 |
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Thief gives cops a slip
Chandigarh, February 24 Taking a serious note of the incident, the police booked ASI Sukhchain Singh and constable Balwinder Singh along with the accused Aman Kumar of Kharar after registering a case under Sections 223 (escape from confinement) and 224 (obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against them on a complaint lodged by head constable Kashmir Singh, munshi of the Sector 22 police post. Both Sukhchain and constable Balwinder have been arrested. According to sources, a team of the Sector 22 police post arrested Aman Kumar after he was caught red-handed while stealing a music system from a car belonging to Lalit Uppal of Sector 22-C. The accused was handed over to the police at around 2:30 am and he was brought to the police post. Assistant sub-inspector Sukhchain Singh and constable Balwinder Singh kept the accused in custody and began proceedings against him. Sources said in the morning, Sukhchain Singh was changing his uniform and left the accused unguarded. The munshi at the police post was performing worship while the other cops were busy with their work. Seeing an opportunity, the accused fled. In charge of the police post, sub-inspector (SI) Charanjit Singh Virk said he was at home when the incident took place. At around 7:45 am, he received a call from his staff that they had arrested a thief in the wee hours and he told them to wait for him as he would be reaching there around 9 am. However, at around 8:45 am he received a call from police post informing him that the accused escaped from the custody. SI Virk said efforts were on to trace the accused and raids were being conducted at his residence and other hideouts.
|
|
Trouble at Sukhna parking
Chandigarh, February 24 The Municipal Corporation rules clearly state that for a two-wheeler, the parking fee was Rs 2 and for a four-wheeler, the fee was Rs 5. Sources in the corporation reveal that the MC had hired Aman Security to run the paid parking. The mayor Pardeep Chhabra said the matter would be taken seriously and it would be probed. MPS Chawla, chairman of the Paid Parking Committee, said it was serious anomaly and strict action would be taken against the security agency and the MC officials. While the Municipal Corporation officials were oblivious of the ‘loot’, the employees were charging exorbitantly from the visitors. For keeping the helmets, he was charging Rs 5 against a fixed fee of Re 1. And while charging the fee, the contractor was trying to mislead the visitors by overwriting on the parking receipts. The problem started when a visitor objected to being charged Rs 5 for parking his scooter. Hardip Singh, a traffic police cop, also questioned the employees for overcharging from the users. Some visitors were even refunded the excess money when the contractor was threatened of action. A junior engineer of the Municipal Corporation Bajinder, when asked about the anomaly, said he had changed the contractor. But unmindful of the action claimed by the MC official, the contractor was seen overcharging in the evening. The employees were later handed over to the police.
|
|
Raj Bhawan Rape
Chandigarh, February 24 According to the police, Seetu was arrested from Sector 17 ISBT, here at 4:30 pm. During the preliminary interrogation, Seetu reportedly admitted to his crime and told the investigating officials that he was under the influence of liquor at that time. Seetu was later taken to the Sector 16 Government Multi Speciality Hospital for a medical examination. He would be produced before a local court tomorrow. Seetu is in his twenties and works as an electrician. He is unmarried. The investigating official of the case, sub-inspector Lakhbir Singh, said so far Seetu’s statement corroborated with the sequence of events narrated by other two accused and the victim. The other two accused, had already been sent to judicial custody.
|
|
Mistaken for thief, youth thrashed by cop
Chandigarh, February 24 Rishab Kaushik of Sector 22-C said he was parking his Maruti Zen car outside his residence at 1.25 am. His friend, Mahesh Bhardwaj, was with him. Just then, a policeman walked towards him and began hitting his car with his baton, smashing the car window. He was then dragged out of the car and beaten with the baton. The neighbours rushed out of their houses following which the policeman fled. Kaushik said he was taken to the Sector 16 GMSH for first-aid. He suffered injuries on his forehead, neck and hands.
|
|
No bags, exams up to Class II
Chandigarh, February 24 According to S.K. Setia, DPI (S), the teachers will be sent to Chennai next week for getting training for the new concept. They will be sent in groups and each group will have 10 teachers, including one principal. The visit will be of three days, including one-day sight seeing.
|
|
Charanjiv elected Beopar Mandal president
Chandigarh, February 24 "The big corporates have no business entering retail and the central government should enact a legislation safeguarding the interests of millions of small traders,"Charanjiv Singh, newly elected president of the mandal, told The Tribune. The mandal would coordinate with national traders' associations to "wage a war" against the entry of the big corporates and MNCs in the retail sector, Charanjiv Singh, who is also president of the Chandigarh Wholesale Cloth Merchants Association, said. Talking about his priorities, he said the mandal needed to be made broadbased with representation from "unrepresented markets" so that the fight against the big corporates could be sustained for a longer time. Reiterating his commitment to implementation of his election manifesto, he urged the traders to put up a united front to accomplish important tasks, including a balanced rent Act, simple building bylaws, adequate representation of traders in various committees of the Chandigarh administration and construction of CBM bhawan in the city. As many as 287 of the 295 members voted fro the traders’ body at Aggarsein Bhavan. While Charanjiv Singh polled 158 votes, his opponent Sukhpal Singh got 128, with one vote declared invalid. Gursharan Batra, general secretary of the Chandigarh Wholesale Cloth Merchants Association, hailed the victory saying that it would go a long way in meeting the aspirations of the trading community.
|
|
Silent Communication
Chandigarh, February 24 For them, the workshop in health education organised by the Deaf Way Foundation here turned out to be more than mere routine. It brought them closer to the hard facts of life that they would perhaps have never known. More than 1,93,000 deaf Indians are estimated to be living with HIV and this is the largest HIV positive deaf population anywhere in the world. The numbers are not huge when seen in context with the total HIV infected population in the country - about 2.2 million. But its implications, however, are huge, considering most of the hearing impaired population is blank about its HIV status. Nor are there easy ways of telling them how to evade the virus. But the Deaf Way foundation has solutions to this complicated question which none of the existing HIV/AIDS intervention programmes dares to answer. After years of study and observation, the NGO has developed a special curriculum to create HIV/AIDS awareness among a non-verbal, non-literate audience, which is at high risk due to the sheer nature of its disability. The course has been conducted over and over in the 45 chapters that the foundation has across India. In Chandigarh, today’s workshop was the second of its kind; the first was held last year. “We came back to cover a greater audience. Since the workshop is designed for a small group, we can only cover 25 deaf persons in one go,” said Era Walton, coordinator for the workshop, which has two main components - HIV awareness for the deaf and training of trainers. “We will have to repeat the exercise many times to ensure it is effective. The challenge is to cover everyone in the region who is hearing and speech impaired,” Era added. From the Chandigarh group too, some promising trainers have emerged from within the special group. “They are from among our learners and are expected to cover more disabled persons in the field,” said Prashant Singh, who conducts the AIDS project for the foundation. All of 25, Prashant has committed himself to a daunting task - he is happy having ‘talked’ HIV to a population that can’t hear or speak. Not that words matter in a maze of visuals much stronger. Deaf Way Foundation’s HIV awareness material is rich in pictorial resources designed especially to depict the growth of HIV. Volunteers at the workshops use huge posters to teach the deaf about the route HIV takes, about how it does not spread, about its myths, about sexually transmitted diseases and finally mother-to-child transmission of HIV to help women protect their babies. But before the HIV module can be taught, special educators take the class through a session on human body to unravel the mysteries of anatomy and reproductive growth. The unique workshop is, in the end, about arming a special section of our population with defences against a vicious attacker - the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
|
|
Rotary Excellence Awards
Panchkula, February 24 Rooted in excellence, the honours for 2007-2008 went to the distinguished bureaucrat and Tribune trustee N.N. Vohra for bringing brilliance to public service and to Kapil Dev for uplifting world cricket with his fiery presence.
The day at Indradhanush auditorium in Panchkula was naturally crafted for perfection, as evident from the presence of eminent people. Among star speakers at the concluding session of Rotary International District 3080’s two-day “Sharing Conference” were A.R. Kidwai, Haryana Governor; T.K.A. Nair, principal secretary to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and H.K. Dua, editor-in-chief of The Tribune. And then there were the day’s awardees, who charmed the audiences with the sheer power of their acceptance speeches; N.N. Vohra drew a huge applause for his confessions regarding the corruption of bureaucracy’s ranks. He began by saluting Rotary’s spirit of service and its contribution to polio eradication in India. He came up with strong observations about the state of Indian bureaucracy - its politicisation, value erosion, corruption and ultimate lack of sensitivity towards the suffering of common man. “Relationship between the elected and appointed bureaucracy is a husband-wife relationship. It’s true that the number of tainted bureaucrats today is larger than ever,” said Vohra, anguish bordering his tone. In the end, however, he expressed hope in the bureaucracy’s ability to redeem its reputation, saying, “The success of Kapil Dev is demonstrative, but that of those who govern the nation is not. Good work has been done, but there’s no doubt that lack of drinking water, toilets and literacy are piquant failures of governance, which need to be addressed. We have a significant history of failure and we need to reflect on that,” said the celebrated bureaucrat, now serving as Government of India’s interlocutor with Jammu and Kashmir. Kapil remembered his school days when he used to get a Rotary scholarship worth Rs 100 a month. “It was big money in those days. It is now my time to pay back,” said the Wisden Cricketer of the Century, who had earlier helped Rotary raise funds for Jatinder, the son of a Kargil martyr Subedar Joginder Singh. Today Jatinder was back on stage to receive his fixed deposit from Kapil Dev. It was interesting to see how excellence brought together Vohra and Kapil. “At the philosophical level, pursuit of excellence is a pursuit of the idea of perfection. Both the awardees have made substantial contribution to their respective fields. One is a civil servant par excellence; the other a living legend,” T.K.A. Nair said before he had felicitated the awardees. Prior to his speech, H.K. Dua treated the audiences to the real flavours of Indian politics. He first traced the history of Independence and of excellence in public life as embodied by Gandhi and Tilak, and then mirrored the existing rot in which criminals are ruling the roost. “Forty MPs have a criminal record; political parties are reluctant to give up casteism and to bar criminals from entering politics; 165 districts are reeling under Naxalism; crores are without water, healthcare and education.” Dua said, driving home his message speech on the widening chasm between people and politicians. The day also saw A.R. Kidwai honouring three Young Turks for excellence in their professions -- Anupama Arya for entrepreneurship; Rowena Baweja for filmmaking and Ishmeet Singh for excellence in music. Watching them all were hosts Carolyn Jones from the Rotary Foundation, R.K. Saboo, past president, Rotary International and Shaju Peter, governor, Rotary International District 3080.
|
|
Book on Giani Gurdit Singh released
Chandigarh, February 24 The book indeed is a humble tribute to the sagely author, journalist and religious scholar by his family and admirers his unique scholarly research works on Sikh religion through ten of his literary treatises. “His genius was at the pinnacle of its glory as he sculpted the magna opus ‘Mera Pind’ through which Giani ji had translated the soul of Punjabi pastoral life”, claimed Tarlochan Singh. Seldom had the ‘Malvai dialect’ been so felicitously used in close proximity with the folk idioms which lifted it to spectacular heights. Giani ji had edited ‘Parkash’ and ‘Singh Sabha Patrika’ for 15 years besides carrying extensive research for his books on Bhagat Bani and Mundavani, rated as milestones. An art historian of international eminence and a Padma Bhushan awardee Prof B.N. Goswamy in a nicely worded speech lauded Giani ji as an institution unto himself. He was a class apart as a human being deeply grounded in utmost humility despite being a vast ocean of knowledge on religious scriptures, literature and Punjabi folklore, sharing his discussion on nath yogis, with him. Earlier, Prof Rajpal Singh, secretary general, Punjab Arts Council, and Poonam Singh, editor Preetlari, read excerpts from the much-acclaimed ‘Mera Pind’. Among the prominent people who attended the book release were Justice S.S. Sodhi, Gen Himmat Singh Gill, and many contributors to the book, including Prof H.S. Gill, Prof Emeritus JNU, Delhi, Niranjan Singh Sathi, Prof Bhupinder Singh Khera and Dr Man Singh Nirankari, Bhayee Sikandar Singh Bagrian. The 230-page book has articles by 50 eminent scholars, largely in Punjabi. The four sections cover his personality, the literature that he produced, his religious scholarship and memories, called Sakshiat, Sahit, Dharam and Yaadan. The English section has 54-pages. It has been edited by Inderjit Kaur, former vice-chancellor, Punjabi University, Patiala, and former chairperson, Staff Selection Commission New Delhi, Gianiji’s wife, his son and author Roopinder Singh. Scholars and people who knew Giani Gurdit Singh have contributed to the volume from all over the world and prominent writers include Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar, Akal Takht, prominent academicians like Prof. Pritam Singh, Prof. Haribhajan Singh and Prof Gurinder Singh Mann, Dr Karnail Singh Thind, Dr Nahar Singh and Dr Bhupinder Singh Khera. Messages by Surjit Singh Barnala, Governor of Tamil Nadu; Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister, Punjab, Dr Jaspal Singh, vice-chancellor, Punjabi University, Patiala and Dr Jai Rup Singh, vice-chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar have been printed in the volume. Journalists, including Mohinder Singh, A.J. Philip, Nirupama Dutt and other prominent people from the Punjabi diaspora, including Bhai Harbans Lal, Dr I.J. Singh and Rajwant Singh have also contributed articles on Giani Gurdit Singh and his work.
|
|
‘Taare Zameen Par’ inspires Admn
Chandigarh, February 24 UT home and education secretary Krishna Mohan said as the public is gradually becoming aware of specific learning disabilities
(SLDs), which causes academic difficulties. The Administration will also start a new resource centre at
GMSSS, Sector 8 to take away the stress and tension from the parents of such children. UT education department had earlier arranged for free special screening of
'Taare Zameen Par' for its 2,500 teachers. Home secretary disclosed that the course would help the teachers in identifying the children with the learning disability and take necessary steps to overcome. A screening test would be conducted for identifying the children with the disability with the help of the screening instrument, he added. Mohan said the children having SLDs would be first screened by shorter version of the NIMHANS index of SLDs which include the tests like attention, language, arithmetic,
visuo-motor skill and memory. Children suspected to be having a learning disorder will then be administered the detailed battery, including MIMHANS index of
SLD, malin's intelligence scale for Indian children (MISIC) and PGI memory scale, he further added. After administering the tests, the deficits will be recorded for each child and the profile of performance would be obtained, added Mohan. The intervention strategies would be planned accordingly after the reports of the tests performed and these would be carried out by the clinical psychologist and the special educator, he added. He revealed that the course would help in identifying learning disabled children at an early stage and to develop a remediation programme according to the needs of the child.
|
|
|
Boy seeks aid for ailing mother
Chandigarh, February 24 Living in penury, Dheeraj’s agony is compounded as he also takes care of his three-year-old brother. Dheeraj’s, a student of Class VII at a government school in Mani Majra, life took a tragic turn when his father died on the Diwali night last year. Unable to cope up with this trauma, his mother developed paraplegia, crippling the lower part of the body and confining her to bed, besides developing certain psychiatric problems. It was only with the help of certain Good Samaritans and his maternal aunt, an aanganwadi worker, that his mother, Shashi, could be admitted to the GMCH. Sitting besides his mother at bed No 15 in Block C, Dheeraj, however, exudes confidence in the doctors and faith in God. “By God’s grace, my mother
will be alright”, he says holding back his tears. However, he has no clue from where the money for treatment will come. Earning a meagre Rs 800 per month, his aunt also cannot spare any money for the treatment as she also has to bring up her three children. Despite the help from the hospital authorities, the treatment cost does not seem to be affordable for the young boy. Already a test costing about Rs 6,000 was done free of cost by a private diagnostic centre at the initiative of Dr Sanjay D Cruz of the hospital. However, given the enormity of the ailment, the treatment and rehabilitation costs are going be enormous, necessitating help from NGOs, doctors said. Those wishing to help Dheeraj can contact him at 93567-83739.
|
|
Protest over demolition notices
Chandigarh, February 24 About encroachments involving constructions around gates and fencing etc, the federation employees said the authorities should prepare a uniform plan to beautify the surroundings of such houses. About additional constructions which CHB has been saying “jeopardises the safety of the dwelling unit, the federation members feel the authorities must guide residents about making such constructions structurally sound. About construction of additional rooms in houses especially by poor people, the federation members said the CHB should consider integrating such structures in case they don’t interfere with any public utility system. Among speakers at the rally, who appealed to the CHB to withdraw demolition notices issued to residents, were Pradip Chhabra, councillors Jatinder Bhatia, Vijay Rana and J.S. Kang, former councillor Kamla Sharma and former MP Satya Pal Jain. The residents were represented by Nirmal Datt, chairman; A.S. Oberoi, president and B.S. Chadha, general secretary.
|
|
Rly counter at Chandimandir
Chandigarh, February 24 A senior railway official said the facility of reservation could be availed by general public also. It had been observed that Army personnel had to go the Chandigarh Railway Station or the reservation counter at the Inter-State Bus Terminus, Sector 17, Chandigarh. Few days back, a reservation counter had been opened at the sector 8 post office in
Panchkula.
|
|
DAV schools’ conference held
Chandigarh, February 24 Addressing the conference, organised under the aegis of Arya Vidya Sabha, various speakers stressed the need for holistic approach to education where academics, sports and moral education formed its integral parts. Justice A.L. Bahri, Mohan Lal, adviser of the DAV management committee, D.R. Gupta, director, DAV aided schools and colleges, A.K. Adlakha, director (administration) of the committee, R.P. Seth, education adviser of the sabha, S. Marriya, manager of the DAV schools, Ravinder Talwar, director of sports, and Vibha Ray, principal of the school, were prominent among those who attended the conference.
|
Tiny tots present circus show
Chandigarh, February 24 Apart from this, western dance of Brazil, tiny tots restaurant, Cinderella play, trees and ketchup, traditional gidha and bhangra by the kids enthralled the audience. Earlier, the programme began with the lighting of the lamp followed by Saraswati vandana. Social worker Reshma Singh and Manju Bhalla, member of Juvenile Justice Board, were prominent among those present. Praising the efforts made by the teachers and the students, Jaskiran Harika, principal of the school, said.
|
||
|
10 schools to have cooking sheds
Chandigarh, February 24 The UT education secretary Krishna Mohan also reviewed the action taken report upon the inquiry report submitted regarding a report on worms being present in cooked meal at Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 27. A spokesperson said the UT Administration was concerned about such incidents also so all schools had been instructed to take all possible precautions. Nine supervisors had also been engaged for transporting cooked food in proper way, he added. From now on all schools would depute responsible staff members for taking delivery of meals and the staff members would be responsible for ensuring hygiene and quality of meals", he added. Meals would be stored at a clean, ventilated and adequately lit place in the schools and while distributing meals, the hands will be covered with good quality gloves. Home secretary further revealed that all schools heads would seek feedback regarding quality and quantity of food from the parents, students, staff members and submit the report with their own observations to the DEO on daily basis. The DEO will conduct a fortnightly review with the schools heads and cooking institutes upon gathering of feedback from the schools, he added. Maids had already been engaged for serving cooked meals in the school and also to clean the utensils of children. Mechanised transportation has also been introduced for transporting cooked meals from the institutes.
|
||
|
Modern loos for colleges soon
Chandigarh, February 24 The principals of Government College, Sector 11, GCG-11, Government College, Sector 46, Government College for Education, Sector 20 and Government Home Science College, Sector 10, will identify the toilets which will be repaired. The new toilets will have glazed tiles, new electrical fittings and repair of existing accessories, providing for modern fittings like cisterns, wash basins, aluminium doors and get a fresh coat of paint and whitewash. The Administration already invited tenders for the process. Officials said the toilets in all colleges, with the exception of GC 46, were built more than three decades ago and various piece-meal renovations had been carried. This time the Administration wants to make them better.
|
||
|
From Schools and Colleges
Mohali, February 24 The limelight was hogged by Aryan Victor and Pareeneta, who were crowned with Ashmah Prince and Ashmah Princess titles. A free eye-check up camp was also organised by Dr Rashmi Aggarwal. Dr Roshan Sunkariya, managing director Punjab Health Systems Corporation, gave away the prizes winners. The other winners include Anjaneya Dani, Gurleen and Mehar. Cultural fest concludes
The two-day cultural fest ‘Panache’ at Manav Mangal Smart School, Mohali, ended on a high note here today. The icing on the cake was the last item of the events, a bhangra dance performed by children attired in multi-coloured costumes. Recruitment drive
SQL, a software company based in Chandigarh with its subsidiaries like SLR Infotech, Radius Power (USA, China) visited GGSCMT, Kharar, for conducting a recruitment drive for the students of B.Tech and MBA. The process was started by a pre- placement talk by the company representatives, during which they informed the students about the pay packages and job profile for both the B.Tech and MBA specialisations. Fifteen students were finally
shortlisted.
|
||
PIL filed against temple authorities, HUDA
Panchkula, February 24 R.K. Gupta, a resident of Sector 27, has issued a legal notice under Section 80 CPC to the authorities allegedly for ignoring the unhygienic conditions and poor maintenance of the complex and surrounding areas. Garg said he was raising the issue of cleanliness at Mata Mansa Devi temple with the administrator of the temple and HUDA for the last one year through letters. Pointing out that a nullah running right through the road leading up to the shrine was stinking and was being used for dumping garbage, Garg said authorities have failed to take remedial measures. On the other hand, authorities have denied all the allegations. Panchkula deputy commissioner, who is the administrator of the board, said while designs for barricading of the nullah have been finalised work on laying the floor tiles around the complex has already been started.
|
||
Inside Babudom
Chandigarh, February 24 Koshy Koshy, a 1973 batch of Haryana cadre, has been named successor to Bedi. Koshy Koshy will also continue to hold the charge of director-general, National Disaster Response Force & Civil Defence. Many senior officers working against non-cadre posts and holding positions such as additional director-general and director-general stay back either because of non-empanelment for positions equivalent to their seniority available in the CPOs or they do not want to move out of the state while nearing their superannuation. When the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet decided to promote officers of the 1977 batch on deputation with the Union Government, Punjab’s Sundram Krishna was made additional secretary in the ministry of defence. In his case the post he held earlier had been elevated. |
|
|||||
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
