Woman dies of suffocation
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 14 — Geeta of Sector 11 here died of suffocation last night.

According to information available, Geeta and her husband, Hari Prashad, were sleeping in their home after lighting an angithi when gas filled their room. They were rushed to the Sector 16 General Hospital, where Geeta died. The condition of Hari Prashad is stated to be serious.

Case registered: The police has registered a case against Satish Kumar of Sector 55 and his mother, Usha, for harassing Sushma of Vishkarma Colony, Pinjore, to bring more dowry. A complaint to this effect was filed by the mother of Sushma, Ms Raj Kumari.

The complainant alleged that her daughter, who was married to Satish in February, 1998, had been harassed and tortured by her husband and mother-in-law to bring more dowry. Sushma consumed a poisonous substance yesterday and was rushed to General Hospital, Sector 16, where she was declared brought dead. The two have been arrested.

Injured: A scooterist, Mr Roshan Lal of Mohalla Churian Wala, was injured when he was hit by a motor cycle near the Chandigarh Press Club, Sector 27, last night. The driver of the motor cycle, Vikram, has been arrested and a case registered against him.

Two arrested: The police has arrested two persons, Pala Ram and Puppy, residents of Ram Darbar, Phase II, on the charge of quarelling at a public place. A case has been registered.

KALKA

Collision: Mr Kirpal Singh of Kalka, in a complaint with the police, alleged that the driver of a car (HP-02-4415), Shanti, drove his vehicle speedily and banged head-on into two cars near the taxi union office. Both cars were damaged in the accident.

He further alleged that Shanti had beaten him up and threatened him before running away. A case under Sections 279, 427, 323, 324 and 506 of the IPC has been registered against the accused.

Liquor seized: The police has seized 31 pouches of country-made liquor from the possession of Tugal of Khanabdosh. A case under the Excise Act has been registered.

‘Social tensions area of concern’
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 14 — How India has stayed integrated and why it did not go the Soviet way were the key issues raised by Prof Gopal Krishan of the Geography department at the ongoing international seminar on ''political landscapes: on the threshold of 21st century and emerging patterns" at Panjab University here today.

Answers to the questions were discussed in matters related to the cultural heritage, national movement and socio-economic public policy package. The paper referred to comments on an eminent political-geographer saying ''that India has endured as a unified country is one of the socio-political miracles of the 20th century''.

Prof M.S. Gill, Punjabi University, Patiala, in his paper said that ethnic conflicts had become quite a common feature in most of the plural countries, particularly Third World nations. Marked by a rich socio-cultural diversity, the Asian countries were characterised by a number of active ethnic conflicts of various hues and durations.

Apart from resulting in loss of human lives and property and providing a drag on the socio-economic development, these conflicts also provided fertile grounds for human rights violations, Professor Gill added.

"Discourse of Violence in a Separatist Movement" was presented in a paper by Prof Paramjit Singh Judge, Sociology Department, Guru Nanak Dev University. The paper was based on news and advertisements appearing in a leading Punjabi newspaper between 1989 and 1990. These advertisements appeared under the headings ''tributes'', ''warnings'' and ''clarifications''.

Ignored by the social scientists as irrelevant to the understanding of the Punjab problem, these news and advertisements had remained without any scholarly analysis. It has been argued that these news and advertisements tended to create a discourse of violence in which Sikh militant tradition was assumed to be a legitimising force.

Prof K.Z. Amani, Department of Geography, AMU, Aligarh, said that communal divisions, social tension and religious conflicts were some of the major areas of concern. Three religious communities — Muslims, Sikhs and Christians — had suffered from sense of insecurity, neglect and a feeling of being denied their due share in national governance.

A few other papers were presented by Dr R.N. Sharma, DAV College; Dr Charles Small, Ben Gurion University, Israel, and Associate Prof Dennis Rumley, University of Western Australia. Papers from the host university were presented by Prof K.D. Sharma, Dr Bhupinder Brar, Dr Sanjay Chaturvedi and Dr Surya Kant.

A fine blend of traditional, contemporary art
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 14 — With fabrics hanging all around, which have a mix of both the traditional and the contemporary figures painted, drawn and illustrated on them, along with other works of arts, there appears to be an appealingly curious mix of illustrations, paintings and installation art. And this assortment is what makes Shelly Bahl’s exhibition, titled ‘Random Works 1995-96’, of varied works so graphic and detailed about the artist’s forays into the world of art. The exhibition opened on December 14 at the Art Folio Gallery, Sector 9.

Bahl, a visiting artist from Canada, is exhibiting in the city for the first time and is currently on a four-month Shastri Indo-Canadian scholarship to India as an independent art-researcher and to learn about the contemporary Indian art scene. The artist, born in Benaras and now settled in Toronto, specialised in visual arts for York University, Ontario, after which she went on to do her masters in studio art from New York University.

What makes Bahl’s work so interesting is the fact that she uses a lot of the images of miniature Mughal paintings juxtaposed with the contemporary forms and shapes, and that too largely in flat illustrative style. “What I am largely interested is in experimental work being done in new media here in this country. I am not interested in the modernist paintings, because even in Toronto I work with Asian artists doing new media work”.

When asked about the recurring figures of women in most of her works, Shelly Bahl said that she did not want her works to be labelled as feminist works, “but what interests me is the images of women over a period of time, and I also do not think that this is not limiting in any way”.

This artist, educator and curator, who has also worked in the experimental video art, would deliver a lecture on ‘Contemporary Diasporic Asian Art’ on December 16 at 5 p.m at the same venue, which would highlight the work of a group of artists in the context of an international perspective on art from the Indian sub-continent and the larger South Asian Diaspora.

The exhibition will remain open till December 22.

Shishu Niketan beat GMHS-44
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Dec 14 — Shishu Niketan Senior Secondary School, Sector 22, clinched the Lions trophy in under 16 cricket by overpowering Govt Model High School, Sector 44, by 69 runs in the final played here today.

Batting first, SN-22 scored 156 runs for the loss of five wickets in 25 overs, while GMSS-44 were bundled out for 87 runs in 16 overs. Raju Yadav was declared the best batsman, Kabir the best bowler, while Uday was adjudged the best player of the tournament.

ICSE cricket: St Stephen’s School, Sector 45 won the ICSE Schools (Chd Region) Cricket tournament by beating St Xavier’s Senior Secondary School, Sector 44, by four wickets in the finals played here today at St Xavier’s school.

Softball tournament: In the Panjab University Inter College Zonal Softball tournament for women played here at GCG-11 today, GGS College for Women, Chandigarh lost to Arya College for Women, Ludhiana at 0-15 , Ramgarhia Girls College, Ludhiana defeated GN Girls College, Ludhiana, by 18-1 and AS College for Women, Khanna outplayed GGD SD College Hariana (Hoshiarpur) by 12-11.

Carrom tourney: The selection trials for the All-India Carrom tournament to be held from January 4 to 9 next year will be held on December 17 at the Survey of India , Sector 32, according to Lt Col. CS Bewli, Secretary, Central Civil Services Regional Board for Culture and Sports, Chandiagrh. Employees — both men and women — of central government offices situated at Chandigarh would be eligible to take part in the trials.