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| Tuesday,
April 1, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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Another girl hospitalised Chandigarh, March 31 |
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PU announces fee hike in courses by 10
pc Chandigarh, March 31 The Senate has decided for “an increase of 10 per cent in the existing rates of all fees and funds (other charges including examination fee, fee for certificates and re-evaluation)”. This will not include the fee structure of the University Institute of Engineering and Technology and the NRI-sponsored categories. There will also be no hike in the tuition fee of the affiliated colleges. It is, however, pertinent to point out that students of colleges will be paying the university examination fee and all other charges as per the revised university rates. The university has decided to charge a common fee of Rs 52,000 from students in the UIET from the forthcoming academic session. Currently, the students were paying Rs 17,000 in the free seats category and Rs 84,000 annually in the paid seats category. A Supreme Court decision has been quoted by the university as the reason for the change which has said that there could be no two different fee structures. The university has decided that 5 per cent of the total seats in each course (except in the NRI category) will be reserved for the students from the economically weaker sections of society. The university has decided to immediately file a criminal case against Prof M.M. Puri, a former Vice-Chancellor, for the recovery of certain amounts, which he allegedly misappropriated. These include Rs 216970 on account of the ISD calls and certain amount on account of the TA claims he made for journey to Canada. It was pointed out that Professor Puri, meanwhile, had approached court, alleging harassment at hands of the university. The case comes up for hearing in August. The Senate, however, felt that since no stay had been granted, the university could proceed with the case. Prof Charanjit Chawla and Mr Ashok Goyal asked the university why a case had not been filed despite the decision being taken earlier also. Mr Gopal Krishan Chatrath, Prof Rabinder Nath Sharma and Principal P.S.Sangha said there was no need for filing a case. The university cleared the fee structure for the three-year course in the LLB, which commences at the Ludhiana centre
from the forthcoming academic session. A student would be required to pay Rs 30,000 annually, out of which Rs 20,000 is payable in the first semester. The fee for the students in the NRI category for seats in the Chemical Engineering and Technology course has been increased from $ 4000 to $ 5000. The permission to attend classes was given by the Senate to students of the Department of Laws who had appeared in the examination on the direction of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. They can attend the classes subject to the outcome of the case where the department had cancelled their admission for not attending the required number of classes and students approached the court. The Senate postponed any decision on the issue pertaining to equivalence of the published work with PhD for posts in the university and affiliated colleges. The proposal said that the published work required either to be an original work (research book and not a text book) or a minimum of five research papers in journals of national or international standing. Panjab University will give a concession to students who could not pass the honours subject in the second and third year classes by availing a special chance from the forthcoming annual examination. In another decision, candidates who have passed the honours school examination in science from the university will be allowed to reappear as private candidates in theory papers in which they wish to appear with a view to improving the previous result. The candidate will be allowed to reappear in the first, second or third year examination, simultaneously or separately. |
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Traders hold protest against
VAT Chandigarh, March 31 A spokesperson of the traders said they had opted for a protest rally and not a bandh as the Chandigarh Administration had deferred VAT about three days ago. Traders across the country have been holding protests and organising bandhs. The traders also welcomed the decision of the Punjab Government to defer the implementation of VAT. They pointed out that they had been reeling under threat of the new notification amending the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949. They demanded that the Government of India should review its decision on VAT. The mandal alleged that the bureaucracy was misleading the Centre on ground realities and thus, playing with the livelihood of traders. The traders alleged that VAT would help the inspectors to fleece traders. The traders also burnt symbolic copies of VAT. PANCHKULA: The bandh was complete here as business establishments in the township and Kalka remained closed throughout the day in protest against the implementation of VAT. The impact of the bandh was, however, partial in Pinjore, where most shops were closed because of Monday being a weekly off. In Panchkula, shops and other business establishments in Sector 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15 and 16 remained closed during the day, though some shops in these markets had opened up in the evening. The Panchkula Beopar Mandal held several meetings in Sector 12 and 7 and urged the state government not to implement VAT, till the neighbouring states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh implemented the tax. Mr B.B. Kochchar, senior vice-president of the Beopar Mandal, said the trade and industry was already passing through a recessionary phase and with the traders in the state now being brought under VAT, their profits would plummet further. He said the turnover of the industry in the state would decrease and paper work, especially for small traders, would increase. The traders also urged the state government to exempt cloth and medicines from VAT, informed Mr Kuldeep Chitkara, president of the mandal. SAS Nagar : call for a nationwide bandh against the implementation of VAT received a mixed response in the township. while most of the markets remained closed till afternoon, many shops resorted to the usual by business by evening. In Phase VII, most of the showrooms remained closed throughout day while the response among the booth owners was mild. In Phase I, however, the response to the call remained mild through the day. Many shops dealing in daily utilities, however, remained open throughout the day. The Punjab State Chemists Association condemned the implementation of VAT. Stating that medicines were essential commodities and the prices were already controlled by the drugs price control order, the working president of the association, Mr Harish Sethi, pointed out that VAT would lead to the prices of medicines shooting up considerably. |
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Probe sought into Rajpura
businessman’s death Chandigarh, March 31 The victim, Sandeep Chawla, whose family runs cold storage business at Rajpura, was brought to the hospital after he suffered hiccups at Jain’s house. The doctors declared him brought dead. According to information, the victim had been taking treatment at the counselling centre, Narwana Counselling Centre in Phase 5 of SAS Nagar, for the past one month. About two days ago, the victim had called up Mr Vikas, stating that he was again feeling an urge for drugs. He reportedly stated that he was feeling some problems at his home. After Sandeep came to Chandigarh, Mr Vikas took him along with another patient, Vicky, to the Rajpura residence of the victim. They advised the family members of Sandeep to advise them to provide latter with a proper atmosphere. Last night the victim had taken a dose of some drugs and took another dose in the morning. The father of the victim, Madan Lal Chawla, was informed about this in the afternoon. Though the police was still investigating the matter, the father of the victim has, in a written statement, sought a thorough probe. |
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Beware ! April Fool’s to
(Day) Some practical jokes Chandigarh, March 31 This “funny” day is not just about playing pranks and sweeping others off their feet with tricks and practical jokes. This is just one part of the day, and now of course, the most important part. The history behind April Fool’s Day, which has been repeated with every year is, when January 1 became New Year’s, people who still celebrated the beginning of the New Year on April 1 were mocked at for their foolishness for not moving ahead with the world. In the 16th century, France began to celebrate the New Year on April 1. People joined in the celebrations in a routine manner by throwing with parties and dancing into the wee hours. In 1562, Pope Gregory changed the calendar and the New Year became January 1. Not many people, however, knew of this alteration which was now to effect the world largely. Those who stuck to the tradition of April 1 as the New Year Day became the very first ones to be called April fools. Tricks were played on these people and hence goes the tradition....In the city, however, a major part of this day is celebrated at the level of college and university hostels. Contact the residents of these places and they have horrible tales to tell — of how bad tales pranks are played on them year after year, worst among these being “your father had died or your mother has died.” No wonder some of the institutions last year officially declared that no April Fool’s Day will be celebrated on their premises. Practice of the tradition has resumed this year, with people making calls to others and playing tricks on them. |
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Noisy scenes rock MC House
meeting Fact file
Chandigarh, March 31 The monthly meeting witnessed heated exchange of words between ruling and opposition councillors over the issue of delay in putting up the recommendations of the sanitation committee before the House for over 11 months and discussion on the issue of a piece of land acquisition in Darshani Bagh, Mani Majra. During the question hour, BJP councillor and former Mayor Gian Chand Gupta raised the issue of deteriorating condition of sanitation in the city, particularly in the colonies. Raising apprehensions of epidemics, he said adequate potable water was not supplied to the colonies. He said the proposed partial privatisation of sanitation work would lead from ‘bad to worse’ situation. He said the demands of sweepers should be considered sympathetically. However, ruling councillors interrupted him and asked to sit down on the seat. The Mayor, Mr Subash Chawla, intervened into the matter and said: “As resolution on the issue was camping up for discussion later in the proceedings, there is no point of discussing the issue during the question hour”. Anguished over the biased attitude of the Mayor, both BJP councillors, Mr Gupta and Ms Sharma, came down to the well of the House, right in front of the Mayor’s seat, disrupting the proceedings for at least half an hour. Noisy scenes rocked the House, forcing the Mayor to adjourn the proceedings for a tea break. When the proceedings resumed, the BJP councillors again raised the issue and demanded a reply from the Mayor as to why the recommendations of the sanitation committee were not brought to the House during the past 11 months. Amid noisy scenes, ruling councillors passed the resolution recommending the Chandigarh Administration to allow the corporation to fill 1,009 vacant posts of sweepers. Meanwhile, Mr Chawla assured the House that the contract system of sanitation would be a temporary arrangement to meet the challenges of sanitation till the Administration accepted the demand of recruiting sweepers. When the Congress councillor from Mani Majra, Mr Surinder Singh, came up with a resolution before the House demanding that the populated areas of Darshani Bagh be exempted from acquisition, BJP councillors demanded a debate on the issue. But the Mayor passed the resolution with voice vote and adjourned the proceedings of the House till the next meeting. On the issue of acquisition of the Darshani Bagh area, both the Congress and the BJP leaders have impressed upon the residents of the area that they would save their lands. The Administration had almost decided to exempt the populated areas from acquisition. Earlier, an important resolution to serve a 15-day notice on the government offices of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, which had not cleared their water bills was passed unanimously. With the adjournment of the House, other issues, including a proposal for the transfer of maintenance and operation work of public/mobile toilet vans to private agencies, levy of commercial tariff on water in residential houses having STD-PCO-Fax or photostat, the terms and conditions for allotment of taxi stands, audit reports on the accounts of the corporation for the period of last financial year and confirmation of resolutions passed by the Finance and Contracts Committee, could not come up for discussion. |
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Meat sellers’ encroachment
bid SAS Nagar, March 31 More than 50 meat sellers were forced by the anti-encroachment cell of PUDA today to remove the ‘meat market complex’ which had been erected overnight using tin sheds in a park opposite the PUDA office in Phase I here. The meat sellers had occupied about 10,000 square feet More than two months ago, these meat sellers were forced to close their shops in Mohali village and Phase I following protests from residents. The residents had alleged that the presence of these shops in the vicinity had been causing nuisance. Since then, these meat sellers had been running from pillar to post demanding an alternative site for their shops. Sources stated that the meat sellers had been promised land, specifically for a meat selling complex, but the actual allotment was likely to take some time. The meat sellers have been demanding a temporary arrangement from PUDA so that they were able to restart their business from a makeshift complex. Sources alleged that many senior officials of PUDA had agreed to such an arrangement unofficially but no official orders have been passed to this effect. The lack of written communication had also led the anti-encroachment wing of PUDA to carry out the anti encroachment drive. Sources in PUDA said ‘‘unofficially these meat sellers have been told by certain PUDA officials that they can start their shops from this the park but no one is ready to officially order such a thing as it will lead to encouraging encroachments.’’ Both Mr T.K.Goel, Estate Officer PUDA and Mr D.P. Reddy, Chief Administrator, PUDA, refused to comment. Mr Yashvir Mahajan, Additional Chief Administrator PUDA was unavailable for comments. |
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Encroachments removed SAS Nagar, March 31 |
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War hits foreign tourist
inflow Chandigarh, March 31 The operators are of the view that the tourist destinations of Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh could be jointly promoted by the industry in collaboration with the state governments to attract tourists from abroad. Addressing mediapersons here today, Mr Jyoti Kapur, president, Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India, said: “The war has badly affected the flow of tourists from west Asia as well as from the USA and European countries. So we have decided to tap the potential of domestic tourists”. Dr Gulshan Sharma, Director, Institute of Tourism and Future Management Trends (ITFT), said in order to promote tourism the institute would hold India Travel Mart, a convention on tourism, in Chandigarh from April 18 to 20. Mr Kapur claimed that the September 11 attack and the Iraq war had badly hit the industry. While the number of international tourists had reached 25 lakhs, registering an annual growth of 4 to 5 per cent, the domestic tourists had crossed 23 crores, registering a growth of over 10 per cent annually over the past one decade. There was still a lot of potential, he said. However, he said, there was a need to develop rail and air connectivity links between various tourist destinations and improvement in infrastructure. He said the Director-General Civil Aviation had recently issued a licence to Northern Airways to operate flights on ‘economically-viable’ routes in North India. Indian Airlines and other operators could also start the operation of small aircrafts to tap the growing market, he added. He claimed that the domestic tour operators would urge the state governments to make joint efforts to promote tourist circles. For instance, he said, a Shatabadi between Delhi-Amritsar-Jammu could facilitate the flow of domestic tourists. Similarly, tourist circles could be developed jointly by the Chandigarh and HP governments, he said. |
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Jacob for running trains on humanitarian
mission Chandigarh, March 31 Speaking at a function organised by the Northern Railway as a part of the celebrations of "150 years of the Indian Railways", General Jacob said the Railways had very good doctors on its staff and their services should be utilised effectively. Commending the role of the Railways in providing assistance during natural calamities, he added that the Railways should use its vast resources and rail network to run trains on humanitarian missions. The Governor lamented that earlier the railways produced a number of sportspersons, but this trend had gone down over the past few years. He said sports helped to generate leadership qualities, team spirit and inculcated discipline. Earlier, the Divisional Railway Manager, Ambala, Mr Kesheva Chandra, gave a presentation on the growth of the Railways from the time the first train chugged on a 21-mile route from Bombay to Thane to the present times when it had become one of the largest rail networks in the world. An open quiz contest and a cultural function were also organised. |
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ZP bypoll on April
12 Chandigarh, March 31 A spokesperson for the Chandigarh Administration said today that notification for byelections under Section 209 of the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, to fill these vacancies had been issued. Mr S.P. Arora, Secretary, State Transport Authority, is the returning officer for Zila Parishad bypoll, Constituency No.10. Mr N.S. Brar, Chief General Manager, CITCO, is the returning officer for the byelection to the post of sarpanch of Daria village and Mr H.S. Khandola, Joint Director (Administration), Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, is the returning officer for the byelection to the post of the panch of Khuda Jassu village. The draft list of polling stations prepared by the Election Commission for holding the byelections may be inspected in the office of the respective Returning Officers. Interested persons may file their nomination papers there between 11.00 am and 3.00 pm. The candidate will be required to file the nomination paper duly proposed and seconded by electors from the same constituency. A security of Rs 400 has to be deposited for nomination to the Zila Parishad bypoll and Rs 100 is the security for the byelections to the posts of panch or sarpanch. The fee will be halved in case of persons belonging to SC and BC. The maximum expenditure limit for Zila Parishad bypoll is Rs 15,000 and Rs 5,000 for bypoll to the pots of sarpanch and panch. For any advice, a person may contact the Election Commission on telephone No. 721061 or personally at the office of the State Election Commission, Chandigarh, New Deluxe Building, Municipal Corporation Office, Sector l7, Chandigarh, on any working day. The following is the schedule: Last date for filing of nominations — April 2; date for scrutiny of nomination papers — April 3; last date for withdrawal of candidatures — April 5; date of bypoll, if necessary — April 12; date of completion of election process April 16. |
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Refresher course for cops concludes Chandigarh, March 31 During the course, indoor and outdoor training was imparted to these officers which included PT, parade, stick drill, squad drill, yoga, fitness of body and mind. The participants were educated about important sections of the IPC, CrPC, Evidence Act, Local and Special Law. Stress was laid on good conduct and polite behaviour with the public. Mr Rajesh Kumar, Inspector-General of Police, said the uniformed force should extend better services to the society. Commendation certificates (Class-I) were awarded to Sub-Inspector Jagdish Chander and Sub-Inspector Partap Singh, who stood first in indoor and outdoor training, respectively. Mr Gaurav Yadav, Senior Superintendent of Police, and Mr H.G.S. Dhaliwal, Superintendent of Police (Operations), and Mr Amitabh Dhillon, Superintendent of Police (Traffic and Security), were also present on the occasion. |
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READERS WRITE For the last umpteen years the U T Administration has been carrying on its annual exercise of creating some extra capacity in Sukhna lake by desilting it with the help of machines and motivated volunteers. The resulting relief, if any, is short-lived and vanishes by the end of the monsoon. In any case, it does not extend up to the winter, when it is needed the most. This problem is not the result of any unforeseen natural calamity but is totally due to two defects in the design. First, the silted water of the feeding choe is made to pass through the lake and drop its silt there even when it is full. Second, nothing has been done to reduce or eliminate silt from the choe water before admitting it into the lake. Thus the lake is acting as a perfect trap for catching silt from all waters, including the unwanted ones. Learning nothing from the past, the infructuous ritual of treating the symptom and not the disease is being undertaken this year also. The only way of saving the lake which is an important constituent of the Chandigarh complex is to admit only the desilted water into it. This can be done by constructing an innovative filter-house where water is desilted with the help of self-cleansing vertical filters. S .P. MALHOTRA,
Panchkula Morale-boosting
news item From time to time The Tribune carries a news item which makes me wonder and thank God that there are people and organisations who care about those who are less fortunate. I am talking about Ravinder Singh and his success story in the news item “SOS kids celebrate success”, Chandigarh Tribune, March 25, 2003. These kinds of incidents happen everywhere and everyday. I wish The Tribune published more of these moral-boosting uplifting incidents. I am sick and tired of news where a corrupt politician gets more share in your valuable newspaper than what he deserves. Thanks, again SURINDER K DHUPAR,
Placentia California, USA Street lights and traffic lights It seems that Punjabi University and urban estate may be called in Patiala for revenue records but as per the development works taken up by the authorities, considers it out of Patiala. A lot of amount has been spent in Patiala and its suburbs, but not a single penny has been spent for lighting of Rajpura road beyond octroi post, which is very much required in view of the high density of traffic. Traffic lights near the ITBP, Sirhind road bypass and near Ravi Hospital are urgently needed to save the public residing in the university and urban estate from accidents. Moreover, with the imposition of LADT, residents of the area are likely to pay to the state exchequer if considered out of the municipal limits. I request the authorities concerned to look into the genuine demands of the public HARISH SABHARWAL,
Patiala Free treatment in PGI Apropos a news item in The Tribune of February 20, 2003, regarding treatment of emergency patients in PGI, Chandigarh. Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare Sushma Swaraj told the Lok Sabha that the patients do not pay for any investigation treatment for the first 48 hours of stay at the PGI. The above information does not reflect the reality on the ground. Only a few days ago I had to take our neighbour, an old lady, to the PGI. She had suddenly gone into coma after having fallen while getting up from bed. Although she was attended to in the emergency by junior doctors and nurses on duty, nothing was provided free. Every medicine, fluids, I/V sets needles & mask etc. had to be bought from the only chemist shop available. Another problem is of the crowded new emergency wards with serious patients lying on trolleys in corridors for days, which is nothing but a pathetic sight. Instead of indulging in gimmicks like evening OPDs I hope the minister studies the issue of improvement needed for better medicare of emergency cases, which continue to come from far and near. There is need for appointing more doctors and nurses in the emergency OPDs/wards and so also for making more space available for tackling the ever-growing load in a humane way in this prestigious institution. Brig HS Sandhu,
Panchkula Improve bank,
transport facilities I wish to request the State Bank of India authorities to install an ATM machine in Sector 49-B because most of the account holders in various societies (particularly, Pushpac Society) are having their accounts in the SBI, Sector 14, Chandigarh, and for purposes of withdrawal, they can avail of this facility. Otherwise also, there is no bank for the facility of residents of Sector 49 as a whole. The Pushpac Society complex has more than 400 residents and as such non-availability of bank facilities for them creates a lot of problems. Many housing societies are coming up and it is presumed that in the near future, a large number of housing societies will be established in and around this sector. Besides other facilities such as local transport facility, which is equally important, these should be provided as soon as people start living in coop housing societies. I hope the authorities as well as the transport authorities will look into their respective fields and provide the facilities. Right now there is no satisfactory local transport services and people have to cover long distances to catch local buses. Ujagar Singh,
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Admn gears up for Navratra Fair Panchkula, March 31 The administration has appointed nodal officers for the fair here while appointing the SDM, Panchkula, Mr Inder Singh, overall in charge. The officers have been assigned to work in three shifts of eight hours each. At least 27 Duty Magistrates have been appointed to work from April 2 to 11, while the Estate Officer, HUDA, Ms Monica Mallik, the Legal Officer, Panchayat, Mr M.L. Garg and the Town Planner, Mr Krishan Kumar have been appointed reserve Magistrates. Meanwhile, a mobile police station will be set up in the Mansi Devi Complex. The CID wing of the police will keep a strict vigil in the shrine area. The police has started carrying on search operations in the nearby areas of the temple, an official press note said today. Nine patrolling parties have been set up and the police will be deployed in shifts round-the-clock during the fair. As many as 12 nakas will be set up from T point Mani Majra, to the temple. Around 800 cops will be put on special duty during the fair, including the traffic police and women staff. The Ambala police, too, has been called in to prevent any law and order problem. |
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Valmiki Samaj holds
meeting Chandigarh, March 31 They have decided to hold a protest dharna in front of the house of Mr K.S. Raju, IAS (retd.) who they alleged had been dividing the Valmiki Samaj. Chandigarh, March 31 He was given a warm sendoff by his colleagues and News Editor Abhijit Chatterjee. His dedication to work was lauded by colleagues. He used to contribute articles and features to Dainik Tribune. |
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Bus impounded in typist’s death
case Chandigarh, March 31 The bus (CH-01-G-5877) was plying on the Kharar-Chandigarh (route no. 35). The victim was injured after he fell while alighting from the bus at the Mundi Kharar bus stop. The police has also identified Jang Singh and Kulwinder as driver and conductor, respectively, of the bus. On seeing that the typist had been injured, the driver and conductor of the bus had asked all passengers to alight from the bus so that the injured could be taken to the PGI. The victim was apparently dumped by the driver and conductor of the bus fearing the worst. Injury marks were evident on the left side of the victim’s body — on face, arm, lower abdomen and hips. The victim, who worked as typist in the Ropar District Courts, was identified this evening from the tag of Saro Tailors (Ropar) on his shirt. The police has already registered a case under Sections 201 and 304-A of the IPC. A senior police official said that since the incident took place at Kharar, the case should be transferred to the Kharar police. |
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3 held under Excise
Act Panchkula, March 31 Two Arrested: The police has arrested Chandra Mohan and Ashok Kumar from Pinjore and seized 33 pirated CDs. Burglary: Certain miscreants broke into the Sector-21 residence of Prof. Vidhu Mohan ,former Professor of Panjab University , on Sunday and decamped with cash and jewellery. |
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‘CAs should be aware of new RBI norms’ Chandigarh, March 31 He was addressing a seminar on ‘‘bank audit’’organised by the local branch of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He said chartered accountants could play a decisive role in improving the quality of accounts in the banks. Welcoming the participants, Mr Manoj Kohli, Chairman, Chandigarh branch of the institute, laid stress on professional excellence. Making a keynote address, Mr M.M.Khanna, FCA said, “The RBI has recently introduced some guidelines for the chartered accountants to check the fraudulent or
susceptible transactions in the banks. They should be aware of these.” Referring to the Mitra Committee Report, he said, even if the chartered accountants smelt any foul play during internal or external audit assignments or any act of excess use of authority in the banks, the same had to be reported to the regulator otherwise he/she would be held responsible for the result of actions. He also highlighted that prominent circulars of the RBI to be taken care of while carrying out statutory audit and to report in the new reporting format. He also briefed participants about the contents to be taken care of while preparing long form audit report and the main audit report. Mr Dushyant Tyagi, a fellow member of the ICAI, emphasised the aspects of computerisation in banking operations and the way information system auditors are carrying out audit assignments pertaining to information system operations in the banks. He also urged bank managements to increase the fee of concurrent and other audit assignments and to do justice with the auditors. Among others who spoke included Mr Arvind Oberoi, Secretary of the local branch of the ICAI, and Mr Surinder Sehgal, member of the Board of Indian Overseas Bank. |
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