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| Thursday, March 23, 2000, Chandigarh, India |
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Move to
clip powers of CDA CHANDIGARH, March 22 — In a significant development concerning the welfare of disabled ex-servicemen, the Union Ministry of Personnel is believed to have forwarded a decision to the Ministry of Defence, clipping the powers of the Controller of Defence Accounts (CDA) to revise the scale of disability as recommended by a competent medical board. Informed sources added that the scale to determine the percentage of disability had also been favourably revised and three categories had now been formed. Disability between 20 per cent to 50 per cent would be considered as 50 per cent disability for the purpose of determining disability pension, while 50 per cent to 75 per cent would be considered as 75 per cent. Disability above 75 per cent would be considered as 100 per cent. The Ministry of Defence is yet to issue the final notification in this regard. Disabled personnel released from service had a long-standing grievance that in many cases the percentage of disability as recommended by a competent medical board was reduced ‘’arbitrarily’’ by officials at the CDA (Pensions), consequently lowering their benefits and claims. They pointed out that officials concerned with disbursing pensions were based at Allahabad and did not even get to physically see the disabled soldier. They added that in such a case the officials were in no rightful position to take any decision to reduce the pension. Also, in many instances, the scale of disability was continually lowered over a period of years, without the recommendation of any medical board. Sources said that as per the yet-to-be-implemented decision, the percentage of disability once duly approved by a competent medical board would be treated as final and could not be reduced by any agency. Further, the CDA’s powers to order a review board to re-determine the scale of disability as fixed by a competent medical board at the time of release had also been taken away. Sources added that as per the decision, only an affected individual could ask for a review medical board. Government agencies concerned could set up a review board only if demanded by an individual and not otherwise. Several ex-servicemen’s associations had over the years demanded that once the medical category had been fixed by a competent medical board, it should be treated as final and no other agency should be allowed to step in later. A number of memorandums were also forwarded to Army Headquarters and the Defence Ministry in this regard. Army Headquarters, it is learnt, had recommended some time back that the percentage of disability as determined by the release medical board or the re-survey medical board should be treated as final and the office of the Medical Advisor attached to the CDA (Pensions) should be abolished. Meanwhile, the revision
of disability pension, as recommended by the Fifth Pay
Commission is still pending with the government. Affected
ex-servicemen are still being paid as per the earlier
rates, which is Rs 750 per month for 100 per cent
disability. The issue of similarly revising the
attendance allowance is also hanging fire. Those with 100
per cent disability are authorised to employ an attendant
to take care of their needs. |
MCC nets
7.51 lakh through auction CHANDIGARH, March 22 — The Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) today netted an amount of Rs 7.51 lakh through the auction of four car parking lots adjacent to the cinema halls in the city. At an auction held here, the maximum amount of Rs 3.21 lakh was fetched through the auction of the parking near the KC Cinema in Sector 17 as against the reserve price of Rs 2.5 lakh. The second highest amount fetched was Rs 2.7 lakh by the auction of the parking lot adjacent to the Piccadily Cinema in Sector 34 here. The reserve price for this parking lot was Rs 2 lakh. The parking near the Neelam Cinema in Sector 17 could only muster an amount of Rs 55,000 as against the reserve price of Rs 50,000. Similarly, the parking lot near the Jagat Cinema in the sector 17 was auctioned for Rs 1.1 lakh, slightly above the reserve price of Rs 1 lakh. While the response to the above parking lots was average, other three parking lots adjoining Batra, Nirman and the Kiran cinemas could not be put under the hammer for want of bidders. The bidders could be seen alleging that the reserve prices were on the higher side. It may be recalled that it was only after several years that the MCC had auctioned the cinema parking lots following the vacation of stay on the auction by a lower court recently, which had acted on the directives of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Earlier, the lower courts had stayed the auction of the parking lots, which had allegedly been illegally occupied by the cinema house owners, several times. Corporation sources said
the date for the auction of the remaining parking lots
would be announced soon. |
PU relief
for compartment candidates CHANDIGARH, March 22 — Two chances were always considered sufficient to clear compartment examination for university students. Panjab University recently, however, decided to give a special chance to students to appear thrice in the compartment exam. Interestingly, a Panjab University rule provides that in case a student failed to clear the compartment exam in two consecutive chances, his admission to first year in science and the art stream would be cancelled. The matter came up for discussion at a high governing body of the campus where there were divergent views on the subject. It was discussed that result of such candidates who got admission to BA I on the basis of compartment in plus two in April 1998 and appearance in plus two examination in April 1998 be reinstated if they passed their plus two examination in September 1999, in their third chance given by the Punjab School Education Board. The Punjab School Education Board has allowed a third (special) chance to clear compartments in plus two examination to such candidates who got compartment in the said examination during March 1995 to March 1998, sources said. The item on the agenda to allow three chances did not have the approval of the Vice-Chancellor directly. He thought two chances were enough to clear a compartment examination. Otherwise, there could be a provision of endless chances to clear a compartment, which only harmed the academic interests, Prof M.M.Puri said. The Panjab University
calender provides that “admission of a candidate
shall be provisional and shall be confirmed only after he
has cleared the examination “ from the parent
university or board in two consecutive chances subsequent
to his admission. |
Lightning
strikes bank CHANDIGARH, March 22 — A tragedy was averted when lightning struck the building of a private bank in Sector 9 here this afternoon. According to eyewitnesses, panic struck the area as the lightning struck the building around 2 pm. Hundreds of onlookers saw a it strike the building and a loud bang which could be heard more than 3 km away, was mistaken by a number of persons to be a bomb explosion. Mr H.S. Sawhney, who witnessed the incident, said the lightning suddenly descended on one of the lightning conductors. One of the longer conductors apparently nullified the its effect and prevented any damage to life and property. A vendor, Mr Surinder
Kumar, said the lightning lasted only a few seconds, but,
when it did, a tremor could be felt. A large number of
persons, including many from Sector 17, reached the area
after hearing the loud bang. |
City outraged at killing
of Sikhs CHANDIGARH, March 22 — Widespread condemnation of the massacre of Sikhs in the Anantnag district of Kashmir valley on the night of Holi continued for the second day today. The local units of various political parties, NGOs, social and voluntary organisations and other bodies condemned the killing of the innocent who were pulled out of their houses and shot. The Chandigarh Nagrik Sabha, the Rashtriya Raksha Dal, the local unit of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and its youth wing, the New Congress Party, the Panun Kashmir Movement, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the CPI, the CP(M), the Janata Dal (Secular), the Shiv Sena, the Anandgarh Hatao Sanjhi Sangarsh Committee, the Kashmiri Sahayak Sabha, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and the Residents Welfare Association. Lieut-Gen B.S. Randhawa, Air Vice-Marshal G.S. Punia and Col Harsharan Singh Sandhu of the Rashtriya Raksha Dal, in a joint statement, said the massacre of the Sikhs was a brutal, outrageous and cowardly act which told of a casual atttitude of the Jammu and Kashmir Government and poor intelligence. "The Rashtriya Raksha Dal believes that India is considered a soft target, leading to aircraft hijacking and the killing of innocent persons. The Union Government has failed to protect the life and property of citizens. The government should perform its duty or quit. Since the killers are operating from bases across the Line of Control, to put an end to the brutalities, India should strike at these bases and destroy these, regardless of the consequences. The party appeals to Sikhs to observe restraint, not to leave Jammu and Kashmir, but, defend themselves," the statement said. The local units of the Shiromani Akali Dal and its youth wing also described the killing of innocent Sikhs as a cowardly act. Both units demanded adequate compensation to the next of the kin of those killed and jobs to one member of each of the bereaved families. They also wanted that those responsible for the incident should be found and punished. Mr Chaman Lal Sharma, Mr Amarjit Sethi and Mr Tejbans Singh Jauhar, President, General Secretary and Secretary, respectively, of the Chandigarh Nagriik Sabha, in a joint statement, expressed shock at the killings. They expressed their sympathies towards the members of the bereaved families. They urged the American President, Mr Bill Clinton, to use his influence and ask Pakistan to stop this across-the-border terrorism. The local units of the
CPI, the CP(M) and the Janata Dal (Secular) organised a
demonstration at the Sector 17 Piazza and observed a
"national day of protest" by burning an effigy
of President Bill Clinton. Leaders of the three units
also strongly condemned the killings. They assailed the
Vajpayee Government for its alleged continuous apathy
towards the threat to the national unity and integrity by
foreign-aided extremists and mercenaries. Among those
present at the protest rally were Dr Joginder Dyal, Prof
H.S. Mehta, Mr Mohinder Sambher, Mr Sohan Lal Bansal, Mr
Inderjit Singh Grewal and Mr Rattan Singh Baghi. |
Villagers
seek basic amenities SAS NAGAR, March 22 — A number of residents of villages around Sohana, which are being acquired for further urbanisation of this estate, took out a procession on tractor-trolleys and cars before filing their objections to a notification issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act by the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA). The residents of Mauli Baidwan, Raipur Khurd, Lakhnour and Sohana villages, demanding basic amenities, implementation of ‘farmer-friendly land pooling scheme’ and sources of employment after acquisition of their lands, took out the procession starting from Gurdwara Singh Saheedan, Sohana, and ended in front of the PUDA office in Phase 1 here. The traffic on the road in front of the PUDA office was blocked for some time by the villagers. Along with their objections the residents also submitted their demands to the PUDA officials. Talking to the TNS, Mr Devinder Pal Singh, a representative of the villagers, said the Punjab Government should not scrap the land pooling scheme which had been announced by the previous Congress regime. He said the authorities had been urged to leave a 200-metre wide belt along the pehrni of the respective village. Mr Bhagat Singh, Sarpanch of Sohana village, said the villagers should be allowed to continue with their trades like dairy farming and other types of occupations. He said with the coming of urban structures around the village, it had been seen that the sewer and storm water system had choked. Laying of sewer and storm water lines in continuation with the urban planning has been demanded by the villagers. Fixing of quota in government jobs and seats in the professional colleges for the wards of the residents whose land was being acquired, relaying of village link roads and providing of employment avenues for residents of the villages has also been sought by them. Mr Devinder Pal said that the PUDA officials had indicated that the land pooling scheme was no more applicable. Later, leaders of the villagers met the Additional Chief Administrator (ACA), Mr Dipinder Singh, seeking adequate compensation for their lands. The ACA is reported to have told that the land cost was to be decided by the Land Acquisition Committee. Regarding other demands
the ACA is reported to have said that they would be
forwarded to the higher authorities. |
Harness the energies of mind and
remain healthy: Ravishankar CHANDIGARH, March 22 — “Appreciate life. Make life a celebration. Bring back human values to the society. “This was emphasised by Sri Sri Ravishankar, the founder of the International Art of Living Foundation, who was in the city today to participate in the Divya Satsang at the Sector 17 Circus ground. In this age, when man is caught in stress and rat race of making money, the courses of the Foundation offers simple techniques to eliminate stress, expand awareness and resolve internal conflicts. A world renowned master in vedic traditions and a leader in human resource development, Sri Ravi Shankar travels around the world teaching “Art of Living” through a course in which he has brought out ancient sciences to suit present day life. Referring to the massacre in Kashmir, he pointed out that Americans who value life much more would not have lost any time to clear the area off miscreants. Terming the ever-increasing stress to be a root-cause for various physical and mental ailments, Guru ji emphasised the need to nourish the inside and not just the outside. He pointed out that mind directs the body towards sickness or health. Most of the time, we create our own stress and make our own stressful events. A calm and silent mind removes the obstacles to health. Hence, the need to learn the ways to harness the energies of our mind. Spread in 98 countries with over 3500 centres, the Art of Living courses have brought joy and celebration in the lives of millions. Central to this course is a powerful breathing technique, Sudarshan Kriya, which releases stress and rejuvenates the body at a cellular level and provides a deep experience of one’s true inner nature. Guruji who has a divine bent of mind right from the childhood, founded the organisation in 1982 and was bestowed the title of Yogashiromani ( jewel in the crown of yoga’) by the President of India in 1986. Sri Ravi Shankar also called upon the people to see life from a bigger context and not just look into immediate short term benefits. There is need to bring a shift from what I can have to what I can give — from competition to contribution. According to him smallness of mind is a cause of problems and only proper vision of life can ensure clarity of mind. “Laugh and make others laugh. Do not get entangled and do not entangle others.” This is Guru ji’s mesage for the country. He smilingly said that the aim of the foundation is to ``bring a smile on everyone’s face and to spread love in their lives.” Highlighting various
activities undertaken by them, he informed that the
foundation had recently launched the 5H programme which
envisages creating a youth movement to transform the face
of rural India. The 5H stands for health, hygiene, homes
for homeless, harmony in diversity and human values.
Several seva projects have been taken up in hundred of
villages all over the country such as Vyasan Mukti (
de-addiction programme) and Love Chetna Shivirs. Besides
this they have Art Excel programme for children between
7-15 years, a five day workshop which ensures all around
training in excellence. Guruji has also designed a Divya
Samaj Nirman programme for those who wish to do something
for the country. |
Noted vaid
dead CHANDIGARH, March 22 — Dr Karanveer Singh, a specialised in the Ayurvedic System of medicine, who died last week in Chandigarh, was the recipient of the Pranacharya award for his contribution to Ayurveda. He remained secretary of
the Dhanwantri Education Society for 15 years and was the
founder member of the Shri Dhanwantri Ayurvedic College
and Hospital. The Chandigarh Ayurvedic Centre at a
condolence meeting said in Mr Karanveer’s death the
centre had lost an anchor, a friend and a sincere adviser |
Four SLRs seized KHARAR, March 22 — The police has arrested two persons following the recovery of four SLRs at their nishandehi. According to a press note issued here on Wednesday by the SSP, Ropar, the two accused, namely Jagtar Singh and Surmakh Singh, were arrested by the Kharar police on March 19 in connection with an earlier case. On interrogation, they agreed that they had placed arms near the SYL canal in the Kharar area. The police recovered two SLRs at the instance of Sukhwinder Singh. It was placed near the SYL canal near Batta village. Similarly, two SLRs and 15 cartridges were recovered at the instance of Jagtar Singh. The police has
registered a case against them under Sections 25/54/59 of
the Arms Act. These arms were stolen by the accused from
the Railway Police Post, Kiratpur Sahib, on April 28. |
Four
arrested for demanding dowry CHANDIGARH, March 22 — The police has arrested the in-laws of a Sector 19 resident, who allegedly consumed some poisonous substance following her reported harassment for bringing inadequate dowry. According to police sources, Poonam was married to Mani Majra resident Sanjiv Kumar in 1997 and had been ill treated by her in-laws for not meeting their expectations at the time of marriage. Those arrested include her husband, mother-in-law Surinder Kumari, sister-in-law Ranjita and Surinder Kumar. The father-in-law was not arrested as he had been apparently opposing the ill treatment of his daughter-in-law. A case under Sections 304-B\198-A\406\34, IPC, has been registered on the complaint of Mr Janak Raj, father of the deceased. Cyclist killed: A cyclist, Manik Lal, of Sector 19 was hit and injured by a car, CH-OI-Y-5221, near the railway traffic lights. He was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The driver of the car, Charan Pal Singh, a resident of Sector 22, has been arrested and a case under Section 279 \ 304 - A, IPC, has been registered. Whisky seized: The police has arrested Jagdish, a resident of Kumhar Colony, for allegedly possessing 40 pouches of whisky from Sector 24. A case under Section 61\1\14 of the Excise Act has been registered. LALRU Stolen bike recovered: The Lalru police has arrested Jasbir Singh, a resident of Wasian, and seized from him a stolen motor cycle. According to a press note issued by Mr H.S. Bhullar, DSP, the accused was arrested at a naka as he was coming from Ambala side on the vehicle which had a fictitious registration number (PBV- 7677). The accused has confessed that he had stolen the motor cycle in 1997. Mr Sahib Singh, a resident of Panala, had lodged a complaint in the police station regarding the theft of his motor cycle. A case under Section 379, 411 of the Indian Penal Code, has been registered against him. PANCHKULA Lost kids found: March 22 — The local police found two children, Gudia and Prithi, wards of Jagdish, a resident of Rajiv Colony, after they had wandered off from their house while their parents were away. The couple had gone to Indira Colony, leaving the children behind. On returning at about 4 pm, they found them missing and reported to the police at 9 pm. The police immediately lauched a hunt for the missing children in Rajiv Colony, Indira Colony, Mauli Jagaran, the slum area of Mansa Devi Complex and Sector 26 in Chandigarh. Finally, the children were found and handed over to their parents. Bail granted: The six accused in the robbery on the Pinjore-Kalka highway in which Mr Baljit Udasi, a resident of Pinjore, was looted and beaten up were granted bail today. Gagan Goel, Jagdish Manocha, Satish Manocha, Maninder Singh and Amardeep were arrested the following day. The counsel for the complainant said stolen goods had already been recovered from the accused, while the defence counsel said the boys were being framed in the case. ZIRAKPUR Crushed to death: An unidentified person was crushed to death by a truck on the Chandigarh-Ambala highway here today. According to police
sources, the deceased was about 55 and was crossing the
road when the truck (PB-11-2935) over-ran him. The truck
driver fled from the spot. |
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