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| Friday,
April 18, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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City ready to tackle SARS threat Chandigarh, April 17
The UT Administration sounded a red alert against the killer pneumonia on April 2 after the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare circulated the World Health Organisation (WHO)-recommended case definition. Six isolation rooms at the communicable diseases ward at the PGI have been kept ready in case any SARS suspect is brought here.” If need be, we have ample space to set up few more isolation wards,” informed Dr Rajesh Kumar, Head of the Community Medicine Department at the PGI. He said a separate entry point would be used to bring any SARS suspect into the PGI so that he does not come in contact with other patients at the emergency ward. “It has now been established that SARS is a variation of common cold with corona virus, having a mortality rate of 5 per cent only,” informed Dr Rajesh Kumar, adding that there was no cause for panic. He said health workers and those coming in contact with the patient must wear mask, gloves and wash hands, as it could lead to droplet infection through coughing and sneezing. Dr Rajesh Kumar said presently only diagnostic treatment, including putting the patient on ventilators, could be given to the SARS patient. The Head of the Pulmonary Medicine at the PGI, Dr S.K. Jindal, said the hospital staff had already been directed to be very particular in case of patients with travel history from SARS-hit countries like Hong Kong and Singapore. The State Nodal Officer, appointed especially for monitoring the situation for SARS, Dr J. K. Kalra, said all hospitals had been asked to take extra precaution in case of patients with fever, cold, cough and respiratory ailments. “We have tied up with the Virology Department at the PGI for getting blood tests of the suspect cases done,” he said. The female trauma ward at the General Hospital, Sector 16, and one ward at Government Medical College and Hospital have been converted into isolation wards . The Health Department has circulated the WHO surveillance enlisting the symptoms of suspect and probable cases of SARS to all hospitals, dispensaries and private practitioners in the city. They have specifically been asked to undertake thorough investigation in case of patients who have visited countries where SARS has made its presence felt.  |
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War, SARS affect tourism Chandigarh, April 17 Meanwhile, a large number of travel, tourism and hospitality industry organisations from India and abroad will participate in a three-day Indian Travel Mart (ITM) which will open here tomorrow. According to Mr Ajay Gupta, Managing Director, Global Management, which is hosting the show, ITM will provide an opportunity to the participants to showcase their destinations and packages to delegates and visitors. This will help interaction between travel, tourism and the related fields. Mr Ashwani Sekhri, Minister of State for Health, Punjab and Major Vijay Singh Mankotia, Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation, Himachal Pradesh, who will take part in a conclave on “investment opportunities for setting up health and herbal resorts for promoting tourism” to be held along side the travel mart. Speakers from Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Mizoram will make presentations. They include Mr D.S. Jaspal, Principal Secretary, Public Relations, Punjab, Dr Gulshan Sharma, Director, ITFT, Chandigarh, Mr Amitabh Kant, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Dr Pradeep Nagrath, an Ayurvedic practitioner, and Dr Ajit Singh, an NRI from the USA. |
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FAKE LAW DEGREE SCANDAL Chandigarh, April 17 The case will be investigated again now as the Bar Council has found out that some of the graduates booked for forgery actually possess genuine law degrees. About three graduates out of the total 27 booked for forgery are reported to possess valid degrees. The decision in this regard was taken by the Bar Council at a general house meeting held in the second week of this month, informed sources. In the light of the fresh evidence, the council feels the case needs to be reinvestigated so that those possessing genuine degrees don’t suffer. Sources informed that a meeting in this regard was held after getting feedback from some of the members of the council that credentials of some law graduates needed to be verified again. It was mentioned that while the earlier investigations were conducted by employees of the Council, this time the verification will be done by members of a committee constituted especially for the purpose. They informed that members of the Bar Council would visit the following universities to determine the veracity of the submitted documents — Bundelkhand Jhansi University, Mahatma Gandhi Kanshi University and Magadh University, Bihar. During the earlier investigation, the Bar Council had found that many fresh licence applicants had never enrolled with these universities, and many had failed to clear judicial tests. It was also found that cases of unfair means were pending against some others in the lot. Confirming the development, general secretary of the council, C.M. Munjal informed that earlier the credentials of law graduates could not be verified due to disputes between the universities and colleges affiliated to them. Now the Bar Council has received communication from some universities, which confirmed that three law graduates out of 27 had genuine degrees. Following this, the council has decided to reopen the matter. The scandal had come to light last year after the Bar Council had marked an inquiry into the applications of 100 law graduates who, it suspected had submitted fake degrees. Later cases were registered against those whose credentials were found to be doubtful Verification had proved that many students who had applied for licence of the council were not enrolled with the universities and had procured degrees through illegal means. |
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Colleges want
professional courses discontinued Chandigarh, April 17 Panjab University had initiated several self-financing professional courses, including M.Sc, Information Technology, Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA) and Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in colleges affiliated to it with a view to improving employment avenues of students. while M.Sc IT was introduced two years ago, the others were introduced four to five years ago. Informed sources said that these courses have failed to live up to their expectations and students have been unable to find placements in the industry as envisioned at the time of initiating such courses. The worst hit course is the BBA, which a large number of colleges in Chandigarh and Punjab have already dropped. Sources point out that BBA was introduced by Panjab University after similar courses initiated by other universities in Punjab reportedly flopped. The three-year degree BCA course had also run into problems as students resorted to agitation, demanding that it be reconfigured as a four-year degree course so that students completing this could fulfil eligibility criterion for admission in foreign universities. Though the matter was resolved, students have expressed their inability to get employment or even admission to M.Sc. A large number of colleges had also introduced M.Sc IT, but according to available information, only a bare handful are being able to sustain it as students are finding it difficult to make payments on account of the heavy fee structure. Sources said that apart from a select few colleges, others are in dire straits. As far as self-financing courses are concerned, the cost of running these courses, including the salary of the faculty, is met from the fees paid by the students, which runs up to Rs 30,000 annually besides some other charges. Another issue relating to these courses is that the faculty is employed on a contractual basis. Source said that teachers are generally paid just Rs 150 - Rs 250 per lecture of Rs 4,000 to Rs 8000 monthly depending upon the college. During vacations or at the time of preparatory holidays before examinations, their services are not utilised, leaving students to fend for themselves. University sources point out that the university was quite liberal in granting affiliations to colleges seeking to run such courses and a large number of such institutes began running courses despite skeptism from various quarters about their success. A number of administrative problems which have cropped up were not foreseen or taken into account. |
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PUDA demolishes Baisakhi fair stalls SAS Nagar, April 17 The SDO (Buildings), PUDA, today stopped the Baisakhi fair going on at the Dasehra grounds here and ordered the demolition of all stalls as he did not have any intimation to allow such a fair. The organisers of the fair stated that they had handed over the rental money in the form of a draft to the Estate Officer at his residence on April 12. “The Estate Officer permitted us to install stalls, marking the permission on a file to be sent to the SDO (Buildings) on the next working day,’’ they said. But even after the two last working days, sources said, neither was the draft entered into the PUDA accounts nor did the file reach the SDO. Even the application for permission to use the land by the event mangers was entered into PUDA records today after action was ordered against them. The ground land belongs to PUDA is used by event management companies to hold exhibitions and carnivals. A certain amount is to be paid per day to PUDA to use the land. Mr Surjit Singh of the Innovative Group, who has organised the exhibition, stated that he had paid the rent at the rate of Rs 4,000 per day to PUDA and the draft was given to the Estate Officer on April 12, who asked him to go ahead with the event. The fair, which started on April 14, has 24 stalls. Each stall owner paid Rs 5,000 to the company for occupying over 4,500 sq ft of the area. When contacted, the SDO (Buildings), Mr Ranjit Kumar, who is also leading the anti-encroachment wing of PUDA, confirmed that he had ordered the demolition as he had no information about anyone having allowed the fair. However, the demolition was stopped at the last moment when the Estate Officer intervened. Sources pointed out that even when the company was earning lakhs from the stall owners the event managers could have easily gotten away with not paid anything to PUDA had the SDO not visited the exhibition. ‘‘The matter would have gone unnoticed today after which we again have holidays and on April 20 the fair would have packed off. So who is responsible?’’, quoted a PUDA employee on condition of anonymity. The Estate Officer could not be contacted. |
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R.K. Sharma to come
home today Panchkula, April 17 Mr Sharma's daughter's wedding is slated for April 20 here. This is his second visit home , ever since he was accused of conspiracy to murder journalist Shivani Bhatnagar. He was earlier released on a five-hour custodial parole last month to attend her engagement. |
Jacob visits office to renew driving licence Chandigarh, April 17 The General completed all formalities and deposited Rs 200 for the renewal of his driving licence and dutifully sat opposite the digital camera to get himself photographed for the licence. After completing all formalities for collecting the licence, General Jacob could not resist his urge to mingle with the public. He went to various persons standing in different queues, asking them about any problems, in getting their licence or getting their job done in the office, and sought suggestions to improve the working of the licensing branch. While interacting with the public, General Jacob spotted three-four young boys standing in different queues, who seemed underage to him for getting their licence. General Jacob queried them about their age. They sheepishly answered, “18 years, sir”. Not satisfied with their answer, he asked the Licensing Authority, Mr Naresh Narwal, to have a relook at the age proof of the boys, as their driving age seemed doubtful. The Governor was informed that instead of only one or two counters, all six counters had now become operational. Besides, the licensing office was also opening on Saturday for senior citizens, ex-servicemen, serving army personnel and handicapped persons. Meanwhile, the Governor left for Raj Bhavan with the renewed driving licence in his pocket, feeling satisfied with the working of the licensing branch. |
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HUDA seeks cops’ help
to check encroachments Panchkula, April 17 According to information, Estate Officer, HUDA, Ms Monica Mallik, has asked the Superintendent of Police to remove these vendors, especially around the Sectors 7, 8, 18 and 17 roundabout, as these vendors “...are disrupting the normal flow of traffic and thus causing accidents.” The Estate Officer has asked the police department to remove these encroachments after the enforcement wing of HUDA failed to check these vendors. In fact, the enforcement staff was threatened with a knife by a vendor when they went to remove these encroachments. Thus HUDA has asked the police to remove these vendors at the earliest and ensure that the encroachments were removed permanently. This roundabout has become a major traffic bottleneck, especially from 4.30 pm to 9.30 pm. At least 40 rehris are parked around this roundabout in the evening, while the roundabout leading to the Sectors 8, 9, 17 and 16 has the watermelon-sellers selling their wares on the footpath. People park their vehicles haphazardly to buy the fruit which often leads to road mishaps. |
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Cop mobbed for assaulting couple Panchkula, April 17 A local couple, Mahavir and Monica, went to buy vegetables from Apni Mandi in Sector 4 on a motor cycle(HR-03D-1400). It ran out of fuel. They parked the bike on the roadside near the Tawa Chowk (Sector 5/10/11/4 roundabout) here at 9.30 pm. Mahavir, a Home Guard volunteer with the Chandigarh Police, was accosted by SI Tarun Kumar, in charge of Sector 6 police post. He used foul language with the couple. When Mahavir told him to mind his tongue, the cop began raining blows. Monika tried to save her husband, but sustained injuries in the process. The SI also received injuries in the abdomen. Over hundred shoppers from the Apni Mandi rushed to the scene. Monica, called up her brother-in-law, Sudhir Sharma. The crowd on hearing Mahavir’s side of the story started beating up the Sub Inspector, Constable Bahadur Singh and three other cops. In the meantime, several Police Control Room vehicles reached the spot. The police personnel resorted to a mild lathi charge in order to disperse the mob. The shoppers pelted stones at the cops and their vehicles, damaging one police gypsy (HR-03D-7002). By about 10 p.m. the police managed to bring the situation under control. Mahavir and Sudhir were then packed up in a police gypsy and taken to the Sector 5 police station. They alleged that SI had assaulted them. They said the police was trying to implicate them in false cases. SI Tarun Kumar, said that he had received a complaint that a woman was being teased by a man. “When I casually asked the man about his identity, he threatened me and asked me to lay off. When I politely asked him to speak properly, he began beating me up.” |
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Depression main cause of suicides Chandigarh, April 17 Today, the suicide by a 28-year-old married woman of Dadu Majra Colony here for being unable to prove her mantle outside her home is self explanatory of the disturbing trend in society. A 26-year-old youth of Sector 20 were among the two persons who committed suicide yesterday. Though the number of men ending their lives are more as compared to women, women ending their lives for being harassed by their inlaws for dowry are on the decrease. Unable to cope with their family disputes, more women have ended their lives. According to psychologists, the persons — mostly youth — planning to commit suicide are often feeling depressed. A feeling of hopelessness has been found to be the main reason leading to depression. It is common among teens who experience temporary periods of sadness or mild depression. Inquiries reveal that there was prevalence of suicidal tendencies among the city policemen too. The three-day-old incident of constable, Maman Chand, shooting himself with his service sten gun was not an isolated incident. In the past, incidents have been reported when cops of the city have ended their lives under mental stress due to professional, financial or domestic reasons. According to the data on suicides compiled by the Chandigarh Police, most of the victims were between the age group of 15 to 30 years. During the days of examination and declaration of results, two girls committed suicide in March and another tried to jump into the Sukhna. Psychologists say that making children learn to tackle the hardships of life will make the mentally tougher. |
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‘Cycle city’ campaign to be launched on April 21 Chandigarh, April 17 This was stated here today at a press conference addressed by Mr Promod Sharma, convener of an NGO Yuvsatta. He said the campaign had become necessary in the city which had the highest density of vehicles in the country. This would help in arresting noise and air pollution besides checking various health problems. The campaign will be launched by Adviser to the Administrator Virendra Singh from Dev Samaj College. Mr Sharma said the campaign had the potential of becoming the modern-time spinning wheel used by the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi to bring about a socio-economic, political and cultural change. The campaign is in tune with the Chandigarh Administration’s decision to gradually make cycle tracks across the city in two years to probably emerge as the only place in the country to be called a cycle city. The Dev Samaj College Principal, Dr Satinder Dhillon, a former Mayor, Harjinder Kaur, GGDS Principal, Dr A.C. Vaid, Panjab University Foreign Students Dean, Dr R.C. Sobti, Aroma Hotel CEO, Manmohan Singh, Director Adult Education, Panjab University, Dr C.L. Narang, environmentalist S. Mohan Singh, lecturers KPS Shante and Ranjan Verma, Ms Anuradha Agnihotri, environmentalist/cyclist sub-inspector Ram Chander Pannu have been appointed coordinators for the campaign. As part of the “cycle-city” campaign, information, education and communication material will be provided in April, a campaign for good roads will be carried out in May and a cycle marathon and walking race will be organised in June. From July this year, cycling will be promoted in educational institutions, government and private organisations, residents welfare associations, parent teacher associations and the Chandigarh Police. A seminar on “good health, environment and cycles” will be organised in August, “cycle to work campaign will be launched and cyclist of the year award will be given in September; inter-college and inter-university competitions will be organised in October to be followed by an inter-school painting competition in November. An annual cycle fair will be held in January. The campaign will make efforts towards a comprehensive and safe cycle network and cycle tracks in Chandigarh, good-quality cycle parking lots across the city, evolving an integrated, inexpensive and effective public transport policy with cycling at its heart, reduction in traffic and slowing down speed of vehicles, building public toilets and creating awareness for the use of lights in cycles and inculcating traffic sense among cyclists. Mr Sharma and Mr Pannu said that they would approach the authorities to levy paid parking across the city to discourage the use of vehicles and imposing an inhibitive registration charge. They said the campaign would also urge the Chief Architect to create shorter paths for cyclists to ensure time-saving for them. They said the Administration would also be asked to display promotional facts about cycling to let people adopt cycling. |
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Khattars to spread awareness
about chicken pox Chandigarh, April 17 Even as Saurabh’s reminiscences filled every speech made at the Chandigarh Club this morning, his mother Neeru Khattar sat in grim silence. Seated next to Kapil Dev, who released the book, My God is Dead, Neeru Khattar did not utter a word. Perhaps she had nothing more to say except what she has said through the medium of the written word. The book remained in focus throughout the one-and-a-half-hour long period which was marked by remembrances of Saurabh, who was in the habit of bringing victory home. But as destiny would have it, death was to have the last laugh, putting an end to the smiles of Khattar family. The book deals with a mother’s fears, her anguish and pain. Through various episodes chosen from life, Neeru Khattar has tried to conceive the image of her son yet again. And she has been largely successful, not only in exposing the rotting public health network, but also in creating awareness about chicken pox, the simple disease that assumed fatal proportions in the case of her son. Even as everyone waited for the mother to talk, she chose to remain confined to the dais. Sitting next to Kapil Dev, Neeru Khattar must have shed countless tears which only grew thicker every time a reference was made to Saurabh. Manu Monga, Manish Bansal, Usha Saboo, Dr (Ms) R.S. Bedi spoke in the memory of the young boy and also in appreciation of his mother, who mustered the courage to detail the reasons behind her son’s death. Finally, it was the turn of Kapil Dev to say something about the book. In his true spirit, the sportsman touched many hearts once again, when he said, “Book releases are meant to be happy occasions. But I am very unhappy today. It’s a strange feeling. I don’t know what to say. I will not stand and fix responsibility for Saurabh’s death. These very doctors save lives. But in this case, the tragedy has struck and there is no reversal. All I want to say is that I just can’t handle the pain. I saw Neeruji cry through this function. I know how tough it feels for a mother. But I would like to say one thing. Saurabh may have gone, but he has given to his mother a reason to live for — writing". Neeru Khattar finally smiled, even as her husband Raj Kumar Khattar stood up in his seat to thank Kapil Dev. All proceeds from the book will be directed towards Saurabh Khattar Memorial Trust that has been formed to educate poor kids, spread awareness about chicken pox and promote snooker in Chandigarh. The Trust has already organised three annual Saurabh Khattar snooker tournaments in the city. |
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When shaggy haircut became cool On Wednesday we carried an account of the poignant book by Panchkula-based author, Neeru Khattar. It is the story of her son Saurabh, who filled her life with joy, even as he broke his own records at snooker and set new ones for others. Tragically, he died in April, 1999. The book recounts the pleasures the family shared, and the pain of losing Saurabh. The following is an excerpt from the book “My God is dead”, published by Minerva Press (India) Pvt Ltd. The account is a vignette of the visit to the USA in 1988: CHINNY’S long and shaggy hair was beginning to give him an untidy look. All of us had begun chiding him for his long girlish hair, which covered his eyes and ears and the nape of his neck. His side locks were becoming too much for me to handle. He had always been too restless to sit patiently on the barber’s chair. Each time he got into trouble at school for his long hair, he would come home and give himself a shaggy haircut, after which I had to force him to go to a barber. This had become a routine with him till the time he turned 16. The next day, after Chinny had taken his bath, we saw a different boy emerge from the bathroom. He had cut his side burns with daddy’s shaving blade. There was no hair, two inches above his ears. It was such a bizarre haircut; he looked like a clown. I felt awful for him! But Chinny was very happy because he looked different. The bottom line was that he loved to draw attention, and his new haircut was serving the purpose well. While travelling by train to the Detroit Renaissance Centre the next day, two teenage boys especially came up to ask him where he had got his haircut from. ‘Oh! I did it myself,’ he replied proudly. I am sure they never believed him — the incredulous expressions on their faces told us so. From then onwards, never mind where he went; people would always give him a second look. And that was what he enjoyed most! Chinny had set habits about food. He had a preference for certain kinds of foods and he was never willing to try anything new, even at the risk of annoying others. In the US, he lived on French fries, roti and chicken curry. It was very cumbersome to cook Indian food at home, as Indian cooking is a very lengthy and time-consuming process, and also because we loved going out and trying different cuisines each day. Since eating potatoes alone was not a very healthy diet for a growing child, we were left with no option but to cook his food at home and carry it along, wherever we went. By the end of June, Raj joined us and we went to Indianapolis to be with our friend Jaswant, who took us to Florida with his family. His son Vipul was Chinny’s age. Both of them got along just fine. Vipul was the eldest and more mature, whereas Chinny was the younger one of the family, a little childish and full of pranks. Even at Orlando, Chinny created a big fuss over food. He hardly ever ate pizzas or hot dogs. Just to humour him and knowing his fondness for Indian food, Jaswant took us to a very expensive Mexican restaurant in Orlando (because he felt that the Mexican food was more like Indian food). When the meal arrived, I took a bite, and knew, it spelt trouble for Chinny. Although, the food did look like Indian roti dipped in a curry, the taste was very bland and different. Chinny simply refused to taste it. Raj was furious. But once he took a bite himself, he stopped scolding Chinny. Orlando was fun. Disney World fascinated all of us. Chinny of course was in his element. He was a real coward at heart but always tried to show that he was not sacred of anything. In the ‘West and Wild’ water sport complex, there was a water slide starting from 200 feet high with almost a straight drop into a pool at the base. Chinny and Vipul went up with me. It was scary-standing up, everything looked so tiny. Vipul tried to coax me into jumping but I refused. Then came Chinny’s turn. He was still debating whether so slide or not, when suddenly, Vipul pushed him. Chinny went down screaming. The scream was so heart-rending that I hurried got down to see if he was hurt. His hands were bruised badly because he had held on to the railing of the slide very tightly. Other than that, he was fine and thrilled that he had done it. Vipul himself never could muster the courage to try that. |
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10 fire
incidents in 15 days SAS Nagar, April 17 Awareness lectures were being delivered by the local Fire Brigade officials and representatives from the Safety Consultants Consortium as part of Fire Safety Week which started on April 14. Mr Sandhu told students not to meddle with electrical fixtures like plugs, wire switches and sockets. He said children should avoid playing with match boxes and should keep candles and aggarbatis away from combustible materials. Mr
S.K. Suri, safety consultant, said it was not difficult to tackle a fire or in LPG leakage, if it was handled properly at the initial stage. He distributed a booklet on “Fire Safety in Day to Day Life” among schoolchildren. It was observed that these days a number of fire incidents were
occurring in the residential areas. And sometimes a small accident turned into a major incident. This was due to lack of proper knowledge about fire safety. |
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Only four firemen to
man SAS Nagar SAS Nagar, April 17 The contract of 13 firemen ended on March 9 leaving a token presence of merely four firemen at the station against the sanctioned strength of 39. The Joint Director of the Local Government said in a letter of April 1 to the civic body that the council’s proposal to renew the contract had been rejected by the Director. He had asked the civic body to send another proposal giving “full justification” for filling the posts of fireman on a regular basis. The council had written three letters in March to the Director, Local Government, requesting him to give permission for renewing the contract. The council president had even met the Director personally on March 31 and discussed the problem of staff shortage. The president had told him that the process of filling the posts of fireman on a regular basis was a lengthy process and would take about three to four months time. Till the time the process was completed the contract of the 13 firemen should be renewed. It is learnt that the Director had then agreed to give permission to the civic body to renew the contract. But the council has so far not received any orders to this effect. To overcome the acute shortage of firemen the council had cleared a proposal in the House on June 16, 2001, to recruit 20 personnel on a contract basis till the regular posts were filled. These persons had joined duty on September 5, 2001. Only 13 employees kept on working with the fire brigade as others had left. There has been an acute shortage of firemen since 1996. Only four regular firemen are taking the entire load at present. They are being compelled to work for 10 hours during morning shift and for 14 hours during the night shift. They are not even being given their weekly offs. The process of recruitment for additional personnel for the fire brigade on a regular basis had been stalled twice. In the year 2000 the recruitment was stopped midway by the Local Government Department authorities as certain formalities had not been completed. Then again in 2001, after the completion of physical fitness test of about 7,000 applicants, the Election Commission ordered the civic body not to begin the interviews of the candidates who had been shortlisted for the purpose. Mr Kulwant Singh, council’s president, said yesterday that the permission to renew the contract of 13 employees should be given immediately. If some major fire incident took place in the district the local fire brigade would not be able to do much. |
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Four parking lots auctioned Chandigarh, April 17 Encouraged by the response, the MCC has decided to auction two more parking lots in Sector 17 on April 21. The auction of the biggest lot, Sahib Singh Chowk, fetched Rs 47 lakh against a reserve price of Rs 30.06 lakh. The Empire Store parking lot was auctioned for Rs 22.5 lakh against a reserve price of Rs 17.45 lakh. Another lot in front of the office of the Medical Officer (Health) was auctioned for Rs 9.55 against a reserve price of Rs 7.06 lakh. The Gurudev parking lot was auctioned for Rs 25 lakh against a reserve price of Rs 17.55 lakh. |
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4 more sectors declared garbage-bin free Chandigarh, April 17 The withdrawal of garbage bins has fixed the responsibility on residents of the Sector to arrange for carrying the garbage at designated points failing which a resident can be fined with Rs 500 each time one is found dumping it anywhere else. Residents of Sector 10 will have to dump garbage at an open place near Government Polytechnic for Women and behind DAV College, Sector 10-D. The residents of Sector 11 have been directed to dump garbage at only an open place behind the electricity office in Sector 11A. The residents of Sector 33A and B will have to dispose of their garbage at an open place adjoining the petrol pump in Sector 33B and those from C and D sub-sectors will do so at plot number 1396, Sector 33 C. Residents of Sector 35A and B will have to dump garbage at an open space adjoining the Markfed office, Sector 35B and those of Sector C and D sub-sectors will do so at the back-side of public toilet block near kerosene oil pump in Sector 35 C. The much appreciated garbage bin free scheme has been running successfully in many sectors and the entire city is planned to be brought under it in phases. |
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She lights pyres of unidentified bodies Chandigarh, April 17 During the past year, she has cremated 21 unclaimed bodies, mostly migrant labourers from Nepal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, who have no family or relatives to perform their last rites. “For me it does not matter whether our religion permits a woman to perform the last rites, including lighting the pyre, as I feel I am doing my duty,” she says. Though involved in social work for the past many years, it was in early 2001 that she gave up her job as a bank employee to devote full time to serve the poor and the suffering. “It was in December, 1999, that I came in close contact with the PGI, when a colleague’s son underwent kidney transplant and seeing the agony of the patients I felt an inner urge to help them,” she reveals. “Every now and then there are a number of patients who are brought to the PGI and if they die, we immediately get in touch with Ms Dhillon, who takes care of cremating the bodies,” said a PGI official in the emergency. They point out that though a lot of organisations and individuals were doing social service at the PGI, but this was a unique case where it was amazing to see a woman do this kind of job. “Initially I used to call a priest or a granthi to perform the last rites but now I perform the ardaas (last prayers) myself and in about six cases I had to even light the pyre as the crematorium was not functional,” she says. What pains me the most is that in some cases the family members despite being present in the PGI at the time of the death just disappear so that they do not have to cremate the body, she remarks. Though most of the bodies she has cremated were unclaimed but in some cases only the wife, along with the children, approached Ms Dhillon to get the cremation done as they had no help. The Guru Granth Sahib Seva Society, Sector 34 helps her by providing their funeral van for taking the body from the PGI to the crematorium. “Seeing many accident victims die due to delay in shifting them to hospitals really hurts me as they can be saved if precious time is not lost, so I wish to start a helpline, where I can be mobile and attend to such patients immediately,” she says. However, this can be possible only if some organisation can provide her with an ambulance. To avoid getting embroiled in police cases, people are reluctant to take an injured person to the hospital so during peak office and school hours I will make rounds of busy roads in the city so that nobody’s loved ones keep lying unattended on the roadside, she feels. |
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Despite a handicap, he lives life kingsize Panchkula, April 17 The medico, who has a deformity in vertebral column and collapse of left lung because of polio which he suffered when he was 10-month-old, has taken not only his own deformity head-on, but hopes to revive the self confidence of others. Dr Jaswal, who runs a diagnostic centre in Sector 10 here, now plans to take the Haryana Government head-on over the implementation of The Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, which outlays, among other things, public utility buildings should be made accessible to orthopaedically handicapped. Dr Jaswal expresses his doubts over the implementation of this Act. " None of the existing public dealing buildings in the state have changed their building plan to have ramps or lifts and most of the new buildings also do not have provision for ramps. The Act laid that a separate Union Ministry for Handicapped should be set up — which has not been done so far, " he rues. He says that world disability days come and go. " Wheel chairs and artificial limbs are distributed by state governments and certain NGO's, and then people like us are forgotten. There is no effort to bring us into the mainstream of life. Even the 3 per cent reservation for handicapped in jobs is not being filled as we are not a major vote bank for the powers that be, " he laments. The doctor says that he himself had fought all odds to get into the mainstream of life. " My parents thought that I can not do much in life because of my disability and would often hear them discuss plans for setting up a chemist shop for me, while my elder sister did MBBS. I took this as a challenge — after all I had only a physical deformity to counter. I not only did my MBBS with flying colours, pursued my MD in medicine and then did a diploma in hospital management. This was because of the guidance of my teachers- Brother J.J. Crease and Brother P.J. Tynan at St. John's High School, Chandigarh — who taught me not to give up ever. Now, I want to make a difference for others like me, " he says. Dr Jaswal and his 80 men strong army of other physically challenged persons — under the aegis of All-India Physically Handicapped Association (ALPHA), have declared " war " for the physically challenged. " Other than running a massive awareness campaign, we plan to launch a website for the disabled wherein a helpline will be started. We are already in touch with the Grievances and Rehabilitation Council of India and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for taking up the cause of handicapped, " he informs. Assisted by Mr Mohit Batra, a junior engineer in the Punjab Mandi Board, the duo are now reviving ALPHA. Mr Batra, who lost his lower limbs in a train accident two years ago, is now on a path of reconstruction and actively involved with ALPHA . " Till I lost my limbs , I had never thought of the problems faced by the physically challenged. It is now that I fight the daily battle for my own existence and this strengthens my resolve to make a difference for other disabled. We want everyone to understand that disability starts from the mind and not from body, " he says. |
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Save Sukhna It is imperative that the storage capacity of the Sukhna Lake is increased. The easier way would be to construct a breast-wall about three feet high just above the radial gates from one end to the other. This would obviate the necessity of dismantling the existing radial gates. Besides, concerted efforts must be made in the catchment area to check the flow of the sediment by constructing more and more silt detention structures. Even 20 tonnes of sediment coming from 3,200 hectare hilly catchment amounts to 64,000 tonnes of sediment annually. It will take many more years before this load comes down to permissible limits. S.P. Mittal, Retired Principal Scientist, Central Soil Conservation Research Centre, Chandigarh.
DEBATE City Beautiful's most prominent water feature, Sukhna Lake, is in danger. Readers of Chandigarh Tribune are invited to send in their views not exceeding 150 words on the subject along with a passport size colour photo for publication in the newspaper to: Save Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh Tribune, Sector 29-C, Chandigarh. |
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ULTA PULTA Saddam’s make-up man caught ... fake beards, moustaches, wigs and spectacles found!!! If these kind of news headlines are flashed on television, I will be the first person to believe it. The USA could not find weapons of mass-destruction but chances are they might trap Saddam’s chief make-up man. The makeup man was instrumental in giving Saddam a new look every time. In the last few weeks whenever Saddam appeared on television, everyone was busy wondering is this was the real Saddam or his duplicate? The way the Iraqi army crumbled before the coalition forces makes we believe they had fake arms and weapons. Chances are that the ammunition was also hired from some film company. Biological weapons and missiles were the work of some ‘filmi’ art direction. I guess the satellite pictures of these fake weapons so upset and scared the USA that they attacked and defeated Iraq. But on seeing these fake weapons at close range, they are clearly embarrassed. After the fall of Baghdad the scenes of looting and pillage were disturbing and disgusting. Iraqis were shown again and again running away with so far, some others with ACs and fridges. Probably, President Bush wanted to emphasize that under Saddam’s rule, the Iraqis had been so frustrated that they hadn’t even the chance and means to sit on a sofa or drink cold water from a fridge. According to the US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld the media has exaggerated the looting and pillage reports. He probably meant that these too were filmi scenes only. |
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Uninvited cop ‘treated’ by marriage party Chandigarh, April 17 |
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Residents resent
widening of road SAS Nagar, April 17 While the residents are alleging that the council has incurred avoidable monetary loss due to an ill- planned decision to construct the road, the Municipal Councillor, Mr Amrik Singh has in a written statement stated that the matter will be raised at the next meeting of the council. The MC Executive Officer, Mr Harbhagwan Garg, when contacted, stated the widening of the road was a far larger matter than is generally evisaged. |
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Bankmen’s
dharna Chandigarh, April 17 |
Two held on rape charge Chandigarh, April 17 Purse snatched Harjit Kaur, a resident of Sector 41, complained that a scooter-borne youth snatched her purse containing Rs 1800, an office book and house keys from near her house. A case has been registered under Sections 356 and 379 of the IPC.
Cheating at petrol pump Mr Mahabir Singh, sales manager at the Sector 52 petrol pump, complained to the police that two youths — Gurpinderjit Singh, a resident of Bathinda, and Simrat Singh Mann, a resident of Sector 38 — got petrol worth Rs 1000 filled in their car (PB-03-H-4000), and sped from the spot. The youths were arrested from near the Mini-Market, Sector 43. A case under Section 406 and 420 of the IPC has been registered at the Sector 36 police station.
Panchkula “Operation Speedbreak”
launched The police launched a special one-month-long traffic awareness drive, “Operation Speedbreak” in the town today . As many as 100 persons were challaned for various violations in different sectors. The drive will be in force for over a month to check traffic violators, especially those driving without helmets and to check underage driving, said the Superintendent of Police, Mr Ranbir Singh Sharma. Nakas were laid at various spots and challans were issued for black films, driving without seat belts and helmets , underage driving, and over loading maxi cabs.
Rash driving The police has booked two persons- Sandeep Singh of Sangrur and Om Prakash — in two separate incidents for rash and negligent driving.
Booked The police has booked Jaspreet Singh of Abdullapur village in the Pinjore block for selling his land without prior permission of the District Town Planning Office. A case under Section 10 of HDR Act has been registered against him on a complaint filed by the District Town Planning Officer. |
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Mutilated body found Lalru, April 17 The victim, Karan Singh, was mowed down by a train while he was crossing a bridge over the Jharmal rivulet this morning. Hailing from Panipat, Karan Singh was residing in a rented accommodation at Lalru. He used to sell bangles and other articles in this area to earn his livelihood. |
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