New norms for foreign training policy
by U.K. Bhanot
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 13 — The Government of India is understood to have reviewed its foreign training policy and has asked the state governments to nominate officers for foreign training programmes under its new guidelines.

Without, perhaps, taking into account the real value for the country of such foreign training programmes which cost the union government several crores every year, the Department of Personnel and Training has told the Chief Secretaries of the state governments to ensure that officers nominated for training programmes abroad not only have 'very good' service records, as revealed from annual confidential reports, but also are clear from the vigilance angle.

The officers who have more than six months or more training abroad are treated as a long-term training programme and less than six months are treated as short-term.

The officers should have completed a minimum of seven years' service on the date of commencement of the programme and should not be aged more than 45 for long-term courses. However, those nominated for short term training programme should not be aged more than 50.The state governments should ensure that an officer does not attend more than one long term programme in his entire career. Thus those who have already attended a long-term training programme earlier should not be nominated for such training programme again. In the case of an officer having attended a foreign training programme of 15 days to one month will be required to complete "cooling off" period of at least of two years before he could be considered again for foreign training. This "cooling period" clause does not apply to officers who have attended courses shorter than 15 days. An officer nominated by the state government and selected by the union government will be debarred from foreign training for a period of five years if he fails to attend the training programme for which he had been selected.

Study tours/seminars/workshops abroad which are organised by international agencies/foreign governments and which are of a duration of 15 days will be governed by principals applied for short-term programmes.

Officers could be sponsored for training courses abroad which commence after the expiry of their approved tenure at the Centre, only with the concurrence the cadre controlling authority concerned. In the case of IAS officers the concurrence of the state governments/union territory concerned will have to be obtained. They should have completed a minimum two years of service on the post held under the central staffing scheme at the time of proceeding on training, if selected.

Powermen withdraw stir call
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 13 — The UT Powermen Union has withdrawn its call for pen-down and tool- down strike on June 17 following settlement of some of the issues and promise for an early decision on pending demands, Mr Bhag Mal Rana, General Secretary of the Union, announced here today.

Mr Rana said representatives of the union had talks with senior functionaries of the Chandigarh Administration, including the Chief Engineer, Mr R.K. Jain, yesterday. After prolonged negotiations, the Administration conceded some demands with immediate effect while in case of others, the union leaders were promised that issues which were pending at the Union Government-level would be settled soon.

Mr Rana said issues settled at yesterday’s meeting, including adoption of various PSEB circulars, would be implemented in Chandigarh also. PSEB scales to left-out categories of employees and issuance of T & P safety device to the workmen concerned were the other demands conceded by the Administration.

He further said issues like filling of vacant posts, appointment on compensation grounds, preparation of seniority list for the purpose of allotment of residential accommodation, circulation of seniority list of all categories of employees were under consideration of the Administration and decisions in favour of the employees would be taken at the earliest. But demands like grant of bonus and matter pertaining to privatisation were to be decided at the level of the Union Government.

Mr Rana said in view of these negotiations and promises made, the union has decided to withdraw its call for pen-down and tool-down strike on June 17.

Mix-up of pipelines
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 13 — Residents of the Mani Majra Modern Housing Complex were shocked yesterday when their complaint about blockage of a sewer line led to the startling revelation that the water and sewer pipe lines at the place were running adjacent to each other.

Public Health workers had no explanation how this “impossible” combination had been allowed. Under the rules and conventions followed in Chandigarh, sewer and water supply lines are on the opposite side of the road so as to eliminate chances of a mix-up.

“In fact, the sewer line had been blocked for the past more than two weeks. Stinking sullage had been overflowing and all our complaints to the Public Health staff of the Municipal Corporation had fallen on deaf ears.Only today they came to attend to our complaint,” said Mr Manjit Sahdev, a spokesman of the Chandigarh Territorial Youth Congress Committee.

The Public Health workers were surprised at the arrangement of pipelines. Though an in-between joint separates water from sewage, but in case of blockage of one end of the pipeline, chances of mix-up of sewage with fresh water could not be ruled out, the workers said.

The sewage portion of the pipeline was leaking.

Residents of the block with house numbers 5001 onwards maintained that for the past several days they had been probably getting contaminated water in their taps. There have been instances where residents have complained of upset stomachs and other related problems, may be due to contaminated water.

A retired Public Health engineer said it was an “explosive mix-up” which could lead to a major epidemic as contaminated water supply can wreak havoc in a thickly populated area like Modern Housing Complex. He said the authorities would do well to undertake an immediate survey in the entire complex to find out whether such an arrangement was also operational elsewhere in the locality.

Immediate steps should be taken to sample the drinking water in the Complex and send these for analysis. Work should be started without any delay to separate the water supply line and sewage line, he added.

Meanwhile, residents have decided to call on the Commissioner, Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, as well as Chairman, Chandigarh Housing Board, to apprise them of the “grave circumstances in which they have been living in the complex”.

“We want a thorough probe into this so that those responsible for such a glaring mistake are punished,” said Mr Manjit Sahdev.

Meanwhile, Public health workers have plugged the leaking sewage line.

Rs 2 lakh relief for Joy Lal's family
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, June 13 — The Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr Bansi Lal, today announced a grant of Rs 2 lakh for the family of late Joy Lal, Deputy Commandant of the ITBP.

The 36-year-old Deputy Commandant was killed when the bus in which he was travelling was blown off by a powerful landmine about 150 km from Srinagar on May 30.

The Chief Minister visited the house of the Deputy Commandant in Sector 6 here today and expressed his sympathies with the bereaved family.

After spending about 20 minutes with the father of the martyr, Mr H. Lal, a former IAS officer of Haryana, the Chief Minister announced that a major road in Panchkula would be named after the Deputy Commandant. He said the youth should learn a lesson from the young ITBP officer who sacrificed his life for the nation.

The Chief Minister, while expressing concern at the situation in Kargil, lauded the role of the Indian Army in flushing out the mercenaries, including Pakistan Army regulars, from the Indian soil.

Punjabi play ‘re-release’ function held
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 13 — The Kendriya Punjabi Rangmanch Sabha, in collaboration with the Punjab Kala Parishad, today organised the “re-release” function of Satish Kumar Verma’s Punjabi play Daerey at the Punjab Kala Bhavan, Rose Garden, Sector 16.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Sahib Singh, General Secretary of the sabha said Daerey, written in 1992, was being “re-released” today since the play had hardly been performed any where on the stage.

Daerey, which deals with the complexities of man-woman relationship, tells story of a working couple which thinks that they cannot afford to have a child and eventually produce a deformed child.

Kicking off discussion on the play, the first paper of the evening was read out by Dr Rajinder Pal Singh Brar, lecturer, Punjabi University, Patiala. While commenting on the story, Dr Brar said the play seemed to explore all possible layers of the relationship between the two sexes. But as the story was very simply told, without providing any space for catharsis for the viewer, he wondered how it would produce the required dramatic effect on stage.

On various techniques of Daerey, he said Dr Verma did not give names to the characters because he may not have wanted them to be stratified. But this, at times, deemed them to be very mechanical, Dr Brar added.

He was also critical of the fact that the author had used too many “outside comments”, which gave the impression that the Punjabi reader is not capable of understanding the nuances of the various symbols used.

The second paper of the day was read by Dr Jaswinder Singh, also from Punjabi University, Patiala. He commented on the “high speed” of the play and how it ends within 15 scenes alone, a fact, which according to him, sometimes cannot take in the entire gamut of all that needs to be said in a subject like the equation between a man and a woman.

Dr Manjit Singh from Panjab University also spoke on the occasion. This was followed by a discussion with the audience.

In fact, it is interesting to note that a large number of authors, playwrights and poets of the region, based in the city and even from outside, attend such interactive discussion sessions. A sure way to popularise Punjabi literature in the city. Last week, the Kendriya Punjabi Rangmanch Sabha had organised the book release function of Sanjeevan Singh’s Punjabi play ‘Freedom Fighter’.

Seminar on mid-term poll held
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, June 13 — Divergent views were expressed by the participants of a seminar on "Who is responsible for mid-term polls and its solution" organised by Panchnad Research Institute at Chaman Lal DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 11, here today.

Prof V.K.Bansal from Department of Law, Panjab University, felt the need to analyse whether the aims and objectives of grassroot-level democracy had been achieved. He lamented that successive governments had failed to introduce electoral reforms. He said, "People can see their demands and aspirations being met only if they elect a responsible and dedicated person."

Holding leaders of opposition parties responsible for mid-term elections, Mr Satya Pal Jain, a former MP from Chandigarh, said those who had said on the floor of the house that they were in a position to form an alternative government should be questioned. He opined that opposition parties did not respect the mandate and pulled down the BJP-led government due to their lust for power.

Mr Jain held the Congress responsible for the mid-term elections for a major part of his talk. He maintained that the first mid-term elections in 1971 were engineered by the Congress and the trend continued.

Mr Jain did not agree with the thinking that the mid-term elections were due to lack of participation by the electorate. But it was an excuse given by certain politicians to sideline real issues.

He added that the issue of secularism versus communalism had lost its relevance and the masses were interested in their basic problems being solved. He said regional parties were there as national parties had not respected regional sentiments.

Maj-Gen Rajinder Nath (retd), a nominated councillor of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh, felt that the present democratic set-up was not useful in keeping the country united. He said intellectuals, instead of issuing statements and criticising others, should come forward in politics.

Mr Radhey Sham Sharma, a veteran journalist, also spoke. During the question hour session, members of the audience suggested that there should be a direct election for the Prime Minister. Some suggested that only a 15 days' prior notice should be given before holding an election.

'Solar energy-run products a hit'
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 13 — To spread the message of oil conservation, the Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) has decided to double the budget for mass awareness from the present Rs 4 crore, the Executive Director of the PCRA, Mr K.K. Dhingra, said here today.

Addressing a press conference, he claimed that due to efforts of the PCRA, 1.8 million tonnes of petroleum products valued at about Rs 860 crore had been conserved in the last financial year.

He informed that the PCRA was planning a series of activities as part of its silver jubilee celebrations on January 10, 2001. Consumers in the domestic and the industrial sectors would be focussed in the special campaign to be launched with the help of the state governments.

Mr S.S. Sekhon, Director of the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA), claimed that now the people had started buying products run by the solar energy like the solar cookers. The people of Punjab were adopting the family-size bio-gas plants in a big way, he added.

Mr A.M. Nagar, Deputy General Manager of the Indian Oil Corporation and State-Level Coordinator of Punjab and Himachal, listed the activities of the OIC in the field of the conservation of petroleum products.

Sharing his experiences about the energy audit in the industrial sector, Mr S.K. Duggal from NITCON, informed that there had been an energy saving of the 15 per cent to 20 per cent in the industrial units whose energy audit was done by the organisation.

Ex-servicemen discuss Kargil
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 13 — Jan Shakti, a social organisation, organised second discussion on “Naked aggression in Kargil” at the Lajpat Rai Bhavan in Sector 15 here today.

Air Marshal Randhir Singh (retd), said we should adopt an offensive strategy in Kargil which would be our best defence. He criticised the government for not activating the intelligence agencies to anticipate the intentions of the enemy.

Prof Veer Singh, Chairman of the Department of Laws of Panjab University, wanted a long-term defence strategy to be prepared to fight Pakistan’s nefarious designs, Prof P.N. Mehra disagreed with Pakistan’s stance, that the Line of Control was not well defined.

SNIPPETS

Representation demanded
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 13 — Mr Jaidev Singh, President of the Consumers Forum, Chandigarh, has urged the UT Administration to give representation to the forum in the advisory panel of the super bazar.

In a press note issued here today, Mr Jaidev Singh said though the Administration had been giving representation to the forum in the panel in the past, this time its name did not figure in the panel recast recently. On the other hand, a social worker was put on the panel without verification of his background, he alleged.

Mr Jaidev Singh demanded that he should be included in the super bazar advisory panel so that the problems faced by the consumers on account of the public distribution system should be highlighted.

Bhavans form association
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 13 — Members of the managing committees of various bhavans in the city held a meeting at the Sector 27 Ramgarhia Bhavan today and formed the Association of Chandigarh Bhavans.

The following were elected office-bearers of the new association: Chairman — Mr Ajit Singh Ranauta (Ramgarhia Sabha); Secretary — Mr Inder Singh (Baba Makhan Shah Labana); and Cashier — Mr Prem Singh (Jat Bhavan).

PU employees threaten rally
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 13 — The Panjab University Non-Teaching Employees Federation will organise a mass rally on June 15 at the basement of the Administrative Block to protest against the adamant attitude of the authorities in implementing their long-pending demands.

Mr Dharam Paul Sharma, President of the federation, has in a release pointed out that they have from time to time been urging the authorities to implement the recommendations of the pay commission and orders of the Syndicate and Senate.

The demands include payment of fixed medical allowance, revised local conveyance allowance and computer allowance, grant of accelerated increment for improving qualifications, abolition of contract system against regular posts, creation of additional posts and proper working conditions in the office.

Punjab pensioners' DA released
From Our Correspondent

DERA BASSI, June 13 — The Punjab Government has issued a notification regarding the release of dearness allowance (DA) for members of the Punjab State Pensioners Confederation from January, 1998.

In a press note, Mr D.R. Sehgal, President of the Government Pensioners Welfare Association, Dera Bassi, said the DA had been released at a rate of 10 per cent of the basic pay. The government has also increased the medical allowance to Rs 125 per month from Rs 100 per month and 17 months' balance payment of the arrears at the rate of Rs 25 per month, for the pensioners of Haryana. The pensioners from UT and Himachal would get 22 per cent increased dearness allowance.

Mr Sehgal has requested the beneficiary pensioners of Himachal, Punjab, UT and Haryana to collect their arrears from the treasury office on June 18, 21 and 22.

He said that the association would submit a memorandum, seeking more facilities for the pensioners, to the state government.

Move on rehriwalas criticised
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 13 — The Consumer Forum, Chandigarh, has criticised the local Municipal Corporation authorities for their move to allow rehriwalas and phariwalas to operate from near the Apni Mandis.

In a press note issued here today, the Chairman of the forum, Mr Jaidev Singh, said that the concept of Apni Mandis, mooted by the forum and later adopted by the Punjab Mandi Board was aimed at helping the residents as well as farmers by removing middlemen from the scene.

The scheme proved to be successful due to the initial efforts of senior citizens, including retired bureaucrats and judges, who even sold vegetables by bringing these from far away places like Ludhiana and Malerkotla. But all of a sudden, the civic body had decided to allow rehri-phariwalas to sell their items from Apni Mandis which was nothing but a defiance of the decision taken by the Administration in the interests of the people, Mr Jaidev Singh said.

He demanded that under no circumstances the earlier decision of the Administration should be allowed to be rescinded and the rehri-phariwalas should not be allowed to do business from near the Apni Mandis.

'Alcohol has toxic effects'
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 13 — As part of the continuing medical education and patient awareness programme, a panel discussion on life-style diseases was organised at Command Hospital, Chandi Mandir, near here, today.

Speaking on the the prevention of heart attacks, Prof J.S. Verma, Head of the Cardiology Department of the PGI, explained in detail various factors leading to myocardial infraction. Cholesterol level, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, exercise and anger management were some of the prominent factors that needed to be taken care of in the prevention of heart attacks, he added.

Prof Yogesh Chawla, Head of the Department of Hepatology of the PGI, said alcohol had toxic effects on our vital organs like liver, heart, pancreas and brain and joints. He said one to two drinks a day for men and one drink for women would be all right. It would, however, be best to abstain from drinking, he advised.

Talking about the prevention of diabetes and cholesterol, Dr Anil Bansali from the PGI dwelt on symptoms and preventive aspects of diseases. Hunger, urination, weight loss, delayed healing of wounds and exertion were the major symptoms of diabetes. Those with obesity, high-level of blood sugar and tension were more prone to the disease and hence needed to avoid the causes besides taking a balanced diet with fibrous foods.

The General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, Lieut-Gen H.B. Kala, Chief of the Staff, Lieut-Gen B.S. Malik, Commandant of the Command Hospital, Maj-Gen Virendra Singh and the Deputy Director of the Medical Services, Maj-Gen R.P. Arora also spoke in the panel discussion organised as part of the 39th raising day of the hospital.