Tension during campaign
CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — A small bout of tension between the SOPU and the ABVP supporters marked the last day of campaigning for the student body elections in Panjab University scheduled for tomorrow.

UT to install
generators in HC
CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — The Chandigarh Administration today decided before the Punjab and Haryana High Court to install generator sets on the court's premises to ensure uninterrupted power supply in courtrooms.

UT losing huge revenue
CHANDIGARH Sept 17 — The exchequer is losing revenue worth crores of rupees as unlike in other states service providers have not been brought into the ST net following the non-implementation

PU-affiliated colleges
to get Rs 3 crore
CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — The UGC has agreed to release approximately Rs 3 crore for various developmental activities in colleges affiliated to Panjab University in 1998-99.

Honesty is still the best policy CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — In a rare case of honesty, Mr Kirpal Singh, an employee of the UT Engineering Department returned a mobile phone set along with connection to a company providing mobile phone service in the city.

Ban on mustard oil brands to stay
CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — In view of recent incident of adulteration of mustard oil, the Health Department, UT has announced a number of measures to be taken for the sale of mustard oil by retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers in Chandigarh.

6-month jail term for fraud
CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — The Judicial Magistrate, Mr Jasbir Singh, convicted Nareen Kumar, a resident of Mani Majra, under Sections 420, 406 and 193 IPC.

Chemist penalised by forum
CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-I presided over by its president, Dr H.C. Modi, has penalised a city chemist for having illegally charged local sales tax in excess of that prescribed by the government notification.

• 16 employees booked under ESMA
• Varsity teachers hold dharna
• Beant case put on hold

Tension during campaign
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — A small bout of tension between the Students Organisation of Panjab University and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad supporters marked the last day of campaigning for the student body elections in Panjab University scheduled for tomorrow.

The trouble arose when candidates of SOPU were addressing a rally at the Student Centre. Supporters of the ABVP objected to certain student leaders from Himachal Pradesh University addressing their rallies. They alleged that at least two of the speakers had a "criminal background". The ABVP raised slogans when these two members addressed the rally.

Arun Sood, Punjab state vice president of the ABVP, said a large number of those present at the rally were outsiders and demanded the police and the DSW to intervene. The DSW asked for a written complaint. The ABVP supporters also raised slogans against the DSW.

Members of the SOPU by and large, showed restraint as did the police . An independent observer pointed out that police intervention at that point could have only led to a law and order problem. SOPU later took out a procession.

There was no slogan raising when Dayal Pratap Singh Randhawa, presidential candidate, and Sarika Malik, vice presidential candidate, addressed the rally.

Tension mounted towards the evening between both organisations when they were addressing separate rallies at girls hostels. However, a showdown was averted.

The Panjab University Students' Union, the National Students' Union of India and the Haryana Students' Union alliance concentrated on campaign in the science departments. A rally was taken out in the evening.

The alliance concentrated on smaller rallies in departments during the day, and did door-to-door campaigning later in the evening.

Security arrangements remained tight. Routine checks were carried out last night in hostels. However, no student was rounded up. Mr Vijay Kumar, SHO, gave indications of more serious checks today evening.

Sources point out that as many as 26 department representatives have been elected unopposed. Elections will be held for 33 DRs . The only candidate of the German department was disqualified.

Students who reach the departments by 10 a.m. tomorrow will be allowed to vote.

The results are likely to be declared before 3 p.m. following which five executive members will be elected from among the DRs .

In a unique move, the ABVP campaigning spread over to the houses of the students. The organisation had prepared a detailed list of residential addresses and members visited residences to garner support .

The PUSU had swept the polls last year. Munish Anand had defeated Randhawa by a margin of 274 votes for the post of president. Jaspreet Kharbanda had defeated Hargobinder Singh by a margin of 586 votes for the post of vice president. Only Randhawa is re-contesting the elections for the post of president this year.

UT losing huge revenue
Non-implementation of amendment
By Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH Sept 17 — The exchequer is losing revenue worth crores of rupees as unlike in other states service providers have not been brought into the ST net following the non-implementation of the 46th constitutional amendment in the union territory of Chandigarh.

The 46th amendment had taken place in 1982, wherein, all those providing services such as contractors, tent houses and restaurants had been brought under the sales tax net.

The amendment was to generate more revenue for the development of respective states, almost all of whom had implemented the tax structure by notifying structure after adopting the Act in assemblies.

However, the amended Act has not been implemented by UT so far, for reasons best known to the authorities.This has been resulting in an annual loss of around Rs 8 crore, whereas, all the neighbouring states including Punjab and Haryana have been levying sales tax on the services for the past 10 years.

Sources in the Excise and Taxation Department revealed that after initial hiccups, the states of Punjab and Haryana, which also set precedents for the UT in such matters, had adopted the new structure in 1988, thus earning crores of rupees as tax. However, the service providers in UT, which has been devising new methods for generation of more revenue, have been allowed to go scot free by the administration as the Act has not been notified so far.

According to sources in the Excise and Taxation Department, had the Act been implemented in the UT, more revenue could have been generated as there has been a high concentration of restaurants, pubs, tent houses and construction contractors. According to an estimate there are about 100 restaurants, 30 pubs and about 150 tent houses, besides a large number of contractors in the city. A senior official of the department said if the Act was amended, and tax is levied at the prevailing rate of 10 per cent in UT, the department would be earning Rs 3 crore a month from the restaurants alone.

Sources in the UT Finance Department said during annual audit by the AG office, the audit team had pointed out that had the Act been implemented in the UT, the administration would have been able to earn an annual revenue of Rs 7 crore.

While underlining the reason behind non-implementation of the Act in UT, a senior officer of the UT Finance Department said, unlike other states, before implementation or final notification of the Act in UT, prior approval of Parliament was mandatory in the absence of legislature as UT is represented by an MP. As far as the states are concerned, the Act could be adopted by respective legislative assemblies.

A senior Finance Department officer maintained that UT had been taking up the matter with the union government from time to time, but nothing tangible could be achieved. It is learnt that the administration had even been writing to the higher officials, including the Deputy Secretary for Home, to put up the case before Parliament. The officer said once again he would speed up the process.

When contacted the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Mr.S.P. Kansal, maintained that the non-implementation of the Act had not resulted in any "loss" of revenue as ST on services had not been imposed till date for want of implementation of the Act in the UT. However, he said the administration was taking up the matter with the union government.

PU-affiliated colleges to get Rs 3 crore
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — The UGC has agreed to release approximately Rs 3 crore for various developmental activities in colleges affiliated to Panjab University in 1998-99.

A team of the UGC was in the city from the past few days on a visit to look into grants pertaining to colleges affiliated to various universities in the region.

More than 35 colleges affiliated to PU in various parts of the state will be benefited by the grants. Of these, at least 25 colleges had never availed of the benefit which UGC sanctions for developmental activities, the Dean, College Development Council of PU, Dr Deepak Manmohan Singh, said.

The UGC also met representatives of more than 20 colleges affiliated to Punjabi University, Patiala, and also other colleges in Haryana, Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir.

An amount of Rs 29,785,000 has been provided for various colleges of PU. Of the amount agreed for colleges, Rs 7,235,000 is earmarked for books and journals, Rs 7,500,00 for purchasing equipment and Rs 10,820,000 for building projects besides other developmental works.

The colleges that have been benefited by the grants include DAV College, Sector 10, which will receive Rs 1,050,000, Government College for Girls, Sector 11, (Rs 1,300,000) GCG, Sector 42 (Rs 900,000) Government College for Education, GGS College for Women, Sector 26, the Department of Evening Studies, PU, and Government Home Science College, Sector 10.

The amount will be spent on hostel facilities, extension activities, remedial courses, examination reforms.

The money has been sanctioned under specific heads.

UT to install generators in HC
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — The Chandigarh Administration today decided before the Punjab and Haryana High Court to install generator sets on the court's premises to ensure uninterrupted power supply in courtrooms.

The decision was taken in response to the notice Mr Justice T.H.B. Chalapathi had issued to the Adviser to the Chandigarh Administrator, Mr Jagdish Sagar, on why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him because of power failure in courtrooms. This amounted to interruption in the dispensation of justice.

Mr Jagdish Sagar was present and remained on his legs during the proceedings.

Counsel for the administration further told the court that the administration would have to make some adjustment in its expenditure for providing generator sets in the high court. When counsel suggested that the Punjab and Haryana governments should also share the burden, the judge agreed to this proposal and issued notice to the Advocates-General of the two states for October 12.

When counsel urged the court that the Adviser might be granted exemption from personal appearance in the court as it would cause considerable inconvenience to the public, Mr Justice Chalapathi remarked: "Advise your Adviser to behave. Will he mend his ways?" And when counsel repeated his request, the judge further observed: "Does he (Adviser) want to stretch the issue to breaking point? he asked.

The judge told counsel that the Adviser would have to be present in the courtroom on the next date of hearing.

Counsel further suggested that the administration would appoint a committee of officers. The Registrar of the high court would be a member. This committee would attend to all complaints of the high court about power supply.

Mr Justice Chalapathi had sometime ago taken suo motu notice of the inadequate lighting arrangements in the high court and held that the administration's failure to make adequate arrangements certainly amounted to obstruction with the administration of justice.

Electrification work begins on
Chandigarh-Ambala rail track
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — Work on erecting iron masts that will carry high tension power lines along the Chandigarh-Ambala rail track has begun.

The electrification of the track between Chandigarh and Ambala is likely to be completed by the end of 1999 while the electronic signalling and inter-locking job is already over, railway sources said. Electronic interlocking eliminates the need for manual effort to change tracks, thus allowing trains to travel at higher speeds. Besides this, the track has been upgraded for faster movement of locomotives.

Once the work is complete it will help reduce the travel time between Chandigarh and Delhi by 20 minutes to 30 minutes, thus allowing the series of Shatabdi trains to reach Delhi from Chandigarh in about 2 hours and 20 minutes. The track between Ambala and Delhi is already electrified.

Work on erection of the masts is going on at the moment between Ambala cantonment and Dhulkot stations. An optic fibre cable to carry power has to be imported and orders for the same have been placed. The cable will have unlimited capacity to carry power and enable faster and smoother communication, railway sources said.

The electrification project along with the Chandigarh-Ludhiana rail link project are the two important projects of the Railways for the union territory.

Meanwhile the much-awaited third Shatabdi between Chandigarh and Delhi will be delayed further due to paucity of high speed coaches. The Railway ministry has agreed in principle to start the third train under the Shatabdi series.

The train could have started. However, surplus coaches from the Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi have been used to add coaches on to other Shatabdis to augment their capacity. An entire rake on the Delhi-Amritsar section had become surplus when the Swarn Shatabdi — an improved version of the Shatabdi — was launched last month.

Calculations of the Railway authorities indicate that it is cheaper to augment an existing train than to start a new one. As and when the third Shatabdi starts it will be scheduled to terminate at Delhi around 9 p.m. This will enable passengers to catch connecting South-bound trains.

Similarly the train from Delhi to Chandigarh will start from Delhi at time when most trains from all over the country terminate in the National Capital between 10 a.m. and noon. A comprehensive Delhi-Shimla package will also be marketed for this train, railway sources said.

In an effort to provide facilities for the passengers, an alternative approach road to Chandigarh station is on the cards from the Panchkula side. Work on the road is expected to start soon.

Allot good AC car to IAS officer
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — To ensure uniform implementation in the allotment of official cars to all Commissioner-rank officers, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed the Haryana Government to allot an airconditioned car in good condition to Mr S.C. Chaudhary, a senior IAS officer, forthwith.

A Division Bench of the high court, consisting of Mr Justice J. L. Gupta and Mr Justice N. C. Khichi, observed: "An unfortunate dispute between a senior officer and the state government relating to the allotment of an official car has landed on the lap of this court. The applicant is a member of the IAS and in the rank of Commissioner. On July 24, 1998, he was allotted an Ambassador car but the applicant complained that the car was not in a running condition.

The judges further noted that the application again requested the court that the state government should be directed to give him an appropriate car. The Advocate-General had assured the judges that the needful would be done. In pursuance to the undertaking, car No HR-36-A 0087, said to be of 1995 model and which had run 71,000 km, was allotted to the applicant.

Mr Chaudhary returned this car on the same day pointing out that the car was not in good running condition. He requested the government to provide him another car (No-04-0004) which was of 1994 model and had covered more than 1 lakh km. The state government did not accept this request.

"Why is the state government opposing his request? Is it really trying to comply with the assurance given to the court? We are not satisfied with the plea taken on behalf of the government. We cannot accept that an officer would be willing to accept a car which has done 1,06,254 km in preference to a car which has only run 77,000 km. The condition of this car was not good.

Earlier during arguments, the judges observed that the government was treating this IAS officer like a peon. The Bench turned down the argument of state counsel that Mr Chaudhary did not have any right to approach the court for the allotment of an official car.

Contractors' plea admitted

A Division Bench admitted a writ petition filed by nine contractors challenging the Chandigarh Administration's action in disqualifying them from filing tenders for the construction of C and D blocks of the Government Medical College, Chandigarh.

However, the Bench which comprised Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi and Mr Justice Iqbal Singh, while vacating the stay allowed the Chandigarh Administration to continue the process of inviting tenders etc. so that public interest did not suffer.

Gautam Builders and eight other "A" Class contractors, stated in their writ petition that the petitioners had submitted forms in response to the UT administration's notice inviting pre-qualification forms for submission of tenders in respect of construction of the medical college blocks. Their forms for pre-qualification were recommended by the Executive Engineer C.P. Division No. 5. But the committee constituted by the Administrator, rejected the petitioners who were duly recommended by the Executive Engineer. Instead the committee had declared those contractors whose names were not recommended by the Executive Engineer as qualified.

The petitioners submitted that the firm, Competent Constructions, was not recommended and the Executive Engineer had said this firm was "very slow". There were departmental complaints against S.K. Sachdeva Builders, whose name has been cleared.

The Chandigarh Administration, on the other hand, replied that recommendation of the Executive Engineer had no significance and the committee was the final authority. It was alleged that the work of some of the petitioners had not been found satisfactory.

'Octroi war' hots up
From Our Correspondent

SAS NAGAR, Sept 17 — The "octroi war" between the Mohali Industries Association (MIA) and the private contractors hotted up today as the latter accused MIA members of large-scale octroi evasion.

Mr Avtar Singh Walia, the main octroi contractor of the Municipal Council, told a Press conference here that industrial unit owners often indulged in evasion by making bills which did not tally with the goods brought into the town. There had been cases, he said, when expensive surgical instruments were detected in medicine boxes or electronic items in goods listed as hardware.

Condemning the use of the word "mafia" by the MIA president, Mr R.S. Sachdeva, yesterday for the octroi contractors, Mr Walia said it was defamatory. All four of them were respectable persons who had furnished a bank guarantee of Rs 86 lakh to the MC. He alleged that Mr Sachdeva had at one stage given Rs 2 lakh to them as "share" in the octroi contract but later took the amount back fearing "adverse reaction" from the MIA. The allegation has, however, been denied by Mr Sachdeva.

Defending octroi privatisation, Mr Walia said the 0-4 credit facility referred to by the MIA was, in fact, meant for government-owned units which had been "illegally" extended to certain private units. The private units often did not pay the octroi due for months together, adversely affecting the contractors' ability to settle accounts with the MC on a weekly basis. The contractors, he said, had urged the Director, Local Government, to scrap the facility.

The MIA said yesterday with privatisation the 0-4 facility had been scrapped. It had accused the contractors of imposing penalties according to their whims, in most cases up to a maximum of 21 times the octroi amount due. They even illegally imposed octroi on freight, the MIA had claimed.

Refuting the allegations, Mr Walia said the octroi rules were being strictly followed. Moreover, the work of his staff was to merely catch offenders. The imposing of fines and issuance of the relevant slips were done by MC officials.

He said that the whole dispute over octroi collection was the handiwork of political elements who opposed the policies of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Honesty is still the best policy
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — In a rare case of honesty, Mr Kirpal Singh, an employee of the UT Engineering Department returned a mobile phone set along with connection to a company providing mobile phone service in the city.

Kirpal Singh, posted at SP Division no. 4 in Sector 9 had found the set on the road separating Sectors 34 and 44, while he was on the way to his office on Tuesday. He traced the address of the company and returned the set belonging to one of the employees of the company, a press note issued by the company said.

Ban on mustard oil brands to stay
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — In view of recent incident of adulteration of mustard oil, the Health Department, UT has announced a number of measures to be taken for the sale of mustard oil by retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers in Chandigarh.

However, the ban on certain brands shall remain, an official spokesman of the Health Department said today. The spokesperson said that edible oil, including mustard oil, should not be marketed in loose form and packing should be done by the manufacturer only. The company packing oil should get themselves registered and should have adequate analytical facility for testing the purity of samples.

The health authorities said that the manufacturing of edible oil on job work basis from the sub-agents by manufacturers would be discontinued. The monitoring of quality of edible oil will be done strictly by the enforcement wing and will be started from the raw material stage itself.

Health authorities revealed that the consumers, manufacturers and distributors can also get the testing done for detection of adulterant in edible oils from government approved laboratories in Sector 11, Chandigarh.

6-month jail term for fraud
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — The Judicial Magistrate, Mr Jasbir Singh, convicted Nareen Kumar, a resident of Mani Majra, under Sections 420, 406 and 193 IPC.

He sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for one year and six months, apart from paying a fine of Rs 1,000.

The magistrate, however, acquitted Rajinder Lal, a co-accused in the case.

According to the prosecution, Mr R.K. Gupta, a resident of Sector 18, had lodged a complaint that the suspects had committed criminal trespass and defrauded him to the tune of Rs 5.5 lakh.

The complainant added that the suspects were partners in business with him. They had broken the locker, overpowered the chowkidar and removed goods.

Chemist penalised by forum
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-I presided over by its president, Dr H.C. Modi, has penalised a city chemist for having illegally charged local sales tax in excess of that prescribed by the government notification.

The complainant, Mrs Harpreet Kochar, had alleged in her complaint that she bought two anti-rabies injections from Messers Sahni Medicos in Sector 28, Chandigarh, on June 14. The chemist charged 10 per cent local sales tax on the price of the injection. Later on when she bought the same injection from another chemist, she was charged only 4.4 per cent sales tax. Thereupon she filed a complaint, alleging overcharging by the earlier shop.

The proprietor of the shop admitted the fault on the part of his employee in overcharging Rs 28 on the pretext of higher rate of tax.

The Forum found that the local sales tax had been cut from 10 per cent to 4.4 per cent with effect from June 1, 1998, vide a government notification.

Dr H.C. Modi, president of the Forum, observed that "It was incumbent duty of OP to have slashed down the price of medicines sold by reducing the price in accordance with the cut in local taxes. Laws are to be obeyed and adhered to and not to be abhorred." The Forum imposed costs and compensation of Rs 2,000 on the chemist, payable within 30 days, apart from the refund of Rs 28 charged in excess.

16 employees booked under ESMA
From Our Correspondent

PANCHKULA, Sept 17 — At least 16 employees of Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) have been booked by the district administration under ESMA for being absent from duty during yesterday’s strike call given by the Haryana Karamchari Maha Sangh.

According to the information available, the field employees of the HVPN, including a JE, were booked on the basis of a complaint lodged by the officials in charge of the sub-divisions concerned.

Beant case put on hold
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — Following differences of opinion between the prosecution and the defence, the examination in chief of Mr Pranav Sen in the Beant Singh assassination case could not be started in the court of the Sessions Judge, Mr B.S. Bedi.

The stand of the prosecution was that the statement of Mr Sen was not admissible under the law in this case. The insistence of the defence was that it would be admissible.

Varsity teachers hold dharna
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — Members of the Panjab University Teachers' Association sat in dharna today in protest against the delay in notification of the new scales by the Central Government .

Dr Rajivlochan, secretary of PUTA, criticised the Punjab government's "recent efforts to curb autonomy of the university administration".

Dr Satya P. Gautam, convenor of the Punjab Federation of University Teachers' Association, said similar dharnas were organised in Punjabi University, Patiala; Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar; and Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana.

BJP councillors flay party
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — The decision of the BJP to suspend the paid parking system in Sectors 17 and 8 for a month came in for severe criticism from its own councillors at a meeting here today.

A majority of the councillors resented the manner in which the decision was announced by a four-member committee of the party comprising the local MP, Mr Satya Pal Jain, the Mayor, Mr Gian Chand Gupta; the party president, Mr Dharam Pal Gupta; and the general secretary, Mr Mahavir Parshad, at the party office in Sector 33 here on Saturday.

They wanted that the decision to suspend paid parking should have been taken by the House of the Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh (MCC), as it was the decision of the whole House and not of the party alone, sources said.

Mr Jain's remarks on the issue in a section of the Press also came in for criticism. Mr Jain reportedly said he was "misquoted" by the media.

Councillors alleged that the manner in which the decision was announced had seriously affected the image of the party. There was also allegations and counter-allegations between the Jain group and the Gupta group.

The sources said the meeting had to be abruptly ended as there was an exchange of hot words between the party president and Mr O.P. Goel, councillor, with the latter accusing the party president of running the organisation in an "inefficient" way.

It may be recalled that the alliance partner of the BJP in the civic body — SAD — had already decided to boycott the review committee constituted by the BJP to reconsider the decision of paid parking on the grounds that it was the decision of the BJP and not of the civic body.

Youth flaunts stolen credit card, nabbed
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — A youth from Faridabad was nabbed by the police for allegedly making purchases from an expensive clothes store in Sector 17 by using a stolen credit card. An accomplice of the youth, however, managed to escape.

Ashish Aneja and Sachin Challana, residents of Sectors 14 and 7, respectively, in Faridabad visited an expensive retail outlet in Sector 17 and made purchases. For paying their bill one of them presented a credit card. The alert shopkeeper detected that the card was a stolen one.

Ashish Aneja was nabbed while Sachin Challana managed to escape. The police has registered a case under sections 379, 419, 420, 468 and 120-B of the IPC.

A stolen gold chain and two stolen credit cards have been recovered from Aneja.

In-laws booked: A Jammu-based family has been booked by the local police for harassing a girl, Arpana. The girl hailing from Chandigarh was married to Navneesh Uttam of Sarwala Chowk, Jammu, around four years ago and was constantly harassed over dowry by her husband and her in-laws.

The husband is unemployed and used to ask for money from girl’s parents, according to the FIR registered with Crime Against Women Cell of the police.

The police has also booked Soni Prakash (father-in-law), Rani Uttam (mother-in-law) Vikas Uttam (brother-in-law) and Jyoti Uttam (sister-in-law) under sections 406 and 498-A, IPC.

Hit by car, hurt: A pedestrian, Harinder Singh of Sector 20, was injured when he was hit by a car as he was standing at a local bus stop in Sector 20. He has been admitted to GMCH, Sector 32.

A festival of short films

CHANDIGARH: Alliance Francaise is once again organising its Annual French Film Festival. This institute has been satiating the cine buffs of the city for the past three years continuously. The festival this time, for which the curtain goes up on Friday evening, is going to be different from the previous years. The difference is that short films have been included in the agenda.

It is not that the long movies are not there, the short ones are the latest trend in France. There are about 300-400 of such pictures made in that country. The reason for these being so popular is they are budget-friendly, plus the incentives they receive from the French government are quite encouraging.

The festival unfolding has a real special touch in the form of a few films directed by Louis Malle, who passed away about two years back. He was a contemporary of Francois Truffaut and Godard. Besides his productions were a regular feature at all the major international festivals. "The Best of the long" section contains six films by Malle out of which "Goodbye Children", is an all time French masterpiece.

Apart from having legendary cinemas the festival also caters to the intellectual faculty. Interactive sessions have been arranged with two leading names of new wave cinema of the 90s Bernard Nissile and Thierry Binisti and cinema historian Dr Jean-Pierre Paglaono on September 18 and 21, respectively.

— Priti Verma