Sunday, October 31, 1999
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N E W S Sunday, October 31, 1999 |
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weather spotlighttoday's calendar |
Vintage
beauties set road on fire CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — Old is gold. The Saturday crowd on some busy parts of Chandigarh was surprised by vintage and classic cars running on roads. The first HP Vintage and Classic Car and Motorcycle Rally was flagged off from the CII headquarters in Sector 31 this morning by Mr N.K. Jain, Home Secretary of the UT Administration. The rally attracted about fifteen cars. According to the rules, 'vintage' was defined as cars manufactured before 1939. Cars of the period after this (upto 1960) came under the classic category, depending upon the condition and make of the cars as specified in the charter. Mr Shashi Garcha, President of the Chandigarh Motor Sports Association, under whose banner this rally was being hosted for the first time in Chandiagrh, said the Vintage Car Club existed for quite some time. The Confederation of Indian Industry also took the initiative and coinciding with Consumer fair '99 at Parade Ground, the rally was proposed. Sponsors for the rally were Hindustan Petroleum. These elegant cars had to complete the run on a nearly 42-kilometre route. After taking rounds of city from Sector 28, 27, 19 and 18, the cars headed towards Sector 17 where these took two rounds of the inner part of the sector. After travelling through Sector 16 and 'geri route' in Sector 11, the cars began the first leg of the journey at the HP petrol pump near Durga Nursery on the Chandiagrh-Kalka highway at about 10.30 am. The first person to complete the first leg was Ravi Mann, driving his 1927 model Austin bearing number USJ-2273. He is also the prize winner at various rallies held in Rajasthan. After the judging of costumes and a trophy-distribution ceremony by the Hindustan Petroleum officials, the cars headed for first part of the final leg at North Park Resort in Panchkula. Rallyists kept up their enthusiasm in each leg. Two women drivers also took part in the rally. People were happy to see these classic models on the highway. Beeya Vohra drove a blue-coloured 1949 model Sunbeam Talbot (APX-602). The other lady driver was Kavita who in a 1954 model Austin was accompanied by Munish Saini. Munish said it took them almost five hours from Dehradun to Chandigarh during which the car gave a mileage of 15 kilometres per litre and no trouble. Rishi Bajaj, an energetic software engineer, in a white 1948 model Baby Hindustan, witnessed minor trouble before the end of the first leg. A mechanic at Bhagat Singh Petrol Pump, Balbir Singh, had put three cars in this rally — Ford-A which he drove himself, a maroon 1939 model Cheverlot-3100 (RJX-464) driven by his son, Jaswant Singh, and the UK-made Baby Hindustan driven by Rishi Bajaj. Brig J.S. Phoolka, President of the Vintage Car Club of Chandigarh, was in a 1937 model Ford Tourer (UPC-353) and said he never faced any problem during the rally. He was happy at the response of the people towards the rally. H. Kishie Singh, whose name is synonymous with the autoworld, coordinated the cheerleading at the rally. Manu Jendra, winner of many rallies, came all the way form Delhi and was made the Observer for today's event. He was happy at the response of the participants and hoped that Chandigarh would be a regular venue for such big events. One of the entrants failed to turn up at the rally. Baljeet Mankoo failed to report at the North Park Resort. Jaswinder Singh was the sole entry in the motorcycle category. An auto-shop owner in Sector 28, he drove a 1952 model 350cc BSA along with his son Jap Singh. Results: Oldest vehicle to complete the rally — 1927 Austin by Ravi Mann; Best perfromance by a vintage car — 1939 Chevorlot of Jaswant Singh 1, 1937 Ford Tourer of Brig J.S. Phoolka 2, 1927 Austin of Ravi Mann 3. Best performance by a classic car — 1958 Baby Hindustan of Rishi Bajaj 1, 1954 Austin of Kavita Kumar 2, 1951 Fiat of Amarjit Sodhi 3; best maintenance of a vintage car — 1937 Ford Tourer of Brig J.S. Phoolka and 1928 Ford-A of Balbir Singh (joint first). Best maintenance of a classic car — 1958 Baby Hindustan of Rishi Bajaj 1 and 1949 Sunbeam Talbot of Beeya Vohra 2; best performance by a woman driver — Kavita (Austin) 1, Beeya Vohra (Talbot) 2. Most elegant vintage car
— 1928 Ford-A of Balbir Singh; classic — 1949
Talbot of Beeya Vohra 1; best costumed couple — 1928
Ford-A of Mr and Ms Arjun Singh; consolation prize —
1954 Hindustan of Chander Malhotra. Jaswinder Singh got
all the prizes reserved in the motorcycle category. |
MCC gets
sectors for auction CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — In an effort to generate more revenue for the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh, the Chandigarh Administration has transferred some sectors of the city to it for auction purposes. The corporation held its first auction of commercial sites in Sector 9 a few days ago. This has raised some eyebrows in the Estate Office, which has traditionally been the auctioneer of residential and commercial property in the city. Sources say so far nothing has been communicated officially and the Estate Office authorities have come to know about the auction and the transfer of property through advertisements in newspapers. The target revenue of the Estate Office has been fixed at almost Rs 80 crore for the current financial year. The Estate Office authorities want that this target be reduced in consonance with the transfer of sectors and possible sites. An entire belt of sectors in the sothern parts of the city will now be under the control of the MCC. Apart from this, Sector 9 is also with the MCC. The lukewarm response to the auction of SCOs in Sector 9 has sent jitters among the authorities. The MCC has managed to auction only 3 out of the 25 sites. This may have an impact of the annual auction held by the Estate Office, is the opinion among the authorities. The low bids may be due to the general slump, besides the fear of the tax net. The Town Planning Department is in the process of earmarking possible auction sites for Estate Office also. These sites can be all over the city. Sources say once these
sites are identified, the Estate Office may formally seek
a reduction in their target revenue from the Chandigarh
Administra-tion. The Estate Office authorities are
tight-lipped over the issue. |
Major
reservation for women CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — Seven of the 13 seats in the new Nagar Panchayat of Zirakpur have been reserved for women and candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes. The reservation of seats has been made by the Punjab Government in accordance with the powers conferred upon it under sub-section (1) of Section 8 of the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911. According to the reservations notified, of the 13 members to be elected, two seats will go to candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes . This reservation is based on the basis of the population of the Scheduled Castes within the jurisdiction of the newly constituted Nagar Panchayat. The population of the Scheduled Castes as per the 1991 census is 2713. The major reservation goes to women candidates. According to the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments, one-third of the total seats in civic bodies and gram panchayats are reserved for women. Accordingly, five seats, including one belonging to the Scheduled Castes, have been reserved for women candidates. Besides four seats reserved for women candidates belonging to the general category, one of the women members to be elected to the Nagar Panchayat would be a Scheduled Caste woman. According to the roster, the members to be elected from Ward numbers 1,4,7,10 and 13 for the first Nagar Panchayat would be women candidates. There would be one seat reserved for a nominee from the Backward Classes. The constitution of the Nagar Panchayat has been done on the basis of the 1991 census according to which the total population of the municipal area was 16,083. Accordingly, the Government has decided to have a 13-member Council. Work on the delimitation of wards for the proposed Gram Panchayat has already been completed. The Punjab Government has already notified a list of more than one hundred items on which octroi would be levied. These items include all eatables, tobacco, country liquor and Indian made foreign liquor, petrol, diesel, LPG and several other things. Though no dates have
been announced for holding elections to the first
municipal body of this area, the preliminary formalities
are being completed before the electoral process starts. |
Dissidents
"oust" Riar CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — The local unit of the Shriomani Akali Dal is rife with factionalism. Some of the office-bearers and party workers held a meeting in a hotel in Sector 22 today to oust Mr Gurpartap Singh Riar from the presidentship of the party and elected Mr Gurcharan Singh Palia as the new chief of the unit. On the other hand, Mr Gurpartap Singh Riar, in a two-page press note maintained that since the primary membership was on in the unit, no one was holding any office in it. At a meeting of the party dissidents, Mr Harcharan Singh Sawhney had proposed the name of Mr Gurcharan Singh Palia which was seconded by both Mr N.S. Minhas and Mr Ravinder Singh Khalsa. Mr Minhas is a Secretary-General of the unit. Mr B.S. Malhi was re-elected Senior Vice-President and Mr Amrit Singh Chaudhary was elected Vice-President. Mr Harcharan Singh Sawhney, Ms Amrit Kaur and Ms Iqbal Kaur were elected General Secretaries while Mr Ravinder Singh Khalsa was elected General Secretary-cum-Finance Secretary of the unit. The new Secretary of the unit will be Mr Sital Singh. After the elections, Mr Gurcharan Singh Palia, Mrs Harjinder Kaur, Councillor, and Mr N.S. Minhas addressed a Press Conference where they maintained that the new unit would work unitedly for the strengthening the party at the grass-root level. On the other hand, Mr Gurpartap Singh Riar said that earlier also both Mr Amrinder Singh and Mr Hardeep Singh, both members of the SGPC, had nominated Mr Amar Singh Chahal as the President of the local unit of Shiromani Akali Dal which was not recognised by the party high command. Mrs Harjinder Kaur had also constituted a local unit of Istri Akali Dal which was also not approved by the party high command. Mrs Harjinder Kaur had contested for the post of Mayor against the official nominee of the BJP-SAD alliance in the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh and lost badly. Mr Riar alleged that the same group had worked actively against the BJP candidate in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. Mr Riar said that the Union Territory of Chandigarh had been divided into 11 blocks on the lines of the police stations. In each block, there were 25 party delegates of which one had to be elected a leader. These 11 block leaders would then elect their President in the presence of the central observer of the party. Mr Riar said that for today's meeting, there was no central party observer nor was he informed about it. Mr Riar said that it was
a matter of great concern that neither the central high
command of the party had fixed a date of holding
elections nor a observer had been appointed. Today, the
date of membership drive ended, he added. |
‘Kids
should learn new skills’ SAS NAGAR, Oct 30 — To survive in an overpopulated world, there is a need for learning completely different skills. The question faced at present is how one will retain a “measure of sanity” “in an era which is “increasingly full of people, people and more people.” Expressing these views at the 20th Founders Day celebrations of the local Yadavindra Public School today, Mrs Maneka Gandhi, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment and chief guest, said public schools had trained students for bureaucratic jobs, but at present the bureaucracy was almost full. There was growing resentment that schools had not prepared our children in accordance with the changing needs. With the growing population, new skills had to be acquired. Ms Maneka Gandhi laid stress on creating a healthy environment. Posters would not help much. It was learning “how to breathe” that was important. If one could not keep one’s health intact, nothing else mattered. She favoured planting of more trees by everyone. She suggested teaching of organic farming in schools. People, she said, must be less dependent on the state. More power cuts, for example, were likely in the future because power plants could not be set up as fast as they were ageing. Simple alternatives like solar energy had to be brought into use. Mrs Gandhi also suggested the undertaking of social work. This should not be a patronising activity. It was “not sympathy but empathy” that mattered, she said. The Principal, Mr Harish Dhillon, said it was imperative that we gave our children a strong awareness and pride in their own cultural heritage. Only then would they have the firm roots to support them in an age of ever-increasing globalisation. He said there was need to “constantly examine what we are doing to ensure the validity and relevance of what we are doing”. Mrs Gandhi gave away the prizes. The Mrinal Dutta Trophy for the best student of class III went to Ripudaman while the Air Force Trophy for the best student of Class VIII was won by Ambri Pukhraj. The best students of classes X and XIII were Simer Kaur (Badhaur Medal) and Tejpratap Singh (First Decade Medal). In the All-India Public School Declamation Contest, the trophy was won by Tahira Kashyap. The best NCC cadet was Harkirat Tiwana. The cock house (junior as well as senior school) was Ranjit House. Students put up an
excellent exhibition covering various activities. As part
of the tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the
Khalsa, a project by students of classes I to V was also
presented. |
Maneka
keeps scribes at bay SAS NAGAR, Oct 30 — Otherwise known for championing the cause of animal welfare, Ms Maneka Gandhi, the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment , it seemed was in no mood to touch even her favourite topic—animals and cruelty against them — and kept mediapersons at bay during her two-hour long visit to Yadavindra Public School here today. Ms Maneka, who was here to participate in a function organised by the school management made her dislike for media clear right from the start of the function when she refused to meet and answer queries of some enthusiastic mediamen, who made persistent efforts to talk to her. So much so that she had reportedly made it clear to the school management before confirming her visit that she would not like to interact with media during the function. Confirming this, Dr Harish Dhillon, the Principal of the school said,” Madam has categorically told me over telephone that she does not want to talk to media but I will arrange a meeting of mediamen with her.” But all his efforts towards this direction turned futile with the madam sticking to her stance. When a correspondent asked her about her views on Pope’s visit an irritated Maneka said, “No comments.” When he again tried to have a word with her, she asked him to get out of her way, leaving him stunned. A similar thing was in
store for this correspondent who was made to wait for two
hours by an official of the school in the hope that madam
will ultimately relent her “stand” towards
waiting mediamen. This correspondent’s efforts to
try to convince her through some official that in case
she agrees to meet him the questions will revolve around
animal welfare were in vain. Stopping a bit, she
questioned,” Do you have any specific
question?” When asked what new steps were being
taken by her, the animals rights organisations and the
ministry being headed by her, she retorted in an
indifferent tone,” Next question?” When asked
whether she and her animal rights organisation will do
anything for six dogs allegedly poisoned to death in
Sector 16 allegedly by UT health officials, she just
nodded and walked away. |
'Give
Nawaz Sharif a fair trial' CHANDIGARH, Oct 30— Col Partap Singh Gill, a former Lieutenant-Governor of Goa, Daman and Diu, has requested the Chief Executive Officer of Pakistan, Gen Parvez Musharraf, to give a fair trial in a civil court to the deposed Prime Minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif. "Trying a civilian, democratically elected by the people as Prime Minister, by a military court will be a grave injustice to him and is never likely to meet the approval of the people," says Colonel Gill in the letter. Colonel Gill said he was making this appeal on his own and on behalf of the people of Jatti Umrah, the ancestral village of Mr Sharif, so that no physical harm was done to Mr Sharif and members of his family. "We hope that our appeal will not be misunderstood by your government. Our Trust, Jatti Umrah Indo-Pak Parivar Milap Charity Trust, appreciated your withdrawing some troops from the border. It was a good start, though not enough to regain peace and friendship between our two sister countries. Your directions to your government to allow Mr Nawaz Sharif to talk to his family on the telephone today was greatly appreciated by the people. I believe that a little more mutual trust and courage by you and Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, could find a lasting solution to all Indo-Pak problems, including Kashmir," said Colonel Gill. "I had joined the
12 Sam Brown's cavalry in 1935 and later served in
Probyn's Horse in Risalpur in 1938. After 1947, I
commanded Hadsons Horse. Gen Tikka Khan, Brig Sahibdad
Qurban Alui, Brig Tor Gul Mohd Abbas Durrani and Gen
Jahanzeb Khan were my colleagues in the Indian Military
Academy, Dehradun. During my visit to Pakistan as a
personal guest of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in
April,1998, I met them in Islamabad and Peshawar. So this
appeal to you is also an appeal from a soldier to a
soldier," Colonel Gill said in his letter. |
Chandigarh
records higher savings CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — Both Punjab and Chandigarh have recorded higher savings in September this year compared to the same month last year. In Punjab, the net savings during last month were Rs 937.21 crore against Rs 814.33 crore during the same month last year. Similarly in Chandigarh, the net savings last month were Rs 24.84 crore against Rs 23.29 crore during the same month last year. During 1998-99, Rs 2049.89 crore was collected through various national saving schemes in Punjab against a target of Rs 900 crore. In Chandigarh, Rs 65.67 crore was collected last year against a modest target of Rs 22 crore. These revelations were made by Mr P.C. Ekka, Regional Director, National Savings, at the State-level World Thrift Day function held at the Sector 18 Government Girls Senior Secondary School here today. Mr K.K. Addiwal, Mayor, Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, was the chief guest. Small saving agents, representatives of various departments, including post, banks, UTI, LIC and pay roll savings group leaders attended the function where prizes were also distributed to the best agents. Ms Nutan Sharma under SAS Agency System, Mr Mohinder Singh Dhodi under PPF Agency System, Ms Tripti Seth under MPKBY Agency System got the best agents' awards. Speaking on the occasion, the Mayor congratulated the agents and other participants and appealed to them to keep the ideals of savings and mobilise the savings to new heights for the betterment of people as well as to generate additional resources for the planned development of the nation. Mr K.K. Addiwal also inaugurated the savings fortnight to be observed from November 1 to 14 by the National Savings Organisation. Earlier, Mr K.K. Sharma, District Savings Officer, in his address of welcome, presented the progress report under various small savings schemes. The Song and Drama
Division troupe presented a colourful cultural programme
while a film featuring public provident fund scheme was
also screened. |
‘Need
to improve wholesale price index’ CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — The wholesale price index needs to be improved, as of now it covers only commodities and not services, stated Professor S.R. Hashim, Member, Planning Commission of India, while delivering a lecture on “Revision of whole- sale price index” on the sixth day of management development/special training programme, organised by the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID) here today. He said the price index system needs to be completely revamped, so that we get regular prices for larger basket of commodities from the wholesale markets. We should construct a separate implementation index which should be based on final goods and exclude intermediate goods and raw materials. He also stressed that deficiencies with which the present index suffers, should be taken out to put the index on a much stronger footing. Also present on the occasion was Dr K.K. Bajaj, Deputy Director-General, National Informatics Centre, Government of India. He talked about ‘Electronic Banking’, wherein he stressed on Internet banking which delivers new services at a much lower cost. He also said that banks should differentiate themselves through services. He emphasised that electronic banking is changing the way banking is conducted and due to globalisation, banks and financial institutions have become a path of global financial network, so they should use to survive and increase productivity. Meanwhile, delivering a lecture on ‘Human capital’, Dr L. Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Labour, Government of India, emphasised on bringing together technology and human capital for a stronger base, so the physical capital and human capital should be synthesised to achieve higher goals. He said individual and group motivation is very important for overall development and at a desired growth rate. He stressed on industrial democracy with respect to the work place participation and culture. Professor A.M. Khusro,
Chairman, 11th Finance Commission of India, and Mr T. K.A
Nair, Chairman, Public Enterprises Selection Board, were
also present at the seminar. |
‘Stop
white-collar crimes’ CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — A seminar on 'People-Police Relationships: Opportunities and Challenges' was organised by the local chapter of the All-India Crime Prevention Society, here today. Mr Pawan Bansal, MP, presided over the proceedings, while Mr B.S. Danewalia, a former IGP, delivered the inaugural address. Mr Bansal said the crime graph was on the upswing and the police should lay greater emphasis on countering the ever increasing white collar crimes in the country. Since the public could not be given more rights other than the ones presently enjoyed by them, it was better if they were sensitised and more such seminars should be held, he said. He also said the police was conspicuous by their absence and lack of participation. Mr Danewalia also spoke on the same lines. Mr Harmohan Dhawan, a former union minister, said it was sad that the people still feared the police due to its brutal ways and the system was to blame for it. He said the policemen were overworked and stressed and as a result took out their frurstrations on the public. It was time that we shed the colonial legacies and changed the policing patterns, he said. A change in the attitude of the police was suggested by Mr S. Likhi, a former IPS officer. He said it was time that the people were brought to the forefront and citizens' committees for the effective functioning of the police should be formed at the thana-level. A well-planned strategy to direct the policing pattern should be chalked out right now, he added. Prof J. Kaushal said it was ironic that the personnel at the lower levels, who interacted most with the public were recruited while those at the top were selected. This was wrong and should be reviewed, he said. Mr Subash Chawla said
there was need to make the people aware of their rights
and such seminars should be organised at public places. |
Western
music "no threat" CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — The English media is one of the important factors of lesser popularisation of regional languages, particularly Punjabi, said Mohan Bhandari, noted Punjabi writer, during a seminar and poetical symposium organised by a multilingual organisation — Khayal — here today. The Bharatiya Sahitya Akademi award winner, Bhandari recounted his personal encounters in the field of writing. Punjabi short stories were among the best in any language of the world, he was quick to point out. Bhandari said that Western music or movies were no threat to Indian culture, particularly amongst the youth. This was only a challenge for the regional language writers to write better. He has read Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu and English. "Reading as many languages as possible only increases the vision which contribute for better writing", he said. He wrote his first poem when he was a student of class ninth. "Adhwatta" was his first published work. In 1966-67 he was awarded the Chandigarh Sahitya Kala Akademi award. 'Manukh Di Paid' in 1967, 'Pacchan ' and 'Moon Di Pakh' were a few prominent works among his other creations. The talk was followed by a question- answer session. Bhandari worked with the Punjab Education Department before his retirement in 1995. His writing are a part of the school and college syllabi in the state. He is also engaged in translations. Another highlight of the evening was release of the book 'Vagde Paani' of Devinder Kaur by Maj-Gen Himmat Singh Gill, Chairman of the Sahitya Kala Akademi, Chandigarh. The poetess read out selected compositions which were applauded. Justice Surinder Singh
and Madhav Kaushik were prominent among other
participants. Mr H.S.Ahluwalia, convenor of Khayal,
proposed the vote of thanks. |
'Newborns
still not registered as patients' CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — "Every specialist has a moral responsibility to develop and teach expertise to his or her juniors so that children could be saved," was the advice given by Prof B.N.S. Walia, a former Director of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, to delegates attending the 23rd annual conference of the North West Region of the Association of Otolaryngologists here this evening. Inaugurating the two-day conference at Bhargava Auditorium, Prof Walia, a known paediatrician, criticised the apathy of the medical fraternity towards children. Still there were hospitals in the country where a newly-born child was not registered as a patient. A child had to survive before an 'adult specialist', a cardiologist, a nephrologist or any other specialist examined him, he said. "I feel disturbed at this situation as the child is treated as if he is expendable. Every human life, including that of a child is important," Professor Walia said. He said a large number of children were brought to hospitals after they were six-year-old and then diagnosed to be deaf. Why the children were not given hearing tests in the beginning. It was pitiable that facilities to detect deafness among school children were not available in the country. Professor Walia said that all governments were always deaf and blind. They would not act unless a big noise was made. Why not press the government to introduce deafness-detection facilities in district hospitals and schools, he said. He also advised delegates to devote some time to their respective paramedical staff to upgrade their knowledge and skills. Dr Walia said there were certain gaps in the present system, including a gap in training the users of hearing aids. There were similar gaps in training people for speech therapy and running schools for the deaf. Earlier, Prof S.B.S. Mann, who took over as President of the North West Region of the association, also talked about the deteriorating standard of training of doctors in various specialisation courses. He said those at the helm of affairs should sit down and think how to improve the standards. Professor Mann also highlighted the growng incidence of deafness and talked about a new smaller and cheaper chip being developed by the Semi-Conductors Limited at SAS Nagar in collaboration with the ENT Department of the PGI. He stressed the need for cheaper and reliable hearing aids. Also present at the
inaugural session were Prof P.K. Kakkar, Prof S.K.
Kacker, Dr A.K. Gupta and Prof A.S. Khurana, the outgoing
President of the chapter. |
HUDA
holds 'Tatkal Dwar' PANCHKULA, Oct 30 — The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) held a 'Tatkal Dwar', a grievances redressal system concerning problems faced by residents, in Sector 9 here today. This is the first time such an activity has been initiated. A total of 46 complaints were attended to today. The Adminis-trator, HUDA, Mr Abhilaksh Lekhi, held an interaction with residents about their grievances. He said such activities would ensure transparency in functioning and prompt solutions to problems. "It is an attempt to generate a debate on problems towards positive outcomes," he added. An exhibition-cum-sale was also held. It highlighted HUDA's achievements and guidelines. No manual record was maintained today and all complaints received were fed into computers on the spot. Most complaints were in regard to condition of roads, water supply, cleanliness and encroachments. On the issue of insufficient water supply, the Administrator said a committee would be constituted for an early solution. An additional tubewell had been marked for the sector to cope with the insufficient supply of water. Residents also complained of growing commercialisation in residential areas and lack of parking in front of the 'mandir'. Many persons resented encroachments along the roadside of the 'Rehri Market' and cattle menace. The issue regarding removal of hedges was also raised by residents. The Administrator reserved his comments on the subject, saying the matter was sub-judice. Immediate redressal was granted to a few residents who had grievances concerning the Estate Office. On the issue of
deplorable state of roads in the sector, he said a
special package of Rs 7.25 lakh had been allocated to
carpet 3.25 km in the sector, most of which would be
completed by December. Many residents were satisfied with
the responses. Feedback on all complainants received
today would be intimated promptly, said the
Administrator. Police-public interaction PANCHKULA, Oct 30 — A new system to ensure transparency in the public grievance system has been initiated by the Haryana Police. A press note from the Haryana Police headquaters at Panchkula stated that Director- General of Police(DGP), Haryana, S.P.S. Rathore, will meet public and the employees of the department on first Monday of every month. A system called
"Daily Mulakat" to redress grievances on a
daily basis has also been introduced by the Haryana
Police.The DGP will meet the public in this regard
everyday between 12.30 pm and 1.30 pm.The press note also
informed about the Open Darbars, which will be held at
the district and range levels, every second saturday for
which separate programme will be issued. |
Clerical
posts: call letters despatched CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — The Banking Service Recruitment Board, Chandigarh has, despatched call letters to the eligible candidates for the written examination to be held on November 21, in connection with the recruitment to clerical cadre posts. The secretary of the board has in a press note stated that all those candidates who do not receive the call letters by November 11 should contact the office on any working day till November 17 for the issuance of duplicate call letters with full particulars about their candidature, proof of remittance sent by them as application fee postal charges and proof of despatch of application. No request for issuance
of duplicate call letters will be entertained after
November 17. |
Painting
contest for kids CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — More than 1,500 children from local schools in the age group of five to 16, participated in a 'National On-the-Spot Painting Competition' organised by a local branch of the State Bank of India in collaboration with the Indian Council of Children Welfare (ICCW) at Bal Bhavan in Sector 23. A separate competition was also organised for handicapped children who are associated with 'Prayaas' of Sector 38-B, a project of the ICCW. The topics for painting included sunrise scene, village scene, portraits of mother and child etc. Enthusiastic children came up with creative ideas on their canvases. In the age group of 5 to 8, Anisha Mahajan of Carmel Convent in Sector 9, won the first prize and Oshin Mantre of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 19-C, won the second prize. In the age group 9 of 12, Perry Goswami of Sacred Heart Convent, Sector 26, won the first prize and Mamta Yadav of GMSSS-42-B won the second prize. In the age group of 13 to 16, Disha Sukhija of Carmel Convent, Sector 9, won the first prize and Anjani Khanna of Sacred Heart Convent, Sector 9, won the second prize. Manish Kumar of Government High School, Hallo Majra, won the first prize in the age group of 5 to 10 in the handicapped category, while Rupinder Kaur of Prayaas Rehabilitation Centre won the second prize. Pooja Garg of Prayaas won the first prize in the age group of 11 to 18 in the handicapped category, while Amrinder Singh of GSSS, Sector 20-D, won the second prize. Mr K.K. Mehra, Deputy
General Manager of the State Bank of India Zonal Office
in Punjab, presided over the function and gave away
prizes to the winners of the competitions. Mr Mehra told
parents and participants about the bank's community
services schemes and that the Bank was committed to
social welfare. |
Dance
show by children CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — As many as 180 children in different age groups presented colourful dances at a dance competition, organised by the JSR Production at Bal Bhavan here today. While 114 children, both boys and girls, were on stage presenting a variety of folk, western, Indian and classical dances today, the remaning participants will perform in their respectives categories tomorrow. The competition was inaugurated by Mr G.S Bhullar, Editor, Punjabi Tribune. The contestants had been divided into six age groups for this songbased dance competition. Mr Dweep Raj Kocchar, co-ordinator of the programme and the director of the group, said the programme, which is organised annually to promote hidden talent of budding artists, drew an enthusiastic response from children of various age groups. The winners of these
categories will be given prizes by Mr sanjeev Sharma, a
popular TV artiste from Mumbai who acted as Balram in the
tele serial Shri Krishna, tomorrow evening. |
Trainers’
training concludes CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — A week-long “Train the Trainers” programme concluded at the Dr Ambedkar Institute of Hotel Management here today. This was a part of a programme launched by the Union Ministry of Tourism to provide “training of trainers” of the faculty of institutes of hotel management and food craft institutes in India. A large number of faculty members have been trained through the sponsored training courses of the Department of Personnel and Training. This a part of the “National Training Policy” for-mulated by the Department of Personnel and Training. The course deals in Direct Trainer Skills (DTS) and Design of Training (DOT). It is the first course of its kind which is being run with all resource persons from within the Ministry of Tourism. Mr Inder Jeet Mittal, OSD (Training and Monitoring) and Course Co-ordinator, Ministry of Tourism, is running the training programme. Mr Mittal said the
objective was to sensitise participants about various
trainee-centred methods of training to inculcate the
capability to design the training on scientific lines so
that teaching in such institutes of hotel management
became demand-driven. |
Sharad
Yadav to visit city CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — Mr Sharad Yadav, Union Minister for Civil Aviation and President of the Janata Dal (United), will come to the city on December 1. This will be his first visit to the city after being sworn in as minister. This was disclosed by Mr Surinder Bhardwaj, President of the Chandigarh unit of the Janata Dal (United), at a press conference in UT Guest House here today. He said Mr Sharad Yadav would be apprised of the problems and needs of the people of Chandigarh so that he could take these up with the UT Administration. If no steps were initiated at the earliest to meet their demands, they would intensify their struggle to force the Administration to accept these. The four main issues on the agenda are the amendment of building bye-laws, the extension of 'lal dora' in the periphery, the rehabilitation of slum-dwellers and the law and order situation. Mr Subhash Kataria, President of the Sector 17 Traders Association, said these issues had caused resentment among traders. He said despite repeated assurances, there had been no amendment to the building bye-laws. The committee, which was constituted in 1991 to assist the Administration in changing these rules, has not met so far. He said a meeting with new members on the committee, including representatives of traders, building owners and tenants should be convened at the earliest to solve the issue. They would also take up
issues of extension of 'lal dora' and regularisation of
unauthorised colonies and houses. Persons who lived in
slums should be provided with free medical mobile
dispensaries, proper education and electricity
connections, he said. |
Bull
injures woman PANCHKULA, Oct 30 — A bull went beserk and attacked many persons in Sector 8 here today. The bull had been in the market for many days. The bull started its rampage by hitting a loaded 'rickshaw'. It then proceeded towards a child who escaped unhurt with the prompt intervention of shopkeepers. The bull then headed towards Ms Raj Chopra. She was seriously injured when the bull hit its horns on her forehead and right arm. Before the bull could cause further damage, persons in the market took the bull away. Ms Raj Chopra was taken to the General Hospital in Sector 6, where she was treated for a fractured arm, a torn forehead and a bruised eye. The matter was reported to the police station in Sector 5 by her son. The police has not initiated any action so far. The bull was seen wondering in residential areas till late in the evening. Residents have expressed
resentment over the callous attitude of the
Administration towards checking cattle menace in the
township. |
Decision
on power connections hailed ZIRAKPUR, Oct 30 — The decision of the Punjab Government to issue power connections in Zirakpur Nagar Panchayat has sent a wave of relief among the residents of the six villages which were merged to form the Nagar Panchayat. However, villages not falling in the limits of the Nagar Panchayat are disappointed as the sword of the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) still hangs over their head. Residents of seven villages (Zirakpur, Lohgarh, Himmatgarh, Bishangarh, Bishanpura, Bartana and Dhakauli) are happy that their problems, such as regularisation of unauthorised colonies and housing societies which had come up in violation of the Periphery Act, will now be solved without the involvement of PUDA. Proximity to Chandigarh had made it a prime area for building houses and farm houses. Mr Narinder Sharma, Sarpanch of Lohgarh, said the government had taken the right step to release power connections. " Though the prices of land in the Nagar Panchayat will not increase, transactions will increase with the sanction of power connections for construction purposes. Earlier the purchasers were hesitant to buy land. Now they know that what they construct will be regularised by the Nagar Panchayat," said Mr Jaspal Singh, a property dealer. " The decision to issue electricity connections will also reduce power theft. This will also prove beneficial to the government," opined Mr Krishan Sharma, a stone crusher owner. A business executive, Mr Jagdev Sharma, hopes that there would be less kundi connections now. "There will not be frequent power failures as the subscribers will have their proper power load sanctioned. The supply of power will be better", hopes Mr Sunehari Lal, a shopkeeper. Mr R.R.Garg, Additional Superintending Engineer, welcomed the decision: " After this notification, the PSEB will know the exact consumption of power in the colonies and the villages merged to form the civic body. The department will meet the power requirements more efficiently," he said. Meanwhile, the Zirakpur
Nagar Panchayat has received 70 applications for no
objection certificates (NOCs). Of these, 20 applicants
have been issued the NOCs by the Executive Officer, Mr A.
L. Bansal. Rally against burning crackers CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — As many as 470 boy and girl students of Government High School, Sector 7 C took part in a rally "Say no to fire crackers'' , organised by the Children's Alliance for Protection of the Environment " Cape''. Children carrying posters and banners passed through various streets in Sector 7 and 26. Messages on posters read "Fire works cause pollution and injuries, stop it, "Ban fire crackers''," Diwali is Deepawali and not noise and air pollution'', "Patakas se karro kinara, paryavaran rahe savachh hammara''. The students were led by Mrs Karuna Kansra and Jaswinder Kaur. Later, nearly 200 students of primary classes participated in an on-the-spot paiting competition on this theme. The school Principal, Mrs Urmil Dogra, advised the students not to burn crackers and thus cause environmental pollution and burn money. Mr S.K. Sharma, President, Environment Society of India, who presided over the function said he had appealed to all principals to take a pledge from the students on Sankalp Divas that they will not burn fire crackers. He pointed out that
bursting crackers produces carbon monoxide. Noise
pollution rises to many decibels on Divali, which causes
discomfort and in some cases can even burst ear drums. |
SNIPPETS 'Rangliya Rangrez' staged CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 —A play titled 'Rangliya Rangrez' was staged at the Open Air Theatre, Department of Indian Theatre, Panjab University, here today. Written by Sapna, it has been directed by Suparna. The story begins with the visit of Lord Krishna's messenger to earth to understand the changes it has undergone. He meets youths, a political leader and the police. Pranjan as Krishna, Anshuman as Udhav, Deepak as a political leader and Megh as the inspector have performed well. Loose plot and bad actor movements added to less concentration on dialogue delivery. Nagar kirtan procession CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — A nagar kirtan procession will be taken out from the Sector 19 Gurdwara on November 20 to mark the birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev. This decision was taken at a meeting of the Nagar Kirtan Talmel Committee held under the chairmanship of Major N.S. Rangi (retd) at the Sector 34 Gurdwara here today. The procession will move through various sectors and terminate at the Sector 23 Gurdwara. Students display science models SAS NAGAR, Oct 30 — Models based on different subjects concerning human life were displayed by students of Lawrence Public School at a science exhibition organised in the school premises in Phase 6 here today. An interesting part of the exhibition was exposure of students and visitors to the net facility. Students could be seen explaining the use of computers for a better and easy learning. Use of projector slides and other innovative ways in classroom learning were on display. Ms Veena Malhotra, Principal of the school, said students of three houses of the school — faith, peace and hope — participated in the exhibition. Congress chief 'threatened' CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — The officiating president of the local unit of the Congress, Mr Kulbushan Gupta, has reported to the police that he has been receiving threatening telephone calls from unidentified persons. According to sources, a person called him up at about 10.30 pm and threatened to "fix him if he persisted with his remarks against a former union minister who had recently joined the party". His wife was receiving the calls for the past three to four days. A complaint has been lodged at the Sector 19 police station and further investigations are on. His telephone is likely to be tapped to ascertain the identity of the callers, the sources added. Halloween bash today CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — A Halloween bash will be held at Jail House Rock here on October 31 in collaboration with the X-Factor. This was stated in a press note here today. Sunayana Bhinder of the X-Factor said the show would have a masquerade party and fancy dress event. Halloween falls on the evening of October 31. Fires are lit to ward off evil spirits. Mitter Bains, Mr North, Malaika, a VJ, and Rummy, a DJ, will atend the party. GTU meeting today CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — The general body meeting of the Government Teachers Union (GTU), Chandigarh, will be held at Masjid Ground, Sector 20, on October 31. Mr Harbir Singh,
Convener of the union, said the problems of teachers
would be discussed at the meeting. |
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