CMP celebrates 56th anniversary CHANDIGARH, Oct 18 — The Corps of Military Police celebrated its 56th anniversary today by organising social get-togethers, 'barakhanas' and cultural programmes at different locations in Western Sector today. BSP wants civic body dissolved CHANDIGARH, Oct 18 — The local unit of the BSP has demanded the dissolution of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh as, according to it, has failed to perform its functions effectively.

Stick to standard Principals' meeting rescheduled Four cheating cases registered

Residents resent admn move
CHANDIGARH, Oct 18 — Residents of Deep Complex, Hallo Majra, today organised a rally in protest against UT Administration having reportedly issued them notices for acquiring their land.

Clouds clear, shoppers flock to markets
by Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 18 — City residents spilled out into the streets in the afternoon at the end of a titanic hide and seek game between the sun and the clouds in which the former triumphed over the latter. Until then, shopkeepers looked grim and were tense with hardly any buyer out.

By late in the evening, Divali revellers had a problem finding space for parking their vehicles. All parking areas in the City Centre in Sector 17 were overflowing. The situation was no different in Sector 22-C and D where every inch of open space available in the opposite Sectors 22-A and 22-B was made use of by shoppers.

This sudden rush notwithstanding, those who got special stalls to sell crackers and fireworks had little to cheer about. There were hardly any buyers. A random survey of the shopping centres of the city revealed that except for sectors 17 and 22, other shopping areas hardly witnessed any activity until late in the afternoon.

Special stalls put up along Sector 28-A and B on Madhya Marg and dealing exclusively with crackers and fireworks wore a deserted look. The situation was no better in the markets of sectors 8, 9, 10 and 11. There was some activity in sectors 15 and 16. With the exception of Sector 22, other markets in north of Dakshan Marg, too, witnessed little trading activity.At one stage it looked as if the city was heading for its bleakest Divali ever.

But things took the turn for the better to the great relief of shopkeepers late in the afternoon after the sun came out brightly. The shopping centres started filling and soon overflowed with festival shoppers. Household goods, eatables, garments and sweet sellers, and cracker sellers were not happy with the response from buyers. Unlike previous years, these shops were still full of freshly prepared sweets. Perhaps inclement weather, coupled with unprecedented rain for the past 36 hours is taking its toll.

The police has made elaborate arrangements. At each intersection and busy shopping centres, police squads have been deployed.

After two days of erratic power supply in certain pockets of the city, including Industrial Area (Phase II), sectors 29, 31, 46, 47, 19 and 14, the Chief Engineer, Mr R.K. Jain, and Superintending Engineer (Electrical), Mr P.S. Chawla, claimed that all technical snags had been rectified.

An endeavour is being made to make 100 per cent streetlights under the control of the Administration functional from today. Defective and damaged street lights are being repaired.

Problems in certain areas were because of a technical snag in the Industrial Area substation where a battery gave in, leading to tripping of one of the two transformers.

Both Mr Jain and Mr Chawla expressed the hope that there would be no problem of power supply on Divali day. Special arrangements had been made to attend to complaints about power supply expeditiously at each maintenance centre.

Against the consumption of more than 33 lakh units of power a day until last week, it has dropped to 25 lakh units a day because of the sudden and big drop in day and night temperatures.

Many shopping centres and places of worship in the city were illuminated. Special congregations have been planned at gurdwaras, temples and other places of worship tomorrow.

The Medical Superintendent of the PGI, Dr A. Gupta, told The Tribune that the emergency ward of Nehru Hospital was fully geared up to deal with cases of eye or burn injuries. Special provisions had been made in terms of supplies, manpower and doctors. Eye specialists would be available round the clock, he added.

Dr V.K. Kak, Director-Principal of the Sector 32 Medical College Hospital, said that all necessary arrangements had been made to handle emergency cases arising out of Divali injuries, including injuries to the eyes.

Dr J.L. Chaudhary, Medical Superintendent of the Sector 16 General Hospital, said a team of doctors, including ophthalmologists, orthoaedicians and dermatologists would be available from early tomorrow morning until the morning of October 20.

The Chief Fire Officer, Mr Darshan Singh, told the newspaper that the fire brigade was in readiness for any emergency.

One order for 17 cases
PUDA told to pay interest with costs
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 18 — An order of the UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (II) has disposed of a bunch of complaints of 17 different local consumers in the form of a relief order against the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA).

The forum has ordered an 18 per cent interest on amounts held by PUDA for a period of over six years before refund. Each complainant is also entitled to Rs 550 as the costs.

In October, 1989, PUDA came out with an advertisement to conduct a demand survey for social housing. The proposed dwellings those desirous of owning a house were put in three categories — low income group, middle and high income groups. Except one complainant all deposited Rs 3000 each meant for the high income group housing.

There was no communication from PUDA till June, 1996, when the amounts were refunded to the complainants. As they were not to given the proposed houses, complainants demanded interest on their principal amounts.

The forum noticed that not only the consumers been left in the lurch regarding the housing scheme, but they have also not been paid a single penny as interest for the retention of their money for a long period. The forum found PUDA guilty of deficiency in service.

The forum ordered payment of 18 per cent interest "for the period up to the date of payment of the amount, less the period of first two years from the date of deposit".

The order has to be complied with in two months of the receipt of its copy.

Power tariff hike, price rise come under flak
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 18 — The recent hike in power tariff in the city and the general price rise came in for severe criticism at a discussion organised by Jan Shakti, a social organisation, at Lajpat Rai Bhavan, in Sector 15, here today.

While calling for special efforts to check corruption and malpractices in the Electricity department, various speakers wanted strict action taken against the "big sharks", who steal power and do not pay bill for years, allegedly in connivance with certain officials of the department.

The creation of two non-plan subdivisions in 1993 had also led to wasteful expenditure, they alleged, adding that it would have been better had the four existing subdivisions been upgraded.

The speakers also wanted the Central government to come up with a policy to reduce inflation to 1 per cent within a period of 10 years.

Well-directed and planned efforts to check corruption was also suggested at the meeting.

CMP celebrates 56th anniversary
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 18 — The Corps of Military Police (CMP) celebrated its 56th anniversary today by organising social get-togethers, 'barakhanas' and cultural programmes at different locations in Western Sector today.

At the main function at Chandimandir, near here, Col Ajit Singh, Officiating Deputy Provost Marshal, Western Command, exhorted the men and officers of the corps to work with dedication, maintain good order and discipline.

The Chief of the Army Staff, Gen VP Malik; GOC-in-C of Western Command, Lieut-Gen HB Kala; Colonel Commandant of the Corps, Lieut-Gen SS Grewal; and the Provost Marshal, Major-Gen GH Israni; have lauded the services of the men and officers of the corps for their excellent work in all spheres.

BSP wants civic body dissolved
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 18 — The local unit of the BSP has demanded the dissolution of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh as, according to it, has failed to perform its functions effectively.

The party in a statement here today, alleged that the condition of basic amenities, particularly in Mani Majra, was deteriorating with each passing day.

It urged the Chandigarh Administration to roll back the hike in power tariff and announce bonus to the employees.

Residents resent admn move
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 18 — Residents of Deep Complex, Hallo Majra, today organised a rally in protest against UT Administration having reportedly issued them notices for acquiring their land.

Protesters walked to The Tribune office where the rally was addressed by leaders of the welfare association.

Mr Jagtar Singh Benipal, president of the association, said a large number of residents of the area had invested money out of their provident fund after retirement.

More than 1,500 families would be affected by the move, he added.

The association urged local political parties and social organisations to come forward to their rescue.

A request has been also been made to the Administration to take back the notices.

Principals' meeting rescheduled
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 18 — A meeting of principals of colleges of Panjab University has been rescheduled for November 9. The meeting was to be held on November 6.

Dr Deepak Manmohan, Dean College Development Council, told TNS today that there was also a slight change in the prelude to the meeting.

Proposed workshops on various key issues like examination reforms, new courses, implementation of environment studies and future of vocational courses which were to be organised before the meeting will now be organised after the issues have been discussed on the floor of the house.

Dr Manmohan said this would enable to have a framework of the exact requirements of the committees. Instead of generalised recommendations the committees would be more meaningful once the "core issues" have been sieved after broad based arguments, he added.

This is the first time that a new course of environment studies will be implemented at the undergraduate level. The syllabi have been simplified. However the modalities of how the lectures will be organised by drawing faculty from various inter- related fields is yet to be worked out. The meeting is likely to deliberate how these lectures will be organised for private students.

Another key area is the need for greater interaction between university teachers and students in colleges, Dr Manmohan pointed out. The examination system remains another area of concern which will be duly addressed, he added.

Four cheating cases registered
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 18 — As many as four cases of cheating have been registered by the local police.

In the first case Mr B. S. Saini along with other investors of the HP Financial Service, in a complaint alleged that the proprietors of the company had defrauded nearly 188 depositors of Rs 33 lakh. A case has been registered.

Cases registered: The police has registered cases against unknown persons in the Telecom fraud which was detected recently in the city.

The cases have been registered after a complaint by an official of the Telecom department.

Complaint: Mr Vipin Kumar alleged today that someone stole his blank cheque and encashed Rs 50,000 from his account in a bank in Sector 22.

Fraud case: Mr Sushil Kumar Gupta, a resident of Sakarpur (New Delhi), in a complaint with the police alleged that an amount of Rs 12,000 had fraudulently been withdrawn from his account.

He said he had opened a fixed deposit account with the GPO, Sector 17, and when he went to the GPO to encash his amount on maturity he found that it had already been withdrawn.

Body found: An unidentified man was knocked down by a unknown vehicle near the Mansa Devi chowk in Mani Majra on Sunday. A case has been registered.

Stick to standard
Last year during Divali it was made mandatory for all sweet shops to weigh the articles properly, i.e. excluding the weight of the packet from the stuff sold. Many offenders were dealt with strictly. But the surprise checks and strict control that came with Divali was soon gone. The problem of underweighing continues — be it sweets or fruit or vegetables. The prices of vegetables have gone sky-high and the common man has to shell out a sizeable amount to buy his weekly requirements of vegetables.

Even after paying so heavily, one can't be sure whether 1 kg of onions or apples one has bought will really be 1 kg. In Apni Mandis often pieces of bricks and stones take the place of standard weights. There is no check on the use of non-standard weights by vegetable sellers. The practice is thriving because the buyers either ignore it or are not in a position to argue with the seller. One comes back from the mandi with the feeling of having bought the stuff at a lower price, not realising that one might as well have been cheated.

It is time consumers demanded the use of standard weights. The Mandi Board should also ensure that no seller, whether in the mandis or in the streets, uses bricks and stones to weigh the articles.

Car thefts
Beware! As the number of cars on roads is increasing day by day, the car theft ratio is also mounting the graph. The increased number of vehicles has made the work of car thieves easier. The thieves, however, don't mind striking at cars even parked on the roadside, near the houses or in the houses. Another problem is the theft of car-stereos and other costly car accessories.

A few days ago in Sector 37-B some unidentified persons made their way towards three parked cars and started fiddling with them. But as their ill luck would have it, the security alarm in one of the cars got switched on. The alarm was heard by a lady who was watching a late night movie. She came rushing down to her balcony with her husband and shouted. A youth wearing a black shirt ran towards another car waiting for him near the mini-market.

In the morning, it was found that a dismounted stereo was left on the seat of the car. Another car was found without scissors and an antiseptic vaccine tube from its first-aid box. The third car which had a cover was also found with a tin containing 2.5 litres of petrol. As a result of the security alarm, the three cars were saved.

Amway lure
During the past five months, Chandigarhians have been offered the opportunity of going into direct marketing by an American group — Amway. Lured by the promise of having their dreams come true with the mega buck returns of the plan, a lot of people have enrolled themselves and are working earnestly towards the fulfilment of their goal.

Hundreds of members and prospective people drove down to the CII, Sector 31, on Tuesday evening to listen to Mike Wilson, a "diamond" from the USA in the business. Mike had the audience spellbound with his tale of how from an ordinary coach, he went on to attain wealth beyond his wildest imagination by following the "Network 21" approach to building his empire. A hint of his earnings:"I have the biggest car, a big house, have travelled the world and the height of luxury — can afford the whole floor of a five-star hotel during a holiday!" What keeps him going still? "I love the job and want to be able to pay for everything in cash."

Appealing to the basic desire of all human beings to do better and showing a video of "ordinary people making it with little investment but lots of hard work," he had the audience raring to go.

With such names as Oriflame, Tupperware and Amway on the lips of almost every other person, even housewives, and many inspiring success stories, it seems the days of direct marketing are here to stay.

Administrator
Mr Joginder Singh Bhogal, a former member of the Local Advisory Committee, in a letter to Sentinel, has expressed his surprise over ignorance of certain political leaders about the functioning of the Administration. He says it is but natural for the head of an administration to keep a watch on developments in different departments and as such he or she cannot be accused of "interference".

He says it is like the leader of a local unit interfering in the working of his own unit. Mr Bhogal was referring to a statement issued by the local unit of Shiromani Akali Dal in which the Administrator was accused of interfering in the functioning of the Administration.

Mr Bhogal has sent a letter to the Union Home Minister saying the present system was working all right in the Union Territory.

UT Secretariat library
The Chandigarh Administration has set up a small library-cum-reading room for its employees on the ground floor of the UT Secretariat in Sector 9. The library contains books on various subjects of general interest. Besides, the Administration is proposing to start a common room to facilitate recreation of employees during their lunch break.

The Administration had earlier started a dispensary on the ground floor of the UT Secretariat. All employees of the Administration have been issued Health cards. Doctors are available at the dispensary on all working days.

Slogans
While driving down Madhya Marg, one notices a hoarding near the Rose Garden Rotary, displaying the road safety slogan: "If married to speed, divorce it."

This slogan, coined by Mr Hukam Singh, 902/38-A, Chandigarh, had been chosen by the State Transport Commissioner, Punjab, from amongst the slogans received for the Road Safety Slogan Writing Competition.

A Judge for all reasons
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India, has issued fresh policy guidelines for the selection of dealers and distributors of petroleum products. Two boards have been constituted for Punjab. These are called Punjab-I and Punjab-II. The headquarters will be at Chandigarh.

Justice Surinder Singh, a retired Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, who headed the Consumer Grievances Redressal Commission at Chandigarh for several years, has been appointed Chairman of the Petroleum Products Selection Board for a period of two years for the area defined as Punjab-I.

This area comprises nine districts — Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Ferozepur, Muktsar, Kapurthala, Moga, Faridkot, Jalandhar and Bathinda.

Justice Surinder Singh has been associated with The Tribune as a writer and a columnist for over two decades. He lives in Chandigarh. Sentinel feels proud of the continued recognition of his legal wisdom, integrity and probity.

A rare honour
Accademia International (Greci-Marino), Accademia del Verbano, di Lettre, Arti, Science, Italia, has honored Dr SS Bhatti, former Principal of Chandigarh College of Architecture with the position of Corresponding Academician in the Department of Arts.

In a letter received last week, the Academy's General Chairman has written: "The highest title of Corre- sponding Academician has been awarded to you for the great merits you have attained in the artistic sphere". Among the main cultural centres and academies having relations and cultural exchanges with the International Academy (Greci-Marino) are: the Academy of Art and Sciences, University of Studies, United Nations (UNESCO N.G.O.) New York; National University Dominion of Canada, Toronto, and Centre International d'Art Contemperain de Paris.

Pursuing his work in such wide-ranging fields as architecture, engineering, the fine arts, criticism, and comparative religion, Dr Bhatti has won several international and national awards and honours.