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| Friday,
June 7, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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Setting
a legend into scenes Chandigarh, June 6 The first big production comes from of Raj Kumar Santoshi, the most exciting director of modern times. Representing Santoshi in the city today were two men whose contribution has been critical to the making of ‘The Legend of Bhagat Singh’, releasing tomorrow. Anjum Rajab Ali, writer of the film, and Sushant Singh, who plays Sukhdev, the most revered of Bhagat Singh’s pals, were here to unravel this historical document, produced by Tauranis of Tips. For Anjum Rajab Ali, the writer known for his sensitive scripts in a host of films from Drohkaal to Ghulam and then Pukaar, documenting Bhagat Singh was an ‘exceedingly exciting task.’ “It is not easy to talk about this film, especially when there are five films being presented on the same theme. Ours is a popular industry which tells interesting tales. All I have to say is that Bhagat Singh’s story is exceedingly interesting. He was an extraordinary man, whose ideology has been largely misinterpreted and misunderstood,” he said. Meeting the challenging task of setting the life of a martyr into scenes was not easy for Anjum. He took help of 60 books, clippings of the Tribune which widely reported the proceedings of the Lahore Conspiracy Case, interviews with historians and the family members of Sardar Bhagat Singh. He said “As I read more and more about the man, I found myself increasingly drawn towards his ideology, which was in any case selfless. He never propagated violence. He only propagated rebuttal of violence, lest silence should be mistaken as cowardice. Making a film on the life of such a great hero was very difficult. I read a lot and constructed a personality of Bhagat Singh, as I understood him. As far as possible, I have kept my narration safe from distortion. The story was itself so interesting that there was no need of dramatic adulteration.” Sushant Singh, who has a series of solid portrayals in Jungle, Kaun, and 16 December behind him, added,” We have made an honest attempt. Right from the sets to the hearts, the feeling of patriotism has been thick throughout the making of this film. I, as Sukhdev, have understood my character and his ideology well. I went through a book by Shiv Verma, which details Sukhdev to some extent. I have lived this role and grown with it.” Both for Anjum and Sushant, the experience has been more than just worthwhile. But Anjum admitted the difficulty he often faced in handling such an outstanding task. “Most of his personality is based on his ability to think. There was not much of action to draw from except the killing of Saunders and the bomb throwing in the assembly. I had to understand the martyr’s mind to dramatise his character.” Talking about the role of Ajay Devgan, Anjum said, “Everyone wanted to do this role, but Ajay was our unanimous choice. He has done full justice to the script; so has Sushant Singh in the role of Sukhdev.” Directed by Raj Kumar Santoshi, produced by Kumar Taurani and Ramesh Taurani of Tips, the film has Raj Babbar in the role of Bhagat’s father Sardar Kishan Singh; Farida Jalal in the role of his mother; Amrita Rao as his fiancee; Akhilesh Mishra as Chandrashekhar Azad. The film has 85 sets by Nitin Desai and cinematography is by K.V. Anand. The film is largely based on narrations from Kultar Singh, the younger brother of Sardar Bhagat Singh. |
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Admn pampering Sec 17 traders? Chandigarh, June 6 And the reduction in rent is not a social welfare measure carried out to help the poor and downtrodden, it will benefit the virtual who's who of the local trading community. The 14 showrooms owned by the administration are in the same row as the famous city landmark, Dr Sahib Singh and Sons. These showrooms today house a South Indian restaurant, a Mumbai-based jewellery chain, a leading clothes store and stores selling top designer brands of clothes, watches and jewellery. The entire scheme which had laid down the method of charging rent from these showroom has been changed. Already the rent was quite low. A tenant of the Chandigarh Administration was to pay Rs 31,000 under the old scheme. This has now been brought down to Rs 28,000 per month. A notification amending the scheme has been issued. A showroom of the same size opposite this showroom owned by private individuals fetches a rent from Rs 1.75 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh a month. So why this large heartedness from the administration? And why a reduction in rent when rent in commercial areas of the city has been rising by about 7 per cent each year.? Till about four years ago the tenants were paying Rs 14,000 as rent.A scheme was formulated and the rent doubled to Rs 28,000. Each year the rent was to rise by 7.5 per cent thus affecting a hike of about 52 per cent in five years. So if a shopkeeper is paying Rs 31,000 in 2002, would have been paying about Rs 45,000 at the end of year 2007 in case the 7.5 per cent hike will be
Now with the change in the scheme, the effective rent will remain Rs 28,000 and will not rise for five years. After which it will be increased by 50 per cent, thus in 2007 the rent will be Rs 42,000. This figure will be again remain the same till 2012. Till about two years ago a booth in Sector 22 was available for just Rs 14 per month. About 15 booths owned by the Chandigarh Administration had been let out for the past four decades for this sum. Later, these booths were sold off. The showrooms were constructed by the then Punjab Government when the city was coming up in early 1950’s. Very few people had opted to live here which was then a vast open area unlike the cosmopolitan city of today. These showrooms were offered on cheaper rentals as an incentive to people and businessmen migrating from Pakistan following the Partition. |
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UT invites
tenders for wet dredging Chandigarh, June 6 Actually among official circles the very idea of manual Shramdan is being questioned as the concept had outlived its utility. It should be more of a symbolic qesture is the opinion among officials. This year the Shramdan, which lasts six weeks, was on for three weeks. This was done with active support from government employees. This led to another
problem that employees going for Shradan were coming late to offices as it was impossible for persons living in SAS Nagar or Panchkula to first perform Sharamdan then reach office in time. The lack of seriousness would be gauged from the fact that this year the annual Shramdan – voluntary manual desilting of the Sukhna lake – was not accompanied by machine power. Each year several earth-moving machines like JCBs, tippers and bulldozers are sent by Punjab, Haryana, the Army or the power generation giant Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), to lift dry soil from the dry bed of the lake. So far only the BBMB had sent in its machines. The Army was busy at the borders. Punjab and Haryana did not respond. When wet dredging would start silt would be dumped in the form of a slurry into de-cantation tanks being built in an area north of the Sukhna lake. In the de-cantation tanks silt will settle down and water will flow back into Sukhna. The dredgers would take out 20 per cent of silt with 80 per cent of water. The silt would settle down in the de—cantation tanks while the water would trickle back into the lake. Officials of the Administration were quite skeptical about the wet dredging project as no one knew about the calculations of silt on per cubic foot basis. Now, sources said various clauses had been incorporated into the contract. Meanwhile this morning the Shramdan was formally closed by the Adviser to the UT Administrator, Ms Neeru Nanda. During the closing ceremony held here at Sukhna Lake, the regular
Ms Nanda, while addressing the gathering, appreciated the voluntary contribution of the shramdanis and sponsors and announced that the deaf and the dumb persons, who participated in the Shramdan, would be taken to a one day trip to either Kasauli or Chail. She further said that the regular shramdanis would also be invited to a dinner at Baithak Restaurant,
Kalagram. |
UT Admn to
restore Nari Niketan inmate to family Chandigarh, June 6 Orders to this effect were passed by the SDM (East), Mr S.P.
Arora, on June 4 after the Mani Majra police could not establish
the whereabouts of Deepa, who was held for “roaming about
aimlessly” in Durga Nursery area on April 24. Taking a serious
note of the police inaction in the matter, the SDM (East) passed
an which reads: “More than a month has passed but no
whereabouts have been known about the girl either in Chandigarh
or any other place. Keeping in view the desire shown by Deepa,
in the interest of justice and also keeping in view the interest
of the girl, I order that she may be taken to Siliguri at the
address given by her. If the parents of the girl are traced in
Siliguri after taking the help of the police she should be
handed over to them after due verification in the presence of
local area Executive Magistrate.”
The orders were passed in the presence of Ms Nirmaljit Kaur,
attendant with the Nari Niketan, Sub-Inspector Dharam Singh,
head constable Rashpal Singh and lady constable Roshni Devi. The
SDM also ordered that the girl will be accompanied back by a
woman officer, along with a Nari Niketan attendant.
The Mani Majra police, on its part, maintained that the SP,
Siliguri, was sent a wireless message. Virender Singh, munshi at
Mani Majra police station told Chandigarh Tribune, “We did
send the message.” Deepa’s case was handled by ASI Aasha
Sharma, who informed that on the day of her arrest she had been
taken home by some woman living in Mani Majra. That woman
informed the police about the case, which was later referred to
Nari Niketan.
Talking to Chandigarh Tribune about this case, Ms Anu Sharma,
in charge of Nari Niketan, said today that determining the cause
of Deepa’s run from home was very difficult. The girl’s
medical reports, however, are fine. Said Ms Sharma, “I have
counselled her for all these days. We also engaged a
professional counsellor to determine from where she came and
why. The girl kept saying that she had been married in Sector 20
and on the day of her arrest she had just come out of her house
to roam about for a while. We took her to Sector 20 thrice but
she does not identify any house. Also I personally sent a speed
post to her Siliguri address, along with her photograph and a
telegram. There has, however, been no response.”
Interestingly, where earlier Deepa was pretending not to be
understanding any language, later she began to respond to Hindi.
Ms Sharma added that Deepa had created a lot of problem in
the Nari Niketan. She kept crying whole day long and alleged
that she was being forcibly detained. “This is why I contacted
the SDM once again and sought restoration orders in this case.
There was no point in detaining her here if she wanted to go
back home.”
Ms Sharma, however, did not rule out the possibility that
Deepa lacked family acceptance. She added, “She also told us
that she was being teased by some boys on the day she was
arrested by the police.” While the orders of the SDM have been
procured and the girl is happy to get back home, the Nari
Niketan authorities will have to wait for final orders from the
Director, Social Welfare, Ms Madhavi Kataria, who is out of
station. The moment she gets back, Deepa will be re-united with
her family. |
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Procession held to observe ‘genocide week’ Chandigarh, June 6 “All disputes should be settled through dialogue, taking into consideration human rights, respect and regard of all concerned. In order to avoid war, India and Pakistan should act in mutual consultation,” they said. They stated that the entire Sikh community condemned the Godhra killings and demanded punishment for the guilty. The congregation also held a procession with burning torches. It started from Sector 22 gurdwara and passed through the markets of Sectors 22 and 21 before concluding at the Sector 20 gurdwara. |
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Visually
challenged shows the way with ‘Jyoti’ Chandigarh, June 6 Accompanied by her father, Mr Mohd Israr Sheikh, and mother, Ms Anjuman Bano, Robina, was feeling thrilled to present the first copy of her collection of poems ‘Jyoti’ to the General. Maj General Rajendra Nath (retd), Director, Institute for the Blind, informed the Administrator that Robina, a student of class XII, has done exceptionally well in studies also. Robina, though totally blind, is a very intelligent girl. She writes poems in Hindi and till date she has written about 80 poems. She got inspiration to write poetry from her parents and teachers. She has tried to capture the beauty of nature in her poems. It is rather surprising the way she has given depiction of different colours in her poems. The booklet ‘Jyoti’ is a collection of her selected poems. Robina also recited two poems on the occasion. Appreciating the endeavour of Robina, General Jacob said the talent of this girl would be a motivating force for other physically challenged children. He said creativity and talent shown by Robina would give her a rare confidence to face the challenges of life. Mr G.K. Marwah, Secretary Social Welfare, Group Captain P.S. Soni (retd.), Honorary Secretary of the Institute for Blind, were also present on the occasion. |
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Water shortage in city today Chandigarh, June 6 Close to 75 per cent of Chandigarh water is supplied through the pipeline and about 60 per cent of SAS Nagar’s demand is also met through the same source. Overhead tanks have been filled and tubewells will be running full steam, thus the morning supply will be met. The MC may not be able to supply water in the afternoon.
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Mahila Morcha nominations Chandigarh, June 6 Ms Sukhsham Bajaj, Dr Shashi Aggarwal, Dr Ramnik Sharma and Ms Manjit Kaur, have been nominated as vice-presidents; Ms Heera Negi as general secretary, Ms Indu Mahajan, Ms Neelam Sharma, Ms Sumita Dhawan and Ms Nisha Sharma as secretaries and Dr Seema Dutt as cashier. A 26-member working committee has also been nominated with former Mayors, Ms Kamla Sharma, Ms Shanta Abhilashi, former councillor, Ms Ranjana Shahi, Social Welfare Board Chairperson, Ms Kamlesh Gupta, SC/ST Mahila Morcha President, Ms Urmil, Ms Pushpa Goyal, Ms Kamla Manchanda and Ms Manorama Sharma have been nominated as special invitees. Ms Pooja Uppal has been nominated as president of the district I, Ms Asha Verma as president of district 2, Ms Shakuntala Kakkar of district number 3 and Ms Urmil Jindal of district number 4.
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Traffic task force Panchkula, June 6
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Architects’ body Chandigarh, June 6
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‘Tantrik’ held Chandigarh, June 6 He reportedly gave an amulet for a price to one of his followers, which did not produce the ‘‘promised’’ results. The follower complained to the police in this regard. A police team led by a senior police official raided the religious place and booked the ‘‘tantrik’’, who was staying in Sector 20, under Section 420 of the IPC. |
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