 |
|
| Thursday,
January 31, 2002, Chandigarh, India
|
|
||||
|
Hotel sites fetch
Rs 13.2 cr in auction Chandigarh, January 30 This was about 25 per cent or Rs 2.70 crore over and above the reserve price of Rs 10.50 crore. As a result, the average price on the square yard basis worked out to be a whopping Rs 75,447. Just about a month ago when commercial sites were auctioned in the city, the average price had worked out to be Rs 47,780 per square yard. The reserve price was fixed at Rs 1.75 crore for each of the six sites located along the road dividing Sectors 44 and 43. The area of each site is about 243 square metres. |
|
Irate students block traffic Panchkula, January 30 Angry students of Government College, Barwala were joined by some other local residents and staged a dharna on the highway. They were protesting against the inability of the police to arrest or book any of the accused for stabbing Anil Kumar. The highway remained blocked from 11 am in the morning till about 1 pm when senior police officials managed to pacify the protestors. It is learnt that Anil Kumar, a
kabbaddi player of Government College, Barwala, had a minor altercation with the accused, Sandeep, Manoj, Arvind, Deepak and Billu. The accused reportedly came to the college last morning and threatened Anil Kumar . Manoj and Arvind then took out knives and stabbed Anil, while the others beat him up. The victim received stab injuries on his hand and legs. However, the students of the college alleged that the police did not register a case and no efforts were made to nab the accused. It was after the DSP Headquarters, Mr JP Dahiya, reached the spot around 12.30 pm that he was able to pacify the protestors. He ordered that an FIR be registered, which was done under Sections 323, 324 and 506 of the IPC. He also asked the Chandimandir police to conduct raids and arrest the accused, immediately. |
|
Tribune staff pay homage to Serla Grewal Chandigarh, January 30 Addressing the condolence meeting, Mr R.N. Gupta, General manager, described Mrs Grewal as a visionary who worked untiringly for the progress of the institution. He said: “I had known her before I joined The Tribune and had the privilege of working with her in the Punjab Government. She was a target-oriented person having a high degree of rectitude.” He further said her death was a personal loss to him. Mr O. P. Arora, Additional General Manager, described Mrs Grewal as an able administrator and a great achiever. He added that Mrs Grewal was not rigid in her views as was generally perceived. She heard the views of others and went along with them if she was convinced. She wanted The Tribune to achieve greater glory and towards that end, met all the reasonable demands of the employees just in one go. Mr Balbir Singh
Jandu, president, The Tribune Employees Union, lauded Mrs Grewal’s positive role in the welfare of the employees. She was all for cordial relationship between the employer and the employees. her contribution to the all-round progress of the institution and its employees will always be remembered. Besides a large number of employees, the meeting was attended by Mr Vijay Saigal, Editor, Dainik Tribune, Mr H.S. Halwarvi, Editor Punjabi Tribune and Mr K.P. Sinha (The Tribune). The members observed two minutes’ silence to pay their homage to the departed soul. The trustees of the Durga Das Foundation mourned the death of Mrs Grewal, who was a founder trustee of the foundation, since its inception in 1994. In a condolence message the foundation said: “Never to be bogged down by circumstances, she was a true fighter who could, with her sheer energy and indomitable spirit, turn the odds in her favour. She used the same clear-headed precision and high-octave energy in all her professional endeavours. All those who came in contact with her would have been fired by her dynamism, honesty and a work driven mantra. We had the good fortune of having her on our trust for eight years. Her good work remains as a testimony to what an individual must aspire and steadfastly strive towards”. Shimla: Dr Suraj Bhan, Governor, Himachal Pradesh, has expressed grief over the death of Ms Serla Grewal, former Governor and President, The Tribune Trust, who died in Chandigarh yesterday after a protracted illness. In his condolence message Dr Bhan said her contributions were immense and would always be remembered. The Chief Minister, Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal, has also expressed grief over the demise. He said the services rendered by her in different capacities were laudable and would always be remembered. |
|
R.S. Talwar expresses grief Chandigarh, January 30 "I knew her for more than half a century. She was brilliance and dedication personified. Words fail one in expressing one's sentiments in such traumatic moments". |
|
Homage paid to Mahatma Chandigarh, January 30 At a solemn function organised at UT Secretariat in Sector 9, officers and staff working in the Secretariat assembled in front of the deluxe building to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi. Two minutes before 11 a.m., the Guard Commander of a contingent of the Chandigarh police gave an order to rest on reverse arms. As the buglers sounded the last post, the guard reversed arms. On the last note of the last post, a siren was sounded. After two minutes, the siren was again sounded to signal the end of two-minute silence. Prominent among those who present on the occasion included Adviser to the Administrator, Ms Neeru Nanda, Home Secretary, Mr. R.S Gujral, Inspector General of Police, Mr. B.S. Bassi, and Senior Superintendent of Police, Mr Parag Jain. A blood donation camp was today organised in the Secretariat building. Over 100 employees of various departments donated blood in the camp which was inaugurated by the Administrator. Meanwhile, in a separate function at the Gandhi Samarak Bhavan, Sector 16, Sunder Lal Bahuguna, leader of Chipko Movement and activist against the Tehri Dam, also spoke on the occasion. He said the main problem of the world was pollution, which should be controlled at all costs. He asked youths to travel from Afghanistan to Burma to take stock of the situation regarding integration of the people. He said the real tribute to the Father of Nation was by adopting the ideology of Mahatma in life. The Adviser praised Mr Pavitar Singh and Mr Mukandi Lal for doing welfare works for the poor. She also commended Mr Singla who spends Rs 50,000 per month on the up-keep of the cow shelters and supply fodder for cows in Sector 45. While speaking on the occasion, Ms Nanda stated that a grant of Rs 25 lakh has been given to non-governmental organisation. A task force has been constituted by the Administration. Medical trees are being planted in various sectors of Chandigarh. She disclosed that last year 1.25 lakh saplings were planted. Mr Dharamvir Sehgal, Lok Pal, Punjab, while speaking on this occasion said in present scenario, the idea of ‘satya’ and ‘ahimsa’ of Mahatma would prevail. Around 48 children from 49 schools here today brought out 361 cases of skin diseases as part of their anti-leprosy awareness campaign on the occasion of the World Leprosy Day observed in the memory of the martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi. The skin ailment cases were detected by children, trained by the District Leprosy Society and NGOs, after a house-to-house search of urban slums. The world dedicated its anti-leprosy campaign to Mahatma who launched social efforts for the uplift of lepers. The society covered 96 schools in UT villages and slums under its awareness campaign and detected 28 cases. The Health Department said leprosy was curable and its treatment was free. The Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (CTCC) and Mani Majra Block Congress Committee today remembered the Father of the Nation. CTCC President B. B. Bahl and Mayor Lalit Joshi presided over functions to mark the martyrdom day of Mahatma Gandhi at Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan and Mani Majra respectively. |
|
DC washes hands off cable tariff row Panchkula, January 30 The Deputy Commissioner, Ms Jyoti Arora, today told the agitating residents that the administration had no power to intervene in the matter of hike in cable tariff. She, however, reportedly assured them that the administration would support them in case the employees of the cable operators tried to trespass into their houses for laying their cables. However, the residents led by Mr R.P. Malhotra, president of the forum, and Mr Suresh Kaushal, general secretary, were not appeased. They had organised a car and scooter rally today in protest against the hike in cable tariff, imposition of house tax and hike in water tariff by the Haryana Urban Development Authority. As many as 50 cars and scooters participated in the rally that converged at the Mini Secretariat. Mr Malhotra alleged that 3 per cent hike in the stamp duty, four-fold hike in water tariff and lately the imposition of house tax had added to the woes of the residents. On the issue of hike in water charges, Ms. Arora said that the new rates were at par with those in Chandigarh. |
|
Architectural feat lying in disuse Chandigarh, January 30 Not in the original plan of the PGI, the air link was built in the early seventies to serve as a tunnelled link between these two buildings to faciliate a constant day and night flow of human traffic, but sadly, this unique architectural feat is not used any more. According to some of the nurses who were here in the seventies, the link was used for some years but after some unwanted incidents happened, the air link was permanently locked and never used again....at least not for the purpose it was built for. Twenty years hence, the air link is now a place which is being used to store PGI’s junk, old and broken chairs and machinery. The nurses decided not to use the tunnel after reportedly a patient from the psychiatry ward lost his way into the nurses hostel and caused alarm and panic among them. Some nurses also recall that such an incident happened more than once and even a case where the passage was misused by the nurses themselves to get out of the hostel. The story of the air link is repeated at another place in the PGI where a similar, but much shorter link joining the erstwhile library floor in the Research Block A of the hospital with the cafeteria is now lying unused. It is open for use but since the library has shifted to a new building, the traffic is minimum. Mr M.N. Sharma, one of the oldest architects of the city, states that this kind of air link has not been made at other places. Instead, air bridges with roads and smaller passages are now being constructed to join multi-storeyed buildings at the upper floors. In spite of the disuse that these two structures at the PGI have ended us in, the utility of such structures cannot be undermined. Only the size and shape had been changed to make it more utilitarian. For example, a 100-feet passage will be built at the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, connecting the Block A with Block C which is still under construction. “It saves time to go from one building to another if a passage is built connecting the buildings at more than one point,” says Dr S.B.S.Mann, Director Principal, GMCH. But this structure at the PGI remains a unique example of wishful thinking where it was envisaged that nurses will safely commute at wee hours from the hostel to the hospital. “It is an irony that it was supposed to be for the safety of the nurses but it became unsafe for them to use it and has been since locked," states Mr Rajiv Bansal, Architect, PGI. |
|
Political pressure comes in way of shifting SDM’s office Chandigarh, January 30 This has been due to lack of effort on part of the Administration which had planned to shift the office of SDM (South) and the SDM (East) to their respective areas of operations. The office of the SDM (East) is expected to shift from Sector 17 in two months to its new location near the CTU workshop in the Industrial Area (Phase I). While this was planned, the space in Sector 42, meant for the office of the SDM (South), was allocated to the Punjab Olympic Association (POA) for organising the National Games. The POA was served an eviction notice to vacate the premises till February 28. But it has asked for six months’ time. Sources say a senior Delhi-based politician is exerting pressure and wants that POA should retain the office. With pressure coming from Delhi, city residents can probably wait or a fresh site will be identified, said a source. He wondered why such sports organisations are allotted rooms in Chandigarh without paying rent or serving the cause of the UT. The idea of shifting the SDMs’ offices to their respective areas of operations and not to be based in one place in Sector 17 has been a long-standing demand of city residents. The original idea envisaged that licensing and registration of vehicles will be shifted by April 1, 2002. Till then the contract with Tata infotech which issues smart cards on behalf of the Administration was to be re-negotiated. Deputy Commissioner M. Ramsekhar was asked to post new staff from among those 133 employees who have been rendered surplus in the printing and stationary department. In cases where bail has to be granted cops had to be bring the accused all the way to Sector 17 where parking of vehicles is a problem. Anyone wanting to get even a certificate had to come here. |
Meeting of women sarpanches from Feb 6 Chandigarh, January 30 The meeting is being organised by the Centre for Women Studies and the Mahila Dakshata Samiti in collaboration with UNIFEM from February 6 to February 8. More than 80 sarpanches from the region, including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, are expected to participate. Also participating in the meeting are certain women sarpanches from Andhra Pradesh, Karnatka, Maharastra and Rajasthan. Prominent among them is Fatima Bi, a woman sarpanch from Andhra Pradesh, who has been honoured by the state government and UN agencies for pivotal role in women empowerment. The idea of discussion on ‘gender budgeting’ is to take the idea of budget in a new perspective at the grassroot level, Dr Pam Rajput, Director of the Centre for Women Studies, said. She said it was important to know the importance given to people in the budget, more specifically women in general and in specific issues related to them. The idea is to capture the real picture of women, not in terms of numbers in parliament but in terms of quality of their participation. The UNIFEM chief has given a call to all governments to carry out the exercise of preparing their budgets with the gender perspective in mind. Dr Rajput said that even the Indian government planned to carry out their budget exercise in the new perspective. Dr Rajput said: “I have chosen sarpanches in particular because they can play a pivotal role in the administration at the grassroot level, which can serve as a good training ground. One of the issues to feature in the meeting is to share the success stories of women sarpanches. Here women from southern states, in particular, will recount their experiences of success”. The conclave will deliberate on the issue of decentralisation of power as envisaged in the constitution and as it existed on the ground. The programme wishes to promote the ideas of sharing a networking of the success stories at the individual level. Dr Rajput said the concept of gender budgeting needs to reach the grassroots level to give better governance, better accountability and better transparency.  |
|
Prayers for Dalai Lama’s health Chandigarh, January 30 “In Bodh Gaya, high lamas from various sects and Nechung, the state Oracle, were consulted in regard to the Dalai Lama’s well being and the smooth conduct of his holiness teaching programmes,’’ said President Tenzin Rabga. A divination by the high lamas and the consultation of the Nechung Oracle revealed that there was an urgent need for the recitation of 100 million Dolma (tara mantra) prayers at the earliest possible. The Department of Religion and Culture has requested all the concerned to recite the above mentioned prayer. |
|
Oil Conservation
Fortnight ends Chandigarh, January 30 Mr R.S. Gujral, Home Secretary, Chandigarh Administration, was the chief guest. During the fortnight, stress was laid on conservation of oil and gas for our future. Mr T.S. Sawhney of an oil company said India had only 30 per cent crude oil and the rest of 70 per cent was being imported. He said it was not an individual who could save oil but it was the public in general who could save petroleum products in all sphere like industry, agriculture, transport, domestic sector. Mr Gujral, said the crucial issue today was to save oil. Mr Gujral advocated that India was importing crude oil worth Rs 41,000 crore which may increase to Rs 47,000 crore next year. The need of the hour was to conserve oil. He cautioned that in the next couple of decades the oil reserves of India would exhaust. He made a special reference to women who could save the domestic fuel by 15 to 20 per cent. |
Underweight pouch of milk SAS Nagar, January 30 Showing the standard 500 ml pouch and the half-sized pouch (marked as 500 ml), Mr Katwal said he had brought the irregularity to the notice of the Verka authorities. The batch number was also missing on the under-sized pouch. |
|
R.K. Malhotra dead Chandigarh, January 30 Mr Malhotra, who was also the Secretary of Publication Bureau, is survived by his wife and three sons, including Dr Keshav Malhotra, a Fellow of the university Senate. Mr Malhotra had donated his eyes to the Eye Bank of the PGI, university sources said. His funeral was largely attended by friends, relatives and university and PGI fraternity, including Dr I.C. Pathak and Dr B.K. Sharma, both former directors of the PGI, Mrs and Prof R.P. Bambah, a former Vice-Chancellor and Prof K.N. Pathak, Vice-Chancellor of Panjab University. |
|
Sood mela on Feb 3 Chandigarh, January 30 According to Mr Raj Kumar Maria, Public Relation Secretary of the sabha, the main features of the mela would be the competitions for Sood prince and princess, best couple of the year, tambola, sports, fancy dress and on-the-spot painting competition besides cultural programme. At the end there would be a lucky draw and prize distribution. Special matrimonial counter would be installed for the convenience of Sood families. Mr Justice N.K. Sud of Punjab and Haryana High Court will be the chief guest. Mr Manohar Lal Mohindra Assamwale will be honoured with Sood Rattan award for 2001on the occasion. |
|
80 motor mechanics
file IT returns Chandigarh, January 30 After a survey, the authorities concerned found that the mechanics were liable to pay tax and some of them had even purchased booths recently but they were not filing their tax returns, said sources in the department. The department had earlier issued challans to the mechanics and 80 of them deposited tax on the spot along with their Permanent Account Number (PAN). ‘‘These mechanics are illiterate and the camp was aimed to educate them about the benefits of paying income tax’’, informed Mr K.R Kaushal, Income Tax Officer, Range - 4, Ward 4 (2). |
Gorakhpur resident held in theft case Chandigarh, January 30 CAR
HITS SCOOTER FAX MACHINE
STOLEN Two-wheelers
stolen RICKSHAW-PULLERS
HELD THEFT TWO
HELD According to the police sources, Sukhdeep Singh alias Sukha and Jaspal Singh, snatched purse of Ms Aruna, a resident of Sector 41, while she was purchasing vegetables in a Apani Mandi on January 26. Panchkula COUPLE
INJURED IN MISHAP It is learnt that Mr M.L. Bhatia and his wife, Ms Indira, were hit by a motor cycle (HR- 03B- 3640). The police has arrested the driver, Ajit Singh, and impounded his vehicle. TWO
BOOKED MOLESTATION
BID It is learnt that the victim, a 14-year-old girl had gone to relieve herself in the fields. It was while she was coming back that the accused forcibly took her in a vacant house and molested her. A case has been registered at Chandi Mandir police station. |
|
Woman drugged, raped Panchkula, January 30 According to an FIR registered under Section 376 of the IPC, the victim has alleged that the accused, who were her acquaintances , raped her on the evening of January 27. It is learnt that she was on her way to Bharaili village and the accused had promised to take her to the village from Ramgarh. It is learnt that the victim had been separated from her husband for the past three years. Since then she had been staying in Chachrauli village in Yamunanagar district. However, her belongings were still with her husband’s family and she had come here to collect these belongings. She has alleged that she reached Ramgarh from her village around 5 pm, where she met a resident of Bharaili village, Preetam, by chance. Preetam took her on the pretext that it was getting dark and he would take her in a car with Lachchman and it would then be easier to get her belongings from Bharaili. Preetam first took her to Sultanpur village. There they gave her tea laced with some sedative and then raped her. The police is now making all-out efforts to arrest the accused. |
Seminar on opportunities
in plastic industry Chandigarh, January 30 The seminar was attended by about 250 delegates from the plastic industry, academicians, researchers, students and potential entrepreneurs. While inaugurating the seminar, Dr S. Krishnamurthy, Principal, TTTI, spoke about the emerging opportunities in the plastic industry for potential entrepreneurs. Highlighting the role of technical education in promoting entrepreneurship, he said the spirit of enterprise needs to be promoted. Mr M.P. Gupta, Director, Technical Education, Haryana, explained the required personality traits to become a successful entrepreneur. He said that the technical education system in the country was expanding rapidly and for gainful employment and self-employment, enterprising students should be imparted entrepreneurial training in an organised manner. He also said that interaction between academic institutions and industry be improved so as to provide better exposure to the students undergoing technical training. Mr Mihir Bannerjee, Indian Petrochemicals Limited, informed the students about the scope of the plastic industry — application in packaging, automobiles, white goods, telecommunication and infrastructure. Dr Sarup from Reliance spoke about product identification. He provided information about 90 potential opportunities in plastics which could be exploited by potential entrepreneurs. Dr D.K. Vohra, Executive Member, IPI, Mr Sanjeev Gupta, Secretary, IPI, Prof B.S. Rathod, TTTI, and Mr P.P.S. Sachdeva from the CIPET were also present on the occasion. |
|
Lottery results on SMS Chandigarh, January 30 Results of as many as 30 government run lotteries are being communicated via this facility. Mr Kewal Arora of Ludhiana, who provides services to lottery distributors says, “Earlier after the declaration of results, these had to be communicated to the lottery sellers who are more than 150 using a telephone. Not only did it cost me and took extra time, there also were hassles involved like trouble in getting through in case of extra traffic on telephone lines or availability of the person etc. Now I am using this service, I send results to more than 150 sellers, twice a day instantly ,throughout Punjab”. He said he charges the customers Rs 1,200 and pays Rs 525 to Spice for the service. “At Spice , we have developed a special communication software package which is economical as well as time saving service”, said a Spice official. This application developed using the SMPP protocol is a unique example of technology being put to a very practice advantage with a very user friendly interface. As soon as the result of any lottery is declared, it is sent as an automated SMS to all counters selling lotteries and subscribing to the service. Within a few days of the launch, there are a more than 150 lottery agents benefitting from this application. “As a result the earlier process of lottery vendors calling up and checking for the results has smoothened out as unlike phone calls, an SMS reaches these counters at the same time. It is a boon in the true sense for thousands awaiting their luck has in store for them”, the official said. He said Spice is further planning corporate customer applications and are being tested. A few applications likely to be introduced include customised corporate e-mails, package tracking, fleet management and sales tracking. |
 |
| 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 | |
