Chandigarh, February 5
About 85 per cent of city buildings will not collapse but can get damaged in a major earthquake. However, all houses in villages of Chandigarh may not be so safe, says Dr A.S. Arya, National Seismic Adviser, Government of India.

Chandigarh, February 5
Sanitation facilities in the city are all set for a major facelift with the commissioning of at least a dozen Sehaj Safai Kendras (SSK) for garbage collection later this month.

The scheme is part of the ongoing tie-up of the UT Administration with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Out of the total budget of Rs 3.5 crores for the first phase of the scheme, half the amount will be covered by the CPCB.

At least two centres are complete in Sector 17. Other sites in the list include Sectors 4, 9, 29, 30 and the Modern Housing Complex, Manimajra. A total of 80 SSKs are planned under this scheme in the city.

Sources in the corporation said at the recent meeting of the of the CPCB and UT officials, need for the active participation of citizens for the success of the scheme had been clearly underlined. Meetings have also been held with the Business Promotion Council and the Traders Association, Sector 17.

The waste picked up from shops and houses will be dumped at the common waste disposal centres of the SSK. The scheme will bring a change to the common scene of garbage scattered near bins and open spaces.

“Active participation in the scheme was assured by the traders. Bins will be installed in front of all shops. The garbage will then be picked and disposed at the SSK. This is aimed at stopping the spread of filth on pavements and other open places in the markets”, a councillor of the MC said.

It was also felt that citizens needed to be made aware about the separation of waste. “The biodegradable waste needs to be separated from the plastic and the polythene. This is important in the context of the project which will help generate power from waste”, the councillor said.

The corporation will make efforts by engaging NGOs and welfare associations to make citizens aware about the proper disposal of the waste material. The city has already declared Sectors 27, 28, 15 and 35 as bin-free. However, the problem of segregation of the waste still persists even in these sectors.

One of the suggestions for the segregation of the waste was to use separate coloured bags for different wastes. “It was felt that the MC could take up the initiative of supplying the bags of different colours to citizens to put their waste in respective bags before disposal”, a councillor said.

It was elaborated that the second phase constitutes the remediation of existing dumping ground by covering, capping and closing nearly 20 acres of re-claimed area and converting nearly 10 acres of low lying site for the development of a sanitary land-fill site.

Chandigarh, February 5
The Panjab University examination branch, true to its reputation, has goofed once again. This time the affected person is Sumeet Verma, a student of SGGS College, Sector 26, who completed his B.Sc in April, 2003.

To Sumeet’s surprise, the degree certificate issued by the university after three years of his graduating not only changed his name, but also his gender.

Continuing to be Sumeet Verma in all university documents, including all marksheets issued by the university at the end of each year of graduation, (in 2001, 2002 and 2003 respectively), Sumeet transformed into “Suman Verma’’ in the final degree certificate issued to him. The clerical staff, while filling the degree certificate have even ticked ‘daughter of Mr M.R. Verma (Sumeet’s father)’ against his name, striking off the ‘son’ option.

The error put Sumeet in a fix. His hunt for a job after graduation became an enormous task as the degree certificate failed to establish his identity. But what annoys him more is the university’s approach to his problem, which wants him to pay for the error committed by them.

“When I went to the university for correction of my name and gender on the certificate, the staff there told me to pay Rs 150 and apply for a duplicate certificate. Why should I pay for a mistake, which I have not committed? It should be the university that should be correcting the error for me?” he argues.

To avoid the embarrassment of showing his erroneous degree certificate, Sumeet, however, relied on producing the final marksheet to his prospective employers. “The formality of getting a job always ended at producing the degree certificate. I had to convince the employers to accept my final marksheet so that I could escape the embarrassment of showing the erroneous degree certificate,’’ says Sumeet, who is now employed with a bank here. According to a university official, such errors do occur due to occasional work overload.

Chandigarh, February 5
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has upheld a decision of the Permanent Lok Adalat (Public Utility Services) releasing a new water connection to the owner of a disputed property in Sector 23 here.

Earlier, the three-member adalat through a majority decision had ruled that the water supply to the disputed property could not be denied by the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh. The adalat had acted on an application filed by Veena, who is the owner of the first and second floors of the house.

In her application, Veena claimed that she had been living at the first and second floors since July 29, 2000, after purchasing the property. The ground floor of the house is under the possession of Mr Amar Lal and Ms Anita Rani.

There is only one water connection for the house and Mr Amar Lal, allegedly with a view to grab the property, stopped the water supply to the upper floors. However, Ms Veena then moved the court and obtained a stay order on her dispossession on January 1, 2003.

Veena then applied to the corporation to provide separate water connection for the first and second floors. However, the corporation contended that under the Chandigarh Water Supply Bylaws the new water connection could not be released to her.

Corporation officials also argued that the water supply to the premises was disconnected on September 9, 2004, due to non-payment of the bill amounting to Rs 14,026.

Terming water as the “elixir of life”, the adalat, comprising Mr R.P. Bajaj and Mr K.C. Jaggi, Chairman and Member, respectively, ordered that Veena would pay two-thirds of the total arrears of the bill.

In his dissenting order, Mr J.S. Kohli, another Member, was of the view that the new water connection could not be released to the complainant as she did not fulfill the provisions of the bylaws. Mr Kohli suggested that water supply should be immediately restored to the premises after payment of the two-thirds of arrears by Veena and one-thirds by Mr Amar Lal.

A sub-meter should be provided for the first and second floors to avoid any dispute over water consumption and separate billing should done for the two owners, Mr Kohli added.

Chandigarh, February 5
The silky brown salwar kameez takes you by surprise. After all you do not expect UK-based Chairperson of a non-government organisation to wear traditional Indian dresses. As you overcome the feeling of awe, Lady Odile Slynn’s wrist watch with Tricolour catches your eye.

It is, perhaps, her love for India that brings her to the country every now and then for charitable work — you surmise. That kind of explains her call to the NGOs in India to work together in close coordination for meeting common objectives. And to adopt a mother to save the child.

Suppressing temptation becomes impossible. Shifting uneasily in the chair, you ask her awkwardly, “Do you love India and things associated with her?” Before you realise the vagueness of your quarry, she smiles, “Oh, yes! I guess I was an Indian in my previous birth.”

Showing you the watch after pulling up the sleeves, she utters, “I brought this from Assam. Lovely isn't it?” Making herself comfortable in the study of Sector 16 advocate brothers Anil and Ranjit Malhotra, she adds, “I have travelled all around the globe with my husband Lord Gordon Slynn — the senior-most Judge of the House of Lords. But India is closest to my heart. That is why I am moved by the poverty here.”

Adjusting her spectacles, she asserts, “My first encounter with poverty in India was during a visit to a tiger reserve. The tribals invited me for tea. I was apprehensive but could not say no. After all, I could not hurt their feelings. I was touched by their hospitality. In UK, people just do not invite strangers for a cup of tea. Now, I try to give what I received..... Yes, I am doing my bit.”

Giving details of her programme in India, she says, “I am associated with Kolkata-based 30-year-old organisation Children in Need Institute (CINI). I like working with it because it is not a western NGO.”

Pushing back the chair, she add, “Most of the NGOs try to tackle the problem of street children. But no one takes care of mothers before the children are born.... We basically tell people to take care of the mother so that the child is healthy. In fact, we sponsor the mother when she is six months pregnant till the child is born and vaccinated. No, we do not distribute food, but spread awareness on how to use the food.”

Lady Slynn adds that they raise funds through trusts and corporate people in the UK because people in India are willing to donate for HIV and for street children, but not for nutrition. As far as Indian diaspora is concerned, they donate for the welfare of their native villages. The problem with the NGOs in India, she asserts, is that they do not work together in close co-ordination. Lack of direction and funds is another thing.

That is true. But are there any case of misutilisation of funds by the NGOs on the UK? “No, not at all. All the NGOs have to be registered. And then there is the charity commission. The audit reports have to be submitted to it. Also, an NGO cannot spend more than 25 per cent on the administration. Moreover, there is constant monitoring. We send reports to the donors from time before birth till the baby is 18-month-old.”

Chandigarh, February 5
The Indian Air Force has moved the administrative control of all its technical training schools, heretofore functioning under various operational commands, to the Training Command. The move will do away with the ambiguity of dual control and rationalise training activities.

According to sources, the Training Command will now be responsible for all administrative as well as training issues pertaining to its numerous Technical Type Training Schools (TETTRA). The switchover was executed last month.

Earlier the Training Command was responsible only for training aspects, while for all other issues the schools were under the control of the operational command under whose geographical jurisdiction they were located. In Punjab for example, there are four TETTRA schools, which were earlier administered by the Western Air Command, though for training activities they were responsible to the Training Command. This led to a peculiar situation.

There are about 20 TETTRA schools spread across the country. These are responsible for training pilots, engineers and technical personnel on engineering aspects of a particular aircraft.

“In other commands, the emphasis is always on operations and serviceability of the fleet, with training activities getting relegated into the background,” an IAF officer remarked. “Being under one command for all matters, training activities would be more focused and sorting out issues would be simpler,” he added. IAF officers said that such a move had been under consideration for a long time.

TETTRA schools are significant because all pilots, engineers and technical personnel have to pass through their portals before they take up assignments in aircraft operating establishments. IAF personnel often have to undergo courses in more than one TETTRA school when they more for one type of an aircraft to another.

This also reflects on the service conditions and manpower planning in the IAF Unlike as in some major air forces, where technical personnel specializing on a particular aircraft or in a particular stream stick to it, IAF personnel find themselves working on a variety of aircraft through their careers.

IAF policy also permits technical personnel being rotated between fighter, helicopter and other streams. One reason for this, perhaps, is that IAF personnel are required to serve by rotation in all commands and adequate vacancies for accommodating them in a particular stream may not be possible.

You are the MD of one of the richest sports departments in the country, what has been done for the welfare of sportspersons?

We have given enormous amount of cash prizes to various eminent players of Andhra Pradesh. Even the players from non-Olympic sports like chess, have been honoured with cash prize by SAAP. The basic idea is to motivate any promising sportsperson irrespective of the sport in which he or she has excelled.

Why Hyderabad plays host to so many sports tournaments of national and international level?

The hosting of the National Games-2002 and Afro-Asian Games in 2003, Hyderabad , had improved sports infrastructure in this city. The first ever Premier Hockey League (PHL) in floodlights are already in progress at the Gacho Bowli Stadium. From February 7 to 12, we have the biggest tennis tournament for women, WTA Tennis at SAAP Indoor Tennis Stadium. In shooting, we had the National Masters Meet and this year we will have international-level shooting meet here. The world junior volleyball meet will also be staged in Hyderabad this year.

— Arvind Katyal