Chemists observe bandh against hike in ST Chandigarh, Feb 8 — Chemists of the city put up their shutters to protest against the "arbitrary and unprecedented" hike in sales tax on medicines.

Seminar on education begins Youth killed in road mishap

Three parks for Sector 55
CHANDIGARH, Feb 8 — Mr Satya Pal Jain, local MP, has assured Sector 55 residents that as many as three parks will be developed in the area.

Musical welcome to spring
CHANDIGARH, Feb 8 — Spring has always been a metaphor for celebration. Keeping with this idea of festivity the Rotary Club, Chandigarh, organised 'Vasantotsav' today at Sector 18.

• Temperature drops by 6°C
• Rs 50,000 donated for PGI patients
• New panels of names of SEs sought
• 300 get prizes in library contests

4 HC Judges sworn in
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 8 — The Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Mr Arun B. Saharya, today administered the oath of office to four new High Court Judges.

In order of seniority the new Judges are Mr Jagdish Singh Khehar, Mr A.S. Garg, Mr V.M. Jain and Mr Amar Datt Sharma. While Mr Khehar was a lawyer at the High Court, Mr Garg and Mr Jain were Sessions Judges of the Haryana cadre. Mr Amar Datt Sharma was a Sessions Judge of the Punjab cadre.

The oath ceremony was held in the Chief Justice's courtroom.

Earlier, the court Registrar, Mr K.K. Garg, read out the warrants of appointment of the new Judges issued by the President, Mr K.R. Narayanan. He also conducted the ceremony proceedings.

The ceremony was attended among others by present and former judges of the High Court, senior Punjab and Haryana bureaucrats including Mr L.M. Jain, Principal Secretary to the Haryana Chief Minister, the local M.P., Mr Satya Pal Jain, office-bearers of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association Mr Justice I.P. Vashist, Lok Pal of Haryana, and a large number of advocates.

With their appointment, the judges' strength in the High Court has risen to 26, including the Chief Justice, as against the sanctioned strength of 40. It means that the High Court is still short of 14 judges.

Shopkeepers regret delay
From Our Correspondent

PANCHKULA, Feb 8 — Inordinate delay in the implementation of a three-year-old rehabilitation scheme of the Old Panchkula motor market here has put the future of shopkeepers in a jeopardy.

The shopkeepers lament that business conducted by the market, located on both sides of the Ambala-Shimla national highway, which was once a major centre for repair of heavy vehicles, has fallen over the years.

Adding to their problem was the Public Works Department (PWD) which carried out demolitions of unauthorised structures on either sides of the highway in 1997. They allege that they have lost a major chunk of their business after the demolition drive.

"On the one hand there is fear of further demolitions (if there is further broadening of the national highway), on the other delay in the implementation of the scheme by the district administration has been the cause of our worry", says Mr O.P. Katyal, President of the Old Panchkula Motor Market Association.

He says the market, which had once more than 200 shops and roadside mechanics, is today left with half the number. A number of the shopkeepers have shifted to neighbouring motor markets at Chandimandir and Manimajra.

It is not only the shopkeepers who are suffering due to the delay in their rehabilitation, HUDA is also losing crores of rupees as the land on which the motor market is located had been acquired by it in 1998 and can be sold for commercial activity at a high rate.

Mr Katyal says as per the approved scheme, the motor market had to be rehabilitated near the Grain Market in Sector 20, but the space had fallen short of the requirement. Now HUDA is exploring the idea of rehabilitating the market at a site measuring over 20 acres behind the Kharak Mangoli village in Sector 1 here.

Village in care of the Army
Tribune News Service

GRINDA JATTAN (Pinjore), Feb 8 — Villagers of this sleepy hamlet had a good reason to celebrate, despite rain acting as a dampener, as the foundation stone of a community hall was laid by Ms Kusum Kala, President of the Army Wives Welfare Association, today.

The village, adopted by the Army for community development on August 18, has undergone a sea change. Fairly backward, it lacked basic amenities including water and power supplies, streetlighting and drainage for rain water. The primary school had only two rooms and was without furniture, teaching aids, playground and other allied facilities.

After its adoption by 119 Assault Engineers Regiment, the works to be carried out were identified in consultation with the gram panchayat, the Block Development Officer, and the SDM. The projects identified were improving the facilities at the school, construction of a community hall, playground, drainage, desilting of the village pond, construction of a macro dam for storage of water, a mule track besides carrying out various activities like medical check-up camps, immunisation drives and setting up a jan chetna kendra.

Ms Kusum Kala, accompanied by Col R.G. Divekar, Commanding Officer of the Regiment, went around the kendra and the family welfare centre established by the Army and appreciated the various items of handicraft made by womenfolk of the village.

She also gave away commendation certificates to 12 voluntary instructors engaged for teaching the village illiterate numbering about 85. She presented a cheque for Rs 5, 000 to Ms Shashi Batra, president of the centre, for promotion of its activities.

Mr Tulsa Singh, sarpanch of the village, along with villagers, is all praise for the Army and says what was promised has been delivered. The tasks completed till date are renovation of the school building, installation of streetlights, cleaning of the pond, construction of the macro dam and a playground. The work on the community hall is in progress.

Two medical camps were held in coordination with the Command Hospital, the PGI, the General Hospital, Panchkula, and the Station Health Organisation (SHO), Chandimandir. Besides this, people were sensitised on AIDS , family welfare, health, hygiene, nurtition and immunisation, he added.

Remount Veterinary Corps doctors with the help of the veterinarians from the administration carried out regular check-ups of village cattle and distributed medicines.

The Zila Saksharta Samiti, Panchkula, the SHO, Chandimandir, and education instructors have contributed to the success of the programme.

Not my show: Bhupi
By Sonoo Singh

Chandigarh, Feb 8 — For the fans of bhangra-pop, looking forward to a jive on the tune of the ‘Jogiya-Khalli-Balli’ man, Bhupi Chawla, on Saturday at the Chandigarh Club, Bhupi’s absence apparently seemed to matter little in front of sizzling performances by models sashaying across the ramp. The organisers of the much-publicised show had stated Bhupi's illness as the reason for his not being present at the show.

When contacted at his residence in Delhi, Bhupi said he was "shocked" to know that his name had been put up for a show which had been presented to him only in the form of a proposal and had not been finalised.

According to Mr Shailendra Anand, Secretary, Anmol Arts and Cultural Welfare Society (regd), Mohali: "The Anmol Society, Chandigarh, which presented the show on Saturday in Chandigarh, has nothing to do with our society. It was our registered society that had approached Bhupi for a performance at the Mohali Dasehra grounds, for the end of this month. The programme has been worked out more or less". This was confirmed by Bhupi, who said he would be performing at Mohali soon.

However, Mr Anand added, in case Bhupi had promised to perform, he should not have ditched the organisers at the last minute.

Bhupi added: "Someone called Vijay Arora did meet me to talk about a show at Mohali. But when there was no response regarding the advance that I asked for, then obviously there was no question about performing". The proposal made to Bhupi was made for January 31, which was later shifted to February 7, due to non-availability of the advance money. "The organisers told me that the soft-drink sponsors give sponsorship in the form of crates only and not money. I'm not a 'kabariwalla' that they expect me to take crates of soft-drinks and then sell them to raise funds for myself", he added.

The ‘Khalli Balli’ man, who is feeling "very hurt at the moment", finally hopes to perform in the city at the end of this month.

Chemists observe bandh against hike in ST
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, Feb 8 — Chemists of the city put up their shutters to protest against the "arbitrary and unprecedented" hike in sales tax on medicines.

The agitators from various parts of the city assembled near the plaza in Sector 17 and raised slogans against the administration and alleged that the decision would entail an additional burden on the consumers. The agitators were carrying placards urging the administration to take back the hike.

Mr Prem Sagar Jain, president of the Chandigarh Chemist Association said the tax on medicines was recently reduced to 4. 4 per cent giving much needed relief to the consumers but the sudden 100 per cent hike was totally unjustified.

He said after the hike medicines would be cheaper in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana and their smuggling into the city would increase. There was no rationale in taxing an essential item while the tax on luxury items like computers were considerably lowered.

The administration would also suffer losses on account of less revenue. Having a small area the city should have lower taxes than its neighbours. The tax on medicines in Punjab was 6 per cent , 7 per cent in Haryana and only 5 per cent in Delhi.

He said the association would go in for an indefinite bandh in case the hike was not rolled back within a week. The strike was complete in the city, he added.

The agitators later submitted a memorandum in this context to Mr R. K. Rao, Excise and Taxation Commissioner.

Dark streets of Mohali
Tribune News Service

S.A.S NAGAR, Feb 8 — Residents of this satellite city are at the receiving end as a large number of the streetlights maintained by the local Municipal Council remain non-functional.

The problem is acute in the internal areas of different phases as a large number of the street lights on the roads there are not in working order.

A visit to different parts of the city by TNS at night revealed that about 30 to 40 per cent of the total 8,350 streetlight points were not working. Though the condition of the lights on the main roads was bad, the worst affected were the tube-lights in the inner parts of different phases.

While scores of sodium vapour lamps of the total 2440 such lights in the city were found non-operational on the main road dividing Phases VIII and IX, a considerable number of the total 5,258 tubelights were out of order in parts of Phases VII, III-B-II, V, IV and I and newly developed Sectors 70 and 71. The maintenance of about 1,000 points in the two sectors and the Kumbhra road is with the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA).

While expressing dissatisfaction over the condition of the streetlight system in the city, Mr Gurmail Singh, a Phase VII resident, lamented that in the virtual absence of light, the road leading to Sector 71 had become a "death trap" for the vehicle owners, particularly those driving two-wheelers and bicycles. "The problem is further compounded by the poor condition of the road which is dotted with large potholes all over," he complained.

Another aged resident of the area said he could not venture out of his house for an evening walk. "How can I move out on the road when there is no light out there?" he questioned while demanding that the faulty street-light points should be repaired without any further delay.

The condition of most of the parking lots in Phases III-B-II , V and VII is not very different. Most of the mercury lamps and globe lamps in and around these parking lots are not working. "The non-functioning of the lights around the parking lot has adversely hit the people who visit the shopping centre during late hours with their families," said a shopkeeper of the Phase III-B-II market. He said he had not seen the globe lamps in a working order for the past one year.

The Executive Officer of the local Municipal Council was not available for comment. An official of the electricity wing of the civic body, however, claimed that about 70 to 80 per cent of the total points were in a "working order". He further said the problem occurred following frequent fluctuation in the voltage which often caused damage to the street-lights. He maintained that there was no shortage of sodium lamps or tubelights with the wing.

According to sources in the civic body, the maintenance of the street lights was suffering due to shortage of staff with the council. Against the actual requirement of as many as 46 officials, there were only 20 officials for the maintenance of the street-lights. It was learnt that there was no regular electrician or helper with the MC, which had to hire about 13 such workers on a contract basis.

Similarly, there is only one vehicle fitted with the "sky lift" for maintenance of the entire street-lighting system. "We need at least one more such vehicle for effective maintenance of such a large number of points," said an official.

Three parks for Sector 55
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 8 — Mr Satya Pal Jain, local MP, has assured Sector 55 residents that as many as three parks will be developed in the area.

Mr Jain, who was addressing a function organised by the Sector 55 Chandigarh Housing Board Flats Residents Welfare Association last night, said the funds for the parks would be provided under the Local Area Development Fund. He said a bus queue shelter would also be constructed in the area.

Mr Kewal Krishan Adiwal, Mayor, said the stretch of road linking Palsora village and Sector 55 with the city would be recarpetted soon. In addition to this, a community centre, a dispensary and an additional tubewell would also be set up in the area.

Earlier, a memorandum of demands was handed over to Mr Jain by Mr B.R. Rangara and Mr G.S. Thakur, Chairman and President of the association, respectively.

Musical welcome to spring
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 8 — Spring has always been a metaphor for celebration. Keeping with this idea of festivity the Rotary Club, Chandigarh, organised 'Vasantotsav' today at Sector 18.

The programme began with the vocal recital of Mahendra Rathore, a student of the local Academy of Indian Culture and Fine Arts (AICFA). Based on raga basant, he began the evening with "Phagwa Brij dekhon ko chal re". In this short piece, Rathore's well-modulated voice which showed a tremendous potential, brought out the feel of the 'basant-ritu' even in the depressingly wet and cold weather.

His young accompanists, though slightly hesitant, did their bit to welcome the season. Rathore was accompanied by Sumitra Jalta on sitar, Paramjit Singh on tabla, Malvinder Singh on santoor and Rishi Rajan on guitar.

This was followed by "Ragamala", by Subhash Ghose, on his improvised Spanish Guitar. A disciple of the sarod maestro Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan, he started with raga bhairavi, a morning raga, and then went on to present an engrossing cycle of various ragas of the day.

A select and a highly appreciative audience thoroughly enjoyed the musical journey with an engrossed Subhash Ghose, who beautifully brought out the grace of raga malkaus and raga basant.

The spring mood was quite evident in today's programme, which was held in collaboration with the AICFA, and directed by Subhash Ghose. But what certainly seemed to be missing was the presence of youth, the appropriate symbol of this sprightly season.

Temperature drops by 6°C
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 8 — The day temperature in the city plunged by 6° C since yesterday. Intermittent drizzle throughout the day led to the drop in temperature. The day temperature was recorded at 16°C, 6° C below normal.

The day temperature was 22° C yesterday. The drizzle that commenced late last night affected normal life and several minor accidents were reported. The meteorological office said that there was possibility of rain tomorrow also. Till this morning the met office had recorded 0. 2 mm of rain.

Rs 50,000 donated for PGI patients
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 8 — A woman, who was treated at the PGI three years ago for head injuries, has donated Rs 50,000 for the poor patients welfare fund. The woman, a teacher in a government high school, has reportedly asked the PGI authorities not to reveal her name to the media.

The woman also expressed gratitude to Prof V.K. Khosla, Head, Neurosurgery Department, and other doctors and staff who treated her. The Medical Superintendent , Dr Anil Kumar Gupta , said the donations to the fund were exempted from income tax.

New panels of names of SEs sought
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 8 — The Chandigarh Administration has asked the Punjab and Haryana Governments for fresh panels of names of Superintending Engineers (PWD B&R).The Administration proposes to appoint a new Superintending Engineer (PWD, B&R) in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, while the other one will be taken on deputation with the Engineering Department of the Administration. At present, the Chief Engineer is also holding the additional charge of a Superintending Engineer.

The Administration is also yet to take a decision about the selection of a Chief Engineer, Chandigarh Housing Board, against a newly created post. The Punjab Government has already forwarded a panel.

300 get prizes in library contests
From Our Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, Feb 8 — Over 300 prizes were given away at the annual prize distribution function of the Competition Master Library-related competitions held at State Library, Sector 34, here today.

The DPI Schools and Colleges, Mr DS Mangat, presided over both sessions of the function and gave away the prizes. Speaking on the occasion, he said there was a need to preserve the reading material from theft and mutilation.

Earlier, the President of CLA, Mr J.K. Kataria, said the main objective of holding such competitions was to boost the membership and create an awareness about the library services.

Students of St Stephen's School and Government Model Senior Secondary School presented a bhangra and a group song to conclude the programme.

Contests in debate, extempore speech, quiz and reference hunting held in December were organised by the Chandigarh Librarians' Association in collaboration with St Stephen's school, Sector 45, DAV Public school, Sector 8, and Government Model Senior Secondary school, Sector 21. Over 4000 students participated in the contests of slogan writing, cartoon making, hand writing and general knowledge.

Seminar on education begins
From Our Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, Feb 8— Three technical sessions were held on the first day of the two-day national seminar on "Educational and instructional process" which commenced at Department of Education, Panjab University, here today.

Three papers were presented during the sessions.

Prof Mukhopadhyay, Senior Fellow at NIEPA, in his address stressed the key to five levels of education information, qualification, culture, self-actualisation and emancipation — which "tell us what educational technology deals with".

The seminar was inaugurated by Prof MM Puri, Vice Chancellor. He said it was essential to learn to distinguish between information delivery and imparting education.

About 30 delegates from all over the country participated in the seminar.

Class C staff dissatisfied: The Panjab University Class C Staff Association is dissatisfied with the working of the committee constituted by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof MM Puri. The said committee met on February 3 to discuss the charter of demand presented by the association to the VC but no discussion took place on the relevant issues.

A committee, formed last year by the VC to look into finalising the rates for purchasing uniforms for the staff, has not met till date while the budget provision for the purchase lapses on March 31. This has led to resentment among them.

Cleanliness campaign: A clean campus campaign was jointly launched by the Panjab University Teachers' Association led by Prof SP Gautam and the Panjab University Campus Students' Council led by DPS Randhawa, on the campus today.

The next date for the drive is February 22.

Memorandum: The PUCSC has submitted a memorandum to the Vice-Chancellor for the installation of a 35mm film projector at the Law auditorium by the Film Society of the university. A film fee of Rs 15 was being charged from the students while no such provision was available. The Film Society threatens to sit on dharna if prompt action is not taken by the authorities.

Youth killed in road mishap
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 8 — Two youths of Mauli Jagran village have died in separate incidents in the city. One of them was crushed to death by a truck, while the other died after consuming a poisonous substance.

Sunil Kumar was crushed to death by a truck on the Chandigarh-Panchkula road this morning. Truck driver Ram Surat Paswan was arrested and the truck impounded.

Meanwhile, Yogesh Chauhan (22) consumed some poisonous substance around 10 this morning. He was rushed to the PGI where he died around 4 p.m.

Body found: The body of a newly born male child was found abandoned in Janata Colony, Sector 25, on Sunday. The police has registered a case.

Burn injuries: A woman of Burail village, Hansi Devi, received burn injuries while doing some work in her kitchen on Monday. She was admitted to the PGI.

Nabbed: A resident of Nepal, Rakesh Lama, was nabbed red-handed while stealing a cycle from the ISBT in Sector 17 on Sunday night.