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| Monday, March 20, 2000, Chandigarh, India |
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I helped
Home Secretary take bribes, confesses Goel CHANDIGARH, March 19 — The Union Home Ministry has, reportedly, taken a serious view of the contents of the confessional statement of K.B. Goel, Office Superintendent (Records) (now under suspension), given before a Magistrate on the night of March 14. As a result of this alleged confession of his role as an intermediary between various functionaries of the Administration and the Home Secretary, the Ministry has, reportedly, directed the Chandigarh Home Secretary to proceed on a long leave. Investigations reveal that K.B. Goel made this confessional statement before the Subdivisional Magistrate, Mr Ashish Kundra, on the night of March 14, listing chronologically all the "actions" in which benefits were passed on to those who paid bribes. K.B. Goel confessed that he was under suspension before the Home Secretary, Mr N.K. Jain, joined the Administration. He confessed that he had been suspended by the previous Home Secretary for some lapses in a case of laboratory attendants. "I had been chargesheeted. No inquiry had been conducted. I contacted him (the new Home Secretary) through some employee of an engineering college who told me that he had some acquaintance who could get Mr Jain to do the work. Mr Rajender Kumar, a carpenter in the engineering college, took me to Mr Joshi, a retired Deputy Secretary of the Haryana Agricultural Marketing Board. He asked me to bring a copy of the chargesheet," he said. "He told me that I would have to bribe the Home Secretary for reinstatement. I gave him (Mr Joshi), in the first instance, Rs 25,000 in cash at his residence in Sector 38. After a few days, I came to know that my file had been sought by the Home Secretary. I was reinstated. Mr Joshi took me to Mr Jain's residence to thank him." "Posts of Assistant and Assistant Secretary were vacant in the State Transport Authority," he said. He also said he had contacted someone in the Administration who had agreed to pay for getting these jobs within two-three days. "He gave me the money around August past year. I gave the money to the Home Secretary at his residence and the orders were issued," he said. He disclosed that after this, another man who was already working there was brought to him for another position. "As desired by the Home Secretary, I demanded Rs 2 lakh in advance from the man, but, he paid Rs 1.5 lakh only. I gave the sum to the Home Secretary at his residence and the orders sought were issued in two days. It was also settled that both men would pay at least Rs 50,000 per month, regularly. They paid for four months," he said. "After the transfer of Mr Arun Sekhri, they stopped paying as they said that they were not allowed to collect money. On February 3, all staff of the STA was transferred. Annoyed at this transfer, Mr Baljit Singh made a complaint against me which has been sent to the CBI," K.B. Goel told the Magistrate in his statement. He also confessed that a driver-cum-manual assistant in another department was promoted as inspector after he had paid the amount demanded. A CTU conductor, whose services had been terminated some years ago, was reinstated after his appeal was upheld. He had also paid a huge bribe. K.B. Goel also confessed that an Executive Engineer of the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation did not want to go back to his parent Enginering Department, for which, he paid Rs 95,000 in cash. One woman teacher was taken on deputation and posted in a city school after her husband had paid some money. The teacher and her husband had visited the office of the Secretary and were, reportedly, referred to him. K.B. Goel also confessed that a police inspector, whose increment had been stopped, paid Rs 75,000 before his appeal was accepted and his increment restored. A woman teacher, whose services had been terminated, was reinstated after she also paid a huge bribe, Goel said. He said he had contacted a senior official of the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking at the instance of the Home Secretary to convey his displeasure. When the official had approached the Home Secretary, he had expressed his ignorance. Same thing happened with another official of another department. The statement also described how some senior functionaries of an important department of the Administration were summoned to a city hotel for negotiating a "deal". He said he had never wanted to do all this, but, since he was nearing retirement, he had been told not to worry. Investigations revealed that the Administration had been keeping the Union Home Ministry aware of the developments in the case. The Union Home Secretary, the Director of the CBI and others in the ministry were, reportedly, informed about the confessional statements and further progress in the case. The ministry was reportedly monitoring the progress at its own level also. K.B. Goel, in another sworn statement, admitted to writing a letter at the instance of the Administration to defame some of its top officials. The letter, though anonymous, had been doing rounds not only here but also in the offices of the Union Government in Delhi. The contents of the letter, he said, were dictated to him, but, he was not sure for what purpose it would be used. Meanwhile, the wife of
K.B. Goel today, reportedly, made a statement before the
District Magistrate and the Subdivisional Magistrate that
she had been forced to sign a complaint and an affidavit
about her husband. |
“Huge
gaps” in communication CHANDIGARH, March 19 — Inadequate and improper communication between the aircrew and other agencies directly involved with flying activity is responsible for a majority of aircraft accidents attributed to human error (HE). A recent study undertaken by the IAF’s Delhi-based Directorate of Flight Safety (DFS) has revealed that 48 per cent of all accidents resulting from HE are caused due to ‘’communication failure’’. The study, the contents of which were made available here by sources, refers to the communication failure not as a failure in the overall system, but a ‘’serious breakdown in communication amongst the pilots in the air as well as between the pilots and ground-based controllers’’. The study states that sometimes there is not enough communication, and sometimes there is no communication at all, but most of the times it is not done correctly. When radio transmission scripts of accidents are analysed, the study mentions, ‘’huge gaps’’ in communication are “glaringly” evident. The study suggests that all aviators believe themselves to be good communicators and this is where the challenge lies — how to improve communication skills when it is not considered as a problem. Many a times, pilots are reading back incorrect information pertaining to flying parameters like the height, altimeter settings and even the runway in use. The ground controllers too are failing to spot the pilots’ errors in the read backs. Sources say that the fundamentals of the sender-message-receiver-feedback hook are not being given priority and the earlier practice of junior pilots spending spare time at the air traffic control, listening to radio transmissions to educate themselves and learn from others’ mistakes is also on the wane. Like in any other profession, a specialised-inhouse jargon for pilot - controller communication has developed over the years. But in the process, much of the standardisation, which is imperative, has been ‘’totally’’ lost. Many terms and phrases used in routine communication have deviated from their original meaning. Sources say that for instance the term ‘’Roger’’ implies that ‘’I have received and understood your transmission’’, but is increasingly used by aviators to convey ‘’yes’’ or ‘’I will comply with your instructions’’ — the correct aviation jargon for which are ‘’affirmative’’ and ‘’wilco’’. The air force continues to lose pilots and aircraft on this account and the study advises that the aircrew and ground controllers must take all the time and effort to master the aviation terms as stipulated in the standard service glossary (referred to in the IAF as the IAP 3304 MATS). Further, personnel must resist the temptation to deviate from standard terms and avoid using improper aviation jargon or slangs. It is also suggested
that pilots spend more time in the flying control and
flight safety establishments to listen to ongoing radio
transmissions in an effort to absorb the correct jargon
and educate themselves on the finer aspects of
communication. |
No funds
for academic events abroad CHANDIGARH, March 19 — The Panjab University staff applying for higher studies abroad is in a fix as the University Grants Commission has released hardly any money for the applicants selected by the Travel Committee. The staff of the centre for higher learning is often in a fix because the conference dates are communicated at short notice or even after the events are over. The matter came up for discussion at the Travel Subsidy Committee for grant of subsidy to university teachers and scientific, technical, and administrative staff for participation in international conferences and other academic events abroad. Due to scarcity of funds, the Syndicate has postponed the discussions and a formal decision on the recommendations. It has been pointed out that the university has received hardly any grants on this account. No specific order has been passed by the Senate nor released by the office in this direction, according to Dr P.P. Arya, President of the Panjab University Teachers Association. Teachers who have been recommended by the committee for attending international conferences abroad for 1999-2000 include Dr Narinder Singh (Department of Statistics), Dr Sudip Minhas (Department of English) and Dr Prince Sharma (Department of Microbiology). Teachers who have been named for April- May 2000 are Dr Harpreet Pruthi (Department of English), Dr S.K.Taneja (Department of Zoology), Dr P.K. Mittal (Department of Zoology) and Dr Meera Malik (Department of English). The university decides the applications on the basis of merit before selection. According to a UGC letter, foreign travel to attend workshops, conferences and symposia can be permitted by the university provided it is considered necessary for academic development. Financial assistance figures under different heads. Those attending conferences once in five years are paid 100 per cent of the amount, while those who make it once in four years are paid 75 per cent of the expenditure and those who travel once in three years are paid 50 per cent. The date for financial
assistance is counted from the last day of the conference
last attended. Some travelled in 1997 but still awaited
payment and some teachers made payments out of their own
pockets, according to Dr Arya. The scheme provides that
the UGC pays 50 per cent for the scheme and the rest is
given by the university. The current situation regarding
receipt of grants had not been communicated, he added. |
Hovering
between life and death CHANDIGARH, March 19 — Pappan (30) is today struggling between life and death as his kidneys have failed and if he does not have kidney transplant at the earliest, he will die. His meagre earnings support his mother, four kids and two younger brothers. When he learnt about the seriousness of his problem, he felt as if life had come to a standstill. His wife Anita thinks of ending her life. Eleven years back, Pappan had come to Chandigarh from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh in search of employment. He started living in Sector 25 Kumhar Colony and was working in a hotel. He started complaining of backache and fever about an year back. He ignored it, thinking it to be normal pain and kept taking ordinary pain-killers. When his condition started deteriorating three months back, he was admitted to the Sector 16 General Hospital. It was here that the doctors attending upon him discovered that his kidneys had stopped functioning. A few days back he was shifted to the PGI. He was first examined by doctors in the gastroenterology ward was advised to go in for kidney transplantation. He was referred to the Nephrology Department, where doctors asked him to arrange for a related donor and Rs 2 lakh before coming back. The Medical Superintendent is trying to get him Rs 25,000 from the PGI. Anita knows the task of arranging the remaining amount is gigantic but has faith in God. They only have Rs 1,500 and have spent more than Rs 50,000 on his treatment during the past three months. His wife has sold all her precious belongings and they are in debt after borrowing from their near and dear ones. His eighty-year-old paternal uncle is likely to come from Muzaffarnagar to donate a kidney. No organisation has come
forward to help him so far. Those interested to help him
can contact the office of the Medical Superintendent or
the PGI police post. |
Hospitals
ready for crisis CHANDIGARH, March 19 — In view of any emergency on the occasion of the festival of colours, Holi, tomorrow, city hospitals have geared up for any eventuality. Hospital authorities maintain that like past years, every effort has been been made to ensure that accident victims, cases of intoxication and Holi-related health problems are dealt with on a priority basis. Since several cases of accidents and other mishaps are reported from the city, effort effort will be made to provide quick relief to the victims. Dr G. Diwan, Deputy Medical Superintendent of the Sector 16 General Hospital, says three ambulances each in three shifts will be deputed tomorrow for bringing accident and other victims. In case of emergency, ambulances can be called by dialling telephone numbers 102 and 782457. The emergency has been spruced up. All essential medical items like silken threads and dressing material have been procured. Every effort is being made to shift the emergency patients to wards and make room for potential emergencies cases, he adds. Though no special arrangements have been made, the PGI has enough staff and infrastructure to cope with any kind of emergency and routine cases, says Dr D. Behara, Joint Medical Superintendent of the PGI. Various departments of Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, such as eye, skin and orthopaedics will be on alert tomorrow. The ambulances will be
in readiness and the doctors at the emergency, including
specialists, will be available, adds Prof D.P. Mehta,
Medical Superintendent. Gulaal, pichkaris are favourite Despite a definite increase in the prices of various Holi-related items, the demand for them had registered an increase. According to a survey of the market, gulaal and pichkaris continued to top the list of the buyers. Priced from Rs 10 to over Rs 200 the pichkaris seemed to be the children's favourite. Several new options to colour the near and dear one are also available. While the make-up creams are available in the range of Rs 60 to Rs 80 and perfumed colour water bottles for over Rs 100 a bottle. The gulaal pouches could
be had from Rs 5 per pouch. However, the prices came down
as one bought more quantity. |
Sharp
right or left, and down you go PANCHKULA, March 19—The road on either side of the level crossing in Sector 19 is a driver’s nightmare with the process of carpeting the road hanging fire. Though the work of laying of stone metal was completed nearly a month back, there has been little progress since then. To add to the trouble, there is a depression on either side of the road making it difficult for drivers to traverse the narrow strip running along. Most scooterists, in an effort to avoid the arduous task of crossing the stone metal, choose to take this narrow strip. They are required to deftly manoeuvre by the electricity pole and the wires to get across. trouble is heightened when night falls and there is greater risk of slipping into the depression, especially for cyclists. There is a single light which illuminates the area around the crossing. Scooterists who choose to avoid this road are asking for trouble and those who do take a chance by crossing the stone metal are in no way better placed,’’ Mr Roomil Sharma, a resident of the colony across, contends. He states that those taking the narrow strip run the risk of banging into the pole or slipping while the stone metal can leave the driver with a punctured tyre to attend to. He contends that he has faced the trouble.``We are between the devil and the deep sea,’’ he adds. Meanwhile, just across, Ramesh is happy with the state of affairs. Setting punctures straight has never been better, he claims, though business is going down presently.``Now, most cyclists have become aware of the hazards of stone metal and avoid that route,’’ he rues. The residents in the
adjoining colony in Sector 19 are sore over
inaction.Initially, we welcomed the move of the
department concerned to recarpet our road which was in
deplorable condition. Now, the same effort has become the
bane of our existence and we are repenting that the work
was initiated,’’ Mrs Swarn Bala, a resident in
the vicinity, opines. |
Villagers plan rally
against acquisition SAS NAGAR, March 19 — To protest against the acquisition of land for further expansion of SAS Nagar urban estate, residents of 25 villages around Sohana will organise a rally before filing their objections to the land acquistion notices on March 22. The rally will start from Gurdwara Singh Saheedan, Sohana, and end at the PUDA office in Phase 1 here. Mr Devinder Pal Singh, Convener of the Sohana Circle Sangharsh Committee, said during land acquistion by the PUDA in 1994 and 1996 for expansion of SAS Nagar, a compensation of Rs 1.75 lakh per acre was paid to farmers and the land was further sold at high rates, with farmers not getting the profits. The committee demanded that a farmer-friendly land polling scheme announced by the Congress regime in Punjab should be implemented while settling the cases of land acquisition in the area. CHANDIGARH The Pind Bachao Joint Action Committee invited the Chief Minister of Punjab, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, on March 26 to clarify his stand on the proposed Anandgarh town as thousands of villagers were feared to be uprooted in the process. Mr Gurbakash Singh Dhillon, President of the committee, said in a press note that political leaders from different parties would participate in the bhog at Mullanpur and further action would be announced on the occasion. Criticising the Chief
Minister, he said Mr Badal was against the setting up of
New Chandigarh, to be built by the Beant Singh
Government, but now had changed his stand. |
Contaminated
water in villages MANAULI (SAS Nagar), March 19 — More than six villages in this area are getting contaminated water supply because of delay in the execution of a rural water supply scheme. Residents of Manauli, Chilla, Chao Majra, Pappri and other adjoining villages have been demanding immediate implementation of the project. Sewer outlets from Chandigarh and SAS Nagar are creating additional problems for the villagers. Residents in the area say there is a rise in the incidence of skin diseases in this area, which may be due to to these sewer outlets. The villagers accuse the
authorities concerved of not taking the issue seriously.
Sub- soil water in more than six villages has been found
unfit for human consumption. If the water samples do not
match the conditions, the authorities should take serious
note of the situation, say local residents. Sorry, officials have no time PANCHKULA, March 19 — Members of the Haryana Housing Board Colony Residents Welfare Association, Pinjore, have alleged that officials of the board refused to meet the office-bearers of the organisation when they went to them with problems plaguing the colony. The President, Mr Mangat
Ram, alleged that they were categorically told that the
officials had no time to listen to their grievances and
demands. These include repair of roads, opening of a
primary heath centre, government school and community
centre, slow progress of development work and deplorable
condition of parks. |
Tyres
deflated to oppose decision ZIRAKPUR, March 19 — Residents of Bhabhat village have expressed their resentment against the decision of the District Food and Supply Department, Ropar, forbidding the supply of kerosene to the consumers who have the LPG double barrel connection (DBC). Recently, an Inspector of the department visited the village and stamped ration cards of gas users. Womenfolk of the village surrounded the car of the official and deflated its tyres to show their resentment. They alleged that the government is going to put extra burden on them by increasing the LPG gas rate, besides reducing their monthly kerosene quota. Mr Sushil Chander,
however, said that as per the government orders, 10
litres of kerosene would be given to the consumers having
no gas connection, while 3 litres for this with single
LPG cylinder one connection, but no kerosene would be
given to DBC holders. |
Residents
of Indira Flats ‘miserable’ CHANDIGARH, March 19
— Are the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh and
Chandigarh Administration waiting for tragedy to strike
before they take action against broken roads, filthy
surroundings and foul smell which are making the life
miserable for the residents of Indira Flats, Mani Majra,
questioned the General Secretary of the Residents Welfare
Association of Indira Flats. He added that the pit
between Indira Flats and Subash Nagar emits foul smell
and is a potential disease carrier for the residents,
there are no proper streetlights, no parks and no
community hall, seeking a remedy to the situation. |
Toy-making
workshop concludes DERA BASSI, March 19 — A workshop on making soft toys organised by Canara Bank to promote entrepreneurship among women, concluded at Devinagar here today. The workshop was organised in collaboration with the Indian Council for Women Entrepreneurs, Punjab. A press note issued by the Divisional Manager of the bank said 15 women participated in the five-day workshop. Mr C.T. Purushothama, Divisional Manager of the bank, advised the trainees to make best use of the training and to take up self-employment. He also recommended the formation of self help groups in villages to inculcate the habit of savings. Addressing the trainees, Ms Ved Nanda, Chairperson of the council, assured them of all possible support in marketing their products. Mr Prithi Singh,
Sarpanch of the village, and other bank officials were
also present. |
No maps
without public streets KHARAR, March 19 — The local municipal committee has decided that no map in new colonies will be sanctioned unless the roads in these colonies are declared public streets. According to information
given by Mr Gian Chand Gupta, Executive officer of the
committee, many new colonies had come up and more were
coming up in municipal limits but the roads had not been
approved by the committee. It decided not to sanction any
map in these colonies unless the roads and lanes were
declared Punjab Municipal Streets, as per the Punjab
Municipal Act, 1911, Section 171-A. |
Club
delegates hold conference CHANDIGARH, March 19 — More than 380 delegates of 31 Lion Clubs and Leo Clubs participated in the joint regional conference, Sangathan-2000, at Tagore Theatre today. All past district governors of the clubs also participated in the conference. The outstanding clubs, presidents, secretaries and other office-bearers, including the Zone Chairman, were honoured on the occasion. Mr Gurcharan Singh, Ms Subhlesh Bansal, Mr P.S. Khera, Mr Sushil Goyal and Mr Baljeet Modi were adjudged the best club Presidents. Mr Arun Uppal, Mr Sanjay Mehdi Ratta, Mr J.S. Rahi and Ms Renu Bali were adjudged the best Secretaries among the six Leo Clubs. Mr Bipinjit Singh and Mr Harjindera Modi were declared the best Presidents of Leo Clubs while Mr Nitin Seth was declared the best Leo Secretary. Mr B.S. Garcha was declared the best Zone Chairman. Mr Paramjeet Kohli, Governor of the District 321-F was the chief guest. At the conference, one computer, wheelchairs and hearing aids were donated to the handicapped persons and the school for deaf and dumb. Blood group tests were also conducted at the venue. Mr Satish Seth, Mr Arun Uppal and Mr Baljeet Modi were given Lions of the Year award. Meanwhile, Lions Club
Chandigarh Central, LC Greater, LC Plaza, LC Rose, LC SAS
Nagar and Lions Club Kurali were declared the best clubs.
A branch of Leo Club was also inaugurated. |
2 found dead SAS NAGAR, March 19
— Two persons were found dead on the
Chandigarh-Sohana road here early this morning. According
to the information, Ajiab Singh, a resident of Mauli
village, and Bhadhur Singh, a resident of Kajheri, were
going on their cycle from Chandigarh to Manuali when an
unidentified vehicle crushed them to death. |
32
tenants held for not informing police CHANDIGARH, March 19 — The police has arrested 35 persons, including 32 tenants, from Burail village for not intimating the police about their stay. According to the police, three cases have been registered against them. Woman killed: A cyclist, Shanta Devi, was killed on the spot when she was hit by a truck(PB-12-A-7995) in Dadu Majra Colony on Saturday. According to the police, the truck driver fled after hitting her. Later the police found that the truck was owned by Hari Ram Gupta, a resident of the same colony and that it was being driven by his son. While the truck has been impounded, the accused has absconded. The police has registered a case. Liquor seized: The police has arrested six persons and seized 32 bottles and 130 pouches of whisky from them. While Sunil Kumar of Sector 24 was arrested with 24 bottles from Sector 47, Raju Srivastava, a resident of Maloya Colony, was held with 30 pouches from Maloya Colony. Another resident of Maloya Colony, Mange Singh, was also held with 30 pouches from the same colony. The police arrested Lakha Singh of Maloya Colony with 40 pouches and Krishan Lal, also from Maloya Colony, with 30 pouches. As many as eight bottles were recovered from Ajay Kumar from the same colony. Separate cases under the Excise Act have been registered. Three held: Three residents of Badheri village — Vijay Kumar, Surinder Singh and Deepak Kumar — have been arrested on the charge of stealing bicycles. The police has recovered
three bicycles from them. Three separate cases have been
registered. |
Shooting
and kidnap accused caught DERA BASSI, March 19 — The Punjab police has arrested one and identified three other accused in a recent daylight shootout and kidnapping case here. According to the police sources, Gurdeep Singh alias Bawa, a resident of Kamon Majra in the Sangrur district, has been arrested. The three other co-accused are said to be Sukhpreet alias Sikhi, a resident of Chittanwala in Patiala, Ajay of Uttar Pradesh, and Fauji, a resident of Zirakpur. They are said to be involved in a number of violent crimes. Three of the accused are in their twenties and have studied till Class XII. Their fourth accomplice, Fauji, is 30-year-old. According to the police, the accused were involved in a large number of crimes in Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib and Sangrur districts of Punjab. The four accused, in a Fiat NE car, had chased Mr Lalit Kumar of SAS Nagar before stopping his car at Jwaharpur, about 2 km from here. They robbed him of Rs 20,000 at gunpoint and took away his Maruti van and a mobile telephone in this January 31 incident. Mr Lalit Kumar had withdrawn Rs 2 lakh from a branch of Canara Bank in Chandigarh. Out of this, he had deposited Rs 1.80 lakh in the State Bank of Patiala in Dera Bassi. The accused kidnapped Mr Lalit Kumar and took him in his van towards Raipur Rani via Barwala. After travelling some distance and snatching the money which he had with him, they threw him out near Raipur Rani and took away his van. A case under Section 392 of the Indian Penal Code was registered in Dera Bassi police station in his regard. Two of the accused, Ajay and Fauji, have also been said to be involved in the Inderjit Singla shootout case in the local market on March 3. The victim, Inderjit Singla, a Chandigarh resident, was shot dead from a close range after being robbed of Rs 4,39,581 in broad daylight by them. He was shot while purchasing sweets from a shop near the State Bank of Patiala branch. Inderjit Singla was a senior laboratory assistant in Government Senior Secondary School, Dyalpura, near Zirakpur and had withdrawn the salary amount of the school staff from the bank. He was accompanied by the school Principal and other colleagues. An alert had been sounded by the police after registering a case under Sections 302, 392, 34 of the IPC and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act. Mr H.S. Bhullar, DSP, in
a press note, said the gang came to light when one of
their accomplice was caught while trying to rob the
Central Bank of India branch in Sant Longowal Institute
of Engineering and Technology at Sangrur. |
The right hand doesn't know what left is doing THE decision of the Chandigarh Administration to launch a concerted “plant bougainvillea” drive on important roads in the city has been appreciated by the residents. They have, however, expressed their anguish over the manner these drives tend to end up. In a letter to Sentinel, Mr S.P. Mittal, a resident of Sector 17 of Panchkula, says that similar drives have been launched earlier. What is lacking is the subsequent maintenance of these plants. Consequently, a large number of plants either die for want of irrigation or perish due to trespass by pedestrians.These plants must be tended like babies. Once grown to full height, they provide beautiful hedges, thereby saving lakhs of rupees, which the administration has been spending on erecting steel barricades. The other thing, says Mr Mittal, is lack of coordination between various departments of the administration and the Municipal Corporation. The electricity wing of the Municipal Corporation is now replacing the underground cable on Madhya Marg between Transport Chowk and the Sukhna Cho bridge. While digging up the underground cable, all bougainvilleas grown on the median have been uprooted mercilessly. Can’t the activities of the two departments be coordinated to avoid this merciless killing of plants, asks Mr Mittal. Rawel award: The city-based S. Mehar Singh Rawel Memorial Charitable Society has decided to institute S. Mehar Singh Rawel memorial award for the best journalist in Punjabi language. The works of Punjabi newspaper journalists between January and December this year will be evaluated by a jury comprising experts before announcement of the award winner early next year. The awardee will get Rs 15000 in cash besides a citation to be presented to him or her at a public function. Editor of Khalsa Advocate, a publication of Chief Khalsa Dewan, Mr Mehar Singh Rawel was a known writer, thinker and journalist. After his death, his family members formed this trust to perpetuate his memory. The society has also decided to institute S. Mehar Singh memorial fellowship through which a monthly financial assistance of Rs 750 would be given to any student doing his doctorate on Sikh religion, history, philosophy, sociology or literature from any Indian university. Details about the best Punjabi journalist award or the fellowship can be had from Mr A.S. Rawel, secretary of the trust, 57, Sector 21-A, Chandigarh. Honour: Mr Salim Ahmed Shahsroha, Manager (Audit), State Bank of Patiala, has secured first position in an all-India inter-bank Hindi essay writing competition conducted by the Mumbai branch of the Bank of India under instructions from the Indian Banks Association for celebrating the golden jubilee of the official language. One hundred and 96 bank employees, including officers from all over the country, had participated in the competition. Mr Shahsroha had earlier won the second position in an all-India inter-bank essay writing competition organised by the Reserve Bank of India last year. Best garden: Mr Bhupinder Pal Singh, a resident of Sector 18-D, has been a keen plant lover. He has hundreds of bonsai, cacti, succulents, foliage and other plants in his garden which was adjudged the “Best Garden” in the two-kanal category in the recently concluded Festival of Gardens. Other salient features of his garden are the artificially created rockeries, a Japanese garden, water features, different levels of sittings in grass and stones, a massive circular glass house, a bridge, a rivulet, a water fall, an indoor and outdoor bar, stones of different shapes and sizes. “It is my hobby and passion. Whatever free time I have, I spend it on my garden. I keep on innovating ideas and give them practical shape,” adds Mr Bhupinder Pal Singh. Traffic islands: Come summer and traffic islands or roundabouts in the city become the most frequented spots for evening strollers. But are these traffic islands safe ? The picture on the top of the page was taken by Manoj Mahajan on Saturday last at the traffic island of Sectors 20,30,32 and 33. On the previous night, a truck driver drove onto the island after he lost control over his speeding vehicle. Fortunately, none came in the way of the truck. Such incidents are becoming too frequent in the city. Only a day earlier, at the Government Press Intersection, the official car of the Deputy Commissioner was hit by a speeding Maruti leading to a serious head injury to the wife of the Deputy Commissioner. Perhaps roundabouts and traffic light intersections need to be made safe, both for road users and also for those who use these roundabouts for relaxing during evenings in summer. Better roads: For the first time, three roundabouts with 100 feet additional surface on all four sides, in the city are being treated with mestic concrete technique to present swelling and bumps in the roads. While the work on the cricket stadium roundabout has been completed, the operations are going on at the Bajwara (Sector 22-35) chowk. The work on The Tribune chowk will commence next week. The administration has entrusted this task to a Delhi-based firm. The cost on one circular road is Rs 8-10 lakhs, nearly four times the cost on resurfacing by the traditional method. The material for the mestic concrete is prepared by mixing stone dust (20 per cent), lime dust (20 per cent), bitumen 85/25 grade (10 per cent) and crushed stones (50 per cent). This mixture is then heated in the cookers at the boiling point 172-200°C. It is then carried on a trolley and spread manually. Stone pebbles are placed to prevent surface from becoming slippery. In 10 minutes’ time the treated surface becomes cold and can be used immediately. Cooking of the material
is done at the site in the electrically operated motor
trolley brought from New Delhi. |
Admission to dental colleges I want to bring to the notice of the authorities concerned that the future of many students who had appeared in the Punjab PMET examination (1999-2000) is at stake owing to delay in the adminission to three dental colleges, Dasmesh Institute of Dental Sciences & Research, Faridkot; Guru Nanak Dev Dental College, Sunam & Baba Jaswant Singh Dental College, Ludhiana.The prospects released by the Punjab Government or PMET-1999 contained the names of various dental colleges to which admissions were to be made and the names of the above mentioned colleges featured in bold letters in that list. After the PMET exam & counselling was held at Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot so as to make admissions to the various dental colleges but their were made only to three colleges i.e. to the two govt. dental colleges at Patiala and Amritsar, and Guru Ram Das Dental College, Amritsar, but the admissions of the rest of the colleges were not made, about which a spokesperson of Baba Farid University told the enquiring people that these colleges had yet to get approval of the dental council of India & then the govt before they can make admissions. The first question which arises is in what capacity were the names of these colleges included in the prospectus. Eight months have passed and a stalemate prevails as far as the admissions to these colleges is concerned. When contacted, officials from these colleges said that their case has been marked as ‘favourable’ by D.C.I. and forwarded to the Ministry of Health, Centre govt. and they would make admissions only after getting a nod from the ministry. The result of all this is that there is an enormous mental pressure on the students as their valuable time is being lost. There is a total dilemmma as students do not know what exactly should they do, whether they should opt for other courses, wait for the admissions or prepare for the forthcoming PMET exam? And still there is no guarantee that this thing would not happen again! Another factor that bothers — everybody is that even if they get admission into one of these colleges they are going to take their exam in the supplementary batch, which again means a loss of six months wihtout any fault of the students. Baba Farid University of Health Sciences was established with a view that matters pertaining to medical sciences would be more effectively dealt with unfortunately its role in providing help to these students still bears a big question mark! SUMEET SHARMA Anomaly in posts of teacher The Chandigarh Administration recently advertised some posts of teacher in various subjects for schools of Chandigarh. The last date for the submission of applications is March 21. There seems to be an anomaly in the qualification laid down for science (non-medical) teachers. Only candidates who had physics, chemistry and mathematics as their elective subjects in BSc are eligible to apply. Perhaps the department is not aware that there is another type of BSc (non-medical) introduced in some colleges of Chandigarh (MCM college, SD college, for example) and the other parts of the country since 1994 under the UGC scheme of vocationalisation of education. The subjects taught in this B.Sc are physics, mathematics and computer application. Chemistry is replaced by computer application. Admission to BSc vocational course requires higher merit in the qualifying examination than for admission to conventional B.Sc. It is unfortunate that the Chandigarh Administration has chosen to debar the holders of BSc vocational degree from applying against the posts of science (non-medical) teachers. The matter needs to be reconsidered. J.L. Davessar |
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