 |
|
| Tuesday, February 26, 2002, Chandigarh, India
|
|
||||
|
Admn prepares to stop black death Chandigarh, February 25 He said this at a special joint meeting of health officials of Punjab, the PGI and Chandigarh, where measures to check the spread of plague in the region were discussed. General Jacob said work on plants for recycling solid waste and sewage should be expedited on priority. He asked the Adviser to the Administrator to coordinate with the Punjab Government for expanding the capacity of the SAS Nagar sewage treatment plant. “The plant treats 60 per cent sewage of the city and should take more load,” said the General. He asked the Municipal Commissioner to coordinate with the Karnataka Compost Development Corporation to study the setting up of a plant for recycling solid waste of the city. “The number of dumpers and garbage collectors should be increased and the Administration will help the Municipal Corporation in this,” he also said. The General criticised private contractors engaged by the MC for cleaning slums. General Jacob asked health authorities of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh to work collectively in this drive. The Adviser, Ms Neeru Nanda, said the PGI had released a list of patients and their attendants who had been in the PGI Emergency Ward at the time of the arrival of the first plague patient here. All persons on the list have been contacted at various places and given antibiotics as a preventive measure. They include some persons of Saharanpur and Nasik who were admitted to the PGI on that day. In Kansal village, 64 villagers suspected of having come in contact with the plague patients have been given doses of antibiotics and advised to restrict their movement. The Administrator asked the PGI authorities to give a complete list, so that, all those who may have come in contact with plague patients get the dose. The PGI authorities have been told to admit anyone with suspected symptoms of plague to isolation wards and not the Emergency Ward. The General asked the Director Health of Punjab to isolate 19 plague-affected persons and their relatives for the incubation period to contain the spread of plague. The issue of scientific disposal of medical waste generated by nursing homes was also discussed. The Director Health Services will convene a meeting of owners of all nursing homes of Chandigarh, SAS Nagar and Panchkula tomorrow. “Curbing growth of pigs, especially in the periphery and slums, is the need of the hour,” said General Jacob. He also said persons rearing pigs here, in violation of the MC guidelines, should be checked. He said he was upset that the PHD Chamber of Commerce and the CII had not adopted Colony No. 4 and the other slums for maintaining civic amenities there as promised two years ago.
Chandigarh, February 25 He checked the system of garbage collection, beginning from Sector 10, followed by Sector 11, the Dadu Majra garbage dump and Sector 36. Mr M.P. Singh, Municipal Commissioner, showed him how the system worked, following which, the General asked him to streamline it and make the solid compost plant operational soon. |
|
Dumping continues despite protest SAS Nagar, February 25 An official of the council said the residents had been urged not to protest as a new 14-acre site at Badiali village was being acquired which would take a few days. Till then the garbage would be dumped at the existing site. The residents have been sitting on a dharna to oppose the dumping of garbage. |
|
|
A village ostracised; fear plagues all Kansal (Kharar), February 25 The scare is there in the village and those who live in Chandigarh dread going near Kansal. The villagers have become victims of circumstances. They do not fear death, but rumours. They say that “the plague thing” has been blown out of proportion. Mr Ashok, who runs a drug store in the village, said villagers are scared and the sale of antibiotics is increasing. Meanwhile, a team of doctors of the District Health Authority are monitoring the situation in the village. The village schools, including those run privately, have been closed till February 28. Children of the village who attend schools in Chandigarh have been, reportedly, told to take leave. Villagers who work in Chandigarh offices have been told the same. Mr Ratan Lal, Sarpanch of the village said, “Doctors who are camping in the village have issued medical-leave certificates to those who live in the colony where a plague death took place. All those who live in the colony are taking antibiotics that doctors are giving to anyone suffering from fever or anything like it. The colony has been virtually isolated from the rest of the village. The usually crowded village streets bore a deserted look. Doctors have told villagers to restrict their movement. Villagers say that announcements have been made in the neighbouring Kaimbwala village that neither should any villager visit Kansal nor should anyone be allowed to come from there. Meanwhile, Mr Shemsher Singh and his family, neighbours of Krishan Singh, who had left the village after the plague scare, returned
yesterday. “We had not fled, but been to a relative’s house near Ludhiana on weekend,” said Mr Shemsher Singh. He says his family has been taking antibiotics from day one of the “outbreak”. He says that he has given antibiotics even to his relatives and the other persons who have come in contact with the family. The plague scare has also affected the businesses of villagers. A milkman who delivers milk in Chandigarh said his customers had told him to suspend the supply for a week. Outsiders are reluctant to meet anyone from the village. Mr Ratan Lal, a villager, said, “We fear that we will no longer be welcome to anyone’s house in Chandigarh.”
Send them on leave: Jacob “Employees of the Chandigarh Administration who live in Kansal should be sent on leave in view of the plague,” said the UT Administrator, Lieut-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd), here today. “This is required to curb their movement in the incubation period of four to six days. |
|
Health squads on
maximum alert Chandigarh, February 25 A list of all such contacts have been prepared and medical teams have been sent to them along with medicines. Ms Neeru Nanda, Adviser to the UT Administrator, visited the Sector 16 General Hospital here today and reviewed the situation. She was told that an old woman who had been admitted to the hospital yesterday had tuberculosis and not plague.
PANCHKULA The district health authorities have constituted two teams of doctors at Kalka and Panchkula to create awareness on plague that has, so far, claimed five lives in the region. The Civil Surgeon, Dr B.S. Chaudhary, has told his team to give chemoprophylactics to several patients in Pinjore and Panchkula who had been admitted to the Emergency Ward of PGI in Chandigarh on February 19 (the day Krishan Singh was admitted). Also, all those who have come contact with Krishan Singh or his wife, Karamjit Kaur, are being given antibiotics. Dr Chaudhary said for all cases of suspected pneumonia, the treatment was the same. He said his workers were creating awareness on plague and urging people to report any case at the earliest. The Health Department has also asked its workers to keep a check on rodent population and ratfall.
SAS NAGAR Dr Manjari Bhargava of Silver Oaks Hospital said here today that there was no need to panic as everything was under control. “If any patient came to us with symptoms of suspected plague, we will have his or her X-ray examination to be on the safe side. No fresh case has come to us.” A nurse of the hospital, Reena Philips, had been admitted to the PGI with suspected plague. She, along with two other nurses, had attended to Krishan Singh of Kansal who died of plague. An official of the hospital said all staff members had been asked to wear caps and masks. Dr Bhargava said there was no chance of anyone having come in contact with the nurse, as she had not met anyone since attending to Krishan Singh. |
|
Set up medical camps on city borders:
Mayor Chandigarh, February 25 ''Though there was nothing to be scared of in the city, as it has the best medical facilities and is far cleaner than other cities, yet monitoring for plague has to be at the border itself so that even the scare can be 'rooted out','' Ms Joshi told the Chandigarh Tribune here today. Expressing a need for the Administration and the Municipal Corporation to join hands to clean the city to prevent spread of any deadly disease which hit the neighbouring Kansal village, she said people must also take responsibility to keep the city clean. To begin with, slum areas and labour colonies should be the focus of attention of authorities, she said. Ms Joshi said the Corporation, with resources at its command, had already launched a sanitation campaign which had begun in early February and would continue till the first week of March. The lifting of garbage had to be time and germicides had to be sprayed at all garbage collection centres, she said. Public should avoid littering the city, she added. Explaining she did not mean to turn away those infected from getting medical help, facilities for which are the best in the whole region, Ms Joshi said nature of the disease required care in monitoring cases at the border itself. |
|
|
DHS denies Krishan’s visit to GH-16 Chandigarh, February 25 The UT Director, Health Services, says the deceased did not come to the General Hospital Sector 16, for any treatment. Relatives and friends of Krishan Singh maintain that he was taken to the GH where an x-ray of his chest was carried out. He was also sent to the Sector 22 Polyclinic where more tests were conducted on him and the doctors thought he was suffering from TB, according Mr Balbir Singh, brother of Krishan Singh. Sources say Krishan Singh was called for another test on the following Monday (February 18) . However, when Krishan Singh’s condition deteriorated, he was taken to Silver Oaks Hospital in SAS Nagar where he stayed for more than 16 hours and then referred to the PGI where he died. Balbir, elder brother of the deceased said : ‘‘We took him to General Hospital, Sector 16, where an x-ray was taken. They told us to come again on Monday.’’ Gurmel, wife of Baldev Singh, another brother of the deceased, who is admitted to the PGI, repeats the same story about her dead brother-in-law. The same information about Krishan going to the GH was corroborated by a friend and colleague of his in a steel welding unit in Sector 29. The employee informed that the deceased had left his place of work at 7.30 p.m. on his last working day, February 16. The employee also said that he accompanied the deceased to the GH-16. He claimed that the deceased was first taken to the General Hospital where the doctors took an x-ray. It took four days for a team of doctors to visit the unit where Krishan Singh was working to provide medicine to the employees. Following a team of the GH, two doctors from the PGI also visited the unit in the evening and examined the employees yesterday. When the Tribune team visited the unit in the afternoon to enquire about the condition of the employees, it was revealed that doctors have given six tablets of ‘‘doxycyclin’’ to each of them. They added that they had taken medicine only yesterday after the doctors guided them to take precaution. The relatives of Krishan Singh also informed that the medical records of the deceased had been misplaced. |
|
Another nurse put under
observation Chandigarh, February 25 Sources also state that a nurse working at the PGI has been put under observation following complaints of fever and respiratory tract infection. It is also believed that her friend, also a nurse at the PGI, who also complained of similar problems was checked for plague-like symptoms but none found. The nurse who has been put under observation however has been cleared of any pneumonic illness. None of them worked either in the isolation ward or the PGI emergency. Sources in the PGI state that with the admission of Rina Philips, a nurse who was taking care of Krishan Singh while he was admitted to Silver Oaks Hospital, SAS Nagar, the morale of the nurses working in the isolation ward has fallen to a new low. Sources have also stated that the complete shift of nurses which was taking care of the plague patients since they first arrived in the isolation ward on February 12 has been changed and these nurses have been asked to go on leave. A new team has been posted at the isolation ward, sources said. Meanwhile Jyoti, sister of Randhir, the first person to die of plague, was discharged today along with Satya, who is Sulochna’s sister. Sulochna was the wife of Randhir and had also succumbed to the disease at the PGI. Of the remaining patients from the Himachal family, the condition of Rakesh, Jyoti’s husband, and Naveen continues to be serious. Purshotam’s condition is stable and improving. Jasbir, the two-and-half-year-old daughter of Krishan Singh is still very serious and his wife Karamjit’s condition is said to be weak but improving. Reena is also weak but improving. Meanwhile a meeting of the members of the core committee was held at the PGI to consider locations in the hospital where cases have to be kept under observation. More than 50 calls from all over the region including one from Maharashtra have been received and dealt with by the doctors on special duty at the PGI control room at phone number 0172-746018. Residents from the Department of Community Medicine have been put on round-the-clock duty to entertain calls and advise people wanting information on plague. |
|
Rare plant for PU Botanical
Garden Chandigarh, February 25 This plant is known as psilotum
nudum. This has been possible with the efforts of Prof S.P. Khullar, chairman, and Prof
M.P. Sharma of the Botany Department who brought it here from the National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, where Prof Sharma had gone for a viva-voce examination. This is a unique plant and is commonly known as whisk fern. It is a very simple plant It bears no flowers, fruits or seeds and belongs to the plant group known as Pteridophytes It has been on the earth for the past 370 million years. The plant has only the stem system which is both terrestrial and subterranean. It is tichotomously divided . It has only scale-like leaves without any veins. Roots are also absent. The stem performs the function of leaves. It generally grows as an epiphyte or in crevices of rocks at high altitudes in the Himalayas and other places. Another interesting plant that has been obtained is ophioglossom reticulatum or the adder’s tongue. This plant produces only single simple leaf in a season. During the last year or so that Botanical Garden of Panjab University has been able to procure some very interesting plants like: fox-tail fern
(Lycopodium clavatum), birds-nest fern ( Asplenium nidus) and stag’s-horn fern
(Platycerium sp) . These are amongst the prized acquisitions of the garden made possible by the interest and patronage of the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof
K.N. Pathak. |
||
|
RUN-UP TO THE BUDGET Chandigarh, February 25 “Processing of the agricultural produce in our country is a meagre 3 per cent compared to 83 per cent in Malaysia and 70 per cent in case of Brazil. Industry must go to the villages if we are to achieve higher value addition”, said Mr
I.S. Paul, Chairman, Chandigarh Council, CII. Emphasising on
corporatisation, he said the same would be possible only when measures like modification of laws to make contract farming easier are undertaken. “It is also imperative that technology be brought to rural areas to make agriculture productive and competitive”. Encouragement to food processing which has so far not taken off very well would go a long way in the improvement of this sector. “To promote food-processing, special incentives like more subsidies should be provided”, said Mr
N.S. Brar, Additional Managing Director, Punjab Agri Export Corporation. He said processed foods should be made free from all kinds of taxes like sales tax and octroi so that the produce could be sold at competitive prices. Emphasising on the reduction of costs, industrialists here said that subsidies on freight — air, land and water; tax incentives etc should form a part of the forthcoming budget. There should be no duty in case of establishment of cold storage and refrigeration infrastructure, said Mr Brar. Similar steps to promote marketing are also required, he said, adding, “Even in case of good quality seed and planting material, no duty should be charged so that it becomes easier to adopt modern techniques and improve the quality”. Private participation for building infrastructural facilities must be encouraged, opine experts. Mr
R.S. Sachdeva, Co-chairman Punjab Committee, PHDCCI, said, “We need to invest more money towards diversification and marketing of agricultural produce. It is essential that 100 per cent FDI and private participation in this sector be encouraged in order to compete in the international market”. Suggesting that a cargo airport in each state should be there to facilitate easy transportation of the produce, especially perishable products, he said that encouragement of private participation in projects like this would make it easier to establish such infrastructural facilities. |
||
Enabling the
disabled Chandigarh, February 25 The Committee is to become a catalyst in reaching out to parents, NGOs and persons with disabilities through its various schemes and aims at fanning out to every household. Ms Guha held an introductory meeting with the Social Welfare Department, local hospitals, Director Public Instructions and NGOs working in the field to provide literature and details of the schemes being run by the Trust. The Trust, working under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, was created in 1999 under an Act of the Parliament to integrate the disabled with society to ensure their dignity and independence, Ms Guha said. The Chairperson said registration of associations and NGOs dealing with
disabilities and running schemes like day-care, respite-care and long-term residential care, were among the activities the Trust was engaged in. The meeting was attended the Social Welfare Secretary G. K. Marwah, Director Social Welfare Madhvi Kataria, Director Public Instructions (Schools) D. S. Saroya and Dr B. S. Chavan of the Government Institute of Mentally Retarded Children, Sector-32, among others. Ms Guha, to drive home the point that the disabled could do wonders with a little help, said there was a woman in Tamil Nadu who had both her legs amputated and was feeling helpless. But a self-help group forwarded her micro-credit, from which she started making idlies and now her product had virtually made villagers top making idlies at homes since the idlies she prepared were cheaper and better than those made at home. The woman has now become the wage-earner for her whole family employs many other people and is running a programme for many like her. Mr Marwah urged Ms Guha to take steps to ensure reservation for the disabled in private schools. |
|
Post-festival — Rose Garden
needs care Chandigarh, February 25 While it is expected that three days of activity as huge as the Festival of Gardens would warrant some kind of a mess-up, given the fact that 2.5 lakh people visited the festival, the garden sported an unclean picture today. Flower beds looked paler than normal and some hedges have also been damaged. Most daily-walkers to the garden seemed quite disturbed about the state of the garden, which they felt, should not have been opened to the public on such a large scale. Ms Neena Jauhar, who goes for a daily walk to the Rose Garden, said, “The whole purpose of the festival was to generate some kind of respect for these flowers. But as of today, they stand hugely damaged. The beds have been ruined and water has accumulated at various places, lending an ugly look to the place. The Administration should not have used the garden for such celebrations. I feel such fests should be confined to the outskirts. This is the only way to save gardens from being messed up.” Meanwhile, UT Chief Engineer Puranjit Singh said that the flowers had been well protected. Also there is no damage to hedges, he said, adding, “When you hold a function of this level, some loopholes are always left. But we have worked overtime to secure the garden. Also our workers are engaged in cleaning up the garden since morning. In a day or two, the garden would be back to its original glory. Even now, it has no signs of damage, whatsoever.” |
|
FAUJI BEAT “KEEP the Army down Don’t let it become powerful”. This thinking is not the legacy of the British era but of the Nehru days. This phobia has gripped the minds of our political hierarchy and the bureaucrats so firmly that if at all a political boss realises that what the Army is asking for is good for the country, the all-powerful bureaucrat cautions him about the “dangers” of the move. And we come back to square one. For India, history keeps repeating itself, yet the powers that be refuse to learn anything from their mistakes. After the Chinese debacle, Nehru had still not shed his aversion to the military. In December, 1962, when the Army embarked upon rapid expansion after years of criminal neglect, Nehru, in a letter to Bertrand Russell wrote that “the danger of military mentality spreading in India and the power of the Army increasing bothered him”. This is what Bertrand Russell had mentioned in his autobiography. After having completed all the formalities for a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) last year, we have been dragging our feet on the implementation of this “historic” decision. First we were waiting for the Naval and Air Chiefs to retire so that the Army Chief General S. Padmanabhan could be appointed as the CDS. Before they retired on December 31, we had deployed our Army for a war with Pakistan; the possibility of which had disappeared a few weeks ago. What are we waiting for now? Medicare and morale: The morale of an Army largely depends on how its casualties are taken care of in regard to timely evacuation and treatment. In the limited Kargil war, we suffered about 530 killed and twice as many wounded. With the large-scale deployment of our Army for war in December-January last, we would have suffered heavier casualties if we had gone to war. The Army Medical Corps (AMC) covered itself with glory during the Kargil operations for its commendable work. It is heartening to know that all the medical units in the forward areas as also the military hospitals were fully geared up to handle and treat the expected numbers of casualties during Operation Sangram. This reminds one of the high appreciation that the Command Hospital (Western Command), Chandimandir, earned for its work during the Kargil war. Incidentally, both the medical officers i.e. a surgeon and an anaesthetist who were sent to Kargil from this hospital were awarded Sena Medals. Besides, the hospital personnel got five Chief of the Army Staffs Commendation Cards and 21 GOC-in-C’s Commendation Cards for their good work. And this was the highest that any military hospital has ever got in such a short span of time. This Command Hospital, which had only one super-specialty, that is, in plastic surgery in the late-eighties, has almost all the super-specialities now with the latest equipment. Some of its departments are better equipped than those in any other command hospital. Corruption in recruitment: The recruiting organisation of the Army has been notorious for corruption for the past several decades and all efforts to uproot this menace from the system of recruitment have been successfully defeated by the touts. After a fair amount of deliberations, the system of recruitment was changed in April 1998. According to the new system, the staff from the branch recruiting office (BRO) of the station where a recruiting rally is held is not to be associated with the recruitment. And for all arrangements and tests, the staff has to be provided by three different BROs. A recent case in the Kangra district where 30 youths were charged Rs 30,000 each for recruitment in the Army by a man impersonating as a Colonel, is a clear indication that corruption has seeped deep into the system. The state CID has registered an FIR against this person who had taken some ex-servicemen into confidence in this game of cheating. This incident has sent shock waves in the higher echelons of the Army. Though it is difficult to isolate the Army from corruption in India, where it has spread like an epidemic, yet the Army top brass should try to devise a fool proof method to root it out form the recruiting organisation. You can imagine the fate of the Army in which people get recruited by paying bribes. Another dangerous portent of this practice is that some undesirable people and enemy agents can seek entry into the Army by paying money. |
|
Bir Devinder smells
internal sabotage SAS Nagar, February 25 He said there was “internal sabotage” to ensure his defeat. “The block presidents of Kharar and SAS Nagar did not walk with me”, he said adding that Capt Amarinder Singh was the first choice for the post of the Chief Minister. When asked about chances of his being in the cabinet, he said it was for the party to decide. He acknowledged that he would be making a courtesy call on the president of the AICC, Ms Sonia Gandhi. “My victory is because of the dedicated party cadre who worked for me despite my being an outsider. My opponents tried their best to confuse the voter and the party worker, but in vain”, he said. He said no senior members of the PPCC and the AICC addressed his election rallies. He claimed that he had not spent a penny from his pocket and his campaign was funded by donations. He said he was not in favour of any disciplinary action against party leaders who worked against him in the elections. |
|
14 Bangladeshi ‘guests’
overstay SAS Nagar, February 25 The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has sounded the Punjab Police to locate the illegal immigrants who could possibly be working as daily-wage earners in different towns of the state. Sources in the police department said the ministry has sought that the illegal immigrants should not be registered as Indian citizens without informing it. Recently, police authorities of different states have been sent a list of 14 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants hailing from Chittagong, Strapur, Matlam, Kaywali, Chara Sutrpur, Zangira, Sultan Feni and other places in Bangladesh. Sources said the Senior Superintendents of Police of all the districts have been asked to look for the illegal immigrants. Enquires reveal that a special provision to travel on short-term visas enabled the Bangladeshis to enter the country. Intelligence sleuths apprehend that ISI agents, under the garb of Bangladesh citizens could enter the country to indulge in anti-national activities. They said the problem of illegal immigrants was more serious in Rajasthan, West Bengal and in the North- Eastern states of Assam and Tripura. Citing cases, sources said nationals entered the country between the years 1990 and 1998 and went underground after the expiry of their visas issued by the Indian Mission in Bangladesh. |
|
Meeting on women empowerment Chandigarh, February 25 MC Councillors were also invited to the meeting. This was the first meeting of the committee which consists of official and non-official members to take follow-up action on the policy to be framed for uplift and empowerment of women. The Adviser to the UT Administrator, Ms Neeru Nanda, said the stipend amounting to Rs 30 per month which was being given in cash to the Scheduled Caste students should be deposited with the Education Department in order to provide SC student computer education. Ten per cent financial assistance would also be added to the stipend by the Education Department. The Adviser said the meeting that a scheme of registering property in the joint name of husband and wife had been launched in Chandigarh Sector 25 Kumhar Colony. The scheme would ensure equal share of property to wives. |
|
Tigers kill tiger Chhat Bir, February 25 The group killed the tiger, the oldest among the big cats in the enclosure, within minutes. A python was also found dead in an enclosure today. It had been gifted to the zoo about 10 years ago. When contacted, Dr Vinod Sharma, Chief Warden Zoos (Punjab), said the remains of the tiger and the python had been burnt today after postmortems. The postmortem showed that the tiger had died after a heavy blow on the neck and had injuries all over the body. The python died due to old age. The number of Royal Bengal tigers in the zoo has now decreased to 23. |
|
Waiting for
the police to wake up Panchkula, February 25 “The police has been hobnobbing with the accused and the challan has not been presented in the court so far. The police is asking us to compromise with the accused,” laments Mr Prem Chand Aggarwal. He says that in spite of several representations to the high officials in the Police Department, nothing has been done so far. When contacted, the officials at Neelam cinema police post admitted that the challan had not been presented in the court, but they said that this would be done soon. However, they remained tight-lipped about the reasons for delay in filing the challan. It is learnt that the accused UTI agent , Mr Sanjiv
Nehra, had some how got Mr Aggarwal and his son, Anurag Aggarwal’s account payee, non negotiable and non-transferable dividend warrant for Rs 960, issued by the
DFSSL, Mumbai, addressed and delivered to him (Sanjiv Nehra) . He then got that draft fraudulently credited to his own saving bank account. |
|
|
Film on road safety Chandigarh, February 25 Further, the violator himself will have to be present while paying compounding fee. Earlier, it was noticed that in many instances, persons who were challaned for traffic violations used to send someone else to pay the compounding fee and obtain their documents. The police is in the process of procuring a video projector, screen and related paraphernalia to screen the films. |
3-yr-old kidnapped;
police clueless Panchkula, February 25 The child has always been staying with her maternal grandmother during the day time as her parents, Mr Surjit Singh and Ms Sarabjit Kaur, are away for work. When this reporter visited their house today after the incident, friends and relatives were pouring in to pep up the family. With no news of the child or from her kidnappers, as the day progressed into dusk, the hopes of the family members for recovering the child were also waning. While Ms Sarabjit Kaur was too numb with sorrow, her husband, Mr Surjit Singh said they were unaware of who could be behind this act and added that he had no enmity with anyone. The incident took place at around 1.45 pm today. A young couple rang the bell of their first floor house and entered on the pretext of inviting them for a wedding. They were carrying a box of sweets. They told the old woman that they were friends of her son-in-law, Surjit Singh and that he was working in a Mohali-based company. However, Ms Mohinder Kaur contradicted this statement and said Mr Surjit Singh was employed in Lalru. The couple, however, managed to cover up their mistake and entered the house. As Ms Mohinder Kaur was ushering them inside, two more youths came up the stairs and the couple said they were with them. Once inside the house, they pounced on the woman, gagged her and tied her up. They then escaped with the child in a Tata Sumo. Meanwhile, the district police is making all out efforts to trace the child and her abductors. It is learnt that the residence of Ms Mohinder Kaur is under constant surveillance and the police is also monitoring all telephone calls. Meanwhile, an FIR under Sections 363 and 366 of the IPC has been registered.
|
|
Fatal fall from HR
bus Chandigarh, February 25 Constable held: A constable of the Ropar police, Balwinder Singh, and a Special Police Officer, Daljinder Singh, were reportedly arrested by the local police for eve-teasing in the Rose Garden. A fake identity card was also seized from Daljinder's possession. They have been booked under Sections 294, 467, 468 and 474 of the Indian Penal Code. One arrested: The police has arrested a resident of Sector 34, Satinder Singh, for allegedly forcing his way into the house of Khuda Lahora resident Swaran Singh and firing into the air with a pistol. Personal enmity between the two is stated to be the cause of the incident. The police has recovered the weapon and booked Satinder Singh for trespass, criminal intimidation and endangering human life. Whisky
seized: The police has arrested a resident of Mauli Jagran, Bhola Mahanto, from near the brick-kiln in the same locality and seized 15 bottles of Sixer whisky from his possession. A case under the Excise Act has been registered. Stolen: Mani Majra resident Bhajan Kaur has reported that a gold ear-ring, two gold nosepins and three silver rings have been stolen from her residence while she was away. A case has been registered. Car stereo stolen:
Sector 38 resident Surinder Pal has reported that his car stereo has been stolen from his car parked in Sector 23. The police has registered a case. Car stolen:
Sector 35 shopkeeper Dalip Kumar has reported that his Maruti car (CH-03-D-6829) has been stolen from the same sector. A case has been registered. Theft case: Sector 47 resident Balwinder Singh has reported that his car stereo and four speakers were stolen from his car parked near the gurdwara in the same sector. The police has registered a case.
PANCHKULA Car stolen: A Maruti car (HR-03D-4064) was reportedly stolen from outside the Sector 4 residence of Ms Saroj on February 19.
A white Zen car (PB0-42A-5850) was reportedly stolen from outside the Hot Millions in Sector 5 late this evening. A case under Section 379 of the IPC has been registered in both these cases. |
MARKET PULSE Chandigarh, February 25 Both Reveal & Covert come with a digital chronograph and a countdown repeat timer, allowing the wearer to make his work-outs longer, harder, sweeter for a cool Rs 4,500/-. Kidswear brand Weekender Kids, the premium kidswear brand, has been awarded ‘The Most popular’ kidswear brand in the country at the Images Fashion Awards’. The event which took place last week at New Delhi commanded the presence of the who’s who from the fashion industry representing almost every major international and Indian brand, corporate retail houses and over 1,000 top professionals from India and abroad. Mr Akhilesh Prasad, CEO, Personality Ltd, said, “We are extremely pleased to have received this prestigious award. The award establishes Weekender Kids as the undisputed leaders in this segment. It is very encouraging to note that our consumers are happy with our brand offering. We will endeavour to add more to our range in keeping with consumer demands.” To identify the top fashion brands of the country, Images and Org Marg conducted a nationwide consumer survey wherein 5061 up-market consumers belonging to the Sec A1, A2, A and B gave their verdict on their favorite brands in kidswear, womenswear, jeanswear, among other categories. To ensure quality responses, respondents interviewed in this survey were required to qualify with 3 out of the 5 possessions like computer, cell phone, AC, Car and credit card. The survey, which was probably the largest of its kind, was carried out in 11 major cities across the country including Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow and Chandigarh.  |
|
Antique furniture
on display Chandigarh, February 25 The collection includes an antique glass ‘jharokha’, besides a few replicas in various sizes. There is a multimirror elongated piece that stands tall, both in size and cost, at Rs 15,000. You’ll find a curio cupboard from one of the established ‘gharanas’ of Uttar Pradesh and a fireplace with intricate cut work. The exhibition is an effort towards not only bringing Indian style to the fore but also amalgamating diverse cultural heritage. A variety of antique-looking furniture on the lines of Bohemian, Chinese and Oriental designs, including beautifully curved corners and accessories like glass flowers and vases, has been brought together. There are dining chairs and corner chairs at Rs 7,000 per piece, besides multipurpose display cupboards, side tables and sofa sets from various states of India. |
|
BIZ CLIPS Chandigarh SIDBI-IFAD pact:
The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has entered into an agreement with International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD),Rome, for upscaling its micro credit programme. IFAD has sanctioned a loan of SDR 16.35 million (Rs 107 crore) to SIDBI for this programme, stated a press release. Phone services hit:
The BSNL has stated in a press release that an 800 pair cable has gone faulty in Sector 17 due to careless digging by a private company. This has left around 550 working telephones in Sectors 22, 23 and 16 affected and BSNL will restore the service of these telephones on priority, stated the Principal general manager Telecom, Chandigarh, in the release. |
 |
| 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 | |
