Road blocked over demolition
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 20 — Irate residents blocked traffic on the Chandigarh-Ambala highway today in protest against the demolition of an STD booth near Colony No. 4 in Phase I of Ram Darbar here.

According to sources, the booth, which had recently come up on government land recently was demolished by the enforcement staff of the Chandigarh Administration this afternoon.

Following the demolition, scores of residents of the colony and certain Congress leaders reached the spot and blocked traffic on the road opposite the colony for a short while. The agitators alleged that the booth run by a widow was singled out and other encroachments had not been touched.

Raising slogans against the administration, the protesters then marched to the highway and blocked traffic for over an hour. Hundreds of persons were inconvenienced as their vehicles were stranded. The school buses, ambulances and Army vehicles were, however, not stopped and were allowed to go.

The blockade was only lifted when Mrs Geetanjali Kundra, SDM (East), reached the spot and pacified the irate residents.

Meanwhile, a press note of the the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee, claimed that the SDM had assured that a departmental inquiry would be held in the matter.

In a press note, the area councillor, Mr Rajinder Kumar, while flaying the demolition, alleged this was being done by the administration with a view to defame the BJP.

He threatened that the party would to oppose the the demolitions in his ward in future.

BJP reinducts 18 leaders
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 20 — With the President of local unit of the BJP, Mr Dharam Paul Gupta, revoking the expulsion of 18 party leaders, including eight councillors of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC), the unity efforts in the party seem to have at last succeeded.

According to sources, a meeting under the chairmanship of Mr Narendra Modi, BJP General Secretary and in charge of party afffairs for city, was held here in the morning, where the decision to re-admit the leaders, including the Mayor, Mr Kewal Krishan Addiwal, was taken.

While revoking their expulsion, Mr Gupta, in a press note, announced that disciplinary action against the leaders was being stayed with immediate effect. He hoped that these leaders would accept the challenge of winning the Lok Sabha poll.

He expressed happiness over the fact the leaders had resolved to make Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee as the Prime Minister and work for the victory of the party candidate, Mr Krishan Lal Sharma, and also strengthen the party principles and ideas.

Besides the Mayor, those who have been reinducted into the party are Mr K.L. Sharma, Senior Deputy Mayor, Mr Bachan Singh, Deputy Mayor, Mr Prem Sagar Jain, Mr O.P. Goyal, Air Marshal R.S. Bedi (Retd), Mr Raghubir Lal Arora and Ms Kamla Sharma, all councillors.

Besides them, Mr Bhim Sen Aggarwal, Mr Vijay Uppal, Mr Arun Kumar, Mr Mukesh Mittal, Mr Vinod Sharma, Mr Jatinder Chopra, Mr Tulsi Ram Singla and Mr Sudershan Aggarwal had also been be re-inducted into the party.

Mr Ved Parkash Aggarwal, who filed his papers as the rebel BJP candidate, has also been readmitted into the party and he would withdraw his candidature, sources claimed.

In a joint statement, the re-inducted leaders said the country was facing a big challenge under the current circumstances and the people wanted Mr Vajpayee to be Prime Minister for a full term of five years.

It said the leaders resolved to strengthen the hands of Mr Vajpayee by working for the victory of the party candidate, Mr Sharma. The party workers should work for the win of the party by forgetting the personal differences, the statement added.

It may be recalled that the current unity move was started at the instance of Mr K.G. Goswamy, President of the Punjab and Chandigarh units of the VHP, and a local RSS activist, Mr Bal Krishan Kapoor, a few days ago.

However, the negotiations broke down on August 18, following which the Mayor and other councillors accused vested interests and the official party hierarchy of sabotaging the reconciliation process.

Sikhs suspend helmet stir on PM's assurance
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 20 — A six-member delegation of various Sikh bodies comprising Mrs Harjinder Kaur, Mr Kesar Singh, Mrs Tripat Kaur, Mr Amarjit Singh, Mr Tarlochan Singh and Mr Gurbir Singh met the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, at Punjab Raj Bhavan and presented him a memorandum demanding that a special ordinance be issued to exempt women from wearing helmets both while driving and pillion riding two-wheelers.

According to a press note issued by the Samooh Sikh Religious Bodies, the Prime Minister told the delegation that he had already assured Bibi Jagir Kaur, President, SGPC, at Ludhiana, that he had agreed in principle to enact a law to exempt Sikh women from wearing helmets and had ordered immediate stoppage of implementation of the existing law. He assured the delegation that the new law would be enacted immediately after reconstitution of the 13th Lok Sabha.

At a meeting of the Sikh bodies held later in the evening at the Sector 46 Gurdwara, it was resolved that in view of the assurance given by both Bibi Jagir Kaur and Mr Vajpayee, the anti-helmet agitation would remain suspended till October when new Lok Sabha assembles. It was decided to constitute a legal committee to fight the challan cases already registered by the police against women not wearing helmets.

Meanwhile, Mr Chandermukhi Sharma, President, Chandigarh Territorial Youth Congress Committee, criticised the Prime Minister for exempting Sikh women from wearing helmets. Mr Sharma said that the law does not discriminate between people on the lines of caste, creed, colour, religion or region. Road safety was of prime importance and all women, whether Hindu or Sikh, must wear helmets as per the law of the country, he added.

Dhindsa cremated with honours
Tribune News Service

PINJORE, Aug 20 — The mortal remains of Flying Officer Gursimrat Singh Dhindsa were consigned to the flames with state honours at the HMT crematorium here this afternoon.

Hundreds of HMT employees and residents of nearby areas lined the roads leading to the officers' colony residence of the deceased's father, Mr Gurbax Singh, who is Deputy General Manager, Tools Engineering, HMT. A large number of relatives and friends were also present in the house. They were having a hard time consoling the parents and younger brother of Gursimrat.

The cortege, accompanied by senior Air Force officers, arrived at about 11.30 a.m. from Command Hospital.

The coffin was placed in the house for about half an hour to enable the people to pay their last respects.

The body was then taken in a procession to the cremation grounds. A large number of people had gathered here to to bid farewell to the young flier whose career was cut short by a tragic accident.

A contingent of the Air Force reversed arms and fired a volley of shots as buglers sounded the last post.

The pyre was lit by Bunny, brother of the deceased.

Wreaths were laid on behalf of the Western Army Commander by Maj-Gen S. S. Uppal, MGAD, Western Command, on behalf of the Air Chief by Air Commodore S.K. Banerjee and Group Captain R.N. Merani, Brig S.K. Sinha, Station Commander, Chandi Mandir, Col Pratap Datta, CO, 322 AD Regiment, and on behalf of the HMT management by Mr K.V. Ramamurthy, Executive Director.

Wreaths were also laid by Mr Vivek Joshi, Deputy Commissioner, Panchkula, Brig Satya Dev, Secretary, Haryana Rajya Sainik Board, Mr Alok Mittal, SSP, Panchkula, Mr Rajbir Singh, SDM, Pinjore, and on behalf of the HMT Officers Association by Mr R.K. Malik and on behalf of the HMT Karmik Sangh by Mr Ashok Rana.

Gursimrat was killed after his MiG 21 crashed on runway 31 while taking off at Srinagar airport on August 18.

3 education board employees suspended
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR, Aug 20 — The ongoing tussle between the management of the Punjab School Education Board and its employees' association reached its peak today when the association held a rally protesting against the suspension of three employees, including the General Secretary of the association.

The board employees, Mr Jarnail Singh Brar, Senior Assistant, and the General Secretary of the Punjab School Education Board Karamchari Association, Mr Ranjodh Singh, Junior Assistant and Mr Inderjit Singh, clerk were served the suspension orders today for allegedly committing grave irregularities in the tabulation of results of Classes X and XII examinations held in March this year.

While the association leaders allege that the board management had suspended the employees who had dared to speak against the wrong activities of certain senior officials of the board, the suspension order served on the employees states that the irregularities, committed in 31 cases had been done to extend benefit to the candidates concerned.

The Secretary of the Punjab School Education Board, Mr Jagjit Singh Sidhu, in the orders said irregularities in the declaration of results of 23 private candidates — who appeared in the Class X examination held in March 1999 — were found during a special rechecking of the results. The investigations revealed that the candidates, who were earlier declared as fail were declared as pass when order for publication of the result gazette.

In the cases where irregularities in the tabulation of results or irregularities in the filling of examination forms or changes in examination centres were found are roll nos. 782909, 782918, 782919 and 782920 — all of Class X examination. Similar irregularities were found in Class XII results in case of roll nos. 308586, 313600, 309568, 313937 and 313938

In one case, the application form of a candidate was shown received on February 9, 1999, after the last date for accepting the form had expired. In the case of candidate having roll no. 313938 no application form or examination fee was received by the board.

Meanwhile, the General Secretary of the Punjab School Education Board Karamchari Association, Mr Jarnail Singh Brar, while addressing the employees' rally challenged the Vice-Chairman, Secretary and the Controller of Examination of the board to prove the charges levelled against them.

He alleged the senior board officials wanted to suppress facts about the case of "later set" of the examination branch-II and were perturbed over the rechecking of the Class XII results of science and commerce stream examinations held in March, 1998. Bureaucratic interference in the functioning has also been alleged by the association leaders.

Jassi gets Check Population Award
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 20 — The annual "Check Population Award'' was given to Dr Puran Singh Jassi, a former director of the Department of Family Welfare, for his services towards controlling population, at Lajpat Rai Bhavan, Sector 15, here today. Dr Jassi has also been closely associated with pulse polio campaigns.

The award was presented to him by Mr Rajesh Chhabra, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, on behalf of the Check Population Movement, a non-government organisation. It comprised Rs 50,000, a momento and a 'siropa'.

Speaking at the function, Dr Jassi stated that the problem of population explosion deserved to top the priority list of governments and non-government organisations, which was sadly missing. He added that if this trend continued, the results could be disastrous for the nation.

The President of the movement, Mr Ashok Sadiora, said the award was given every year to individuals with outstanding work in population control activities. Dr R.S. Sandhu, Director, Family Welfare, was the guest of honour at the function. He said Dr Jassi's contribution to population control was unprecedented since he made family planning a grassroots level movement.

Mr Gursharanjit Singh, General Secretary, Indian Non-Governments Organisations Association, informed that Dr Jassi had organised 228 NGOs for continuing the crusade against population. A colourful cultural programme, which included songs on the theme of population control, was also organised after the ceremony.

PM criticised for silence on city
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 20 — Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, Congress candidate for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, has reacted strongly to the non-committal stand taken by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, on the future of Chandigarh.

In a statement issued here this evening, Mr Bansal said that it was unfortunate that the Prime Minister did not utter even a single word about the status of Chandigarh at the rally yesterday. Even today at the press conference, he refused to commit himself.

Mr Bansal said that neither the BJP nor its nominee were responding to the most crucial issue facing the people of Chandigarh.

In contrast, he said, Chandigarh Congressmen recall the assurance given by the late Prime Minister, Mr Rajiv Gandhi during the election campaign on May 14,1991, declaring that the Union Territory status of Chandigarh would be maintained at all costs.

He said that now under pressure from the Shiromani Akali Dal, the local BJP and its candidates would sacrifice the interest of the people of Chandigarh.

Gurbachan's papers rejected
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 20 — After a day of suspense, the nomination papers of Mr Gurbachan Singh, nominee of the Nationalist Congress headed by Mr Sharad Pawar, were rejected today on technical grounds.

Yesterday, the Returning Officer, had held his decision in abeyance until midday today. With the rejection of the nomination papers of Mr Gurbachan Singh, only 18 candidates have been left in the fray. Yesterday, the nomination papers of Mr Sham Lal Gupta, covering candidate of the Congress, were rejected. Tomorrow is the last date for withdrawal of nominations.

SNIPPETS

Function to honour Bazigars
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 20 — To honour members of the Bazigar community, the Bazigar cell of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee organised a function at Congress Bhavan here today.

Mr Makhan Lal Lalka, Chairman of the cell, said the distinctive feature of the Bazigar fraternity was that no case was pending in any court involving any of its members. "The biggest thing is that the members of the community do not even prefer to go to police stations. Instead they solve their cases, if any, through mutual understanding," he said.

Mr Maninderjit Singh Bitta, former President of the Indian Youth Congress, held the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, responsible for the Kargil conflict. He urged the people to vote for the Congress if they wanted stability in the country.Mr Harcharan Singh Hero, Chairman of the disciplinary committee of the party, said if the Congress was voted to power it would solve the problems of the Bazigar community.Mr Jasjit Singh Randhawa, General Secretary, said the need of the hour was to defeat the Akalis and their allies as they had failed to solve the problems of the people.

Ms Lakhwinder Kaur Garcha, General Secretary of the Congress, alleged that the performance of the Akali government could be judged from the fact that it had failed to make payment of old-age pension.

Tributes paid to Rajiv
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 20 — The Chandigarh Territorial Mahila Congress Committee held a function at Bapu Dham Colony here today to celebrate the birth anniversary of Mr Rajiv Gandhi.

Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, Congress nominee for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, was the chief guest and Ms Lalit Joshi Bhardwaj, President of the committee, presided.

Rich tributes were paid to the former Prime Minister by various speakers. An appeal was made to all workers and others to follow the policies and programmes of Mr Rajiv Gandhi for the welfare of general public.

Mr Harmohan Dhawan, Ms Satinder Dhawan, Ms Madhu Bansal, Ms Bhajan Kaur, Ms Pushpa Sharma and Ms Shyama Negi spoke at the function.

Show in Sanskrit by students
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 20 — Students of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Sector 47, transported the audience to vedic atmosphere by presenting all items in Sanskrit at a function here today.

The show began with Saraswati vandana. a one-act play, shloka recitation, song and dance and fancy dress competitions were other highlights of the function.

Dr Shankar Ji Jha, Head of Department of Sanskrit, Panjab University, was the chief guest. Mr Saranjit Singh, Principal, welcomed the chief guest.

Applications from artistes invited
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 20 — The Punjab Arts Council (PAC), Chandigarh, has invited applications from aged and indigent writers, poets, painters and theatre artistes for being recommended for a life-time honorarium of Rs 2,000 per month under a scheme operated by the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India, New Delhi.

In a press note issued yesterday, Mr H.S. Bhatty, Secretary General, PAC, said all people over the age of 58 and having a total income of less than Rs 2,000 per month would be eligible and recommended by the Punjab Government to the Central Ministry.

Mr Bhatty has asked all deserving people to contact him personally or on phone number 771472 within a week. The last date of receipt of recommendations at New Delhi is August 30.

Employees take pledge
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 20 — Ms Vineeta Rai, Adviser to the Administrator, administered the Sadhbavna Divas pledge to the UT employees in front of the UT Secretariat here today.

The employees pledged to work for emotional unity and harmony of all the people of India, regardless of caste, creed, region or language. They also pledged to resolve all differences among Indians through dialogue and constitutional means, without resorting to violence. The Home secretary, Mr N.K. Jain, and the Finance Secretary, Mr Rakesh Singh, were present.