& V I C I N I T Y
Saturday, August 8, 1998
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C H A N D I G A R H & V I C I N I T Y |
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Saturday, August 8, 1998 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Conference in Jan on UT
growth |
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CJ
opens country's first |
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Summons issued to Satinder
Dhawan |
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| IT
Commissioner assumes charge Plant trees to 'control pollution' Golden jubilee celebrations |
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Martyrdom day of Major Shankla Contest in aid of blind students |
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Conference in Jan on UT growth CHANDIGARH, Aug 7 — The UT Administrator, Lieut-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber (retd), said today that an international conference to discuss the development and expansion of the city and the surrounding areas will be held here in January. Speaking at the inauguration function of the community centre in Sector 46 here, the Administrator said top architects and town planners would be invited to the conference, which will discuss among other things the growth pattern of the city in the past 50 years and its future expansion with a view to keeping the standard of living high. Stressing the need to coordinate development in the city and the areas of Punjab and Haryana around the city, General Chhibber said that a secretaries committee had already been formed for the purpose. He claimed that the Chandigarh Administration had taken up with the Central Government the problems of the city from time to time. He said the power minister, Mr P.R. Kumaramangalam, had assured the Administration of setting up two power plants of 25 MW capacity in the city of which one would be located in the southern sectors. He claimed that the Administration was making efforts to revive the Ghaggar Dam project with a view to easing the water problem in the city. He claimed that the response of Haryana to the revival of the project was positive. Earlier while welcoming the chief guest, the Mayor, Mr Gian Chand Gupta, said the community centre would be the largest community in the city with a plot area of about 1.25 acres and covered area of about 5,000 sq feet. Listing the achievement of the Municipal Coropration, Chandigarh (MCC), the Mayor said the remaining V-6 roads in the city would be recarpeted by the end of the year. The community centre, constructed at a cost of Rs 29.36 lakh, would be completed in one year. The main hall, the indoor games hall and a library will be part of the first phase of the project. Students of Kailash Bahl
DAV Centenary School, Sector 7, presented a cultural
programme. |
35 teachers hurt in cane charge CHANDIGARH, Aug 7 — Four members of the Nav Niyukt Adhyapak Union suffered fractures and 35 other received injuries when the police used tear gas, water cannon and a mild cane charge to disperse the agitating teachers near the Housing Board roundabout at 4.30 p.m. today. As many as 20 teachers courted arrest. The protesters had assembled near the office of the DPI (Schools) in Sector 17 to register their resentment against the government for ignoring their demand of reemployment despite observations by the Punjab and Haryana High Court that these teachers could be adjusted by creating additional posts. The teachers were dispersed when they tried to break the police cordon near the roundabout. The police initially used the water cannon and then lobbed tear gas canisters. A mild cane charge was also resorted to. Ms Mini, Mr Gurwinder Singh, Mr Gurkirpal Singh and Mr Ram Sarup Sharma suffered fractures. Others who received injuries include Ms Sunita Rani, Ms Raghbir Kaur, Mr Baldeep Singh and Mr Subhash Pruthi. Even women were not spared and were bashed up by policemen in the absence of lady constables. The police did not give a prior warning to them to disperse and they were chased away even before they could sit on a dharna near the roundabout. Later it was decided that
the teachers would boycott the state-level functions and
hold an all union meeting at Jalandhar on August 10. |
CJ opens country's first Lok
Adalat CHANDIGARH, Aug 7 — Mr Justice Arun B. Saharya, Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, today inaugurated the country's first permanent Lok Adalat at the district courts complex here. The Lok Adalat has been set up by the State Legal Service Authority of which the Chief Justice is the Patron-in-Chief. Mr Justice N.K. Sodhi is the chairman of the authority in Chandigarh. Mr Justice K.K. Srivastava presided over the inaugural function. Judges of the Punjab and
Haryana High Court, besides the Home Secretary, Mrs
Anuradha Gupta, the Senior Superintendent of Police, Mr
CSR Reddy, the President of the District Legal Services
Authority, Mr B.S. Bedi, and the Member-Secretary of the
State Legal Services Authority, Mr S.K. Sardana; were
among those who were present.
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Summons issued to Satinder Dhawan CHANDIGARH, Aug 7 — The Judicial Magistrate, Mr Tejwinder Singh, today issued summons to Mrs Satinder Dhawan, wife of Mr Harmohan Dhawan, a former Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, for August 26 on a criminal complaint filed by Mr Gaurav Dheer, who was allegedly assaulted by the Dhawans at their house on May 7, 1997. Earlier the Sessions Judge, Mr B.S. Bedi, had directed the magistrate to issue process and proceed against her according to the law and dispose of the criminal complaint as expeditiously as possible. In his order Mr Bedi had held: "It appears that the learned Ilaqa Magistrate has tried to sweep under the carpet the incriminating evidence against Mrs Satinder Dhawan. "The magistrate obviously fell into a grave error while dismissing the allegations against her and not issuing the process to her. There are sufficient grounds to issue process against Mrs Satinder Dhawan for having committed an offence under sections 502, 323, 109, 342/109, 352/109, 355/109, 427/109 and 120-B, IPC. Mr Bedi had further held: "From the preliminary evidence it may be safely gathered that Mrs Satinder Dhawan was aggrieved by the fact that the complainant Gaurav Dheer, her son, Harman Dhawan and another friend, Mr Ashok Malik, were meeting against the wishes of the parents." The Sessions Judge observed that she joined her husband in shouting and abusing the petitioner and his companion and encouraging the guard at her house to damage Dheer's car parked outside their house. She along with her husband ordered Dheer and Ashok Malik to enter their house and telephoned Mr Harish Dhawan, younger brother of Mr Harmohan Dhawan, and Mr Davinder Singh Babla, a family friend, to come to their house. Dheer was assaulted in her presence. The magistrate had earlier
issued summons to Mr Harmohan Dhawan, Mr Harish Dhawan
and Mr Babla. However, he had dropped the allegations
against Mrs Satinder Dhawan.
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PUDA axe falls on 400 jhuggis SAS NAGAR, Aug 7 — In a daring action against encroachers, PUDA launched a major anti-encroachment operation here today demolishing over 400 jhuggis in Phase III A, sectors 70 and 71 clearing land worth crores of rupees. Armed with two bulldozers and backed by a posse of the police and a large number of PUDA employees, the anti-encroachment team headed by the Estate Officer, Mr G.S. Ghuman, did not face much resistance during the operation. Fire brigade officials along with a fire engine also accompanied the team. On reaching the Phase III A Tower Colony, Mr Jagdeep Singh, Tehsildar, made an announcement on the loud-speaker, asking the jhuggi dwellers to remove their belongings from their units. Mr Ghuman told The Tribune that a 24-hour notice was given on August 5 to these jhuggi dwellers and an announcement was also made by beat of drum. Today again time was given to the jhuggi dwellers to remove their belongings. Most of the jhuggis in Phase III A were made of concrete with tin sheets as roofs. Many of the occupants owned coolers and a few owned refrigerators. The colony had 16 TV cable connections said an employee of a cable operator who rushed to the site to gather his cable wires. Affected women among the Phase III A jhuggi dwellers could be seen crying while removing their belongings and cursing the Punjab Government for evicting them. They said they had been living in the Tower Colony since 1984. They had even got ration cards and their names included in the voters' list. When politicians wanted votes, they said, jhuggi dwellers were taken to the polling booths in cars. After becoming ministers they wanted the jhuggis to be razed to the ground, lamented affected persons. At one stage in Phase III A a tension built up when Mr Amarnath Sirhadi, president of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Federation, Punjab, came on the scene and asked the affected persons to resist the anti-encroachment drive. Slogans like "Inqualab zindabad, Punjab Sarkar murdabad" were raised. The police rounded up Mr Sirhadi and a few others who tried to interfere in the operation. Among the officials present were Mr M.P. Arora, SDM, and divisional engineers, SDOs and JEs of PUDA. According to Mr Ghuman about nearly four acres of land had been cleared in Phase III A whose cost ran into crores of rupees. After about more than five hours operation in Phase III A the PUDA team went to Sector 70 where over 150 jhuggis had come up over the past few years. Mr Ghuman said jhuggi dwellers here had encroached upon more than two acres of land costing more than Rs 3 crore. Thirtythree independent HIG flats were to be built up in this area. However, no resistance was noticed against operation clean up in Sector 70. People were busy removing their belongings and loading them in carts to move to another place. In Sector 71, too a number of jhuggis were demolished. However, PUDA was not able to clear the entire Jhota Kut colony as most of the residents had got stay orders from a court. Mr Ghuman said whenever
the Chandigarh Administration removed encroachments, the
affected persons shifted to SAS Nagar areas. There were
about 2,500 jhuggis on a Chandigarh-SAS Nagar border. He
added that no alternation sites would be given to the
encroachers evicted today. |
Rights panel to hold hearing CHANDIGARH, Aug 7 — The Peoples' Commission on Human Rights will hold its first three-day sitting at the convention hall of the Sector 34 gurdwara here from August 8 to 10. The commission will examine complaints from the people pertaining to illegal abductions, custodial torture, enforced disappearances, summary executions and illegal cremations/disposal of human bodies carried out by the state agencies in the years between 1979 and 1997. The commission comprises of Justice D.S. Tiwatia, former Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, Justice H. Suresh, retired Judge of Maharashtra High Court, and Justice Jaspal Singh, who recently vacated his position as Judge of the Delhi High Court. The commission has also
been requested to determine why the state agencies failed
to perform their duties as required under the rule of law
in spite of the fact that they had been equipped with
extraordinary powers to meet the law and order situation.
This was stated by the convenor, Mr Ram Narayan Kumar. |
Stress laid on breast-feeding CHANDIGARH, Aug 7 — Awareness sessions, talks and cultural programmes marked World Breast Feeding Week which was observed at different places in UT today. The week is observed from August 1 to 7 to promoting breast feeding among young mothers. Addressing anganwadi workers, the head of Department of Community Medicine of the local government medical college, Dr H.M. Swami, said breast-feeding was a panacea for babies. Besides being nutritive and wholesome, breast-milk prevented diseases like diarrhoea and respiratory disorders. Stressing for breast-feeding the baby just after the birth, Dr Swami said there was a misconception among mothers that the first milk, which is called colostrum should not be given to newly born babies. Dr Swami said an exclusively breastfed infant was about 14 times less likely to die from diarrhoea, and three to four times less likely to fall a victim of respiratory diseases. He asked anganwadi workers to educate the rural masses about the benefits of breast feeding. The local branch of the
Indian Council for Child Welfare also organised awareness
talks on breast feeding in labour colonies of sector 25
and sector 26. |
Ex-jail official's plea
dismissed CHANDIGARH, Aug 7 — The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr Sant Prakash, today dismissed as infructuous an application filed by Sitla Prashad Mishra, a former Assistant Superintendent of Burail jail, for becoming approver in the Burail jail blow-up conspiracy case. Earlier appearing before the court Mishra's counsel expressed the desire to withdraw the application. Meanwhile, the police has filed an application in the court stating that the case was being investigated and evidence was being collected. After the completion of the investigation, the challan would be put up for trial. The application said that
the prosecution did not want Mishra to become an approver
in the case. IT Commissioner assumes
charge CHANDIGARH, Aug 7 — Mr Ashwani Kumar Luthra has taken over charge as Commissioner of Income Tax, Chandigarh here. He takes over from Mr R.S. Mathoda, who has been transferred as the Commissioner of Income Tax, Haryana-I, at Panchkula. The jurisdiction of
Chandigarh charge spreads over the Union Territory of
Chandigarh and Ropar district. |
Martyrdom day of Major Shankla PANCHKULA, Aug 7 — The martyrdom day of Major Sandeep Shankla will be observed at the Shankla war memorial in Sector 2 here tomorrow. The guard of honour will be presented by the Dogra Regiment. Maj Shankla had died while
fighting insurgents in Jammu and Kashmir. He was
posthumously awarded Ashok Chakra. |
Plant trees to 'control
pollution' CHANDIGARH,
Aug 6 — The swaran jayanti kunj programme was
inaugurated by the Mayor, Mr Gian Chand Gupta, at Maloya
village, near here, today. |
Contest in aid of blind students CHANDIGARH, Aug 7 — An inter-state school drama competition will be organised to help blind students by Yug Marg, a local eveninger at 9.30 a.m. on August 25 at Sector 23 Bal Bhavan. According to a press note
issued by the Editor of the daily earnings from the event
would be distributed among blind students and the poor.
PANCHKULA, Aug 7 — The district administration is organising a series of functions as part of the concluding celebrations of the golden jubilee of the country's Independence. The celebrations will conclude with the main function to be held at Police Grounds in Sector 5 on August 15. The Finance Minister, Mr Charan Dass, will unfurl the National Flag. A spokesman of the administration said government buildings in the district would be illuminated on August 14, before which 'prabhat pheris', poetry recitation, cultural programmes and rangoli contests would be organised. As part of the
celebrations the Deputy Commissioner distributed recently
10,000 saplings in the Morni area. |
Campus beat CHANDIGARH, Aug 7 — Elections to the Panjab University Teachers' Association (PUTA) have been rescheduled for August 25 following procedural errors in the process. The outgoing executive committee is understood to have expressed regret and announced that the entire process will be repeated. Candidates will be required to fill their nomination papers once again. Any staff member who has not paid the subscription could now do so till August 10, Dr S.P. Gautam, a candidate for the post of the president, said. The elections are supposed to be held within 45 days of the beginning of an academic session. The voters' list has to be finalised 15 days before the election. The date of finalising voters' list in this election should have been July 26. However, voters' list was finalised on July 31, sources said. The candidates' list should be finalised at least six days before the poll. In this case it was finalised only four days before polling, sources pointed out. The elections were scheduled for August 10. M.Sc. admission: The written test and interview for candidates seeking admission to M.Sc. (industrial chemistry) will be conducted by the Department of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Panjab University, on August 13. Written test and interviews for candidates of M.Tech. (polymers) will be held on August 20. Test and interviews for ME (chemical) will be held on August 21. Students who have qualified GATE will be exempted from the written test. The merit list will be prepared on the basis of 60 per cent weightage for qualifying examination and 40 per cent for the written test. Interview date: Interviews for candidates who have qualified in the entrance test for admission to LL.B. and postgraduate diploma in computer applications at the Regional Centre, Muktsar, will be held on the Panjab University campus in Chandigarh on August 17, an official, press note said here. Interviews for LL.B. will be held in the Law Department in the morning session. Interviews for the PGDCA will be held in the Department of Computer Science and Applications in the afternoon session. Inauguration: The Chief Minister of Punjab, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, will inaugurate the Regional Centre of Panjab University at Muktsar on Saturday. The centre will offer courses in LL.B., postgraduate diploma in computer applications and masters degree in certain streams of arts and social sciences. B.Ed. results: Only ten seats are left in the B.Ed. UT pool with the combination of any two subjects (at the graduation level) out of home science, fine arts and music in Government College of Education, Sector-20D. All general and UT pool seats have been filled. Further two seats are left with the subject of music in the general pool in Dev Samaj College of Education, Sector 36. A total of 21 seats in the UT pool are yet to be filled. The break down is B.Sc. (home science) 11 and music 10. The admissions will commence from merit 951 onwards. Campus interviews: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India will organise campus interviews in September and November. Launched in 1996, the interviews provide an opportunity for employers and the newly qualified chartered accountants to meet and take up positions in industry and trade according to a statement by the institute on Friday. Criticised: The Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers' Union has flayed a statement by the principal of SGGS College regarding teaching days in affiliated colleges. Prof R.R. Rawat, secretary of the union, said the statement was not based on facts, and hence was misguiding. Drive: The Panjab University Staff Home Provision Associates Cooperative House Building Society (PUSHPAC), organised a sapling plantation drive at its under construction complex in Sector 49. Prof M.M. Puri, Vice-Chancellor, PU, was the chief guest. The relay fast of the
local unit of the NSUI in support of certain demands
entered the third day on Friday. As many as 10 students
of the Physics department sat on fast. Munish Anand
outgoing president of PUSC will sit on an indefinite fast
on August 10. |
Crime file CHANDIGARH, Aug 7 — In a typical filmi style, a couple allegedly robbed a Sector 20 woman of her gold ornaments on the pretext of curing her illness. Vidyawati , a retired school teacher, was going to the Sector 20 dispensary when an unidentified man approached her saying that he could cure her of her illness, the police said today. Within minutes a young woman joined him. The two convinced the old woman that she could be cured by an ayurvedic medicine. They asked the victim to part with her gold ornaments — a necklace, two bangles, earrings and a finger ring — as they would require these to say certain mantra. The victim was taken in by their words and did the same. The ornaments were wrapped in a handkerchief and the man then recited some mantras . The handkerchief was handed back to the old woman and she was asked to wear the ornaments after taking a bath at home. After reaching home she carried out the "prescribed" ritual and opened the handkerchief to find only a piece of wire and some pieces of paper. A case under Section 420 of the IPC has been registered in the Sector 19 police station .. Two hurt: Two persons have been injured in separate road accidents in the city in the past 24 hours. A cyclist, Nanak Chand, of Sector 46 was injured when a truck hit him on the road separating Sectors 31 and 47. The truck sped off. The injured was admitted to the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32 . A motor cyclist, Munish Sharma, a resident of Kurali was injured when a Maruti car driven by Jaswant Singh of Sector 15 hit him near Sarangpur village of the union territory. The injured was admitted to the PGI. The car driver has been arrested. Assault: Raffiq Mohammed of Mauli Jagran village, alleged that he was assaulted by Mustaq Ali . Both live in the same house. A case has been registered. PANCHKULA Fatal mishap: Madvinder Singh of Sector 28, Chandigarh, died after his scooter was hit by an unidentified vehicle near the Chandimandir railway crossing near here on Thursday. According to the police, Udhay Raj, a resident of Rajeev colony here, who was pillion riding on the scooter received injuries in the accident. A case under Sections 279,
337 and 304-A of the IPC has been registered. |
Cultural scene CHANDIGARH: An exhibition — "From Empire to Emporium'' — is being held at Government Museum and Art Gallery to commemorate the golden jubilee of Independence. It has come from Durban, South Africa specially for the occasion and is curated by Emma Tarlo, designed and installation by Sumant Jayakrishnan and coordinated by Pooja Sood. This is one of those rare shows into which a lot of hard work and research has gone and is based on historical facts. The way it has been designed and presented is incredible. Installation along with the silent ambience transports the viewer into a different world. It opens with a statement as what khadi means to a common man and its association with white clad freedom fighters. In olden days it was spun at home and woven by professionals. Gradually people started getting cheap mill-made cloth from Britain, thanks to the efforts of John Horbes Watson. He used to send designs of Indian garments to his own country. All those plates were compiled in a book, "The Textile Manufacturers and Costumes of People of India'' (1866). Slowly the western influence became evident in shoes, tailored jackets, watches and Victorian blouses. In 1890 "swadeshi'' movement caught on British mill clothes were boycotted and burnt. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi came into the picture and lent an impetus to the movement. There were many who supported khadi but there were many who disapproved of it like Sarojini Naidu, Kasturba Gandhi, who initially opposed it, Rabindra Nath Tagore. Intellectuals like Tagore thought that economic and nationalistic issues were being confused. This historical journey is not a slow and serious affair. It has all the ingredients to make it interesting — extracts from books, photographs, cartoons related to the issue, a spinning 'charkha' in the form of a shadow kept behind a curtain. The exhibition will be
open till September 15. — Priti Verma |
Corporation beat CHANDIGARH, Aug 7 — Members of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation Horticulture Workers' Union staged a dharna in front of the corporation office in support of their demands here today. The employees raised slogans against the municipal authorities for the active privatisation policy being pursued by them. While the employees had already suffered on account of their being transferred from various departments of the Administration to the corporation, they were again being victimised. Members of the working committee of the union said the decision to lease out the two nurseries in Sectors 23 and 26 to private parties on the pretext of cutting down losses was arbitrary and against the interests of the employees. Other issues raised at the dharna were regularisation of the services of daily wagers, release of arrears, revising of pay scales, risk duty allowance, grant of proficiency increment to field staff besides the settlement of pensionary benefit cases. MC move draws flak: The Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee on Friday criticised the municipal corporation for its decision to auction parking lots in different parts of the city on August 12. In a statement issued
here, the party spokesman said that the corporation need
not tax people of the city as it would get more
allocations from the Central Government. He added that
the local MP had failed to get an increased Plan
allocation on a par with previous years, resulting in the
increase in allocation being only 6 per cent against 11
per cent to 13 per cent in previous years. |
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