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Butter price to go up by Rs 5
Chandigarh, November 12 While the market leader, Amul, has increased the rate of butter from Rs 77 per half kg to Rs 82 per kg. from yesterday, other major players in the tri-city — Verka and Vita — are mulling over the idea. Presently, the butter of these companies sells for Rs 77 for half kg. Officials in Milkfed, Punjab and Dairy Development Cooperative Federation, Haryana, said that considering the hike in prices by Amul, they, too, are likely to increase the prices within a day or two. “We had already increased the price of butter in some territories outside Punjab,” said a senior official of Milkfed. Similar views were expressed by officials of the Dairy Development Cooperative Federation, Haryana. “We will assess the market situation tomorrow, and then decide on the hike, as well as its quantum,” said a top official. The authorities said that with a shortfall in procurement and increase in procurement price, they were forced to call for a price hike. After a hike in price of milk, it was now the turn of processed milk foods like butter whose prices were being increased. It is learnt that there was a 10 - 15 per cent shortage in milk supply earlier this year. As a result of scanty rainfall during monsoons, green forage was not available, leading to a reduction in yield of milch animals. Milk procurement, inform officials, decreased sharply because of the heat stress in animals. It was in mid-September that the price of milk in the region was increased by almost Rs 1 per litre in the tri-city and Ropar and by Rs 2 per litre in Parwanoo, Baddi and Solan. Sighting a severe shortage in milk supply, which lead to an increase in milk procurement prices, officials in Milkfed and Dairy Development Cooperative Federation said that they were forced to hike the price of milk. The price of cottage cheese had also gone up by Rs 2 per 200 gram, of curd by Rs 2 per 400 gram and prices of bread by Rs 2 per loaf.
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1 lakh given polio drops in city
Chandigarh, November 12 In Chandigarh, atleast 1 lakh children were immunised against the disease at about 461
booths. An important feature this time was the pulse polio camp at Jama Masjid in Sector 20 here. Senior health officials, including the Director Health Services, Dr M.S. Bains, went around the city to supervise the campaign. Dr G.P. Saluja, civil surgeon, Panchkula, informed that 59,724 were administered polio drops in the district. Mobile teams administered drops in inaccessible and difficult areas of the district, including labour colonies, brick kilns, poultry farms and scattered jhuggis. Meanwhile, BSF personnel supported the health department staff in administering polio drops to the children at several places in Chandigarh and Mohali, Dr S.S. Wahid, CMO, informed. As many as 27,659 children were given polio drops in the Dera Bassi block of Mohali district, said Dr Ram Kumar, SMO, Dera Bassi. He informed that 140 teams under 28 supervisors were deployed for the job. The door-to-door campaign will take place on November 13 and 14 to cover left-over children, health department sources added.
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Two commit suicide
Chandigarh, November 12 Quoting family members, a police official said the victim, Suman, was in depression after failing in B.Com twice. The father of the victim, Om Parkash, a peon in the Labour Department, had gone out for some work. His wife went out with the victim’s brother to Panchkula. After having lunch, the victim told her two younger sisters, aged 9 years and 13 years, to go to the adjoining room to study. After the two girls went to sleep, the victim allegedly hanged herself. The body was taken into custody by the police after initiating inquest proceedings. Meanwhile, the body of 32-year-old man was found hanging from a tree near Saketri village here this morning. A diary recovered from the victim’s trousers revealed that his name was Naresh Bahadhur. The body was noticed by a forest guard who reported it to the police.
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CAT issues contempt notice to Defence Ministry
Chandigarh, November 12 The Secretary has been asked to clarify the position of the Defence Ministry by December 12, 2006, by the Bench comprising of Mr L.M. Goyal, Vice Chairman and Mrs Shyama Dogra, Member ( Judicial). The orders were passed on a contempt application moved by Mr HC Gupta, working as Family Welfare Extension Educator, Command Hospital, Chandimandir. He had moved an application seeking that the pay scales of the para medical staff working under Ministry of Defence (MOD) should be at par with the para medical staff of the railways. In 1993, the tribunal had allowed the application stating that the defence staff was superior to the railways staff. But the Ministry had challenged the orders of the CAT in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. But the respondents were asked to approach the tribunal. Since there was no stay on the operation of the tribunal order, the order of Col A.L. Verma, Director, AFMS (Health), was not in accordance with the observations made by the Bench in its order dated November 6, 2003. On November 9, Col Verma was not able to produce the communication between his office and the MOD. Col Verma said the orders to reject the claim of the applicant for higher pay scale had been taken by the Ministry.
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UT rehabilitation policy draws flak
Maneesh Chhibber Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 12 On November 7, the UT Administration decided to do just what the SC did not want: reward encroachers of public land. During hearing of petitions filed by Panjab University (PU) and allottees of plots at the proposed press sites, the Punjab and Haryana High Court was informed by the Senior Standing Counsel for the UT Administration that a policy to resettle inhabitants of Kumhar Colony, Sector 25, and Colony Number 4 by providing them one-room tenements at soon-to-be constructed complexes was being notified. The policy - Chandigarh Small Flats Scheme, 2006 - the brainchild of the UT Administrator, Gen S.F. Rodrigues (retd), provides for resettlement of over 24,000 illegal inhabitants on public land by offering them one-room tenements at Maloya and Dhanas. All inhabitants of the colonies registered as voters as on January 1, 2006, will be covered under the new policy. While formulating the ambitious plan, the Administration also chose to reiterate the observation of the Apex Court in the Almitra judgement: "The establishment or creating slums, it seems, appears to be a good business and is well organised. The number of slums has increased in the last few years by geometrical proportion. Large areas of public land are, in this way, being usurped for private use." While the court was referring to what was happening in New Delhi, Chandigarh too fits the bill. "With the active connivance of corrupt public servants, people coming from other parts of the country to the city in search of a better living, encroached upon public land. Since the Administration never bothered to get its lands freed from the clutches of these persons, it has now decided to adopt this method. What is the guarantee that fresh encroachments will not take place? Also, who's going to ensure that the slum-dweller who is given an alternate place will not sell or rent it out and return to his originally encroached land?" asks Punjab and Haryana High Court lawyer Waman Walia. Incidentally, arguing the matter, the senior counsel for the Administration, Mr Anupam Gupta, had told the court that the notification pertained to the permanent rehabilitation of all slum-dwellers in the city, wherever they might be. He also stated said the Administration had conducted a biometric survey, which included getting each inhabitant photographed and taking his or her fingerprints of the 18 colonies and slums in March. This was done to establish the physical presence of inhabitants in slums, he added. He, however, did not give any time-frame for the resettlement to be completed. But, critics of the policy say it will actually cause further encroachment rather than checking it. "When word goes out that the Administration is rewarding violators in such a manner, more people will come to the city, thereby creating more slums. While there is certainly need to provide cheap space to the poor, the present policy goes against the spirit of the Supreme Court judgement. Why should only a slum-dweller be entitled to such rewards? Why not poor people from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, who are equally poor but have been living in rented accommodation at great financial loss, paying all dues to the Administration, only because they don't want to break the law? The signal that the Administration is sending out is that in Chandigarh it is all right to break the law," says leading lawyer and human rights activist Ranjan Lakhanpal.
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Rail exam: Heavy rush creates chaos at station
Chandigarh, November 12 According to officials 62000 candidates had been called for the examination, however, only 16515 candidates appeared. The examination was conducted across 120 centres in Panchkula, Mohali and the city. Though no trains were delayed the heavy rush saw passengers of other trains waiting on the platform very harassed. Talking to TNS Mr Mukul Prasad, who had come from Sector 28 to purchase a ticket, stated, “There is such a heavy rush and I have no space to stand, every few minutes I am pushed. I wish they had given us some prior notice of this rush, we would have avoided coming today.” Interestingly, the examination was being only conducted for 28 seats under the graduate quota. The candidates were, however, not surprised by the heavy rush. “I was expecting many more. My paper went well, I hope I clear it,” stated Mr Sujal Kaul, a resident of Jammu. Ms Shailee Mathur who had come from Delhi was not too happy though, “It is a shame that we have to be bundled like sheep for this test and that too for only small number of seats. I never knew so many would apply.” According to officials the examination was conducted peacefully. Also to clear the heavy rush of people who were appearing for the examination a special train was also run for the candidates in the afternoon at 3 pm. According to officials arrangements were made for the special running of buses by the CTU also. Extra security too was put up at the station. Talking to TNS Mr RK Dutta, Station Superintendent, stated that they had made the best arrangements they could and the examination was conducted smoothly without any incident. |
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New excise policy discussed
Chandigarh, November 12 Sources said various irritants in the excise policy, issue of licence fee, decreasing of categories of the licencee and minimum retail price were among the main points discussed.
— TNS
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Playing as left-in-linkman for the Chandigarh Hockey Academy team, local boy Preet Inder Singh will display his skills against the Union Academy of Delhi in the match for third place in the 35th Nehru Junior Hockey Tournament at Shivaji Stadium, New Delhi.
An integral part of the team, Preet Inder was the best scorer during the Nehru Junior Hockey Tournament (Under-14), held at New Delhi in 2004.
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Damien Rinaldo a renowned hairdresser, is in town at the Tress Lounge, Sector 35-D, Chandigarh, to conduct a training programme, in collaboration with L’Oreal, on latest techniques in hair cut and colour. Damien has been working as Head Artistic Director with a famous chain of salons (Hair Machine) in Australia and also owns his own salon for the past seven years.
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Passing Through
Why did the company choose India?
The group zeroed in on India because the tourism industry in the country is flourishing at 8.5 per cent per annum growth rate and the same is likely to remain steady for the next decade or so. Otherwise also India has the second fastest growing tourism industry in the world. What are your plans for the region? British Group’s “Dawnay, Day Hotels India Private Limited” plans to establish as many as 40 hotels across the country with 100 per cent direct foreign investment in the hotel segment. The project includes setting up of hotels in Chandigarh, Amritsar and Jaipur. As of now the company has already identified sites for setting up 170-room hotel and 70 service apartments at Pune, along with another 135-room hotel at Ahmedabad. By the end of March next, the company hopes to finalise locations of four-star business hotels in the North India, including Chandigarh and Amritsar. The company is also eying big cities and metros in the country for setting up the hotels. As such, we are looking for suitable sites in Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. How much time would it take for the completion of the projects? The hotels, fully owned and managed by the company, will be set up in two phases over the next 10 years with a total outlay of one billion dollars. In the first phase, the company will spend $ 200 million and the rest in the second phase. — Saurabh Malik
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WARD WATCH Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 12 According to the market welfare association, the only problem is the lack of toilets. The members state that they are happy with everything else. “The roads were recently carpeted and the parking areas in the markets were expanded. The toilets are our only grievance. We have been assured that it is in the pipeline, and we hope it would be done soon,” said a member. The student population, however, wish that the sectors had more modern amenities to cater to their needs. Foreign students too have demanded that there should be a public assistance system. “Many a times, the police tends to harass us for no reason. We wish if there is a councilor, she would meet us and address our issues. Though, we have no role to play in electing her but the decisions taken by them also effect us as we live here,” said Mozag, a resident. Residents complain about the monkey menace, which is a major problem in Sector 14 and the PGI. “I hope the matter is taken seriously and dealt with. It is a very serious issue for us,” said Mr Vinayak Sharma, a resident of PU. Councillor speaks
“In the past five years, all internal paths have been developed. Re-carpeting of roads was being done and parking areas in the market have been widened. Various parks in the sectors have been provided with playing equipment for children. We were also the first sector which was bin free in 2002. If the party chooses to give me the ticket from this ward, I will try and bring Khuda Lahora, which has been added to this ward after delimitation, at par with the city.”
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Development on a ‘poll footing’
Chandigarh, November 12 Visit any road or market in any sector and one will see MC workers busy working, recarpeting roads, putting paving blocks, fixing lights and picking garbage! This sudden shift of events however has the voter very pleased. But behind the please all facade is the truth that these works, which should have been done in due course of time, had been postponed till the last. Tenders for most works had been cleared more than six months ago, but works had been delayed till now so that the voters could be shown that the work was being done. Many councillors who have never heard pleas of their voters are now quick to shell out money from the councillors’ fund to repair something as small as a streetlight. Within the last one week, roads in sectors 8 and 10 have been completed, while work in sector 29 has started. Work in sector 41 and 44 is still going on. The booth market of sector 30, lying ignored for five years, has suddenly been spruced up. Parks in sectors 20, 24 and 44 are getting paving blocks. Cement tiles are being put on the side of V-4 roads in sectors 20 and 44 while in sectors 35 and 44, one can see work being done on V-5 roads. A cleanliness drive too has started with earnest in the city. Senior officials have visited various sectors across the city to ensure work is being done properly. Officials, though not wanting to come on record, are quick to add that this sudden spurt of activity is being done to a large extent under ‘political pressure’. However, residents and traders are not complaining. Their long-pending works are being done and the city is getting a much-needed overhaul.
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IAF expedition halts briefly in city
Chandigarh, November 12 Led by Wg Cdr Harpreet Singh, the team comprises five officers and 13 airmen. They will traverse about 4,800 km via Gorakhpur, Gangtok, Darjeeling, Aurangabad and Kanpur, before culminating the expedition in Delhi on November 25. The aim of the expedition is to carry the message of 'sadbhavana' and create awareness about AIDS and HIV during interactions with the public enroute. The team will also visit schools and colleges to collect data about the students' perceptions on a career in the Air Force.
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50 years of Kerala statehood celebrated
Mohali, November 12 Mr Philip, who was the chief guest at the function organised to celebrate the completion of 50 years of Kerala’s statehood, said in his address that the trend of trivialising news as followed by newspapers today was not healthy. He also cited interesting incidents where newspaper correspondents in their pursuit for interesting information lost the real essence of an event being covered. The presence of a high number of schools and colleges in Kerala also indicated the concern of people for education, said Mr Philip. In the absence of television, panchayat libraries made the latest happenings and information available to the people, he added. The credit for maximum literacy rate in Kerala goes to the Christian missionaries who were the first ones set up schools to impart quality education, he further informed. However, in the present scenario, Kerala is in dire need for colleges of excellence, as people need to get well versed with the IT trend and other technological advances to progress, Mr Philip added. Talking about the history of Kerala, he said the state had been in existence for many centuries now, as was evident from available historical and mythological notes. Speaking on the general health hazards, Dr Lizy Palathingal said most of the people these days were living stressful lives. But simple precautions could save them from much damage. She said in rural areas, villagers should get water from tube wells and wells which were dug much deeper. Otherwise, the pesticides get into the water. While speaking on the general legal rights and remedies, Mrs Tanny Maria Jacob, LLM, said the Right to Information had empowered people to prevent the wrong doings prevalent in the system. She said it was important for everyone to be aware of the law as ignorance of law is no excuse. If anyone was having a tough time to get an FIR registered, they could approach the local court to seek directions to register the complaint. On the other hand, people who have been falsely implicated could approach the High Court for the quashing of FIR. The president of Malayalee Samajam, Mohali, Benny Thomas said Kerala, the southern most state of India, took birth on November 1, 1956. The Portuguese discovered the sea route to India from Europe when Vasco Da Gama landed with his ship at Kappad near Calicut in Kerala in 1498. Other who spoke on the occasion included Haryana ADGP (Law and Order) Dr John V. George, PTL, and Deputy General P.V Sudhakaran.
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Giving new look to old traditions
Chandigarh, November 12 Anne is here on vacation. Her husband and son are accompanying her, and she is also doing some preliminary research into archival collections for a book she is writing on the region. Nothing unusual, except that as Chair of Punjabi Language, Literature and Sikh Studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, she is striding confidently into bastions hitherto believed to be the domain of ‘local’ scholars — learned academicians from this region. “What I emphasise in my work is not just the region but larger questions of how the past is imagined in South Asia and what it means to write history,” she avers. She believes that she has a particular standpoint, but what she brings as a Punjabi scholar, a woman and a ‘foreigner’, is something novel — a dynamic exchange of ideas. Despite having spent 20 years in and out of the Punjab, she says she has a long way to go and is still learning. This while she speaks the language fluently, reads and writes it with considerable élan and most importantly believes she belongs here. In fact, her dissertation for her PhD grew out of her love affair with Punjab — on how this region imagines its past. Now the book she is working on is also on the same subject. “The present makes the past so there is no one past. Under the British, the focus was on understanding land and property rights, but prior to that the focus was on construction of relationships, ‘guru seva’ and lineage. The post-colonial period was marked by an amalgamation of both.” She cites the example of ‘ithiasic vastu’ (historical objects) like weapons or relics associated with the Sikh Gurus. “These things have a history of their own. “If we look at these objects, say from the point of view of museums, these are quintessentially colonial institutions and yet not entirely so because these find representations throughout Asia in the form of preserved relics in families, in communities, maybe not in buildings called museums,” she explains. She, however, does not deal only with Punjab and the Sikhs, but how South Asia developed its past because there was a distinct view that it had no historical past, she says. However, this archaic view is changing as more and more Western scholars examine the same history from different angles finding their own insights, just like Anne. Until the book gets ready, all she wants is to do is to come back again and again to delve into state archives and libraries and to fulfil her “current obsession with ‘paneer’ (cottage cheese)”.
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Publishers disappointed at response to book fair
Chandigarh, November 12 “Sale of books is below our expectation”, say many publishers. “Before proceeding here from Delhi, we were told that the city was one of the most modern in the world and inhabited by rich and famous, who are well educated”, said a publisher. But it has not reflected at the book fair. “ We had the impression that books will sell like hot cakes”, he added. The book fair has been held here after several years. Books meant for children are selling most. “People have shown a lot of interest in books for children. It appears in this part of the country people give lot of attention to upgrade the level of intelligence of their wards”, says Manish, one of the salesmen at a book stall. Mr Nitin Lal Vani, another publisher from Delhi, says that people have also bought books with regard to architecture, designing etc. “Though sale of such books is not up to our satisfaction, we have sold some titles of books regarding interior designing, architecture”,
he added. “A number of actual buyers is very less”, says Mr Sandip Basu, one of the organisers of the fair. The venue of the book fair, perhaps, is not proper. “I believe that if the book fair had been held near Sector-17, the sale of books would have been far better. Natural flow of population in this city always remains towards Sector-17”, he adds. Moreover the bus stand is also close to that sector. At present the book fair is in Sector-34 and it will continue till November 12. “ I wish that people would turn up in good numbers in the next two days and spend some money on books to encourage publishers to come here next year”, says Mr Basu. It appears that Mr Basu is not aware of the fact that those who have the capacity to buy books in this region prefer to spend the evening in some club or hotel to eat chicken or sumptuous food instead of visiting some book stores. Mr J.C. Menon from Aureole Publishing House says that he has sold some titles of ghost books, fairy tales, pop-up books and other fanciful stuff.
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CPI supports Deep Complex residents’ stir
Chandigarh, November 12
The people have purchased land with their hard-earned money and their demolition would ruin hundreds of the families, they alleged. Since land cost in Chandigarh was prohibitive, the common man cannot buy land here and there was no alternative except building houses outside “lal dora”, secretary of the local unit, Mr Devi Dayal Sharma, said.
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Maulana Azad remembered
Panchkula, November 12 Various speakers, including Dr Sadiq, Dr Ifkhar Ahmed Khawaja, Dr Raj Kumar, Dr Chander Trikha and Dr K.L. Zakir, highlighted the contribution of Maulana Azad in the field of education, journalism and national integration. It was decided to celebrate November 11 every year as National Urdu Day by the akademi. Shams Tabrezi conducted the proceedings.
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Tributes paid to martyr
Chandigarh, November 12
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Two arrested for possessing charas
Chandigarh, November 12 Vehicles stolen:
Mr Sabbu Pal, a resident of Sector 32, reported that his Scorpio jeep was stolen from in front of his house. Mr R.K. Mohinderu , a resident of the MES Officers Mess ‘N’ Area, reported that his Maruti car parked in the Sector 9 market, was stolen. Separate cases were registered by the police.
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Head cashier held
Chandigarh, November 12 While tallying the amount, the account holder found that at least 33 of the notes were fake. The complaint was made to the Bank Manager who probed the matter before reporting it to the police.
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‘Bring hotel industry under Essential Services Act’
Chandigarh, November 12 Interacting with the media on the FHRAI
convention's concluding day, he also asked the government todeclare hotel business an
industry and offer all benefits and incentives that were offered to it. Mr Mishra has 21 years' experience in the hospitality industry and has been running a chain of hotels as Managing Director. A Chartered Accountant and a Bachelor of Law degree holder; he is the youngest FHRAI
president. Commenting on the benefits of the conference, Cochairman of the Organising
Committee Man Mohan Singh Kohli said the hotel and tourism industry across the
country had gained in terms of business-tie ups. Besides this, apprehensions in the minds of the hoteliers regarding
collaborating with the big brand names in the industry were removed during a
session here. He said not only the hoteliers from this part of the region,
but the entire country also gained in terms of networking and fellowship. He added that the
hoteliers also acquainted themselves with the latest equipment and skills in the industry.
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CII announces details of farmers' awareness drive
Chandigarh, November 12 The CII has involved state governments, gram panchayats, sarpanches, agricultural universities, NGOs, kisan sabhas and corporates in educating farmers on how they can benefit and improve their productivity from the latest technologies, processes and services that will be displayed at the Agro Tech 2006. The exercise is being conducted in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir. The CII plans to reach out to over 30,00,000 farmers in the region and across the country by November 30. The fair will give farmers opportunities for direct interaction with experts through informally structured special “Kisan Ghostis”. Farmers can also understand, through interactive demos and modules, how to sell their products through the computer and internet, take advantage of the various bank and insurance schemes, learn how to increase the productivity of their land as well as their livestock as well as get the benefit of the latest agri-services. The Agro Tech is an event looked forward to by the farmers and industry alike. Over the years, the Agro Tech has been a huge success with over 250 agro-based companies participating in each of them and over 1,50,000 visitors attending the fair.
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Group travel
CHANDIGARH: Ekido Holiday Tours Private Limited has come up with an ‘exclusive’ Punjabi group travel for the Punjabis. Ekido has started group departures to the Far East, Australia and Europe from this region. TNS
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