Friday, May 21, 1999
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N E W S Friday, May 21, 1999 |
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Forget water augmentation
scheme
Saying that the revenue generated was inadequate even to meet the energy cost, it said pumping of more water from Kajauli would definitely increase the operation and maintenance cost. Since the deficit between expenditure on maintenance and operation and the water receipts has risen from Rs 8.46 crore 1996-97 to Rs 17 crore in 1998-99, it would not be economical to pump water from Kajauli, it was pointed out. Since the power bill itself for 1998-99 itself was Rs 19 crore, the pumping of more water from Kajauli would increase the operation and maintenance cost further. Therefore, unless the tariffs are revised in a realistic manner and 100 per cent revenue realised at least to meet the operation and maintenance cost of the system to begin with, it may be extremely difficult to consider at this stage Phase IV of the project for the augmentation of the water supply to the city. It said since the estimated requirement of water for lawns and open spaces is around 24 million gallons per day (MGD), which was about 40 per cent of 60 MGD — the total water available, the current sewage treatment capacity to treat 30 MGD should be fully utilised. As the production of water in Chandigarh was abnormally high due to very high pumping cost, it would be appropriate to treat at least 30 MGD of the city's municipal waste water to tertiary level and use it for horticulture and irrigating lawns and open spaces so as to conserve the 24 MGD of fresh water currently used for water open spaces and lawns. As much as 10 MGD of fresh water is being saved by treating waste water for watering lawns and open spaces. The water supply system for Chandigarh was laid in the sixties and seventies, it said, adding that it was not known whether any leak detection survey had been conducted in the city to assess the quantum of leakage/wastage and if not, such an exercise should be carried out in a scientific manner and the necessary measures initiated and repairs carried out to control the same and save precious fresh water which could be used for serving additional population and to earn more revenue. "It was equally important to ascertain the illegal connections in Chandigarh to assess the unaccounted for water and measures initiated to regularise all such illegal connections which would also generate additional revenue," it added. It may be recalled that the Chandigarh Administration had okayed the Rs125-crore revised plan for bringing in 60 MGD of water against 20 MGD originally planned. The need for the revised plan was felt in view of the the widening gap between the demand and supply of water to the city. It was felt that 51 MGD of water the MCC was drawing from the first three phases was falling short of the increasing demand. Meanwhile, it is learnt
that the civic body is preparing a strong reply to the
communication since it feels that the needs of a modern
city like Chandigarh could not be equated with other
cities. Senior officials of the MCC are likely to go to
Delhi to plead the case for the revised plan. |
Police not pursuing Kiran
petition: IGP
Mr Farooqui, who took over charge as IGP from Dr Kiran Bedi yesterday following an order of the Ministry of Home Affairs, said cases have to be registered against these officers. Some documents have been sought from the Chandigarh Administration and in case it is found to be a cognisable offence, a case will be registered against the officials. He said it was not that the police was not having a problem of interference in matters of police functioning, but that phase has gone by. The Adviser, Mrs Vineeta Rai, has said that the functional autonomy will be given to the IGP, Mr Farooqui said. He added: “If autonomy is not given, indiscipline will set in among the force”. However, the powers of the government are indisputable. The dispute that ended just two days ago, had no legal basis, the IGP said, adding that the same had been conveyed to the force. The new IGP also said
that sections of media were saying that the force was sad
over the transfer of Dr Bedi. It is not so and everything
was fine. A certain job carried out by one officer can be
carried out by the next one also, he opined. All schemes
started by Dr Bedi will go on and the IGP said he had
written to all officials to carry on with the work they
were doing. |
Two thieves, scrap dealer
arrested CHANDIGARHMay 20 — Two drug addicts, who were allegedly involved in burgling shops and houses, have been arrested along with a scrap dealer who used to buy the stolen items. Acting on specific information, a party led by SI Baljit Singh, nabbed Dinesh Kumar of Kajehri Village and Rajeev Kumar of Panchkula, who used to steal the goods. The scrap dealer, Baljinder Singh of Burail village was also arrested. The police has recovered stolen goods worth Rs 1. 5 lakh from them. Dinesh used to run a cycle repair shop and had become a drug addict. As a result, his business failed. Rajeev, who used to live in the same village, had also started consuming drugs. Later Rajeev’s parents, moved him to Panchkula to get rid his habit. Rajeev left his parents’ home and joined Dinesh. At first, the duo restricted themselves to small-time thefts like breaking into paan shops or looting people returning home at night. Once they did not find enough things in this, they hatched a plan to loot a sanitaryware shop. They decamped with brass taps that weighed almost 356 kilograms. These same were sold to the scrap dealer . The police got specific
information about the movements of the duo. The two have
been arrested and the police have recovered various
stolen items like sanitary fittings, wrist watches, and
electronic goods. |
Additional charge for CITCO MD CHANDIGARH, May 20 — Things have started settling down in the Chandigarh Administration after a fortnight of controversies over various issues. Mr N.K. Jain, the new Home Secretary, and Mr Satish Chandra, Managing Director of Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation (CITCO), who has been given the additional charge of the Finance Secretary, attended their offices today. Mr Jain, a gold medallist in electrical engineering from BITS, Pilani, started his career as SDM, Palwal, and has held various positions. Unlike his predecessor, Mr Jain will not look after the work of the Chief Vigilance Officer for the Union Territory, the charge for which will be temporarily held by the Adviser to the Administrator, Mrs Vineeta Rai. In the absence of any communication from the Chief Election Commission about the appointment of the new Chief Electoral Officer in place of Mrs Anuradha Gupta, no decision has been taken as yet. No decision has been taken about the appointment of Chairperson of the CITCO in place of Mrs Gupta. While Mrs Vineeta Rai continues to be the Chairperson of the Chandigarh Housing Board also, a formal order on the appointment of new Chairperson of CITCO is expected next week. Meanwhile, Mr M.P. Singh, a Punja-cadre officer, is likely to take over as the new Commissioner of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation in place of Mr Satish Gathwal. Though Mr M.P. Singh was appointed Director, Census Operations, his request for not accepting the assignment has been reportedly considered and accepted by the authorities. In all probability, his formal appointment orders are expected later this month. Mr Mahavir Singh, an IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, is also expected to assume the charge as Chief Executive Officer of the Chandigarh Housing Board soon. Meanwhile, the
Administration has recommended the name of Mr Harpreet
Singh Sidhu, an IPS officer of the Punjab cadre, for
appointment as Senior Superintendent of Police, in place
of Mr CSR Reddy, who has already completed his tenure
here. The appointment will be ratified by the Union Home
Ministry for the inter-state deputation. |
CM on inauguration spree PANCHKULA, May 20 — The Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr Bansi Lal, has directed the officials of the Town and Country Planning Department and other government agencies involved in the development of Panchkula to evolve a strategy to meet the water requirement of the town in the coming years. He was inaugurating a block of 140 booths, constructed at a cost of over Rs 2 crore, near the Mata Mansa Devi Temple here today. The Chief Minister, while seeing a layout plan of the urban estate, advised the officials to draft a plan to tap the water which flowed in the seasonal rivulets and in the Ghaggar, especially during the monsoon. While inaugurating a bridge over the Ghaggar, he asked the officials about the future plans to meet the drinking water demands of the sectors in the Panchkula extension. He also suggested to the officials to create artificial water bodies along the seasonal rivulets, flowing in and around the urban estate, as a tourist attraction. Mr Bansi Lal, who was on an inauguration spree in the township, declined to talk to mediapersons at the Gymkhana Club in Sector 6. He had halted at the club for a tea break along with his ministerial colleagues — Dr Kamla Verma, Mr O.P.Mahajan, Mr Jaswant Singh, Jagdish Yadav, Harsh Kumar and Mr Vinod Kumar Marya — and senior government officials. Earlier, the Chief Minister inaugurated the building of the headquarters of the Sainik Parivar Bhavan and a computer training centre developed over an area of two kanal at a cost of Rs 40.14 lakh. The centre would impart one-year training for computer operators and programming assistants to ex-servicemen, serving personnel of defence forces, war widows and dependents of war widows. He inaugurated the buildings of a Logistic Centre-cum-Office of the Director-General of Health Services, built at a cost of Rs 75.76 lakh in Sector 6 and a judicial complex in Sector 1, built at a cost of Rs 2.30 crore. He also planted a 'pipal' sapling provided by the state forest department. He inaugurated the buildings of a community centre and and a primary school building in Sector 25, both built at a cost of over Rs 47 lakh. A bridge over the Ghaggar and a small bridge over the Nadha cho were inaugurated by the Chief Minister. Both the bridges, built at a cost of about Rs 10. 55 crore, would connect Panchkula town with Panchkula extension. However, one of the approaches to the main bridge over the river has been constructed through jhuggis. The land on which the jhuggis stand is under litigation. He also inaugurated an adventure sports academy to be set up in 2 acres by the Sports and Youth Welfare Department, with the cooperation of the National Adventure Club. Later, Mr Bansi Lal
inspected the ministerial flats coming up in Sector 12-A.
He visited Mata Mansa Devi Temple again to review the
development work of the temple. He also participated in
'pooja' at the temple. |
Naughty 'gang leader' trapped CHANDIGARH, May 20 — After a number of attempts over more than a month, the UT Wildlife Department was finally successful in putting a 'culprit' — a full grown alpha monkey — behind the bars here today. The about three-year-old monkey was captured this morning after it landed into a trap laid by department officials at Punjab Raj Bhavan, where it had been roaming in the past two days. The monkey is suspected to be the 'leader' of a 'gang' of simians which had been notorious for their mischief and for biting a number of residents of northern sectors, particularly, Sectors 7 and 8. "The monkey and its 'accomplices' were so naughty that they used to open refrigerators and eat whatever they found in these after scaring away the lonely housewives. As many as three persons were reported to be bitten by these simians," said a department official. The department, flooded with complaints from residents, had been trying to nab these officials for past one month and for this purpose officials, armed with tranquilizer guns, were deputed in different parts of the new-found 'fiefdom' of the monkey brigade. The alpha monkey species is famous for leading a pack of their fellow monkeys. "Even today, after it was trapped in a cage, it tried to break it open and we had to keep the bars together by tying wires," said Mr Ramesh Gill, who along with other officials, was behind the two-hour nabbing exercise. It was brought to the Sector 19 UT Wildlife Office, where the large 'wild guest' was offered bananas and water by officials. But apparently annoyed with them and perhaps due to the shock of landing in captivity, it refused to take anything and instead made faces at the officials attending it. According to the UT
Chief Wildlife Warden, Mr H. S. Sohal, the monkey was
later released into the forest. |
Provisional admission for PU
students CHANDIGARH, May 20—In an emergency meeting of the Panjab University Syndicate members, chaired by the Registrar, Prof Paramjit Singh, tonight, it was decided to grant provisional admission to students falling short of the required lectures to appear in examinations. However, the five members and the Registrar did not condone the lecture shortage of the students on the ground that the power to condone the lectures was vested in the sub-committee constituted by the Syndicate for considering the matter. The decision was taken in the interest of the students keeping in view the agitation and the fast of the students which had entered its third day today. While two of the three students were stated to be critical, a number of students had to appear in the examination slated for tomorrow. The decision to allow students to appear in the examinations would be circulated to all heads of departments tomorrow. Earlier, the
sub-committee was scheduled to meet today evening but
could not and local members of the Syndicate were called
to take a decision. The members present include Mr SS
Gill, Dr Deepak Manmohan Singh, Dr VK Bansal, Mr Anmol
Rattan Sidhu and Principal AS Bedi. The telephonic sent
of Mr GK Chattrath was conveyed to the members by Dr VK
Bansal at the meeting. |
Heated Syndicate debate on
cards CHANDIGARH, May 20—A heated debate is likely at the Syndicate meeting scheduled for May 25 in the case of seven ineligible students having been wrongly admitted to various courses of Panjab University. While five cases pertain to admissions in the 1998-99 academic session , two cases each are from the 1995-96 and 1996-97 sessions, respectively. Two cases of wrong admissions are from the local DAV College and Dev Samaj College of Education. Manmeet Sumra was declared ineligible for admission to Dev Samaj College of Education, Sector 36, on the basis of her having secured less than 45 per cent marks in the BA (Hons) examination while Shaanjeet Shambi was given admission to BA I in spite of getting a compartment in the plus two examinations. He was, as a special case, allowed to change to the BBA course subject to clearing the compartment examination within the stipulated period. However, he was found to have secured less than 50 per cent marks in the aggregate. Ms Amita Kumar secured 45 per cent in the aggregate of B Sc examinations for all three years. However, the aggregate fell short of 45 per cent when the aggregate of the II and III year was considered and the case was referred to a committee which decided that the combined result of the three years should be considered. Mr Kumar Gaurav was admitted to the B Com course at Arya College, Ludhiana, wrongly since he had failed to secure the prescribed marks for admission to the course and the principal had requested that a compassionate view should be taken and admission be confirmed. In the case of Savita Puri, the problem of having secured over 45 per cent in the aggregate of three years but falling a little short of the required percentage when the aggregate of the second and final year was considered. Ms Japneet Kaur, admitted to MA Part I (Fine Arts) at Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana, was found to have passed BA exam with Commercial Arts securing 472 out of 600. The prescribed qualifications laid down by the university calendar for admission to the course are that the candidate must have done his BA Fine Arts examination from Panjab University with 45 per cent or BA with 50 per cent and Fine Arts as one of the subjects or BA with 45 per cent in Fine Arts. The candidate was deemed ``ineligible'' by the Chairman of the Department of Fine Arts, Panjab University. Mr Veerpal Gill, admitted to the post-graduate course of Punjabi, was found to have sought admission to B Sc Home Science in 1992 and had completed it in 1999 and further, had not cleared his B Sc examination till April, 1998, when he was given admission to MA I (Punjabi). All these admissions are in gross violation of the University Calendar which provides under Volume II,1995, that the Syndicate shall have ``the power to relax requirements of regulations, under exceptional circumstances for any examination regarding change of subject or other similar requirements where the mistake is primarily of the head of institution or on the part of the university office.'' The calendar further adds that ``provided that these powers shall not include relaxation of minimum qualification laid down for admission to examination'' which is the case in most of these cases. However, Dr Satinder Dhillon of Dev Samaj College of Education, Sector 32, says:``Earlier, the university had sent a letter saying that the Vice-Chancellor had approved the admission and that we were required to deposit Rs 1000 as fine for the mistake which we did immediately. But now the matter is being brought to the Syndicate and we will see what the members make of it.'' The Principal of DAV College, Sector 10, Mr R.C. Jeewan, said that no such case of ineligible admission was brought to his knowledge and that he had received no information in this regard from the university also. A Syndic, Mr S.S. Gill,
opined: ``This will set a precedent for the coming years
and the number of such cases is likely to go up once
permission is granted. This will certainly be considered
a rule for future cases to facilitate backdoor entry to
unsuccessful candidates.'' He also informed that the
heads of the respective institutions could be given a
warning, their increment could be withheld and they could
be fined Rs 1000 for every ineligible candidate admitted
as provided in the Handbook of Information of the
university. |
'Sarpanches deprived of right' CHANDIGARH, May 20 — Mr Pawan Bansal, former MP and ex-President, Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee, has assailed the BJP-led Central Government for arbitrarily depriving the sarpanches of the Union Territory of their democratic right to send their representatives to the panchayat samiti. "Motivated by impure and narrow political interests to keep out the recently elected sarpanches and to delay the constitution of the panchayat samiti and the zila parishad, the BJP and its representative in the Lok Sabha, Mr S.P. Jain, through an executive fiat, accomplished what they could not through the democratic process. "In the last panchayat elections the BJP had suffered a crushing blow with the Congress supported candidates winning almost all the posts of the sarpanches. The law as it then stood, postulated that the sarpanches would send their representatives equal to 60 per cent of the total membership of the panchayat samiti. While they were waiting to be called upon to elect their representatives from amongst themselves for the panchayat samiti, Mr Jain has, on the sly, managed a notification under Section 87 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act to in fact repeal certain provisions of the main Act, inflicting a severe blow to the sarpanches of the Union Territory. "This is a retrograde step and wholly violative of the democratic principles. Section 87 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act only authorises the Central Government to extend an existing law to Chandigarh and not to repeal any law in force in the Union Territory. For this, sanction of the Parliament is mandatory. "Even
otherwise,this measure betrays total insensitivity to
public opinion and democratic principles and smacks of
authoritarianism. The BJP would still find its designs
frustrated and will face an ignominious defeat in the
panchayat samiti elections whenever these are held. If
the BJP and Mr Jain are sincere in their protestations
about democracy, let them prevail upon the Chandigarh
Administration to hold these elections immediately and
see for themselves the response of the public," Mr
Bansal added. |
Peeping cop Chandigarh, May 20
— A constable of the Chandigarh police was caught
two nights ago while allegedly peeping into homes of some
persons in sector 20. Presently posted at the Sector 22
police post, the cop was caught by alert residents of the
sector and handed over to the police at Sector 19 police
station. |
Effigies of Pawar, 2 others burnt Chandigarh, May 20 — Punjab Youth Congress workers burnt the effigies of the three senior leaders who had raised the issue of the foreign origin of the AICC President Ms Sonia Gandhi, outside the Punjab Congress Bhavan here today. The workers, led by the state President Mr Devinder Singh Babbu, raised slogans against the trio — Mr P. A. Sangma, Mr Sharad Pawar and Mr Tariq Anwar — for trying to damage the unity and prestige of the Congress at a time when it was preparing for the forthcoming parliamentary elections. The protesters condemned the role of the trio for their desire to become future prime ministers. The contribution rendered by the Gandhi-Nehru family towards the prosperity of the country had been forgotten by these "opportunistic" leaders. It was a betrayal, the agitators alleged. The protesters demanded strict disciplinary action against the leaders and their expulsion from the party. Mr Babbu has been on an
indefinite fast over the issue since yesterday. |
Water Resources Day celebrated DERA BASSI, May 20 — To celebrate Water Resources Day, students of various schools of Dera Bassi subdivision, participated in debate and painting contests, organised by the Chetna Society Chandigarh at Sukhamani International School, here today. More than 25 students took part in these contests on the topic "Keep Our Resources Clean". As many as 12 students participated in a declamation contest and 23 in spot-painting contest, both on the same theme. In the declamation contest, Ms Ritika Narula, Ms Himani and Ms Jasleen of Sukhmani International School stood first, second and third, respectively. While Ms Nishu, Ms Vandna and Ms Shruti bagged first, second and third positions in the spot-painting competition. The Sub Divisional Magistrate, Mr S.S. Sidhu, who was the chief guest, stressed on the cleanliness of water and its sources. He said that keeping in view the increase in air and water pollution, public should be aware about cleanliness. The best way to keep the future pollution free, was to educate children about it, he added. Later, Mr Sidhu also
presented mementoes to the participants. Mrs Surya
Pandit, Secretary General of the Chetna Society, Mr Avtar
Singh, Chairman and Mr G.S. Sethi, Director of Sukhnami
International School, Dr Sweena, Dr G.S. Rekhi and Ms
Pushpinder Kaur were also present on this occasion. |
Pabla denies hand in case Chandigarh, May 20 — The producer of Asian Films International, Mr L.S. Pabla, has claimed that his name was wrongly mentioned in the news item headlined "Police party ransacks Sector 42 house" that appeared in the Chandigarh Tribune on May 17. He says that he has no concern with the case in which a party of the Punjab police allegedly ransacked a house in Sector 42. On the other hand, the Nawanshahr SSP, Mr Surinder Singh Sodhi, said that he had received a complaint from Mr L.S. Pabla and had marked it to the SHO of the area concerned to "verify and take action". He said if some policemen were sent to Chandigarh for "verification", they should have gone to the local police before visiting the house of Mr Jarnail Singh "Gogi". The news item had mentioned that he was a travel agent. This is wrong, Mr Pabla claimed, while adding that he was a USA-based NRI and made Punjabi movies. The charge of his being a travel agent had damaged his recently released Punjabi film "Door Nahin Nankana", he claimed. The news item mentioned that Mr Gurdeep Singh , a brother of Mr Jarnail Singh, had said that it was a bid to kidnap Jarnail Singh as he had a long-standing dispute with Mr Pabla. On the other hand , Mr Pabla clarified, "Mr Jarnail Singh was handling accounts in my firm and his services were terminated after he along with Gurdeep Singh cashed Rs 6 lakh from my account in a sector 37 bank by forging my signatures on lost cheques." A written intimation was sent to the bank about the missing cheques, he said. A complaint in this regard was given to the SSP in February last year. On the other hand, Jarnail Singh Gogi, a theatre artiste, has accused Mr Pabla of indulging in "illegal trafficking in manpower" and demanded immediate action against him. Talking to newsmen, Mr Gogi alleged that Mr L.S. Pabla had taken away his passport and that of another theatre artiste, Mr P. Sethi, and tried to send some "bogus" people to Australia and New Zealand by misusing their passports. Mr Jarnail Singh said that he had sent messages to the embassies of New Zealand, Australia, Italy, Canada and the USA, informing them of the attempt to "misuse" his passport. Mr Jarnail Singh further alleged that on May 16 morning, two policemen — an Inspector and a Head Constable — came to his residence, looking for him. Since he was not home, his mother and wife told the policemen to come some other time. They left a message that he should present himself before the Nawanshahr police. Mr Jarnail Singh alleged
that when the last time he accompanied Mr Pabla's troupe
to the USA, at least 12 "bogus" persons
accompanied them who were left behind in the States.
Their passports were being sent back through members of
the troupe in the shape of "gifts" for
relatives of Mr Pabla at Delhi. "But since we made a
halt at Chicago after leaving California, one of us
opened the gift and found two passports wrapped in it.
Other members were also carrying similar gifts. We left
all the passports in Chicago. Mr Pabla got furious when
he was told that passports had been left behind in
Chicago and the theatre artistes could not be used for an
illegal activity. Since then, he had been trying to
harass and pressurise them, Mr Jarnail Singh added. |
Regiment celebrates raising day Chandigarh, May 20 — The Shatrujeet Engineer Regiment celebrated its 33rd raising day somewhere in the Western Sector today. A special sainik sammelan was held to mark the occasion. Colonel C. J. Pal, Commanding Officer of the regiment, greeted all ranks and their families and called for greater diligence and devotion to achieve still higher goals with the Shatrujeet spirit. It was a proud moment in the history of the regiment when a record number of 12 officers and ranks were honoured with gallantry and distinguished awards for rendering yeoman's service under Operation Madad in the Kinnaur region of Himachal Pradesh. The regiment had built the longest bailey suspension bridge at Wangtu in a record time of 21 days, restoring the vital link to Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti. Before this, men and machines of the regiment were deployed for about a year to ferry people, essential supplies and apples from Kinnaur. Colonel Pal was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal and Sena Medals were conferred on Major K. J. Kumar, Captain J. Nisonko and Lance-Havaldar G. H. Hassan Khan. Subedar Ram Mehar Singh was honoured with the COAS Commendation Card. The GOC-in-C Commendation Cards winners included Lieutenant-Colonel Khushwant Singh, Naib-Subedars B. R. Shinde and Som Singh, Havaldars N. J. Mule, Bhola Singh and Gobind Salunke and Naik Narinder Singh. Raised in 1966, the
regiment has served the nation with distinction through
tenures in areas such as the deserts of Rajasthan,
desolate terrain of Ladakh and insurgency-affected
Manipur. It was part of the UN Peace Keeping Force in
Mozambique. During this tour, the regiment won one PVSM,
two Shaurya Chakras, one Sena Medal, one VSM, one mention
in despatches, 11 COAS Commendation Cards and 12 GOC-in-C
\ AOC- in-C Commendation Cards. |
SNIPPETS Theatre workshop inaugurated According to the President of Kainat Arts, the workshop will focus mainly on theatre and acting with stress on voice culture, psychological interaction, cultural awareness, body movements through yoga, exercises and aerobics. Students can enrol themselves by paying a monthly fee of Rs 500. The programme will conclude with a cultural programme at Tagore Theatre on June 25. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Gursharan Singh stressed the need for organising such workshops for children. While interacting with the students, he shared some acting skills with them by way of stories and playing games. Employees demand LTC, more HRA The protesters from various parts of the state, besides employees of offices located in the city, assembled at the venue and raised slogans against the government for allegedly pursuing anti-employee policies and adopting strong-arm tactics to suppress their voice. Employee-leaders alleged that the government, instead of accepting various demands, had arbitrarily withdrawn various allowances and perks, affecting pay packets of the salaried class. Major demands raised at the rally included reintroducing the LTC allowance to employees, bringing the enhanced revised house rent from 10 per cent of the pay to two per cent, restoring the provision of free housing, grant of promotions after four, nine and 14 years, regularisation of daily wages and work-charged employees, besides removing anomalies as per revised pay scales. The protesters also condemned the removal of Ms Kiran Bedi as the IGP of Chandigarh, retrenchment of the Panjab Leathera Corporation employees and allowing employees to take money out of their GPF accounts. Cong woman quits for Sonia Mrs Bhardwaj has forwarded her resignation to the President, All-India Mahila Congress. She said to commemorate the death anniversary of Mr Rajiv Gandhi, Mahila Congress and NSUI workers of the local units will participate in a blood donation camp at the Sector 32 Government Medical College and Hospital here tomorrow. Patwaris hold rally The protesters, who came from various parts of the state, assembled near the housing board roundabout and raised slogans against the government. They alleged that following an agitation, the government had assured them and had signed a agreement with their representatives on the implementation of certain demands. The demands raised at the rally included the decade-long demand of declaring patwaris technical staff, office allowance of Rs 500 instead of Rs 30 per month, enhancement in travelling allowance, constructing more patwarkhanas in the state and providing facilities at all existing ones, and returning the power of changing mutations to tehsildars instead of vesting the power in SDMs. Other points raised related to stopping the recruitment of kanungos and more promotion avenues after 4, 9 and 14 years of service. New Legal Remembrancer The present incumbent, Mr Sanjiv Kumar, who has completed a three-year tenure in the city, will be shifted to Hisar as Judicial Magistrate. Mr Tejwinder Singh, Civil Judge, Junior Division, has been transferred to Dasuya. City to witness Sikh art About 250 paintings and other artifacts, both traditional and contemporary, relating to Sikh art and culture, will be displayed at the exhibition. The exhibition will provide a glimpse of the eventful and glorious past of Sikhs through the last 300 years. Sacred relics of the Gurus, holy texts and other invaluable objects, collected from various museums will also be displayed. Only govt school shiftedFrom Our CorrespondentKHARARMay 20 — Instead of upgrading the only Government Middle School, Kharar, the Punjab Government has closed this school and has shifted it from its place of the old civil courts complex to Munid Kharar village. The copies of this order were given to reporters yesterday. Kharar is the only city probably in Punjab where there is no government high school. This middle school was opened in 1996 the government allotted Rs 2 lakh for constructing the building of the school and recently two rooms were built. Man commits suicide According to the FIR
lodged with the police, he was harassed by his wife
Sunita, brother-in-law Rajinder and mother-in-law Raj
Rani. A case against the three has been registered under
Sections 306 and 34, IPC. |
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