Wednesday, July 21, 1999
|
N E W S Wednesday, July 21, 1999 |
|
| weather n
spotlight today's calendar |
10-year-old boy washed away
in Ghaggar PANCHKULA, July 20 — A 10-year-old boy, Jaswant, of a migrant labour family was swept away by the turbulent Ghaggar waters a few metres downstream the Nadha Sahib bridge here this afternoon. The victim's 15-year-old cousin, Lala Ram, who was accompanying him, was, however, rescued by local residents assisted by officials of the district administration. Till late in the evening, efforts were on to trace the body of the victim. Rescue teams of the firemen, the police and jawans of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) were keeping observation at different points downstream. The rescued boy was rushed to the local General Hospital. He was discharged after first aid. The locals helping the rescue teams in the operation said around 11 a.m. the two boys entered the river to catch fish when the water current was comparatively low. Hailing from families of migrant labour, engaged by stone-crushing units in the belt, catching fish was a favourite pastime of the boys of the jhuggi dwellers of the area, said a local. The unsuspecting boys had found a secure place near one of the embankments of the river when heavy rain fell in the catchment area of the river, which is joined upstream by the Kaushalaya and Jhajjhra rivers. This resulted in almost a flash flood. Data available with an observation post of the Irrigation Department at the Nadha Sahib bridge revealed that the discharge in the river suddenly swelled from 10,817 cusecs at about 1. 45 p.m. to to 24,614 cusecs — heaviest of the season — at about 2.15 p.m. At 2 p.m the discharge was 17,862 cusecs. The officials said the boys, who were busy catching fish, were caught unawares and were trapped in the swirling waters of the river. On hearing the cries for help of the victims, locals tried different ways like throwing ropes in the water but of no use. The boys remained in the swollen waters for more than 45 minutes before rescue teams were sent by the district administration and the police. The Superintendent of Police, Mr Alok Mittal, and the City Magistrate, Mr M.S. Yadav, rushed to the spot to supervise the rescue operations. A long nylon rope with one end tied to a pillar of the bridge and the other let loose towards the victims helped in pulling out of the boys. However, Jaswant, who was clutching on to left arm of Lala Ram, was sucked in by the gushing waters and swept away. Immediately rescue teams rushed to another bridge connecting Sectors 21 and 25 downstream the Nadha Sahib bridge. The City Magistrate said the Punjab authorities in Patiala district, through which the river flows after crossing the Haryana boundary, had been sounded of the missing boy. The Irrigation Department authorities in Ambala, Kaithal and Sirsa districts have been sounded about the heavy discharge of water in the river so that they took preventive steps. Meanwhile, officials of
the PWD (B and R) looking after the maintenance of the
Nadha Sahib bridge ruled out any damage to the bridge
from today's discharge. The officials said works to
protect sections at the end of the footsteps at the floor
of the bridge, which had caved in, was being undertaken
at a cost of over Rs 4 lakh. |
Census 2001 pre-test on in city CHANDIGARH, July 20 — The Directorate of the Census Operations of the UT is presently conducting the pre-test of the Census 2001 in selected areas of the city to collect individual and household particulars. So, do not be surprised if you encounter a person knocking on your door to ask about particulars like whether or not you have a bathing facility within the house, the distance of your work-place from your residence or even the number of bedrooms in your house. This pre-run of the census is being carried out in some selected parts of Kajheri, Plasora, Daria, Sarangpur, Lahora and Sectors 20, 26, 27, 35 and Mani Majra. An important part of the census is the form that is given to citizens all across the country. The pre-test which is carried out is not only to gauge the kind of problems faced by both the enumerator and the one filling the form, but also to assess the time that a particular kind of census form would take to be filled. "Since, for the actual census, we also need to work out the size of the area to be given to the enumerator, this kind of exercise becomes a must. Also, every 10 years, when the census is done, the form is changed, keeping in view the socio-economic conditions and other such parameters in mind. It becomes interesting to get the response of citizens," said Mr Shamlal Goyal, Director of the Directorate of the Census Operations. Till the last census, which took place in 1991, the census form had one separate sheet of individual slip, which asked some 23 questions on particulars like name, sex, age, religion etc. It also had another one which was called the household schedule. But this year, these two subjects have been combined into one, called the household schedule, which is a four-sheeter. Two sheets are devoted to what is called a house-list, which involves details of residential houses like the material used to build the house, the number of persons living in the house or the source of lighting and drinking water. Some questions that have been added this year include identification of old and dilapidated structures, listing out whether waste-water drainage exists, and if household items like radio, television, telephone, vehicle, and bank account are available in the house. Some time back, a debate began over what should one list as one's mother tongue — what one speaks at home, or the language of the region one belongs to, or even the language most well known by an individual. But the pre-test form of Census 2001 includes all these questions, which will give a fair amount of data to linguists in this nation of many languages. As if on cue from animal lover Maneka Gandhi, another question that has been added is about vegetarianism. There are also four questions relating to the aged, that have been added to the list of household-particulars this year. For 'main workers' of a society, which in the census terminology means all those who have been working for at least six months, the form this time includes questions on distance from residence to place of work, the mode of travel and the time taken for travel. The count of cultivators and agricultural labour is excluded from the 'main workers' category. A section on fertility is another add-on in the coming census. Though this section did exist in the form for the previous census, this time, all females above the age of 13 will be asked questions regarding the number of sons and daughters surviving at present, the number of children ever born and if there was any child born alive in the last one year. Authorities said that these questions had been added this time to elicit information on unwed mothers, since it was felt that no reliable data was available for the same and also because a need was being felt to recognise unwed mothers and their status. India is one of the few countries where the census operations are carried out by enumerators themselves filling up the forms for citizens, primarily because of the low literacy rate here. The pre-test, which began on July 10 will go on till August 3 in the city. The main census will be carried out in February 2001. For more information on
the census and statistics concerning the country, its
website on the Internet can be accessed at
http://www.censusindia.net |
Rush for college admissions CHANDIGARH, July 20 — There has been an overwhelming response to college admissions in the first year of undergraduate courses which get underway on July 23. Most colleges received three to five times the number of application forms than the number of seats available. Government College For Girls, Sector 11, topped the list, having sold 6,500 forms for arts, science and commerce streams. The college received 2,041 forms for arts stream. Ms Vijay Lakshmi, Principal, said the cut-off percentage was unlikely to go below 65 per cent as against 54 per cent last year. The college received 1,205 forms for the 60 seats in commerce stream. The cut-off percentage was expected to be around 80 per cent. For science stream, medical and non-medical, about 800 forms were submitted. Known for its commerce stream, SD College, Sector 32, received 1,708 application forms. There are 91 seats in the general category and 29 seats in the reserved category. A list of 302 candidates was put up and the cut-off percentage was likely to be around 80 per cent. "If we take the first 120 students on the list, the cut-off percentage will be about 79 per cent. For the top 91 students, the cut-off percentage is 80.4 per cent if we go by the list," said Dr AC Vaid, Principal. Last year, the cut-off percentage for BSc was around 60.4 per cent and 72 per cent for courses with computers and biotechnology, respectively. Dr Vaid said there were unlimited seats in BA and if need for additional teachers arose, they could be appointed. Over 3,000 forms were received at Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26, for the three streams. there were over 700 applicants in arts stream. Last year, the cut-off percentage was 48 per cent. There were 1,200 forms for 120 seats in commerce stream. The cut-off percentage was 69.6 per cent last year, when centralised admission in the stream was undertaken. Mr P.S. Sangha, Principal, hoped that the cut-off percentage would go up this session. In Government Home Science College, Sector 10, there were over 900 applications for 120 seats in science and arts. The cut-off percentage usually hovered around 70 per cent in science stream. Students with 65 per cent and above were admitted to arts stream. With many takers for the commerce stream, DAV College, Sector 10, displayed a list of 100 students, with the last student on the list having scored 74.2 per cent. Only 46 seats out of the 60 seats fall in the general category while the remaining are in the reserved category. Mr R.C. Jeewan, Principal, said, "The general trend is towards commerce and there are few takers for science and arts. Since there are more seats in these two streams than there are takers, there is no need to put up a merit list as seats are bound to be available." Seconding his views, Dr S.N. Singla, Principal of Government College, Sector 11, said, "There is a general disinterest among students pursuing science. Consequently, students with 40 per cent can also get a seat in BSc." Students with 50 per cent and above were usually admitted to arts stream. The college received about 1,000 forms for commerce while there were 1,015 and 350 forms for arts and science streams, respectively. MCM DAV College, Sector 36, sold over 4,000 forms. While students with 45 per cent and above will get admission in arts, in BSc course, there are 30 seats in computer applications, 50 seats in non-medical and 100 seats in medical. The cut-off percentage for this stream was 65 per cent last year. BCom has 60 seats and the cut-off percentage is likely to be high in this stream. A merit list for commerce and science will be put up at the college premises on July 22, a day before the admission process begins. Ms Bimla Bhargava, Principal of Dev Samaj College, Sector 45, said that the merit list for 60 seats in BCom would be put up a day before the admission. She added that among the 250 applicants, there were few takers for seats in the reserved category. The vacant seats in this category would be opened to general category on July 24. While all eligible
students will get admission to BA, the college does not
run the BSc course. The Government College for Girls,
Sector 42, received 3,800 forms for arts, science and
commerce. |
Helmet order in SAS Nagar also SAS NAGAR, July 20 — Initiating a drive to implement the traffic guidelines of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, 100 two-wheeler drivers, who were not wearing helmets, were challaned by the traffic wing of the police here today. It was for the first time that helmet-less drivers were challaned here. Of these, 50 per cent were women. The drive took off at around 2 p.m. with traffic police officials holding a naka near Gurdwara Amb Sahib. Till 5 p.m., as many as 115 offenders were challaned by the team headed by Amrit Singh, Sub-Inspector. Of these, 100 were two-wheeler drivers found without helmets, while the rest were booked for various other offences such as not having proper documents. Meanwhile, a number of Akali leaders have criticised the challaning exercise and have held the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal responsible for it. They have also urged Mr Badal to step down immediately if he is not able to stop the exercise, which they say, was injuring the religious sentiments of the Sikhs. At a meeting here today, presided over by Mr Hardeep Singh, the local member of the SGPC, leaders dubbed Mr Badal as a “culprit” of Sikhs, for which he should be summoned before the Akal Takht. Describing the challan
amount as “Jajia”, Mr Hardeep Singh, said if
the Government of India considered Sikhs as citizens of
independent India, it should revoke the “black
law”. |
Visiting VIP : Northern Rly's
version CHANDIGARH, July 20 — Mrs Chandralekha Mukherjee, Chief Public Relations Officer, Northern Railway, has issued the following statement as a rejoinder to the news report, "Visiting Rly VIP upsets schedule", which appeared in Chandigarh Tribune on July 19. ''On July 18, two long-distance Mail/Express trains — Barauni Express and Dadar Express — to Amritsar were running late. As a result the movement of other scheduled trains from New Delhi was affected. Further, there are two important safety related track improvement works in progress between New Delhi and Ambala cantonment stations — one between Rathdana and Sonepat and the other between Kurukshetra and Dhodakheri. This led to a queuing of trains towards Ambala resulting in a delay of morning trains from 15 to 25 minutes between New Delhi and Ambala cantonment. The 4095 Himalayan Queen train reached Ambala 25 minutes late and the 2011 Chandigarh Shatabdi Express train was 15 minutes late. ''Between Ambala and Chandigarh a railway level crossing near Ghaggar was defective on account of a road vehicle having dashed against it. As a consequence, the Himalayan Queen train could not recover lost time and arrived Chandigarh 25 minutes late. This train was followed by the Chandigarh Shatabdi Express train which in turn was 30 minutes late. ''The detentions, as is obvious, were unforeseen and unavoidable. Train control regulated operations in an effective manner, to minimise as far as possible, caused detention to both trains. It is incorrect to say that the Chandigarh Shatabdi Express train was made to wait unnecessarily on any account or any attempt to ensure the punctual running of the Himalayan Queen train, since, as has already been mentioned, the Himalayan Queen itself was late by 25 minutes. ''The Member Traffic, Railway Board, conducted window trailing inspection of the Northern Railway from New Delhi to Chandigarh. He was accompanied by the Senior Divisional Operations Manager, Delhi, between Delhi and Ambala cantonment, being Delhi Division's jurisdiction. He was accompanied by the Divisional Manager, Ambala; the Senior Operations Manager, Ambala; and the Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Ambala, between Ambala cantonment and Chandigarh and on his return from Chandigarh to Ambala. ''Complete details of the development of Chandigarh as a major terminal were discussed along with the progress of electrification work between Ambala and Chandigarh and its extension to Kalka. Provision of three new platforms and the second entry to the station from Panchkula side and development of maintenance facilities were also discussed. The Ambala Division presented a blueprint for the development of Ambala as a modern station and Member Traffic gave directions in the matter. ''The facts mentioned in the news report are incorrect and have not been corroborated by any of the involved railway functionaries, including the Divisional Railway Manager, Ambala; the Senior Divisional Operations Manager, Ambala, or the Senior Divisional Operations Manager, Delhi. ''The Member Traffic, who is a Secretary to the Government of India, is entitled to first-class AC accommodation for himself and members of his family while travelling on leave in any train. By virtue of his seniority and the fact that July 18 was a Sunday, the Member Traffic could have undertaken a restful journey in a first-class AC comfort and could have taken some time from his very busy schedule during his visit to Chandigarh and back. ''The irony of the situation is that he decided to work," the rejoinder said. Prabhjot Singh
writes: The Chief Public Relations Manager of
the Northern Railway has not denied that the Member
Traffic travelled by a special airconditioned saloon. He
was accompanied by members of his family. She has also
not denied that immediately on arrival at Chandigarh, the
Member Traffic left for the PGI to visit an ailing
relative. Her rejoinder essentially confirms my story. |
Rain brings down temperature CHANDIGARH, July 20 — Winds accompanied by intermittent rain today lashed the city and its surrounding areas throughout the day, forcing a sharp drop in maximum day time temperature as the mercury plunged 6 degrees below normal. The maximum day time temperature was recorded 27.4°C. Besides being 6 degrees below normal, the temperature was also 5 degrees less than yesterday’s maximum. The Meteorological Department has predicted more rain for tomorrow. Due to heavy rain, water accumulated on the roads leading to breakdown of many two-wheelers. Office-goers were delayed in the morning. In the evening, the rain stopped at around 5 p.m. Within an hour, another spell of rain lashed the city. The rain the early hours brought down the minimum temperature to 24.8°C. Though the rain brought relief, if also led to problems of power breakdown in some areas. Many road-side vendors had to abandon their business for the day, including mechanics in sectors 21 and 28. Several morning walkers had to sit back at their homes, while a handful of them took their customary walk with umbrellas. According to sources in the met office, the rain occurred due to cyclonic circulation over south-western part of Jammu and Kashmir, adjoining North Pakistan. CHILLA (SAS NAGAR): Heavy showers on Tuesday morning cheered farmers here as after days of long wait the paddy crop got sufficient water. The rain also brought misery for residents as roads and streets were inundated by water. Villages, including Manauli, Mullanpur, Perch, Naya Gaon, besides many peripheral areas, witnessed problem in smooth flow of the traffic due to excess rain water on roads. Farmers in Mullanpur, Rani Majra and other adjoining villages have a very low water level. They say that they have to wait for monsoons and this year’s rainfall has so far brought a feeling of satisfaction among farmers with less land holdings. Power supply to several areas was disrupted due to snag in the transmission system. Water supply in several was also affected as tubewells could not be operated Telephone services were also affected. DERA BASSI: Normal life in this subdivision was affected by the continuous rain on Tuesday. Strength of employees in government and private offices was thin till noon. Ghaggar river registered
an increase in water level. Farmers were seen busy in
fields transplanting paddy. Agriculture experts said rain
was a boon for the paddy crop. |
1,000 children brave rain,
hold march CHANDIGARH, July 20 — ''Vande Mataram'' and "Desh ki raksha kaun karega; hum karenge, hum harenge" were the slogans raised by 1,000 students who took part in a rally organised by the Rising Scholars at the Sukhna Lake here this morning. As many as 12 schools participated in the rally. Students of classes VIII to XII left on foot, despite a heavy rain, the Sector 16 cricket stadium at 9 a.m. and reached the lake at 10.15 a.m. They remained there for two hours and sang patriotic songs in the honour of the Kargil martyrs. The chief guest, Mr C.S.R. Reddy, SSP, accompanied by Mr S.K. Banerjee, Air Officer Commanding of the Air Force Station, and Col Shakti Prashad, said he was happy to see the enthusiasm among young students to promote awareness about Kargil and help in raising funds and organising blood donation camps. Donations made by Moti
Ram School (Rs 17,800), Guru Nanak Public School (Rs
25,000), International Public School (Rs 20,000) and
Bhavan Vidyalaya (Rs 56,000) were handed over to Mr
Reddy. |
Martyrs’ bodies sent to
native places CHANDIGARH, July 20 — The mortal remains of two Kargil martyrs arrived this morning at the local airport for their onward journey to their respective native places. The bodies belong to Captain Haneefuddin and Rifleman Pravir Kumar who were killed while fighting infiltrators in the Kargil Sector. Both belonged to 11 Rajputana Rifles. While the former was a resident of Mayur Vihar area of Delhi, the latter hailed from Mukhla village in Karnal district. Their funeral will be
held with full state and military honours at their native
places tomorrow. |
Flood protection works
approved CHANDIGARH, July 20 — The Project Sanctioning Committee of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) today approved the flood protection and drainage works along the Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers in Punjab at a total financial outlay of Rs 78.03 crore. According to Mr Bikramjit Singh, Principal Secretary, Irrigation, who represented Punjab at the meeting, the sanction has been made from the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund. The work on the project will be partially financed by the State Government while the rest of the amount will come as a special loan from NABARD. To be implemented in two years, once completed, it will benefit 25,938 hectares of agricultural land falling in the watershed of the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers spanning mainly in Ropar, Ludhiana, Nawanshahr, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Ferozepore districts. The beneficiaries will accrue advantages in the form of value of additional production, high yields, reclamation of waterlogged areas, checking of erosion of fertile land and removal of gully formation. The income from incremental production per annum will be Rs 29 crore and recurring employment generation will be 17.94 lakh mandays. Non-recurring employment of 6.58 lakh mandays will be generated due to capital expenditure in the project on various works. Mr Bikramjit Singh held that after implementation of this project, additional flood control and drainage infrastructure would be created in the State. Sources pointed out that the proposed works shall ensure protection of agricultural land and abadis along the major rivers. It is proposed to construct 534 river training works i.e. studs, spurs, revetments and crate bars (using boulder stone and mild steel annealed wire). Besides, strengthening and construction of 44 km flood protection embankments (dhussies), resectioning of 421 km existing drains and construction of 18 km of new drains are also envisaged as parts of this project. The project also endeavours to eradicate the problem of waterlogging from the rest of the State other than south-western districts. The State has accorded top priority to the work of construction of new drains, resectioning of the existing drains and other anti-waterlogging measures in Mansa district and Dasuya and Mukerian tehsils of Hoshiarpur district, Kahnuwan swamp area in Gurdaspur and Banga Gopal drain in Nawanshahr district. Although the total
geographical area of Punjab comes to 1.5 per cent of the
entire country, the flood-prone area falling in the State
is about 10 per cent of the country. There are 1,400 km
of flood protection embankments along rivers, about 3,100
river training works and 7,100 km of drainage network in
the State. |
Welfare measures for war widows PANCHKULA, July 20 — A meeting of the Haryana Rajya Sainik Board was held at the headquarters of the Sainik Parivar Bhavan here to discuss and approve various welfare measures for the war-widows of 'Operation Vijay'. The Secretary of the board, Brig Satya Dev (retd) presided over the meeting. During the meeting, the decisions taken were: providing schooling to children of war-widows at Chhachhrauli, admission to various industrial training courses run by Sainik Parivar Bhavans, adoption of children. On the occasion,
Lieut-Col Parkash Chander (retd), Manager of the Sainik
Parivar Bhavan, said all employees of the bhavan had
donated one day's salary to the Chief Minister's War
Heroes Relief Fund. Students and staff members of the
Industrial Training Centre, Jhajjar, have donated blood
for wounded soldiers. |
Kundi connections cause death
of bull Chandigarh, July 20 — Kundi connections in Kajheri village caused the death of a bull this morning while its owner narrowly missed being electrocuted. Residents of a labour colony in a part of the village have been drawing power for their domestic needs from a pole carrying high-power transmission lines for the past many months. The system besides being illegal and dangerous, has reportedly caused short circuiting many times leading to repeated power failures in the village. Mr Devinder Singh, owner of the bull, was returning this morning on his bullock cart after cutting some fodder from his field when the mishap took place. “I was passing through an area where a large quantity of rain water had collected. As I came near the pole, I felt a mild electric shock. Sensing something wrong, I jumped off the cart and that saved my life. The bull went a few paces ahead, gave a few loud calls and fell down quivering. It died a few moments later. I had suffered a loss, as I had purchased the bull some months ago, Mr Singh added. As the word spread that kundi connections may have become loose and fallen in the accumulated rain water leading to the death of the bull, colony residents assembled near the site of the incident and started pulling down illegal connections. Even as employees of the Electricity Department arrived on the scene and started removing the connections, a large number of villagers converged on the scene as by now word had spread that a small child had also been electrocuted along with the bull. Shopkeepers and villagers living nearby were furious as representations submitted by them to the authorities for the removal of kundi connections had no effect. The problem worsens during the summers and the monsoons. Kundis fall down on the wet land or in the accumulated water leading to accidents. There have been some incidents in the past also where animals were electrocuted. “We have even
pointed out that children use this road to go to school
and the chances of them getting involved in accidents are
high. Colony residents have been emboldened to put up
more connections in the absence of any concerted efforts
or drives to remove the connections,” a villager
lamented. |
Meet on rational drug use
held CHANDIGARH, July 20 — Sharing information regarding pharmaceutical companies, creating data banks, laying down procedures and quality norms for drug testing laboratories, orientation of doctors towards rational use of drugs and education of the public were among the recommendations of a one-day meet on promotion of rational use of drugs. The meet was organised in a hotel here today by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in collaboration with the Delhi Society for the Promotion of Rational Use of Drugs (DSPRUD). A programme under which the WHO provided a list of around 1,200 medicines to cure almost 95 per cent of ailments should be followed by Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, opined Prof Ranjit Roy Chaudhury, Co-ordinator of the India-WHO programme on essential drugs. As several states had started the programme of pooling resources and requirements, it should not be a problem for the states of the region to follow the same. During the meeting, representatives of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh agreed that this was the ideal solution to cut down on costs, the programme co-ordinators said. "In general the reaction was positive and there was a consensus on its implementation," the organisers claimed. Among the panellists were Prof N.N. Wig and Prof Y.N. Mehra, former professors at the PGI. Sharing their experiences were Mr R. Parmeshwar of DSPRUD, Prof Bapna, Director, Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences, Prof Usha Gupta from the Maulana Azad medical College and Dr R. Pabrai, a former Director of the Central Drug Laboratories, Ghaziabad. Prof B.K. Sharma, Director, PGI, initiated the dialogue. According to the recommendations made by the group, the public should be informed that having more medicines did not mean good treatment. Doctors needed to be told about the effectiveness of the list. The group formed a local
panel, comprising Professor Mehra and Professor Wig, to
check unethical medical advertising. |
Blood donation programme CHANDIGARH, July 20 — Revamping of the blood donation programme is urgently needed is the opinion of a Technical Resource Group on Blood Safety and Transfusion Services constituted by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) consisting of experts in blood banking from all over the country. The group presented its recommendations at the PGI here this afternoon. After an indepth study of the problems confronting this programme , the group made tangible recommendations for ensuring safe practice in transfusion medicine. The group impressed upon the health authorities to establish postgraduate courses in blood transfusion centres in the country so that trained manpower could be available for upgrading the entire programme in this field. Fifteen experts from different states constituted the group and were instrumental in preparing a comprehensive draft for submission to the government for ensuring safety in transfusion practice. Prof B.K Sharma, Director, PGI, who chaired the meeting of the experts emphasised upon the role of those engaged in this programme to come out in a forthright manner. These services can be established in a uniform manner all over the country. Standardisation of techniques, quality control and meticulous care in handling the donor as well as recipient of blood was of paramount importance in making this service a safe practice, opined the Director of the PGI. He emphasised upon the need for a foolproof technology in blood banking practice as well as screening procedures for transmissible infections to ensure that the patient does not in any way suffer on account of these infections. Appreciating the concern of the Union Health Ministry in constituting the Technical Resource Group to make such recommendations which would go a long way in improving these services and also ensure the bio-safety of personnel working in this area as well as the donors and recipients. Introduction of the
newer techniques and accreditation of various blood
centres would go a long way in revamping these services.
He was confident that the deliberations of the group
would be helpful in ensuring quality control and
increasing utilisation of blood, its components and
fractions. |
SGPC members join helmet
issue CHANDIGARH, July 20 — The agitation to exempt Sikh women from wearing helmets while driving or riding on pillion two-wheelers has gained momentum as several SGPC members have extended their support to it. SGPC members, including Mr Kirpal Singh Badungar, Mr Joginder Singh Panjrath, Ms Tejinder Kaur Setia, Ms Kamlesh Kaur, Mr Dhian Singh Jharmani and Mr Ranjit Singh Sanoure in a joint statement issued today said the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) would fight a legal battle to get this order withdrawn. They extended full support to the Chandigarh unit of the SAD in continuing its anti “Loh top” agitation. They urged the Chandigarh Administration to review its order and exempt Sikh women from wearing helmets. Meanwhile, the
Chandigarh Namdhari Sangat has also urged the Chandigarh
Administration to withdraw this order. |
Children handed over to mother KHARAR, July 20 — Ms Neelam Arora, Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Kharar, today ordered to give the custody of two minor children to their mother Ms Balwinder Kaur of Popna village. After that the children were handed over to her. Ms Balwinder Kaur had filed an application in the court on July 7 that the custody of her two minor sons should be restored to her. She was married to Mr Prem Singh on June 23, 1993. They had two sons — Satinder Singh aged about 5 years, and Arjanjit Singh, aged about 3 years. She had been living separately since 1995 and her father-in-law was living in Palsora village. Her husband died on June 16, 1999. She had alleged that her sons were forcibly taken away by her father-in-law on June 28. She added that when her father visited Palsora village on July 4, her sons were crying to come to her. She said that Satinder Singh was studying in Cholta village but he was not going to school. The court issued a search warrant on July 17 and ordered the police that the children should be brought to the court on or before July 20. Mr Romesh Kumar, ASI, appeared on behalf of the police and handed over the children to their mother. The grandparents of the
children were also present in court. The children
embraced their mother who had tears of happiness in her
eyes. |
Demand to fill vacant posts CHANDIGARH, July 20 — The UT Powermen Union at its convention held at the Sector 15 Lajpat Rai Bhavan here this afternoon urged the Chandigarh Administration to immediately end the "thekedari system" in the Electricity Department and provide sufficient workforce by filling all the vacant posts besides creating additional vacancies so as to cope with the increased workload. The union also felt that in the wake of the Voluntary Disclosure Scheme of the department, sufficient manpower has to be made available to provide satisfactory service to the consumers. In the absence of trained manpower, the workers of the department are held responsible by the ordinary citizens. Instead, the powermen felt, that it were the private contractors who were charging inflated rates and providing sub-standard material, making subsequent maintenance almost impossible.. The convention also wanted welfare associations of various sectors to jointly raise a voice against the "thekedari system" in the Electricity Department. Another issue raised at the convention pertained to denial of dearness allowance to employees who have been on the muster roll of the department. A demand that DA should be released to employees on the muster roll with effect from January 1,1996, was also approved at the convention. It also deplored the evasive attitude of the government to whom representations have been made by the employees and the MPs and central trade unions. The convention called upon the government to clear the proposals and urged the Administration to make it applicable from March,1996. Payment of bonus to the UT employees as has been paid by the Central Government to its employees and employees working in the other Union Territories throughout India. The convention also raised demands in favour of the crèche workers for enforcing the remaining circulars of the PSEB pattern to the employees working in the Electricity Department. The attention of the Chief Engineer was drawn that till date the T&P kits, rain coat and other safety devices had not been provided to the field staff to facilitate their working. It was also decided to
urge the Administration to concede all genuine and long-
standing demands of the employees. |
|
Panel member
gheraoed According to sources, the agitated union members gheraoed the committee members, including Dr Kehar Singh, Chairman of the board, Secretary Education, Punjab, the Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University Patiala, DPI, Schools, and noted novelist Jaswant Singh Kanwal, as soon as the meeting started in the morning. The union leaders were demanding that no interview should be conducted for the post of Assistant Secretary and the board staff should be promoted to the post. They also alleged that the entire selection process was in violation of the election code of conduct . They called off the gherao only after the Chairman and senior officers informed them that the selection process had been initiated before the code came into force. The Chairman assured the employees that the result of the interview would be duly sealed and would be made public only after the election process was over, as had been directed by the Punjab Government. Rs 1 lakh given to war heroes fund The Chief Minister expressed his gratitude to the Chief Justice and judges of the High Court for contributing Rs 20,000 each for helping families of martyrs of Operation Vijay in Kargil and other sectors. Another deputation of the Amritsar Ahrthia Association, led by its President, Mr Surjit Singh Bhittewad, and the State Animal Husbandry Minister, Mr Rattan Singh, also presented a cheque of Rs 2,11,111 to the fund. Staff members, including Class IV employees of the Department of Architecture, Punjab, have contributed one day’s salary to the Punjab War Heroes Family Relief Fund. The contribution, totalling Rs 72,715, was presented by Chief Architect, Mr P.R. Luthra, to the Chief Secretary, Punjab, Mr S.R.S. Mann. School offers to adopt children Mr Ved Parkash, President of the school, has made the offer in a letter to the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister of Haryana. Mr Parkash said at the time of partition in 1947, the school had provided free education to thousands of wards of victims of the Partition. Kids collect funds for Kargil The students — Gautam Jain and Sahil Batra of class VI, and Animesh Gupta of class III — are going from door to door in different sectors to collect donations. Apprised of the hardship faced by the families of martyrs, 11-year-old Gautam says, "We wanted to collect Rs 4,000 for the Army Central Welfare Fund. But so far we have been able to collect only Rs 2,350." The three boys have parted with their pocket money. They have covered Sectors 9 and 10 since they started the campaign a week ago and plan to go to other sectors. In another example of young hearts caring for heroes of 'Operation Vijay', two brothers in Sector 21 — Abhishek (11) and Anurag (9) — have contributed Rs 1,500 to the Chief Minister's War Heroes Relief Fund. The money has been collected through donations by going from door to door in the sector. The money was handed over today to Ms Saroj Siwatch, Deputy Commissioner. Cheque presented Mr Sharma appealed to the colony residents to raise more funds for the Kargil heroes. Mr Kewal Krishan Addiwal, Mr Kanhiya Lal Sharma and Mr Bacchan, Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor, respectively, were present on the occasion. NRI donates machine The machine, with about 30 attachments, is used in sophisticated surgeries. The machine is helpful in various treatments such as hip replacement, total knee replacement, plating, interlocking and nailing. Major-General Virendra Singh, Commandant of the hospital, said the machine would be of great help in the treatment of the wounded. Mr Puri, settled in the UK, had donated Rs 25 lakh to the Army Welfare Fund about a month back. For the welfare of the families of soldiers killed in the recent aggression, he had announced to constitute a Puri Trust for Shaheed Jawan Family. "The machine has
been imported from Switzerland at the cost of more than
Rs 12 lakh. The Command hospital authorities told us that
they needed a machine for orthopaedic patients. We took
up the matter with Mr Puri on telephone in Nottingham,
UK. He agreed to provide the machine to us and the
delivery was made in two days," said Mr Surinder
Bhakoo, a local industrialist. Prayer meetings for martyrs According to Mr Balwant Singh Dardi, president of the unit, the bhog of the path will be held on August 8 and on that occasion the Sangat would pray for the soul of martyrs who have made supreme sacrifice for the country. On that occasion 25 tricycles would also be presented to handicapped persons. Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Punjab Finance Minister, and Mrs Vineeta Rai, UT Adviser, would be the guests of honour. Electricity bills irk residents The main problem taken up in the meeting was regarding electricity bills, which were being issued by the Punjab State Electricity Board on an average-charges basis. A number of persons said that a higher amount was being charged by way of 'average' bills than that shown on the bill. According to Mr Angad Singh, General Secretary of the forum, residents of Sectors 70 and 71 were facing problems of choked sewers and low water pressure. Children’s magazine launched Termed as the one of the world’s largest selling magazine, Highlights is aimed for children between the age group of 2 and 12. It includes articles that target the child who has just begun to identify and name familiar objects and the advanced middle schooler. Mr Krishan informed that the magazine had been founded in 1946 by a couple, Garry and Caroline Myers, both of whom were educationists. Indian authors like Ruskin Bond have also been featured regularly in Highlights, which also has stories, articles, science features etc. This monthly magazine is
available only on subscription, and interestingly no
advertisements are featured in it. |
 |
 |
| Nation
| Punjab | Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | | Editorial | Business | Sport | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
