 |
|
| Tuesday, February 19, 2002, Chandigarh, India
|
|
||||
|
Removing
barriers against the disabled Chandigarh, February 18 In addition, Electric trolley buses being introduced in Chandigarh will also be usable by the disabled. This was announced by the Punjab Governor and Administrator, UT, Lt. Gen JFR Jacob, (retd), while inaugurating the 6th ‘National Conference on Developing Linkages between Rehabilitation Council of India and Institutions for Rehabilitation for Disabled in North Western India’ organised by the Indian National Portage Association here today. Speaking on the occasion, General Jacob said there was lesser awareness about requirements of disabled persons. He said there was urgent need to create a barrier-free environment for them and public buildings should be planned in a manner that disabled persons did not face any problem in entering such buildings. General Jacob said the problem of disability should be tackled in its totality. He said disability of a person, whether physical or mental, was a challenge to the whole family and the role of the family was crucial to enable the disabled persons to lead normal life. He said once a disabled child moved out of family circuit, the involvement of society began. General Jacob regretted that with India having one billion disabled persons, the facilities available for their rehabilitation as well as special education were not sufficient. He hoped that deliberations at this conference would focus on issues concerning welfare of disabled and come out with long-term solutions, which could be incorporated in the welfare policy being drafted for the disabled persons. Prof Vidhu Mohan delivered the keynote address. Mr H.P.S.
Ahluwalia, President, Rehabilitation Council of India, in his address, stated that the council was making all-out efforts to improve living conditions of the handicapped. Earlier, Prof Tehal Kohli, Chairman, National Portage Association, welcomed the guests. |
|
PLAGUE SCARE Chandigarh, February 18 The PGI doctors have stated that the situation is under control as no new patient with similar symptoms has arrived at the hospital since February 13. ‘‘Call it plague or ABC or anything, we know that the disease is highly contagious and bacterial. We also know that as each day passes of without anyone being admitted with pneumonic illness symptoms, we are one step closer to a safe passage through this situation,’’
stated Dr Rajesh Kumar, Head of the Department of Community Medicine, PGI. Stressing that there was no need to panic, he said, ‘‘Panic in such situations worsens conditions, like it happened in Surat. I am not taking any prophylactic medicines, not is my family taking any.’’ A city-based chemist said today’s sale of antibiotics reminded him of 1994, when people bought so much of the
medicine. "But since they never consumed it, they came back to return it. In fact, we used to get
sifarish to return it.’’ |
|
Computer
inflates water bills Chandigarh, February 18 If you do not believe it, listen to what a Sector 21 resident has to say. “I was shocked to see the bill. According to it, I had consumed more water in 30 days than I had in four months,” said Mr Dhruv Sharma, a business executive. “It was just not possible. Particularly in the month of January as we were not even watering the lawns and plants, not even washing the vehicles as much as we used to”. He adds: “I was still thinking of penning down a representation to the authorities concerned, when my wife
accidentally talked to a neighbour about the excessive billing. It was he who advised us to tally the reading on the bill with the meter reading. We were shocked to discover that there was a vast difference in the two figures. Initially I thought that the mistake had been committed by MC staff responsible for taking down the reading. Furious, I went to the Sub Divisional Engineer’s office only to find that the reading in their register was correct, the mistake was not on the part of the staff, but on the part of the computer section”. Agreeing with him, another resident of Mani Majra asserts: “I too would have made the mistake of paying extra money for water I had never consumed, but found out by chance that there was computer error in the billing. From that date,
The two were lucky as the error was rectified soon after they visited the SDE’s office with a complaint and they managed to pay the bill for water they had actually consumed. But another consumer Harman Singh was not so lucky. “After much effort, I was able to meet the SDE and was asked by him to come again the next day. His staff completed their part of the job swiftly by completing a form, but I had to visit the other authorities several times for getting the work done. Even though the MC authorities admit that “such mistakes can happen”, they insist that “the number is very less”. A senior engineer in the water-works department insists, “Mistakes do take place, but they are not intentional. There is no doubt about it. Otherwise also, the number is negligible”. He adds: “In any case, our attempt is to rectify the problem as soon as we come to know about it. We have already issued standing instructions to the staff directing them that the general public should not be put to inconvenience or harassed. Time and again, we have also asked the members of the sector resident welfare associations to inform the people that they should immediately come to us in case of a complaint and we will take no time in making amends”.
|
|
PU fest for culture of peace Chandigarh, February 18 Over 850 students from 70 colleges of the eight zones affiliated to Panjab University are participating in this four-day festival. The theme of the festival is to promote the UNESCO International Decade (2001-2010) for “A culture of peace and non-violence for the children of the world’’. The flower-bedecked stage played host to the music contests while competitions in fine arts were held in the college hall. “Music festival’’ was the most popular topic in the painting contest which saw a participation of teams from the eight zones . The other topics included “Eye Donation’’ and “Sher-e-Punjab Ranjit Singh’’. The topics of the collage-making contest included “War scene’’, “Indian dances’’ and “Youth’’ while “Elections’’ and “Indo-Pak
relations’’ were attractive topics which elicited tremendous response from the participating teams. The Registrar, Panjab University, Prof Paramjit Singh, the chief guest, said youth festivals played an important role in overall development of the student and shaped his personality. The chief guest at the prize distribution function, Mr Satya Pal Jain, former Member of Parliament from the city, appreciated the role of youth festivals in keeping folk music alive. Addressing the students at the inaugural function, the Principal, Dr (Ms) Satinder Dhillon, applauded the spirit of the participants and encouraged them to show the same enthusiasm and zeal in other spheres of life. The Director, Youth Welfare, Dr I.S. Dhillon, was also present. The results are as follows: Orchestra: MCM DAV College for Women, Chandigarh (1), Dev Samaj College, Ferozepur City (2), Dev Samaj College of Education, Chandigarh (3); Orchestra (Individual): Swati Sharma, MCM DAV-Chandigarh (1), Sonu, DAV, Hoshiarpur (2), Deepti, MCM DAV-Chandigarh (3). Music Instrumental (Percussion): Smarti Sharma, SGGS-Chandigarh (1), Deepshikha, GGS-Chandigarh (2), Sonu, DAV-Hoshiarpur (3), Non-Percussion: Aarti, Dev Samaj College of Education, Chandigarh (1), Radhika, GCG, 11, Chandigarh (2), Kulwinder Singh, GKSM College, Tanda Urmar; Punjabi Folk Instrumental, Virender Kumar, Government College, Hoshiarpur (1), Gursewak Singh, Government College, Karamsar. Fine Arts: Poster making: Chetan, Government College of Arts, Chandigarh (1), Aashima, GCG, 11,
Chandigarh (2), Nidhi, GCG, 42, Chandigarh (3); Collage making: Sureshta Kumari, DAV College, Malout (1), Bhawna Ranjan, GGDSD-Chandigarh (2), Paramjit Kaur, Government College, Hoshiarpur (3),
Cartoon making: Sandeep Singh, DAV College of Education, Hoshiarpur (1), Manmohan, Government College of Arts, Chandigarh (2), Nisha Sharma, GCG, Chandigarh (3). Still-life drawing: Sangeet,
Government College, Hoshiarpur (1), Gurpreet, SD College for Women, Moga (2), Rajwinder Kaur-Government College-Hoshiarpur (3). |
|
‘Stitches
of Love’ exhibition Chandigarh, February 18 In the rural areas of Haryana, Arpana has revived the art of hand embroidery, a dying craft, which offers you a chance of picking up exquisitely hand-embroidered baby dresses, ladies nightwear, a complete range of household linen, all beautifully stitched by the rural women. This enables them to fulfill their hopes and dreams of a better tomorrow, of their children being educated and clothed and their homes free from illness and debt. It is stitched with love by the rural women for the urban women and their household. This training and income-generated programme has benefited over 1750 women in the last 20 years, who have worked with dedication, turning ordinary fabrics into exquisite products that bring pleasure to all those who cherish this art of hand embroidery. All proceeds from the sale go to charity. There is a section on spiritual literature, eloquent, practical elucidations of the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita in Hindi and English, Upanishads in Hindia and English — rendered in devotional verse by Param Pujaya Ma, the inspiration and guiding light of the Arpana Family. Marketing of the entire range of production is handled by Arpana through regular marketing outlets and exhibition-cum-sales in cities of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and in Delhi. Arpana also markets its products through "Devotion" in Khan Market, New Delhi, "My Shop" in Karnal, and one at its headquarters at Madhuban, Karnal. In addition, several five star hotels in New Delhi have allocated complimentary tables for these handicraft sales. Arpana volunteers have committed their expertise and experience of the service of their less privileged brethren in Haryana, Himachal and Delhi. This dedication is seen in Arpana's wide ranging medical and socio economic services including the 175-bed Arpana Hospital in Madhuban, Karnal (Haryana), and two medical centres in Himachal Pradesh, mobile clinics, wide ranging primary health programmes in Haryana and Himachal, as well as comprehensive programmes to tackle poverty in Delhi slums. |
|
Repair work on Ghaggar bridge postponed Dera Bassi, February 18 The Zirakpur-Dera Bassi stretch of the highway would be closed from February 21 to 26. Sources in the Building and Roads Wing of the Punjab Public Works Department
(PPWD) disclosed that the Panchkula administration has asked Patiala administration to divert vehicles headed towards Chandigarh via
Mubarikpur-Ramgarh-Panchkula, route. Keeping in view the possibility of traffic chaos, the Panchkula administration has sought that traffic headed towards Ambala should be diverted from Zirakpur via
Banur-Tapra road to rejoin the highway near Ambala. The repair work of the Ghaggar bridge has been postponed for the second time. |
City councillors seek share in UT revenue Chandigarh, February 18 Chandigarh councillors led by the local MP, Mr Pawan Bansal, who are expected to raise revenue in the budget for the year 2002-2003 of the corporation, including controversial property tax, however, wanted a legitimate share in UT’s revenue. This was witnessed at a national-level programme on ‘’Fiscal decentralisation and Innovative Urban Management for strengthening Municipal Governments’’ organised by the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development in collaboration with the National Institute for Urban Affairs here today. “Resource generation measures are fine but how to avoid political backlash of imposing taxes” was a common feeling amongst municipal members present at the two-day training programme opened by Mr Bansal. Examples of Municipal Corporation of Ahmedabad whose Rs 100 crore bonds were over-subscribed making it the first municipal body in Asia to have successfully collected Rs 100 crore, Mumbai, Delhi and Surat were marshalled for impressing them to show a will to take fiscal measures. But transfer of financial powers with due share in the tax of the state was a common demand from municipal members. Experts like Mr J.P. Gupta, former member of the Punjab Finance Commission, Prof Gangadhar Jha from the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), and Dr N.B. Mazumdar from Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) asked the municipal leaders to take a pro-active approach to provide civic amenities lest court should ask them to undertake development. They said there were a number of ways to mobilise resources, including property tax, which has lost elasticity in major cities, but Chandigarh is probably the only city in the world where there was no property tax. Thus the city has the highest elasticity for the most popular tax world over for municipal bodies. Professor Jha said the municipal bodies would have to chip in with resources as even a joint effort of the Central Government, state governments and municipal bodies would not be able to provide Rs 54,000 crore needed for providing drinking water in the cities. Sewerage is getting only an allocation of Rs 5,000 crore against a need of Rs 28,500 crore. Explaining that there is a vicious cycle of low tax and poor service resulting in unwillingness to pay tax, Mr Jha said “Delhi has a problem of erratic and improper water supply which has led to the city people spending Rs 32,000 crore on water boosters.” He said had the municipal governments realised these facts they could have raised only a part of this expenditure to improve the water supply system at a lower cost? Mr Jha said Chandigarh could not escape the fact that in the liberalised economy, competition of states competing against each other for drawing investments had now percolated to the cities and Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Surat and Ahmedabad were best examples of this. |
|
Facelift
for Panchkula villages Rampur Jangi (Panchkula), February 18 This is one of the 33 villages in Pinjore and more than 100 villages in the district that have benefited under the Village Development Committee Scheme. From constructing the pavement streets, village circular road (phirni) to walls around ponds, chaupals for Harijans and schoolrooms, the face of the rural areas in the district has been changed. Several works like constructing boundary walls of schools, veterinary hospital, cattle sheds and dharamshalas are also being undertaken under this scheme. Informs the Deputy Commissioner, Ms Jyoti Arora, “A sum of more than Rs 1.44 crore has been spent under this scheme in the various villages of Panchkula. The idea is to ensure the uplift of the villages, which have so far remained untouched by development.” Say Mr Ved Prakash, a resident of Islam Nagar, village, where a schoolroom has been constructed by the VDC, “The village panchayats, reeling under paucity of funds, were unable to undertake many development projects. With the government allocating funds to the VDCs, there has been speedy development”. Under this scheme, a retaining wall for the village pond, used by the cattle, is also in progress his village. The VDCs were constituted in December 2000, during a meeting of various gram sabhas. In Panchkula, Rs 2.91 crores had been allocated under the VDC scheme for the four blocks of Raipur Rani, Pinjore, Barwala and Morni. As many as 174 development works have been planned in about 110 villages in these blocks. As many as 43 works are being carried out in Barwala block, 47 in Raipur Rani, 32 in villages of Morni and 52 in Pinjore block. While most of these development works are in progress, a few of these are yet to begin. The VDCs are getting the funds from the Haryana Rural Development Administration Board, schemes under Decentralised Planning and other schemes of the state government. It consists of seven members and is headed by the sarpanch of the village. A panch from the Scheduled Caste community, the female panch , an ex-serviceman and three persons from the village are the other members. The money allocated top each VDC is deposited in a local bank and the account is operated by two members of the VDC. The members supervise the construction work and also purchase the construction material on their own. |
|
Cong councillor campaigns against paid parking Chandigarh, February 18 The campaign, to be continued till collection of money at the entry point was stopped, came a day after a partner of the parking contractor firm was booked on a complaint of Mr Sharma, whom the contractor accused of misbehaving with his staff. Led by Mr Sharma, a group of the people joined by traders, distributed around 1000 pamphlets in the parking lot and held banners and placards saying ''don't pay at the entry, pay only after having parked the vehicles''. Pamphlets said that as per the conditions no barrier could be put up, the staff of the parking contractor had to be in uniform and each one of them had to bear a name plate. Mr Sharma said if his campaign was joined by any ‘vested’ interest who wanted to remove the parking contractor with an aim to later take it, would not be tolerated in the movement to make the people aware about their rights. |
|
City lad hits
Baazi Kiski jackpot Chandigarh, February 18 Son of Dr Gurvinder Singh of Nawanshahr, Ravjot has been participating in quiz programmes since long. The programme featuring him will be telecast on March 3 at 11 am. The bumper prize came his way after he answered all questions correctly. Ravjot says he is indebted to his teachers at the college and gives them credit for his achievements. Ravjot has already been awarded with University insignia for the year 2000-01. He has been editing the college magazine ‘Vikas’. Explaining about the show, he said college-level students participate in it. Ravjot eagerly awaits the car which is to be delivered after the show is telecast. |
|
Winter
not over, warns met office Chandigarh, February 18 The present conditions will remain for two to three days and then the mercury will come down, said the local Meteorological Director, Mr S.C. Bhan. The warm conditions in the past two days have been due to the south westerly winds which are warmer. Normally north westerly winds blow into the city and the region bringing in the chill with them. Once the south westerlies stop the temperature will come down. Even the minimum was 2 degrees above normal at 10.6°C. |
|
Subscribers
affected as BSNL shifts junction box SAS Nagar, February 18 Around 400 telephone connections had been routed through this junction box. Some of the subscribers complained that their telephones had been cross connected with phones. STD booth owners also complained of losing their business due to this snag. Some subscribers said their connections were dead. However, an official of the BSNL, supervising the repair work at the site, ruled out the possibility of a large number of phones being affected due to the
shifting. |
Motorcyclist injured Chandigarh, February 18 Liquor seized:
A resident of Rajasthan, Salam, was arrested from the Sector 17 ISBT and 50 pouches of whisky were seized from her possession. A case under the Excise Act has been registered against her. Luggage, cash stolen:
Delhi resident Tarloki Nath has reported that his suitcase containing some gold ornaments, important documents and Rs 12,000 in cash was stolen from the Sector 17 ISBT. The police has registered a case. Car stolen:
Sector 22 resident Hitesh Sharma has reported that his Maruti car (CH-03-F-5192) has been stolen from the Shivalik View parking lot. A case has been registered. PANCHKULA Girl found:
The local police has found a 13-year-old girl, who was abducted on February 13, from Lucknow. It was also learnt that the girl had been raped by her abductors. A press release by the police department on Monday said that the girl and her abductors — Sunil and Puran Wasi — were arrested by the police from near a PCO near Telco Factory, Link Road, Lucknow on Monday. The two accused had reportedly come here in order to make a telephone call. The girl, a resident of Ambedkar colony in
Sector 19, had been abducted on February 13. After raping her near a nullah in Industrial Area Phase I, they boarded the bus from Zirakpur to Ambala. Later, they took a train from Ambala to Lucknow, where they were caught by a police party led by SI Om Prakash. Injured:
Mr Amarinder Singh, a resident of Kharar, was injured when his Maruti car (HR-01A- 3635) was hit by a truck (HP-33- 4129) near Tibbi Majra village. A case under Sections 279, 337, 338 and 427 of IPC has been registered. Car stolen:
A car (HR- 03C- 4739) was reportedly stolen from Sector 8 during the night intervening February 16 and 17. A case under Section 379 of IPC has been registered. Car recovered:
The police has recovered a car ( HP-51-1617), stolen from Sector 9 here on February 11, from Mani Majra. The car was lying unclaimed near Thakur Dwara in Mani Majra. SAS NAGAR 2 killed:
Two persons died in two separate incidents in the town in the past 48 hours. According to the information, Devinder Singh, a resident of Ballomajra, died after the scooter he was driving hit with a stray cattle. In another case, an electrician, Sohan lal, a resident of Sector 37 in Chandigarh, died after he was reportedly electrocuted in Phase VII here. A police official said the contractor, Sandeep Singla, with whom the victim was working, informed the family that their boy had been injured. The police has registered a case under Section 304-A of the IPC against the contractor. |
BSNL wakes up to competition Chandigarh, February 18 The colour and tenor of the recent advertisements released by the nigam is in stark contrast to their earlier insipid advertisements campaigns. “We are actively giving advertisements and information about our various schemes in the newspapers which apart from giving us a good response for our schemes and newly launched services like the Wireless in Local Loop (WLL), will help our subscribers avail these facilities”, said Mr R.C. Vaish, Principal General Manager Telecom, Chandigarh. He said after the corporatisation, the BSNL has been allocated a separate fund for marketing. The WLL (FWT) fixed phone service of the BSNL which was earlier open to residents in technically non-feasible (TNF) areas has now been thrown open to residents in all the areas in the city. The registration charges, which BSNL had earlier fixed at Rs 2,000 have now been reduced to Rs 500. The subscriber will have to pay Rs 20 per month as insurance charges . Whereas the capacity for FWT connections is 3,000 lines , BSNL so far has given around 850 connections. It is learnt that the lukewarm response to this scheme only led to the decision of opening the service to residents in all areas here. Sources say that around 100 advice notes for execution of this facility are still pending with the concerned officials. “In order to launch other services and facilities here, it is important that we get a good response for the new services”, Mr Vaish had stated earlier. Meanwhile, in order to retain its high-end users, BSNL has also started providing discount to such users . Subscribers who have their monthly gross bills exceeding Rs 1 lakh can avail of this discount and also get several special facilities .BSNL so far has 16 account holders who have opted for this scheme. |
 |
| 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 | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
