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| Wednesday,
January 2, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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Cong sweeps MCC Mayoral poll Chandigarh, January 1 Ms Joshi defeated the former BJP Mayor, Ms Kamla Sharma, by 22 to 8 votes, Mr Surinder Singh scraped through defeating CVM candidate Harpreet Kaur by 17 to 13 votes, while Mr Balraj Singh scored victory over BJP’s Rajesh Gupta by 18 to 12 votes. The MC House for the first time witnessed 100 per cent polling with the local MP, Mr Pawan Bansal, exercising his right to vote taking the number to 30, the total strength of the House. The election of the Mayor was held with a nominated member Mr A.S. Kahlon in the chair. The other elections were held with Ms. Joshi conducting the business of the house. The BJP-SAD and its tactical partner CVM’s calculations of getting nine nominated members’ votes went awry as they got only one of their votes in Mayoral poll and six and five respectively in the Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor’s elections. The number of votes of the nominated members could only be true if there was no cross-voting, rumours against which were in air. Such rumours, however, can not be confirmed as ballot is secret. Ms Joshi after her election extended thanks to the members and sought their cooperation for the development of the city. Ms Joshi, Mr Surinder Singh and Mr Balraj Singh along with Mr Pawan Bansal and the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee chief, Mr B.B. Bahl, met the Administrator, Lieut-Gen JFR Jacob (retd). Ms Joshi later talking to reporters said she would focus on implementation of the Congress manifesto which has promised basic amenities and a clean and green city. The other two winners who were elected from Mani Majra area said that they would now improve the condition of the area which had been ignored earlier. The new Mayor remained non-committal on the ticklish issue of mopping up resources through tax measures and parking fee saying these matters will be decided by the party and all councillors. She, however, said the ward committees will be formed soon and the corporation will demand more finances for the MC from the Second Delhi Finance Commission. The Mayoral election evoked a great enthusiasm from the political activists who had gathered in large numbers before the MC and in the House gallery. Important amongst those present in the gallery were former Union Minister Vinod Sharma, B B Bahl, BJP local unit President Yashpal Mahajan and its former leader in the House Desraj Tandon. The smooth election meeting after years today witnessed only one obstruction when BJP’s former Mayor Gian Chand Gupta complained that the Congress member’s vote be considered invalid as he was making it open before photographers. This was also supported by Kamla Sharma who contested the Mayoral poll. The BJP and CVM leaders Yashpal Mahajan and Devinder Singh Babla expressed satisfaction over the election saying they could show a presence which will deter the Congress taking the people for granted while taking anti-people decisions on the basis of majority. The internal fight in the SAD continued with the local unit President, Mrs Gurpartap Singh Riar, blaming Mahajan and former BJP MP Satyapal Jain to humiliate the alliance ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections putting up candidates despite almost no presence in the House. The other faction led by outgoing Mayor Ms Harjinder Kaur said Mr Riar has no business to spoil the alliance and only high command was authorised to direct the local
unit.
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MC posts additional staff
despite financial crunch SAS Nagar, January 1 The council, which has lost 90 per cent of its total income after the scrapping of the octroi, has now been burdened with two Executive Officers, three accountants and eight inspectors. An Additional Executive Officer had been appointed about a month ago despite the council already having an Executive Officer on the staff. Over the years only one accountant had been thought adequate to handle the work, but now the civic body has three, with one of them working at the department’s head office in Chandigarh and drawing her salary from the council. The latest addition to the Accounts branch was made about a week ago. The octroi collection staff have already become surplus and at present have been put on assembly election duty. The octroi wing comprised four inspectors, 32 clerks and 16 sevadars. However, during the past about 10 days, the department “obliged” the council with four more inspectors even when it was already facing a problem about suitably accommodating the excess staff. According to council sources, efforts are being made to adjust employees in different branches of the council, including those related to recovery of pending water bills, streetlight maintenance and the engineering wing besides assigning them work connected with pending court cases. The civic body does not have any other sources of income as it does not levy any type of taxes like house tax, commercial tax and fee to clear the layout plans of houses. sources said that if the council regularly got governments funds to offset the loss of octroi (about Rs 17 crore), it could easily absorb additional staff. However, if such grants were not forthcoming, the council would not even be able to pay the salaries of its employees, whose number has been increasing over the past month or so. |
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Online greetings hit florists Chandigarh, January 1 E-mails, short messaging service (SMS) and pagers were the preferred modes this time. Between 10 p.m. last evening till this evening, there were as many as five lakh messages sent through Spice, said a company official. City florists, meanwhile, reported a decline of 60-70 per cent in the sales compared to the last year. “Internet is a much convenient way to wish friends. Moreover, the chill did not give me much time to go out and buy flowers”, said Madhur, a teenager. “We witnessed a substantial decline in flower sales and it seems that most of the people have switched to e-mails, SMS and other facilities which are comparatively cheaper and quicker”, said Mehtab, a florist in Sector 15. The owner of Cute Florist and Nursery in Sector 19, Mr Dinesh, said that flower sale had decline tremendously this time. He added that the thing that had disappointed him was fewer number of young buyers this time. “Earlier youngsters were the ones who formed a major chunk of our clients. However, with easier and quicker communication modes, they seem to have shifted to those”. This year there was more than 80 per cent decline in the sales”, said florist, Ms Raj Mann. She added “ We have a large variety of flowers — glads, zerbers, roses, tube roses, lilium, carnations — but most of the people had preferred rose bouquets I am very disappointed this year as only businessmen and bureaucrats had ordered flower bouquets. Youths are busy with their Internet and mobile phones to express their feeling to friends, said a florist. University student Rajesh said he had drooped the idea of sending flowers to friends as he had purchased a computer last year. Now I have delivered messages through electronic cards. You can send messages in beautiful ways and have numerous facilities. |
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New Year brings sunshine Chandigarh, January 1 Dense fog continued to play havoc with the train schedules in the region. The worst hit were the Howrah-Amritsar Mail and the Duplicate Howrah-Amritsar that ran late by seven and eight hours respectively. Brauni-Amritsar, Bombay-Jammu Tawi Superfast ran five hours and three-and-half hours behind schedule. The New Delhi-Chandigarh and the return Shatabdi Express were delayed by half-an-hour while the Himalyan Queen to Kalka, Shaan-e-Punjab and Swaran Shatabdi to Amritsar were late by an hour each. Srinagar, Jammu, the entire tribal belt of Himachal Pradesh, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Ambala, Hisar and Delhi, to name a few stations, continued to be the coldest places in the region with the minimums staying 2 to 3 degrees below normal. As the day progressed, the fog lifted making way for the sun to shine brightly. However, the people in plains of the region continued to shiver as the minimums dipped by 2 to 3 degrees below normal today, the lowest in winter so far. Despite the sunshine, day temperature in and around Chandigarh, which had plummeted to the lowest of 9.6 °C in the past one decade was still 4 degrees below normal at 16.2°C. The weathermen not holding out any respite from the severe cold wave conditions and rains or snow over the next 48 hours have forecast mainly sunny day in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and fogs or low clouds to lifting fogs in the plains of the region with a possibility of further fall in temperatures. Srinagar continued to shiver under sub-zero temperature of 4.3°C, 2 degrees below normal while winter Capital Jammu turned out to be the coldest with 4.9°C, which was 3 degrees below normal. The minimum in and around Shimla was 4 degrees above normal at 7.1°C while Bhuntar and Sunder Nagar reported minus 0.2 and 0.2°C temperatures this morning. Amritsar (4.5), Patiala (4.5), Ludhiana (5.9), Ambala (5.3) and Hisar (6.1) in Punjab and Haryana were the coldest places with upto 2 Celsius below normal this morning. The National Capital Territory experienced the coldest morning with the minimum dipping to 5.5°C, 2 degrees below normal at Safdar Jung and 5.6°C at Palam.
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New Year resolutions or fashion statements? Chandigarh, January 1 Most of the “personalities” Chandigarh Tribune talked to had resolved “to do, and not to do,” so many things in life. Some managed to stick to these, other tried to. Some others forgot all about these, only to “make resolutions” the next year again. The Inspector General of Chandigarh Police, Mr B.S. Bassi, recalls his school days when every year on December 31 he used to resolve on working harder. “Though I firmly believe that New Year resolutions are more of a fashion statement than something serious, and life does not change by making resolutions on December 31, still as a student I used to resolve in favour of making additional efforts”. He adds, “No matter how hard I used to work, by the end of the year I still used to get the impression that enough had not been done. Anyway, now I firmly believe that you should not wait till December 31 if you want to make a resolution”. The managing director of Drish shoes, Mr I.S. Paul, used to make “academic resolutions” when he was doing his post-graduation. “Students were more career oriented then. As a result, securing top position in the university was the resolution every learner used to make and I was no different. This is not all, I was a badminton player and every year I used to resolve in favour of putting in additional efforts. I can now look back with satisfaction that I was able to stick to most of the resolutions”. Poet D.S. Nirdosh was no different, only his resolutions were “not purely academic”. Suppressing a giggle, he blushes before muttering, “I was actually popular among girls when I was a student, every year I used to resolve that I would spend less and less time with them. Needless to say, I used to fail in sticking to my resolution”. Lieut-Gen Vijay Oberoi says that he was also “popular” when he was young. “But I do not remember making any such resolution. Otherwise also, I do not believe in making resolutions,” he says. Mr Sanjay Tandon, a Chartered Accountant, does not agree. Every year he used to resolve on making himself a better human being. “Well, I used to make serious efforts for ensuring personal growth when I was a student,” he asserts. “It is only now that I have resolved to exercise regularly for keeping myself fit and to spend more time with my family.” Mr Ashok Khanna, a businessman, cannot recall having made any resolution in his salad days. “But I have made a resolution this year to make an effort towards spreading the message of love and peace across the world because economic growth also depends on it.” |
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UT to ask for more power Chandigarh, January 1 The NREB controls power allocation and distribution in the northern region. The Administration will be seeking that its quota of 23 MW from the eastern power grid should be restored. In early October this quota was cut and power was diverted to states like Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir where the cold sets in earlier than the plains. In this regard top officials have suggested that the services and goodwill of the Administrator, Lieut Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd), is used to press upon Union Power Minister Suresh Prabhu. Besides this demand of restoration of 23 MW of quota, Chandigarh will also seek more power from the central power pool. in May last, Chandigarh was allocated 4 per cent of the power from the unallocated quota in the central power pool. This had been hiked from the previous 2 per cent of the unallocated to 4 per cent. Even this quota was cut back in October. Chandigarh will now demand that the allocation was enhanced on a permanent basis and the same needs to be restored in view of the peak winter load. Actually due to the intense cold conditions, the city overdrew power from the northern grid yesterday. Overdrawals are taken very seriously in the power sector as it can cause a grid collapse which leads to unaccountable losses and also loss of reputation. If this 2 percent quota is restored and translated into actual megawatt of power supply as this can vary according to power generation, well placed sources said, adding that it would be at least 20 MW. Despite all this some kind of systematic power cuts are inevitable, a source said. Without this, power demand cannot be curbed. The discipline has to be maintained on the northern power grid to make the system work. |
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AHSSC to file reply to court notice Chandigarh, January 1 The Shiromani Akali Dal coalition government has failed to keep its promise of withdrawing the SLP. Highly placed sources in the government said that the withdrawal of the SLP may take another one month. The AHSSC move could revive anti-Anandgarh feelings ahead of the elections which could be exploited by Mr Parkash Singh Badal’s opponents. The project was to affect at least 30,000 people. The government had tried to neutralise the anti-Anandgarh feeling and the Ravi Inder Singh factor by issuing a notification giving the Notified Area Committee status to Naya Gaon area, but the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the notification. The government has been allegedly dilly-dallying the withdrawal of the SLP as it fears that the act may adversely affect the project of five new sectors in SAS Nagar to be developed by the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA). The Cabinet had nailed the Anandgarh project at its December 12 meeting following an announcement by the Chief Minister, Mr Prakash Singh Badal, at a public meeting a couple of months ago. Mr Badal had also announced that the government would withdraw the SLP. The AHSSC’s general secretary, Mr Jasbir Singh Dhaliwal, said that the Supreme Court had issued notices to 11 respondents asking them to reply within 30 days of the receipt of the notice and in case of default, the appeals would be proceeded with and determined in the absence of the respondents. ‘‘If the government does not withdraw the SLP in this week, the remaining respondents will be forced to go to the court,’’ added the general secretary. When contacted, Mr H.S. Mattewal, Advocate-General, Punjab, said that the project had been annulled by the Cabinet and the decision of the Cabinet was supreme. ‘‘The SLP will be withdrawn soon as the paper work may take some time,’’ he said. |
Additional phone exchange for Sec 4 Chandigarh, January 1 The existing telephone exchange in Sector 4 developed faults twice in a fortnight disrupting the normal functioning of the two state governments and the UT Administration. Also affected were the Raj Bhavans of Punjab and Haryana, Punjab and Haryana High Court, residences of the Chief Ministers of the two states and the Adviser to the Administrator of the UT, Chandigarh. The BSNL has not been able to identify the exact cause of the fault in the exchange though Mr
R.C. Vaish, Principal General Manager, Telephones, Chandigarh, firmly rules out sabotage. He told Chandigarh Tribune here today that a close examination of the exchange and supporting equipment had been undertaken which show no sign of any tampering or damage. Therefore, sabotage was out of the question. “Since it is serving an important and sensitive area, we cannot take any chances. Hence, the decision to install an additional exchange which would automatically take over the load if and when the first one started malfunctioning”, he added. |
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Staff gherao zoo Director Chhat Bir, January 1 The irate employees blocked the main gate of the Field Rest House in the zoo, raised slogan for over two hours and did not allow Mr R.K. Luna, Director, to enter his office there. The employees complained that they were not paid salaries for December and the salaries of some workers were even deducted by the management. They alleged that the authorities did not inform them about the step. The employees said that they came to know about it when they got their salaries today. Mr Luna refused to talk to this correspondent. |
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YOUNG
VOICE THE coming year holds a lot of challenges for this young macho man who has recently entered the modelling scenario. Raman Dhody who has become a familiar face in the local ramp shows and beauty contests wants to excel in the line he has chosen for himself. “Though I have only entered this field, I am definitely going to be a known face by 2002,” says Raman. “And to make my dream come true I am going to put all my effort in the coming year,” adds this determined young man. Raman always wanted to be model ever since he stepped into his teens. And winning a few titles in male pageant contests added fuel to his burning ambition. “Though after completing my B.Com from Panjab University I have been helping my father with the family business, I do not want to stick to it for long,” he says. Raman who would like to act for music videos as well as in the TV shows is also an avid reader of novels.
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Army Medical Corps function Chandigarh, January 1 It was on this day in 1764 when the Bengal Medical Service was formally organised to provide medical cover to the troops of the East India Company, and over the years, this organisation was amalgamated into the Indian Medical Service (IMS). Later, it became an integral part of the Indian armed forces. The Command Hospital in Chandi Mandir is imparting tertiary care to the troops of the Western Command, ex-servicemen and their dependants. Of late, it has also been looking after civilian cases from far flung areas of Leh and Turtuk under Operation Sadbhavana. State-of-the-art medical and surgical care is provided in this modern hospital having various super speciality centres including total hip replacement, arthroscopic surgeries, laparoscopic major hepatobiliry and pancreatic surgeries, endoscopic urological interventional procedures, ophthalim lasers, stitchless surgeries, TMT and echocardiography, modern treatment for rheumatoid arthritis using biological response modifiers, ELISA testing and cancer diagnosis. |
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Best aircraft BRD trophy Chandigarh, January 1 According to a statement issued here today, the awards were received by the Air Officer Commanding, 3
BRD, Air Cmde S.B. Prashar, by the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Maintenance Command, Air Marshal S S Gupta during the annual IAF Maintenance Field Commanders’ conference held at Nagpur in December. Addressing officers, air men and civilian staff of the depot here today, Air Commodore Prashar complimented them for their dedication and untiring efforts in the field of aircraft maintenance and indigenisation of aero-spares. He also expressed hope for higher achievements and better quality products this year. |
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Markfed calendar
released Chandigarh, January 1 This year the nation is celebrating the hundredth birth anniversary of the great painter and visionary. “Sobha Singh has given different directions of our thoughts and ideas about the Sikh Gurus. When we contemplate on the Gurus in our mind, it is his paintings which come floating in our thoughts.” The Sikhs have been provided with a point to concentrate their thoughts — such is the gift of Sobha Singh to this generation and the generations to come. Some of his well-known paintings, Guru Nanak Dev, Guru Hargobind, Guru Teg Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh have been brought out in the form of a calendar by Markfed which will certainly serve as a source of inspiration to the younger generation. Mr Bains also released the 2002 diary and Markfed single-sheet calendar on this occasion. |
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Police to send
monthly reports on fake currency Chandigarh, January 1 According to orders issued by the IGP, Mr B.S. Bassi, today, the SP (Operations), Mr H.G.S. Dhaliwal, has been made the nodal officer for compiling and forwarding reports to Special Secretary and Director-General, Central Economic Intelligence Bureau in the ministry. |
Waiter dies of asphyxiation Chandigarh, January 1 According to the police, he closed the godown’s door but did not extinguish a tandoor which was burning in order to keep himself warm. He died due to lack of oxygen. The police has initiated proceedings under Section 174 of the CPC.
Booked for stealing power Occupants of as many as 125 houses located in an unauthorised colony in Darwa village have been booked for stealing power. According to a complaint lodged by Mr M.P. Singh, Assistant Executive Engineer in the Electricity Department, the occupants were drawing
electricity without having a legal connection. A case of theft under Section 379 of the IPC and various provisions of the Indian Electricity Act has been registered in the Industrial Area Police Station.
Assaulted A resident of Nepal, Ved Bahadur, has lodged a complaint that he was assaulted and threatened by a resident of Industrial Area and several of his accomplices in Sector 17 last night. In another case a Sector 22 resident, Shalini, has reported that she was assaulted and threatened by a Sector 21 resident at her residence last night. Cases have been registered.
Stolen A Sector 20 resident, Krishna Devi, has reported that a gold kara, two gold rings, five pairs of gold ear rings and Rs 50,000 in cash has been stolen from her residence. The police has registered a case.
Vehicles stolen A resident of MLA flats in Sector 3, Roshan Lal, has reported that his Bolero jeep (HR-61-HQ-7411-T) has been stolen from his residence. A resident of Patran near Patiala, Murli Manohar, has reported that his car (PB-11-S-5329) has been stolen from Sector 17. A Delhi resident, Inderjit Singh, has reported that his Maruti car (DL-6-CB-2877) has been stolen from Sector 34. Cases have been registered.
Thefts A Sector 38 resident, Sanjiv Rana, has reported that a stereo and a gas cylinder have been stolen from his car which was parked at his residence. In another case, Sector 20 resident Satpal Singh has reported that the rear wheel of his Maruti car, which was parked at Bal Bhavan, Sector 23, has been stolen.
Separate cases have been registered.
PANCHKULA Liquor seized The police has arrested a person who had fled after taking the benefit of fog and had left 32 pouches of liquor on December 29. Mr Manoj Yadav, SP, said the accused Binder of Haripur village near Raipur Rani was booked under the Excise Act.
Scooter stolen A scooter was stolen by some unidentified persons from a house in Rajiv Colony here on Monday. Mr Rama Kant, owner of the scooter (CH-01R-9798), complained to the police that the scooter that was parked in front of the house was lifted at about 6.30 p.m. A case has been registered at the Sector 5 police station. |
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Maloya resident
murdered Chandigarh, January 1 According to sources, an associate of Jaipal, Karambeer, eloped with a married woman, Manish, about two weeks back, but they returned to the colony last week. The woman's husband, Ramvir, and brother Pradeep, in connivance with two of their neighbours, Sanjay and Johny, reportedly assaulted Karamvir's brother Sripal out of revenge. Jaipal was assaulted with a knife and his neck was slashed. He died on the spot. The police has registered a case under Section 325 of the IPC against Ramvir, Pradeep, Sanjay and Johny. |
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Scooterist killed SAS Nagar, January 1 It is reported that a bus rammed into the scooter. |
‘Reduce power tariff
for SSIs’ Chandigarh, January 1 “The power tariff needs to be reduced because it is the major raw material for the industry”, said Mr Rajiv Gupta, general secretary of the federation in a press release. He said issues like transfer industrial plots and CITCO sheds, ownership rights to CITCO shed holders, separate SDO of electricity for Industrial Area and sales tax at first stage on industrial consumable goods need immediate attention of the Administration. The federation has requested the Administration to release funds for the development and maintenance of the Industrial Area. |
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