Four held for kidnap bid
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 21 — Four persons have been arrested for an alleged bid to kidnap Ms Maninder Kaur and her son from her parents' house in Sector 38 here yesterday.

Ms Maninder Kaur, in a complaint to the police, had alleged that her husband Ashwani Kumar and his relatives Lal Chand, Usha Rani and Arvind Kumar, all residents of SAS Nagar, came to her house, beat her up and tried to kidnap her and her son.

The accused have been arrested under Sections 452, 363, 506, 498-A, 323 and 34 of the IPC. The police is investigating.

Injured: Usha Mahajan of Sector 9 injured when she was hit by a car near the road dividing sectors 9 and 10. She has been admitted to the PGI. A case has been registered.

One killed: The driver of a three-wheeler, Ram Anchal, was killed and another person was injured when a truck (DL-I-G 5523) rammed into a three-wheeler in Industrial Area. Pawan Kumar of Mauli Jagran, who was accompanying him, was injured and was admitted to the Sector 16 General Hospital.

Sat Pal, the truck driver, hailing from Kala Amb in Himachal Pradesh, has been arrested. A case has been registered.

Two nabbed: Jiya Lal of Kumhar Colony has been arrested from near the Sector 24 Himachal Bhavan for possessing 49 pouches of liquor. Behari of Khushi Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh has been arrested after 50 pouches of whisky were recovered from his possession.

19 rounded up: Nineteen persons were rounded up during a search operation in Behlana village. All those detained were released after verification of their antecedents.

Stolen: Yogesh Arora of Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi, reported that his Maruti Esteem car (DL-3-CG-5863) was stolen last night while it was parked in Sector 34. Satish Kumar of Bapu Dham colony reported that his scooter was stolen from the Sector 26 Grain Market.

Sculpture workshop a hit
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 21 — Life-size sculptures made out of paper, branches of trees and pieces of wire stand out at Government Hostel, Sector 15, where a 10-day workshop on paper-sculptures concluded today.

The workshop, conducted by Mr Manmadha Rao, a lecturer at the Government College of Fine Arts, Sector 10, was inaugurated by Shiv Singh, a well-known city-based sculptor. All students of the hostel, though only three of them happen to be students of sculpture, participated in this workshop.

Mr Rao, who did his post-graduation from Shantiniketan in 1998, specialises in installations, "which are close to nature."

This workshop drew visitors in the evenings, since the students insisted on working at their sculptures during night-time as well, with flashlights and music on.

The sculptures appear modern and contemporary and seem to depict the restlessness and turbulence of the young minds. The works include a sculpture of one human form tugging at another from its back and another one of two faces emerging out of one. Another prominent work s a huge ball-like form that has arms and hands sticking out of it, seemingly trying to reach the sky.

An exhibition of these sculptures would be held at the Government College of Fine Arts.

Increase in vegetable prices
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 21 — The prices of most vegetables have shot up in the local market during the past four days.

The prices of vegetables have increased following a strike by wholesalers in the Sector 26 Vegetable Market following a tiff between them and Mandi Board officials. There was no change in the prices in 'Apni Mandis' where vegetables were being sold at much cheaper rates.

If a kg of cauliflower and cabbage was priced at Rs 4 two days back, these could be purchased in Sector 20 for between Rs 6 and 8 today. The wholesale price of these increased from Rs 16 to Rs 25 per 5 kg.

Brinjal became costlier during this period. If a kg of the vegetable was priced at Rs 6 four days back, it could be purchased after paying Rs 10 to 12 in retail market today. The wholesale price jumped from Rs 24 to Rs 40 per 5 kg.

Similarly, the price of gourd jumped from Rs 8 to Rs 10 a kg in retail and from Rs 30 to Rs 40 per 5 kg in wholesale market. Same was the price of turnip.

Fresh arrivals of squashgourd from Calcutta were being sold for Rs 24 a kg in retail and for Rs 100 per 5 kg in wholesale market. Ginger was being sold for Rs 32 a kg.

Lady's finger was available for Rs 32 a kg in retail and for Rs 130 per 5 kg in wholesale market. Carrot was priced at Rs 20 a kg in sector markets and for Rs 7 a kg in the Sector 27 'Apni Mandi'.

The price of tomato also increased during this period. If a kg of the vegetable was available for Rs 14 a kg two days back, it could be had today for Rs 24 a kg in retail and for Rs 100 per 5 kg in wholesale market.

Beans were available for Rs 20 a kg in retail and for Rs 80 per 5 kg in wholesale market. Peas were priced at Rs 20 a kg in retail and for Rs 80 per 5 kg in wholesale market.

Cucumber was priced at Rs 25 a kg. Onion and potato were available for Rs 12 and Rs 6 a kg, respectively.

New team for new millennium

THE appointment of Lieut-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd) as the 13th Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh has literally completed the circle of giving the administrative machinery of the Union Territory a new look. The circle was set in motion early this year with the repatriation of the Finance Secretary, Dr G. Vajralingam, and has witnessed changes from top to bottom.

The Administration has new Adviser, Home Secretary, Finance Secretary, Inspector-General of Police, Chief Architect-cum-Secretary, Urban Planning; Deputy Commissioner, Joint Secretary Finance, Senior Superintendent of Police (Anti-Terrorist Operations), Senior Superintendent of Police(Headquarters), Senior Superintendent of Police , Superintending Engineer, Electricity Circle; Director of Health Services, a new Director of Family Welfare ; Commissioner of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation besides the Chairman of the Chandigarh Housing Board. In addition to these key positions, even the Chief Electoral Officer and Chief Vigilance Officer also have been appointed from amongst new officers.

Besides, a number of middle-rung officials, including Directors of Information and Public Relations, Industries and Transport; Administrative Officer of Government Medical College and Hospital; Secretary and Assistant Commissioner of Municipal Corporation; Chief Executive Officer and Secretary of the Chandigarh Housing Board, Director of Public Instruction (Schools), have also been changed.

There have been a number of other changes also. The City has a new MP.

The new team is all set to take the City to the new millennium.

General Jacob: When the new Administrator of Chandigarh, Lieut-Gen J.F.R. Jacob, a former Eastern Army Commander, joins here, he will be no stranger to this place. He will have a number of soldiers and officers who fought gallantly the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war in the Eastern Sector with him. Prominent among them will be Major-General Gandharav Singh Nagra, the man who actually forced General Niazi to surrender at Dacca in December,1971. It was General Nagra who was the first to enter Dacca with his troops and sent the message to General Niazi to "give up".

General Nagra is now settled in Sector 28 here and lives a retired life.

For the outgoing Administrator, Lieut-Gen Bakshi Krishan Nath Chhibber (retd), it must have been a satisfying experience as he has become the first of 12 Administrators of Chandigarh to have completed more than five years in office here. To be precise he completed five years and two months on November 18 this year. None of his predecessors completed even four years in office.

Incidentally, General Chhibber has also become only the fourth Governor of Punjab to have completed a conventional five-year term. The other three included the first two Governors and Mr D.C. Pavate.

Punjab Raj Bhavan has also a new Secretary to the Governor in Mr S.C. Aggarwal. He replaced Mr P.K. Verma, who completed the longest tenure in Raj Bhavan before being made Secretary, Health, early this month.

A few more changes are in the offing as some members of the personal staff of the outgoing Governor-cum-Administrator would go with him.

Ministers: The city played host to a number of Union Ministers last week. The Union Communications Minister, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan; the Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Mr Ayul Oram, and the Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Mr Santosh Gangwar, were all here on the same day. Even the fourth Union Minister, the Minister of State for Child Welfare, Ms S. Mahajan, was also expected in the city but she cancelled her trip at the last moment.

Interestingly, none of these visits had anything to do with the functioning of the Chandigarh Administration. They were here either in connection with some functions or the meetings organised on behalf of the departments headed by them.

So far only one Union Minister, Mr I.D. Swamy, Minister of State for Home Affairs, has been to the city in connection with a function organised by the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation after the present NDA government assumed office at the Centre last month.

Old memories: The alumni meet of Guru Nanak Engineering College, Ludhiana, at Hotel Aroma on Friday night was marked by nostalgia as the old students of the college cherished the memory of their past moments. Prominent and well placed officers attended the meet.

The founder organiser, Mr Atamjit Singh Chopra, stressed the re-constitution of the governing body for making activities more effective. He proposed awards for the best student and best athlete of the college.

Among those who spoke on the occasion were Engineer Kirpal Singh Gill, member operation , PSEB; Brig (retd) Upkar Singh; Dr M.S. Ghuman, Brig (retd) Zora Singh Khosa; Engineer Deepak and Gp Capt S.S. Nannar. Engineer Sarabjit Singh Sohal appealed for greater participation. Later senior genconians were honoured by lady guests.

Genconian Col S.S. Malik, a famous singer on Doordarshan, entertained the audience through his songs and histrionics.

The association, which was formed 10 years back, holds bi-annual meetings.

No barriers: On some aspects citizens never seem to learn. One of them is crossing of roads. One "danger" spot is the road dividing Sector 22 and Sector 17 opposite the Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT). Attempts by the Chandigarh Administration and the Chandigarh Police to make people use the subway instead of jumping over the railing have failed.

Recently a board was put up in three languages — English , Hindi and Punjabi — on the railing of the subway, however, not many people seem to care. All this unmindful of their own safety. Meanwhile, the engineering wing has started work to raise the height of the railing to 7 feet with pointed tops. Work is moving fast and is expected to be over within the coming few weeks. One hopes this would stop pedestrians from jumping over the railing and make them use the subway.

Vikram's spell wrecks St Stephen's
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Nov 21 — Vikram Talwar took five wickets for only three runs, helping hosts St John's High School, Sector 26, on way to a nine-wicket win against St Stephen's School, Sector 45, in the under-10 section of the Blessed Edmund Rice Cricket Tournament today.

St Stephen's School made 59 runs and were all out in 17 overs, while St John's achieved the target in 10.2 overs with nine wickets to spare.

In the second match, YPS, SAS Nagar, beat Stepping Stone School, Sector 38 by 73 runs. YPS made 142 runs for four wickets in 20 overs. In reply, Stepping Stone team was bundled out for 69 runs in 17.4 overs.

In the third match of the day, St Anne's Convent School, Sector 32, outplayed Saupin's School, Panchkula, by 20 runs. St Anne's batted first and made 115 runs for the loss of six wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. In reply, Saupin's School team was all out for 95 runs in 18 overs.

In the last match of the day, St Kabir's School, Sector 26, defeated Edmund Rice-26 by five wickets. Edmund Rice team made 71 runs for the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs. St Kabir-26 achieved the target in 14.2 overs with five wickets still in hand.

Cricket semis: Bharpur Mohinder' team defeated Manpreet Singh's team by six wickets in the second semifinal of Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Cricket Tournament being held at the Sector 15 grounds here today.

Manpreet's team made 86 runs in 16 overs for the loss of six wickets. In reply, Mohinder's team achieved the target in 10.3 overs for the loss of five wickets.

Sport day: Mohali Public School, Phase X, celebrated its first annual sport day here yesterday with Dr Ajmer Singh, District Education Officer (schools) of Roopnagar, being the chief guest.

Mr Kulwant Singh, Municipal Commissioner of SAS Nagar, received the chief guest along with Mr Nanak Longia and Mr Mohan Singh. The Principal of the school, Mr J.N. Sachdeva welcomed the guests.

A march past and drill show was presented by the students of various houses of the school — Punctual, Morale and Sincere. Sincere House won the sport trophy. Parents and teachers also took part in these games. In his speech, Dr Ajmer Singh urged the students to play sport in the best traditions of the society.

Badminton titles for Madhur, Nazma
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Nov 21 — Madhur Kalia of Delhi and Nazma of Punjab won the men's and women's singles titles, respectively, in the fifth Tara Chand Memorial North Zone Invitational Badminton Championship which ended at the Sector 7 community centre in Panchkula today. Mr Naresh Gulati, Commissioner of Sport of Haryana, gave away cash prizes worth Rs 1 lakh to players in various categories.

Mr Abhilash Likhi, Administrator of HUDA in Panchkula, presided over the concluding-day function.

The District Badminton Association has been organising this coveted north zone tournament for the past five years in a one-court hall. On the first day of the tournament, Mr S.C. Chaudhary, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Haryana, had given a go ahead for the early beginning of the work on an indoor badminton hall at the Sector 3 Sport Complex in Panchkula. With the coming up of the hall, many problems of the players would be solved, said one of the organisers.

Komalpreet of Punjab was stretched to three games by Chestha of Haryana before the former won the under-10 girls' title, 11-7, 2-11, 13-12.

The boys' under-10 title was clinched by Gaurav Verma of Haryana who defeated Sahil Pawar also of Haryana, 15-11, 15-7. Gaurav, however, was unlucky in the under-13 section where he went down fighting to Prateek Pawan also of Haryana in three games, 8-15, 15-8, 12-15.

In the women's singles final, Nazma of Punjab defeated Parul Rawat of Delhi in two straight games, 11-14, 11-2.

The men's singles final saw young Madhur Kalia of Delhi upset fancied Opinder Pal Singh of Punjab in a three-game thriller. Madhur won the first game, 15-3, but in the second game, Opinder playing long rallies and down-the-line smashes, bounced back to equalise by winning the game, 15-6. In the decider, Madhur changed his tactics and Opinder surrendered the game and the match, 8-15.

Vijay Deep Singh and Navdeep, both brothers of Patiala, crushed Neeraj Bansal and Opinder Pal Singh, 15-3, 15-4, to lift the men's doubles title.

The boys' under-19 singles and doubles titles were won by Dilpreet Singh of Punjab. In singles, he won against Yogesh Chauhan of Himachal Pradesh, while in doubles, He and Iqbal struggled against the Haryana pair of Amit and Sumit before winning, 15-8, 15-17, 15-12.

Anil Mittal and Jatinder Mahajan of Haryana showed their prowess by beating Mahesh Garg and Ram Lakhan in two straight games, 15-9, 15-9.

In a girls' singles match in the under-16 section, Aarti Verma of Punjab beat Haryana's Roma in three tough games, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7.

The under-16 singles title in the boys' section went to Puneet Bansal of Chandigarh who beat Vikrant Chaudhary in straight games, 17-15, 15-7.

The doubles title in this section was won by Sumit Dahiya and Rohit of Haryana who had to struggle hard to beat Sandeep and Iqbal of Punjab, 15-13, 15-12.

Need to simplify CHB flats’ conversion procedure

MORE than three years ago, the Chandigarh Administration announced a scheme for the ‘conversion of leasehold plots to freehold’. Under this scheme, some people got their plots converted to freehold. After conversion, plots have to be got registered with the Estate Office. Those who purchased their plots direct from the Estate Office had no difficulty in getting their registration deeds. But those who purchased their houses from the Chandigarh Housing Board were asked to wait till a decision was taken in consultation with the Board. And this issue has been hanging fire for the past three years despite several requests in writing and personal requests to the Advisor. Each time the answer has been ‘wait for some time.’

Once a house owner has cleared all dues of the Chandigarh Housing Board and his plot has been converted to freehold by the Estate Office, the need for consulting the Board to finalise the process of registration should not arise. The Chandigarh Housing Board was/is primarily concerned with the structure on a plot leased out by the Estate Office. Therefore, immediately on conversion, it is for the Estate Office to entertain registration of plots as in all other cases. Where is the need to make an exception in this case?

The Administration should realise that three years is a long period of waiting. Without a registration deed it is not possible to secure financial assistance for extension and repair of houses from banks and other financial institutions. Will the Administrator kindly look into the issue and take a decision to end the long wait enforced on the plot holders by an unwarranted and uncalled for intrusion of the Chandigarh Housing Board into this simple issue?

Man Mohini Sharma
Chandigarh

Tree felling and media

Apropos of a news item in Chandigarh Tribune about felling of eight trees on Dakshan Marg.

One can well understand that if trees continue to face the axe indiscriminately, ecological balance is likely to be disturbed. That will not be good in the long run. Therefore, environmentalists and the media contribute their mite towards the proper growth and protection of trees. After all, trees are a source of fresh, clean and pollution-free environment and source of income.

However, in case of any urgent requirement of the Administration where felling of trees is unavoidable, protests/criticism should take a back seat. At times, a lot of unwanted hue and cry is raised by the media on account of felling of a few trees in the exigencies of public service by the Administration.

As every resident of Chandigarh is aware, traffic in Chandigarh is increasing day by day. At some places, traffic jams are also visible daily. To ease such traffic problems, slip roads are being provided at busy crossings. At some such places, grown-up trees are coming in the way. So there appears no alternative for the administration but to axe some of these trees. Therefore, it is expected that the media should not highlight much the felling of trees. In such situations, public utility is of paramount importance.

B.S. Pooni
Chandigarh

Role of advertisements

Advertisements play a great role in motivating mind of public and prompting customer to buy a particular product. So far so good. However, in this process, the manufacturer, the advertising agency, the authorities concerned and respective channels sometimes do not see the implications involved therein.

For quite some time, I have seen an advertisement on television which shows a lot of laxity or lack of understanding on part of those concerned with the making and screening of the advertisement and its impact. Here I refer to an advertisement shown to promote a toilet soap.

Perhaps a damsel who has used the soap is admired by some officers who seem to be belonging to the Air Force. In front of the damsel, an officer throws his cap and gives smiles. In the meantime, a dog collects the cap and brings it to the damsel. What a pity?

A cap is like a crown on the head of a soldier and it must always be honoured and protected. Since times immemorial, a cap or ‘pugree’ thrown at somebody’s feet has been considered defeat, humiliation and self-abasement. My sole purpose of writing this letter is to awaken those who are responsible for this low-grade advertisement and to save the dignity of the cap.

M.L. Sharma
Panchkula

School uniform

With the advent of winters, schools begin prescribing uniforms for their students for the season. Boys will be required to wear warm trousers, perhaps because they are perceived to be more sensitive and susceptible to cold. Young girls, however, it would seem are deemed hardy enough to be able to withstand harsh winters. Or probably it is with an intent to harden them for the stresses and strains of life in future that they will be required by school regulations to wear skirts/frocks as usual.

This unnecessarily exposes them to cold weather. Very often they can be seen shivering uncomfortably while waiting for school buses. It is indeed a pitiable sight. And it certainly predisposes them to frequent bouts of common cold. Mind you, this is not by choice but forced upon them, courtesy misplaced priorities of most school authorities. Come summers, and one can see yet another example of an equally mindless rule that requires little children to be ‘strangled’ with neckties throughout the hot weather! Common sense appears to have become truly the most uncommon commodity.

Pray tell me, would the Heavens fall if little girls were allowed to wear the comfortable, warm and dignified salwar-kameez? Or for that matter, what’s wrong with allowing them to wear trousers like boys. Given the freedom to choose, many of them, I’m sure, will definitely wish to opt for these, especially during the winter months.

Vivek Khanna
Panchkula