• Play highlights decadent society

Motorcyclist hit by bus, dies
CHANDIGARH, Aug 23 — Two persons were killed in road mishaps in the city today.

Suicide by student: Jain seeks probe
CHANDIGARH, Aug 23 — The local MP Mr Satya Pal Jain, today urged the Administration to hold an inquiry into the circumstances leading to the death of Pinky, a student of Government High School, Sector 38, who committed suicide yesterday after reportedly being scolded by her teacher.

Shaida's offering
CHANDIGARH, Aug 23 — A book of Urdu poems, "Kaavishen", by noted educationist and writer B.K. Shaida, was released at a function here today. The book has been published with financial assistance from the Haryana Urdu Akademi.

Robbers strike at JE's house
From Our Correspondent

PANCHKULA, Aug 23 —In less than a month, robbers struck again today at a house in Sector 21 here and decamped with cash and other valuables after injuring the owner of the house.

Armed with lathis and iron rods, the burglars, at least five in number, barged into the house of a junior engineer (J.E) of the state electricity department, Mr O.P.Gandhi, in the wee hours. After hitting Mr Gandhi with a iron rod on his head, they pulled the gold earrings off the ears of his wife, Ms Saroj.

The nightmare experience for the Gandhi's lasted over two hours during which the robbers ransacked the house and threatened the occupants, including his two young girls, to hand over all cash at home.

Since February two robberies have been reported from this sector.One of the robberies took place at the house of veteran scribe Tribhuvan Nath. The modus operandi in all three robberies is almost the same. In today's incident the robbers forced their way into the house by breaking the lock of the front door. Then a boulder was used to break open the door of the room in which the occupants of the house were asleep.

A visibly shaken Mr Gandhi told the Tribune that at 2.30 a.m. at least six armed men pounced upon him.On resisting the burglars, he was hit on the head with an iron rod. His bleeding face was then covered with a bedsheet. "All the time they warned us against raising the alarm and ransacked the room", he said.

In the meantime, his wife managed to reach the adjacent room in which his two daughters and a son — Shalu (20) , Arti (17) and Nitin (8) — were asleep. The burglars asked Ms Saroj to open the door of the children's room or face the consequences. "They assured us that they would not physically assault my daughters provided we handed over all cash and valuables in our possession."

Mr Gandhi accused the police for not having acted immediately on their call for help. Meanwhile, residents of the sector blocked the Ambala-Shimla National Highway today for over three hours demanding the arrest of the culprits.

They demanded that the migrant labour, suspected to be behind the incidents, should be screened. They vented their anger against the HUDA authorities for not removing the encroachments in the sector. They raised slogans against the police.

Meanwhile, the police on the basis of the statement given by the victims has registered a case of dacoity. The S.P, Mr Alok Mittal, said "the involvement of the Bawaria and Parti gang is suspected in the recent incidents of robbery in the city. Special police teams have been sent to suspected hideouts."

At least two persons had been rounded up in a combing operation by 70 personnel at Azad Colony in Sector 3 here this evening, he said.

On the demand of the residents, a temporary police post under an ASI and two police assistance booth in Sector 21 had also been set up, the S.P said.

Abhinet's seminar on theatre ends

CHANDIGARH: Ever since Aristotle discussed the origin and function of theatre in the Poetics, the purpose and characteristics of theatre have been widely, debated. And this was the mood of the three sessions of a seminar organised by Abhinet (a leading theatre group of the city that came up in 1974), in collaboration with the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi, to celebrate its silver jubilee year at Chandigarh Architecture College.

The seminar began on Saturday morning with a session on "How I Write Plays". Playwrights Swadesh Deepak, Atamjeet Singh and Nand Kishore Acharya spoke about their art and craft. There was a thought-provoking interaction among producers, reviewers and the playwrights.

Theatre has existed on three levels simultaneously: as loosely organised popular entertainment, as a mainstream public activity, and as an elitist art form. And the second session of the seminar — 'How I Design and Direct Plays' — seemed to throw light on all these varied aspects of theatre. Kumara Verma, Neelam Mansingh Chowdhary and N.C. Thakur shared their experiences and influences that propel them into creating their kind of theatre.

Later in the evening under the direction of Harish Bhatia, one of the founding members of Abhinet, two dramaticules of Samuel Beckett — Ohio Impromptu and 'Catastrophe' were presented. The two presentations brought to the fore the inconsistencies and absurdities of life.

On Sunday morning in the session on "How I review Plays' — there was great deal of interaction among the panelists and the participants. What started off as a meaningful discussion between threat workers and reviewers seemed to slowly digress into a tirade against the reviewers, critics and the press at large interjected by some tips from theatre persons as to what the 'religion' of the reviewers ought to be. Among the four panelists were 'once-upon- a-time' drama critic Chaman Lal Ahuja and theatre person and novelist Virendra Mehindiratta.

As part of its silver jubilee celebrations Abhinet also plans to hold a festival of plays and a workshop-cum-seminar on acting later. — Sonoo Singh

Play highlights decadent society

CHANDIGARH: A satirical comedy play "Goodbye Swami", directed by Shyam Juneja and presented by the Chandigarh Institute of Performing Arts was staged at Tagore Theatre on Sunday evening.

Dwelling on the story of how any swindler can become a swami and loot his foolish but devoted believers was intended to be a comment on how we are the products of a decadent society. The play was replete with image of actors being pushed and kicked on stage and standing on their heads or even throwing apples and bananas onto the audiences.

Shyam Ahuja, who played the main lead as Swami Ucchakanand a thief turned Swami, was interesting in his movements and had some animated dialogues penned by Sushil Kumar Singh on the commercialisation of the Godmen. Parvesh Sethi, as Bade Swami, with his enormous torso was also impressive.

Though lacking in slickness and devoid of wit, the play was a robust attempt to deride the Indian social values at large, which seem to inanely grip our sensibilities. — Sonoo Singh

Motorcyclist hit by bus, dies
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 23 — Two persons were killed in road mishaps in the city today.

Lakhwinder Singh, of Phase IV in S.A.S. Nagar, died on the spot when his motor cycle was hit by a Punjab Roadways bus (P.B.-B-8214) on the road separating Sector 43 and 44.

The driver of the bus has absconded. A case has been registered.

In another accident, Krishan Kant, of Bapu Dham Colony, was seriously injured when he was hit by an unidentified vehicle in the grain market in Mani Majra.

He was admitted to the Sector 16 General Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Beaten up: Mr K.L. Arora, a resident of Sector 8 in a complaint lodged with the police has alleged that he was beaten up by Sohan Singh, his son, Harminder Singh and their three servants.

In another incident, Krishan Kant, a resident of Mauli Jagran rehabilitation colony, was allegedly assaulted by Ram Naresh. He has been admitted to Civil Hospital, Mani Majra.

Car stolen: A car (P-B-10-A-5599) belonging to Ajay Sood, of Nangal, has been reportedly stolen from a parking lot in Sector 17.

Pocket picked: The pocket of Mr J. S. Jaspal was picked from the Sector 20 market. In a complaint with the police he alleged that a sum of Rs 2,600 was stolen from the pocket.

Firing incident: Names of three more student leaders have been included in the FIR registered against Kuljit Singh Nagra and his gunmen, who had fired at members of a rival students' organisation. They are — Sudhir Kamboj, Munish Anand and Sartaj.

Suicide by student: Jain seeks probe
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 23 — The local MP Mr Satya Pal Jain, today urged the Administration to hold an inquiry into the circumstances leading to the death of Pinky, a student of Government High School, Sector 38, who committed suicide yesterday after reportedly being scolded by her teacher.

In a letter to the UT Administrator, Mr Jain urged the administration to hold a probe by on impartial officer so that guilty could be punished and such incidents were not repeated in future.

Meanwhile, the girl was today cremated at the Sector 25 crematorium. The Parents Teachers Association of the school has condemned the statement of a political party calling for strike in the school.

Grace marks issue with Boards of Studies
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH , Aug 23 — The Postgraduate Boards of Studies, Panjab University, will examine whether the system of granting grace marks to students should be abolished .

This follows recommendations of the Regulation Committee with reference to an observation by the Punjab and Haryana High Court asking the university to "have a fresh look at the regulation providing for grant of exemption from appearing in paper or papers in respect of examinations where there is a separate requirement of pass percentage in the individual papers and separate requirement in the aggregate marks reserved for the examination".

The court further observed: "By way of illustration, a candidate who may obtain 135 marks, which means 45 marks in each of the three papers out of four in LLM (Part I ) examination, would be granted exemption under the existing regulation. Such a candidate will have to obtain at least 65 or 64 marks or at least 61 marks in the re-appear examination in order to qualify the examination . If he obtains less than 60 marks he will be declared failed in the paper."

"Thus, on the one hand a candidate who obtains 45 per cent marks is granted exemption from appearing in the paper by declaring pass in that paper and on the other he is declared to have failed in the re-appear paper, despite having obtained 60 per cent marks.A curious situation indeed. But it is a matter for the university authorities or the academicians to consider and I leave the matter at that", the court added.

The relevant regulation of the university reads: "A candidate who re-appears to clear a compartment shall be awarded grace marks up to 1 per cent of the total marks in the subjects or parts in which he has to re-appear".

The situation arose as a result of a candidate approaching the court claiming grace marks were denied to her despite existing provisions in the campus. The candidate had to re-appear in Paper I of LLM (Part I) and was required to pass with 45 per cent in each paper and 50 per cent in the aggregate.

The girl student had secured 198 marks in all. She was two marks short of 50 per cent in the aggregate of 400 marks. Under the regulation, she was eligible for grace marks up to 1 per cent.

The court, while allowing the claim of the candidate, desired that the university authorities should have a fresh look at the regulations concerned.

Certain points on the city roads are in bad shape and are no less than death traps. One such place is located on the main road near the railway station. A two-feet high hump has formed and no one is bothered to set it right.

Many scooters have overturned upon hitting the hump at night and several cars have been damaged.

Another dangerous point is the slip road near the Aroma hotel traffic lights. As one approaches the road dividing Sectors 21 and 22 from Sector 22 the slip road opens at an odd place.

Similarly on Dakshin Marg the slip road turning towards Sector 35 is at such an angle that drivers usually miss it. Even otherwise the condition of the road is very bad and squatters are having a field day. They live no more than five feet away from the edge of road and their little children run onto the road causing worry for vehicle drivers. No one has bothered to evict them.

Deadly manholes
There was a time when stormwater drains used to have manholes made of wrought iron. These used to be promptly stolen by those who wanted to make a quick buck or two in the "chor bazaar". The Administration later replaced these with those made of cement. Being made of "sarkari" cement, these break the moment a heavy vehicle passes over them. As a result, many manholes remain open as an open invitation to disaster. Not only that, the broken chunks of the cover also choke the drain.

A resident of Sector 44-B says that two such manholes near his house have been without covers for the past several months and some vehicle invariably falls in them daily. He is seriously thinking of opening a first-aid centre cum broken-axle-repair shop in the vicinity if the Administration does not cover the manholes soon.

In the net
"Brother officer" is how the men in olive green have been taught to refer to their colleagues. However, one officer, Lieut-Col H.S. Hanjra (retd), may have betrayed the trust of "brothers". Whether this was deliberate or inadvertent is yet to be decided.

The retired officer was working as the local manager for the maligned Hoffland Investment — a company that has vanished after collecting several crores from gullible investors. He allegedly used his links with former defence personnel and helped the company in collecting huge sums from Chandigarh and around. Naturally, most of the investors were former army or air force personnel and their hard-earned money is gone.

Being a frequent visitor to the elite golf club , the retired officer also managed to rope in several retired central and state government officers to invest. Though Hanjra is in judicial custody his "brother officers" known for their plain speaking are feeling let down and duped.

Ditto for the golf club crowd who have just realised that Hanjra scored a birdie at their cost. On the other hand, Hanjra, has claimed that he did not know that Hoffland was going to cheat the investors.

City girl
Ibadat Dhaliwal, nee Kharbanda, an alumunus of the local Carmel Convent School, has done her alma mater and the city proud, by getting "Outstanding freshman (Ist year student) of the year award" at Seattle University in Washington where she is studying Business Administration. She has just completed her first year with an overall Grade Point Average (GPA) of a perfect 4.0. Besides being one of the youngest members, at the age of 19, she has been elected President of Toastmasters International's Seattle University Chapter, a prestigious organisation of business professionals, teachers and senior citizens promoting, teaching and cultivating public speaking. She has also volunteered to be a voluntary tutor for children's literacy project.

Ibadat's father is an engineer with the Punjab State Electricity Board and mother is a postgraduate in English literature. After her marriage, she left India for the United States. She has given talks on India and Chandigarh to students in the US.

Honoured
Among 15 eminent personalities honoured on Independence Day in recognition of their contribution towards society in general and further development of the city in particular was Mr S.D. Sharma, a renowned architect.

Mr Sharma had designed the country's first ever City Museum which was inaugurated last year by the then Prime Minister, Mr I.K. Gujral. Mr Sharma has also designed numerous prestigious projects in the city and its periphery, including the new Paediatric Ward, the water sports complex and a few other buildings at the PGI. Besides, he designed the SAS Nagar based Pharmaceutical Institute.

Mr Sharma, who has the distinction of working with likes of Le Corbusier in the initial years of the development of this City Beautiful, is also winner of several prestigious awards and fellowships meant for distinguished architects.

He was also chosen from a panel of architects after a tough competition to design the Chandigarh Trade Fair complex which is expected to come up in Sector 31 adjoining the CII Regional Headquarters here.

City atlas
The Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation has come out with "Chandigarh Atlas and Guide". Produced on imported art paper and in full colours, it has been priced at Rs 100 a copy.

The text and colourful photographs, besides detailed maps of every Sector of the city, have been included in it. The publication also highlights other features of the city, its heritage, places to see, the educational institutions, the sports facilities, the hotels, restaurants, pubs and the nature trails besides other details which may interest a tourist.

It gives a visitor the vital information as how to reach the city, the timings of major trains, flights, money changers, book shops, emporia, art galleries, museums, movie halls and gardens.

Since the de luxe edition is considered costly for day-to-day use by a city resident, a suggestion has been made to CITCO to come out with a cheaper and handy version of the Atlas and Guide for use by local residents. This edition can be on ordinary paper and can be minus some of the information which is essentially meant for a visitor.

Unanimous choice
The BJP-led coalition government at the Centre may or may not succeed in honouring its election manifesto commitment about making 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and various Vidhan Sabhas but the Punjab and Haryana High Court seems to have already made unwritten 20 per cent reservation for women in its team of office-bearers.

Out of five office-bearers of the Bar Association — President, Vice-President, Secretary, Joint Secretary and Treasurer — the post of Joint Secretary has been held by women for the past several years. Those who held this post in the past are Ms Manju Singh, Ms Divya Khunger, Ms Sushma Chopra and Ms Kshma.

The present Joint Secretary of the Bar Association is Mrs Navinderjeet Jindal. Her election was unanimous. Mrs Jindal is popular not only among nearly 500 women lawyers but also commands respect among nearly 3,000 men advocates.

She has earned this popularity because of her devotion to various problems that advocates face at the High Court. She monitors the arrangements for potable water, tries to hammer out solutions to the problems that women advocates face and concentrates on the beautification of the surroundings of the High Court, including parking of vehicles.

Mrs Jindal is also and Executive member of the All India Lawyers Union which had organised a two-day conference here.

Shaida's offering
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 23 — A book of Urdu poems, "Kaavishen", by noted educationist and writer B.K. Shaida, was released at a function here today. The book has been published with financial assistance from the Haryana Urdu Akademi.

Mr Shaida is an alumnus of Panjab University, Lahore. He retired as Assistant Director, Higher Education, Haryana. Mr L.H. Naqvi, Deputy Editor of The Tribune, who released the book, said that the poet's boundless love for his country and commitment to the concept of universal love and brotherhood were reflected in his poems in Hindi and Urdu.

Other speakers lauded the contribution of the region — which has produced such literary giants as Allama Iqbal, Sadat Hasan Manto, Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Sahir Ludhianavi — to the growth of the Urdu language before and after Partition. They praised Mr Shaida for keeping the tradition alive by encouraging the use of Urdu at least as a medium of literary expression in the region.