Monday, June 7, 1999
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N E W S Monday, June 7, 1999 |
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Amit 2nd
in IIT entrance test CHANDIGARH, June 6 — Amit Aggarwal, a student of the local DAV College, has brought honours to the city by securing the second position in the prestigious all-India entrance test for admission to various IITs of the country. Meanwhile, at least 11 other local students, including the eighth rank Vikas Bansal, a resident of Panchkula, figure in the first 1,000 students, who have cleared the entrance test held on May 8 and 9 this year. Though both Amit and Vikas, who are in Mumbai to participate in camps for selecting candidates for the World Physics and Chemistry Olympiads, respectively, could not be contacted for comments, a majority of the the successful candidates The Tribune spoke to said hard work and sustained efforts coupled with effective coaching saw them come out with flying colours in the examination. Sumit Nain, ranked 74, is a former student of Mayo College, Ajmer, and the local DAV College, was of the view that hard work alone was the reason behind his success. Sumit had secured 768th rank last year and is in the the first year of the mechanical branch of the IIT, Kharagpur. He said that he was more focussed this year. He hoped to get admission in the computer course in the IIT, Delhi. Kinshuk Jerath, a student SD Public School, Sector 32, who has got the 97th rank was regular studies and whole-hearted dedication saw him through in the examination. "Coaching give you a direction for the preparation", said Kinshuk, who wants to join the computers trade at the IIT, New Delhi. According to information available, Mahadev Kunal and Sarbjeet have cleared the exam, securing the 99th and 101st positions, respectively. Ashwani Jindal of DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8 C, who has secured the 141st rank attributes his sucess to sustained hard work and constant practice in the coaching classes. Aspiring to join IIT, Delhi, for doing computer engineering, he started preparing for this examination after the board examinations. Varun Swara, placed at rank 232, of DAV was of the view that basic books and specialised textbooks were the secret behind success. His two engineer brothers acted as inspiration for him, he added. Deepak positioned at rank 396, attributed his success to self-preparation. He said he could only prepare for the exam for 4-5 months due to an accident. Paman Deep Singh Gujral, placed at number 585, said support from teachers and parents and advice from coaching classes which cleared the concepts, were instrumental in his clearing the exam. He hoped to get admission in the electrical branch of the IIT, New Delhi. Placed 711, Ajay Anand, a student of SD Public School, said though he was satisfied with the rank, he would try to improve it. Self-study, tuitions and hard work were behind his success. Interested in B.Tech
(Mechanical) from IIT, Mumbai, Rahul Garg of the DAV
College is placed at 743. His brother, who did B.Tech
from IIT, Kharagpur, and is doing master science in
electrical from the University of Washington, Seattle
(USA), was the source of inspiration for him, he added. |
Morni
Wildlife Sanctuary proposed PANCHKULA, June 6 — After gathering dust for a few years, a proposal to set up a wildlife sanctuary in the Shivalik hills falling in the Morni forest range has again been moved by the Wildlife Department of Haryana. The proposal originally conceived in the late eighties has been hanging fire due to differences between the Wildlife Department and the Forest Department. While the Wildlife Department has been pressing for setting up the sanctuary as the area has a rich flora and fauna, the Forest Department has been objecting as Section 33 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, gives control of a Wildlife sanctuary to the Chief Wildlife Warden. Against the earlier proposal to declare the sanctuary in an area of about 50,807 acres, which included 14 different bhojs of Morni, now the area of the sanctuary has been been shrunk to 12,259 acres (about 5 sq km). A draft notification in this regard has been sent to the state government for being forwarded to the Union Government. Initially, the idea to declare the Wildlife Sanctuary at Morni, which is interspersed with a number of villages was first mooted by the then Chief Conservator of Forest-cum-Chief Wild Life Warden in 1988. The forest area, which is declared as a reserved forest has a rich flora and fauna. The last Wildlife census done in 1997 has revealed the presence of leopards, chitahs, sambhars, wild boars, barking deer, gorals, monkeys, jungle fowls and other species of wild animals protected under the Wildlife Act. The move was, however, put on hold in 1989 on the plea that the villagers of the area, proposed to be included in the boundary of the Wildlife Sanctuary had been waiting for certain rights like grazing and collection of wood. A decision of the government to have a permanent forest settlement was also conveyed. After the forest settlement was completed, the proposal was again moved in 1990. A meeting in this regard was held in 1991. The then Chief Conservator of Forests-cum-Chief Wildlife Warden had pointed out that declaration of an area as a Wildlife sanctuary had to be done keeping in view Sections 18 to 34 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. It was also pointed out that the Ministry of Environment would provide funds for protection, propagation and development of wildlife in the area. It would also help effectively control poaching. A draft notification in which 14 different bhojs of Morni, spread over an area of 50,807 acres, was sent to the government in 1997 was again put on hold on the plea that the proposed area included a number of areas inhabited by human population. Sources say once an area was declared as a Wildlife Sanctuary, a number of restrictions come into force. Another aspect is that once the area is declared a Wildlife Sanctuary the control of the area would wrest with the Chief Wildlife Warden. The Wildlife Department was asked to shrink the area proposed to be included in the sanctuary. As a result, the area was reduced from earlier 50,807 acres to about 12, 259 acres. Now the area includes Khol Raitan, Protected forest area in Balwali, Mandana, Asrewali and Bir Ghaggar. Sources say that in lieu of Morni being declared as a Wildlife Sanctuary, the Forest Department wants that the Saraswati plantation in Kaithal, spread over an area of 4400 hectares, and Bir Bada band in Jind, in an area of 400 hectares — both of which are wildlife sanctuaries should be denotified. A request in this regard would be sent to the Central Government, said the sources. The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Mr Banarsi Dass, said the Wildlife Department had limited staff at its disposal. The Morni area had about 31 forest guards while the department had one guard and one inspector. He said under the
Wildlife Act, the territorial Divisional Forest Officer
(DFO) was also a Wildlife Warden. Both the State
Environ-ment Minister, Mr Jagdish Yadav, and the Wildlife
and Environment Minister, Mr Subash Chaudhary, were not
available for comments as they were out of station.
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Parents
feel cheated by Punjab Government SAS NAGAR, June 6 — Resentment prevails among local residents whose children study in Chandigarh schools over a notification issued by the Punjab Government reserving 85 per cent seats in different technical courses for students having passed their qualifying examinations from schools of the state. A number of parents hailing from the city and surrounding areas, who held a meeting and formed an organisation,"Punjab Parents Grievances Committee CET 99" here today alleged that the decision of the state government amounted to injustice with thousands of students, who were residents of different cities of Punjab, but are studying in Chandigarh. Mr Bhajan Singh Bagri, Convener of the committee, said the worst affected aspirants were the ones who were residents of towns such as Morinda, Kurali, Lalru, Dera Bassi, Banur, Rajpura as in absence of good schools in these towns, most of the students have passed their qualifying examinations from Chandigarh. Mr Inderjit Singh, member of the committee, said a large number of parents hailing from Punjab, who have been putting up in the city with the sole objective of getting good education for their wards by sending them to different Chandigarh schools were feeling deceived as all of a sudden they have come to know that the notification had rendered their children almost ineligible for admissions to technical institutes in Punjab. He demanded that the
notification regarding reservation should be revoked
without any further delay. |
CBSE class
X results today CHANDIGARH, June 6 — The results of the All-India Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (class X) held in March-April, 1999, covering affiliated schools from the city and the states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, belonging to the Chandigarh region of the CBSE, will be declared tomorrow. This year students of 721 schools of the region, 67 of which are run by the Chandigarh Administration, 102 are kendriya vidyalayas, 48 are Jawahar navodaya vidyalayas and 504 are independent schools, took the examination. A total of 52,828 candidates, 30,032 boys and 22,796 girls, appeared in the examination. As many as 21,168 students appeared from 47 centres in the city. The overall pass percentage is 78 as against 76.87 last year. The pass percentage for boys and girls is 77.7 and 78.4, respectively. The pass percentage for government schools of the city is 51.7, that of the kendriya vidyalayas, Jawahar navodaya vidyalayas and independent schools is 75, 80.7 and 84.6, respectively. The office has
simultaneously posted the results to the schools
concerned. The Joint Director of the CBSE regional office
in Sector 32, Mr Y.P. Katyal, said that the result
sheets, the marks statement and the migration
certificates of the candidates had been sent to the
respective schools. “The results will be sent to the
office of the DPI at 9 a.m. From there, the principal or
a representative with an authority letter of the
principal can collect the results,” he said.
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Club
employee assaulted PANCHKULA, June 6 — In an incident of indiscipline and violence at the Gymkhana Club, Sector 6, here an employee of the club, Karim Singh, was beaten up by allegedly Harsh Wardhan and Kapil Chawla, both sons of a retired HCS officer. The conflict arose when Karim Singh asked Harsh to deposit the annual lawn tennis fee with the club. This provoked Harsh. The two brothers then assaulted Karim Singh. The club authorities
have issued a notice for explanation to their father, Mr
R.C. Chawla. No police case has been registered in the
incident following compromise between the two parties. |
Punjab
matric results on June 10 SAS NAGAR, June 6 — The results of the matriculation examination conducted by the Punjab School Education Board are scheduled to be declared on June 10. According to Mr Jarnail Singh, Controller of Examinations, the gazette of results would be available on all depots of the board on June 11. He said about 3.5 lakh students had appeared in the examination conducted by the board in March this year. Similarly, the results
of the plus two examination will be declared by the board
on June 30. |
'Freedom
Fighter' released CHANDIGARH, June 6— The Kendriya Punjabi Rangmanch Sabha, in collaboration with the Punjab Kala Parishad, today held a function on the book release of the play 'Freedom Fighter' at Punjab Kala Bhavan, Rose Garden, Sector 16. The play has been written by Sanjeevan Singh in Punjabi. The author is a theatre personality of the region. He had directed the play 'Zafarnama', staged at Punjab Kala Bhavan. The book was released by Mr Devinder Daman, a theatre personality of the region. Before the release of the book, papers on the book were read by Dr Atamjeet Singh, a playwright, and by Dr Devinder Kumar, a book reviewer. Both talked about the difficulties of presenting a Punjabi production on stage, since not much was being written in Punjabi for theatre in Punjab. Most of the productions were translated versions of foreign playwrights. While discussing 'Freedom Fighter', Dr Atamjit queried that since it was known that most of the freedom fighters were living in an appalling state today because of the red-tape, why would the audience come to watch the same on stage. Making an indirect reference to productions like 'Bole So Nihal', he pointed out that most of the plays being staged today were being written and produced to commemorate various special occasions and government functions. A discussion on the book
and its theme followed the release of the book. An
interactive session with the audience was also held. |
Top
engineers for seminar CHANDIGARH, June 6 — Top engineers and builders from all over the country will participate in a day-long seminar on "Rehabilitation and Construction of Bridges" to be organised by the Chandigarh chapter of the Indian Institution of Bridge Engineers (IIBE) at Red Bishop, Panchkula, on June 8. The Chandigarh chapter of the IIBE comprises Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh. The Zonal Executive Committee of the IIBE comprises, Mr K.B. Lal Singal, Engineer-in-Chief of the Haryana PWD (B and R), as its Chairman, Mr S.P. Gupta as its Adviser and Mr M.K. Aggarwal as its Honorary General Secretary. Mr V.K. Sood, a builder, is its Joint Secretary and Mr Joginder Singh, Chief Engineer of the Haryana PWD (B and R), Mr M.S. Guram, a retired Chief Engineer of Punjab, and Mr R.K. Sharma, Engineer-in-Chief of Himachal Pradesh, are Co-Chairmen of the chapter. The purpose of the seminar, they said, was to interact with various engineers to express their opinion regarding rehabilitation and repair of bridges which have been constructed before and after Independence in the region. In the past almost three decades, bridges have been extensively constructed. Many landmarks have been achieved in the bridge-building technology. There are a large number of bridges constructed in the region on account of its hilly terrain and major rivers flowing through. Bridges constructed
before Independence and even after it have started
showing signs of distress. Therefore, it has become
inevitable that due attention be paid to repair and
rehabilitation of these bridges. Though a lot has already
been said on the international platform about
rehabilitation and construction of bridges, yet a
consensus has to be developed among engineering staff
working in this field in the region.
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Voter
I-cards on June 7, 8 PANCHKULA, June 6 — Another drive to make identity cards of the left-out voters will be held at the Mini-Secretariat here on June 7 and 8. The District Election Officer (DEO), Ms Saroj Siwatch, said those voters who had got their names included in the voters list but could not get their I-card would also be given a chance. The earlier drive had
ended on May 30. |
'Polluted ethics caused mid-term
poll' PANCHKULA, June 6 — A mid-term poll in the country was an outcome of lack of participation by the educated sections of society in successive elections. This resulted in a fractured Parliament and an unstable government at the Centre. These views were expressed by educationists, politicians and scribes who participated in a seminar on ''Who is responsible for the mid-term poll?'' organised by the Panchkula Press Club at a private hotel in Sector 5 here yesterday. Prof Darshan Singh of the Department of Punjabi, Panjab University, Chandigarh, said the present political situation in the country was due to polluted political ethics. He said politicians liaisoned with criminals and other bad elements. He felt that functioning of governments should be transparent as people who voted a party to power had the right to know what the government was doing. There was a need to have a referendum on every issue concerning the nation, he added. "It was an irony that in spite of majority governments in certain states, their functioning was not proper. There is a sense of insecurity among voters whether a party voted to power would stay or not," he said. The state Parliamentary Minister, Mr Attar Singh Saini, who was the chief guest, opined that political awareness among the electorate was needed. The voter was responsible for the mid-term poll, he said. Mr Lachhman Singh, a
Rajya Sabha member, said it would be wrong to say that
the Congress was responsible for the mid-term poll. When
he was speaking, a section of the audience, owing
allegiance to other parties, stood from their seats and
objected to certain remarks. |
Action in
draft theft case sought CHANDIGARH, June 6 — The Punjab Irrigation Draftsman Engineers Association has demanded immediate action in the case of stolen bank draft which deprived an employee of his retirement benefits. A draft for Rs 2.27 lakh of Mr Kuldeep Singh, Circle Head Draftsman, was issued by the State Bank of India, Sector 7, Chandigarh. It was encashed by someone else while the retired employee is running from pillar to post to get his money. No one has been named in the FIR registered on May 10. Due to this incident resentment is prevailing among the employees of the Irrigation Department, Punjab. Unfortunately the State Bank of India, Sector 7, is not owning responsibility for this laxity on its part. Despite repeated visits the bank authorities took little action in locating the draft, alleged Mr Harcharan Singh, General Secretary of the association. As a result some miscreants took away the draft and encashed the same through the Bank of India, Rajpura, by opening a savings bank account there, the association alleged. The same person then made a draft in the name of a car agency in Chandigarh and took delivery of a car. The Chairman of the
association, Mr Balwinder Singh, said that if no action
was taken to make payment to the official concerned,
further action with the active participation of other
employees’ associations would be chalked out. |
SNIPPETS Environment
Day celebrated CHANDIGARH, June 6 —The Green Environment Club celebrated World Environment Day at the Government Central Crafts Institute for Women here yesterday. Speaking on the occasion, Mrs K Ranga Rajyam, chairperson of the club, said people should be educated about the importance of preservation of a healthy and clean environment. She called upon the youngsters to adopt cycling as a mode of transport in the city so that pollution could be checked. Dressed in colourful clothes, the students and members of the club presented songs, dances and skits. Lok Shakti denies merger with
Congress CHANDIGARH, June 6 — The local unit of the Lok Shakti today denied the news item appearing in a section of the Press about its merger in the Nationalist Congress. At a meeting of the unit held under the chairmanship of Mr Ravi Parkash Kansal today, members observed two minutes' silence as a mark of respect to those who made the supreme sacrifice while defending the honour, unity and integrity of the country in the Kargil-Dras areas. To strengthen the party at grassroot level, it was decided to organise rallies in sectors, colonies and villages from June 11. Besides, efforts would be made to redress general grievances of the people in different parts of the city. 600 cases of power theft detected CHANDIGARH, June 6 — The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) is losing crores of rupees on account of power pilferage. In a drive by the PSEB in Ropar circle last week had resulted in the detection of more than 600 cases of power pilferage. The authorities conducted raids at several pockets of the circle, including Ropar city, Zirakpur, Dera Bassi, SAS Nagar. The raids were conducted after the failure of the Voluntary Disclosure Scheme (VDS) initiated by the board to check power theft, Mr Vijay Nayar, Superintendent Engineer (SE), Ropar circle, said. Nearly 3,000 premises were raided in both commercial and domestic sectors and as many as 113 cases of power theft and 487 of overloading were detected in the three-day drive. A fine of Rs 17 lakh was likely to be realised by the board from the defaulters. Of these more than 100 defaulters were in Zirakpur zone alone. In one such case at Bartana village, near Zirakpur, it was detected that the consumer was consuming 29 times more power than his authorised load, Mr Nayar added. Last year, 1,933 cases were detected and a fine of more than Rs 1 crore was realised. Jan chetna rally by BSP CHANDIGARH, June 6 — Members of the local unit of the Bahujan Samaj Party (Ambedkar), led by its President, Mrs Bimla Sapna, organised a scooter jan chetna rally to create an awareness among the weaker sections and the downtrodden of the union territory about the misrule of the majority-led BJP Government at the Centre. The rally, which started from Mauli Jagran, moved through various labour colonies and slums of the union territory, including Bapu Dham, Ram Darbar, Indira Colony, Colony Nos. 4 and 5, Palsora Colony, and Daddu Majra, before terminating at the Sector 24 Balmiki temple. While addressing party workers and gatherings in various colonies, Mrs Sapna called upon the Dalits, members of the weaker sections of society and the downtrodden to get together and send their own representative to Parliament so that their problems were taken up in right earnest at the highest level. She called upon all to defeat those who were responsible for the present plight of the Dalits and the weaker sections of society. Organisation of forum delayed PANCHKULA, June 6 — The District Consumer Forum, in Sector 12-A, Panchkula, has become a cause of public grievance. The consumer forums at the district level were set up to ensure speedy and rational justice to the people. Unfortunately here the purpose of the forum seems to have been defeated. There has been no disposal of any cases since April this year. In December, 1998, the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered reorganisation of these forums at the district level within four months. The period ended in April. Each district forum is required to have one chairman and two members. The government has still not been able to organise these forums as per the directions of the High Court, although the matter is under consideration. Mr R.C. Taneja, Chairman, District Consumer Forum, Panchkula, said. It was likely that the forum would start functioning normally by the end of this month, Mr Taneja added. “This has not only added to the list of pending cases but has also caused great dissatisfaction” said a consumer who awaits decision in her case. Mr Taneja said that there were over 350 pending cases till date. The Haryana Consumer Protection Act, 1988, lays down a period of 90 days for the disposal of a case, whereas in actual it takes almost 180 to 360 days. BSP to contest LS seat CHANDIGARH, June 6 — The local unit of the Bahujan Samaj Party has decided to contest the Chandigarh Parliamentary seat. According to Mr Ajit Singh Saini, Secretary of the local unit, the party high command wants the President of the local unit, Mr Mata Ram Dhiman, to contest from the city. The party has directed the unit to step up its enrolment drive so as to strengthen the base of the party in Chandigarh. Meanwhile, Mr Dhiman has appealed to all party workers and activists to sink their differences and work unitedly for the success of the party in the coming Lok Sabha elections. Personality development camp ends CHANDIGARH, June 6 — The three-day personality development camp organised by the Bharat Vikas Parishad concluded with encouraging remarks from the 250 students who attended the camp at New Public School, Sector 18, here today. The chief guest, Justice Dharamveer Sehgal, in his presidential address said that only hard work, perfection and the will to achieve excellence made one successful in society. Dr K.L. Passi, patron of the parishad, said the new generation was faster, more dynamic, logical and farsighted and that parents should not grudge the generation gap because a static society could not progress. Mr M.K. Gupta, convener of the camp, said that the response was overwhelming and another camp would be organised shortly to accommodate children who had to be left out during this camp. Govt urged to teach Pak a lesson CHANDIGARH, June 6 — Jan Shakti, a social organisation, held an open discussion on the “Naked aggression in Kargil” at Lajpat Rai Bhavan in Sector 15 here today. Mr Prem Kumar, a senior journalist, lamented that India had failed to use information mechanism both domestically and internationally. “We are not able to take people along when we are right, while Pakistan through information tactics takes international community along when it is wrong”, he added. Prof M.M. Sharma, while condemning Pakistan for its naked aggression on Indian territory, wanted the political parties not to be swayed by electoral gains. He wanted the Indian Government to adopt a pro-active policy with a view to teaching the aggressor a lesson. Major-Gen Rajinder Nath (retd) was all praise for the troops fighting on the difficult terrain of Kargil. He criticised the defensive mind-set of politicians, bureaucrats and intellectuals. Prominent among those
who spoke were Major-Gen K.S. Bajwa (retd), Col Krishan
Kumar (retd), Gp Capt P.S. Soni, Dr P.P. Arya and Mr
Onkar Chand. |
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