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| Saturday, February
2, 2002,
Chandigarh, India
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HUDA resumes drive against encroachments Panchkula, February 1 The drive was launched in the Mansa Devi complex, where the dera of Nepali Baba, set up on five acres of land, was razed to the ground. Except for 17 marlas of this land, for which Punjab and Haryana High Court had earlier granted a stay against demolition, the encroachments, comprising of a temple, gaushala, a shed for storing fodder and half-a-dozen bunkers erected here, were demolished by the HUDA demolition squad led by Estate Officer, Ms Geeta Bharti. Fully grown trees in this dera complex were also uprooted as the JCB machine went about demolishing one illegal structure after another. There was no resistance from the dera residents and the job was completed within three hours. The Estate Office staff was accompanied by the tehsildar, Panchkula, Mr Ashwani Sharma, and one reserve battalion of policemen (24 cops) led by ASP Vikas Arora. The staff from the Housing Board was also accompanying HUDA officials during the anti- encroachment drive in Sector 18, which was launched in the afternoon. In Sector 18 residents were more or less taken by surprise. As many as 12 illegal shops that were functioning in these residential areas with their entrances facing the main road dividing Sector 18 and 7 were demolished. It may be noted that these residents had earlier been issued warning by the authorities when a demolition drive had been launched here last month. It is learnt that such residents had been issued notices by HUDA. A preliminary survey by the authorities showed that around 1,000 houses had encroached upon the road berms in the Housing Board colonies in different sectors. The residents of the Housing Board colonies had earlier refused to budge in spite of several notices issued by HUDA. The Estate Office of HUDA had earlier carried on its anti- encroachment drive in Sector 15 and 18 . Housing Board colonies are present in Sectors 18, 10, 11, 15, 8, 6, 19 and 26 in the township. Encroachments had continued to grow in these colonies, mainly comprising of raising of unauthorised structures, encroachment of road berms and opening of commercial establishments. |
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An earthen dam that villagers call God’s gift Bharauli (Barwala), February 1 As water began to flow down into the fields , jubilation on the faces of hundreds of people, who had come here for the inauguration ceremony, was apparent. “This water is our life line and will ensure a good crop after a period of five years,” said village lambardar Amarjit. Atleast 200 acres of agricultural land in this village will benefit from this dam. The villagers are of the firm belief that the construction and operation of this dam is a God’s gift. It was thus that the gram panchayat had organised a free langar for the residents, after the dam was inaugurated by the project director of the Haryana Community Forestry Project, Mr S.K. Dhar, today. Another unique feature of this dam is that the villagers themselves helped in the construction work. “ Since no tubewell has been built in this village, we realised that it was upto us to finish the construction work at the earliest for a good crop yield. Thus all the villagers helped in the digging work,” informed Mr Bant Singh, president of the village development committee. It is also learnt that the villagers have created a corpus of about Rs 60,000 for the operation of this dam. Each farmer was asked to make a contribution of Rs 600 and was assured supply of water for irrigation at the rate of Rs 10 per hour. For those who have not given the original contribution will be charged at the rate of Rs 50 per hour. An 11- member committee of villagers has been constituted by the panchayat to ensure proper operation. This is one of the 18-odd villages in Barwala block that have been drought-infested for years. Because of the location of these villages on the foothills of the Shivaliks, the ground water retention capacity here is almost minimal. Though rainfall has been adequate here, the villages of Rampur Dhodon, Kanwala, Taprian, Pawala, Tirlokpur, Ganeshpur and Manekpur, besides Bharauli, have had a poor crop for the past five years because of low ground water retention. It is learnt that the entire wheat crop as well as fodder grown in the fields was damaged because of unavailability of water for irrigation. Subsistence being mainly through agriculture and dairying, water remains their only hope. It is learnt that the earthen dam constructed here has a live storage level of 22.45 hectare metres, a catchment area of 90 hectares and submergence area of 5.13 hectares. The rain water will be stored in this dam and supplied to the fields through a pipeline, and a spill way has been constructed for the excess rain water. This dam has been completed in a record one year at the cost of Rs 31 lakh, informed the Block Development and Panchayat Officer, Barwala, Ms Renu Jain. Says Mr Dharam Singh, sarpanch of the village, “The village had an earthen dam earlier, but it could cater to only 15 acres of land. For years together, we moved from pillar to post to get this dam sanctioned. Now the old dam is defunct because of large scale silt collection. We have been assured by the BDPO that the desilting of this dam will be done soon, which will ensure that we have surplus water for irrigation.” |
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Man stabbed in poll violence Naya Gaon, February 1 Kaka Singh, the person who was attacked, is said to be in his late 30s. He was admitted to the Emergency Ward of the PGI in Chandigarh with deep wounds on his stomach, inflicted with a sharp-edged weapon. Agitated supporters of the SAD candidate, Mr Ujjagar Singh Wadali, raised slogans against the Congress. Mr H.S. Bajwa, a Congressman, said the police had been informed about the act, but still no security arrangements had been made for the SAD candidate. This is the second incident of poll violence reported from Naya Gaon. Earlier, supporters of the Congress candidate, Mr Jagmohan Singh Kang, had alleged that workers of Mr Wadali had attacked some workers of the Congress and injured Mr Kang. The workers of Mr Wadali showed the newsmen bloodstains on the floor of the SAD election office. Mr Bajwa said, “At about 8.30 pm, when a party worker, Mr Bachan Singh, was sitting with Kaka Singh, a person called Pyara Singh and his two sons entered the SAD office and attacked Kaka with a knife. Four persons were sitting in a black Tata Sumo outside when the attackers entered the office. |
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Couple killed in accident SAS Nagar, February 1 The incident took place at around 4.45 a.m. when the couple, Lakhbir (40) and Lovleen ( 35), were going from Phase XI towards the local bus stand to drop the latter’s sister, Jatinder Kaur. A truck coming from the Sector 67 side banged into the car and dragged it for a few yards before coming to a halt. While the couple died on the spot, the woman sitting in the rear seat has been admitted to Silver Oak Hospital with serious injuries. The driver of the truck, Shingara Singh, has been arrested and a case under Section 279 and 304-A of the IPC has been registered. |
Electronic post likely soon Chandigarh, February 1 At a press conference here today, Mr S.P. Jain, Senior Superintendent of Post Offices, said a proposal in this regard had already been sent to the Union Government and he hoped that it would be approved soon. Mr Jain said, under this scheme, e-post cards at Rs 200, Rs 500, Rs 2,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 would be sold by the department to facilitate the public to use e-mail to send messages to those who did not have computer and Internet facility. Those who did not have these facilities could also send e-mail through post office at a nominal charge of Rs 10 per message on an A4-size paper. Mr Jain said the Speed Post service had been launched here in July 1990 with a turnover of only Rs 70,000 per month that had now reached Rs 20 lakh per month. He said National Speed Post Centres in Punjab and a Speed Post Centre in Chandigarh had been opened in the division to provide the public with an easy accessibility. Premium product services like Speed Post, Business Post, Media Post, Express Post, Satellite Post, Retail Post, Data Post, Greeting Post and E-Post had been launched recently. To ensure next-day delivery of articles booked at the National Speed Post Centre here and post offices in Punjab, a night mail motor van was being run between Chandigarh and Ludhiana. Mr Jain also said the department had started giving tracking facility to the public from January 3 for domestic Speed Post articles delivered at 120 National Speed Post Centres in India. Now, a customer can track and check delivery date and time at the website www.indiapost.org. Customers who do not have the Internet facility can simply ring up their area National Speed Post Centre to check the date of delivery. He said mass mailing services were the best suited to the needs of big organisations and was being given here. Under this service, facilities of pick up from premises, franking, gumming, insertion, pasting of self-addressed stickers, folding and cutting are given at a nominal rate. Mr Jain said the Speed Post Passport Service was aimed at decentralising the acceptance of passport application forms. The form is accepted with a passport fee and Rs 100 processing charges. After scrutiny of documents, each passport form is delivered to the Regional Passport Office on the next day for further process. On the acceptance of passport form, customer gets a receipt that contains a unique key and file number for further enquiries from the Regional Passport Office. |
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‘India should strive to become an economic giant’ Chandigarh, February 1 Dr Grare stated that India had taken a paradoxical position. On the one hand it said that the issue was bilateral, on the other side it looked towards other countries for solving the problem. He said that in the first decade of India’s independence the Indian foreign policy had been a reactionary policy which did not help the country either economically or politically. He referred to the socio-historic circumstances which make Indo-Pak relations more emotional than realistic. However, he said that as far as the Indus Water Treaty was concerned, it was a sign of realistic handling, bypassing emotional acrimony. He pointed out that in the post-cold war era the geo-political interests had marginalised the geo-economic interest of the two countries. The path of economic development pursued by the two countries had not put them in a position to take up supplementary roles towards each other but increasingly conflicting and contradictory roles. He also stated that the possibility of peace in the region in the near future is rather low though the demands from the international community for stability and peace may result in the initiation of a peace programme. Earlier, Prof Sahib Singh Bhayana, Director ICSSR, introduced the guest speaker and welcomed the guests. He emphasised the need to strengthen people-to-people contact between both the countries to contain those who are interested to escalate tensions in the Indo-Pak relations. Prof R.J. Hans-Gill, Dean, University Instructions, in her inaugural address favoured to open a new chapter of trust, friendship and productive partnership between the two countries for attaining ever lasting peaceful relationship. Prof T.R. Sharma, Coordinator, Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies, PU, in his presidential remarks stated that India must increase its economic capability to attain the status of a major player in the international arena. Prof Kamlesh Mohan, Head of the History Department, Department, PU, proposed a vote of thanks. |
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EATING OUT Chandigarh Today, the young and the old alike flock Pizzaria to take away goodies prepared fresh from the oven or to sit in the wood-panelled restaurant and savour the fare served amid the soft music playing in the room. The third option is to avail yourself of free home and office delivery for orders above Rs 100 (call 740695). Pizzaria also has a special arrangement for birthday and kitty parties (Rs 75 per head on wards). The neatly displayed breads and cakes in racks lining the wall in front of the cash counter are attractive. Wrapped in polythene and foil, the bakery items exude hygiene and freshness, compelling you to pick them. As the name implies, the joint stocks a whole range of pizzas, breads (milk, garlic, bran, masala, brown), cakes, pastries, croissants, puffs, soup sticks, tarts, pies and many more month-watering products straight from state-of-the-art ovens. For those interested in having a meal, there is a repertoire of pizzas and Chinese soups and dishes to choose from. Complement garlic bread with a soup to whet your appetite. In the range of Rs 25 to Rs 38, the veg and non-veg tureens include cream of tomato, sweet and sour, talumein, minchow, hot and sour, hot garlic and sweet corn. Top it with veg and non-veg pizzas priced at Rs 40 to Rs 75. The creamy toppings have an assortment of dices of onion, capsicum, oregano, mushroom, pineapple, cheese, chicken, salaami, panir etc. Go for the jumbo burger if you are starving. Otherwise, there’s farm happer veg burger (Rs 40) and chicken burger. Those who have been visiting Pizzaria’s stalls at CII fairs in the Parade Ground would be aware of their the popular grilled sandwiches with fillings of cheese, salad, tomato or mushroom served with tomato and mayonnaise sauce. Beverages like coffee (hot/cold), lime soda, and cold drinks make good accompaniments. Available in a choice of full and half plate are non-veg Chinese dishes like spring rolls, chowmein, fried rice, chopsuey, manchurian and lemon/chilli chicken. However, there is no half plate option in the veg section. While bars and cakes of such flavours as orange cashewnut, date walnut, coffee walnut, chocolate walnut cake, honey walnut and milk cake are available off the counter as takeaways, you can have cream cakes baked to order as per your requirement. Mandeep promises to deliver them at your doorstep at a mere 5-hour notice. Costing around Rs 200 to Rs 250 per kg, the creamy cakes with toppings and designs of your choice according to the occasion (birthday, anniversary, festival), you may go in for pineapple, butterscotch, black forest, chocolate truffle, peaches, coffee almond and many more flavours. |
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Ramgarhia Sabha, contractors back Bir Devinder in Kharar SAS Nagar, February 1 The leaders of the Ramgarhia Sabha and the Contractors Association, who had expressed resentment against the Congress party high command for not giving the party ticket to Mr Lakhwinder Singh, were today supportive of Mr Bir Devinder Singh. Mr Rakha Singh, president of the Ramgarhia Sabha and Mr J.S. Bhullar, president of the Contractors Association, said SAD had not cared about the demands of the contractors .The two association claimed to have a vote bank of 35,000 votes in the Kharar Assembly segment. Mr Bhullar said 700 families were directly and indirectly linked with the contractors — a sizeable vote bank which cannot be ignored by an candidate. The contractors said they opted for the party as it was a national-level party. While acknowledging the support of the two associations, Mr Bir Devinder Singh said he would urge the authorities to work out a comprehensive planning for the town. Proper place for truck parking, three wheelers and horse-driven carts would be carved out, he assured. Mr HS Billa and Mr BS Baidwan were also present on the occasion. The Congress candidate addressed rallies at Alipur, Nadiala, Safipur, Bakarpur, Kandala, Shahimajra, Zirakpur and Dharamgarh. The SAD candidate, Mr Kiran Bir Singh Kang, while addressing rallies at Kanbali, Kanbala, Jagatpura, Dharamgarh, Kandal and Rurka villages, said the Opposition parties in the last five years, had wasted their time in criticising the SAD government. He said the Punjabis suffered the most during the Congress regimes. A municipal Councillor from Phase 11, Mr Najjar Singh has announced his support for the SAD candidate. A rebel Congress candidate, Mr Balbir Singh, who is contesting as an independent, today alleged that the ruling Akali regime neglected the overall development of the Kharar constituency. He was addressing a rally at Majpur, Thari and Batta villages. The SAS Nagar unit of the Shiv Sena Bala Sahib Thackery has announced its support for Mr Sidhu. |
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Cong, SAD candidates release manifestoes SAS Nagar, February 1 Area-specific election manifestoes, addressing the basic needs, infrastructural and social development of the town were today made public by prominent candidates. Congress and Akali candidates have promised to solve problems of industrialists, shopkeepers, salaried class and slum-dweller. While releasing his manifesto at a function today, the Congress candidate, Mr Bir Devinder Singh, said the town would be made a district. A girls’ college, a golf course, a judicial complex and an electric crematorium, has also been promised. To woo the voters in slum areas, regularisation of labour colonies, and low-income housing for industrial workers has been promised. Stressing the need of restarting sick units, like Punwire and JCT, Mr Singh said entrepreneurs would be involved in drafting policies for attracting investment and development of industrial estates. Interestingly, some of the issues like a five-star hotel and an art centre, decisions on which have already been taken, have also been listed in the manifesto. The SAD candidate, Mr Kiran Bir Singh Kang, while listing the achievement of the SAD-BJP government, said with the town emerging as a centre for research and IT software development, a youth hostel and a working women’s hostel would be constructed. Involvement of the Mohali Industries Association in various development and export-promotion activities was also on his priority list. An international cargo handling station would also be established in the town, he said. |
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MCC team monitors parking lots Chandigarh, February 1 The examination of the parking system followed objections from Congress councillors and local MP Pawan Bansal on the arrangements, which led to the matter being referred to the Finance and Contract Committee to suggest measures to improve the arrangement. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had also asked the corporation to look into the grievances of the people in this regard. The Executive Engineer, Mr S. K. Chaddha, and his team today virtually did what the staff of the parking contractor does to assess the problems which might be faced by the people. However, the parking system continued as usual at places other than being monitored by the task force. |
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Mentally challenged restored to parents Chandigarh, February 1 The boy’s grandfather, Teja Singh, arrived here to take him after his identity was established and his
family was contacted. The 13-year-old boy, Jaswinder, alias Dharminder, was noticed in Ram Darbar by Rajesh Kumar, working in the PGI’s Child Help Line on January 12, and reported the matter to the Chandigarh police’s own Child Help Line (CHL). On this information, a wireless message was flashed to all police stations by the CHL’s in charge, ASI Kuldip Kaur, but there was no report of any missing child matching Jaswinder’s description. The boy was sent to Pingalwara for safe custody where repeated questioning by Rajesh Kumar and Kuldip Kaur yielded the name of his village, Jhand Majra, near Ropar. Rajesh Kumar visited the village and traced the boys parents. The police has decided to reward him for his efforts. |
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Festival of Gardens from Feb 22 to 24 Chandigarh, February 1 Besides the usual flower shows, competitions in flower arrangements, dry flower plant arrangement and flower arrangement in pots, gardens, etc, there will also be Rose Prince and Princess contests this time. The other features will include on-the-spot painting contest, rose quiz, brass and pipe band contest, photography competition and antakshri. There will also be cultural programmes during the three-day festival. The Chandigarh Administration is also planning to invite some pop singers and film stars to perform at the Leisure Valley in Sector 10. |
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YOUNG
VOICE A senior lecturer in the Statistics Department of Panjab University, Dr Narinder Kumar, deserves to be called a young achiever. While pursuing MPhil in statistics, he was appointed as an instructor on adhoc basis by the department. Later, he was promoted as a lecturer. Simultaneously, he also worked on his PhD theses and was awarded the doctoral degree in 1994. Dr Kumar is one of the youngest faculty members to have supervised PhD theses of research scholars, the first of which he did when he was just 31. Besides, he has also directed the MPhil dissertations of two students. He presented a paper at the 53rd session of the International Statistical Institute (the Netherlands) held at Seoul in August, 2001. He also chaired a session during the conference. He participated in an international conference on statistics held at the University of South Alabama, USA. Dr Kumar also visited the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, as a visiting professor. Regarding the issue of educated unemployed, he maintains that there is no dearth of opportunities for the deserving candidates, but the number of sincere and hard-working students has gone down over the years. Hard work and time management are the time-tested mantras for success, he observes. |
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Tribune employee retires Chandigarh, February 1 He was given a warm send-off by his colleagues in the press and the administrative staff. Mr R.N. Gupta and Mr O.P. Arora, General Manager and Additional General Manager, respectively, of the Tribune group of publications, lauded his services to the institution. |
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Last date for registration of voters Chandigarh, February 1 According to Mr Gurdev Singh, Secretary of the Gurdwara Election Commission, this will be the final and last extension and no further extension in time for this purpose would be given. Prospective voters who could not submit their declaration forms so far may get themselves enrolled
immediately without waiting for the last date. He said the declaration forms in rural areas would be submitted to the revenue patwari of the village concerned and to the official designated by the Deputy Commissioner for the urban areas. Earlier, the last date for registration of voters for the election was extended up to January 31. |
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Bhupinder heads
Panchayat Samiti Chandigarh, February 1 |
Kaimbwala murder: 2 more arrests Chandigarh, February 1 According to the police, these men and three others killed a man called Sat Pal on December 6, 2001, and buried the body in the forest near Makhan Majra off the Chandigarh-Zirakpur road. The body was, later, exhumed by the police. Two of the accused were arrested by the police last month, while another accused, Surinder, is still at large. All the accused are said to be part of a nine-member gang that has killed five persons in the past 10 years.
Knocked down Jasmer Singh, a resident of Ropar, was injured after he was knocked down by a syndicate bus near the Piccadily Chowk here. He was admitted to the Sector 32 Government Medical College and Hospital. The bus driver sped away. The police has registered a case.
Car crash, 3 hurt Three youths got injured when the Contessa car in which they were travelling crashed into the Airport Chowk and overturned at about 10.15 pm here today. The car (PB-41-A-001) was badly damaged and the youths received serious injuries. All of them were rushed to the Sector 32 Government Medical College and Hospital.
Student assaulted An inmate of a hostel of the Sector 10 DAV College, Joginder Gill, has reported that he was assaulted and threatened by a student of the college in the Sector 10 market here. The police has registered a case.
Scooters stolen A Sector 22 resident, Mr Rakesh Kumar, has reported that his Bajaj Chetak scooter (CHI-2845) has been stolen from his residence. The police has registered a case. A Sector 41 resident, Mr Jaswant Rai, has reported that his Bajaj Chetak scooter (CH-01-T-6841) has been stolen from Sector 40. The police has registered a case.
Water-tank theft A resident of Colony No 4, Mr Ashok Kumar, has reported that an iron water tank has been stolen from toilets near the colony. The police has registered a case.
PANCHKULA Driver accused A Sector 6 resident, Mr O.P. Chaudhary, has accused his driver, Avtar Singh, of stealing his purse from his car on January 27. According to an FIR registered under Section 379 of the IPC, the purse contained Rs 8,000 and some documents. In another accident, a truck (PB-12-B-9876) hit a tractor (HR-49-8185) and damaged it.
Fake permit The local police has registered cases against two youths — Vibhu and Rohit — for having a fake permit for using black films on their Maruti car. The permit was shown to be issued by the Additional Director General of Police of Punjab. These youths were stopped at the traffic-light point near Command Hospital here yesterday as their car had black film on all windows. SI Muksh Kumar found their permit to be fake. However, the police cross-checked with the Punjab police before registering a case today. The accused have not been arrested so far. They were reportedly taken to the Sector 5 police station, where a case under Sections 420, 467 and 471 of the IPC was registered against them.
Chain snatched Two persons, who were on a blue Yamaha motor cycle, reportedly snatched a gold chain from a girl outside her Sector 7 residence here today. The girl, Ms Vibha, was standing outside her house when the motorcyclists approached her on the pretext of asking the directions to a house. As she turned to go inside the house, they snatched the chain and sped away. |
A date with slim and trim models Chandigarh, February 1 The crowd feasted their eyes as the two beauties attired themselves in various USI products like trousers, capries and T-shirts, taking the brand products to the masses. "The products which are trendy yet conservative in taste suits the environment of Chandigarh for chilling out," said Anchal. Anchal, a local girl who made it big in the world of modelling after she won the Gladrags Mega Model contest in 1999, is back in town for a family reunion. "After working hard for so long, it is a refreshing change to come back home and take life easy for a while," said Anchal. And with her hectic travel schedule ahead she will be needing every ounce of energy she can derive from her family members. "I am scheduled for a tour in California in February and another trip to Dubai in March," informed Anchal. Besides working for a number of ramp shows and catalogues for designers like Ritu Kumar and Manish Malhotra, Anchal is also working for commercials for Rupam, Benzar, Akarshan, Debeers and Zaveri Jewellers. "Lately I have been doing so many ads for bridal outfits that I already know how I would look like as a bride" said Anchal. So, is marriage on the cards for this young lady? "Not atleast for another five to six years," said Anchal. The model who is happy with her work is also reluctant to take a plunge into the stardom of Bollywood right away. "At present I am content with my work and I am so heavily booked till March that I have not considered trying anything else," said Anchal, neither admitting nor denying her possibility to enter the film industry. However, she has been honing her acting and dancing talents through various music videos. Her latest music albums include Jagjit Singh's "Aaina", Hans Raj Hans's "Mukhra Tumahra" and another latest album of Jazzy B. "Besides giving me a chance to show my acting ability, music videos have also taken me to the masses all over the country," she added. Karishma, who accompanied Anchal in the photo session today, is another upcoming model who has worked in music videos for singers like Sardool Shikandar, Manmohan waris and Pammi Bai. A B Sc. honours student of Panjab University, Karishma is also be working for a Hindi serial titled "Mission" for Zee TV. |
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