Fatal fall into bear enclosure
By Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

CHHAT BIR (Patiala), Oct 19 — In an unusual incident, an unidentified man in his thirties, who allegedly fell into the moated enclosure under the influence of liquor, was torn apart by one of the two black Himalayan bears present in the enclosure here today.

Death was seemingly waiting for the man suspected to be a driver hailing from Jammu, who was dissuaded by fellow visitors against crossing the safety railing, as soon as he reportedly fell into the 10-ft-deep water filled safety enclosure around 3.15 p.m.

And after just about 15 minutes' struggle by the man and despite the best efforts by nearly 100-odd visitors and zoo officials, the man was no more, with lower part of his body torn apart and eaten up by a ferocious ''Raja''. The female bear, ''Rani'', however, remained a mute spectator to the ghastly act committed by ''Raja'', originally belonging to Dhirendra Brahmachari. Both animals werebrought to the zoo from Jammu about two years ago.

Minor accidents like suicide bid and those occurring during the bid by spectators to tease animals notwithstanding, today's incident resulting in the death of a visitor is the first of its kind in the zoo since its inception in 1976.

During a visit to the site, Tribune News Service witnessed a ghastly scene with the body of the deceased lying in a corner outside the enclosure. The water inside the moat had turned scarlet red with the blood of the victim. The body was badly mutilated with ribs, intestines and flesh lying exposed.

Enquiries by this correspondent from some of the eyewitnesses revealed that the deceased, supposed to be Bittu, a Jammu-based driver as per the documents recovered from his pocket, who was in a drunken state, crossed the safety railing and leapt forward in a bid to ''shake hands'' with the bears. In the process he fell down and was charged by bear who was in the company of his companion in the knee-deep water in the trench.

"People around tried to prevent him from leaping towards the animals, but the deceased, apparently under the influence of liquor, did not listen to them. And soon the atmosphere was filled with shrieks as the man in the grip of the animal was crying for help. People, my colleagues and I stoned and beat up the animal with iron rods, but the latter kept attacking with his claws till the man was dead," said Love Prasad, one of the zoo keepers.

According to Dr Venod Sharma, Director of the zoo, he rushed to the scene along with rescue gadgets and with a tranquilising gun as soon as he got a message around 3.30 p.m. "By the time I reached the place, the exhausted man was being pulled out of the trench and he died as soon as he was out of it," he said and added that in the process, ''Raja'' also received injuries as he was heavily stoned by the mob with lathis and iron rods in their bid to save the victim.

Love Prasad said the body of the deceased was taken out with much labour after forcing the animals back to the enclosure.

So much so that when Tribune photographer Pravesh Chauhan tried to take a picture of ''Raja'', the bear was still in an aggressive mood.

Dr Sharma said though adequate precautions and signboards had been put up around enclosures, visitors just ignored these, particularly when officials were not around. He advised visitors not to do anything against the norms during a visit to the zoo to prevent any mishap in future.

Meanwhile, the body was sent to Rajpura for a post-mortem by the Dera Bassi police. According to Mr Jassa Singh, SHO, a case under Section 174 of the IPC, had been registered. He said a broken pint of liquor had been recovered from one of the pockets of the deceased.

He said a number of papers were found from his pockets which suggested that he was Bittu, a driver from Jammu. "A number of addresses of transporters, most of them belonging to Jammu, had also been recovered and I will try to identify the victim by making phone calls at the given numbers," said Mr Jassa Singh.

Dasehra celebrated with fervour
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 19 — With "demon trio" — Ravana, Meghanada and Kumbakarna — going up in flames, the Dasehra festivities came to an end here this evening.

The festivities began in the morning with special prayers celebrating the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after killing Ravana and his associates and freeing Sita from their captivity.

In the evening, the effigies of the "demon trio", symbolising the victory of good over evil, were set ablaze. Colourful "jhankies" marched in procession to grounds, where effigies of the trio had been erected by various Ramlila committees. A large number of the people thronged at least 29 venues to see the "demon trio" go up in flames which was preceded by "fights" between the "armies" of the Lord Rama and Ravana.

The police had made elaborate security arrangements to prevent any untoward incident. A number of roads were sealed and residents were put to inconvenience and had to use alternative routes to reach their homes. Sector 46 was virtually converted in a police cantonment with people complaining that they had difficulty in reaching their homes. While the MP, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, was the guest of honour, the SSP (Anti-Terrorist Operations), Mr Asad Farooqui, was the chief guest.

It was a festive atmosphere in the parade ground in Sector 17 where huge effigies were burnt.Home Secretary N.K. Jain was the chief guest. Former MP Satya Pal Jain was the chief guest in Sector 43.

In the Sector 22 Nehru Park, organisers torched four effigies — the fourth being that of corrupt forces.

While huge effigies of the "demon trio" went in flames at a number of places, children in certain southern sectors had their own way of symbolising the victory of good over evil. Going in for cheaper options, they erected small effigies of only Ravana after pooling in money and with whatever material available with them.

The effigies were set ablaze by the children in the evening with their parents and elders cheering them.

Meanwhile, there was rush in Sector 17 and 22 commercial centres apart from sector markets. People thronged gift and sweet shops since morning. Road-side stalls selling bows, arrows and clubs did brisk business and were a special attraction for children.

A number of residents visited the houses of their relatives and friends and exchanged greetings, sweets and gifts.

As part of Dasehra celebration, the Savrang Cultural Society, Chandigarh, presented a colourful cultural show at Gurha Kasauli village near Jayanti Majri. Besides school children, as many as 25 folk artistes participated in the programme, according to Mr Gurnam Singh, President of the society.

Mr S.K. Chandla , chairman of the society, inaugurated the function. He appealed to the people to help promote social, educational and cultural awakening among the hapless downtrodden for their all-round development.

SAS NAGAR

People attired in their best thronged the venue of Dasehra celebrations at three places in the township today.Maximum rush was seen at the Phase 8 Dasehra grounds.

A heavy rush at the Phase 8 venue saw the policemen on their toes with people trying to come closer near the cordoned area around the effigies. Parking of vehicles and stalls selling eatables on the main roads, including the Chandigarh-Sohana road affected the smooth flow of traffic. People complained about lack of proper arrangements.

An attraction at the Phase 8 Dasehra grounds was that an effigy symbolising corruption had been erected in addition to effigies of Ravana, Meghanada and Kumbakarna. A fight between the armies of lord Rama and Ravana preceded the lighting of the effigies. Dasehra was celebrated at two places in Phase 1 by Ankush Club and Shiv Mandir, respectively.

Meanwhile, elaborate police arrangements had been made to keep a watch on anti-social elements in the township. At least 25 nakas had been set up at different places.

PANCHKULA

Effigies of Ravana, Meghanada and Kumbakarna went up in flames amidst bursting of crackers and cheering by the crowd at the Parade Ground in Sector 5 here on the occasion of Dasehra.

Colourful 'jhankis' marched on roads of Sector 5 before entering the ground. The demon trio was set ablaze after a fight between the "armies'' of Lord Rama and Ravana.

Children carrying bows and arrows, maces and masks of the characters from the epic were in an upbeat mood, especially when the duel between the forces of good and evil commenced at the venue. Foodstalls and those selling bows, arrows, masks and balloons were a special attraction for tiny-tots.

The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Board, Mr RS Chaudhary, was the chief guest while Mr Vidya Dhar, OSD to the Chief Minister of Haryana, was the guest of honour on the occasion.

Pushpak witnesses Ravana's end
From Bipin Bhardwaj
From Our Correspondent

DERA BASSI, Oct 19 — In a unique way to greet the people on Dasehra, the Ramlila Committee of Dera Bassi used a glider to shower multicoloured pamphlets over the crowd at the Ramlila Ground here today.

The appearance of the glider in the town for the first time was the main attraction of the festival. Hired from the Haryana Civil Aviation Club of Pinjore, the glider carrying pamphlets, hovered over the town for about 30 minutes. During its last 15 rounds over the ground, the glider showered pamphlets on the public from a height of nearly 200 feet.

Besides residents of this town, thousands of persons from the surrounding villages also gathered here and enjoyed the fair. As the ground was packed to its capacity, hundreds of persons climbed atop the buildings around it to have a better view of various 'jhankis' presented by the Ramlila Committee and other social organisations.

Colourful Jhankis on themes from Ramayana and Mahabharta were taken out. A 'jhanki' dedicated to the Kargil hereos and another showing consequences of drug addiction were also taken out.

Two tricycles were also donated by the committee to poor and handicapped persons on this occasion. A lucky draw was also held and the winners were presented gifts.

Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Finance Minister of Punjab, who lit the effigies of Ravana and Meghnada, urged the public to maintain brotherhood and peace to uproot evils. He also greeted the people of Dera Bassi subdivision on Dasehra.

Though the police had made all security arrangements to prevent any untoward incident, two cases of scuffle reportedly took place.

4-day luxurious weekend
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 19 — In most government offices it has been a four-day luxurious weekend for employees as work came to a virtual standstill while several employees conveniently took leave on Monday to extend their weekend. And all this much to the annoyance of the public, who had to bear with delay in work, and other important requirements , helplessly.

Right since Friday routine work in almost every departments of the governments of Haryana, Punjab and the Chandigarh Administration had stopped due to the prevailing festive spirit. These included the offices that deal with public matters routinely and revenue generating departments. Little things that affect everyday life like registration of new vehicles or issuance of driving licences have to be postponed.

Persons wanting to get some clearance or some work done in the Chandigarh Housing Board, PUDA or HUDA had no option but to wait. These include NOC's or deposit of some instalment. On Friday visitors in government offices were wisely advised by the skeletal staff that '' aap Dashera ke bad aaye'' ( You come the day after Dashera).

Those wanting to get disputed telephone, power bills or water bills settled have been waiting for employees to return from extended off days.

A middle-level official explained that if a small number of employees come to office it do not help the public as each section is handled by different employees. Keys to certain cupboard or file cabinets may not be with the others.

Office-goers, had taken an off on Monday to make it a four-day weekend. With Saturday and Sunday being closed days and today being Dashera only Monday was a working day. Banks and post offices opened on Saturday and the rush at these places was evident.

An employee in a Punjab office pointed out that more people preferred to take leave on Monday as almost all schools and colleges have closed down thus the desire to spend time with the family. Besides this the year is coming to close and there is a tendency among employees to exhaust casual leaves. Employees utilise such opportunities to visit their ancestral homes or go on outstation trips.

Contractors wanting clearance of pending bills have also been waiting and so have been others who do work on tender basis for the government. Cooperative housing societies, that are on a construction spree in Sector 48 and 49 require signatures of officials for each small work.

Offices that were not affected on Monday included the railway reservation and mail delivery. But today was once again a closed day for the Postal, Telecom and Income Tax Departments.

Durga Puja celebrations
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 19 — Even as Dasehra festivities concluded in the evening, Durga Puja celebrations continued in the city today also.

While the Bengali associations will hold processions and immerse idols of Goddess Durga in the Ghaggar tomorrow, an association of migrants mainly from UP and Bihar immersed the idol in the Ghaggar, near Dera Bassi, this evening.

Special puja, priti bhoj and cultural programme were the highlights of the celebrations organised by the Bengali Association at Parshuram Bhavan in Sector 37-C today.

Spurious liquor: cops to be sent to MP
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 19 — Following the detection of spurious liquor in some vends in the city, the local police will despatch teams to the source of the brew, stated to be in Madhya Pradesh.

Sources say while excise authorities will register cases if the samples taken from various vends fail, the police will register cases against the vend owners on charges of conspiring to cheat the public by selling the illicit brew under popular brands of whisky.

The sale of such liquor is an established practice in the region and the unsuspecting customer does not have any way of knowing whether the brand he is buying is the one he is paying for, a police official says. A cartel of contractors ensure that the whole operation runs smoothly but this time the large sale of the spurious brew reflects in the stock registers of the companies.

The sale of spurious liquor under other popular brand names cannot be ruled out, police sources add.

The detection of such liquor has raised questions about the lack of an effective mechanism to check such instances. Although there is provision of periodic checks on the sale of illicit liquor, 'the samples collected invariably pass the test for purity conducted by the government laboratory'.

It is fortunate that no one has fallen ill or has been hospitalised following consumption of such liquor. Incidents in many states, including Madhya Pradesh, have proven fatal. The sale of Bagpiper whisky has been abandoned by local liquor contractors following the raids, sources reveal.

Following complaints from certain liquor companies that their sales have been dipping by 15 to 20 per cent, especially during the ongoing festival season, the excise department has raided some vends in the city in the presence of company representatives and collected about 60 samples.

A representative of the United Breweries Group was in the city a few days ago to register a complaint with the police that 49 out of the 54 retail outlets in the city were 'duplicating, stocking and selling' popular brands. The brands were bring sold at cheaper rates than the retail price and were causing losses to the company, Rs 15 lakh a month in the city, and to the exchequer by way of excise duty.

The complainant had alleged that the brew sold was of poor quality and could be 'dangerous for human consumption'. The police had raided vends in sectors 24 and 37 and seized 20 boxes of spurious liquor. Three persons were arrested on charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy under Sections 420 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code.

This had drawn protests from local liquor contractors who had alleged they were being targeted despite earning maximum revenue for the UT Administration.

Mass exam system "no good"
by P.P.S. Gill
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 19 — To meet the new "challenges" in the next millennium, the attitude of "chalta hai" shall have to be abandoned and qualitative improvement brought about in the education system.

The education system will have to be freed from political interference. This is necessary for nation-building; political expediency can wait.

For this to happen, the "mass" examination system shall have to undergo a metamorphosis. Instead of evaluating the "memorising" ability of students, it is their "cognitive" capabilities which shall have to be adjudged. For this to happen, an education policy on population control shall have to be evolved and implemented vigorously. The bane of the system is that "most intended changes get scuttled at the implementation level".

These views were expressed by Dr Ashok Vijh who was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Science by Panjab University, Chandigarh, and his wife, Dr Ratna Ghosh, who is Dean, Faculty of Education, Mcgill University, Montreal, Canada, and Mr William C. Macdonald, Professor of Education, there in an interview to TNS today.

Dr Vijh, an alumnus of Panjab University, is a scientist with specialisation in electro-chemistry. He is a distinguished scientist. His field of study pertains to any chemical reaction caused by passage of electric current or the use of chemical reaction to produce electricity.

This field of study is vast right from using electrolysis to kill a cancerous tumour to tapping sunlight to illuminate electrodes to produce electrons which carry out electro-chemical reactions.

Much has changed at Panjab University since the student days of Dr Vijh. But a lot more can be done, he feels. Dr Vijh says emphasis should be on "quality" and not "quantity" of research. There should be no compromise on excellence. A university is not meant to be a "diploma-issuing machine". Its "social relevance" has to be recognised and promoted by producing intellectually aware citizens with skills and values which can be put to use for betterment of society. "A university is not meant to perpetuate the norms and customs of the ruling elite," he says.

Dr Vijh is a recepient of several awards and honours. He is a fellow of several academies the world over, including that of the Indian National Science Academy.

Dr Ratna Ghosh is an educationist. She has the distinction of having achieved academic excellence at Mcgill University, which is 178 years old one of the 10 best in the world. She is a fellow of the prestigious Royal Society of Canada. Her research is in the areas of "international and inter cultural education."

She has two projects in hand in India: "economic liberalisation and its impact on women" and "professional girls' colleges and their impact on girls' attitude towards marriage, work and family."

The couple feel that "unionism" in educational institutions has become a tool to save mediocres and non-performers. The faculty members in universities must be free from shackles of "psychological performance strike" if education is to be resuscitated.

Bid to loot bank branch
Furniture set on fire
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR, Oct 19 — Burglars broke into an extension branch of Punjab and Sind bank being run from a private school in Sector 71 and made an attempt to break open its strong room.

According to information available, the thieves sneaked into the bank in the wee hours of this morning after breaking open a grill. Some of the almirahs were opened, apparently in search of cash.

A police official said attempts to break the strong room by the thieves did not yield any result.

While leaving the bank premises, the thieves put the cash counter on fire. A watchman of the school on noticing smoke informed the police. Though the exact loss could not ascertained, some furniture was damaged in the fire.

The police has registered a case under Sections 436, 457 and 511 of the IPC.

Yadav joins as PGI Registrar
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 19 — Mr Desh Raj Yadav has joined as Registrar of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER). Mr Yadava was earlier Assistant Secretary, Regional Centre of the CBSE, Sector 32, up to 1997, after which he was promoted as Deputy Secretary, CBSE, at Ajmer.

He had earlier worked for 18 years in the educational cell of the Indian Air Force.

As per reports, it has been almost three years now that the post of the Registrar at the PGI had been lying vacant. Meanwhile, Prof J.D. Wig, in charge, academic, had been officiating as Registrar.

The PGI has also created a cell of examination which is being headed by Prof Kusum Joshi from the Department of Pathology.

SNIPPETS

Free eye camp on October 24
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 19 — A mega free eye check-up and operation camp will be organised by the Sohana-based Sri Guru Harkishan Sahib (Charitable) Eye Hospital at the Sector 22 Nehru Park on October 24, a spokesperson of the hospital announced here today.

The spokesperson maintained that during the camp free out-patient department (OPD), medicines and, in the case of needy patients, free surgeries would be organised. The purpose of the camp was to make this area a cataract-free zone.

The camp would start after recitation of Gurbani by Bhai Surinder Singh Jodhpuri and discourse by Bhai Jasbir Singh Khannewale. Mr A.M. Nagar, Deputy General Manager, Indian Oil Corporation, would be the chief guest at the camp.

No dengue case reported : CMO
From Our Correspondent

SAS NAGAR, Oct 19 — No case of dengue fever has been reported at the local Civil Hospital so far.

Stating this here today, Dr Tirth Goel, CMO of the hospital, said as dengue cases had been reported in the surrounding areas, arrangments had been made for the platelet count test. The department had given instructions to be prepared to handle such cases.

Dr Goel said the platelet test was done only when the count dropped to about 50,000. However, no case of suspected dengue fever had come to the hospital as yet.

Top models for design show
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 19 — Country's top models Madhu Sapre, Helen Brodie, Ruchi Malhotra, Mehar Bhasin, Noinika Chhatterjee and Sonalika Oberoi will walk the ramp here on November 3 as part of the final design collection show of the Northern India Institute of Fashion Technology.

The institute, set up at SAS Nagar by the Department of Industries and Commerce, Punjab, in collaboration with the National Institute of Fashion technology of the Union Ministry of Textiles, organises its annual function to showcase exclusively crafted collections of its students, reflecting months of toil gone into their fabrication. This time collection of all 26 students would be displayed by the models.