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| Sunday,
April 6, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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An evening of folk melody and comedy Chandigarh, April 5 Starting the programme with the popular numbers from his recently released album “Mahi Mereya”, Bai Amarjit took the audience to the
roller-coster journey of love, separation, marriage and festivities. The ‘Mirza’ and ‘Heer’, the timeless folk beauty of Punjab, he presented were received well but it was the peppy numbers “Sanu dasde”, “Haddo goriye” and other familiar numbers from his album that took the audience into a foot-tapping frenzy. Bai
Amarjit, who started his journey into the world of music at a tender age with devotional music in
gurdwaras, says after long years of honing his skill under Ustad Madan Shinky,a renowned folk singer, Bai Amarjit is ready to enter the profession in a more professional way. “This is why I took so long to come out with my first music album “Mahi Mereya”, which was released only four months ago,” he says. Though Bai Amarjit appreciates all types of music, including the ongoing ‘Punjabi folk and western music fusion trend’, folk is what occupies his prime attention. “Different types of music has different qualities but folk is vibrant, everlasting and complete within itself,” he says. “I am going to come out with more folk albums but will also try my hand at devotional music,” he says. The show at Plaza carnival today was anchored by two well-known comedians Malkiat Singh and Kamaljit
Kamal, popularly known as Malanga and Patanga. The other attraction of the carnival was the artists’ corner where talented students of the Government College of Art, sector 10, drew portraits and painting and
tatoos. The costumed carnival characters who mixed up with the public and distributed sweets attracted a lot of children to the venue. The carnival was organised by Centre for Carnival Arts in collaboration with The Tribune and Coca Cola.
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Ranbaxy to submit proposal on SARS Chandigarh, April 5 Dr Sumedha Sahni, director operations, SLR Ranbaxy, said after getting a positive response from the Health Ministry, they would soon be submitting a proposal mentioning three main panels for SARS diagnosis, namely viral pneumonia, bacterial pneumonia and a combination of the two, so that all doubts concerning the disease could be put to rest. “The ministry has been very quick in its response to our proposal. Our streamlined services and efficient sample moving techniques give us an edge to extend our services across the country in 24 hours,” said Mr Vidur Kaushik, CEO, SRL Ranbaxy. The company has its reference laboratories in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Mohali. Mr Kaushik said “The tests are conducted through a technologically advanced method known as PCR technique, that delivers results almost immediately. SLR Ranbaxy also offers PCR assays and antibody tests for the entire range of common respiratory pathogens.” “These new test panels promise to help doctors and health bodies in the country to arrive at a specific diagnosis of acute respiratory illness that resembles SARS.” It is a sheer coincidence that SARS epidemic hit at a time when their company was already working on developing tests to identify and detect certain complicated pneumonia viruses,” he said. He said, “Sudden emergence of SARS has caught the world off-guard and in a country like India, where no diagnostic test panels are available for detecting even common viral pneumonia, Ranbaxy was trying its level best to extend its specialised services to the nation to combat SARS epidemic. |
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TRIBUNE IMPACT Chandigarh, April 5 Recalling the persistent demand of the employees that they should be given the status of deemed deputation, the MP in a letter written to the UT Administrator said that the Government of India vide letter No. U-13025/9/97 CHD, dated December 7, 1998, conveyed its decision to the Adviser, Administrator, to “allow these transferred employees to be on deemed deputation for such time as may be necessary till they are permanently absorbed in the corporation”. He said that a Bill to amend the Clause (h) of Sub-Section (2) of Section 428-A of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976, as extended to the Union Territory of Chandigarh was to be introduced in Parliament in this regard. In the letter it was also stated that the grant of ‘deemed deputation status’ would imply retention of their lien with the Chandigarh Administration without deputation allowance. He said in August 2001, the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs while replying to the debate on Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2001, gave an assurance on this matter. In view of this, Mr Bansal said the transferred employees were legitimately expecting a positive action by the Government of India and the Chandigarh Administration to confer the deemed status on them. “However, to their utter dismay, memo dated February 11, 2002, from the Secretary, Local Government (UT Administration), to the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, has come as a bolt from the blue”, he added. The MP said the directions contained in this letter were contrary to the assurance held out so far. The chance of giving options to the employees to go back to the UT Administration in the present stipulated form directly leads to their accepting a situation where they agree to being rendered surplus and face inevitable retrenchment. Mr Bansal further said the circulation of a proforma by the Administration incorporating an undertaking by an employee that if he is found surplus in the UT Administration based on the availability of post and seniority, he will be liable to be retrenched, has caused deep anxiety and concern amongst the employees. “Not only that it is unjust but it is also contrary to the consistent stand of the Chandigarh Administration and the Government of India”, he said. Criticising the Administration’s move, Mr Bansal said: “This is tantamount to forcing the employees to simply accept their own axing”. |
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Dust over PU appointments refuses to settle down Chandigarh, April 5 The committee, under the chairmanship of Mr R.S. Verma, has been constituted to settle the issue concerning a number of appointments, which never got the clearance of the university Senate. More importantly, the university has not yet announced the exact number of cases under consideration. Opinions range from 14 to more than 40. Interestingly a number of members of the Senate, including Mr Gopal Krishan
Chatrath, Dr Ajaib Singh and Principal P.S. Sangha, have expressed their reservations over the composition of the current body, reliable sources said. They expressed their apprehension that the present body “belonged to like-minded people”. They sought a change in its composition. The committee was earlier constituted under the chairmanship of late Justice
D.V.Sehgal. The Vice-Chancellor, Prof K.N. Pathak, however, decided to continue with the same composition, saying the integrity of the fellows was not under any doubt. Prof Charanjit Chawla, a fellow, said that casting aspersions on a senior committee was At least four affected staff members who were not given the appointments by the university had gone to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The court asked the university for the application of mind with regard to all cases. The university sought necessary information from the departments concerned to ask for need-based appointments. However, nothing concrete happened on this front. The university Syndicate in September 2002 rejected all appointments. Even the University Board of Finance had sought relevant information from the departments concerned. At least two meetings of the current committee have been held, the sources said. However, no concrete recommendation has been made in this regard so far. It is felt that the departments concerned should supply detailed reports of the need for staff, if any. This would be of help to the committee to make real ground-level assessment of the workload and the need for appointments.
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Woman commits suicide Chandigarh, April 5 According to the information available, the victim, Sunita, was living along with her husband, Vinod, who works in a private firm in Sector 34. They had shifted to Kishangarh three months ago. This morning, the couple had gone out looking for a new accommodation and returned home at around 9 am. Vinod slept in one of the rooms as he was on leave. After a few hours, when he did not hear the voice of his wife, he went looking for her. She was found hanging from the roof in another room. The police has not found any suicide note from the spot. The police has initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 CrPC. An uncle of Sunita told TNS that the couple had been happily married for three years and the woman had never complained about anything. The father of the girl, who lives in Sector 47, works in a government department. Meanwhile, a 35-year-old woman of Dadu Majra, Saroj, allegedly attempted suicide by consuming phenyl in her house. She was rushed to the General Hospital. She is said to be out of danger. In her statement given before the magistrate, she said she wanted to end her life as her brother-in-law, Raj Kumar, was harassing her. The husband of the victim, Mukesh Kumar, is already in Burail Jail facing a rape case. A case of attempt to suicide has been registered against the woman. Meanwhile, two person died in separate incidents in the city in the past 48 hours. A helper in a workshop of TBRL, Sector 30, who suffered serious injuries on his chest while working in the workshop, succumbed to his injuries at the PGI. According to the information, the 28-year-old helper was trying to fit some engine parts when a piece of the engine pierced into his chest. He was referred to the PGI from the GMCH, Sector 32 and was operated upon. In another case, an eight-year-old child, Neeraj of Ram Darbar, who had fallen from the roof of his house, succumbed to his injuries at the PGI. According to the information, the victim was reportedly playing when he fell off. In both cases, the police has initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC. |
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Don’t staple notes, RBI tells banks Chandigarh, April 5 Under its clean currency campaign, the regulating bank has urged the public and the banks to cooperate in the nationwide campaign to weed out soiled and mutilated currency notes from the market. Mr D.P.S. Rathore, Regional Director, RBI, here has asked the banks to issue directions to all of their branches not to staple the notes as it has been affecting the life span of the notes, apart from creating inconvenience to the public. Talking to Chandigarh Tribune here today, Mr R.K. Sharma, Deputy General Manager, Issues Branch, RBI, said,‘‘ We have installed three machines with an investment of Rs 3 crore each, imported from Germany to destroy mutilated and soiled notes. Everyday these machines crush over nine lakh notes and convert these into brick shape objects. In return we are issuing new currency to the public and banks liberally.’’ He said the RBI's Deputy Governor, Mr Vepa Kamesam, had issued clear-cut guidelines to the CMDs of different banks to actively participate in the ‘‘clean note policy’’ campaign so that like developed countries, the Indian public could also get neat and clean currency notes. He said some of the banks in the region had started cooperating with the regulator. Meetings were being organised with the bank officials to demonstrate how notes could be tied without stapling. It was only the old mindset of bank officials that the notes had to be stappled to avoid accountability. There were instances where a wad of notes had been stappled for 10-12 times. It would simply make it difficult to open up wads, he said. Mr Sharma said Chandigarh was the first regional centre of the RBI followed by Bhopal, where sophisticated machines had been installed to destroy the mutilated notes. The RBI had also asked the banks to install machines costing Rs 15 lakh to Rs 20 lakh in their main branches to sort out mutilated notes from good ones. These machines could also sort out forged currency notes from the genuine ones. Till now, the RBI had installed 48 machines in the country. However, a number of bank officials in the SBI and PNB branches, expressed apprehensions about the success of the scheme. A union leader said unless bank managements came forward to install note counting machines at the branch level and sorting machines at least at the district level, it would be difficult to follow the RBI guidelines. Further, the bank employees should be provided adequate training and infrastructure to deal with unstapled notes, he added.
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Argument
over girl leads to youth’s murder Chandigarh, April 5 The injured, Rajesh Kumar, 21, and Sandeep, aged around 19, were also admitted to the hospital in a critical condition. While Rajesh Kumar suffered serious head injuries, Sandeep suffered injuries on his arms and other parts of the body. The police has identified one of the assailants as Gurpreet, a resident of Sector 44. Enquiries in the locality where the incident took place revealed that Rajesh Kumar, alias Lucky, a dropout of class XI, and Sandeep, working for Spice, entered into an argument with Gurpreet over some girl. Lucky pushed Gurpreet and the latter fell on the ground. A fuming Gurpreet left the spot and returned with around 10 more boys who were armed with swords and other weapons. When the victims were being attacked, Mohinder SIngh, Man Singh and Nirmal, brother of Rajesh Kumar, had gone to the Sector 44 market and rushed back on hearing that their friends had been attacked. They rushed bleeding Mandeep along with two other boys to the spot. Nirmal, who saw the assailants escaping from the spot on scooters and motor cycles, said they were armed with swords and lathis and were led by Gurpreet. The incident took place near house No. 31 of Rajesh Kumar, one of the injured. The deceased had merely come to meet Rajesh and Sandeep. According to the police, the deceased suffered a deep wound on his chest leading to his death. CT scan and x-ray of the two injured was going on at the GMCH till the filing of this report. Mandeep and his father ran a grocery shop at Burail village. The parents of the deceased were in a state of shock, waiting outside the hospital emergency. The autopsy will be conducted tomorrow. A police official said raids were being conducted to arrest the assailants. Senior police officials examined the crime spot.
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Police no longer deters slum dwellers Chandigarh, April 5 Police says slum dwellers start throwing stones and turn violent the minute enforcement teams start work to demolish any illegal hutments. A heavy police presence no longer deters them. And if the cops lathi charge them, a section of the media plays up the lathicharge while ignoring all other facts of the case, said a senior cop in Chandigarh Police. The occurrences are getting frequent. The latest was yesterday’s incident in SAS Nagar. A Sub-Divisional Engineer (SDO) and Junior Engineer (JE) of the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) suffered injuries when a mob attacked them as they led a team which was demolishing an illegal colony in Sector 57. A mob of around 400 slum dwellers attacked the PUDA team and pelted them with stones. On February 6, more than 200 men armed with rods and chains, mobbed a house of the DIG in Phase XI. The cop is posted in Hyderabad and the house was under construction when the mob entered into it to beat up the labour working there. One of the accused, Pappu Shukla hailing from Bihar, was arrested for leading the mob. Pappu Shukla alleged that the DIG, Rajwant Singh, owed him money. The DIG alleged that Pappu Shukla was given the contract to fix marble in his house and the work was not up to the mark. The case carries on. In Chandigarh, on April 17 last year, a 400 persons from Colony No V, a slum located just south of Sector 44 threw stones injuring at least six policemen personnel and an employee of the Municipal Corporation, as the enforcement staff cleared illegal huts to make way for a new alignment for a national highway. The mob also set on fire a private motor cycle of a policeman on duty and several rickshaws besides damaging a vehicle of the Fire Brigade. That night the police rounded up 15 slum dwellers for rioting. In Panchkula, on May 29 last year, a team of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) faced protests from women of the colony. Slum dwellers unsuccessfully tried to burn the remnants of their jhuggis in a bid to put the blame on the enforcement staff. The women lied down on the roadside beating their chests in protest. A few day before this incident slum dwellers burnt down the remnants of their demolished jhuggis in industrial areas. They put the blame on HUDA employees and the police. The slum dwellers damaged a fire engine, a police vehicle and a JCB (earth mover). Two persons, including a cop, were injured in an attack by these residents. These are just a few of the incidents. Minor skirmishes with authorities and eve-teasing is common. The problem is so acute that residents of SAS demanded that a wall be constructed around slums. Unauthorised shanties and rehabilitation colonies have come up almost along the entire belt of the third-phase sectors bordering SAS Nagar and Chandigarh. The slums have been fenced by a 6-foot-high wall. In the past when the number of thefts rose, PUDA tried to plug the entry points but attracted violent protests. In Chandigarh, the problem is getting even more out of hand. The Municipal Corporation loses about 5 MGD (million gallons of water a day) due to theft in the slums. Sources in the MC said no one dared curb the theft as this could result in a major clash. It may be recollected that residents of Colony No V and neighbouring Sector 45 had engaged in a pitched fight over power theft. Occurrence of throwing small pebbles on car windscreens is common. Most people wisely ignore it. The action of slum kids is aimed at inciting anger from the driver , who if gets down from the vehicle is mobbed. Normally such cases go unreported to the police. |
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Communalism
fatal for country: Dhir SAS Nagar, April 5 In his paper on “Communalism and Media”, Mr Pannu said the tendency of media — both print and electronic — in spreading communalism by becoming a mouthpiece of a particular community was slowly poisoning the society and such a tendency could prove to be fatal. The attention of the people was distracted from major issues that were threatening the society at large. He suggested that media should play a positive role by adopting people-oriented policies instead of achieving personal gains. Mr Santokh Singh Dhir, a prominent Punjabi writer, said communalism was being given the colour of religion which was a dangerous interpretation. Dividing society on the basis of religion, caste, language and region was not advocated by any religion and such a division was fatal for a country like India. A religious-minded person could be a true secular being. Mr Harbhajan Singh Halwarvi, a poet and editor of Desk Sewak, said the basic factor responsible for communal division were religion and culture. He showed his deep concern over the projection of communalism as patriotism. He further went on to say that phenomena of any class, based on religion or culture, in majority trying to suppress the fundamental and legitimate rights of the minority and creating an insecure atmosphere for the existence of minority led to a situation of communalism instead of patriotism.
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BJP members resign Chandigarh, April 5 This was opted in a press note signed by the morcha general secretaries Mr Mufti Mutiur Rehman and Mr Mohammed Shahid, and executive committee members, Mr Shamshad Ahmed, Mr Firasat Ali, Mr Imam Baksh, Mr Vijay Masih, Mr Ahmed Mianl, Mr Santokh Masih, Mr Thomas Tony and Mr Chand Mian. They also termed the party spokesman, Mr Mahavir Prasad, a ‘liar”. They said instead of serving the interests of the party, Mr Mahajan was dancing to the tune of an individual.
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Talks focus on writers Chandigarh, April 5 More than 50 delegates participated who focused their
discussion on writers, including Salman Rushdie, Bharati Mukherjee and Jhumpa Lahiri. Participants from outside the city included Prof Isaac Sequeira, Prof M.G.Ramanan, Prof E nageswara Rao and Prof K.B.Razdan. A book on ‘Politics of Location in the Multi-Ethnic Literature of Americas’ edited by Prof Anil Raina and Prof Manju Jaidka was released on the occasion. Two other books released on the occasion were Prof Rana Nayar’s ‘Edward Albee: Towards a Typology of Relationships” and Prof Mina Surjit Singh’s ‘Six Women Poets’. |
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Christians
hail Administration
decision Chandigarh, April 5 The delegation comprised Father Thomas Anchanikal , Rev Darbara Singh, Rev Edwin Christopher of Church of North India and Rev Pardesi. The community said special prayers would be offered for UT officials on Good Friday. |
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Guard of honour for ADGP Panchkula, April 5 Addressing a gathering of officials and staff members, Mr Sinha announced that the Centre and other units of the ITBP at Chandigarh would be developed as major centres.
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New water spot at amusement park Ramgarh, April 5 Ms Bhupinder Prashar, Manager (events), said four employees had been put on duty to provide guidance and the best-possible help at each water slide. Arrangements to provide first aid within the complex had been made. |
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Beopar
Mandal flays demand Chandigarh, April 5 At a meeting held here today, members of the Beopar Mandal were of the view that Ex-Mayor Mr Gupta was justified and within his powers to recommend withdrawal of orders pertaining to the introduction of paid parking on the demand of traders, employees and other sections of society of the city. A press note release of the Beopar Mandal stated that the traders and employees protested against the paid parking for more than 10 days and Mr Gupta was under tremendous pressure. The general house of the MC duly approved his recommendation for the withdrawal of paid parking at that time. They rejected the demand of recovery and suggested to regularise the losses, if any, in the interest of the public. |
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Summer
camp for Daewoo cars Chandigarh, April 5 According to Mr H.S. Saluja, 260 car owners reported at the camp. On the last day, 116 cars were handled, he added. |
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