& V I C I N I T Y
Saturday, October 31, 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, October 31, 1998 |
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Middle class changing
eating habits |
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 Change police, evidence Acts: Hartmann CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — Mr Michael E. Hartmann, a UN Judicial System Officer, said here today that India should change such archaic laws as the Police Act, 1861, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, because these were framed under British rule to protect a rich minority. |
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Teachers
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Middle class changing eating
habits CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — The rising prices of essential ingredients of traditional food are acting as a catalyst for an amazing metamorphosis in the eating habits of people of North India. A labourer, for example, can no more afford his traditional food — a bunch of chapatis, a bulb of onion and a pinch of salt. For him, onion is an "elusive" item. Onion has paved way for radish. This change — from onion to radish or "mulli" — is now an accepted practice even in middle class houses. A random survey conducted by The Tribune at a number of dhabas, chicken shops and fast food joints reveals that cut onions or onion rings are no more offered with chutney to those who order either "tandori" preparations or a full meal. Instead, what a customer gets is a plateful of radish and cucumbers as "salad". Same is very true even in middle class houses. Onions and costly spices are now sparingly used for frying "pulses" and "subzees". The "salad" at routine lunch and dinner is without onions. "We cannot afford to consume onions as we used to do until last year," says Ms Daljeet Kaur, a young housewife of Sector 44. "Though we do not relish radish much, but there is no choice. You have to have something with your food." Mrs Paramjit Kaur of SAS Nagar corroborates her viewpoint. "We cannot afford to buy onions in bulk as had been practice for decades. In fact we have cut down the consumption of onions to a great extent. Even otherwise, all other vegetables are also equally expensive. My husband, who relished stuffed pranthas in breakfast, is now opting for simple chapatis and pickle. Our budget has gone haywire." "Whenever we go out for dinner in weekends, we prefer now Chinese or South Indian food. Otherwise, our traditional Punjabi food is become so expensive that a family of four cannot have its fill even at a mediocre restaurant by spending less than Rs 300." Mr Nirmal Singh Sandhu, a professional from hotel industry, says there is no harm in changing one's food habits provided one continues to relish it, and the food is nutritious and tasty. Onions, he says, have two basic utilities — flavour and as a thickener for gravy. In continental language, onions are used as a sauce. Tomatoes, garlic, ginger and other associate materials which are used for the same purpose are equally expensive. The judicious use of combination by reducing the quantity of expensive ingredients can be useful for controlling the price rise and exploitations by the trading community," adds Mr Sandhu. Cooking chicken in lemon juice with a little bit of black pepper is an equally delicious dish compared to tandoori chicken. With lemon, he says, you save on edible oils as well as spices which have also witnessed an unprecedented hike in prices. Like Mr Sandhu, a few others from hotel industry say that use of onions should be reduced to three to four days a week besides removing this commodity from salad plates altogether. Prepare Gujarati, Chinese and Continental dishes for half the week as they do not need onions in cooking. One of country's cooking expert, Jiggs Kalra, has once advocated minimal use of edible oils for "frying". Instead, he suggested that even water was an effective medium for "frying" purposes. The experts also advocate greater use of garlic and ginger in food preparations besides recommending tomato-based gravy or sauce. Flavours, they say, can be achieved by use of dry spices. For thickening of gravy, they suggest the use of bread crumbs, powder of roasted grams, cornflour, maida and basin. For non-vegetarian preparations, use of ginger, garlic and bottled sauces is recommended, especially in Chinese preparations which do not need any use of onions. Mr Sandhu says that a
change in eating habits is now visible everywhere. Use of
tamarind vinegar, ambchur and other such ingredients for
making food spicy and delicious is on the rise. |
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SE
turns approver CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — Superintending Engineer (Electrical) with the Chandigarh Administration Jagdish Mitter, today turned approver in the ongoing controversial kickbacks case registered by the Vigilance Department of the union territory against certain officials of the Engineering Department. Knowledgeable sources reveal that he had preferred an application in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr Sant Parkash, a few days ago for turning an approver. The sources added that Mr Mitter appeared before the court of the CJM yesterday evening. Mr Sant Parkash recorded his statement in his chamber. Since it was a confidential matter, the CJM, sealed the statement he had recorded. The engineer was arrested by the Vigilance Department on the charge of taking kickbacks from alleged three middlemen. The diaries recovered by the IT Department after raiding the house of Suresh Sharma and Dinesh Sharma showed that he had taken a kickback of Rs 1.75 lakh from them. The third diary recovered from the house of Sunil Kalia, also an alleged middlemen, showed that he had taken a sum of Rs 85,800 from him. After his custodial interrogation for a couple of days by the Vigilance department, Mitter was remanded in judicial lock-up. He was later bailed out. Interestingly, the Administration today ordered reinstatement of Mr Mitter. He is the first suspect in the case who has been reinstated. All other suspects continue to be under suspension. He is the second suspect who has turned approver in the case. Earlier, Mr A.K. Sachdeva, a Haryana cadre Executive Engineer who was on deputation with the Chandigarh Administration and was posted in the office of the Chief Minister, had turned approver. In his case the Administration had not sought police remand after his arrest. Nor was his application for bail was opposed. As he was not kept in police custody for more than 48 hours, Mr Sachdeva was not placed under suspension. All other officials,
including a peon, Hira Mani; PA to the Chief Engineer, Mr
R.P. Vashist; and officials of different ranks continue
to be under suspension. |
Change police, evidence Acts:
Hartmann CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — Mr Michael E. Hartmann, a UN Judicial System Officer, said here today that India should change such archaic laws as the Police Act, 1861, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, because these were framed under British rule to protect a rich minority. Mr Hartmann, who was speaking to newsmen at the Chandigarh Press Club, said the modern jurisprudence had eliminated laws such as the Indian Evidence Act. Only two countries, India and Pakistan, still had such a law on its statute book. The US criminal law expert was member of an international team of experts involved in the revision of the Yugoslavian penal and criminal procedural code. Speaking about his experiences in Bosnia, Mr Hartmann said that the earlier Bosnian law was meant to protect the state and subjected an individual's rights to the security of the state. Referring to Section 155 (IV) of the Indian Evidence Act he said the provision allowed the accused in rape cases to show that the victim was generally of immoral character. On the other hand, Section 54 said that an accused man's history of being a bad character was irrelevant to establishing the case against him. He said Section 155 (IV) of Indian Evidence Act violated a woman's dignity and privacy. Similar laws in the USA and Europe had been changed and India should do the same. Answering a question, Mr Hartmann said he was not in favour of providing for mandatory death sentence to a person guilty of rape as suggested by the Home Minister, Mr LK Advani. He said it was his experiences that such "quick fixes often do not work". He expressed the fear that if the law was amended to provide for mandatory death sentence in rape cases, it would lead to the killing of rape victims because the rapists would be afraid of being identified by the victims in courts. However, he said if the death sentence was left to the discretion of the judge, it would be a different matter because a judge would award the extreme punishment, depending upon the facts of a particular case. Of course, Mr Hartmann was opposed to death sentence in principle. Instead he favoured long terms in jail. He lauded the independence of Indian judiciary and activism shown by it. However, he said, such activism of judiciary had one danger the citizens might rely more upon the courts. He said the Legislature and the Executive should perform their duties diligently in place of judicial activism.
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800 illegal water connections cut CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — In a drive against 'illegal' water connections in Mani Majra, the Public Health Wing of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh(MCC), has disconnected over 800 such connections. According to sources, as many as 3,600 notices were issued to persons suspected to be drawing water "illegally" from the main lines. Out of them, the connections of over 1,000 water consumers had been regularised after they had paid defaulter arrears. The connections of some of the water consumers were restored after they showed the documents to wing that they were bona fide consumers. The rest of cases were still being processed and more water connections might be disconnected if they were found to be 'illegal' as the township has a large number of people living in unauthorised colonies. The sources said that water connections of only those consumers living in authorised colonies and who paid arrears of the water bills, in addition to the penalty under the bylaws, would be restored. Following the drive, there had been a substantial increase in the revenue collection through the water bills in the township. While the monthly income was about Rs 2 lakh in the past financial year, the income in this financial year had been to the tune of over Rs 7 lakh per month.
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Air Force stress on indigenous
spares CHANDIGARH,Oct 30 — In a bid to cope with rising cost and short supplies of spares of aircraft from Russia and other CIS countries,the Indian Air Force is stressing on indigenous spares by developing a strong vendor base in the country. As an effort towards this the 3 Base Repair Depot of the IAF and the CII is organising a workshop-cum- exhibition on "Air Force-industry Rendezvous 98" on November 2 and 3 at the CII in Sector 31 here. Addressing a joint press conference here today, Air Commodore Arvinda Agrawal and Mr I.S. Paul, chairman of the local chapter of the CII, said the exhibition was aimed at achieving self-sufficiency in spare parts and to strengthen the ties between the IAF and the industry, particularly small and medium units. Mr Agrawal, said the IAF require spares worth Rs 2000 crores annually for its fleet, a large chunk of which was of the Soviet origin. But ever since the disintegration of the former USSR, the IAF was facing difficulty in getting spares. An escalation of prices from 200 per cent to 800 per cent, has taken place, forcing the IAF authorities to sit back and evolve methods for decreasing its reliance on foreign manufacturers. Mr Agrawal and Mr Paul said the objective of such meets was to raise the availability of indigenous spares from 10 to 15 per cent at present to about 70 per cent by the turn of the century. Representatives of all eight repair depots of the IAF and 200 manufacturers would exchange views regarding the requirements of aviation parts at the workshop. Mr Agrawal said though the focus of the workshop was on the Industry, but it was not close to overseas companies who could also participate in it after an on- the-spot registration. He said during the two-day exposition, more than 2000 items pertaining to aircraft, missiles, communication and other support equipment required to be developed indigenously would be displayed. Besides lectures on procedures, policy standard and certification will also be organised. Mr Paul said the event
would be inaugurated by the Punjab Governor, Lieut Gen.
B.K.N. Chhibber.It would offer an annual business
opportunity worth Rs 1400 crore to industrialists. |
Teachers submit demand charter CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — A 12-member delegation of the Government Teachers Union (UT) Chandigarh yesterday called on the DPI (Schools), Mr D.S. Mangat, in support of their demands. A joint statement issued by Mr Harbir Singh, Mr Khushali Ram, Mr Surinder Kumar and Mr Vinod Kumar said that the delegation submitted an 18-point charter of demands to Mr Mangat. The demands included reinstatement of Sector 38 Government High School teachers, appointment of seniormost principal as Deputy District Education Officer, release of seniority list of all categories of teachers, confirmation of all teachers who had put in two years of regular service, creation of posts of lecturer in all subjects, construction of holiday home for teachers and constitution of coordination committee of teachers, students parents and officials of the Education Department. The statement said the union would hold a meeting on December 31 at the Sector 20 Masjid ground to decide its further course of action.
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Prices of vegetables vary in
markets CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — Even as the unprecedented hike in prices of essential goods continues to torment consumers, what is baffling them more is the variation in the prices of vegetable in different sector markets of the city. During a survey of different markets, the TNS found that if a kg of onions was available at Rs 45 in the Sector 22 market, the same was priced at Rs 50 and at Rs 30 at the Sectors 20 and 29 market.So the price of onions yesterday was Rs 55. Same was the case with beans, where variation in prices in different markets was up to Rs 9. Beans, which were available yesterday for Rs 15 a kg were priced at Rs 24 at the Sector 22 market and Rs 15 in Sector 29. Cucumber, priced at Rs 16
yesterday was selling for Rs 24 in Sector 22 and 20
market and for Rs 15 in Sector 29. Likewise, garlic was
Rs 50 in Sector 22. While in Sectors 20 and 29 markets it
was Rs 40 and Rs 38 respectively. In Sector 35-C pahari
potatoes were selling at a whopping Rs 25 per kg, it was
Rs 20 in Sector 22 and Rs 18 in Sector 20 and Rs 16 in
Sector 29. The following are the
retail prices of vegetables (per kg) in different
markets: |
Shopkeeper jailed as cheque bounces CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — The Judicial Magistrate, Mr A.K. Bishnoi, today convicted Raj Pal, a shopkeeper of Sector 17 under the Negotiable Instruments Act. He sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for six months apart from paying a fine of Rs 3,000. Raj Pal had issued a cheque for Rs 30,000 to Mr Inder Pal Singh. When the cheque was presented to his bankers it was dishonoured for want of "sufficient funds".
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Meeting
adjourned amidst bedlam CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — Even as the meeting of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) was adjourned without transacting any business today, the Mayor, Mr Gian Chand Gupta, came under scathing attack from various quarters, including BJP councillors. Later, the Congress members walked out and shouted anti-BJP slogans inside and outside the assembly hall, demanding the resignation of the Mayor as he had "lost" majority in the House. They also tore off the agenda papers after heated arguments with Mr Gupta. As soon as the meeting began, the expelled BJP councillor, Mr O P Goyal, raising a point of order, urged the Chair to cancel the meeting as it was not legal under Section 57 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act. He said the agenda had not reached the councillors at least 72 hours before the time fixed for the meeting with the result that the councillors could not be sent the important agenda. He was joined by the Senior Deputy Mayor, Mr Prem Sagar Jain, who wanted the cancellation of the meeting with a view to giving another chance to the councillors to send fresh agenda. He also criticised the Secretary, Dr Amar Pal Singh, for delay in sending the agenda. Seeing the opportunity of
putting the Mayor in an embarrassing situation, the
Congress members — Mr Raj Kumar Goel, Ms Sunita, Ms
Kamlesh and Mr Gurcharan Dass Kala — trooped into
the well of the House and demanded the cancellation of
the meeting, saying that they received the agenda only
last night. The Mayor then adjourned the meeting for tea
break. This did not satisfy the
irate Congress members, who alleged that the copies of
the agenda were sent to them in English so that they
could not participate in the proceedings properly. In
protest, they tore off the copies of the agenda and again
marched to the well of the House. The Mayor then
adjourned the meeting, saying that the proceedings could
not be conducted under the present circumstances. This was also resented by the seven councillors owing allegiance to the local MP, Mr Satya Pal Jain, besides Mr Goyal, who wanted the meeting to be cancelled as in the agenda of the adjourned meeting no fresh agenda could be added. Certain nominated councillors also resented the decision of the Mayor, who wanted the meeting to continue so that the problems of the people could be taken up. Ultimately, the National Anthem came to the rescue of Mr Gupta when all the councillors stood in attention and the meeting ended. Later, the Congress members shouted anti-BJP and anti-Mayor slogans inside and outside the assembly hall. Addressing mediapersons, Mr Prem Sagar Jain while accusing the Mayor of adopting a "dictatorial attitude", alleged that the image of the party had taken a nosedive in the city. He said due to the "selfish motives" of the Mayor, the working of the MCC had come to a standstill. Terming the expulsion of Mr Goyal as "totally wrong", he said the local party president was going against the party high command's directive in not revoking Mr Goyal’s expulsion. Accusing the Mayor of
adopting a "parochial and narrow-minded"
approach, he charged that Mr Gupta opposed Mr Jain in the
last parliamentary poll. By adopting an "adamant
attitude", the Mayor was only harming the interests
of the party, and other parties were exploiting the
situation to their advantage. Major-Gen Gurdial Singh (retd), nominated councillor, said he along with other nominated councillors, would write to the UT Administrator, drawing his attention to frequent disruptions in the House. He alleged that due to the disruptions, the problems of the residents were not discussed Later addressing a Press conference, the Mayor said he had to adjourn the House as under the circumstances it was not possible to conduct the proceedings. He said he would send a report of today's proceedings to the local party president. Referring to the tearing of agenda papers by the Congress members, he said it was an "insult" to the House and action as per the provisions of the Act would be taken against them. Claiming the support of
the majority of the councillors, he ridiculed the demand
for his resignation. He said he would examine why the
agenda was not sent at least 72 hours before the meeting. |
PU
proposes new fee for students CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — Panjab University has proposed a new annual fee of Rs 20 from each student in its affiliated colleges as contribution towards the college development council fund. The fee will be charged from students of all streams at the undergraduate level. The proposal will come up for a detailed discussion at the Principal’s meeting on November 9. The fee will be charged from the next academic session. Principals will also discuss the revision of the building fund charged from students which has been raised from Rs 20 annually to Rs 120. The revision of the annual amalgamated fund from Rs 200 to Rs 40 a month will also come up for discussion. The agenda also has the proposal of the manner in which the endowment fund for the Bachelor of Business Administration and Bachelor of Computer Application courses will be distributed among the colleges. A meeting of the steering committee recently decided that the fund will be paid in three instalments — Rs 2 lakh in 1998-99; Rs 2 lakh in 1999-2000; and the final instalment of Rs 1 lakh in 2000-2001. The meeting will discuss the revision of rates of honorarium, TA and DA paid to Vice-Chancellor's nominees for selection of principals and lectures. There is a proposal to pay Rs 500 instead of the existing Rs 200 to the nominees for selection of principals; Rs 300 instead of Rs 100 for selection of lecturers; and Rs 300 instead of Rs 100 for members of inspection committees. Dr Deepak Manmohan, Dean College Development Council, said the conference would focus on long- term programmes for overall improvement in the standard of education. At least four areas have been identified. Dr Deepak said strengthening of vocational courses,faculty improvement programmes, extension programmes in colleges with help of university teachers and examination reforms are the thrust areas for the meeting. A copy of the
recommendations of the task force on the examination
reforms is being sent to each principal, Dr Deepak added. |
Video
parlours raided, cassettes, CDs seized CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — The CIA wing of the Chandigarh police today raided three video parlours in Sector 9 and seized more than 2,000 pirated video CDs, laser discs and video cassettes of foreign films worth Rs 35 lakh. Four pornographic films were also seized. The team was headed by Inspector KIP Singh. Ajay Gupta, owner of a parlour and Kartar Singh of another shop have been arrested and booked under the Copyright Act. Gupta has also been booked under Section 292 of the IPC for allegedly possessing pornographic movies. Meanwhile, the CIA is yet to book Jagpal Singh alias Bittu of a parlour as the CDs and laser discs found from his shop were original copies that had been directly smuggled in from the USA but had not been censored under Indian rules. The police is seeking legal opinion as Bittu may not be infringing the Copyright Act but possession of uncensored smuggled CDs and discs is covered under a different section of the law. His arrest and a case is likely to follow tomorrow. The raids were conducted after Indian representatives of the Motion Pictures Association ( an international body) approached the police alleging that the copyrights of the films were being infringed. Booked: The manager of Panchayat Bhavan, Mr SS Brar, was booked by the police on Friday for his alleged involvement in a hit-and-run case on the road dividing sectors 16 and 17 on Wednesday. He has not been arrested. The police claimed that a party was sent to his house but he was not at home. A young motor cyclist, Dinesh, riding his Yamaha (PB-29-7626), was killed in an accident while another youngster, Rajeev, riding the pillion was injured and admitted to the PGI. After hitting the motor cycle the car (CH-01-A-0009) sped away. The police located the car yesterday evening at Panchayat Bhavan. The registration papers were not inside the car, and verifications were made from the registration branch. A case under sections 279, 339 and 304-A of the IPC has been registered. Eve-teasers held: Continuing
with its special drive against eve teasing, the
Chandigarh police on Friday arrested two persons for
allegedly indulging in eve-teasing. Sukhjeet Singh was
nabbed from Sector 35 while Ravi Kumar was arrested from
Sector 22. |
A romantic rendezvous CHANDIGARH: It was an experience of a romantic rendezvous with the moon, that was recreated by the ghazal singing husband-wife duo — Roop Kumar Rathod and Sonali Rathod — at the sprawling lawns of the Chandigarh Press Club, on Friday night. To promote their latest album titled 'Mitwa', they regaled the audience not only with delightful ghazals, but also with a range of choicest poetry and amusing anecdotes. The evening began with Sonali Rathod singing Khamosh Gazipuri's ghazal, 'Rang-e-mehfil ki berangi dekh kar". Her classical training, under the tutelage of Hridyanath Mangeshkar, the brother of the Mangeshkar sisters, came to the fore with this silvery sonorous ghazal taken from their first album "Khushboo". The second offering was their popular "geet-like" ghazal "Pura dukh aur aadha chand, Hijr ki shab aur aisa chand", again from 'Khushboo'. Composed by the late Pakistani poetess, Praveen Shaqir, this romantic duet was sung by Sonali and Roop Kumar. And it was Roop Kumar with his pleasantly honeyed and resonating voice, who overshadowed Sonali. Roop Kumar, who is also noted for lending his voice for the highly popular song – 'Sandese aate hain' from "Border", has had his training from his late father, a 'dhrupad' singer. Roop Kumar also had lessons for the audience on communal harmony, in the form of – "Mandir aur masjid ka jhagda mitaya jayee kaise, ke beech main uske mehkhana banaya jayee"! Wonder what the present government will have to say for that. Their rendition of the ghazals "Yeh sila mila hai mujhe teri dosti ka" and Qateel Shafai's composition "Jane kis dil se", coupled with the magical fingers of Rajiv K Mahavir on tabla, Arshad Ahmed Warsi on Guitar, who also accompany Jagjit Singh, proved to be a pleasure. The other accompanists included Iqbal Husain Warsi on the violin, Iqhlaq Warsi on harmonium and Santosh Indorkar on dholak. They will be performing in Ludhiana, and in Amritsar, as part of tour to promote their album. — Sonoo Singh
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