 |
|
|
Contractors to collect octroi in SAS Nagar SAS Nagar, April 3 The last thursday incident of octroi evasion at the Sohana barrier, which saw suspension of two employees of the civic body, has forced the ruling group to plug loopholes in the collection of octroi. Mr Kulwant Singh, President of the civic body, admits the involvement of field staff in the evasion and feels that privatisation will end the illegal practice. An attempt by the civic body last year to pass over the octroi collection into private hands had few takers due to fall in octroi collection from industrial houses. Mr Singh said the issue would be put up in the meeting of the civic body scheduled for this month. Privatisation would ensure the targeted collection of octroi, he said adding, “I am hopeful that contractors will come forward to bid in the auction”. Sources in the civic body said efforts to auction octroi collection posts from August 8, 2000 to August 15, 2001, with a reserve price of Rs 17.22 crore, had failed. The income of the council from the octroi collection during financial year 1998-99 and 1999-2000 was Rs 12. 69 crore and Rs 14.62 crore, respectively. Earlier the council had auctioned the octroi collection posts for a period of eight months — from August 1, 1998 to March 31, 1999 — for Rs 8. 64 crore. The sources said the contractual octroi collection system was cancelled after eight months following stiff opposition by the trader. As per a formula to fix the reserve price for the auction, if the octroi collection on a contractual basis has to be renewed, the reserve price has to be 15 per cent more than the previous auction price. If the octroi collection passes from government hands to private hands, the reserve price has to be 20 per cent more than the income of the previous financial year.
|
|
Children chirp in schools Chandigarh, April 3 Schools in the city re-opened today after the declaration of results about a fortnight ago . The children in senior classes were a excited lot as they came back to join the new session classes in their respective schools. Children were all decked up in new sparkling dresses and shiny shoes to meet their classmates in new classes. The teachers welcomed the kids back to school. Somehow they also had a strenuous day taking charge of the new kids and escorting them to new classes. Many teeny boppers could be seen offering flowers to teachers while the teachers offered them sweets. The kindergarten classes in most of the schools started here today. All the government schools also opened up for their new session. The schools which started their new session included St Anne’s Convent School, Sacred Heart Convent, St Kabir School, St Stephen’s School, Shivalik Public School Sector 41, Vivek High School, New Public School, Guru Nanak Public School, Mount Carmel School, Manav Mangal School, D.A.V Public School, Sector 8, D.A.V. Model School, Sector 15, Hansraj Public School, Panchkula. However the session is yet to begin in several other schools. Tender Heart School will start its new session classes on April 9 whereas St John High School will open on April 4. For the kindergarten admissions the parents have been asked to report on April 7. At the end of the day anxious parents could be seen waiting outside the schools for their tiny tots and inquiring about their experiences on the first day. Some of the schools began the new session with havans or akhand path. |
|
Streetlight maintenance
a knotty issue SAS Nagar, April 3 Privatisation was expected to take place in February and officials now fear that it may not be possible before June. It is learnt that one of the reasons for the delay in transferring the work to private hands is that streetlights had been installed by PUDA. The power connections were also released in the name of that organisation. As the town expanded, the maintenance of streetlights was transferred in stages to the municipal council. The maintenance was actually done by PSEB employees and council paid the finances. About Rs 10 lakh a year are spent by the civic body as labour charges for this work. An additional Rs 10 lakh are spent annually by the council on supplying materials like bulbs, tubes, starters, chokes, etc for the maintenance of streetlights. The PSEB authorities wanted that before the council could hand over the maintenance work to private parties it must get the power connections transferred in its name. Besides, a fresh security amount would have to be deposited. The work on transferring of connections in the council’s name is almost over, but officials say that about 20 per cent formalities are yet to be completed. The officials say that privatisation will not lead to a major financial gain for the council. However, the services are likely to improve as a council survey team will check streetlight points regularly after privatisation and penalty will be imposed if the faulty points are not made functional within 24 hours. There are about 4250 independent streetlight points in the town. They have been classified into five different categories like sodium lamps, tubelights, etc. |
|
PM to make brief
halt in UT Chandigarh, April 3 |
|
Rift between hoteliers & pub owners
deepens Chandigarh, April 3 Though pubs and restaurant owners were allowed by the Chandigarh Administration to sell beer from the same premises yesterday after giving affidavits that they may be allowed to continue subject to a court order on the buildings, the resulting controversy has divided the entire lot. It all started when the Hotel Association of Chandigarh approached the court saying that they had paid several lakhs as premium to the Chandigarh Administration to bid for restaurant or hotel sites in open auctions. Pub licences had been issued in sites which were earmarked for general trade and were not meant for running as restaurants or pubs. Under the new building bylaws, any restaurant or pub operating out of a building specified for general trade purpose would have to get the building converted into a restaurant site by paying the fixed conversion charges. In each case the conversion rates run into several lakhs of rupees. Owners had to get their sites converted and the fee had to be deposited to save them from resumption or any other action. The need to deposit the hefty fee on an urgent basis is not a priority for these site owners. If the tenant was running the site, the owner would be even less disinterested in paying the conversion fee on short notice, pointed out sources. A pub’s licence fee is Rs 1.25 lakh per annum. Restaurant owners pleaded that the pub licences be given and the conversions could be carried on later. In the ensuing fight the owners of restaurants or pubs run from sites meant for general trade pointed out that all hotels in the city were using their basements as bars. In 1997 the administration allowed opening of bars in basements on the basis of a conversion fee. Only a couple of hoteliers deposited the fee and got their bars regularised while the others have just continued in violation, the restaurant and pub owners argued with the administration. In such a case the hoteliers had no right to point fingers at others, was the other argument. When the licences were allowed yesterday the final agreement may have left both parties in a loss, said a senior administration official. The restaurant owners in general trade sites gave an affidavit that they will abide by the final order of the court on the plea filed by the Hotel Association of Chandigarh with their right to appeal challenge the same being protected under the law. On the other hand, the hotel association when cornered on the aspect of un-regularised bars running in basements, gave an affidavit that they have no objection to renewal of licences for pubs and bars. The association also said it would not move court against the said renewal of licences to bars and pubs. Four days ago the Excise department sealed all pubs as the Estate Officer, Mr M. Ramsekhar, had clarified that no pub licences would be issued to persons whose sites did not conform to the new building bylaws approved by the Chandigarh Administration. This was done on the pending plea of the hotel association before the court. Matters got complicated when the flaws of the hotel sites were pointed out. |
|
Smoking is
punishment Chandigarh, April 3 Interestingly, it is not only the students who are ignorant of the fact, even a number of faculty members, when contacted for an opinion on the issue, also expressed ignorance about any such regulation for the hostel residents. Even a majority of the non-teaching staff on duty in hostel offices accepted the fact that they had rarely fined any resident for smoking in the hostels. However, a visit to various hostels ( boys in particular) on the campus revealed that these were hardly the non-smoking zones stipulated in the rule books. “ I am a smoker. I smoke within my room. I think I have a right of choice on my habits,” a resident said. Another resident said “such regulations are mere shams. I smoke and I drink but I have never been hauled up during the past five years on the campus. There have been cases when residents were fined for creating ‘trouble’ after drinking but “uncomfortable” situation has never arisen due to smoking by students. Ironically, there are signboards warning against harmful effects of alcohol in majority of the boys hostels but there is none against ills of smoking. “ The Dean while talking to the Tribune said, “I was unaware of any such regulation. It would be nice if residents avoided such habits but I doubt if a mere fine was enough to prevent students from smoking.” One research scholar said, “ It would be pleasing to find students abstaining from smoking on the campus. The habit could be hurting the sentiments of a section of students. The
The university has also underlined a fine of Rs 500 for anybody found possessing a weapon. However, the practice of possessing arms is by and large missing in PU hostels. Few among other heads underlined for fine in hostels include : Rs 20 per day fine for over-staying up to seven days ; Rs 15 per day for continuing to stay after expiry of their examination; Rs 20 for any enrolled research scholar not getting his registration within one year; and Rs 20 per day for former students staying in hostels on sharing basis with the permission of the Dean Student Welfare and Rs 20 as charges for any enrolled research scholar not getting registration within one year. However, the students have been paying fines on all these accounts. |
Rules that are flouted Chandigarh, April 3 This rather comprehensive volume has detailed rules laid down for the invigilators and the rest of the staff involved during examinations. If everyone involved in conducting these examinations were to follow these rules, examinations would not just be conducted smoothly but fairly too. But reality is far from what is expected of these invigilators. The most basic rule being flouted the most is the one which says the teachers who have been involved in teaching a subject will not be invigilating an examination of that subject. “Teachers of subjects are not only present on the day of examination of the subject, but also many a times invigilating their own students in these examinations,” says a lecturer of a local government college of the city. Then there is a set of rules which sources state is being misused to the hilt. One rule says the question papers are to be opened half an hour before the examination and another states that in specific conditions, candidates can be allowed into the examination hall even half an hour late. The “right connections” and a combination of these rules can give a clear one hour to the candidate to leak the paper and get hold of the answers. In the absence of any clearly laid down statement regarding the kind of staff that can be employed for examination duties, college peon, stenos, librarians and PAs to the principals are invigilating examinations routinely. “But all the staff that is employed in the conduct of examinations are predecided and in the university’s knowledge. If the university had any problem with it , it would write back saying so,” says a local college principal. Also to be blamed is the reluctance on part of the college lecturers to be on examination duty. “Many lecturers who are close to the principal get excused. Then many have excuses ready. There is always a dearth of those who want to give examination duties. The amount of Rs 75 which the university gives for an examination duty is hardly an attraction enough to help conduct the examinations,” states a college lecturer. “The principal is left with no way out but to employ staff from the library to invigilate. In spite of the fact that the UGC lays down that lecturers will have to give examination duties, not many lecturers are forthcoming,” says a local government college principal. Then there is long list of rules which say the superintendent is supposed to be present at all times while the examination is on, no visitors are allowed during examination time, no one who has seen the question paper can go out of the college, the candidate being sent to the toilet is to be accompanied by an assistant superintendent and a woman superintendent’s presence is necessary in case there are girl candidates. “Not a single college in the city follows the rule that the candidates are supposed to be physically checked for carrying any parchis,” says a college lecturer. There are also innumerable instances of teacher’s relatives and acquaintances appearing in the examinations. “Chits are sent from the teachers to take care of these students. When one makes a case of use of unfair means, there is always the centre superintendent, who can cancel such cases,”says another college lecturer. |
Natural is the best: Andrea Chandigarh, April 3 And all this, not simply because of his “second-best-hairstylist-in-the-world” status, but also for the amazing verve with which he treats hairstyling — an art which he has revolutionised over the years. Andrea is nowadays in India on invitation from Lakme to train Lakme Beauty Salon experts across the country on the latest trends in beauty and styling. After doing the training and the demonstration sessions in Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar, the stylist was today in the city for holding the spring style hair forecast session at the Sector 9 Lakme Beauty Salon. The Tribune spoke to him about his perception of the fine art of hairstyling, and also about the latest trends in the same. The very first thing that impressed about the stylist was his definition of hairstyling. “Hairstyling is an outflow of energy. The art goes much beyond just handling the hair. It requires you to understand the psyche of your client and then give him a style which goes with the persona. It’s just like sculpting a stone. It’s an exercise which involves transmission of energy from the stylist to the client.” Andrea votes for the natural look and works to preserve the same at all costs. “You don’t have to go against nature. So it is very important to follow the hair current while you are handling them,” he said. Andrea attaches a lot of significance to stance while dressing up hair of a client. “The positions I take with my client are very important. They must be reassuring. My mission is accomplished only when the client leaves the salon in comfort.” After looking at the way Andrea did up the hair of a local model today, one knew exactly why he had made it big in the career he took up as a 13-year-old. After working with well known hairdressers in Novara and Vercilli, Andrea opened his first salon in the open in 1982. His big break came when he participated in the international meeting of hairdressers (Cosmoprof) in 1988 where he was well appreciated. From there, Andrea went on to study hairstyles and keep renewing them. Giving a positive feedback about his sting in India, Andrea said, “This country has great people, who are very hospitable. I loved working on the hair of consumers here. They are very healthy because people are more close to nature here. They don’t invite damages to the hair.” |
|
Recreating from the past Chandigarh, April 3 Vani, who is currently working on the Imrana Fort Palace, a heritage hotel on the Delhi-Jaipur highway, has already worked on a number of restoration projects including big names like Quila Mubarak in Patiala and Mudfort Kuchasar in Bulandshahr which is now a part of the Imrana chain of heritage hotels. “Conversion of old forts into hotels poses tremendous challenge” said Vani. To convert an old building into a hotel, one has to keep the essence of that particular era intact by restoring the structural fabric as well as the style, while at the same time has to make it user friendly” she said. It is a matter of role reversal now, she elaborated. “While in the past the main purpose of these buildings was to discourage visitors and to maintain Purda system for the women , now as hotels these have to attract customers and provide all facilities a modern man of 21st century is accustomed to,” she added. Born and brought up in Chandigarh, the young architect is quite disappointed at the lack of architectural growth in the city. Le Corbusier did not allow the caterpillar turn into a butterfly. After he left, no building of significance was built, she said. “City is like a living organism, it has to grow to accommodate new changes. But as far as Chandigarh is concerned it has failed to do so” she said Vani. Talking about the prospects of making a few heritage hotels in Punjab, Vani said “Patiala has a lot of tourism potential. Quila Mubarak can be restored to become a major tourist spot. Quila Androon, a part of Quila Mubarak, can be converted into a heritage hotel while Ranbaas can be converted into a cultural centre to preserve the collection of art and craft pieces of the fort.” “Though people are ready to accept recycling of plastic and paper, they have yet to come to terms with recycling of wasted architectures,” said Vani. Despite the fact that restoration of the old buildings was economically viable, most of the people would not give a second thought about demolishing their ancestral homes in favour of multi-storied buildings, she said. “A mass movement is required to generate awareness among the common people regarding the importance a well as aesthetics of our age-old architectural sites,” she added. |
|
Holiday on April 6 Chandigarh April 3 The Jain Maha Sangh, Chandigarh, a unified organisation of four sects of Jains, today said celebrations would start from April 6. This year which is the 2600 Janam Kalyanak has been declared as ‘‘Ahinsa Varsh’’ throughout the country by the Centre. Lord Mahavira was the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism and born in Bihar, then called as Vaishali in Kundalpur village, in a Kshatriya family. He left his princely abode at the age of 30 years and went to the jungles where he undertook tapaysa to attain Kewal Gyan at the age of 42. The celebrations start with rath yatra constituting the rath of Tirthankara, elephant, horses, plaques and bands. The Yatra will commence from the Digambar Jain Mandir, Sector 27, at 10: 30 a.m. The Governor of Haryana, Babu Parmanand, will inaugurate it. The procession will pass through the Shwetambar Jain Mandir, Sector 28, the Jain Sthanak, Sector 18-D, markets of Sectors 18, 19 and 27 before culminating at the Digambar Jain Mandir. On April 7 Mahavir Jayanti will be celebrated in the PGI’s Bhargava auditorium where the Adviser to the UT Administrator, Ms Neeru Nanda, will be the chief guest. The next day celebrations will be organised at the Jain Sthanak Sabha, Sector 18. Religious discourses by renowned Jain saints and other cultural programmes relating to Lord Mahvira’s teachings will mark the occasion. The sangh has requested the administration to provide space in the Government Museum and Art Gallery to highlight the 24 Tirthankaras of Jainism.
|
|
Councillors sore with civic
body SAS Nagar, April 3 The amount to channelise the nullah, carrying the sullage of Chandigarh and SAS Nagar, was sanctioned during the period of the Administrator of the civic body, Mr Jaipal Singh. Protesting against the development work, Mr S.S. Patwari, said : “We are told that there were limited funds and amount was sanctioned for development work outside the limits of the civic body”. Inquiries reveal that the work on the nullah had already begun. Officials of the civic body said they had come to the rescue of residents of Lakhnour village who have been suffering for the last several years on account of dirty water passing through the village. The dirty water resulted in contamination of water sources in the village. Complaints of skin problems, stomach ailments and vomiting have been common among the villagers. |
|
Rs 27 lakh offered at Mansa Devi Panchkula, April 3 An official spokesperson said 57 gold ornaments, 1103 silver ornaments, 278 kg desi ghee, 67 ceiling fans, 996 stainless steel utensils, 20 brass bells, 16 wall clocks were also offered by devotees. It was added that 750 children and 15 old persons, separated from their families at the mela, were handed over to family members. Plan to increase traffic cops’ strength Panchkula, April 3 Giving details, the Superintendent of Police, Dr CS Rao, said that with assistance from the Haryana Urban Development Authority, police posts would be set up at strategic points in the city. In addition, 30 safety jackets, 20 pollution nose mask, 40 fibre helmet had been purchased for the traffic police personnel among others. To streamline traffic, signboards would also be propped up at various places. |
Hit-and-run case: driver
identified Chandigarh, April 3 According to the information available from police sources, it is learnt that a police party led by SI Nirmal Singh and ASI Shaadi Lal, that had been sent to Kapurthala to locate the car driver, has identified the accused as Sarabjit Singh. The car (PB-09C-6234) belongs to one Mr Daljit Singh Ghumman, a business man of Phagwara township of Kapurthala district. The accused, a nephew of Mr Ghumman, had reportedly borrowed the car when he came to Chandigarh. After the police party ascertained the ownership of the car, they reached Phagwara and were told that accused Sarabjit Singh had gone to Begowal. According to the information available till the time of the filing of this report, the police party sent to Begowal from Phagwara had not returned as yet. It may be recalled that the victim was on his way home in Sector 15 from the clinic of his son in Burail village on a bicycle, when he was hit by a car near the Laxmi Narain Mandir in Sector 44. Mr Shyam Lal Gupta was seriously injured and the car driver, in order to escape the wrath of the passer-by, suggested that they should lift him up and put him in the car, so that he could rush the victim to the hospital. However, the accused, instead of taking him to the hospital, took off with the injured man and threw him in Phase III B1 of SAS Nagar. Later a passer-by informed the Gupta family after getting the telephone number from the identity card of the victim. The victim was later admitted to the PGI and is stated to be in a serious condition.
Child missing A ten-year-old child is reported to have gone missing from his house in Hallo Majra, after he got a compartment in his class V science examination . According to a DDR entry made in the police station, Sector 31, Mr Hari Shankar, has stated that his son, Dharminder Kumar, a student of Sector 19 public school , left home after his result was declared, and had not returned back since then.
Killed in accident A resident of Panchkula was killed in an accident on the road separating Sector 20 and 30 late in the evening after his scooter collided with a rehri .The rehri wallah reportedly fled away from the spot. Arvind Sharma, a resident of Panchkula, collided with a rehri when he was going on a scooter (HR-03B-7715) and sustained multiple injuries. He was rushed to the GMCH, Sector 32, where he was declared ‘brought dead’.
Four arrested The police has arrested four persons- Balraj Singh, Mohan Lal, Bharat and Wazir — on charges of violence at a dhaba in Sector 32 late last night in an inebriated condition. The accused were arrested under Section 323,506 and 34 of the IPC and were later released on bail today. It is alleged that the accused had gone to Mehta Dhaba last night and assaulted and threatened a servant there after a minor altercation. A case had been registered on the complaint of the owner of the dhaba, Daljit Kumar Mehta.
House burgled In a case of daylight burglary, cash and goods worth thousands of rupees were stolen from the residence of Mr. Rattan Lal Sharma in Sector 38-B yesterday, The family was out of station at the time of the theft. According to the information available from the police, cash worth Rs 4800, and clothes were stolen from the house after the thieves broke open the lock of the house.
Liquor seized As many as four pouches of Sixer whisky were recovered from Harpal Singh at the ISBT, Sector 43, yesterday. The accused has been registered under Sections 61, 1 and 14 of the Excise Act.
Kharar Body found The local police has recovered body of an unidentified Bihari labourer aged about 30 years from Baironpur Bhagmajra village today. According to Mr Jasdev Singh,SHO, Kharar, it was suspected that the persons had died after consuming some substance. The polce has sent the body to Civil Hospital Kharar for post mortem.
Case registered The local police has registered a case against Balwinder Singh, Tirlochan Singh, Karnail Singh and some other persons on the charge of committing theft in the nearby Siamipur Taprian villae yesterday. The police has booked them under Sections 380, and 148, IPC, after a complaint lodged by Mr Meva Singh. |
|
Two drivers booked Chandigarh, April 3 The altercation took place when an autorickshaw (CHB-2178) being driven by Amit took a wrong turn and hit the CTU bus (CH-01G-5353) near the CTU bus stop in front of the PGI at around 1:15 pm this afternoon. Amit got out of his rickshaw and with the help of another autorickshaw driver, Kamaljit, pulled the bus driver, Kuldip Singh out of the bus and began beating him up. As soon as word about the incident spread, CTU bus drivers threatened to launch an agitation. The situation was controlled only after the police arrested the accused autorickshaw drivers. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 121 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
