. Meanwhile, there is overwhelming response to the samagam on the second day today. Among the prominent
religious personalities to address the congregation were
Satguru Jagjit Singh of Namdhari sect, Sant Kalyan Dass,
Dr Jodh Singh, Dr Anand Swamy, Swami Pritam Jyoti, Sant
Mohinder Singh of Khanna, Dr Ved Bharti and Sant Waryam
Singh. |
Air Force Day: Sukhoi
aerobatics key event CHANDIGARH, Oct 4 — For the first time on Air Force Day, three state-of-the-art Sukhoi-30 (SU-30) fighter planes will take off from here and display aerobatics at the saluting dais in New Delhi on October 8. Besides this, seven Jaguars and seven Mirage-2000, led by Air Marshal D.S. Basra, Senior Air Staff Officer of the Western Air Command, will take off from Ambala on that day to fly all the way to Delhi converging into a formation en route. A single SU-30, commanded by Sqn Ldr N.S. Jambal, displayed its manoeuvrability and prowess at the Air Force station here today. The impressive display lasted 10 minutes. Sqn Ldr Jambal later talking to mediapersons said three SU-30s would display aerobatics in the "Vic" formation before the chief guest at the Air Force Day celebrations. Painted in Tricolour, the aircraft will participate in for the first time in the flypast in a formation. The highlight of the SU-30 aircraft is its turns and rolls and variation of speed ranging from 200 kmph to 2500 kmph . In addition to this it has excellent patrol, radar and assault capabilities, an Air Force spokesperson said. Air Marshal Basra said professionalism and expertise went into each successful flypast as different varieties of aircraft emanate from diverse and far-off places."It needs the highest level of accuracy and alertness to make the event successful and avoid any mishap", he said. The 38 aircraft — SU-30, Jaguars, Mirage-2000 and MIG-29 — participating in the flypast in this year's event will take off from different air bases — Chandigarh, Ambala, Sirsa and Hindon. They will converge over Hisar before proceeding to Delhi in one formation after another to display their spectacular performances. The spokesman said that
each formation was flown on the same horizontal plane
maintaining a distance of 3.5 km from one another while
the aircraft in each formation kept a distance of mere 10
feet to 15 feet. |
Poet-cum-film lyricist CHANDIGARH, Oct 4 — "I have always been engrossed in literary activities, with the result I have never been able to latch on to any one music director," says Majrooh Sultanpuri. Talking to TNS in his room at Shivalikview Hotel here this morning, Majrooh went on to add: "This explains why I have not written more than 3,500 songs in a film career spanning more than five decades". He could have written thousands more, he feels. Majrooh is in town to be the chief guest at the Rafi Memorial Nite held at Tagore Theatre later in the evening. Despite being divided between Urdu poetry and film lyrics, Majrooh has received due recognition for both. He was honoured with the Iqbal Samman by the Madhya Pradesh Government for his contribution to Urdu literature. Likewise, he was bestowed with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award for outstanding contribution to Indian cinema. Incidentally, Majrooh is the first lyricist to receive this award. Majrooh's film career began with "Shahjahan" way back in 1946. Teamed with Naushad, he wrote unforgettables as Jab dil hi toot gaya... and Gham diye mustaqil..... It was with Naushad again, for "Andaz" that he wrote evergreens like Hum aaj kahin dil kho baithe..., Tu kahe agar...., Jhoom jhoom ke..... and Uthaye ja unke sitam...... About 20 years later, Majrooh came to Naushad's rescue in "Saathi" with hits like Main to pyar se tere piya..., Ye kaun aaya, roshan ho gayi mehfil..., Mere jeevan saathi... and Mera pyar bhi tu hai.... The immense gap between "Andaz" and "Saathi" can also be attributed to the poet's patriotic zeal which however, landed him in jail in 1950. Having criticised Pandit Nehru's stand in the Commonwealth, in his verse Dushman ki dosti hai ab ehle watan ke saath; Hai ab khaza chaman mein nai pairahan ke saath...., Majrooh refused to apologise to Morarji Desai's government in Maharashtra and got arrested under the Detention Act. A mellowed Majrooh now concedes, "It was a little too much", referring to what he had written. Majrooh, known as a lyricist with a penchant for genuine poetry, has made a mark for songs that are serious, comic, tragic, romantic and even pop. "I write my songs according to the character with which I'm presented", he states. "For the heroine playing a modern girl I wrote Waadiyan mera daman, raaste meri bahein .... and for an illiterate character being taught by a girl I wrote C-A-T cat, cat maine billi ...", he explains. Similarly, Thade rahiyo... in the Purabi dialect and ... Jayiyo kahan ai hujoor ... were written according to the characterisation, he adds. Thus, while he wrote sad songs like Hum bekhudi mein tum ko pukare chale gaye..., he also gave fast numbers like Haal kaisa hai janaab ka..., Mana janaab ne pukara nahin.. and Chhod do aanchal zamana kya kahega.... It was with Majrooh's songs for "Teesri Manzil" that R.D. Burman came to the limelight. Likewise O.P. Nayar became famous with "Aar Paar", Usha Khanna with "Dil Deke Dekho" and Rajesh Roshan with "Kunwara Baap", while Laxmikant-Pyarelal reinstated their position with "Dosti". All these films had songs by Majrooh. He is also known to the present-day generation for his chart-busters Papa kehte hain... ("QSQT") and Pehla nasha, pehla khumaar ..... ("JJWS"). Earlier, he had the nation swaying to Piya tu ab to aaja.... ("Caravan"). Majrooh is currently working for his son Andlib Sultanpuri's film "Janam Samjha Karo" and Kundan Shah's "Loveria". Not bad for a lyricist
whose heart still remains steeped in Urdu poetry. He had
expressed regret in one of his verses Hum hain mataaii
koochch-o-bazaar ke tarah.... about art having become
a commodity. This verse had affected Rajinder Singh Bedi
so much that he insisted on using it for his film
"Dastak" under Madan Mohan's baton. It is
Bedi's words that sum up Majrooh's presence in the film
world: "We here learn unlearnings". |
Jaspal Bhatti's dig at onion
price CHANDIGARH , Oct 4 — The poker-faced satirist is at it again. Soaring price of onions and the government's inability to control prices caught the fancy of Jaspal Bhatti as he showed his protest in yet another unique fashion here today . Those who went to purchase the "dear commodity" with tears in their eyes and holes in their pockets came back smiling if they happened to be around when Jaspal Bhatti, surrounded by "black cat commandos", moved around the vegetable market in Sector 26 . "Any threat to your life , Mr Bhatti?", asks a quizzed onlooker. "No , not my life .The bulk purchase of onions that I have made today are under great risk of being looted on the way , he answers. "Onions are so costly that carrying them in broad daylight is a risk to one's life", he adds . Bhatti, who is also the president of the Nonsense Club says onions should be given as an incentive and as festival advance to all government employees . Banks should also initiate steps to give soft loans for its purchase. The government should also provide security to all those who make bulk purchase, he added. Words of court jesters
were usually accorded significance by kings in ancient
times. One wonders whether the government is listening to
the modern-day version . |
Petrol stations to remain closed
on October 8 CHANDIGARH, Oct 4 — Petrol stations in the city will remain closed on October 8, a press note of the Chandigarh Petroleum Dealers’ Association said here today. Mr Arjan Singh, president of the association, said the petrol stations would remain closed from 9 p.m. on October 7 till 6 a.m. on October 9. The stations will stay closed following a call given by the All-India Petroleum Traders for closure. Mr Arjan Singh said the commission payable to dealers since July, 1996, had been denied. This was despite the fact that the oil companies had written to the ministry in this regard. There had been a systematic harassment of petroleum dealers at government’s hands. He said the dealers had
demanded that international norms should be followed
during supply of petrol to dealers. As the substance was
highly volatile and the volume was affected due to
changes in temperatures the supply in underground tanks
got reduced. He said that a compensatory amount should be
paid or the petrol should be supplied at the standard
15° Celsius. |
Forum orders refund payment CHANDIGARH, Oct 4 —The UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum(II) has ordered the Water supply department to refund Rs 73 to a local consumer along with Rs 220 as costs. Mr R.P. Bajaj, president and Mr H.S. Walia and Mrs Kamlesh Gupta, both members, gave the order on a written complaint filed by Mr P.C. Gaur, a resident of Panchkula. Mr Gaur in his complaint alleged that he was handed a final bill due to his impending retirement in 1997 under which a sum of Rs 73 was to be refunded to him. Despite several visits to the office of the SDO, Sector 32, the amount was not refunded. Non-refund of the amount
for more than one and a half years constituted a
deficiency in service, the forum observed and allowed the
refund. The amount is payable along with 12 per cent
interest within a month of the receipt of the copy of the
order . |
Christians look to minorities panel CHANDIGARH, Oct 4 — The Indian Christian Welfare Association has urged the Minorities Commission of India to protect the Christian community from the threats posed by the anti-Christian and communal forces. The association at a meeting here today passed a resolution, condemning an incident in which four nuns were allegedly gang-raped last week in Madhya Pradesh. The association has deplored the statement by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad general secretary, Acharya Giriraj Kishore, that the missionaries should leave the country immediately. The chairman of the association, Mr Sohan Masih in a press note here today expressed concern over the atrocities on Christians and said atrocities were on the rise and the community was facing a number of problems in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, where the Christians were feeling insecure due to the 'anti-Christian' stance taken by the RSS and its frontal organisations. The association has deplored the incident in which a number of copies of the Bible were torn off by certain miscreants at Rajkot in Gujarat. Expressing anguish over
such incidents, the association clarified that no one had
been compelled to embrace Christianity by Christians or
missionaries working in the country. |
Ex-Servicemen want Home,
Defence CHANDIGARH, Oct 4 — While demanding the resignation of the Home minister and the Defence minister, the All India Ex-Servicemen Welfare Association has deplored the alleged action of the Central Government in ordering the verification of the antecedents of the Air Chief Marshal S.K. Sareen and other commanders of the Indian Air Force. The chairman of association, Mr Bhim Sen Sehgal, in a press note here today said that the credibility of the service chiefs of India had been above board and no one had dared to point an accusing finger on their character and antecedents. While demanding a thorough probe into the episode, the association warned the BJP Government that the incident could demoralise the armed forces, which have been facing an "indifferent attitude" in all spheres such as pay, allowance and welfare of the jawans. Mr Sehgal said it was time
to check the credentials, antecedents and the character
of politicians, who have brought the country to the brink
of disaster as a result of their actions. |
'Shobha yatra' marks Valmiki
Jayanti CHANDIGARH, Oct 4 — In order to celebrate the birth anniversary of Bhagwan Valmiki, a 'Shobha yatra' was organised today by different organisations. A large number of people participated in the yatra, which took off from Sector 38 and passed through different areas of the city before terminating at Sector 29-B. The yatra was inaugurated by Mr Babu Lal, an IAS officer. A former union minister, Mr Venod Sharma, who was the chief guest, urged the people to follow the teachings of Bhagwan Valmiki. A number of organisations, including the Chandigarh Pradesh Valmiki Sabha, the Bharatiya Balmiki Sabha, the Maharishi Valmiki Jan Chetana Parishad and the Adi Dharam Samaj took part in the yatra, which was organised by the Bhagwan Valmiki Shobha Yatra Committee. A function was also
organised by the Bharatiya Balmiki Dharam Samaj at the
Sector 30 Makkhan Shah Lobana Bhavan. The Mayor, Mr Gian
Chand Gupta, was the chief guest. |
Animals Day celebrated CHANDIGARH, Oct 4 — The Animals Day was celebrated today by the local chapter of the People For Animals by organising mobile veterinary camps at Rajiv colony and Mauli Jagran near here. The organisation in a
press note here today claimed that 50 animals were
treated at the camps. Besides, free medicines and
literature posters were also released on the occasion. |
Former CJ calls for review of
judicial system CHANDIGARH, Oct 4— Justice J. V. Gupta, a former Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court while calling for a review of the judicial system, said today that the foreign judicial system adopted by India had not worked well in Indian situations. Speaking at an open discussion organised by Janshakti, a social organisation, Justice Gupta said if a judge was not honest, morally he ceased to be the judge. Prof Virender Kumar of the Department of Law, Panjab University, lamented the non-fulfilment of legitimate expectations from the judiciary since independence. Criticising the formal system of justice imposed by the colonial masters, he complained that the judicial system was serving only about 5 per cent to 8 per cent of the population. Prof D. N. Jauhar also
from the university, wanted a thorough change in the
working pattern of the subordinate judiciary. |
More facilities for disabled PANCHKULA, Oct 4 — The state Education minister, Mr Ram Bilas Sharma, laid the foundation stone of the state branch of the National Rehabilitation and Research Institute (NHWC) for the disabled in Sector 12-A here today. The minister also inaugurated the sixth foundation day celebrations of the state branch of the NHWC. He said the government was planning to give more facilities to the handicapped in the state. He announced a grant of Rs 61,000. The national secretary of
the NHWC, Mr Ajit Salani, criticised the Central
government for not implementing the Social Securities
Act. |
CHANDIGARH , Oct 4 — Panjab University has decided to provide re-employment opportunities to members of the non- teaching staff (technical staff and laboratories employees) after they have reached the age of retirement. Earlier only teaching staff was entitled to re-employment benefits. While members of the teaching staff were re- employed for a period of three years, the term of technical employees to be employed on a contract will one year in the first instance, a committee constituted in this regard has said. During the period of the contract the employee will be paid fixed monthly emoluments equal to half of the salary he was getting at the time of retirement. Salary would imply pay and allowances excluding HRA. He will also not be entitled to PF and gratuity during the period of his contract. The re-employed employee will not be entitled to housing facility on the campus. In case he was staying in a university house he will have to vacate the same within two months of retirement following which the contract will be 'automatically terminated'. The university has already re employed staff members — one in the Department of Ancient History, Culture and Archaeology and another in the Regional Sophisticated Instrumentation Centre (RSIC). The contract will be against the post of the incumbent at the time of retirement, and after a break of one day. A standing committee has been constituted to look into those who apply for re- employment. The panel comprises the Dean University Instructions, the Registrar, the Finance and Development Officer, two Fellows of the university, chairman of the department concerned and the seniormost member of the faculty in the department concerned. The committee also recommended that the departments would take steps well in time for training other who could fit in the post. In case of promotional post, the department will take necessary steps to fill the post through proper procedure for the new incumbent to take over . In case of selection grade post the department is expected to advertise for the post well in time. The committee which made the recommendations for allowing re-employment was also headed by the Dean University Instructions .The recommendations have been given a nod by the syndicate . While the policy decision
has, by and large, been received well, a section of
employees, however, fear that their avenues of promotion
could be affected adversely. |
PANCHKULA, Oct 4 — The robbery near Ramgarh in which two officers of the Indian Oil Corporation were attacked and robbed of their valuables on September 27 has been traced to the Bawria gang by the local police. Five members of the gang including their leader Fateh Singh (50) have been arrested by the police from Rehor village near Bataur in Barwala block. The bandits, claims the police, pretended as farm labourers engaged in harvesting paddy crop. The gang members — Dota Singh, son of the gang leader, Mukesh, Pyara Singh and Sanjay — all in their early twenties have confessed to the police of having committed at least three robberies in the area, including the one at Ramgarh. Besides, they also confessed about four robberies in Meerut (Uttar Pradesh). The SP, Mr Alok Mittal, said the gang members hailing from Alwar in Rajasthan were active in Haryana, Punjab and western UP. Three country made pistols, seven live cartridges, eight watches, gold and silver jewellery and Rs 10,000 in cash had been recovered from them, he added. A gold chain and a ring and Rs 1500 in cash which had been robbed from the IOC officials — Mr Manish Grover and Mr S.S. Sharma — have been recovered from the bandits. Some torches and lathis used by them were in their possession. Mr Mittal said that the gang members dressed themselves in undergarments and applied oil on their physique before committing a robbery. Iron and wooden rods were used by them to hit targets. Recovered: The police has recovered stolen goods — 10 saris, a VCR, a VCP, a deck and some watches — from Ranjit Singh,a resident of Ludhiana. Two arrested: A car (CHK 9686), which was stolen from Sector 6 in June, has been recovered by the police with the arrest of Naresh and Sanjay. CHANDIGARH Suicide: Gagan
Nijhar (23), a resident of Sector 9 here, allegedly
committed suicide by jumping from the roof top of his
house. |
CHANDIGARH: IndusInd Bank Art Gallery is the venue for an exhibition of paintings and pottery by Navpreet Kaur. It is good to see this art gallery keeping its promise and encouraging the artists to approach them freely for display. This is the third show it is holding. Navpreet here has put up few select frames. In all of them, except for one, she has painted female faces. This is so because. "faces are expressive and a woman can easily be read from her countenance". They are attired in bright colours like yellow, red, green and the head is covered with the 'dupatta'. All the ladies seem to be from rural areas. This fact has a deep connection with the artist, Navpreet also hails from the same background. So the affinity! The displayed pieces are in oils on which she has been working since 1993. Before this she used to draw. Along with the paintings Navpreet has also put her pottery for public viewing. Some of them are in lacquer and others have been chemically treated. For the chemically treated ones no colours have been employed. In the exhibition which
will go on till October 15, paintings seem to be
dominating the scene, though they could have done with a
little bit of variety. |
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