Tuesday, April 20, 1999
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N E W S Tuesday, April 20, 1999 |
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Vineeta
relieves Sagar as Adviser CHANDIGARH, April 19 — Ms Vineeta Rai, an IAS officer of the 1968 batch of the UT cadre, became the eighth Adviser to the Administrator of Chandigarh today. She formally assumed charge in the morning to relieve Mr Jagdish Sagar, also an officer of the UT cadre. Mr Sagar had a stint of two years and two months here. Ms Rai becomes the first woman Adviser to the Administrator on a regular basis. Mrs Meenakshi Dutta Ghosh had officiated as Adviser to the Administrator while Mr Jagdish Sagar was away to the USA for training last year. The post of the Chief Commissioner of Chandigarh was converted to that of Adviser to the Administrator in the early 80s after the Union Government decided to designate the Governor of Punjab as Administrator of Chandigarh. Mr Krishna Banarji was the first Adviser to the Administrator of Chandigarh. In between, Mr Banarji was redesignated as Chief Commissioner of Chandigarh but for a short while. Subsequently, the post of Chief Commissioner was never revived. The Governor of Punjab has since then been continuing as Administrator of Chandigarh. After Mr Banarji, others who have held this post are Mr Ashok Pradhan, Mr Baleshwar Rai, Mr Ramesh Chandra, Mr Vinod Duggal , Mr Pradeep Mehra and Mr Jagdish Sagar. Mr Banarji had the distinction of having two terms each, both as Chief Commissioner and Adviser. Meanwhile, Mr Jagdish Sagar, the outgoing Adviser to the UT Administrator, was given a warm send-off at various functions here today. At a farewell function organised by the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) , a former Senior Deputy Mayor, Mr Prem Sagar Jain, complimented Mr Sagar for his "pragmatic" approach, particularly in meeting the demands of the poorer sections of society. He said Mr Sagar took some "dynamic decisions" keeping in view the changing times and rising population of the city and providing basic amenities to the residents of the city. Mr Sagar said he had very cordial relations with all three Mayors and councillors. The MCC, which did not have shortage of funds any more, would be able to do its works in a better way , he hoped. He said he would always remember the people of the city for their love and affection. Employees at a function in the UT Secretariat also organised a farewell party for Mr Sagar. In another development,
Mr Dharam Pal Gupta, BJP President, Mr Gian Chand Gupta,
a former Mayor, Mr Rajinder Kumar, and Mr Mohinder Singh,
both councillors, celebrated the transfer of Mr Sagar as
"vijay divas" in Sector 30 here. |
PG exams
on schedule CHANDIGARH, April 19 — The postgraduate examination of part I and II are being held as per schedule. This was stated by Prof Paramjit Singh, Registrar, Panjab University, here today. The roll numbers for the two classes have already been despatched to the students concerned. The examinations which will commence on April 26 will end on May 15. The papers of masters of finance are scheduled to begin on May 3 and will conclude on May 14. The timings of the papers for the first year will be from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., while those for the second year exams will be from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Due to uncertainty dogging the under-graduate examinations which have been postponed till further notice, students of the postgraduate classes were equally sceptical of their fate and of whether the examinations could actually be held as scheduled. “Paucity of examinations centres will not pose a problem because the number of students taking these exams is very few as against those appearing at the undergraduate level,” Prof Paramjit Singh said. The undergraduate
examinations had, earlier, been postponed due to very few
centres available to the authorities for the conduct of
examinations. The principals and managements of private
colleges are up in arms against the proposed cut in the
95 per cent grant-in-aid the colleges are receiving from
the Punjab Government. |
Exemption
order on ‘baptism’ CHANDIGARH, April 19 — The Chandigarh Administration tonight notified exemption order, thus paving the way for the undertrial prisoners to undergo “baptism” inside jails. Eight inmates of Central Jail, Burail, have been undergoing fast in protest against the denial of permission for “baptism”. Paramjit Singh Bheowra and Jagtar Singh Tara, both accused in the Beant Singh assassination case, were the first to start the fast on April 5. Gradually more and more prisoners have been joining the fast in protest against the denial of permission to them by the jail authorities. The plea taken by the inmates of Central Jail has been that it is their fundamental right to undergo “baptism”. And since the Jathedar of Akal Takht, Bhai Ranjit Singh, had given a call to all the Sikhs to get themselves baptised on the occasion of the tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa, they also wanted to be “baptised”. The jail authorities, however, had turned down their plea for permission on the ground that the Jail Manual did not permit it. Even the plea made by them before the District Judge was also turned down after the Chandigarh Administration maintained that in the absence of any rules or provisions in the Jail Manual, such a request could not be entertained. As the number of inmates on fast started growing, some senior Shiromani Akali Dal leaders, including a Cabinet minister of Punjab, are reported to have intervened and played a role in persuading the Administration to amend the rules and allow inmates to be “baptised” on the occasion of the tercentenary celebrations. The Administration, according to sources, has now agreed to notify exemption order which says that inmates can become “Amritdhari Sikhs”. They would be permitted to carry 6-inch kirpans with the maximum size of the blade not exceeding 3 inches. Further, the kirpans so permitted would not be used as a “weapon of offence”. With the exemption order’s notification, the Administration is expected not to oppose the fresh application moved by two inmates of the Burail jail before the district courts here tomorrow, seeking permission for “baptism”. Once the permission is granted by the court, the Administration may allow those who want to be baptised to attend a specially arranged ceremony. And once the permission
is granted, those on fast are expected to break their
fast and attend the ceremony. |
Selection
of PU Deans deferred CHANDIGARH, April 19 — The selection of Dean Student Welfare, Dean Foreign Student and Dean Alumni Relations, has been deferred till April 24. The meeting regarding this will be held after the next meeting of the Syndicate on the same day. The selection committee, which met, here today, under the chairmanship of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof M.M. Puri, decided to defer the selection after the members could not reach a decision due to the lack of time. Sources said that the question of accepting the application of Mr D.P.S. Randhawa for post of the President of the students' council of the university, despite irregularities, was raised at the meeting. Prof Puri immediately appointed a three-member committee comprising Dr V.K. Bansal, Mr Ashok Goyal and Mr Rajinder Deepa to examine the case. It will give its report by April 24, before the meeting of the selection committee. Also, at the meeting, Dr
Bansal and Dr K.S. Chugh suggested letting the present
deans continue. The idea was not accepted by other
members. Before a discussion could ensue, the
Vice-Chancellor said that he had an urgent work to attend
to and deferred the selection. |
Newspaper
staff stir CHANDIGARH, April 19—The National Coordination Committee of the Newspaper\News Agency Employees Union has given a strike call for April 22 to protest against the proposed wage structure suggested by the Manisana Singh wage boards. A press note of the Chandigarh Journalists Association alleged today that after a long wait of over 10 years, the wage board had proposed the salary structure equivalent to unskilled workers. While alleging a nexus
between the INS and the wage boards, the press note said
the wage boards seemed to have accepted the stand of the
INS that the journalists should be given only meagre
wages. |
4 women
held for selling fake tiger skins CHANDIGARH, April 19 — The UT Wildlife Department has nabbed four Karnataka-based women who were trying to deceive people by selling fake tiger skins and parts in Sector 20 here today. Ten make-believe tiger skins, made of calf hides, and other fake parts of tiger such as claws, moustaches, and fake “rudrakshas” were also seized from the women. The target of the women was people, having belief in superstitions that the possession of tiger parts could bring good health and prosperity for them. According to sources in the department, the women were nabbed after Mr Navneet Tokhi, a Sector 20 shopkeeper, informed the department in the afternoon that some women, who had come to his shop, had been persuading him to purchase a tiger skin for a meagre sum of Rs 3000. Subsequently, there was a high drama which unfolded at the market, when the women refused to accompany Mr Ramesh Gill, a forester, who had been deputed to enquire into the matter, to the Sector 19 Wildlife Department. As a result, the Wildlife Department had to depute more officials to bring the women to the Wildlife Office in a vehicle. Interestingly, during initial questioning by the Wildlife authorities in the presence of Sector 20 market shopkeepers, the women, apparently ignorant about the Wildlife Protection Act and the punishment prescribed in it for those violating it by selling parts of endangered species, refused to budge from their stance that the skins were not fake and that they had brought these from Karnataka. However, when they were brought to the Wildlife Office, where they were grilled by the officials, they conceded that the skins were not that of tigers, and in fact, these were made of calf skin, on which a tiger look alike stripes of tiger had been painted by them by using different shades of dyes and colours. According to Mr Tokhi, the women, initially offered a single skin for Rs 3000, but later, after bargaining, settled for Rs 150. He said on getting suspicious, he rang up officials of the Wildlife Department and informed them about the matter. During the investigation, the women, hailing from Chikmati village in Shimoga district of Karnataka, revealed that these days their families were at Khanna, engaged in making fake tiger skins and other parts. Talking to the TNS, the women — identified as Baiba, Mumtaz, Laxmi Bai and Rajshri — said they had been making fake tiger skins for the past many years, for which they used calf skin, mainly purchased from Jalandhar at a price ranging between Rs 20 and Rs 50 per piece. They also showed fake tiger claws, which they had carved out of a bull horn, around which they had wrapped a tuft of calf hair to make it look like an original one, and they were quite successful in their effort as rarely had anyone established these to be fake in the past. According to women the buyers were mainly illiterate rural people, who “used” these items to “ward off evil spirits and to enhance their physical power”. As the skins proved to be fake, the women could not be booked under the Wildlife Protection Act. However, they were likely to be booked under Section 420 of the IPC, the department sources said. When contacted, Mr
H.S.Sohal, Chief Wildlife Warden, said the instances of
sale of fake skins were on rise in the city. Residents
should not buy these skins even the original ones and
parts, as it was a violation of the Wildlife Protection
Act, he added. |
3 hurt as
car rams into truck CHANDIGARH, April 19 — Three persons were injured when a car rammed into a parked truck near the Modella chowk here this evening. The seriously injured occupants of the car, whose identity could not be ascertained immediately, were rushed to hospital. The loaded truck had
been parked on the road due to some mechanical fault. The
impact of the collision was such that the front side of
the car was badly damaged. |
Change, autonomy for banks
stressed CHANDIGARH, April 19 — At the turn of the millennium, the banking industry should put the future in the right perspective by adapting itself to change, said Mr S. Rajagopal, Chairman, Bank of India, while inaugurating a week-long Management Development and Special Training Programme for senior executives of the bank organised by the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development here today. He stressed on greater functional autonomy for banks to meet the needs of the next millennium. Defining the growing role of the service sector, he said that computerisation could never be a substitute for human input. The banking industry should give impetus to human resource development programmes. He lauded the role of institutions like the CRRID in evolving a well-drafted training programme for senior personnel. Mr S. Gopalakrishnan, the Executive Director of the bank, cautioned the participants against inaction.Taking risk was part of business but over-enthusiasm should be kept under check. The founder Director of the CRRID, Mr Rashpal Malhotra, pointed out that maintenance of status quo, as against innovations, was required to given weightage to the management of the banking industry. Delivering a talk on
"Total Customer Care", Prof A.H. Kalro,
Director of the Indian Institute of Management,
Kozhikode, said that in today's scenario
transaction-marketing had been replaced by
relationship-marketing, which required sustained customer
focus. In the banking industry, the distance between
decision-makers and service-providers was wide, resulting
in insulation in the industry, he stated. The banking
industry should take into account customer experience to
make this service industry more customer-oriented, he
added. |
Villagers
allege illegal occupation ZIRAKPUR, April 19 — Residents of Babhat village, which has been excluded from being merged with seven other villages to form a nagar panchayat, have alleged that some 'influential' people were forcing them to lease the village shamlat land so that they could set up their businesses there. The residents claim that they have given many representations to the Chief Minister of Punjab, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, the Minister for Labour and Employment, Mr Balramji Dass Tandon, and Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Finance Minister, seeking the merger of the village in the proposed nagar panchayat, but to no avail. According to them, a large part of the village shamlat land has been occupied illegally by some persons. They alleged that these persons were attempting to encroach upon this land. Mr Jaswant Singh Pinghlia, President of the Lok Dal, Punjab, alleged that a few days ago, the Subdivisional Magistrate of SAS Nagar, along with some persons, had visited Mr Dharam Singh, sarpanch of the village. They wanted to lease four acres of the panchayat land for a school on behalf of a minister. He allegedly said that the village would be included in the proposed body only after he got the land. Mr Pinghlia alleged that the persons who visited the sarpanch, took Mr Kuldeep Singh, a panch of the village, to a minister's house. There they allegedly negotiated the lease. They allegedly told him to pay lease amount in instalments. In a representation to
the Chief Minister, the villagers have sought a CBI
inquiry into the matter. They have also asked why the
village was excluded from the proposed body despite being
on its map earlier. |
Telephone
woes continue MULLANPUR- GARIBDASS, April 19—Several telephone users of Mullanpur- Garibdass complain that their telephone services remain disrupted for days together.Mr Khairati Lal, a resident said that his telephone was not working for the past fortnight. Residents complain that the authorities they pay little attention to their problems.They have to make calls from Chandigarh, about 7 km from here, in case of need. The telephones from the older lot of connections are the worst hit. Pay phone owners in the village further blame the authorities for loss in their business. Ms Vinod Bala, who has a PCO, says due to faulty telecom service her profit lowers by more than Rs 300 a day. Another problem is regarding faults in instruments. Mr Nirmal Singh complained that he was denied a new telephone set as the local office allegedly had no ready stock of instruments with them. The newly introduced
facility of making calls with in the radius of 50 km by
dialling '92', counted as a local call, is also far from
satisfactory. Commander R.S. Gill (retd) said that such
long distance calls stand for only one minute in the
Mullanpur telephone exchange. " The call gets
disrupted after every one minute, forcing one to make
another call. It further increases our telephone
bills", he added. |
US singer
fails to impress PANCHKULA, April 19 — A ghazal recital by Edwin Raj Das, a USA-based singer, organised at a hotel in Sector 10 here today, saw a lack of enthusiasm among the audience. As soon as he started his performance, members of the audience started chatting. The compere had to intervene to control them. Das, who originally hails from Sailkot in Pakistan, began the recital by singing 'Waqt Ka Kya Hai Guzar Ta Hai Guzar Jaiga'. He then sang 'Mujh Se Na Milne Ka Karte The Bahane Kehte Hai Ab Guzarenge Mere Sath Zamana'. He also sang ghazals of Ahmed Faraz, Sahir Ludhianvi, Bashir Badr and Bahadur Shah Zafar. He was accompanied by
Deepak Kumar (tabla), Harish Mangoli (synthesizer),
Sushant Sharma (guitar) and Vival Sharma (flute). |
7 booked
in dowry death case SAS NAGAR, April 19 — The Sohana police has booked seven family members of the husband of Baljit Kaur, a married woman in her early twenties, who had yesterday died under mysterious circumstances in her house at Sekhan Majra village under Sohana police station. According to the police, a case has been registered following a complaint by Balbir Singh, a brother of the deceased and a resident of Jalbehri village in Fatehgarh district, who had alleged that her sister had been killed by her in-laws, who had been tormenting her for not bringing adequate dowry. In the complaint, Balbir Singh had alleged that on March 18 he got a message from Palwinder Singh, the husband of the deceased, that she was seriously ill and he should come to meet her. When he reached her place, he found that her sister had already died, probably after consuming some poisonous substance. Balbir Singh said earlier, too, he had lodged a complaint against the accused that they had been torturing her sister for getting a scooter and a fridge. Those who have been booked include the husband of the deceased Palwinder Singh, his father Shamsher Singh, his two sisters Balwinder Kaur and Sukhpal Kaur, mother Pritam Kaur, brother Amrik Singh and his wife Mandip Kaur. Though no arrest has
been made so far, a case under Section 304-B of the IPC
has been registered against the accused at Sohana Police
station. |
Facility
for payment of traffic challan PANCHKULA, April 19 — The district police will soon start a facility here to facilitate the payment of traffic challan fee, according to Superintendent of Police, Mr Alok Mittal. At present challans for different violations of traffic rules are sent to the local court for being compounded. Mr Mittal said the fine amount for violation of traffic rules was being fixed. The amount of the fine once fixed would be displayed at different public places. Mr Mittal said to
enforce traffic rules, surprise checking was being done
at 12 points in the township on different days. The focus
of the drive was on under-age drivers and triple-riding.
To streamline the flow of traffic on the road running
from bus stand to Shakti Bhavan roundabout, traffic
lights had been installed at the telephone exchange
intersection and the cactus garden intersection. |
All-India
police meet from April 21 CHANDIGARH, April 19 — Competitions in crime scene photography, forensic science, police portraits, finger prints, foot prints and medico-legal cases will be the major attractions on the opening day of the All-India Police Duty Meet being organised by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police at Chandigarh, Ramgarh, Bhanu and Ambala from April 21 to April 25. According to Mr M.S. Bhurji, Commandant, 9th Battalion of ITBP, Governor of Haryana, Mr Mahabir Prasad, will formally inaugurate the meet on April 21 at Basic Training Centre, Bhanu, near Ramgarh. Mr Bhurji said on the second day, competitions will be held for dog squads. The highlights of the competitions will be training of canines for retrieval, scent discrimination, opium tracing, building search for explosives, ganja tracing, search of explosives in a vehicle, baggage search, tracing of opium buried , ground search for explosives, escorting suspect and guarding arrest object arrest. The third type of the competitions will be mainly in rifle and pistol shooting to be held at Babiyal Firing Ranges in Ambala from April 21 to 24. The Duty meet will also
witness computer-related competitions, including data
entry, programming in data base besides other areas. |
SNIPPETS Massey to visit city CHANDIGARH, April 19 — Dr James Massey, Member of the National Commission for Minorities, and Chairman-cum-Convenor of the High-Powered Study Committee, will visit Chandigarh for two days from April 21 to discuss with the Governments of Punjab and Haryana and the Chandigarh Administration the effective implementation of the National Commission of Minorities' studies on the rights of minorities. Dr Massey will meet the Governor, the Education Minister and other officers of the Punjab Government on April 21 before lunch. In the afternoon the same day, he will interact with the Chief Minister, the Education Minister and other senior functionaries of the Haryana Government. On April 22, Dr Massey will meet the Adviser to the Administrator, the Education Secretary and other functionaries of the Chandigarh Administration. Move to amend Act decried CHANDIGARH, April 19 —The decision of the Central Government to amend the Indian Patents Act, 1970, came in for severe criticism at the two-day delegate conference of the Punjab and Chandigarh Medical and Sales Representatives Union (PCMSRU), which concluded here yesterday. A press note today demanded the fixation of the minimum wages for medical and sales representatives in Punjab and Chandigarh at Rs 3,500 per month. Meanwhile, the conference elected following office-bearers of the working committee: President — Mr A. Sawhney; General Secretary — Mr Inderjit Singh; and treasurer —Mr A.S. Bagga. Besides, eight other office-bearers and 14 executive members were also elected. Furniture
market body’s plea CHANDIGARH, April 19 — The Sector 53 New Furniture Market Association has urged the UT Administrator to order a high-level judicial inquiry to ascertain the exact cause of fire which destroyed about 60 furniture shops in the market last week. In a press note issued here today, the association demanded that efforts should be made to provide suitable compensation to the victims after an assessment of the exact loss which occurred due to the fire in the market. The association also demanded that in order to prevent such an incident in future, pucca sheds be provided to the shopkeepers so that they could resume their work immediately. The association decided that till a decision came from the authorities, an 11-member team would sit on a round-the-clock dharna at the site, which will be followed by a chain fast. K.K. Kaushal CHANDIGARH, April 19 — Mr Kuldip Kumar Kaushal has been appointed Additional Central Government Standing Counsel in the Punjab and Haryana High Court for conducting the Central Government cases, other than the cases related to the Income Tax Department and the Railways. Mr Kaushal will also conduct cases filed against public officers while they are in the service of the Central Government. His tenure will be for three years. Punjab
attitude condemned CHANDIGARH, April 19 — A meeting of the Presidium of the Coordination Committee of the University and College Teachers Association, Punjab and Chandigarh, was held at Panjab University here today. The members expressed their anguish and resentment over the negative attitude of the Punjab Government towards the long-standing legitimate demands of the university and college teachers. There was strong criticism of the delaying tactics being adopted by the Punjab Government in granting the revised pay scales to the academic staff of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. The Punjab Cabinet had decided to grant the UGC pay scales in toto except the enhancement in the age of superannuation. However, the Punjab bureaucracy, not honouring the political will of the leadership, issued notifications excluding the benefit of service in the feeder grade and the past service for various promotions under the career advancement scheme, one-time payment of arrears, a press note issued by the President, PUTA, Dr Satya P. Gautam, said. The members of the Presidium were unanimous in underlining that the interest of the students was most dear to them, but the indifferent attitude of the politicians and bureaucrats had put the students in an unfortunate situation of waiting indefinitely for their examinations. Pathak opens analyser CHANDIGARH, April 19 — A former Director of the PGI, Dr I.C. Pathak, inaugurated a state-of-the-art analyser at a diagnostic centre in Sector 22 here yesterday Based on the precise electro-chemi luminescence (ECL) technology and first of its kind in the region, the analyser delivered the results of the profiles, besides the routine investigations in a day, Dr Sudheesh Goel of the diagnostic centre said. The in-built quality control and self-calibration facility in the Rs 20-lakh analyser ensured high-accuracy while analysing thyroid hormones, infertility hormones, tumour markers, infectious serology, trace elements and other biological tests, he added. Parshuram Jayanti celebrated PANCHKULA, April 19 — The Bhagwan Parshuram Jayanti was celebrated by the Shri Brahmin Sabha with great fervor and jubilation at the Shri Ram Mandir, Sector 2, here yesterday. Devotees from Kalka, Pinjore, Barwala and other places took part in the function. Bhajans were sung by saints who came from Hardwar, Vrindavan and Rishikesh to celebrate the day. A welfare scheme for poor students of the district was announced. Several devotees contributed towards the ''children education fund'' to help them to carry out their studies. Ambulance service launched PANCHKULA, April 19 — A round-the-clock ambulance service was launched by the local Aggarwal Sabha from Aggarwal Bhavan in Sector 16 here yesterday. The General Secretary of the sabha, Mr Naresh Mittal, said a nominal fee of Rs 100 would be charged for taking a patient to a hospital, irrespective of the distance involved. The ambulance had been donated by a Rajya Sabha member, Mr Lachhman Singh. Besides, the sabha was running a funeral van service in Panchkula and Mani Majra. A fee of Rs 250 was charged for the van. The sabha also made arrangements for the cremation of all unclaimed bodies recovered in the district, Mr Mittal said. Talent
search fest held CHANDIGARH, April 19 — As many as 33 children were awarded special prizes for securing outstanding positions in the one-day talent search festival organised by the Sant Nirankari Mandal here yesterday. " A millennium of human re-union'' was the theme of the event, which included poetry recitation,vocal and instrumental music and a declamation contest. Inaugurating the festival, Mr Kesho Ram Nandwani, Zonal Incharge and Pramukh, stressed the need to bring up children in a spiritual environment and transform them into good citizens. He said that more than 600 branches were functional all over the country to impart human values to children through spiritual touch. Presiding over the function, Mr Naranjan Singh said that human unity was natural, organic and self-sustaining and no amount of temporary setbacks could break it. He lauded the efforts of the organisers in holding such contests which enhanced the mental level of children, thereby preparing them for the new millennium. Kiran’s mother hospitalised CHANDIGARH, April 19 — Mrs Prem Peshawari, mother of Dr Kiran Bedi, IG, Chandigarh Police, was admitted to the PGI following a cardiac problem this morning. She had reportedly collapsed in the home of her daughter this morning. Mrs Peshawari was rushed
to the PGI where her condition is stated to be serious,
according to doctors at the PGI. |
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