Friday, November 26, 1999
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N E W S Friday, November 26, 1999 |
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Tantrik
held, woman sent home PANCHKULA, Nov 25 — The police arrested the tantrik, Anish Jumma, alias Billu Badshah, and freed the woman of Sector 7, from his possession after raiding residence at Shastri Nagar in Meerut last evening. He was produced in the district court in Sector 1, here, today, and remanded to police custody till December 3. Addressing mediapersons later in the day, the Superintendent of Police, Mr Sudhir Chaudhary, said the tantrik had been arrested by a team of the local police led by Inspector Bachan Singh with assistance from the Uttar Pradesh police at Nauchandi police station in Meerut. He added that the woman, allegedly abducted by the Billu Badshah on the evening of November 17, had been handed over to family members. He also informed that the police parties has carried out raids in Shimla, Jalandhar, twice in Patiala where the headquarters of the tantrik are located and once in Meerut prior to the arrest. The police had flashed photographs of the tantrik in police stations in the neighbouring states and sounded a red alert. Meanwhile, further investigations in the case are on. The woman, however, is in a state of shock, family sources said. In her statement to the police, she said she had been visiting the tantrik for treatment of her headache and curing her husband of his illness. The tantrik, after making detailed inquiries of her wealth, managed to convince her that the cure to her husband's illness lay in her jewellery which had been under somebody's spell and the answer lay in worshipping the same on the bank of the river Ghaggar. The victim reportedly took out jewellery from her locker on November 17 and brought it home. The servant informed her that there had been a call while she was away. She immediately left for the tantrik's residence in Sector 19 where he insisted that she should get the jewellery the same evening after which they would worship it and break the spell. The woman, in the evening, gathered her jewellery and left the house. Meanwhile, the tantrik, waiting on the dividing road of Sector 7 and 8, saw the approaching woman and drew up to her. As soon as she sat in the car she fell unconscious and regained consciousness next day after which she was threatened by the tantrik who took her to Mumbai where her jewellery was sold. Later, the tantrik took her to Meerut where she was held captive from where the police arrested the tantrik and rescued the woman, family sources added. In her statement, she informed that the tantrik would give her a cardamom time and again which would make her head heavy and make her feel dizzy, they said. It may be recalled that
on November 18, her husband had reported to the police
that his wife had gone for a walk in the evening on
November 17 and had not returned ,while alleging that she
had been taken captive by a tantrik, Billu Badshah, whose
office she used to frequent to cure her headache. |
Woman
burglar caught CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — The police has arrested a burglar who was active in the city, besides in SAS Nagar and Panchkula, here today. The 30-year-old Bala, a resident of the Sector 38 colony, is a known burglar and has been quite active in the southern sectors of the city for the past one year. The police had been on the lookout for her but she had been eluding arrest so far. The police is likely to solve several cases of burglary and she has confessed to a couple of burglaries during preliminary interrogation. She was produced in a city court which remanded her to the police custody till November 29. From stealing manhole covers, she graduated to committing burglaries and claimed that she got lucky in her first attempt where she decamped with gold jewellery and cash. There was no looking back after this and over the years, she committed more than 100 thefts and burglaries. Her modus operandi is that she reconnoitres a particular area and marks the houses of working couples and burgles these between 12 noon and 2 pm. She breaks the lock on the main door using an iron rod and does not take away things other than jewellery and cash. She claims that she has
not been convicted in any case so far, though she has
more than 15 to 20 cases pending against her in various
courts. |
Chhibber given bungalow in Sector
39 CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — The Punjab Government has come to the rescue of its outgoing Governor-cum-Administrator of Chandigarh, Lieut-Gen BKN Chhibber (retd), by offering him a minister's bungalow in Sector 39 here. Initially General Chhibber was to shift to Punjab Raj Bhavan's Guest House in Sector 7. The guest house was spruced up and even some of the personal belongings of the retiring Governor had been shifted to H. No 73, which is attached to Raj Bhavan as its guest house. Following objections from certain quarters over the use of the guest house by an outgoing Governor for temporary to permanent basis rather than being used for guests of the new Governor-cum-Administrator, officials of both the Chandigarh Administration and the Punjab Government were in a quandary as to how to accommodate General Chhibber who had reportedly expressed his desire to stay here till alternative arrangements are made. One of the several houses vacated by members of the Punjab Council of Ministers owing allegiance to Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra is now being allotted to General Chhibber. According to sources, he has been allotted h. no 958 in Sector 39 which was once occupied by Mr Harmail Singh Tohra, son-in-law of Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra. The house has been lying vacant ever since Mr Harmail Singh Tohra moved out after quitting the Council of Ministers. The Sector 39 house was considered ideal for General Chhibber on security grounds as well. General Chhibber has been on the "zebra" security list as he had long tenure in Punjab fighting militancy. Before his appointment as Security Adviser to the then Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Beant Singh, General Chhibber was the Chief of Staff, Western Command. One of the reasons given for earlier allotment of the Raj Bhavan guest house to General Chhibber was the security environment in Sector 7. It is for the first time that any Governor-cum-Administrator of Chandigarh, other than those who held the charge on a temporary or on officiating basis, has decided to stay in Chandigarh after leaving Raj Bhavan. General Chhibber will
relinquish charge on the morning of November 27, a few
hours before his predecessor, Lieut-Gen JFR Jacob (retd),
assumes charge of his new assignment at 11.30 a.m. |
Dr Dash
may officiate as PGI Director NEW DELHI, Nov 25 — The seniormost faculty member of the PGI, Chandigarh, is likely to get officiating charge as Director of the institute after the term of the present incumbent, Dr B.K. Sharma, expires on November 30, official sources said here today. Sources in the Health Ministry said Dr R.J. Dash, the seniormost faculty member and Head of the Department of Endocrinology, is likely to officiate as Director of the institute till Dr Sharma's successor is appointed. Dr Dash has served the PGI for the past 20 years. The Union Health Minister, Mr N.T. Shanmugam, told TNS here the general body of the PGI would meet sometime in the second week of December to initiate the process of selecting the next Director of the institute. Mr Shanmugam, who is also the President of the institute, said the seniormost faculty member would be asked to officiate till a new Director was appointed. He said the appointment of a new Director would take at least two months. Sources in the ministry said Dr Dash happens to be the seniormost faculty member. They said the term of the Director, Dr B.K. Sharma, would end only on November 30 even though he attains the age of 62 on November 27. However, sources in the PGI said there was confusion about the seniormost faculty member. They said Dr S.B.S. Mann, Head of the ENT Department, and Dr S.S. Sharma, Senior Consultant, Urology, also had about the same seniority as that of Dr Dash. The minister said he planned to hold the meeting before December 15. He said the venue of the meeting was yet to be decided and it could be held either in Delhi or Chandigarh. Mr Shanmugam said the process of selection was likely to take at least two months as the search committee constituted during the meeting would have to invite nominations from various medical institutions. A list of these names would then be put up before the ministry for selection of a suitable candidate for the coveted post. Sources in the ministry
said a proposal for holding the meeting of the general
body had been put before the minister. Sources said
according to PGI rules the Health Minister, who is the
president of the institute, is empowered to appoint the
seniormost faculty member for a temporary period if no
other substitute is available. They said if the minister
decided to appoint a faculty member other than the
seniormost member then he had to give reasons for doing
so. |
Honour for
city-based neurologist CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — A city-based neurologist, Dr S.K. Bansal, has been invited by Prof James F. Toole, President of the World Federation of Neurology, to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, London. The Royal Society of Medicine was founded in 1805 and it works to promote exchange of views on medical, educational and general health issues. By becoming a Fellow, Dr Bansal, a former Associate Professor of Neurology at the PGI here, will be able to meet and exchange views with other members of the society the world-over on health-related issues. Besides practising
clinical and electrophysiological neurology, Dr Bansal is
working on the prevalence of epilepsy in drivers running
school buses and public transport in Punjab, Haryana and
Himachal Pradesh. |
'Stresses'
discussed at seminar CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — Various sessions were organised on the second day of the palliative care-cum-workshop at the PGI today to give training to the participants in the filed of palliative care so as to integrate it into the education and practice of oncology. Dr Santosk K. Chaturvedi from the National Institute of Mental Health an Neuro-Sciences discussed about different ''stresses'' during the terminal stages of the disease in the patient and his family. Different management strategies were discussed to minimise distress, which only worsened the disease. Delirium being the commonest psychiatric disturbance in terminally ill patients, the management of this was deliberated at length. He also suggested steps to prevent the stress faced by professional care givers. Dr M.R. Rajagopal spoke on the different kinds of pain experienced by the patients. Chronic pain, experienced by patients in the advanced stages of the disease caused physiological and anatomical changes in the body. In one of the sessions, Mrs Val Hunkin from the UK talked about the communication skills required by the staff who were involved in taking care of the incurable patients. She said that since the diagnosis of cancer often built a wall isolating the patient from the people, effort must be made to reach out to the patient by listening to him and also encouraging him to talk. The participants discussed about the need and means of improving communication skills between the doctor and the patient. Mrs Arun Tole from Tata
Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, spent a day with members of
the Physiotherapy Department and attended the lymphoedema
clinic. She gave them some useful methods of lymphoedema
care. Dr Santosh Chaturvedi interacted with Sahayta
volunteers and answered their wide-ranging queries about
palliative care. |
Stress on
palliative care CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — Nearly one million people in the country suffer from pain as a result of advanced cancer. Palliative care is the simplest solution available to take away their pain at little cost and make them " Live with dignity till they die''. This was stated by Dr M.R. Rajagopal, President of the Indian Association of Palliative Care, in an interview to the The Tribune here today. He is here to participate in the seven-day course-cum workshop being organised by the Department of Radiotherapy in collaboration with the Global Cancer Concern India. According to Mr Rajagopal, the focus of palliative care, an integral part of cancer care, should be on improving the quality of life by treating pain and other symptoms along with providing social and emotional support. He advocates a fair amount of allocation of resources to palliative care concurrently with curative treatment. Giving statistics, Dr Rajagopal, who is also Chairman of the Pain and Palliative Care Society in Calicut, pointed out that nearly 10 lakh people get cancer every year in India. However, one-third of these cases, which are caused by the excessive use of tobacco, can be prevented. Another one-third can be cured if detected in early stages. He emphasised the need to ban tobacco since its consumption is on the increase. He disclosed that in a country like the UK, the consumption of tobacco has declined during the past 10 years. The National Cancer Control Programme should address equally the issues of awareness, prevention, early detection, curative treatment and palliative care. Dr Rajagopal is of the view that in order to make palliative care available to the cancer patients in the country, "We need to educate the professionals about its principles and the general public about it possibilities.'' Almost two-third patients with cancer pain need oral morphine, hence oral it must be made available to these patients. He lamented that even as India exports 90 per cent of the world's requirement of morphine, it is not easily available to the patients here due to stringent narcotic regulations. The Central Government had in 1998 asked all state governments to amend their narcotic regulations. While states like Sikkim and Madhya Pradesh have already done it, a few others are in the process of doing so. He maintains that morphine, if used properly in the treatment of cancer pain, does not cause addiction. Dr Rajagopal also advocates a state health policy to ensure that palliative care is actually delivered to the needy patients and preferably at a subsidised cost so that maximum can benefit from it. Volunteers should be trained to give social and emotional support to the families and patients who have no hope for cure. It is essential to empower the families so that they make the limited life worthwhile for the patient. He further pointed out that one-third of cancer in this country is in the head or neck. Many cases develop "unsightly ulcers'' or have maggots coming out of the affected parts, hence it is important to teach the family as to how to keep them clean. He appeals that the problem is not just medical. It is also social. It should not be left o doctors and nurses but addressed by the society at large. Meanwhile, Dr Santosh K. Chaturvedi, Additional Professor of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences, also opines that the focus needs to be changed from "dying with cancer'' to "living with cancer'' through psycho-social care. Highlighting the importance of palliative care for advanced incurable diseases such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, neurological disorders , he stressed on the need to address the psychological and emotional aspects in advanced stages. He disclosed that during the advanced stages, emotional factors such as fear of pain, disfigurement, loss of control over oneself crop up and most doctors and nurses are not equipped to deal with this. According to him, any treatment would be incomplete without addressing the genuine problems of depression, anxiety, concern about future, unfinished business as they only aggravate pain. The problem of collusion in which the patients family colludes with the doctor also leads to conspiracy of silence, mistrust should also be handled through effective communication with the patient. Hence, it becomes important to identify the problems and treat it by encouraging them to talk. In fact, the problem of communicating with the dying patient, including his fears, needs to be addressed both at the professional and family level and the focus should also change from 'cure' to 'care'. He emphasised on the need to organise training programmes to sensitise groups of people about the care so that they in turn become potential trainers wherever they go. He also appealed to the
doctors not to feel disheartened about taking to
palliative treatment as a failure on their part to cure
the patient. They should be more open to the idea of
making their lives more comfortable. Keeping in view the
stress the doctors go through communicating these
patients, he suggested adequate administrative and social
support in dealing with such cases. They should also have
a totally professional approach in dealing with patients
and have the ability to switch off once they are off
work. |
Model
contest a damp squib CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — With a plethora of fashion shows being organised in every nook and corner of the city, it is not surprising to come a show that fails to impress. And today's show was no different, when the Mega Model Contest, being organised by the Indian Arts, held its press conference in the morning, followed by a" tacky" sub-title event in the evening. The press conference introduced all 20 models participating in the contest, ranging in the age group of 16 to 20. Held at a roof-top restaurant in Sector 22, the thinly-clad young girls braved the chill of the day to smile for the Miss Photogenic contest. Surprisingly, some of these girls were accompanied by their parents who sadly seemed to pride themselves on their daughters showing off their bodies in ill-fitting tight clothes. Later in the evening, at a dance bash organised by MTV in collaboration with the National Institute of Fashion Design, Sector 27, the sub-titles of Beautiful Hair and Smile were hosted at Tagore Theatre. The dance programme was held as part of the MTV's nationwide event 'Freshers Take Off'. At the bash, 20 participants danced to music and then went through some ribald rounds of cavorting on the dance floor in the back hall of the theatre. And not surprisingly a brawl also followed at this otherwise poorly attended show. The final contest will be held at the Chandigarh Club on November 27. The contest is being choreographed by Priyanka Singh and anchored by Pallab Bose. Dancers from Russia, a troupe called 'Jaduja', will also perform at the final show. Incidentally, for those
hooked on to the Internet, a site called
www.catwalkindia.com is available to vote for the
favourite models. |
Mega
textile show from December 2 CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — The city is all set for its second mega technology exhibition by bringing together the world of textile and woollen technologies at the Sector 17 Parade Ground from December 2 to 6. The five-day Textech '99 will not only showcase national companies with international collaborations from Switzerland, the UK, Taiwan, Japan, France, New Zealand, Italy and Germany but will provide participants a platform to explore enormous opportunities to tap the multi-million dollar textile and woollen industry. The major attraction of the Textech '99 will be an impressive fashion show on the opening day itself featuring country's top ramp stars. Those who will participate in the fashion show include Madhu Sapre, Manpreet Brar, Joey Mathews, Ruchi Malhotra, Nayanka Chatterjee, Ujawala Raut, Bipasha Basu, Nina Manuel, Sapna Kumar, Michelle Innes, Ayesha Prem, Malika Mathur, Bindu Vashisht, Dipanta Sharma, Swareena Singh, Poonam Nath, Aditya Bal, Rajat Raina and Praveen Sirohi. The Textech '99 will also provide a forum for the Indian textile and woollen industry to display their products, services and technologies as also strike joint ventures, collaborations, marketing and technical tie-ups. Participation from several States, including Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir, has been confirmed. In the textile technology section, spinning machines and accessories for cotton, synthetic, woollen and worsted cloth; yarn processing machines and looms; weaving preparatory machines and looms; knitting, lace, braiding and netting machines and accessories; fabric processing, synthetic fibre and filament manufacturing machines, non-woven fabric and tufting machines; garment machines and accessories, laboratory and testing equipment, general engineering and others would be on display. Besides, there will be a display of wool and winter wear, hand knitting yarn, woollen wears, woollen accessories, shawls, blankets and quilts. A series of seminars too
have been planned during the five-day mega event. |
Power of
attorney issuance suspended PANCHKULA, Nov 25 — The issuance of power of attorney to applicants has been suspended for over a month in the town. But there is no instruction from the state government for the same. The only exception to the rule are blood relatives who are being issued these after completion of formalities. The Revenue Department in the district confirmed that compared to issuing nearly 100 powers of attorney in a month, the department gets only a couple of applications in a week and sometimes none at all. However, the officials refuse to admit that issuing has been stalled for the time being. Sources in the department contend that the government is losing out on a lot of revenue owing to evasion of stamp duty. "If an employee of the government is witness to a wrong-doing, it becomes his duty to put an end to the malpractice. So, we have suspended issuing the general power of attorney to anybody except blood relatives,'' an official said. A stamp duty of 12.5 per cent is imposed by the department in rural areas while 15.5 per cent has been set as the limit on financial transactions in areas with municipal committees. "The person, in an effort to skip paying this amount, applies for a power of attorney rather than registering for a sale deal with the tehsildar. So, while money changes hands outside, the government is deprived of what is its rightfully and the applicants manage to get away with forgery,'' he added. The department informs that 90 per cent of the applicants who apply for power of attorney are those who have finalised land deals and are looking for ways to save whatever they can and they do so successfully in the absence of any checks. Also, the department informs that the liberal grant of power of attorney makes this the most misused facility. The applicants are required to register the sale deal with the tehsildar and pay stamp duty on the deal following which the ownership is changed automatically. Moreover, the department contends that there is no problem if the applicant is a blood relative. "This is an exception because the property of parents has to go to their children or from one brother or sister to another. There is no doubting that and hence the facility,'' the official opines. However, the applicants
who have been frequenting the department are sore over
the fact that the officials have donned the
responsibility of checking the misuse of the power of
attorney even in the absence of any formal instructions
from the Haryana Government and state that not everybody
who applies for a power of attorney, blood relative or
otherwise, does so with the intention of evading stamp
duty, concluding that the blanket ban is unjustified and
should be immediately done away with. |
Student
deserving 0 gets 42 CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — A senior lecturer in the Panjab University Business School has been indicted by a committee for favouring a candidate by "giving him 42 marks when he deserved zero". The inquiry was conducted by Mr P.H.Vaishnav. The report reads that even as the candidate who had applied for re-evaluation in a Bachelor of Commerce (II) paper had in the entire answerbook written words 'Radha Swami', Dr B.B.Goyal awarded him 42 marks, as detailed in the accusation. The report says that on the performance of the re-evaluation branch depended the career of 'so many students'. It would be very unfortunate if because of the functioning of the examiners, those deserving zero got good marks. The inquiry officer examined the officials of the re-evaluation branch and the marking branch.Dr Goyal in his defence argued that in the re-evaluation procedure, there was possibility of the flap given to the re-evaluation branch being detached from an answerbook and getting "mis-attached" to another answer book. Dr Goyal said he was aware of the fact that where the difference in marks between the first and the second evaluation differed by more than 15, the case was referred to a third evaluator. He argued that even with common sense he would not award marks to a student "who had given no answer to any question". Mr Vaishnav noted that after careful consideration to Dr Goyal's defence and scrutinising defence on part of the university , the teacher "failed to establish any mala fide on part of those handling the copy in the re-evaluation and the marking branch". On account of whether the flap on which 42 marks have been recorded could have been possibly detached from some other answer-book does not absolve him of his responsibility, the report says. The report says that the conclusion cannot be resisted "that Dr Goyal has favoured the candidate of the impugned answer-book by giving him 42 marks when he deserved a zero". The report has asked the university under the Controller of Examination to re-look into the whole procedure "if it required a change". It has also been
suggested that instead of the re-evaluation results being
recorded on a flap alone, it would be better to do the
marking on the answer-books itself.The possibility of a
bias could be avoided if the original marks were
obliterated. |
Sambhar
walks into Vidhan Sabha CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — A beautiful female sambhar nearly walked into the Punjab Vidhan Sabha this morning, apparently without knowing that the session was already over. It was around 8 a.m. that the grand entry of the full grown classy animal into the Vidhan Sabha premises was noticed by a few security men deployed at the place. And soon, the whole enclosure was jam-packed with security men swarming the place to have a glance at the wild animal, who had tired after leaping around, apparently, in search of an exit from among the maddening crowd after having a taste of mixing up with it for a while. "The animal appeared from nowhere and landed straight on to the roof of the building of the State Bank of India from a high mound adjoining it. It was stunned to see itself having perched at a high place and started looking for a way out in a restless manner. As it was confused and unable to find its way back, it took a leap forward and landed straight on the floor with a loud thud," said a CISF jawan posted at the place. After most of the drama was over, somebody from the Civil Secretariat Control Room called up UT wildlife officials, who rushed to the spot without losing much time. They started the rescue operation and concluded it within a short period of about half an hour. The main task ahead was to tranquilise the animal and load it into a waiting tractor-trailer. It was accomplished meticulously within no time but with the animal receiving minor bruises at its chest while it was being lifted up for its loading into the trailer. "Actually, unlike those captured in the past, this one did not create any problem for us and was rather very cooperative," said Mr H. S. Sohal, Chief Wildlife Warden, who supervised the rescue operation. It is for the second time this year that a sambhar has strayed into the periphery of the city. Earlier, in January, a sambhar was captured from the backyard of the Punjab Civil Secretariat. This time, it had gone further and barged through the barbed wire around the place. "It happens in winter, which is the "rut" season of most of wild animals, particularly sambhars when males fight with each other to win over females and the stronger ones drive out the weaker ones from one particular area in the wild," said Mr Sohal. The drama was over with
the wildlife officials releasing the animal after first
aid in its natural habitat in the Kansal forest at around
12 noon. |
First aid
contests at ITBP meet RAMGARH, Nov 25 — The first aid and ambulance competitions were held on the second day of the 23rd inter-sector competitions being held on the campus of 9 Battalion of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) here today. The teams of the seven sectors took part and competed with each other in the display of skill and expertise in evacuating injured personnel from the battlefield or the border posts. The ITBP team has the distinction of clocking the fastest time, 10.10 seconds, in the previous All-India Police Duty Meet. Comprising four persons each, the teams were directed to evacuate a patient with a particular type of injuries. The contestants went through their drill and evacuated the injured person over 100 metres, negotiating various obstacles like a high wall, a ditch and barbed wire fences. All this time, the judges kept a close watch and even put questions to them on the type of first aid given and the reason for handling the patient in a particular way. Marks were also given for the reassurance given to the patient and not dropping things on the way. Besides Dr M.V.K. Rao, Commandant of Base Hospital at Ramgarh, two representatives of St John's Ambulance of New Delhi, who acted as observers for the competition, were also present. The team of Jammu and Kashmir-I was declared the best, while L and C and the Garhwal sector teams came second and third, respectively. In the individual
category, Constables Ranjeet Singh and Madan Lal (J and
K-I, 2 Battalion) won the first and second prizes,
respectively, while Constable Niyta Nand (L and C, Spt
Battalion) came third. |
CRPF
expedition arrives in city CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — A smartly turned out team of the Central Reserve Police Force motorbike expedition having representation from battalions scattered all over the country landed in the city today evening. The motorbiking venture has been organised in connection with the diamond jubilee celebrations of the paramilitary force with a message of "unity and integrity". The expedition flagged-off from Jammu today will terminate in Delhi after 30 days covering a distance of nearly 8,000 km. The expedition also coincides with the 60th Raising Day celebrations of the force. The expedition is being led by Assistant Commandant Randeep Sharma from 129 Battalion. Talking to The Tribune Mr Sharma said such expeditions provided a meaningful change from the CRPF routine. The travel was a nice relief after continuous postings in trouble prone areas like the North East and Jammu and Kashmir, he added. There were nearly 40 applicants for the "golden chance" and 20 were selected after medical and driving test. Jaishree from RAF and Bhagwati are among the female participants in the team. The two said they faced no difficulty and would manage easily. The team is accompanied by an ambulance and a pilot vehicle. One of the three female members of the team, however, met with an accident near Jalandhar today and has been withdrawn from the team. Other team members like Mr Satish Kumar from 115 Battalion and Mr Mukesh Kumar from 99 RAF said the travel would be an ideal opportunity to see the country. Mr Vipin Kumar from 93 Batallion said that the travel had been well-organised and was an example for other colleagues to venture out. The team will be
flagged-off by Mr J.P. Verma, Additional Director General
of Police (North West Zone) tomorrow. |
Pottery
show by students CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — Students of St Kabir Public School, Sector 26, today displayed their works of pottery at the school premises — a result of a week-long workshop with eminent potters, Mini Singh and his wife, Mary. About 45 children, ranging from Class IV to X, participated in this workshop, where they were taught to work with both hand sculptures as well as on the potter's wheel. These students have created works in raw clay, baked clay and also glazed clay. Mini Singh, who also happens to be the son of internationally renowned potter, Gurcharan Singh, was holding this kind of workshop for the first time in the city. "Such workshops ease off the tension and the stress that most children have to face in schools these days", said Mini, while talking about the interesting interaction that the husband-wife duo had during the workshop. Mary Singh added that since the process also involved a lot of fun, it was a welcome distraction for most students. The hobby teacher of the school also participated in the workshop. A kiln for the project has also been put in place at the school premises. According to Mr J.P. Singh, Principal of the school, pottery and the use of the kiln would be a regular feature in the school. The various products made by the students included figurines, bowls and pots made by using the coil process and also works like candle-stick holders and small box-like forms. Both Mini and Mary Singh
hold such workshops regularly in various cities. In fact
some of the raw pots made by the students were much
influenced by the kind of the work that these two potters
execute — starkly simple, but very engaging. |
400 take
part in painting contest CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — The Lions Club Chandigarh today organised a painting competition at Sacred Heart School, Sector 26, and later at St Stephen's School, Sector 45. More than 400 students participated in the contest. Archita Agarwal of class VIII of Sacred Heart School and Sukriti Sharma of class VII of St Stephen's School won the first prizes in the competition and advanced to round two and would have to compete for the grand prize of Rs 2,500 and a free trip to the USA with two members of the family to Honolulu Hawaii for the award ceremony at the Lions Club International convention in June 2000, informed the Project Chairman, Mr Varinder Gulati. The other winners are Kavisha Singh, class VI, Sacred Heart, and Prateek Sharma, class VII, St Stephen's (2); Shiveta Agarwal, class VII, Sacred Heart, and Ritesh Kewal, class VI, St Stephen's (3). The judges at the
competition were Mrs Paramajit Puri, Mrs R.B. Singh and
Ms Shweta Talwar at Sacred Heart School and Mrs Rama
Sethi, Ms Shweta Talwar and Mrs Manju Bajaj at St
Stephen's School. |
Rise in
middle class population foreseen CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — In the information technology India may have finally found the engine that will propel it forward, opined Mr Gurcharan Das, an eminent economist and writer, while delivering the keynote address on the 33rd foundation day of the Chandigarh Management Association (CMA) here this evening. He was speaking on “New emerging India” when he said that mindset of the young have changed since 1991. He predicted that the middle class would rise from the present 17.5 per cent of the population to about 50 per cent. Thus largely finishing poverty from the country by 2040. This middle class, also known as the consuming class, has risen from just below 10 per cent in 1987 to 17.5 per cent in 1994. Since Independence we have failed to industrialise as investments were in the public sector enterprise. The licence raj created by the government killed all private investment. And without a good agriculture surplus an industrial policy could not take off as envisaged then by the planners under Jawaharlal Nehru. Thus, the failure was largely due to agriculture as it could not support the economy,” he said. Further adding to India’s misery was the closed-door policy towards trade after world war II. India along with 73 other Third World countries had no contact with the world, thus the growth rate was zero. Now after liberalisation the growth rate for the year was about to touch 7 per cent. At the present growth rate India would double its per capita income in 10 to 11 years. So in a way globalisation was good for the economy. Comparing this with the situation in 1914, or just before the start of World War I, he gave figures that India had the third largest railway, the biggest canal system, the fourth largest cotton trade, besides it held 2.5 per cent of the world trade. And now the global share had dropped to 0.5 per cent. Now people all over the globe were much better off than their parents or grandparents. In his opinion this
century had been America’s century as it was their
power that propelled the world trade and economy. And
since 1989, its only competitor, the USSR, was gone. |
IIPA to
hold seminar CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — The regional chapter of the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) will organise a seminar on 'Social Demand for Higher Education' in the Department of Public Administration of Panjab University tomorrow. According to Mr D.V.
Bhatia, Honorary Secretary of the institute, Prof A.S.
Dhesi, a UGC Professor, who has done a lot of research on
economics of higher education, will be the main speaker
at the seminar. |
Jail term
for salesman CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — The 1981 criminal breach of trust case against a Sector 17 Super Bazar salesman, accused of cheating the store of Rs 75,722, ended today with the UT Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr Sant Parkash, sentencing him to imprisonment for two years, besides imposing a fine of Rs 1,000. Pronouncing the order in the open court, the CJM said, "Accused Jugal Kishore was working as salesman in the Super Bazar from June 27, 1980, to June 6, 1981, in the cloth section and in such capacity, he was entrusted with articles valuing Rs 75,722 and he committed criminal breach of trust in respect of this property." The CJM also said, "The prosecution has been able to bring home the guilt against the accused beyond the shadow of reasonable doubt. Thus, the accused is held guilty and convicted under Section 408 of the IPC." Jugal Kishore was earlier booked by the Chandigarh police under Section 409 of the IPC on a complaint to the UT Inspector General of Police by the Super Bazar General Manager. According to the prosecution, the accused, in his capacity as a public servant, had cheated the store "to the extent of Rs 75,722.95". The accused, the prosecution had added, was directed to deposit the money, but he failed. The prosecution, for proving the case, examined 19 witnesses during the trial. The accused, when
confronted with the incriminating evidence against him,
had, however, denied the allegations. Claiming to be
innocent, the accused had added that he was being
implicated in the case. |
Two
denied bail in intimidation case CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — The UT Judicial Magistrate (First Class), Mr Mahinder Singh, today granted bail to SAS Nagar resident Lal Chand, accused of being involved in a house trespassing and criminal intimidation case. The magistrate, however, denied bail to Lal Chand's son Subdivisional Officer Ashwani Kumar and Usha Rani, posted as Deputy Director with the Punjab Government. The accused were earlier booked by the Chandigarh police under Sections 452, 363, 506, 498-A, 323 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code on the complaint of city resident Maninder Kaur. Seeking their release on bail, the defence counsel contended that the accused were innocent and were being implicated in the case. Claiming the dispute to be related to matrimony, he had added that the complainant had cooked up "a story falsely alleging the kidnapping of the child who was never kidnapped". The allegations
regarding the demand of dowry, beating and issuance of
threats were being levelled to implicate the other
relatives of the husband, the counsel had added. |
12
acquitted in 8-year-old case CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — Nearly eight years after Devinder Singh Babla, Anil Khosla and 11 other workers of the then Janata Dal were accused of wrongfully confining the District Manager Telecommunication during a protest outside the Sector 18 office, the UT Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr Sant Parkash today acquitted them of the charges. The accused were earlier booked by the Chandigarh Police for rioting, criminal intimidation, obstructing a public servant in discharge of his public functions and wrongfully confining a person under sections 147, 149, 186, 353, 427, 342 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code following a complaint by PA to DMT Mr Y.K. Kaura. In his complaint, the PA had alleged that about 60 party worker had damaged the telephones and the furniture on January 24, 1991, after raising slogans and using abusive language. The prosecution had added that the accused, members of an unlawful assembly, had criminally intimidated and threatened DMT Mr N.M. Shahi after wrongfully confining him. The prosecution had further alleged that the accused had also used criminal force against public servants, including Inspector Baljit Singh Chadda and Shahi. The accused, including
Vinod Aggarwal, Raj Nagpal, Rakesh Gupta, Rajan Mahajan,
Sanjay Puri, O.P. Aggarwal, Jaskaran Singh Brar, Raghbir
Singh, Ashok Kaushik and Sunil Guglani, when confronted
with the incriminating evidence against them, had,
however, denied the allegations. Claiming to have been
innocent, the accused had added that they were being
implicated in a false case. |
Favouritism
alleged in recruitment CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — Adhering to the norms laid down by the local Police Department regarding the furnishing of details by officials involved in the recruitment of constables, a sub-inspector was not called to assist in the process today. There was a rumour that the officer had been relieved of his duties for favouring his relatives who were appearing for the tests today. It was alleged that he had favoured one of them by declaring him pass in the test, though the candidate had not fulfilled the requirement for the 'in chest' measurement. Denying the charge, Mr Ajay Kashyap, SSP of HQ-cum-Chairman of the Selection Board, said the officer had intimated that some of his relatives would appear for the tests and in view of this, he had not been called today. He said there had only been one complaint in which a candidate had alleged that his chest measurement had not been properly done. He was shown the video cassette three times, following which he was satisfied that no discrimination had been done. The SSP said as many as 520 candidates qualified out of those who appeared in the test today. Like previous days, 10 counters were set up for recording the physical measurements headed by the DSP. The process which began at 8.30 am was over by 12.40 pm, he added. Meanwhile, in an order,
Mr Parag Jain, SSP, has directed that all SHOs will
ensure that no one uses loud speakers and other public
address systems at high decibels without permission.
Action against offenders should be taken in view of the
directions of the High Court in this context, the order
said. |
SNIPPETS Regiment to hold function CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — Retired and serving officers of the Punjab Regiment will meet here on November 28 at their annual function. The function will be held at 1101 Railway Engineers (Territorial Army) Officers Mess from midday. The Colonel of the Punjab Regiment, Maj-Gen S.K. Awasthy, will preside over the function. Among retired officers, Lieut-Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora, a retired colonel of the regiment, will attend the programme. Federation loan rates revised CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — The Chandigarh State Federation of Cooperative House Building Societies will disburse loans to members of the Cooperative House Building Societies at a revised rate of interest of 13.5 per cent on monthly reducing basis. The maximum limit of loan has also been raised to Rs 5 lakh with the provision of second charge. According to Mr Surjit Chaudhary, Chairman of the federation, the loan available to members of Cooperative House Building Societies will be the cheapest from the Housfed, besides being most liberal as compared to other financial institutions, including banks, with the provision of insurance of loan and general insurance. Ghar bachao panel rally on
November 28 CHANDIGARH, Nov 25 — The Ghar Bachao Committee, Naya Gaon, has threatened to organise a protest rally at the Naya Gaon barrier on November 28 at 2 p.m. to press for the acceptance of its demand for a notified area committee comprising Naya Gaon, Janata Colony, Kansal and Chhoti Karore. Committee Chairman Surjit Singh and President H.S. Bajwa alleged in a statement here yesterday that the authorities had been indifferent to this demand of the people. They said that if the demand was not accepted, the committee would intensify the agitation. Meanwhile, the Samaj
Kalyan Ate Sadbhavana Sabha, Naya Gaon, at a meeting
decided to support the demand of the committee for an
NAC. |
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