& V I C I N I T Y
Sunday, September 6, 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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Sunday, September 6, 1998 |
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Curb prices, PM tells states CHANDIGARH, Sept 5 — Facing rough weather due to its failure to control the spiralling prices of essential commodities, the BJP-led government at the Centre has urged the State Governments to take effective steps to check the rise in prices. Police working on new theory CHANDIGARH, Sept 5 — The Chandigarh police is now going into a new angle into the reported suicide by Pinky,12, a girl student of Government High School, Sector 38, around two weeks ago. |
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  Filling of
DC's post: process takes curious turn ICSE
schools can fix their own syllabus Parking
fee taken with police help Experts
review malaria control Six
months' jail for negligent driving Two
jailed for selling LPG cylinders |
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Curb prices, PM tells states CHANDIGARH, Sept 5 — Facing rough weather due to its failure to control the spiralling prices of essential commodities, the BJP-led government at the Centre has urged the State Governments to take effective steps to check the rise in prices. Informed official sources said here today that the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, has written a letter to all Chief Ministers to ensure the supply of essential commodities to people in their states at reasonable rates. The Prime Minister urged the Chief Ministers to send him a detailed report of the steps initiated to curb the prices of various commodities. It may be mentioned that almost all Opposition parties have taken the Government to task for unchecked increase in the prices of various commodities. Prices of onions had recently become a national issue. The price of edible oils, green vegetables, tea leaves, wheat flour etc has gone up in recent weeks. Adulteration in mustard oil has further added to the problems of the people. Official sources said that the Punjab Government had initiated steps to check prices in the state. All Deputy Commissioners had been directed by the Chief Secretary, Mr R.S. Mann, to ensure that essential commodities were sold in their areas by traders at reasonable rates. The Deputy Commissioners have been told to check the hoarding of essential items. Likewise, District Food and Supplies Controllers have been directed to check the price of wheat flour and other items falling in their jurisdiction. Members of the ruling
Shiromani Akali Dal feel that rise in prices have
affected the image of their party as it was an ally of
the Central Government. They say most of the Opposition
parties in Punjab are blaming the Punjab Government for
rise in price of various commodities. |
Police working on new theory CHANDIGARH, Sept 5 — The Chandigarh police is now going into a new angle into the reported suicide by Pinky,12, a girl student of Government High School, Sector 38, around two weeks ago. The police is verifying why Pinky used to call up Shimla to talk to her brother-in-law, who is having estranged relations with his wife and Pinky's sister, Parveena. Pinky's sister is living with her parents for the past two months. The police has managed to get hold of a number in Shimla but the STD owner who used to allow credit to Pinky has not yet verified whether Pinky was the same girl, highly placed sources confirmed. The police has now procured a photograph of the deceased to show it to the STD operator. It may be recalled that during the enquiry conducted by a team of the Chandigarh Administration , Seema , a friend of Pinky, had testified that the stolen money recovered from them was meant to repay a credit of the STD operator. When the money was recovered from the two girls, three teachers in the school beat them up. The teachers have been placed under suspension since then. However, without linking the suicide to the beating, police sources said that different levels of sensitivity of a person could lead to different reactions. One of the questions raised by the police is that the enquiry has said that Seema was beaten up more than Pinky, then why did the latter commit suicide? Another factor that has come to light through the enquiry is that the teachers had told Pinky to call up her parents or they would have to inform them about the calls being made by her to Shimla. The police is ascertaining if any factor other than the beating up in school could have led to depression for Pinky, who committed suicide. Meanwhile the All India
Bahujan Samaj Maha Sangh, has demanded that the three
teachers should be arrested or the agitation will be
intensified. |
UT schoolteachers harden
stance CHANDIGARH, Sept 5 — The threat of strict action issued by the Chandigarh Administration notwithstanding, hundreds of school teachers today turned up in large numbers to protest against the suspension of their three colleagues. The hardening of stance of the teachers has given a new twist to the entire episode. Three teachers of Government High School, Sector 38, were suspended for having beaten up two girls — Pinki and Seema. Pinki had reportedly committed suicide after the incident. While the teachers have resolved to continue with the strike indefinitely, the community members of Pinki have demanded that the guilty teachers should be arrested. The teachers had reportedly violated the ban by the administration on corporal punishment in schools. At a largely attended rally near the housing board roundabout, union leaders reiterated their stand of continuing with the boycott of classes. It was also decided that while teachers would attend schools on Monday, examinations are to begin that day, they would not perform any duties. Mr Harbir Singh and Mr Kushali Ram, convener and co-convener of the Government Teachers' Union, said that the orders of no-work no-pay were highly discriminatory and were in violation of Article 14 and 16 of the Constitution. Such orders had not been issued in case of the striking university and college teachers. They demanded that the initial statement of the parents of the deceased student and the post-mortem report should be made public so that the public could know the truth. It was sad that the Administration instead of honouring the teachers today had issued orders for no-work no-pay yesterday,they added. Mrs Satwinder Singh Dhaliwal, a former member of Parliament, said the stand taken by the Administration had lowered the morale of the teaching community and was bound to create problems of discipline in classrooms. The teachers demanded the revocation of the suspension of the three teachers and the repatriation of the enquiry officer to his parent state. The protesters raised
slogans against the Administration while an effigy of the
Administration was burnt. |
Deputationists feel aggrieved CHANDIGARH, Sept 5 — Reluctance on the part of senior functionaries from Punjab and Haryana to join the Chandigarh Administration on deputation is not without reason. There have been numerous instances when the state government acted arbitrarily in recalling officers, cutting half way through their deputation period, on "flimsy" or "personal grounds". The developments in the past couple of months corroborate this feeling prevalent among senior functionaries of the two states. The most recent case has been of the Chief Vigilance Officer-cum-Home Secretary of Chandigarh where the officer concerned has been ordered to return to her state within a few weeks of grant of one-year extension for her continuation in the Administration. No reasons have been given for this sudden change of mind of the state government to the Chandigarh Administration. The Administration had only yesterday returned the new panel of names sent by the Haryana Government for selecting a replacement for the present CVO-cum-Home Secretary. On the other hand, the Administrator of Chandigarh, Lieut-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber (retd), reportedly wants to retain the present incumbent on the plea that a major clean-up drive launched by the Administration in November last would suffer a severe reverse with the change of the Chief Vigilance Officer at this crucial juncture when the case was half way through. Even the local MP, Mr Satya Pal Jain, had spoken to the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, that the present system should not be disturbed as it would affect the "clean up drive". It was at his instance that the transfer of the Director of Investigation of Income Tax was cancelled by the Ministry of Finance. Mr Jain had told The Tribune that the engineers lobby had tried to pressurise him but he made it clear that he "would not tolerate any fraud being played with public funds." It may be recalled that the Investigation Cell of the Income Tax department had conducted raids at 22 premises simultaneously in November-December last year. As a sequel to these raids, criminal cases were registered by the Vigilance Cell of the Chandigarh Administration against several engineers, including the then Chief Engineer, Mr K.K. Jerath. Mr Jerath had been evading arrest for the past several months even after his bail application had been turned down by the apex court of the country. The prize on his head, too, has been raised from Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000. It all started in early eighties when the then Health Minister of Punjab had a tiff with the then Director of Health Services. The minister wanted the director to be repatriated to her parent state immediately but the Administration took a stand contrary to the desire of the Punjab Government. The director continued in the Administration. Subsequently, a couple of other doctors faced the same grind. They sought legal recourse and were retained by the Administration. But in case of civil servants some were repatriated without any delay. It happened in the case of an IPS officer and then with a PCS officer. In one case, it was the Students Council elections of Panjab University that led to the recall of an officer overnight. "Sword of uncertainty
hangs over our heads throughout our deputation period
with the Administration," says an officer who was
also repatriated prematurely to his parent state.
"While appointments at senior level in the
Administration take so long to come through, it takes
just a couple of hours for an officer to be recalled
unceremoniously. There is no question of he or she being
rewarded for his or her good work," he adds. |
Filling of DC's post: process takes curious turn CHANDIGARH, Sept 5 — The process to fill the post of Deputy Commissioner of the Union Territory of Chandigarh, which fell vacant following repatriation of Mr K K Khandelwal to his parent state, Haryana, has taken a curious turn. The post is manned by an IAS officer of the Haryana cadre. Accordingly the state government had sent a panel of three officers, Mr M. Ramsekhar, Mr T.C. Gupta and Mr H. S. Dhankar, to the UT. The Union Territory Administration had recommended the name of Mr Ramsekhar to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for approval. However, the MHA overruled the recommendation of the UT Administration and approved the name of Mr Gupta. But even before ink on the MHA's decision could dry, the Haryana Government has now telegraphically informed the UT Administration and the MHA that it could not spare the services of Mr Gupta. It is said that Mr Ramsekhar's name was cleared by the Union Home Secretary but the Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, did not agree and he approved the name of Mr Gupta. The file was to go to the Appointments and Subcommittee of the Union Cabinet. But now the process has been stalled by the Haryana Government's change of mind. Only two days ago the state government had transferred Mr Gupta from the post of Managing Director, Sugarfed, to that of Joint Secretary, Finance. Mr Gupta's transfer was part of the shake-up in the agriculture department, which also saw the exit of the Commissioner and Secretary of the department, Mr Naseem Ahmed, from the department along with Mr K. S. Bhoria, Director, Agriculture. Though reason behind the shake-up in the agriculture department are subject-matter of speculation, primarily it is believed to have been triggered by certain happenings at a meeting of the State Sugarcane Control Board held recently where officers did not agree with the Agriculture Minister, Mr Karan Singh Dalal. Incidentally, the Haryana Government had recommended the names of Mr Amit Jha and Dr Mahavir Singh to the UT last week for the post of Chief Executive Officer, Chandigarh Housing Board. However, the next day the state government again wrote to the UT that the services of Mr Jha could not be spared. Earlier the state had sent a panel of three officers for the same post. But the UT requested for additional names. For the post of UT Home
Secretary also, the Haryana Government had earlier given
its consent to continuation of the present incumbent, Mrs
Anuradha Gupta, for another one year. However, within a
fortnight the state government changed its mind and sent
a panel to the UT which was turned down by the latter.
Another panel was sent which again met the same fate. |
ICSE schools can fix their own
syllabus CHANDIGARH, Sept 5 — There are 900 schools all over the country affiliated with the Council for the Indian School Certificate Course Examination (ICSE), and the endeavour of the council is to give autonomy to the schools to prescribe their own curriculum so as to suit their local needs. This was stated by Mr Neil O' Brien, chairman of the council, who was in the city in connection with the founding of the Chandigarh chapter of the All-India Anglo Indian Association. He spared some time from his busy schedule to talk to TNS at the local St Stephens School where he attended the Teachers Day function. Commenting on the education system in the country, he said education was a concurrent subject and many states had their local aspirations and a uniform policy was quite difficult. He said that apart from prescribing books on literature and languages, the schools were free to draw up their own curriculum but the emphasis was to keep the satchel light. Since the council had a research and development wing, new techniques and the latest methodologies in the field were being disseminated to the teachers by organising seminars and talks. The latest in school administration were also being passed on to the principals. The ICSE chairman said a lot was being done by them in the field of vocational education although the scene in the country in this aspect was dismal. Many schools had opted for these courses, for example courses in technical drawings and workshop expertise, and their students were finding placement in organisations at the supervisory level. Mr O' Brien said that the objective was to think global but act local and that was the reason why modifications in the education syllabi were needed at the local level. Given the age of competitions they had started conducting aptitude tests for the parents and students who wished to go in for it. Reacting to a question that ICSE was burdening the students by having five subjects in addition to one compulsory language as compared to the four plus one compulsory subject of the CBSE, he averred that many states did not admit students who had studied five subjects. Mr O'Brien also said that all complaints into underpayment to teachers in schools were looked into and in case of wrong doings action was taken. They were never a party in covering up exploitation. On corporal punishment, he said it was a primitive method and should not be followed. In fact even humiliating a student in the class was not a good practice and principals should take action against the teachers who indulged in this form of punishment. Mr O' Brien who was a member of the 11th Lok Sabha and a three time MLA from West Bengal said that he was concerned about their minority status and as such wanted to do his utmost for his community. He writes regularly for some of the country's leading newspapers. There are more than 60
branches of the Anglo Indian Association in the country,
he revealed. |
Parking fee taken with police help CHANDIGARH, Sept 5 — The system of paid parking in various parts of the city functioned partially today under a heavy police bandobust. The number of protesters was not enough as government employees, who are part of the agitation, did not join the stir, today being a closed day in offices. However, this may not be the end of the agitation as traders, political parties and employees have planned to hold a demonstration against the parking fee system on Monday. Traders, on the other hand, were peeved at the manner in which the system was implemented. The municipal corporation authorities had promised yesterday that no parking tickets would be issued temporarily, said a trader. However, they backtracked on their promise and used the police force and even threatened action under Section 144 against the agitators. Meanwhile, workers of the two political parties — the Congress and the SJP — participating in the agitation had not grouped themselves for the agitation today due to the signals received from the MC. At the parking sites contractor and his men were provided security cover by the police as they issued parking slips to those who preferred to park their vehicles. Activists of a particular party tried to stop a few youths from parking their vehicles on payment. They objected to this and entered the parking lot. Meanwhile, a delegation of
the political parties has submitted a memorandum in the
office of the Administrator, Lieut-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber
(retd). |
Experts review malaria control CHANDIGARH, Sept 5 — Experts drawn from leading institutes from this part of the country discussed malaria in detail at a round -table conference organised by the Ranbaxy Science Foundation at the PGI here today. The experts discussed the resurgence of malaria in India, its clinical profile, complications and management, newer diagnostic methods and anti-malarial drugs, drug resistance and its reversal, bio-environmental methods for control and malaria vaccine. Presenting a clinical profile on malaria, Prof B.K. Sharma, Director, PGI, stressed the need to carefully diagnose this potentially lethal disease since a number of other ailments could compete with its symptoms, thereby, misleading a physician. Dr Chetan Chitnis from International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) New Delhi, apprised the group of some critical discoveries in understanding malarial parasite which could contribute much to the development of an anti-malaria vaccine. A doctor from CDRI, Lucknow, Dr V.P. Kamboj, expressed concern at the fast emerging resistance against drugs and insecticides of malarial parasite. He urged to look for newer anti-malarial from plant resources and methods of reversing the resistance. At present the only diagnostic system is the blood smear test. Thus there is need for better sensitive tests, including field kits, opined Prof R.C. Mahajan of the PGI. The conference concluded
with Prof Ramalingaswami, Chairman of the foundation,
saying that with all expertise and hard work being done
there was no reason why we cannot control malaria. |
Six months' jail for negligent
driving CHANDIGARH, Sept 5 — The Judicial Magistrate today convicted Naresh Kumar, a resident of Sector 27, of the charge of negligent driving. He was sentenced to undergo imprisonment for six months apart from being fined an amount of Rs 200. According to the prosecution, Naresh Kumar had rammed his motor cycle into the scooter of Mr Baljit Singh on the road dividing sectors 18 and 21. Baljit sustained injuries. The police had registered
a case on the basis of a statement made by a relative of
Naresh Kumar. |
Two jailed for selling LPG
cylinders CHANDIGARH, Sept 5 — The Judicial Magistrate, Mr Jagnahar Singh, today convicted Kailash Gupta and Parvinder Singh, both residents of Dera Bassi, under Section 420, IPC. The magistrate sentenced them to undergo imprisonment for one year besides slapping a fine of Rs 500 each. According to the prosecution, both persons were selling spurious gas cylinders on November 15, 1991, near Saini Bhavan in Chandigarh. They were charging a sum of Rs 1200 per cylinder. When questioned by the police, they failed to produce the necessary permit. As many as six cylinders
were seized from their possession. |
Nagra's remand extended CHANDIGARH, Sept 5 — The Judicial Magistrate, Mr Jagnahar Singh, today extended the judicial remand of Kuljit Singh Nagra, a student leader, until September 19. Nagra was arrested by the local police in connection with a firing incident in the university. The police had registered
a case under Section 307, IPC, against him. |
Residents demand basic amenities PANCHKULA, Sept 5 — Residents of Sector 2 here have demanded strengthening of the basic amenities in the area. In a representation to HUDA, the Residents Welfare Association (RWA) of the area has drawn the attention of HUDA to the poor conditions of the internal roads and accumulation of silt on them. Mr M.L.Sharma, president of the RWA, said the streetlights were non-functional for the past few months. Wild growth had covered the road berms and open spaces, making it convenient for the anti-social elements to hide. A post office, a community
centre, a dispensary and bus services have also been
demanded by the residents. |
CHANDIGARH, Sept 5 — A Sector 20 shopkeeper has been booked for allegedly duping a woman of sector 34 of Rs 3 lakh. The Sector 34 police has booked Mohinder Singh, a cloth dealer, under sections 406 and 420 of the IPC . He had allegedly taken a sum of Rs 3 lakh from Mrs Kanta Jalota while promising admission for her son in an engineering college in Mumbai. Neither the sum was returned nor the admission materialised. Child falls from roof: A two-year-old child, Balister Kumar, was killed when he fell from the roof of his home in Sector 52 while playing with his brother, Pawan Kumar. Eight-year-old Pawan was seriously injured. He has been admitted to the PGI . The incident occurred this afternoon. Pillion rider hurt: A woman sitting on the pillion of a scooter was injured when a CTU bus hit the scooter near the Aroma hotel traffic lights. The woman, Mrs Vajindra, has been admitted to General Hospital, Sector 16. The bus driver, Surmukh Singh, has been arrested. Scooter stolen: A scooter (CH-01-N -2984) owned by Mr Suresh Kumar of Sector 37 was stolen from his residence. Panchkula A case under section 160, 323, 452 and 506 of the IPC has been registered against the HUDA officials after the security men — Mr Joginder Singh and Mr Sarvan Singh —of the club went to court. The SDO, Mr S. K. Beniwal, and the JE, Mr R. P. Punia, have been accused of assaulting and intimidating the complainants allegedly under the influence of liquor on August 7. Earlier the SDO and the JE had lodged a complaint with the police, alleging that three employees of the club — Mr Joginder Singh, Mr Sarvan Singh and Mr Sohan Lal — had assaulted them when they went to the club for dinner. Hashish seized: The police has seized 20 gm of hashish from Sadhu Singh at Pinjore bus stand. A case under the NDPS Act
has been registered. |
CHANDIGARH: The third and final day of the Children Theatre Festival organised by CEVA at the Sector 17 Plaza on Saturday evening was again replete with images which form very much a part any child's play — that of a lion's teeth running away to jungle; of a fox teaching a class of owls, rabbits and squirrels; of jalebis dripping wet with their sweet syrup; and of a danda running away from school, because it hates to beat up the children! Little wonder that such theatre is able to pull crowds belonging to all strata and age groups. The festival began with a presentation by Govt. Primary School, Sector 35 — 'Fruit Singh Ka Thaila', which told a tale of friendship between a machhar and an almirah who keep on fighting over the cleanliness of the house. Then a thaila (bag) finds place in the almirah and thus starts a round of attempts to throw out the bag, which is filled with jalebis. It seemed quite apt to present 'Sher Ka Jungle, Jungle Ka Sher', on Teachers' Day as it told the tale of a danda who detests caning children and searches for different ways of handling children. Presented by Govt. High School, Sector 22, the children, who come from migrant labour families of Himachal Pradesh and Gharwal, perked up the play with Gharwali songs. Vivek High School performed the third play of the evening — 'Joota Gaya Jungle Main'. This production stood in contrast to the earlier two plays in its treatment of the subject,. Middle-class fears, concern for liquor prohibition, thoughts of telephoning God for favours — all this and much more gave way to Shahrukh Khan, his Nike shoe and love-stricken sweethearts. The facilitators of this
festival — Munna Dhiman, Harleen Kohli, Renu Soni,
Kanwal, Harmeet Basur, Harpreet and Harkanwal Singh need
to be lauded for their genuine efforts for making
children's theatre not only an entertaining affair but
also for discovering and making the audience discover the
impressions of children towards their surroundings.
— Sonoo Singh |
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