Chandigarh, January 15
A habitual drunkard, casual male worker (45) and a mentally challenged woman (50) were burnt alive last night when their thatched hut caught fire in Mullanpur Gharibdas village, near here.

The police suspects that they may have lit a fire inside their jhuggi to protect themselves from the cold, outside the village, on shamlat land towards the Jayanti Devi temple. The fire may have spread in the jhuggi.

Villagers and the police, led by SHO Bhagwant Singh Riar, recovered the bodies of the man and woman. The villagers identified the jhuggi to be that of Om Prakash. The bodies were charred beyond recognition.

However, the distinction between man and woman could be made from their skeletons. The upper half of the woman’s body had burnt and a part of her one leg was intact. Om Prakash was reduced to a skeleton. Inquiries from the nearby jhuggis revealed that a mentally challenged woman used to take shelter at Om Praksh’s jhuggi for the past few days. Their identity was confirmed as both of them used to be in the village market every day but they were not seen in the market today. The two bodies were found side by side, both facing opposite directions.

The jhuggi dwellers in the vicinity said none of them either saw a fire nor heard any shrieks, indicating that the fire spread within minutes to engulf the two and the gas formation in the jhuggi may have first asphyxiated them before they were burnt to death. The villagers ruled out that the man and the woman had any relationship except that of sympathy.

The Mullanpur Market Welfare Committee President, Mr Arvind Puri, who reached the site last night along with a former Sarpanch of the village, Mr Naib Singh, said Om Prakash was a good worker and had been with the market committee for two years, but he was a habitual drinker. Mr Puri said Om Prakash was seen collecting Lohri from the people and had a few drinks during the day. He probably had a few drinks in the night also before going off to sleep. Mr Puri said the nearby jhuggi dwellers said that Om Prakash used to give the woman food and sometimes even drinks. Om Prakash had earlier told the villagers that he had come from Sector 25 and he was alone.

The SHO arranged two wooden coffins to keep the bodies and their ashes to get a post-mortem examination done. The SHO saw the jhuggi on fire when he was patrolling in the area. When he saw two bodies, he called up Mr Puri and other people of the village. The SHO said the bodies were first taken to the Kharar Civil Hospital in the boxes and then to Patiala. A chemical examination would be done on the bodies and the ashes of the thatched hut to rule out that the jhuggi may have been set on fire. The post-mortem examination was being conducted to rule out a murder.

As there is no kith and kin of the two, the Mullanpur Market Welfare Committee and the police are pooling in resources to arrange for the cremation of the two when their bodies are returned after post-mortem and viscera examinations.

Chandigarh, January 15
Aaina Jain, a city girl who was part of the group whose design of a space settlement project for NASA was judged the best, today donated her award money totalling Rs 21,000 for tsunami victims.

The award money had recently been given to each of the member of the group by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The girl, who has been pursuing Electronics and Communications Engineering at Thapar Institute of Technology, Patiala, told the Tribune that she would send the money to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.

Aaina was part of the group of 18 school and college students from Budha Dal School, Patiala, and the institute that had taken part in a space settlement design competition held in Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, in the USA.

Their project design, Bellivisate, was adjudged the best. The design also included a tourist attraction to be built on moon.

Zirakpur, January 15
A major chunk of government land has been allegedly occupied by encroachers at various places within the Zirakpur Nagar Panchayat limits thus raising serious doubts over the functioning of the enforcement wing of the civic body in the past year.

The encroachments can be seen at plots owned by the Zirakpur Nagar Panchayat in different villages that had been merged to form the civic body. The mushrooming of slums and other dwelling units on these plots have caught the nagar panchayat napping.

The “negligent” attitude of the enforcement wing, being headed by the executive officer (EO) of the civic body, has encouraged the encroachers who have virtually taken over a piece of prime land located along the intersection of the Chandigarh-Ambala and Panchkula-Patiala highways.

The land has been encroached upon by a number of rehri owners, auto-rickshaw owners and horse carts. Various make-shift dhabas and others vends have also come up on the government land along the highway thus adding to congestion on the road.

Moreover, an illegal colony has also come up on the land and illegal parking of trucks at the spot has also been causing great inconvenience to scores of residents of the nearby housing colonies.

The previous Punjab government had decided to develop and beautify this piece of prime land as a park. Later, there was a proposal to construct a building for a bus stand here as there was need for a proper bus stand in this satellite town of Chandigarh. However, with the passage of time, all plans went down the drain and piles of trash, rubbish and filth could be seen on the land.

Though scores of VVIPs, VIPs, bureaucrats, political leaders and members of judiciary from Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and neighbouring states like Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi cross from the area daily but that too has failed to arouse the authorities from their deep slumber.

The residents and shopkeepers complain that the Zirakpur Nagar Panchayat authorities were overlooking the gross violation of rules and norms. “Earlier the encroachers had taken over the highway and the encroachments were removed only after the Punjab and Haryana High Court intervened,” claimed Mr Ravinder Kumar, a shopkeeper.

Mr F.S. Nagra, president of the Commercial Welfare Association, (Bhabhat), Zirakpur, added that he had suggested to the civic body authorities to remove encroachments from government land and set up ‘paid parking lots’ there for trucks and other heavy vehicles that remain parked on government land.

“Developing paid parking lots will not only help in clearing the encroachments but would also prove to be a regular source of income for the civic body.” The EO, Mr Girish Verma, was not available for comments.

Chandigarh, January 15
One in every 1200 children born in the country develops some irreversible genetic defect. Yet the country is still to gauge the most commonly occurring and the most prevalent genetic disorders that are affecting the 24 million newborns in India.

The scenario may change though as the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi, has invited proposals from five centres in the country to screen 5 lakh newborns throughout India to assess the kinds of genetic defects they develop. The rationale behind the first of its kind project is to diagnose the affected children at the earliest so that the genetic defects can be treated before they graduate into life long burden.

Each of the five centres is proposed to screen one lakh newborns each to find out the prevalence of the types of genetic defects in the Indian population.

“All the children, within three to four days of their birth would be screened by carrying out the diagnostic tests, including the blood and urine tests, to find out if they are suffering from the genetic disorder. This would include both the healthy and the affected children. The results of the tests would ensure that if a child has the genetic defect, the treatment starts immediately,” said Dr I. C. Verma, senior consultant at the Department of Genetic Medicine at Sri Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi while interacting with The Tribune at GMCH Sector 32 today.

The most crucial aspect of the genetic disorders is the time at which they are detected and treatment is begun.

`Within four to five days of the child's birth the clinical symptoms of the genetic disorders appear. Effective treatment should begin before the child completes three weeks after the delivery. If the treatment is delayed, the genetic defect becomes irreversible and can never be treated,'' explained the doctor.

Experts say that in the absence of any screening of the newborn, the parents fathom the disorder only after 6 to 8 weeks of the child's birth and the valuable time is lost.

Chandigarh, January 15
Mrs Sheila Brar, wife of the Late Major-Gen Digamber Singh Brar, was cremated at the Sector 25 crematorium today evening. She had passed away in the early hours of the morning. She is survived by her sons, Bulbul and Tippy.

Mrs Brar had been in hospital since January 11. She was suffering from multiple injuries that she received when a car she was travelling in met with an accident in Sector 9, Chandigarh.

The kirtan and antim ardas for her will be held from 11.15 am to 12.15 pm on Sunday, January 16, 2005, at House 26, Sector 5, Chandigarh. She was a long-time resident of Chandigarh and was active in social and charitable work.

Speaking to TNS, her son Tippy said he appreciated the prompt help given to her by three students, Dixit, Aditya and Arun, and “the young woman who took her to the Sector 16 hospital in her car. We were all moved by their humanitarian gesture and really appreciate it,” he said.

The boys, who were riding motor cycles, had helped Mrs Brar and Mrs Mona Bharat Singh, who was driving the car. They then tried to stop a vehicle to take the women to hospital. A car, driven by a young woman, stopped and took the injured to hospital.

The boys accompanied the vehicle on their motor cycles and were with the injured till other help arrived.

The Government of India has amended the Citizenship Act to permit dual citizenship. Do you think it will boost NRI investment?

I have been the only Canadian politician of Indian origin who lobbied and assisted in convincing the Indian Government to recognise dual citizenship. This will not only provide much needed sense of security for investments made by NRIs but also give a strong feeling of belongingness. This will encourage NRIs to make investments in Punjab and Chandigarh than elsewhere in Asia.

What do you think Chandigarh as a destination for NRIs?

Chandigarh is a beautiful and planned city with a clean and healthy environment. It is the number one choice for many NRIs who want to make it base of their Indian operations. It has a tremendous potential for IT industry. It needs an international airport and a few more good hotels. I have come here to see my old friends from Punjab Agricultural University.

You met the Administrator of Chandigarh this morning. Did you discuss anything specific?

It was basically a courtesy call. I have been greatly impressed by the vision and knowledge of General Rodrigues. We did talk about a number of issues, including future development of Punjab and Chandigarh and the role NRIs can play in this regard.

— Prabhjot Singh

Chandigarh, January 15
To commemorate Army Day, a wreath-lying ceremony was organised by Headquarters Western Command at Chandimandir Military Station near here today.

Chief of Staff, Western Command, Lieut-Gen P K Grover, laid a wreath at the Veer Smriti war memorial on behalf of all ranks of the Command to pay homage to those who had laid down their lives in the line of duty. A large number of officers, JCOs and other ranks participated in the memorial service, a statement issued here said.

Army Day is celebrated each year on January 15. It was on this day in 1949 that Field Marshal K M Cariappa took over as the first Commander-in-Chief of the Army after Independence.

Chandigarh, January 15
If statistics are to be believed, the future of library and information science does not appear to be very bright in India. Rough estimates suggest that out of 1,000 libraries, not more than 10 were fully automated in this age of technology. And worse, of the 30,000 librarians that come out of the plethora of library schools in India, few are trained well enough to be recruited without being sent for a re-training.

This and much more plagues the discipline which has evolved in other parts of the world. While Singapore leads the world in public library system which is just a decade old, UK spends exorbitantly in reviewing the functioning of its National Library which fetches it a huge revenue. In a recently commissioned review of the National Library, UK, independent consultants reported that against every pound that the British Government spent on the National Library, the library gave it back 4.4 times more money!

In India, however, the libraries are low on priority when resource allocation is decided. The reasons, experts attending the annual function of SATKAL (Satinder Kaur Ramdev Memorial Trust for Advancement of Librarianship) and The British Library, Chandigarh, held at Government Museum auditorium today, say are many. “The most significant is failure to catch up with the most basic of systems, including the public library system. The state of public libraries is sorry, even the librarians which our universities produce know very little about high quality services. Our courses are outdated, our consolidation of technology poor,” said Mr P. Jayarajan, eminent librarian and former Head, Library and Information Services, British Council India who was present at the function which also witnessed a panel discussion on the required changes in library science syllabi. Among the panelists were Prof H.R, Chopra, Head, Library Science Department, PU, Mr A.R. Sethi, Head Librarian, PU Library. K.C. Ramola, Librarian, Centre-State Library and Ms Devinder Kaur, Librarian, Punjabi University, Patiala.

Dissecting the scenario of library and information services in India, Mr Jayarajan, who is now working on retrospective conversion and library automation at prestigious libraries like the Nehru Memorial Library, said, “We have been wasting time. In the 1980s we talked about library automation but not more than 10 Indian libraries are automated; in the1990s we talked about library networks, but I cannot list a single credible network expect DELNET; now are talking about digital libraries but that is not the answer. We must become user friendly by offering high quality services. We must also target non users. Traditional methods are fine but computers have to come in, whether or not public libraries like it”.

Another challenge, the expert said, was from new age media like TV, Internet, choices of news channels, upmarket book shops, distribution centres that bring you any book you want. “In such a scenario, we need to change our curriculum, impart library skills to ensure that we churn out fine talent and not mass graduates,” he said adding that the profile of a librarian must be improved by honouring the profession in the first place.

Chandigarh, January 15
The Oil and Gas Conservation Fortnight celebrations began here today with Mr V.K. Yadav, Senior Regional Manager Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) stressing upon the need to use of “Bio Diesel” in the transport sector.

The theme of the fortnight this year is “Save oil and gas these are precious”. Mr V.K. Yadav said conservation fortnight is being celebrated every year since 1991 by the oil public sector undertakings with lot of enthusiasm and commitment to spread the message of conservation among all sections of the society through various activities.

As part of the celebrations a cycle rally, essay, competition, drawing and painting competition, quiz, bio diesel seminar, LPG/ Kerosene clinics, transport and industry meets which are undertaken during the fortnight. He further emphasised the young future generation to cultivate the habits of judicious use of these precious and scarce natural resources.

Members of oil industry spoke about oil and gas scenario in the country.

The Chief Guest of the function, Mr Rajesh Kumar, IG Chandigarh, stressed upon practical application of various oil and gas conservation techniques in our day to day life and have our foreign exchange and protect our environment and thus also contribute to the national cause.

Students of St Peter’s Secondary School, Sector 37, Chandigarh and Gyandeep Model High School, Sector 20, Chandigarh, participated in the inaugural function.

Chandigarh, January 15
The speedometer of Bajaj Caliber motor cycle (DL 6 SK 4661) belonging to Mr Surinder Gosain, a resident of house number 2611/1, Sector 47, was stolen from his house today.

Mohali, January 15
As part of investigations being carried out in connection with illegal Internet exchange racket that was busted by the police here, teams of police officials were sent to Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Ambala today to identify persons on whose names telephone connections had been released by Reliance.

Mr Rakesh Agarwal, SP, said here today that those wanted in the case could not be tracked down by the police teams. However, the family members of the suspects have been asked to produce them before the police at the earliest.

The illegal exchange was discovered when police personnel accompanied by DoT vigilance wing officials raided the premises. The exchange was functioning from a rented cabin in the Phase VII market area here. DoT has suffered a loss of Rs 50 lakh because of the illegal exchange.

The SP said though the racket was busted only day before yesterday, suspicion about it had arisen about two months ago. The monitoring wing of the DoT had visited the area then and had gone to places like Sohana here but could not track down the exact place from where the illegal exchange was functioning.

The SP said connections for telephone lines had been applied on wrong names and addresses. Even the names given to the owner of the shop whose premises had been taken on rent were incorrect.

The illegal exchange was found to be functioning when the police broke the locks to get into the cabin. The police had then cut the telephone connections and took the equipment in its possession which included quantum gateway switch and seven Reliance wireless telephones. The equipment was used for switching calls.

Panchkula, January 14
Robbers struck at a flour mill at Naggal village last night. Presence of mind of Mr Rajneesh Goyal, a relative of the mill owner, led to the arrest of one of the robbers, and thwarted robbery.

The incident took place 9.30 pm last night, when four men, later identified as Noora, Bhoora, Satish alias Mirdeen and Gurbaj Singh, went to KM Foods. They came in a jeep, and forced entry in the factory by threatening him with a pistol.

Inside the factory, they approached the owner, and demanded one truckload of flour, or Rs 3 lakh. As the negotiations between the two sides was on, Mr Singla’s brother-in-law, Mr Goyal, saw through the glass door, that Mr Singla was kept at gun point by unidentified persons.

He rushed out of the factory and raised the alarm. When the assailants realized that some people had gathered near the factory, three of them- Bhoora, Noora and Satish escaped. Gurbaj, who was holding the pistol, tried to flee, but was caught by the public. The police was called, and Gurbaj was handed over to them.

The police has booked him under section 392 of IPC, and Various sections of Arms Act. They have recovered Rs 1500 and a country made pistol from him. He was produced before a local court today, and remanded to police custody.

Suicide by 15-year-old
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, January 15
A 15 year old youth committed suicide by hanging himself at his residence in Kalka this afternoon. He reportedly took the extreme step because of a failed love affair. The police say that Lal Chand, a son of a watchman at Kalka Government College, was found hanging at the house, within the college premises, today. A suicide note was also recovered, which mentioned that he had failed in his love affair.

Died: A jawan, posted at Western Command Headquarters in Chandi Mandir, Anil Bavan, died today. He had met with an accident on January 10, when he was coming home from work. His bicycle was hit by an unknown vehicle, and he sustained head injuries. He was admitted to the Command Hospital, where he died this morning.

Burglary: Cash and goods worth thousands of rupees were stolen from a house in Sector 25 today. The occupants of the house were away to Ambala, and the house was locked. The police say that the locks of the house were found broken. The police has informed the house owner.