Raiding police party fired at
CHANDIGARH, Nov 27 — A raiding party of the Chandigarh Police — chasing the gang that raped women of the same family two nights ago — was reportedly fired at by two of the suspected gang members hiding in a remote place near Karod village in Una district of Himachal Pradesh in the wee hours today, according to police sources.

A strong posse of police personnel assisting the authorities during the demolition drive to thwart any untoward incidents. In the background pulled down structures can be seen. — A Tribune photograph

Vehicles stranded on the Panchkula-Naraingarh highway after residents blocked traffic to protest against the demolition being carried out by authorities. — A Tribune photograph

Irate residents block traffic
CHANDIGARH, Nov 27 — Hundreds of commuters travelling by road between Chandigarh and Delhi faced unprecedented problems as both highways leading to the National Capital remained closed for more than two hours today.

Infrastructure cess withdrawn?
CHANDIGARH, Nov 27 — Has the infrastructure cess imposed by the Punjab Government, effective November 11, been withdrawn?

Five shopkeepers booked
CHANDIGARH, Nov 27 — As many as five shopkeepers have been booked by the UT Food and Supply department for not displaying the price lists of food items outside their establishments.

Works of 85 artists on display
CHANDIGARH: The Sobha Singh Memorial Art Society, Andretta, in collaboration with the North Zone Cultural Centre, Patiala has mounted an exhibition of the works by artists from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh at Punjab Kala Bhavan, Sector 16-B, till November 29.

PU to conduct CET for engineering
CHANDIGARH, Nov 27 — The common entrance test for admission to the local engineering college and College of Architecture will be conducted by Panjab University.

Irate residents block traffic
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 27 — Hundreds of commuters travelling by road between Chandigarh and Delhi faced unprecedented problems as both highways leading to the National Capital remained closed for more than two hours today.

While National Highway 22 has been closed for three days for repairs at a bridge on the Ghaggar bridge near Dera Bassi, the alternative route via Panchkula Ramgarh was blocked by irate residents to protest against demolitions being carried out near Panchkula.

Several people bound for Delhi could be seen pleading with policemen near the traffic lights at Zirakpur, where a barricade had been erected to divert traffic through alternative routes. The harried cops at the barricade were visibly fed up, giving directions to hundreds of commuters, and were heard asking whether anyone read the newspapers these days.

The authorities had to station scores of personnel to prevent any untoward incident and regulate the flow of traffic even though tempers ran high as some commuters did not know the alternative routes that were being explained to them. They insisted on being explained in detail and in the process held up traffic. Several vehicles carrying ministers and senior officials were, however, waved on much to the chagrin of the common man.

Many people tried their luck on Himalayan Queen leaving Chandigarh in the evening. There was great rush. Those coming from Shimla and bound for Delhi were left high and dry. A large number of trucks carrying raw material were stranded.

Several people who had to visit places on the closed stretch of the road could be seen walking. Autorickshaw drivers had a field day ferrying passengers. People were seen crossing over the bridge despite appeals from the men carrying out repairs. The adventurous ones were seen lugging their two-wheelers through the river bed of the meandering Ghaggar.

Apart from the two roads, the only other land route between Chandigarh and Delhi is from Rajpura onwards to Ambala. However, many are not aware of this route and entailed a detour of more then 20 km to 25 kms.

The bridge was constructed in 1952. This is the second time in as many years that repairs are being carried out. The cost of repairing the 12-span 320.40-meter long bridge is in the vicinity of Rs 39 lakh. The work is being carried out by a Delhi based company specialising in pre-stressed concrete repairs and maintenance under the supervision of the Central Works subdivision Punjab PWD, (B&R branch).

Talking to TNS, Mr K.S. Bhinder, Deputy Executive Engineer overseeing the work said although repairs were carried out last year in June the compression seals could not be fixed as the engineers of company entrusted with the job were executing a similar project elsewhere. Being a specialised task, the seals are laid by expert engineers.

In June last the damaged expansion joints imported from Canada were put in place. The slab main base and the wearing coat were relaid with asphaltic concrete and covered with mastic asphalt. Protection work on the floor of the bridge was undertaken in the first five spans which experienced more discharge of water during the monsoons.

In the present course damaged steel and RCC railings on the bridge and the approach roads, respectively, will be repaired or reinstalled.

Mr Bhinder said the work would continue round-the-clock and the bridge was likely to be opened to traffic by Monday morning.

Infrastructure cess withdrawn?
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 27 — Has the infrastructure cess imposed by the Punjab Government, effective November 11, been withdrawn?

The answer is in the affirmative if one is to believe the government official press note of November 17, which, inter alia, said that the Excise and Taxation Department had been asked not to proceed with the collection of this cess in view of the representation made by industry and trade.

The answer is in the negative if the Indian Oil Corporation's correspondence with the State Government is any indication.

The IOC Deputy General Manager, Mr A.M. Nagar, sent letters to the Chief Secretary on November 9, 19, 24 and 25 in which he quoted newspaper reports giving conflicting dates as to from which the infrastructure cess stands withdrawn or held in abeyance. On top of this, the IOC maintains that so far till November 25, there is no official communication from the government with the IOC that the infrastructure cess has been withdrawn.

In all communications the IOC has expressed surprise that despite a discussion with the Principal Secretary, Finance, Mr Rajan Kashyap, the Principal Secretary, Food and Supplies, Mr P Ram, and the Financial Commissioner (Taxation), Mr C I Bains, on the subject, there is still no communication on the withdrawal or keeping the cess in abeyance. The IOC has pointed out that this was creating problems of billing and may eventually lead to litigation, which will not be in the interest of the government either.

In a communication to its Ludhiana District Coordinator, Mr Amit Mehra, the IOC has said that in the absence of official communication nothing could be done and the matter should be explained to the Deputy Commissioner.

Who has the last word on the subject?

Raiding police party fired at
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 27 — A raiding party of the Chandigarh Police — chasing the gang that raped women of the same family two nights ago — was reportedly fired at by two of the suspected gang members hiding in a remote place near Karod village in Una district of Himachal Pradesh in the wee hours today, according to police sources.

Though no one in the seven-member police party headed by a Sub- Inspector was injured, two gang members, Bittu and Dhani Ram, alias Pala, managed to give the police the slip in the surrounding jungles. The much-talked about " lopsided deployment of the police force" stared hard in the face of the police.

The feeling among middle-level police officials is that the two gangsters could have been easily caught had the police party been bigger. "A bigger party could have cordoned off the entire area around the hideout, thus trapping the two miscreants," is the general opinion. Police sources said that the raiding party had a topographical disadvantage vis-a-vis the two armed gang members.

The two were hiding in house that is located at a height and the only approach to it was through a kutcha pathway that is easily visible from the height. The two members were probably alerted as noise of the vehicle engine in the remote area in the early morning hours could have been heard from a distance. The two would have been bigger catch than Santa Singh, the leader of the gang, who was nabbed yesterday. The arms and ammunition of the gang is with them. Besides these two, another two members are absconding.

Meanwhile Santa Singh has reportedly told investigating officials that his gang raped three and not two women of the joint family in Raipur Khurd village on the night intervening November 25 and 26. Initially family members had mentioned about only two women. Santa has told the police that one of the women was raped by all the five gangsters while the other two women were defiled by two of the gangsters.

Santa was released from Ambala jail in September and a total of 16 cases are pending against him. The nabbed gang leader is proving to be a hard nut to crack. He has told the police that in his criminal tribe of "dheh" it is considered a disgrace to help the police nab members of the same gang.

So determined is he in not helping the police that he does not lead the raiding parties to the exact house but goes around the locality thus providing an opportunity to the others to flee. He did the same thing with the police in Rajpura and helped one of his gang members to escape, according to sources.

The police is trying to get hold of a member of Santa community working in some other gang. Inter-gang rivalry is expected to give a vital clue to the police.

Five shopkeepers booked
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 27 — As many as five shopkeepers have been booked by the UT Food and Supply department for not displaying the price lists of food items outside their establishments.

With a view to keeping a tab on the rising prices and to check variation in the prices of food items in city markets, the recently constituted UT Price Control Committee had made it compulsory for every shopkeeper to display price lists of the commodities. The committee had also constituted different teams to ensure the implementation of the orders and that there was no hoarding of food items by ‘unscrupulous’ elements.

According to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr RK Rao, cases have been registered against 'erring' shopkeepers after a five-member team deputed by the committee conducted surprise checks on shops in different parts of the city and found that these shopkeepers had not displayed the price lists. He said the shopkeepers had been booked under the Price Marketing and Display Order and under different sections of the Essential Commodities Act.

Meanwhile, it seems that the order of the Administration, the aim of which is to ensure uniformity of prices, has failed to serve its purpose as variation in prices is a common thing in different city markets as shopkeepers are still charging prices according to their whims and fancies in the name of quality.

During a survey of different markets by TNS, it was found that if shopkeepers in certain sectors were charging more than what is mentioned in the price lists displayed by them. In some cases even the prices of the commodities mentioned on the price lists by shopkeepers were different than in other sectors.

It was observed that if a kg of " dal chana" was available for Rs 22 in Sector 35, the same was priced at Rs 24 a kg in Sector 20. Similarly, If a kg of blackpepper was available for Rs 250, the commodity was priced at Rs 300 a kg in the Sector 20 market. Same was the case with certain other food items.

Mr Rao said the department concerned would be instructed to ensure uniformity in the prices of the food items.

Works of 85 artists on display
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH: The Sobha Singh Memorial Art Society, Andretta, in collaboration with the North Zone Cultural Centre, Patiala has mounted an exhibition of the works by artists from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh at Punjab Kala Bhavan, Sector 16-B, till November 29. The exhibition coincides with the 97th birth anniversary of Sobha Singh.

In all, 85 paintings by 85 artists are on display. The works range from the realistic to the abstract. Different mediums like oil, pastels, watercolour, ink and pencil have been used.

The exhibition is a mixture of work done by amateur and professional artists. The interesting feature of the show is that the majority of the artists are self-taught. They take inspiration from Sobha Singh and his contemporaries. Most of the artists are young and exhibiting their work for the first time.

The art society will honour the following artists: Bheem Malhotra (Chandigarh), Ashwani Verma (Urmar Tanda), Amar Singh (Ludhiana), Pritpal Singh (Amargarh Kaler), Gurmeet Singh (Ludhiana), Manmohan Singh (Ludhiana), Satwant Singh Sumail (Mohali), Hans Raj (Budhlada), Shakti Singh (Chandigarh), and Vandana Lakhanpal (Solan).

Dr S.S. Johal, former Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala, will deliver an inaugural lecture on "Saint, philosopher, artist: Sobha Singh" at Punjab Kala Bhavan at 10.30 a.m. tomorrow.

Insurance men hold rally
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 27 — Employees of the local insurance sector today took out a rally in Sector 22 to protest against the proposed privatisation of the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) Bill.

The employees carried placards and raised slogans against the government and demanded the immediate revocation of the Bill.

The employees said there was no need to open up the insurance sector to foreign companies when it was meeting the aims and objectives of providing economic support for the developmental projects of the country. Inducting private companies in the name of competition would be disastrous as had been proved by the track record of companies in this sector before nationalisation.

The agitators will also participate in the nationwide strike to be held on December 11 on a call given by the National Platform of Mass Organisations.

Freedom fighters get MIG flats
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 27 — The Chandigarh Housing Board allotted certain MIG flats to freedom fighters by way of a draw of lots here today.

The draw was held at the CHB office in the presence of the Chairperson of the board Mrs Meenakshi Datta Ghosh, and other senior officers of the board.

While addressing a gathering of freedom fighters on the occasion, the CHB chief said the allotment of the houses had been done in accordance with an assurance given to the freedom fighters by the Administrator, Lieut Gen B K N Chhibber, on occasion of the closing ceremonies of the 50th year of Independence.

She added that those freedom fighters who played a key role in the Independence struggle had been allotted flats in different sectors of the city. She, however, regretted that widows of the freedom fighters could not be included in the draw of lots.

She, however, assured the wards of the deceased freedom fighters that she would pursue their case with the Administration without delay.

PU to conduct CET for engineering
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 27 — The common entrance test (CET) for admission to the local engineering college and College of Architecture will be conducted by Panjab University.

The UT Administration has given the formal "authorisation" for the degree courses during the session 1999-2000, a press note said here today.

The test will be conducted in the subjects of physics, chemistry and mathematics.

Candidates opting for the College of Architecture will have to appear in an additional paper of aptitude test.

4000-line exchange opened
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 27 — The local Telecom Department today inaugurated a 4000- line exchange in Sector 37 to cover Sectors 37, 38, 39 and 40 besides villages of Dhanas and Palsoura.

Connections will be released within the next two months. The department has asked subscribers to approach the customer service cell in the Sector 18 office if a connection that is due is not released within two months.

Meanwhile the Principal General Manager, Telecom, Mr Prithipal Singh, has claimed that the snag that led to the breakdown in Internet services has been removed.

However, till new equipment that is needed to augment the capacity arrives, no new Internet connection is being released.

A waiting list of persons applying for Internet is being maintained.

Kanhaiya Lal lone candidate in field
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 27 — Mr Kanhaiya Lal of the BJP is likely to be the Senior Deputy Mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh.

On the last day for filing nominations for the post today, Mr Kanhaiya Lal was the only candidate to file his papers. He , however, will remain in the post for 22 days as the election to the new team of the office-bearers of the MCC is scheduled to be held on December 23.

The post of Senior Deputy Mayor had fallen vacant after the resignation of Mr Prem Sagar Jain on November 2 in the wake of internal wranglings in the BJP after the expulsion of the party councillor, Mr O P Goyal.

The differences between the alliance partners — the SAD and the BJP — however, came to the fore today with the Akalis fielding a former Deputy Mayor, Mr Mohinder Singh, for the post of member of the Finance and Contract Committee of the MCC. The BJP had fielded Mr Des Raj Tandon for the post. A nominated councillor, Mr R S Kailey, also filed his nomination.

The names of Mr Kanhaiya Lal and Mr Tandon were finalised at a meeting of BJP councillors and office-bearers today. Earlier efforts to persuade Mr Jain to file his papers for the post of the Senior Deputy Mayor failed.

The filing of papers by Mr Kanhaiya Lal is seen as a smart move by the Gian Chand Gupta group of the BJP as Mr Kanhaiya Lal was considered to be close to the group led by the local MP, Mr Satya Pal Jain. By offering the post to Mr Kanhaiya Lal, the Gian Chand Gupta group wanted to retain the post of Mayor at the election to be held on December 23, sources said.

Meanwhile, the party president, Mr Dharam Pal Gupta, when contacted, said the "unanimous" choice of Mr Kanhaiya Lal shown that there was no factionalism in the party.

On Mr Mohinder Singh filing nomination for the post of the member of the Finance and Contract panel he said as the BJP had already conceded the post of the Deputy Mayor and chairmanship of one committee of the MCC under the election alliance with the SAD, no other post could be given to this party.

Attitude on women 'must change'
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 27 — "Mystification" of woman has been the basis of her exploitation on a mundane plane, said Prof Rup Rekha Verma,Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lucknow, in her keynote address on "Gender relations in Punjab" here today.

The three-day seminar is being organised by the Centre for Women's Studies and Development, Panjab University and the Institute of Punjab Studies

While debating popular notions about feminity, Professor Verma said that a woman was often identified by her quality of self negation and asked to take pride in it. She also allowed herself to be subjugated and probably sought satisfaction in it.

The VC of Lucknow University said despite broad agreements on the need for more freedom for women society put certain "buts". These people could be called concessional in their attitude. They would not talk of equal and absolute freedom.

The "essentialists" who have attributed certain inherent traits to the two sexes have in a way already created a massive divide. She said she would not subscribe to a hardline feminist viewpoint. "In my view there is no tug of war between man and woman. In fact, the question of gender equality was not that of any war."

"Gender equality is a war between the traditional and the non-traditional elements. On both sides there are groups of men and women", Professor Verma said. She underlined the need for a participatory role and sharing of work as potential solutions.

Addressing the seminar Ms Jagir Kaur, a Cabinet minister of Punjab, used the analogy of earth for woman and that of a seed for men."It is astonishing that the very seed that earth nurtures becomes the tool of her exploitation".

She said that all talk about freedom for women was meaningless without a change in attitude in society. She also warned that freedom did not merely mean defying parents and indulging in vain activities. She highlighted various welfare activities being undertaken by her ministry and announced a grant of Rs 31,000 on the occasion.

Prof M.M. Puri, Vice-Chancellor of Panjab University, said there was immediate need to study deeply all aspects relating to the status of women before preparing a future plan of action. He said it was sad that the attitude towards 50 per cent of the population(women) had been "whimsical, at best indulgent and at worst that of contempt or utter disregard."

Earlier Prof J.S.Grewal welcomed the guests. Prof Indu Banga, of the Department of History, conducted the session while Dr Pam Rajput, Director of Centre for Women Studies, proposed a vote of thanks.

Eminent scholars, including Kumkum Sangari, Urvashi Butalia, Harish Puri and Renuka Daggar, will read their papers.

Contact programme: The first phase of personal contact programme for students of MFC (Part I) in Panjab University will be conducted from January 20 to 28, a press note said here. Students having roll numbers between 5001 and 5300 have been asked to attend the classes in the first phase.

The rest of the students have been asked to attend classes from Jaunary 31 till February 7.

Astrologer held for ‘wooing’ woman
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 27 — Jaipal Singh, an astrologer, was nabbed by the police last night for allegedly trying to woo a married woman by telling her lies that her husband was either going to die or desert her. He reportedly wrote a letter to the woman confessing his liking for her.

The woman was having some problem with her husband and she consulted the Sector 20-based Jaipal Singh to correct it through astrology. In course of the consultations, he convinced her that her husband was either going to die or desert her. He gave her a piece of paper and asked her to go and open it at home without telling anyone.

She did the same, but found a hand-written note in which he had professed his love for her. Angry, the woman showed the letter to her husband who approached the police some days ago.

The police after investigations nabbed the accused and booked him under Sections 294, 506 and 509 of the IPC.

2 dead: Two government employees, including a woman, died in separate incidents after they fell off the buildings of their respective offices on Friday. Anjana (26) of Sector 20 was working in the Sector 38 office of the GMCH. She fell off the fourth floor of the building in the morning and was rushed to the PGI where she was declared dead upon arrival.

In another incident, Nasib Chand (45), an employee of the Postal Department, was in the canteen located on the top floor of the General Post Office in Sector 17 when he fell off the building. He was taken to the PGI where he was declared dead. The police is investigating the death in both cases.

Company duped: A Sector 26-based leasing company has reportedly been duped of Rs 80,000 as someone withdrew the sum by stealing a cheque.

The company had an account in a private bank in Sector 35 and the sum was withdrawn on a stolen cheque.

The Economic Offences Wing of the Chandigarh Police has registered a case under Sections 380, 420, 467, 471 and 120-B of the IPC.

Meanwhile, Mr R.K. Vohra of Sector 22 has told the police that a sum of Rs 31,000 and a cheque book had been stolen from the glove compartment of his scooter (CH-01-T-8736).

4 injured: Four persons were injured in separate road accidents in the city in the past 24 hours. Anu and Suman, travelling on their scooters, were hit on the road separating Sector 34 from Sector 44. Both were taken to the GMCH.

In another incident, cyclists Jai Dayal and Puran Singh , both employees of the Haryana Government were hit by a Punjab Roadways bus. They have been admitted to the General Hospital, Sector 16.

Cop booked: A constable of the CRPF, Charan Singh Bist, has been booked by the police for allegedly trespassing a school in Sector 38.

The Principal of the school, Mr Karam Chand, had lodged a complaint in this regard.

Arrested: Raj Kumar, a resident of Sector 40 has been arrested for possessing eight bottles of whisky.

PANCHKULA

Body found: The mutilated body of Krishan Kant (50), a resident of Shiv Colony, Pinjore, was found on the Kalka-Ambala railway tracks near Dharampur Colony (Pinjore) on Friday.

Sholay is reborn

Rarely is a Hindi film mountedon such lavish scale as "China Gate", now showing at KC (Chandigarh). As far as opulence goes, it falls in the league of "Mughal-e-Azam" and "Sholay". The expenditure of over Rs 20 crore is noticeable in every frame. The care for detail is remarkable. The village set put up near the ruins of Hampi in Karnataka, where most of the film is shot, itself is said to have cost Rs 1.5 crore.

Producer-director Raj Kumar Santoshi has taken a big gamble in making a film, which has no love angle worth the name. Moreover, the central characters are all played by over-the-hill artistes like Naseeruddin Shah, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Danny Denzongpa, Om Puri and Amrish Puri. Hollywood has had very many films of this kind like "Dirty Dozen". But in India, very few producers have thought of breaking the love mould.

But the problem with "China Gate" is that it is too similar to "Sholay". If in the earlier film, two criminals risked their lives to catch a dacoit, here it is a bunch of court-martialled Armymen who are there to redeem their honour. This much similarity would have been palatable, but there are very many scenes which are almost a straight lift from "Sholay". For instance, if the Gabbar Singh essayed by Amjad Khan did his loud talking with McMohan "Sambha", Jageera (Mukesh Tiwari) of this film talks to the kites which follow him everywhere because he leaves behind enough corpses for them to feed on. In fact, his role is modelled all the way after Gabbar Singh, right down to the dialogue delivery. If it was a young Sachin which was killed in "Sholay", it is a young boy here. Similarly, hero Sameer Soni seems to be imitating Amitabh Bachchan when he cowers before the dreaded dacoit, only to snatch his gun.

It goes to the credit of Raj Kumar Santoshi that he has still maintained the freshness of the narrative. The storyline does not slacken even for a second. Nor does one feel like hooting the similarity with "Sholay" overmuch. He is helped in the endeavour by some inspired acting by the veterans of the calibre of Naseeruddin Shah and Danny Denzongpa. It is quite a difficult task to give due footage to so many talented actors, but Santoshi has done the trick. Each of them has a well-etched role and each of these is meaty enough. But the most polished performance has come from Om Puri whose furrowed face oozes the diverse feeling of hurt and determination.

Santoshi has also managed to thoroughly deglamorise Mamta Kulkarni. Lesser actors like Jagdeep, Viju Khote, Kulbhushan Kharbanda , Ila Arun and Tinu Anand etc too have roles which they will long cherish. Paresh Rawal plays the corrupt policeman with elan.

As said earlier, the film has been photographed beautifully by Peeyush Shah. The rocky set of the village is reputed to have been given a rugged, dusty look by clearing away all the shrubbery and foliage. The rocks and stones on all the surrounding hills were painted a rust colour to cover up their natural black exterior.

There are just two songs and that too only in keeping with the mood of the film. Amid all the mayhem and killings, the vigorous dancing of Urmila Matondkar to Anu Malik’s "Chamma chamma, baje re meri payaliya … "evokes more wolf whistles than it would have in any other film.

Raj Kumar Santoshi lives up to his reputation of having some piercing dialogues. In one scene, when Paresh Rawal is himself rattled by the ruthlessness of Jageera, he mutters: who would get on the wrong side of people like these? One never knows when he might end up being a neta. Even when the film comes to a close, the closing titles say that such and such married so and so and such and such character adopted such and such orphan. Then all of a sudden, you get to read that so and so made a TV serial on the incidents of the village and is still awaiting clearance from Mandi House. Could there be a more funny and more caustic comment!

The publicity material of the film presents "China Gate" as a tribute to Akira Kurosawa, one of the greatest film-makers from Japan. Toshiba plans to release the dubbed version of the film in Japan. Now, if the Japanese have not seen "Sholay", they will surely lap it up. After all, their samurai films are not much different.