& V I C I N I T Y
Thursday, October 29, 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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Thursday, October 29, 1998 |
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More demolitions in the offing CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — More demolitions under the Periphery Control Act are in the offing in the city. This was confirmed by sources in the Administration while talking to TNS here today. Row over PGI selections |
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Dr D
D Jyoti is dead Jeweller
charged with misleading high court Beant
Singh case adjourned |
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More demolitions in the offing CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — More demolitions under the Periphery Control Act are in the offing in the city. This was confirmed by sources in the Administration while talking to TNS here today. The demolitions of "new violations" would be actively pursued as the Administration wants to check the unplanned growth of the city. No "guarantees" on extending the present drive to include old violations were, however, given. As city residents had ignored all the warnings of the Administration against buying agricultural land for residential purposes, the drive was a way to alert the people that they should not fall a prey to unscrupulous colonisers, who promise the moon. The aim was not to harass people but a way to control the attempts of the developers who for the past many years had been telling prospective buyers that the Administration would do nothing to enforce the provisions of the Act. While the demolition carried out yesterday at Raipur Kalan was a pointer of things to come, at the same time the Administration was aware that the problem of housing was genuine. That was why the Administration had announced some months ago that 'lal dora' of villages would be extended. The reports submitted by various committees formed in this context were being studied and a decision would be arrived at soon, sources revealed. Answering allegations of encroachments by jhuggiwalas vis-a-vis middle class and rich people, sources said both were opposite sides of the same coin. Both parties levelling accusations were on a sticky wicket. However, in view of certain old encroachments, the Administration had taken steps to rehabilitate jhuggi dwellers. It was not feasible to shift them all and any relocation could only be done on a selective basis as occupied sites had to be retrieved for other projects. Efforts were, however, on to provide slums with basic civic amenities like power and water. Sources said the committees formed in 1997 to check encroachments at the sector-level had become defunct and would be revived soon. The accountability factor for proliferating encroachments in various parts of the city had been ensured during this time. However, this did not mean that officials who had "colluded" with colonisers and other individual encroachers in registering land deeds would go scot free. An example in this regard was the recent prosecution of certain officials in a land grab case. All these steps are being
taken to ensure that Chandigarh does not go the Delhi
way, sources pointed out. |
Row over PGI selections ends CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — The prolonged controversy over fresh appointments of faculty members at the PGI is seemingly going to end. The PGI authorities, after having received the green signal from the Department of Personnel in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, are preparing to advertise 125 posts of doctor. An advertisement seeking doctors for all PGI departments will be placed within the next week, sources said. The Union Health Ministry had consulted the Department of Personnel seeking a clarification over a judgement of the constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court delivered earlier this year. The clarification was required after a national-level association of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes medicos had contested the move of the PGI to advertise without giving proper reservation. Sources pointed out that the department while interpreting the Supreme Court judgement had clarified that there will be "no reservation for single top posts in various departments of the PGI". However, a pattern of reservation will be followed in departments where more than one top post of professor exists. For this the department has sent a detailed rotation system to be followed. This system details how and when reservations will apply. The PGI authorities had asked the Union Health Ministry to clarify as how the judgement of the Supreme Court was to be interpreted. Initially, after the judgement, PGI authorities were set to advertise to fill 125 vacancies. Meanwhile, in a separate development the Health Ministry has asked the PGI to lay down the norms for recruiting ad hoc doctors. A few months ago the ministry had raised an objection to manner in which recruitments of ad hoc doctors were made. The PGI has been asked to properly advertise in newspapers before recruitment. As per the earlier
practice a notice used to be put up in the PGI and
surrounding hospitals. |
Preeti in a new role CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — Preeti Sapru's commitment to Punjabi cinema is infectious. Despite the doldrums that the industry is in now, talking to her, one feels there's still hope for the revival of this medium which has a strong potency to keep the Punjabi culture and language alive. Having been recently elected to the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA), the green-eyed star of Punjabi films is taking her new role seriously. She is in town to meet the Badal government officials and bureaucrats concerned and impress upon them the need for giving sops to the industry. Like the Maharashtra Government, Punjab should give 100 per cent entertainment tax exemption and Rs 15 lakh subsidy to Punjabi films, she proposes. The state government must recognise the efforts of film artistes and again bestow awards on them. In this context, she feels Varinder, the late actor who was shot dead by terrorists, deserves a special honour. If it is made mandatory for all theatres in the state to screen Punjabi movies regularly, it would help solve their problem to a large extent, she says while agreeing that publicity of films on a big scale which is lacking, is essential to attract the audience. And Jalandhar Doordarshan must telecast four Punjabi movies a month instead of the just one that it is currently doing. These steps would give confidence and impetus to producers to make quality films. "I have got positive feedback and I'm sure the government will come around to seeing our point of view", says Preeti optimistically. The schoolgirl who shot into fame as a heroine with "Sarpanch" 18 years ago and has since steadily maintained her position is all praise for Mrs Sushma Swaraj. "As Information and Broadcasting Minister, Mrs Swaraj took a quick and active decision. Thanks to her, Punjabi films are back on DD's national network", she gushes. Being a producer-director of four Punjabi movies herself, she well understands the economic implications of the films being exempt from the conditions of having won a state award (as Punjab has stopped the practice for an inexplicable reason) or having run for at least 25 weeks for being screened on the national hook-up. Instead, all movies classified as grade A and B by Jalandhar DD qualify. Looking every inch a beautiful star with a flawless complexion in her red and white suit, Preeti appears warm and down-to-earth as she interrupts the chat to hug "Beeji", the old maid from a Punjab village, at Mr 'Pepsi' Dhillon's Sector 9 residence here yesterday. "Shahadat" and the Khalsa tercentenary celebrations are her pet projects these days. Preeti is organising an akhand path followed by langar and a get-together of film stars, politicians and Sikh families of Maharashtra at the Andheri Sports Complex, Mumbai, next year. Bal Thackeray, Parkash Singh Badal, Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna are among the eminent invitees on her list, she says excitedly. And "Shahadat" is the bilingual Rs 1-crore NFDC project that she has bagged. To be made in Punjabi and Hindi, Preeti has signed Pooja Batra, Mamta Kulkarni, Manoj Bajpai and Gurdas Mann for the film. The shooting of this movie depicting the heroism and sacrifices of border residents during the 1971 war will begin in Punjab in February next year, she informs, having already conceived most of the frames in her mind. And now the all-important
question. When are you getting married ? "I am a
very conservative girl and I don't believe in breaking
homes to make mine. The person I want to marry should not
be a dodo. He must be intellectually my superior and
somebody whom I can respect," she asserts. |
Goof-up: Army made the
scapegoat? CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — Was it military intelligence or the bureaucrat-politician combine behind the goof-up order on the verification of the antecedents of Air Chief Marshal S.K. Sareen prior to the October 26 Combined Commanders’ Conference. The feeling in the defence circles has been that in order to recover the situation arising due to such political or bureaucratic "goof ups", those responsible for it have made an effort to make the Army a scapegoat. Interaction with a cross section of defence officers and investigations reveal that the practice of introducing special verifications in respect of VIPs and other officers who attend the commanders conference was introduced in 1991 after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. The Military Intelligence Directorate, investigations reveal, only provides a list of invitees, attendees and functionaries to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Prime Minister’s Security, as per their requirement for all functions attended by the Prime Minister. Based on the list cleared and received from the DCP (PM Security), special security passes are issued to all concerned without which no one is permitted to attend the function. There have been instances in the past, when embarrassing situations cropped up as special security passes could not be issued (by Chief Security Officer, Ministry of Defence or Joint Secretary- Military) because of non-clearance of the names by the DCP (PM Security). The job of the Military Intelligence Directorate (MI-9), sources in the defence circles said, was to get the names of personnel from three Services and forward the same to DCP (PM Security) for action at his end. The MI Directorate’s involvement ends there and whatever happens afterwards is no more its business. It is only the DCP (PM Security) and civil intelligence agencies who ordered the special verification in respect of Air Chief Marshal SK Sareen for the reasons best known to them. As the matter flared up, the sources point out, the DCP (PM Security) and civil agencies allegedly flexed their contacts and managed to get a "misguided" report published for a "damage control exercise", realising full well that the Army authorities would not resort to any such measure to clarify their position. This aspect was fully exploited by those who were totally responsible for the "goof up". The defence circles
maintain that the whole nation has trust and faith in the
defence forces of the country who have been risking their
lives in the past and would not hesitate to do so in
future in the event of war or low intensity conflict
operations. |
Held for hunting wild cat PANCHKULA, Oct 28 — A poacher was arrested by a team of wildlife officials for hunting a wild cat while his two other accomplice managed to escape at Rampur village in Naraingarh near here this morning. The female wild cat (Felis Chaus), an endangered specie under the Wildlife Protection Act, died of injury after being caught in a trap allegedly laid by the poachers. The autopsy of the cat revealed visible signs of injuries suspected to be inflicted by the poachers. The raiding party led by the Deputy Chief Wildlife Warden, Mr Jagdish Chander, caught the poachers — Sakhi, Sheru and Guli — while they were trying to take out the dead cat from the trap. At least 12 more traps were found in their possession. One of the poachers, Sakhi, was nabbed on the spot while the other two escaped under cover of darkness at around 4 a.m. when the officials pursued them on the Naraingarh-Katra road at Ramgarh village. The poachers, according to officials belong to the Dehe tribe and had reportedly camped at Kesri village in Ambala. The seizure of 12 traps from them has indicated a possibility of their being professional poachers. They have been booked
under Section 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act. One of
the arrested would be produced in the Environmental Court
at Hisar tomorrow. |
Dr D D Jyoti is dead CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — Dr D D Jyoti, an eminent academician and a former director of the Regional Institute of English, died at the PGI here today. He was 85. A leading educationist, Dr Jyoti was a former secretary to the Vice-Chencellor of Panjab University. He also remained a Fellow of the university. Dr Jyoti’s illustrious career as a teacher spanned over five decades. He was the general secretary of the GGDSD College Managing Committee. He was also a trustee of the Eyecare Foundation, and was the leading light behind the Shri Ram Sharnam and the Amritvani Recitation movement. Dr Jyoti was an expert in the English language and literature (particularly linguistics). He was cremated this evening. Wreaths were placed by eminent personalities from all walks of life and also on behalf of the Tribune group of publications. Dr A C Vaid, Principal of GGDSD College, has mourned the death of the eminent scholar. The Vice-Chancellor of
Panjab University, Prof M M Puri, expressed shock at the
sudden death of Dr Jyoti. "In his death the country
has lost a great scholar, an able administrator and a
gentleman", Professor Puri added. |
Jeweller charged with misleading high court CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 (PTI) — A city jeweller, Gurmit Singh Wadalia, who allegedly defrauded numerous people of over Rs 1 crore in Chandigarh, Panchkula, Mohali and Patiala, has been charged with misleading the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Counsel of Gagandeep Singh, a resident of Mohali, who was cheated of Rs 27 lakh by Wadalia and his nephew Gurjit Singh, today told a Division Bench comprising Mr Justice J. L. Gupta and Mr Justice N.C. Khichi that Wadalia "suppressed material facts" from the court. To buy time and to put the police on the defensive, Wadalia filed a civil writ petition but criminal in nature on October 7 before the same Division Bench against Punjab and Chandigarh police officers that he was abducted and tortured by third-degree methods. Earlier, on the same allegations, Wadalia filed two separate criminal miscellaneous writ petitions in the court of Mr Justice K.K. Srivastava against the Chandigarh police, the Punjab police and his victim, Gagandeep Singh. Mr Justice Srivastava disposed of Wadalia's petitions on September 2 and asked him to approach the Ilaqa Magistrate to get legal remedy. Today when Mr Gagandeep's counsel spoke of Wadalia's efforts to mislead the court, the Division Bench clubbed his cases and adjourned the matter till December 14 to enable Wadalia's lawyer to file a reply. In his petition to the high court, Wadalia claimed that his nephew was missing with huge sums of money belonging to people, but another lawyer hired by him applied for his anticipatory bail in a Ropar court, which was denied. The Chandigarh police registered a case against Gurjit Singh last month for allegedly cheating a local journalist of Rs 1.7 lakh in a car deal. Several property dealers in Chandigarh said Wadalia was planning to sell off his property in Sectors 18, 35 and 9 and to runaway with the money. Meanwhile, Bank of Baroda
has lodged an FIR against Wadalia, Gurjit Singh and his
wife, Dil Prit Kaur, for allegedly cheating the bank of
Rs 1.5 lakh. |
Beant Singh case adjourned CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — The Sessions Judge, Mr B.S. Bedi, today recorded the examination-in-chief of Mr Rajiv Singh, receptionist in the Chief Minister of Punjab’s office, in the ongoing Beant Singh assassination case. The prosecution witness used to maintain a register of visitors to the Chief Minister’s office. He told the court that on August 31, 1995 — the day Beant Singh was killed, as many as 16 persons, including MLAs, had come to meet the Chief Minister. He revealed that this register was seized by the CBI on September 4, 1995. The judge adjourned the
case to November 3. |
Cheque bounces, lands him in jail
CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — The Judicial Magistrate, Mr Jasbir Singh, today convicted Darshan Kumar, a resident of Faridkot, under the Negotiable Instruments Act. The magistrate sentenced him to imprisonment for one year and asked him to pay a fine of Rs 1,000. Darshan Kumar had taken a
family loan from Ms Uma Gupta. To repay this loan, he had
issued a cheque for Rs 1,61,198. This cheque when
presented to the bankers was dishonoured for want of
sufficient funds. |
Ujjal Didar Singh dead CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — Mr Ujjal Didar Singh, a former DPI (Punjab), has died of a heart attack. He was 69. Mr Ujjal Singh was honoured with the President Award for meritorious service. He served as the Chief
Commissioner of Bharat Scouts and Guides. |
CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — Theory examination for undergraduate classes in Panjab University for the session 1998-99 will commence from April 6. The university today announced that the practical examination for the undergraduate classes would commence from March 23. The theory examination for post-graduate and diploma classes would start from April 17 . The last date for receipt of examination forms for candidates appearing either privately or through correspondence will be December 15. If forms are submitted after the due date the university will charge Rs 500 as late fee till December 22 ; Rs 1500 till January 1, 1999; and Rs 3000 till March 6. The last date for submission of forms for students studying in colleges is December 22. Subsequently the late fee till December 29 is Rs 500; Rs 1500 till January 1; and Rs 3000 till March 3, a press note said. The examination forms will be available from November 2. Teaching hit: Teaching work was affected in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences on Wednesday following protest by students. Students pointed out that they had three opportunities to reappear during their course. Six students who had exhausted their chances had applied for re-evaluation. Students who were affected by the decision were demanding that their names should not struck off the rolls before the re-valuation results were declared. Dayal Pratap Singh Randhawa, president of the campus council, met the chairman of the institute, Dr V.K. Kapoor, and the Dean University Instruction. The authorities were positive, and most likely the students would have to give an undertaking, saying that they would not attend classes any further in case they did not qualify after the declaration of the re-evaluation results. Workshop: The need for empowerment of women was highlighted on the second day of the workshop for women councillors from Punjab at the ICSSR complex in Panjab University on Wednesday. Dr Pam Rajput, Director, Centre for Women Studies and Development, said the workshop, the second in the series, dwelt on different aspects of exercising powers independently in their capacity as councillors. In the first workshop, 81
councillors from various parts of the state had
participated. |
Chandigarh, Oct 28 — A 10-year-old girl of Bapu Dham was allegedly abducted by two persons dressed as sadhus while she was going to school this morning. The girl
was, luckily, detained at the police picket at the
Chandigarh-Zirakpur barrier a few hours later while they
managed to escape. The police closed the case saying it was a case of false alarm of abduction but Nain Sukh, the grandfather of the girl, insisted that it was a case of abduction. Chanda's parents live in Delhi and she has been living with her grandparents for the past few years. The smelling of flower possibly made her drowsy and then they boarded a bus. The girl might not have been saved, had Renu a school mate of hers, not seen her and immediately informed a teacher, who alerted the police. A message was flashed on the wireless system and the girl was located. The grandparents of Chanda say she was in a state of drowsiness when the police handed her back to them around 2 this afternoon. They said the two abductors were seen by Renu.But the police says Renu is mistaken. The police is giving its own theory which is not even remotely connected with the version of the victim. Woman crushed: A woman riding a scooter was crushed to death on the night of Tuesday when her scooter was hit by a Punjab Roadways bus. The bus driver, Nachitter Singh, was arrested. Meanwhile in an accident on Wednesday, scooterist Punjab Singh, of Sector 39, was injured and admitted to the PGI. Stolen: A scooter owned by Mr P.A. Joy, a resident of PGI was reportedly stolen from a parking lot in Sector 22. Eve
teasers held: The police on Wednesday arrested
seven eve teasers from various spots in the city. Pawan
Kumar was arrested from the Sector 36 market. Ashwani
Kumar was arrested outside the GCG, Sector 42. Jaspreet
Singh was nabbed from outside the DAV School, Sector 15.
Surinder Pal Singh and Sukh Chain Singh were arrested
from GCG, Sector 11, and the ISBT, respectively. Arun
Kumar was nabbed from Sector 17 while Ram Kumar was
nabbed from the Badheri roundabout. |
CHANDIGARH: "Siyasat ko shayari ke peechhe chalna chahiye/Shayari ko siyasat ke peechhe nahin" If "shayari" can be taken here as "knowledge", it is commonly known that it cannot be bought or ruled over. Poets live in their own make-believe world, and do not find it obligatory to abide by anything. It all depends on their whims and fancies whether they agree to participate in a "mushaira" or not. But the Haryana Urdu Akademi and the Haryana Public Relations Department did succeed in getting a few poets together to celebrate Haryana Day this evening. "Mushairas" in Chandigarh are not unusual these days, but to get a chance to enjoy them is like a treasure found. One can bless one's soul if the gathering being select seems to understand the norms followed on such occasions. With poets like Malikzada Manzoor (Lucknow), Mahendra Pratap Chand (Kurukshetra), Dr Rana Ginnori (Panipat), Shabina Abidi (Kanpur), Bekal Utsahi (Gonda), Hakim Manzoor (Srinagar) and Basheer Badr (Bhopal) who recited their compositions, the listeners never got tired of saying "mukarrar". The "shayars" did oblige them happily. There were about 16 poets who participated in the mushaira. Kaifi Azmi too was expected to be one of them. But, unfortunately, he could not participate due to ill health. His absence was a disappointment for many. Nevertheless, he had sent two lines for the occasion which went like this:
There was no particular subject dealt with by the poets specifically. One could speak from personal experience like Mahendra Pratap Chand did. He talked about his visit to America. Standing on Empire Estate Building, from where he could see the city with a naked eye to a great stretch, the freshness of the breeze of his motherland was to be found nowhere. For him "Apna vatan hai apna vatan". Dr Rana Ginnori picked up trivial situations of life to base his poems on. The one which was liked by many was, "Na Jaane wo meri kya shakl rakhta hai tasavvur mein/ Musavvir roz hi mujhko adhoora chhod deta hai." Shabina, a young poetess, had chosen romantic poetry for the evening while Jigar Jalandhari was philosophical and talked about the relationship between man and God. The "shair" which went down well with the audience was "Agar padosi ke ghar mein chiragh jalta hai/ Andhera kuchchh to mere ghar se bhi nikalta hai." The programme began about
one-and-a-half hours behind the schedule, but it was an
evening well spent. |
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