Thursday, August 26, 1999
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N E W S Thursday, August 26, 1999 |
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NCC cadets
for poll duty CHANDIGARH, Aug 25 — For the first time in city, cadets of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) will be deployed at various polling stations for election duty in the parliamentary polls besides the local police and five companies of para- military forces. This was stated by Mr S K Singh, IGP, while addressing a press conference here this afternoon. He said 100 cadets would be assigned election -related duties with personnel of the local force. While two companies of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) have arrived in the city, the remaining companies — two of the CISF and one of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) — are expected to arrive in a day or two. A total of 3, 378 personnel will be on duty till the election day. This includes 1, 000 home guards, 2, 278 men of the local constabulary and 100 NCC cadets. A force of nearly 150 men will also be stationed at the headquarters for any emergency. Orders cancelling leave to personnel have been issued and all police stations will maintain 25 per cent of their effective strength round the clock till the elections are over, he said. There are 640 polling booths this time, out of which 145 have been declared sensitive. The areas where such booths are located are Bapu Dham, Indira colony, Dadu Majra, Hallomajra, Mauli Jagran, Colony number four and five, Kajheri, Ram Darbar and Sector 25 colony. The largest number of sensitive booths — 23— are in Ram Darbar. In the run up to the poll, 940 preventive arrests have been made from various parts of the city in the past two weeks. A special vigil is being kept on history sheeters and bad characters living in potential trouble spots. Drives to check sale of illicit liquor in the labour colonies are also underway, he added. Mr Singh said the contestants have been provided security. The candidates of the three national parties, the Congress, the BJP and the BSP, have been provided with guards at their office and residences besides an escort vehicle. The remaining have been assigned one personal security officer (PSO) each. As many as 93 light commercial vehicles and 27 buses have been hired for the smooth movement of the force and for other election- related duties. Arrangements have also been made to detect the movement of subversives, and in view of the recent recovery of RDX, arms and ammunition in the neighbouring states, at all the 22 entry points to the city. The number of personnel stationed at such places have been strengthened and the operations cell has also been asked to carry out surprise checks in various parts of the city. electronic voting
machines would be stored in five heavily protected
buildings and would be under the charge of gazetted
officers, he added. |
HP plans
luxury rail tour CHANDIGARH, Aug 25 — Almost on the concept of the luxurious "palace on wheels" running on the popular tourist circuit in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, the railways, in association with the Himachal Pradesh Government, plans to run a package tour with all luxury trappings on board, special coaches and top class hotel accommodation and facilities. Railways sources say the state government is keen to exploit the tourist potential of the hill state. While the railways will provide facilities like luxury coaches and special bookings, the state government or its tourism department will be asked to take care of the needs of the passengers, like hotels, shopping, taxis, sight seeing, food and transportation, when they disembark at Shimla, the capital located a height of more than 7,500 feet above mean sea level. Sources in the Ambala railway division, that is a part of the planning team, say the idea is to have a package tour with everything paid with the ticket. The passenger buys a train ticket and is assured of all facilities, as is the concept of other luxury trains in the country. In case of such trains, the railways runs and operates the tracks while other facilities like catering and marketing are taken care of by respective tourism departments. On the Delhi-Shimla section, the proposal is to attach a special coach with the Kalka mail that departs from the Old Delhi railway station at around 10.30 pm. Most flights from within the country or long-distance trains reach the capital around the evening, enabling the passengers from other destinations to board the Kalka mail. This special coach or coaches will reach Kalka in the morning, from where special coaches will take tourists to Shimla, where only narrow gauge trains operate. Since Shimla is the last rail head on this section, further tourist excursions to Naldhera, Kufri, Narkanda, Chail or other resorts will have to be made in luxury buses, sources say. Meanwhile, sources say
instead of the proposal to have a third Shatabdi between
Delhi and Chandigarh, the train that departs from
Chandigarh around noon will be re-scheduled to operate in
the evening, thus reaching Delhi around 9 pm. At present,
this cannot be carried out as the train that goes from
here around noon reaches Delhi at around 3.30 pm. From
there it is put on to another route and it reaches its
destination in the night, where its maintenance is
carried out. Till there is another rake, the Shatabdi
will continue to depart from here around noon. |
IGNOU,
Army sign MoU CHANDIGARH, Aug 25 — The Indira Gandhi National Open University Army Educational Project (IAEP) has been launched in order to enhance the educational qualification and professional skill of the army personnel. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the Director-General Military Training and the Vice- Chancellor of IGNOU recently. The aim of the project is to provide the personnel deployed all over the country to use the facilities of the university in addition to the network already existing at various levels within the army. It will assist greater participation by service personnel in the programme without their moving out of their location except attending counselling sessions and appearing in examinations. To make it effective, all human resources development centres located at the five army commands will act as accredited regional centres. As such, a regional centre of the IGNOU has been established at the Human Resources Development Centre of the headquarters Western Command, Chandimandir. Col I S Punia, Colonel Education, has been nominated as regional Director, IGNOU (Army). For the convenience of soldiers, four study centres have also been established at the human resources development centres located at Chandimandir, Bathinda, Ambala and Jalandhar. The regional centre/study centre will provide educational facilities to all serving army personnel under its jurisdiction in various fields of academic, computer and management programmes. To start with, the army headquarters has decided to take up BA, B.Com, Diploma in Tourism Studies, Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication, Certificate course in Disaster Management, Certificate Course in Computing, Certificate Course in Environmental Studies, Diploma in Management, MBA, PG Diploma in Management besides the PG Diploma in Human Resource Management. The admission process is
already on and all ranks of the army are enrolling
themselves in various courses. Due to operational
commitments of the army, IGNOU has agreed to extend the
last date of admissions to September 15 for submission of
application forms for admission to academic and computer
courses commencing in January 2000. |
PUTA
executive announced CHANDIGARH, Aug 25 —The executive body of the Panjab University Teachers Association (PUTA) was announced following elections on the campus here today. Dr P.P. Arya has already been elected president unanimously. Dr Fateh Singh Nandel was elected Vice-President today. He got 338 votes against 185 votes secured by Dr K.P. Singh. Dr Harjinder Singh "Laltoo" was elected Secretary. He secured 317 votes against 214 votes secured by Dr Tankeshwar Singh. Dr Kiranpreet, who polled 288 votes, defeated Dr Nahar Singh, who secured 230 votes. Dr Keshav Malhotra was unanimously elected Treasurer. Members of group I are Dr Akshaya Kumar, Dr Dhan Raj Sharma, Dr Raunki Ram and Dr S.P. Gautam. Group II includes Dr Amar Nath Gill, Dr M.P. Sharma, Dr Shyamla Devi and Dr Promila Pathak. Members who have been elected in group III are Dr D.S.Toor, Dr Ranbir Kaur and Dr V.S. Chauhan. Dr Sudhir Kumar has been chosen unanimously in group IV. Dr Ujjagar Singh has been chosen in group V. Dr Arya said the new body would work for ensuring payment of arrears to teachers and clearing problems concerning fixations. The pension scheme figured in the agenda. The new body is likely to meet next week. Dr M. Rajivlochan, the former secretary, highlighted the work during his tenure. Both successes and failures were mentioned. The successes included the wage front. He said DA, due for more
than one year, was released in October, 1998. Similar
efforts resulted in the implementation of the revised pay
scales in March, 1999. He said the efforts by the PUTA
resulted in enhancement of subsidy for the purchase of
books. |
Sharma,
Bansal have digs at one another CHANDIGARH, Aug 25 — Personal and personality issues dominated an interaction programme of the two principal candidates for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat at the Chandigarh Press Club here today. Both the candidates had personal digs not only at each other but also at their national leaders. A number of questions posed by each other and also from the audience either remained unanswered or were partially answered. On most of the issues, including major local issues, their answers were either a reiteration of their earlier stands or promises to solve each and every problem facing the residents of the Union Territory. Mr Krishan Lal Sharma of the Bharatiya Janata Party initially tried to establish his links with Chandigarh by claiming that he had worked as the main election manager for Mr Siri Chand Goel in 1967 and that he remained a voter here and that he was also a member of the local Telephone Advisory Committee. Further, Mr Sharma said that he had been looking after the party work for the northern region, including Chandigarh, for the past many years and he was no stranger to the city. Mr Sharma posed a question to Mr Bansal on the Rajiv Gandhi-Sant Harcharan Singh Longowal accord before announcing that he was with the people of Chandigarh who want Chandigarh to be retained as a Union Territory. To solve various local problems, he said, he would prepare a five-year action plan to find permanent solutions to all major problems of the city. Mr Sharma said that the National Democratic Alliance of which the BJP was a partner has come out with its election manifesto, proposing certain amendments, including those to the People Representation Act prohibiting Indian citizens born outside India from holding any top position in the country , besides ensuring a full five-year term for both Lok Sabha and state legislatures. Posing questions to Mr Bansal, Mr Sharma asked him his stand on Mrs Sonia Gandhi contesting from Bellary or Dr Manmohan Singh contesting from South Delhi though he represents Assam in the Rajya Sabha. He further asked Mr Bansal whether the Congress would bring in any legislation to prohibit outsiders from contesting Lok Sabha elections. Mr Sharma also announced that as a matter of principle, he does not own an inch of land anywhere in the country nor he would any. Further, he said he has about Rs 5 lakh in his bank account for the election. He has no avocation except to serve the people of the country and that he would like Mr Bansal to declare his assets publicly as he was doing. Mr Pawan Bansal in his initial brief maintained that it was only the Congress which could provide a stable government at the Centre. When the BJP-led coalition government came to the power at the Centre, it was more busy in appeasing its alliance partners than doing anything for the country: Mr Badal insisted that his son should be inducted into the Union Cabinet, Mrs Sushma Swaraj wanted her husband to be made Member of the Rajya Sabha from Haryana. Other alliance partners had similar demands on ministerial portfolios. If the government fell at the Centre, it was because of its own problems and weaknesses. Between 1991 and 1996, he said, the Congress had a minority government at the Centre which lasted a full five-year term in spite of the fact that the BJP tried to bring in no-confidence motion against it at least four times. The previous BJP-led government had 18 alliance partners while the NDA will have 22 partners. Mr Bansal asked Mr Sharma how many seats it was contesting on its own and could it form a government at the Centre on its own? On the other hand, Mr Bansal said that the Congress was contesting enough seats and was capable of forming a government on its own strength. What was the assurance that this time again, the NDA would not fall apart on distribution of portfolios and other such issues? Though Mr Sharma has been claiming his association with Chandigarh since 1967, how many times has he raised any issue on Chandigarh during his three tenures as MP, twice as a Lok Sabha member and once as Rajya Sabha member? In fact, he must tell how many times he talked about Outer Delhi in the Lok Sabha which he represented for two consecutive terms before being pushed to Chandigarh. Mr Bansal maintained that he was for status quo on Chandigarh. Let it be the capital of Punjab and Haryana and continue as it is. During his five-year tenure, there was no threat to the UT status of Chandigarh. Chandigarh, he said, should rather work as a second national capital of the country. Let some UN organisations open their offices here. It should be a city of conventions and conferences. Mr Bansal said that he was also surprised at the five-year plan Mr Sharma was proposing for Chandigarh. It was the BJP which had opposed the Five-Year Plan concept in 1971 and talked about a rolling plan which meant nothing. He also talked about the abolition of the leasehold system and said that he brought the scheme to Chandigarh but the BJP, during the past four years, could not get the hurdles removed to make it a people-friendly and hassle-free scheme. Even the CMC was a major disappointment for people as the BJP was ruling it. In the rebuttal and clarification time, Mr Sharma said that Mr Pawan Bansal must answer why the Congress, which got even two-third majority or clear majority in the Lok Sabha so many times, was at such a position now. Some of the previous Congress Prime Ministers were not free from corruption charges, be it the Bofors case of Mr Rajiv Gandhi or of Mr Narasimha Rao. The BJP ministers,including Chief Ministers, have been spotless in their political careers. Mr Sharma said that it was the Congress which was responsible for terrorism in the country and during the Congress rule, women issues were always given a shabby treatment. He referred to the recent case of rape in the UP Congress office and also referred to the Delhi 'tandoor' case and other such cases. He wanted to know whether Mr Rajiv Gandhi went back on his accord with Sant Longowal on the issue of Chandigarh. And further, Mr Pawan Bansal must answer why after a full five-year term he was defeated twice by the electorate of Chandigarh? Mr Bansal retaliated by saying that Mr Sharma has been not shifted but pushed out of Delhi. He said he lost twice because the electorate wanted to try some one in his place and that he was again seeking people's verdict. Talking about Mrs Sonia Gandhi as prime ministerial candidate, Mr Bansal said that the party has made it clear that the election of a leader will depend upon the Congress Parliamentary Party. He accused the BJP of following the personality cult which once the Congress subscribed to. He said that everywhere, even the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, has been equated with the Sun, with the Tricolour and such other things. He reminded Mr Sharma not to forget about the atrocities committed on women in Rajasthan and Gujarat and that names of several BJP activists figured in several cases of atrocities and cruelty against women. Referring to corruption, Mr Bansal said that the telecom package, the sugar deal and the sugar-coated Lahore bus will all come up before new the Lok Sabha. Mr Bansal made it clear that there was no threat to Chandigarh as a Union Territory but if anything happened to change this status, he would quit his Lok sabha membership on the issue. Both agreed that Chandigarh was losing its City Beautiful status. They assured that they would take up work pertaining to the rehabilitation of slum dwellers, development of colonies and villages so that the basic format of the city was kept intact. Both Mr Sharma and Mr
Bansal felt that Lal Dora must be extended. Mr Bansal, in
fact, suggested that colonies have come up to the edges
of villages and all construction in a systematic way,
with prior approval of building plans, should be
regularised and all colonies such be given water, power
connections besides provision being made for sewerage. |
Kharar gets three more polling
booths SAS NAGAR, Aug 25 — Three more polling booths have been added in the Kharar segment of the Ropar parliamentary constituency. Disclosing this here today, Mr O.P.Popli, Assistant Returning Officer (ARO) for segment, said the total number of polling stations now was 226. The additional polling stations are at Daulat Singhwala, Government Primary School, Phase IX, and the PUDA office in Phase 1. He said the location of at least 10 existing polling station in the township had been changed in view of the difficulties faced by the voters in casting their votes. Citing an example, he said voters of Phase XII had to go to the polling booth in Phase X to cast their vote. He said 1,98,441 voters would cast their vote this time as compared to 1,87,116 in the last parliamentary elections. Postal ballot papers for the 418 postal voters registered in the assembly segment have already been dispatched. Besides, a rehearsal of
the the employees, who had been deputed as Presiding
Officers and Polling Officers was held here today. As
many as 892 employees have been deputed on election duty. |
Snake
kills calf CHANDIGARH, Aug 25 — A calf was bitten to death by a snake near the Sector 29 Traffic Police Lines here this evening. According to residents,
the calf was grazing in an open space in front of the
Traffic Police Lines when a snake attacked it and bit at
its nostrils. This led to its death within 15 minutes.
Residents said nobody came forward to claim the ownership
of the calf. |
Case
likely against PUTA Secretary CHANDIGARH, Aug 25 — A case under the Representation of People Act,1951, is likely to be registered against Mr M. Rajivlochan, Secretary, Panjab University Teachers Association (PUTA), for refusal to perform election duty. Mr M. Rajivlochan, it may be recalled, had refused to report for the training schedule on August 14 citing other “time-bound commitments” because of which he had no free time to join such training programmes. The Returning Officer, it is learnt, also shot back a strong letter to Mr Rajivlochan, maintaining that the “order” he had objected to was a valid and legal order which had been passed by an office constituted to ensure that one of the most fundamental requirement of the Constitution — holding of elections — was met. The letter from the Deputy Commissioner-cum-Returning Officer also reportedly made it clear that the “order” had to be obeyed failing which penal action as per the law of the land could be taken against him. Action could be taken against all those who violate any legally passed order under Section 26 of the Representation of People Act,1951. The letter also reportedly quoted relevant sections of the Act, including Section 159, which says that the staff working with every university which is established or incorporated by or under a central, provincial or state Act; or any other institution, concern or undertaking which is established by or under a central, provincial or state act or which is controlled or financed wholly or substantially by the funds provided directly or indirectly by central government or state government could be put on election duty. The letter makes it clear that disobeyance of the order would be at his own peril, making it clear that he was free to quit the job covered under the Act in case he was not prepared to obey the call of the duty. According to informed sources, Mr Rajivlochan was given an opportunity to appear for training on August 23 which he did not do. The letter also cautioned the PUTA Secretary that before sending his letter he should have checked with the Vice-Chancellor or the Registrar’s office as to from which place the Administration got the addresses of the faculty members if nothing more. Probably, the Administration had consulted the authorities concerned before taking a decision about appointing Presiding Officers for the September 5 elections. Mr Rajivlochan, who also happens to be the Secretary of the Panjab University Teachers Association (PAUTA), also objected to the tone and tenor of the language of the order issued by the Returning Officer for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, Mr Ramsekhar, of August 12 asking him to report for training on August 14. Mr Rajivlochan is understood to have mentioned in his letter that none of university teachers was an employee of the government or subordinate to the Administration and thus the Returning Officer had no right to issue any “order” to the university teachers even if it was for a constitutional duty or activity. He wanted that all such communications from the Administration to the university teachers should hopefully be politely worded and not headed “order” as was done in case of the election training programme. The PUTA Secretary, who reportedly took up cudgels on behalf of the teaching community, also suggested that before putting them on election duty, it would have been better if they had been consulted before hand maintaining that even the Vice-Chancellor and other government functionaries do so as and when they want to request university teachers to perform any extra duty. Endorsing a copy of his letter to the Vice-Chancellor, Mr Rajivlochan is also believed to have suggested that PUTA could have helped in persuading the faculty in joining the programme and saved everyone from any unnecessary unpleasantness. Mr Rajivlochan also
cited that since the “order” on his joining
training programme came too late to him, he could not
reschedule his earlier commitment and was thus unable to
take up the training. He even offered that on some other
occasion, he may be of any use to the Returning Officer
who also happens to be the Deputy Commissioner.
|
Club
members get into Teej spirit CHANDIGARH, Aug 25 — Members of the Lions Club, Nightingale and Rose, got together to celebrate the festival of Teej today. The fun-filled function held at Bal Bhavan, here, was marked by the traditional swings, mehndi and bangles. The dholak and Punjabi
songs brought out the original flavour of the festival |
Ex-sarpanch
joins Congress ZIRAKPUR, Aug 25 —
Mr Dalip Singh, a former sarpanch of Lohgarh village, has
joined the Congress. He declared his decision at a joint
meeting of the Congress and the Communist Party of India
(Marxist), held under the chairmanship of Mr R.S. Sohi, a
member of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Mr Dalip
Singh, who had been associated with the Shiromani Akali
Dal (SAD) as the General Secretary of Zirakpur circle,
said nepotism in the SAD and the misleading attitude of
the BJP-SAD coalition government had compelled him to
join the Congress. He also expressed his faith in the
leadership of Ms Praneet Kaur, the congress candidate for
the Patiala Lok Sabha constituency. |
Samajwadi
claims support of OBCs CHANDIGARH, Aug 25 — The Samajwadi Party candidate for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, Mr Manphool Singh, who was a member in the 1987 Devi Lal Council of Ministers in Haryana, claimed today that he would win the election with the support of Balmiks, OBCs and minorities. Talking to newsmen here this morning, Mr Manphool Singh said that thousands of Balmiks and other backward classes (OBCs) besides minorities living in the Union Territory had decided to support his candidature unconditionally. "I have chosen a general seat to contest the Lok Sabha elections to send a message that a Scheduled Caste candidate can win from a general seat also. My major support has come from the Adhi Dharam Samaj and its national convener, Mr Darshan Ratna Ravan, was already spearheading the campaign," he added. Mr Manphool Singh and Mr Darshan Ravan also expressed unhappiness over the recent Supreme Court verdict on scrapping reservation in super speciality courses of engineering and medicine streams. They said no political parties had spoken a word on this major issue. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya
Balmiki Maha Sabha in a resolution decided to extend its
full support to Mr Manphool Singh. The sabha also
criticised all major political parties for not giving
representation to any Balmik in north India in the
distribution of party tickets for the Lok Sabha
elections. |
Employees
refute Bansal's claim CHANDIGARH, Aug 25 — At a meeting of the representatives of the UT, Central Government and Punjab employees today, they refuted the claim of the Congress candidate, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, that a majority of the trade union leaders had extended support to him in the ensuing Lok Sabha election. A press note issued today alleged that Mr Bansal never took up any issue concerning employees after his election to Lok Sabha in 1991. Employees leaders at the
meeting said that employees would support that candidate
who would assure them in writing that their demands would
be taken up with the government after the election
process. |
Dissension
brews in CTCC CHANDIGARH, Aug 25 — Dissension is brewing in the Chandigarh Territorial Youth Congress Committee (CTCC) after its President, Mr Chander Mukhi Sharma, dissolved the District Youth Congress Committee (Rural). The President of the dissolved unit, Mr Rajwant Rai Raju, was lapped up by the CTCC as he joined the campaigning for the official party candidate, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal. Meanwhile, Mr Rajwant
Rai Raju and Mr Manjit Sahdev, addressed a press
conference to demand the expulsion of Mr Chander Mukhi
Sharma from both the Youth Congress and Congress as they
accused him of working against the party candidate. |
City
unkind to women nominees CHANDIGARH, Aug 25 — Chandigarh has never been a happy hunting ground for women candidates. It has never returned a woman candidate to the Lok Sabha. The neighbouring Punjab and Haryana states, however, have been more generous to them. Punjab has been returning at least one woman MP from the state. Mrs Gurbinder Kaur Brar, Mrs Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder, Mrs Amarjit Kaur , Mrs Santosh Chaudhary, Mrs Bimal Khalsa, Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bulara and Mrs Satwinder Kaur Dhaliwal are some examples. Similarly, Haryana had sent Mrs Sushma Swaraj, Ms Selja and Mrs Kailasho Devi. Himachal Pradesh, like Chandigarh, is way behind both Punjab and Haryana in this regard. If one looks at the previous Lok Sabhas, the representation to women has never been more than 8.1 per cent which was achieved in 1984. The last Lok Sabha had 43 women MPs, which comes to 7.9 per cent. In the first Lok Sabha, there were 22 women MPs (4.4 per cent). This number increased steadily to 34 in 1962 (6.7 per cent) and reached a maximum of 44 in 1984 (8.1 per cent) and was 43 in 1998 (7.9 per cent). The lowest representation women ever got in the Lok Sabha was in 1977 when only 19 of them were elected (3.4 per cent). Interestingly, during the elections to the 10th, 11th and 12th Lok Sabhas, relatively backward states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan elected more women MPs than developed states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. The maximum number of
women contestants was 559 in 1996 out of which only 39
were successful. Interestingly, even the turnout of women
voters in all elections since 1962 has remained lower
than those of men voters. In 1962, for example, only 46.6
women voters exercised their right to franchise against
62 per cent of male voters. In the 1998 elections, the
percentage of women who cast their vote swelled to 57.86
per cent, the highest ever. |
Ex-servicemen
to pay tributes to martyrs DERA BASSI, Aug 25 — The Ex-Servicemen's Cell of the Patiala unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party will organise a function here on September 12 to offer floral tributes to Kargil martyrs. According to Captain Swarn Singh, President of the cell, all ex-servicemen of the district and the families that have lost their near and dear ones in Operation Vijay have been invited to the function. The cell will take up
the problems of these families with the higher
authorities and try to solve them. He has urged the
ex-servicemen of the district to join the cell and to
strengthen the hands of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. |
SNIPPETS Students to take out rally CHANDIGARH, Aug 25 — College and university students will take out a rally on September 2 to sensitise city residents about the importance of the crime stoppers cell started by the local police. This was decided at a meeting chaired by Mr C S R Reddy, SSP, and attended by representatives of various students organisations of the colleges and university here today. Mr Baldev Singh, SP, was also present. Sources said students of 11 city colleges and the departments of the Panjab University campus would be mobilised for the purpose. The students would then march from the Student Centre at 11 a.m. on September 2 and pass through various parts of the city before converging at the Sector 17 plaza. The students would carry placards and banners highlighting the theme of keeping the city not only beautiful but crime free.A similar rally was taken out by school children on August 18. A meeting of all college principals has been convened tomorrow while the final details would be ready by Friday. As many as 2, 000 students are expected to take part in the march, the sources added. Training programme on August 27 PANCHKULA, Aug 25 — An Orientation Training Programme on Participatory Learning in Adolescent Sexuality will be organised at Hans Raj Public School, Sector 6, as part of the golden jubilee celebration of the Family Planning Association of India (FPAI) on August 27. The programme will be inaugurated by Dr Nina Puri, President of the FPAI, while Mrs Komal Anand, Financial Commissioner and Secretary of the Haryana Government's Public Health Department, will be the guest of honour. The programme will be conducted in two training sessions, during which, a declamation contest will also be organised. The topics for the declamation contest will be based on relationships, peer pressure, sexual harassment, negative emotions, impact of media and parental role. On August 28, the school will be the venue for the District Rally Focus function of the Innerwheel District which will begin at 10.30 am. Dr Nina Puri will preside over the function and delegates of the Innerwheel District 308 from 34 clubs spread in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Chandigarh will attend the function. A project fair and deliberations on population concerns and community concerns will also be organised. Reinstatement of sweepers sought CHANDIGARH, Aug 25 — The Sweepers Union has demanded the reinstatement of the temporary sweepers, whose services had been terminated by the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC). In a representation to the UT Administrator, the union said though the sweepers were recruited through the Employment Exchange on October 28,1998, yet their services were terminated on August 9 this year. The names of these sweepers had been deleted from the Exchange, with the result that a majority of them had become overage, the representation added. Nursing workshop concludes CHANDIGARH, Aug 25 — The ten-day workshop on 'Emergency Management of Head Trauma — Role of a Nurse' concluded at the College of Nursing in the PGI here today. Speaking on the occasion, Ms C. Daniel, Nursing Superintendent of Nehru Hospital, who was the chief guest, said as proper care and treatment was necessary in case of a head injury, so was the role of a nurse. She said professional skills of a nurse were tested while caring a patient with a head injury. She said the nurse in such case should do her duty with full dedication to save the life of the patient. The workshop was organised under the supervision of Dr Baltej Kaur. A large number of delegates from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the UT, besides students of different nursing colleges, participated in it. On this occasion, Dr Inderjit Kaur, Principal of the College of Nursing, distributed certificates among participants. Dr Saroj Sharma presented a vote of thanks. EPF amount case hangs fire CHANDIGARH, Aug 25 — The issue of missing money from Employee Provident Fund (EPF) accounts of the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, still hangs fire. The Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, Mr M.L. Meena, in a letter written to a member of the Central Board of Trustees, Mr A.D. Nagpal, has said that on receipt of a report made by the checking squads a detailed report will be sent. Mr Nagpal had written a letter to Mr Meena after The Tribune carried a story on July 9 about how Rs 2 crore was missing from the EPF accounts of the GMCH contract employees. In his reply, Mr Meena has said that the GMCH is not covered under the office, thus it will be difficult to secure compliance through the GMCH. A checking squad was
formed on the basis of The Tribune report and it would
submit its report after the process was completed, the
letter from Mr Meena says. |
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