Four thieves held
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 9 — The police has arrested four residents of Ambedkar Colony, Sector 55, on the charge of stealing jewellery and cash from a house in Sector 37 here.

According to the police, the accused, Surya Bahadur, Takman Giri, Lokman and Keshav Giri, had stolen jewellery worth Rs 28,000 and some cash from the house of Daya Rani, a resident of Sector 37.

A case has been registered and stolen items recovered from them.

Bag stolen: Ms Shakuntala Devi, a resident of Sector 23, complained that her bag containing documents and keys had been stolen from her residence.

In another case of theft, a resident of Sector 45, was arrested while stealing 10 school dresses from Sector 38.

Cases have been registered in both incidents.

Car taken away: Mr O.P. Bajaj, a resident of Panchkula, alleged that two employees of a Sector 8 based finance company, from whom he financed his car, forcibly took away the car. His suitcase containing clothes and important documents was in the car, he said.

A case has been registered.

Three held: Three persons, Lekh Yadav, Rajesh Kumar and Ishwar Singh, have been arrested by the police on the charge of drinking at a public place in Sector 17.

Cases under the Excise Act have been registered.

Bal Vikas children hold cultural show
From Our Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, May 9 — Schoolchildren in the age group of six to 15 here this evening took part in a cultural programme at the Tagore Theatre. The programme was for the Bal Vikas Children and was organised by the local unit of the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation, as part of the end of the Easwaramma Week celebrations.

Nearly 200 children from various affiliated samities of the organisation performed dances, plays, skits with a moral in them. The show started with the prayer “Asto maa satgamya, tamso maa jyotirgamaya, mrityo maa amartimgamaya” (Oh God, lead us from darkness to the light).

The first item was the dance dandya by unit III, hey sabse bada tera dham re oh shirdiwale. Later disha Arora recited the shlokas. Unit XII (Modern Complex) children enacted the play “Prem ki Ganga bhahate chalo” from the prayer of Sai Baba, “Love all Serve All” and another “Start the day with love, fill the day with love, end the day with love, this the way to God.”

The Unit VI children sang “Chandan hai is desh ki dharti” unit IX children sang “Kanha re kanha,” children of Behlana village came with a group song, “Hey prabhu anand data’, followed by solo dance by Chikoo of Unit X, “Dum dum damru baje”. Suchi Dutt of the Unit XII, sang poem, “Kyon na bole prem se hum’. A dance with a palki of Shirdi Sai Baba in the form of jhanki was presented by the Unit X children.

In the second half, children performed dance “Holi aai re kanha”, a song, Dharti ki shan tu, and another play “Guru gur, chela sugar (Chini)” by Unit VII, and in the end three dances — Aaj Radha ko Sham yaad aagya,” “Shiv Ram ki main mala japun”, and “Chuni rang de lalaria meri’., were presented. Later, all children were given prizes.

Prof RS Prasad, state coordinator of the SSSS organisation said children of the Bal Vikas who performed today were already attending human values classes at their centres throughout the year and the same wings are spread all over the world.

Reverence expected from scribes

A WHOLE lot of celebrities — glitterati from all fields, whether film, music,dance or theatre — have started visiting the City Beautiful. From being a city of "babus" it is slowly turning into a city that "never sleeps". But from the common man to even the scribes everybody is still learning the ropes of interacting with the celebrities.

While most of these personalities tend to complain that most city residents are too laid back to even queue up for autographs, except maybe in the case of the recent visit of Salman Khan and Karishma Kapoor, the scribes are found going up to them to ask who they are and even asking them to recite their bio-datas!

Recently when model-turned-actress Deepti Bhatnagar was in the city to promote some fabrics, a senior journalist was seen going up to this pretty damsel and saying, "Excuse me. You are so beautiful, do you happen to be some model or an actress? Actually I do not watch Hindi films and only know about Madhubala and Madhuri Dixit". A visibly irritated Deepti replied in the affirmative and whispered to another journalist: "Are all Chandigarh journalists like this? Ill-informed?"

In another instance, when a young woman reporter caught up with danseuse Sonal Mansingh, she did not seem too pleased to see a "young journalist". It was in the process of the interview that this exponent of Bharatnatyam and Odissi seemed to relax and said, "Actually it is very rare to find youngsters these days who seem to really know about us. Each time when I have to recite my bio-data it gets very monotonous and boring".

A lesson for Chandigarh reporters? Well, maybe more reverence is expected!

A torture

Paying road tax to the Chandigarh Administration by nearly four lakh vehicle owners in the Union Territory of Chandigarh is no small achievement.

People have to stand in queues for long hours at the Estate Office to make the payment. Some of them have to either skip their office work or take leave to make the payment. There are a number of cases in which people have to go back without making payment as their turn does not come.

One wonders why the Chandigarh Administration cannot make the tax payment easier. It could perhaps extend the facility of making payment at the banks and post offices just like the payments of telephone bills are made. The payment should be so easy that it should not take more than five to 10 minutes at the window for the vehicle owner. A similar approach should also be adopted for payment of water and electricity bills. The best course will be to allow vehicle users and residents to make greater use of the banks for this purpose which are within everybody's reach.

Parrots

Parrot is probably the first choice for nearly everyone wishing to keep a bird in home. Recent studies have shown that parrots are as intelligent as dolphins and monkeys and can act as good security guards. Parrots are used in our homes mainly as entertainment for children.

Following an appeal by the World Parrot Trust, the Children's Alliance for Protection of the Environment (CAPE) with the support of the Department of Environment Chandigarh Administration, launched a campaign for the protection of parrots and their habitat at the City Birds Sanctuary, Sector 21-B, Chandigarh, where parrots form majority of the birds. The colourful stickers produced by CAPE say: "Parrots need help to survive in the wild and to thrive in our homes.".

Moral of the story

What was the reason that one of the Principals of a local school failed to turn up at the recently called meeting of the school Principals by Mrs Kiran Bedi? The reason was simple enough-- just the night before that certain Principal had been caught drunk in a speeding car, sitting in the boot of his Maruti car by Mrs Bedi herself!

The Principal, after gulping down a few "quick ones" decided to go out for dinner with the family. With his son volunteering to drive and the car too full of people, this Principal decided to sit in the boot of his car. And as luck would have it Mrs Bedi also happened to be driving just behind this car. Screeching to a halt when she questioned the family driving with their boot open and found a school principal flouting the safety norms, she admonished him and taught him a lesson for a lifetime! Moral of the story? If a Principal of a school, never try the same stunts that your students would!

Not in Chandigarh?

Commuters from the Chandigarh Housing Board's newly-developed housing complex in Sector 61, travelling to the local bus stand in Sector 17, are an exploited lot. The reason: they are being charged an amount of Rs 7 per trip as against the normal charges of Rs 5 for the maximum distance between the two points in Chandigarh.

The area, though adjoining Phase VII of SAS Nagar, falls in Chandigarh. Since the area was in Chandigarh, the maximum fare between the two points in the city--Rs 5--should be charged by the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) authorities, demand residents.

Meanwhile, there is only one CTU route for the sector. The residents, while demanding more bus routes for the sector, have urged the Chandigarh Administration to provide a bus queue shelter.

Out of sight ...

There was a time when nobody would have missed a carrot-eating 'Karamchand' Pankaj Kapoor saying "Shut Up, Kitty". But at the recent "Rooh Punjab Di" Exhibition, in Sector 17, Kapoor was seen wandering around with his star-wife Supriya Pathak Kapoor and star mom-in-law Dina Pathak and kids, but not many autograph-hunters around. A matronly Supriya Pathak Kapoor was seen running around her two kids, while an obscure-looking Pankaj, complete with an overgrown beard was busy being lost in a huge crowd. Surprisingly, the only one of the family who did attract some attention was Dina Pathak, in a big red bindi, who was surrounded by curious youngsters all around.

With the husband-wife duo's "Mohandas LLB" off the air from Zee television, it certainly seemed an out of sight-out of mind thing for the fans of Karamchand and Supriya Pathak, who has even stopped shooting for the new series "Idhar-Udhar".

"Kandha Dharma Diyaan"

The 300 years of the Khalsa seem to have touched everyone around. Everything from theatre to expositions to symposiums to lectures is being dedicated to this Tercentenary celebrations.

Surinder Mahiwal, a city based Punjabi singer, has now released an album titled "Kandha Dharma Diyaan", based on the 300 years of the birth of the Khalsa. The cassette has been released by PMC music company. Originally a folk singer, under the tutelage of Ashok Talwar of Ropar, Mahiwal has now started training in Indian classical music under Ram Lal Rathore of Manimajra. He had earlier taken out a cassette in 1997, based on the Malta tragedy, which was titled "Puttan De Vichodey".

Beauty sleep

With the exams in full swing and the heat taking its toll, an invigilator in a local centre made himself comfortable in his caned chair, put his bent arm at the back of the chair, propped his head up and slowly drifted into sleep as the examinees continued to work their way through the question paper. Any sharp sound outside the room and he would give a glance in the direction with his half shut eyes without much thought to it. Catching up on your sleep and getting paid for doing so—that's what invigilation duty is all about!

Leading from front

He's a college principal with a difference. To curb the menace of cheating, Mr RC Jeevan, Principal of DAV College, Sector 10, took on himself the job of doing the duty. "It is my college and I must set a precedent for the teachers who are not keen on examination duty and come late to college. I take over and tell them to take a holiday and sit at home,'' he says. He is one of the very few principals to be carrying out invigilation duty.

Forewarned

A resident of Sarojini Hall, a girls hostel at Panjab University, was horrified of the May 8 "doomsday" and called up the newspaper office to find out what was being done to ensure the safety of the residents. "We are staying in one of the highest buildings of the city and if something happens to us on the night of May 8, who will be held responsible? The university should be asked to make alternative arrangements for us for the day,'' she said. What she forgot in her anxiety was that if everything does come to an end, nobody will be there to be "held responsible'' for the lapse.

City shootingball tourney begins
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, May 9 — The Chandigarh Shootingball Championship began here today at Sports Complex, Sector 46, with 14 teams participating in this two-day meet organised by the Shootingball Association of Chandigarh.

The results of today's matches are as follows: Pool A — Vikas Club b Paramount Club, 13-15, 15-13, 17-15; Vikas Club b IFFCO Club, 15-6, 15-12; Paramount Club b Student Club, 15-10, 15-5; Student Club b IFFCO Club, 15-3, 13-15, 15-4; Moon Club b Sartaj Club, 15-13, 15-12; and Paramount Club b IFFCO Club, 15-8, 15-9.

Pool B — Air Force Club b Brothers Club, 11-15, 15-11, 15-13; Saini Club b Dehati Club, 15-12, 10-15, 17-15; Saini Club b Western Club, 16-14, 15-4; and Air Force Club b Saini Club, 15-7, 10-15, 15-12.

Top body builders

Anurag Pandey, in above 60 kg category and Gopal, in below 60 kg section, emerged victorious in the fifth Capt Sunil Khokhar Memorial Body Building Championship which concluded yesterday at Panchkula. It was organised by the Panchkula

Amateur Body Building Association.

Capt Sunil Khokhar sacrificed his life five years ago while fighting insurgency at the Siachen Glacier and got Vir Chakra posthumously.

The results of the competition are as follows: Below 60 kg — Gopal 1, Kamaljit 2, Parveen 3; above 60 kg — Anurag Pandey 1, Lalit Kumar 2, Tarsem Tiwana 3.

Basera provides succour to sick, injured animals

This refers to the Chandigarh Tribune story dated April 25, which appeared on April 26, with the heading “3 day carcasses spread stink”.

My family has been associated with the PFA as volunteers for over two years at Chandigarh.

We visited ‘Basera’ on April 25 (Sunday) as we sometimes do on weekends to lend a hand to the PFA and were witness to the proceedings there. I believe that one must appreciate the good work the PFA is doing for sick, injured and abandoned animals in the city and consider the constraints under which it works.

The PFA is an organisation which depends to a very great extent on donations and voluntary assistance provided by animal lovers of the city. It runs a veterinary clinic staffed by qualified doctors, organises free camps for stray animals in the city and runs ‘Basera’.

The cow and calf were brought to the shelter on April 22 in response to a distress call received at the PFA from Panchkula. The animals were in a bad shape, injured, dehydrated and left to die on the road. They were presumably victims of an accident. Some kind-hearted residents had rung up the PFA and a quick response was given by the latter.

It is unfortunate that despite the best efforts of the PFA doctors, the animals died on the night of April 24. The PFA depends on the services of a local village “mochi” to remove dead animals from the shelter. This person was contacted the next morning and the animals were removed by noon on the same day. The report that the carcasses were three days old is untrue.

I wish to appeal to all your readers and the Chandigarh Administration to help and support the PFA. Help is certainly required in all possible ways. One should admire the spirit and selfless dedication of the city youngsters working at the PFA. People are invited to ‘Basera’ to see for themselves the good work being done.

I hope you will put things in the right perspective.

Neehar Mishra
Student of Sacred Heart Secondary School
Chandigarh

Parking lots

Parking lots in some shopping centres in the city are too small. Besides, tea vendors at many lots are using much of the space with their kerosene burners. This can cause fire among petrol-using vehicles parked nearby. Apart from this, rickshaw-pullers have encroached on some parking lots.

To avoid accidents at night, particularly on poorly lit roads, cycles and rickshaws, etc should use lights. They should have a red glass on rear mud-guards.

School children driving two-wheelers should wear helmets.

Dr K. N. Rampal
Chandigarh

Kiran Bedi’s presence

“Alcoholic cops salary to reach home” (Chandigarh Tribune, April 28) shows that the reason Dr Kiran Bedi is such an effective disciplinarian has nothing to do her strictness alone. It has more to do with a caring attitude that she so readily and genuinely shows towards the welfare of those under her command, and of their families as well.

A carefully cultivated atmosphere of concern for their welfare ensures satisfied subordinates. This approach is beginning to show results. A glaring change in the working methods and an increasingly congenial public dealing of those who serve under the command is already evident. Only a few days ago, my sister was stopped for an apparent traffic violation. She recounts that it was a refreshing change to deal with an ASI who was neither rude, nor arrogant. Instead, he was rather courteous, very polite and indeed helpful.

Does this not amply demonstrate that a satisfied employee is indeed an asset, ever ready to gladly serve to the best of his/her ability. When required, such an employee does not mind serving unconditionally, even beyond the call of duty.

Compare this to the fact that a dissatisfied employee is disgruntled. And that such an employee is always a liability. Isn’t it, therefore, always pragmatic to build bridges of trust to facilitate better communication between the employer and the employee. These are easily built through mutual faith, genuine concern, and through personal example. An intelligent officer recognises this and is able to make use of this simple fact to rally an efficient work-force. It is the love and respect an officer is able to command through a genuine concern for those under his/her leadership that distinguish an able administrator from a run-of-the-mill officer.

Vivek Khanna
Panchkula

II

Like many housewives, I am a frequent visitor to the Sector 26 vegetable market for the purchase of my weekly requirements. Recently a visit to that place brought out a totally different scene. The whole market looked very clean, neat and open.

The police force is the same, the laws are the same, but the will to execute depends on the mind and the ability of the chief. India does not need new acts, laws or regulations. What we need today is administrators like Dr Kiran Bedi, who deliver the goods in the performance of their duties.

SAVITA SETHI
Chandigarh

MBBS, BDS exam

I wish to draw your attention to the problems faced by the students of Haryana who are studying in Chandigarh and are going to appear in the entrance tests of MBBS and BDS.

According to a notification issued by the authorities concerned, students who have passed 10th, 10+1 and 10+2 classes from Haryana or whose parents are government employees are eligible to sit in the entrance examination to be conducted by Maharshi Dayanand University.

Those who have studied up to 10th class in the schools of Haryana and whose parents are bona fide residents of Haryana for the past 40 years and are in own business or medical practice are not permitted to sit in the said examination.

This would be great injustice to us. We want to draw attention of the authorities to look into the problem and allow us to sit in the examination.

ARSH, AARTI and AMIT
Chandigarh

These grapes are sour
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 9 — The prices of most fruits have witnessed an upward trend in the local market in the past three days.

After a survey of the market, it was found that in this period, the price of grapes recorded the highest jump. A kg of the fruit, which was available at Rs 30 just three days back, was priced today at between Rs 50 and Rs 60 in different markets. Its wholesale price has gone up from Rs 110 to between Rs 180 and Rs 200 per four kg pack. According to traders, the hike is due to shrinking arrivals with each passing day as the grapes season is almost over. "There are no fresh arrivals from Maharashtra, known as the grape bowl of India, and we are getting the fruit from cold storages," said a trader. He said the price would keep increasing till the arrivals of the local variety gained momentum in the last week of May.

Banana has also become dearer in this period. A dozen of the fruit, priced at Rs 20 a few days back, could be bought today by paying between Rs 25 and Rs 30. Its wholesale price has gone up from Rs 150 to Rs 180 per hundred pieces in this period.

After being sold at a low price for some days, melon also became costlier in this period. A kg of the good quality 'kajri' variety of the fruit, priced at between Rs 15 and Rs 18, three days back, was available today at between Rs 20 and Rs 25. According to traders, the hike is temporary and is due to a rise in demand and less supplies from Rajasthan in the past two days. The price is expected to crash, once the arrivals begin from Doaba region of Punjab, where the fruit is said to be good, due to a long dry spell this year.

A considerable hike in the prices of mango was also noticeable, in spite of a good harvest this year. A kg of the 'safeda' variety of the fruit, priced at between Rs 15 and Rs 20, a few days back, was available today at between Rs 20 and Rs 25 in different sectors. Its wholesale price has gone up from between Rs 150 and Rs 160 to Rs 180 per 16 kg pack. According to traders, the hike is normal and the fruit has become costly mainly because of high prices of other fruits.

The 'sandhuri' and 'dasehri' varieties of the fruit were priced at Rs 30 and Rs 40 per kg, respectively, in the market today. There was no fluctuation in their prices.

On the other hand, the price of apricot has come down in this period. A kg of the fruit, priced at between Rs 50 and Rs 60 just two days back, was available today at Rs 40. Similarly, the price of a piece of pineapple has come down from Rs 25 to Rs 20 due to an increase in arrivals from Goa and other parts of South India.

The prices of other fruits are as follows: Peach — Rs 24 a kg, watermelon — Rs 8, strawberry — Rs 80, pomegranate — Rs 40, mausambi — Rs 80 per dozen, and green almond — Rs 40.