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| Friday,
February 7, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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Cops to crack the whip on beggars Chandigarh, February 6 It is learnt that senior officials have been asked to flash information regarding the activity of beggars and vendors at signal junctions. Sources in the police say that repeated incidents of street workers, in the guise of beggars or vendors, stealing bags and purses from vehicles parked in commercial areas has made the officers dwell on the issue. Police officials acknowledge a new trend in theft of items from public places by street urchins. The modus operandi is to divert the attention of a lone car driver and pick up a bag or other item. Such incidents have been reported at traffic junctions, said a police official. Sources said the police was contemplating action under the provisions of the Prevention of Begging Act, 1971. The police was considering action against the beggars and vendors who impeded the flow of traffic. A police official opined that enforcing the law on the beggars and vendors was not enough. Certain guidelines to the cops to act against motorists who indulged in any activity detrimental to the traffic flow or safety of road users — specially at traffic junctions and up to a distance of 100 metres on each approach from the centre of the junction were a must. The guidelines, which were effective in Delhi could be extended to Chandigarh. |
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WATCHMAN’S MURDER Chandigarh, February 6 The vagabonds, who were camping in the corridor where the night watchman was murdered, are missing. Raids are being conducted at different suspected hideouts. A police official said the key suspects where these vagabonds. The sequence leading to the murder would be known once the suspects are rounded up. The police has found that the suspects had entered into a brawl with some persons in the area. An autopsy of the body of the deceased has revealed that he died of excessive bleeding. Traces of liquor have been found in the stomach of the victim. A sample of the vicera has been sent for chemical examination to Patiala. Sources said it was apparent that the victim had a scuffle with the assailant(s) before the former was done to death. A broken wooden stick, a broken liquor bottle and a broken piece of kota stone with bloodstains on it was found lying along side the body. |
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Basant Utsav opens Chandigarh, February 6 The bright point of the event was the artistic creation by five members of the Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi who painted spring, creating splendid works of art. The artists who participated in this pursuit were Shiv Singh, Madan Lal, Subhash
Shourie, Harpreet, Gurjind Sandhu and Satwant Singh. Over 600 children took part in the painting contest organised on the theme of spring and nature. Among the other events were kite-flying which was organised by Mr K.S. Sehgal. This event had the maximum takers. Also under way was a tug of war. The ESI also launched a sapling plantation campaign by planting five saplings of camphor on the campus of Government Museum. The museum also put up an impressive show on miniature paintings on Basant. The paintings are from Kangra, Guler and Rajasthani disciplines. Results of the painting contest are: Group I: Vasu Garg, Anish Garg and
Amitoj; Group II: Ratan Deep, Guntaj Deep, Isha Goyal, Tarundeep and Shalini Swami; Group III: Jasleen Kaur, Shiven Singh, Harsha Mehta, Shiv Kumar and Mukti Gupta. In kite-designing, the awards went to Mr Devinder Pal Singh and Rishi
Ghai. The prize distribution will be held on February 9 at 3 pm.
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Schools
welcome spring Panchkula, February 6 The Gurukul:
Students and staff of the school heralded the spring season with gaiety and fervour. The celebrations continued for two days as the pre -primary wing celebrated the festival yesterday and the rest of the school celebrated Basant Panchami today. The tiny tots came in their party wear and keeping with the true spirit of the festival, yellow colour dominated the campus. The teachers narrated the folklore related with the festival and sang folk songs. Later, the children flew kites. Bhavan Vidyalaya:
Children and staff, dressed in yellow, welcomed the spring season by invoking the blessings of Goddess Saraswati. Amidst the chanting of “shlokas”, the Principal garlanded the statue of Goddess Saraswati. This was followed by the redention of Basant song in Raag Kajl and dances by the students. The entire school had been decked up with yellow buntings and flags. “Saraswati pujan” was also organised in Gauri Shankar Mandir, Sector 17, here. A large number of people had gathered to seek the blessings of Goddess of knowledge.
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‘Archival
records ill-maintained’ Chandigarh, February 6 He pointed out the Punjab Government’s “apathy” in handling the historical records during the ‘controversial’ shift of archival records of immense historical value in Patiala recently was one small example. Although the authorities denied loss of any records, the available pictures showed gross mishandling of study material. Professor Datta highlighted his concerns in an exclusive interview with The Tribune. He was reacting to the grim picture of neglect in the transfer of historical records from Rajindra Kothi in Patiala to new identified sites, including Punjabi University, Patiala. Citing only a few examples” of neglecting information to the general public, Professor Datta said a significant portion of records pertaining to Jawaharlal Nehru was locked at Teen Murti Bhavan, New Delhi. “Keeping such records away from researchers did not serve any national interest, he lamented. Professor Datta, an emeritus of Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, while relaxing in lawns of Panjab University guest house said papers relating to Tibet, Burma and China in the National Archives were locked. For a long time the historians’ division in the Ministry of Defense had been closed and similarly the historians’ division in the Ministry of External Affairs had also closed down. The historian said during the past few days The Tribune had took up the issue of reckless transfer of historical records at Patiala. He said there was no justification in transfer of a sizeable portion of history books to Punjabi University, Patiala. Transfer of records in haste and without planning had led to damage. The records were “priceless” because these pertained to ‘princely records of Punjab state’, printed ‘valuable history books’ and ‘Khalsa’ records. There are also reports of British records at the site, Professor Datta said. He said the government clarification saying that records were safe did not make sense because photographs clearly showed the damage. |
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Blind women design jewellery for Valentine’s Chandigarh, February 6 Put together by 17 blind women, the jewellery showcases refined expressions of love. For the first time perhaps a commercial house has been driven by concerns other than money. Designed for Valentine’s Day, the show is magnificent. The jewellery house tied up with the National Association for the Blind (NAB) to offer a platform from where the visually impaired could make a new beginning. The women involved in the designing are from NAB’s Utkarsh Job Development Centre in Mumbai. Trendsmith offered a certain quantum of money to it as a token of appreciation for the great work that the women had executed. The show opened at Chandigarh, Mumbai and Chennai. Five per cent of the sales on each piece will go to NAB. In the city to introduce the effort was Dharmesh
Sodah, on behalf of Trendsmith. “They have been into artistic pursuits in any case. They have been designing motifs for Raksha bandhan and other festivals. This time it was a little more challenging for them. But they have created beautiful motifs which have been further refined by our designers. The interesting part is that there is no motif in the shape of the heart — this collection, for once, is devoid of hearts. Let us understand that these women cannot see and cannot relate with the actual shape of the heart which they have not seen,” he said. All designs are thought provoking and have been executed with the help of small tools. Someone has used a 10 paisa coin to create a rounded motif while someone else was used a rupee coin. Finally, the show is not about money, but about the mastery of women over the art of living. It tells us how opportunities are born from the womb of adversity. |
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Lilette’s play organisers to pay Rs 19,000 as tax FACTFILE Chandigarh, February 6 The case closed down with the UT Excise and Taxation Department rejecting Oorja Entertainment Production’s tax exemption plea and directing it to pay up Rs 19,000 in the form of entertainment duty, against which the former had sought exemption on grounds that show proceeds were to be directed towards charity. Sources in the department, which is also holding additional charge of entertainment duty, said today that the organisers had deposited the tax. Taking serious view of the case in which Oorja Entertainment had applied for exemption just a day before the scheduled show was to be held (ideally such an application should come 15 days in advance), the department rejected the organisers’ plea for the exemption of tax. After carrying out a thorough assessment of revenue generated from the show organised on January 31 at Tagore Theatre, the department directed the organisers to pay up tax amounting to one third of the revenue generated. Officials said inspectors handling the case assessed a total revenue of Rs 57,000 from the show. “Penalty was worked out and one third of the amount comes to Rs 19,000 which has been deposited by Oorja Entertainment,” they said, adding that although the organisers maintained they had sold only 200 tickets, the department officers assessed the sale of 570 tickets, taking the full capacity of the theatre into consideration. The case had been adjourned until today, it was taken up rather hurriedly, with the organisers volunteering to pay the tax. Earlier, they had asked for time to bring account statements.
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Blemishes
on City Beautiful Chandigarh, February 6 The police has been adopting a lenient view of shopkeepers hanging banners in front of their establishments in the recent past. No action has ever been taken in this regard even as hanging banners in front of their shops is a violation of the West Bengal Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, applicable in Chandigarh too. However, action against traders hanging banners between electric poles and other places has been initiated from time to time. At least, 24 cases were registered by the local police in Chandigarh under the West Bengal Prevention of Defacement of Property Act in the year 2002 and 37 cases in 2001. The Chandigarh Police, it may be recalled, had announced it had no objection if the banners hanging in front of the shops did not hide vital public information. However, hiding vital information is violation of the Act. The Chandigarh Police had claimed that action was being taken only against advertisers sticking circulars, notices and handbills on signboards, road signs, sector guide maps, besides bus stops and other places where public information had been scribbled. Claiming to be serious about enforcing the Act, a senior official of the UT police said that the police was empowered to book the defaulters. The decision to act against the defaulters is significant as the police had received a “large number of complaints” against the concealment of information under posters and bills. Residents of the city allege that besides the “destruction of the city’s beauty”, the posters had made it impossible for the commuters to read sector numbers painted on the signboards and bus shelters. A substantial number of complaints regarding the violation of the Prevention of Defacement of Property Act are received by the police headquarters and the office of the Municipal Corporation. When contacted, Jaswinder Sharma, Enforcement Inspector, said earlier the local police was responsible for enforcing the Act but in the past three months, the local MC had been entrusted with similar powers. He said the Municipal Corporation was launching a campaign against defacement beginning Friday. In the first phase, the drive would be initiated in the Sector 7 and 8 markets. The violators, according to sources in the police department, were liable to be fined Rs 500 - Rs 1000 or sentenced to simple imprisonment for three months in case of default of payment.
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200 labourers gherao cop’s house SAS Nagar, February 6 While the owner of the house, Dr Rajwant Singh, alleged that the mob led by his former construction contractor beat up and threatened the labourers working in the house, right under the nose of the police, the contractor, Gopal Shukla, alleged that Rajwant Singh owed him a large amount of money, which the union members and the president had come to ask for at the house. The incident happened this morning after the mob reached the house under construction and raised slogans against the owner. Dr Rajwant alleges that the labourers at the house were beaten up by the mob. The telephone wires were cut and some workers dragged on the floor and beaten up. According to the union members the labourers panicked on seeing the mob and ran away and none was beaten up. Dr Rajwant Singh is an IPS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre and is posted as DIG, Hyderabad. According to him, he had employed Gopal, alias Pappu Shukla, on contract to construct his house here. But the latter did a shoddy job due to which he asked the contractor to stop work. “After that I paid him all the dues, including money in cheque and cash. I do not owe him anything. In fact, he has spoiled the bathroom design so much that getting it repaired will cost me another Rs 50,000. All I had asked him was to give me receipts of the work done.” Mr Gopal Shukla, on the other hand, alleges that Dr Rajwant Singh had been throwing his weight around and had not paid him money after the initial payment of Rs 1.25 lakh. ‘‘I worked on credit till the amount came to be over Rs 3 lakh. Then he simply refused to give the amount. He owes me over Rs 2 lakh. My union cannot allow construction work to go on in that house till everyone is paid,” he says. Ghanshyam, a paint contractor, also said that Dr Rajwant Singh had not paid him over Rs 50,000. The caretaker of the house, Raju had last week complained to the police that Gopal Shukla along with some of his friends had come in the night and stolen a four boxes containing construction material at knifepoint from the house store. Dr Rajwant Singh alleges that despite being a senior officer in the police, he is not getting cooperation from the SAS Nagar police. ‘‘The police has done nothing. No action has been taken by the police on an earlier complaint. And it is this inaction that has led to today’s incident. The lives of my wife and children are in danger,” said Dr Rajwant Singh. Mr Gopal Shukla, on the other hand, states that all charges against him are baseless. Hence, there is no reason why the police should register a case against him. The police, when contacted, said the two parties would reach a compromise tomorrow. |
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Sector 29 booth
catches fire Chandigarh, February 6 The fire, which started in booth no. 56, was doused off by three fire tenders in an operation lasting over 30 minutes. Luckily, the fire did not spread to adjoining shops. Proprietor of the shop Raj Aggarwal said that he had downed the shutters of the shop at around 8.45 pm this evening. It is learnt that a passerby noticed smoke coming out of the shop and informed the Fire Brigade. The
shipowner said 20 television sets, four refrigerators, three washing machines, beside furniture and other items were lost in the fire.
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Programmes
for benefit of aged Chandigarh, February 6 This was one of the recommendations which was accepted at the conclusion of the two-day national seminar on “Neglect, abuse and violence: the aged in India” organised by the Centre for Women’s Studies and Development at Panjab University here today. It was also felt that there was need for educational programmes and research to promote understanding about the life and death processes, particularly, the “private hell’ that some senior citizens experience within their families. |
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Centre
studying Rent Act Notification Chandigarh, February 6 A delegation of the Property Owners Welfare Association here had met Mr Anant Kumar at New Delhi recently to apprise him about the outcome of the Rent Act Notification in Chandigarh. The minister was briefed about the revenue loss to the state exchequer in the shape of income tax, sales tax and excise duty as the gap between the rent paid and the prevailing market rent was colossal. |
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Power staff
hold rallies Chandigarh, February 6 The UT Powermen Union said the seniorities of Assistant Linemen, Linemen and Junior Engineers should be settled as per the directions of CAT. The union also demanded benefits for field staff working on Saturdays. |
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Kirtan darbar SAS Nagar, February 6 Among prominent ragis who will take part in the kirtan darbar are Bhai Jasbir Singh Khalsa (Khannewale), Bhai Harnam Singh, Hazuri Ragi, Shri Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar, Bhai Tejinder Singh (Shimle wale) and Bhai Harinderpal Singh (Fatehgarh Sahib wale). Transport arrangements will be made for the sangat by the organisers. |
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Former
Tribune employee dead Chandigarh, February 6
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Booked for harassing wife for dowry Chandigarh, February 6 Tractor stolen:
Scooter stolen:
Cash, ornaments stolen:
Injured:
Arrested:
PANCHKULA Thefts:
Meanwhile, the Raipur Rani police has claimed to have arrested a sweeper Mahinder Singh allegedly for stealing the wallet of a fellow sweeper Om Prakash. Missing:
Purse stolen: The police arrested a safai karamchari posted at the Raipur Rani police station for stealing a purse of the HMC, Om Prakash. He had hung his shirt in the room, from which, the accused stole the purse. The accused, Mahendra Singh, has been arrested. Three arrested: The police has arrested three men — Hari Dutt, Mahendra Kumar and Hariroop Singh, on the charge of drinking at a public place near the Sector 11 and 15 roundabout late yesterday. Cases against them registered under different Sections of the IPC. Ambala |
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4 held for killing taxi driver Panchkula, February 6 The police was interrogating and said the body was likely to be recovered any time tomorrow. As per information, those who have been arrested are Mintoo, Vikram Singh, Rajbir Singh and Malkit Singh. They had allegedly killed Deepak Singh in an effort to steal the taxi, an Indica car. |
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AP handloom mela opens Chandigarh, February 6 The crafts mela has on exclusive collection of sarees and dress material from Mangalgiri, Chirala, Narayanpet, Gadwal, Dharmavaram, Pochampally, Apoorva and Venkatagiri varieties. Some of the things on display are Hyderabadi pearls, intricate wood carvings of the Tirupati region, toys and dolls of Kondapally, Nirmal and Etikoppaka wooden toys, impressive floral motifs in brass sheet and metalware from Warangal. Other attractions include exquisite stone carving from Durgi village, tribal casting of Adilabad, leather puppetry of Nimmalakunta, paintings from Cheriyal, block prints in Kalamkari style using vegetable dyes of Machilipatnam, tribal embroidery Banjara work of Hyderabad and Karimnagar textiles. |
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