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| Thursday, June 8, 2000, Chandigarh, India |
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Nursery teachers' training school CHANDIGARH, Investigations reveal that a private institute had been conducting nursery teachers' training courses at a private kothi in Sector 9 here for the past more than one year, promising it to be a post-matriculation job-oriented diploma course for nursery teachers under the new education policy envisaged and approved by the Central Government and guided by the NCERT. The institute sells its prospectus for Rs 100 each and runs the course in two sessions, from January to December and from July to June each year. The prospectus says that the NTT courses conducted by Central Mission School sponsored by the Central Education Development and Research Society of India is recognised since 1985 under orders of the Chandigarh Administration. For the purposes of employment and emoluments, NTT has been bracketed with JBT by the Ministry of Human Resources Development which has approved the revision of pay-scales of schoolteachers working in the Union Territory of Chandigarh, whereby the JBT and nursery teachers are redesignated as primary teachers in the same pay-scale. Central Mission School, where the courses are being run, charges about Rs 3,650 from each trainee as fee. Mr Avtar Singh Brar, former Education Minister of Punjab, is reported to have complained to the UT Education Department that the NTT course was being run unauthorisedly by the school. He reportedly based his complaint on the basis of a communication he received from the National Council for Teachers Education, a Jaipur-based statutory body set up by the Union Government under the National Council of Teacher Education Act, 1993. The communication of the National Council for Teacher Education sent by its Regional Director, Dr S.N. Methi, said that the NTT courses run by the Rajpura-based Indian Institute and Chandigarh-based Central Mission School are not recognised by the NCTE as per the NCTE Act, 1993. It further said that since the above courses were not recognised by the NCTE, the diploma or degrees offered by these institutes were not treated as valid qualifications for the purpose of employment as per Section 17(4) of the NCTE Act. The DPI (Schools), Mr D.S. Saroya, confirmed that a complaint from Mr Avtar Singh Brar, a Punjab MLA and former Education Minister of Punjab, had been received. He said that in February last year, the Department of Education had issued a memo to Central Mission School, asking it to get itself recognised by the Regional Committee of the NCTE at Jaipur, failing which those doing courses at the institute would become invalid in view of the provisions of the Act. But no action was initiated by the school to get its courses recognised by the NCTE Instead, it has been continuing to run its courses which are not recognised and have no legal sanctity. A show-cause notice issued by the DPI (Schools), Mr D.S. Saroya, asking the Director-Principal to explain position regarding "fraudulent claims about the recognition of the course" was issued today, giving her three days to explain, failing which civil and criminal proceedings could be launched against the school. The notice said that under Section 17(4) of the National Council of Teacher Education Act, 1993, teacher training course obtained after pursuing a course of training in an institution not recognised by the NCTE are not valid for employment under the Central or any State Government or any university, school, college or any other educational body aided by the Central or State Government. The notice further says that the prospectus of the school has been misguiding the students with fraudulent promises about NTT course. Further, the show-cause notice has also challenged the claim of recognition by the Administration since 1985, saying that after passing of the NCTE Act, 1993, the permission granted by any local authority automatically gets lapsed. Further, the school has been reminded of the memo issued to it by the department in February last year. The notice further said that the language of the prospectus was not only misleading and misguiding but also incorrect to suggest that the course has the sanction of lawful authority and was recognised and further, on completion of course, would have assured employment. The notice said that many parents, women and girls may have been gullible to fall for the false assurances and claims. "Your act of concealing the real status of your institute and false claim about its being recognised one, have made you liable for penal or criminal action. You are accordingly called upon to show cause within three days of the receipt of this notice as to why the Administration should not move for initiating civil and penal action against you," the notice said. |
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10-year forfeiture of service for
Colonel CHANDIGARH, June 7 — An Army Colonel facing
charges of assaulting a superior officer and pointing a
weapon at him has been awarded 10 years forfeiture of
service for the purpose of pension. The sentence, awarded
by a General Court Martial (GCM) which concluded at
Chandimandir a few days ago, has been sent to higher
authorities for conformation. The case assumes
significance as the disciplinary proceedings were pending
for the past many years, during which the officer was
attached with as many as nine different units. Besides,
the mandatory court of inquiry into the alleged incident
was, according to the defence, not carried
out. According to the prosecution, the accused officer,
Lt Col J.P. Narain, had in April 1997, allegedly entered
the office of his brigade’s Deputy Commander, Col
C.P. Singh and pointed his personal revolver at him. He
was there after charged under Section 40 (a) of the Army
Act. The officer in his defence maintained that the
initiation of disciplinary action was as an act of
retribution for having exposed some irregularities and
subsequently having punished the guilty by ordering
summary trials. He had also written to the higher
authorities about some of the irregularities and breaches
of the system. The incident is said to have occurred
while proceeding were underway to have the accused
officer declared mentally unfit. The accused was then
posted with Headquarters 67 Infantry Brigade in the
Western Sector. A subsequent medical examination carried
out by an Army psychiatrist stated that the accused might
be suffering from persecutory delusion at the time of
commission of the offence but added the accused was fit
to undergo trial. The officer had also sought an
interview with the General Officer Commanding, following
which he was ‘‘pressurised’’ by some
officers to withdraw his request or he would be taken to
hospital for psychiatric treatment. As per the
defence’s contention, the accused was taken to Col
C.P. Singh’s office to give him a last chance for
withdrawing his request, but when he refused, an alarm
was raised that the accused had drawn a weapon. Further,
the contention was that the officer was not carrying any
weapon with him at the alleged time of the
incident. According to records, three witnesses who were
shown the weapon, alleged to have been used, could not
identify it, but stated it ‘‘seemed to be
similar’’. Further, the officer in whose room
the offence took place was also stated to possess a
similar weapon, the whereabouts of which, at the time of
the offence, could not be explained satisfactorily. The
defence had also alleged that some portions of the
GCM’s proceedings were conducted in the absence of a
defence counsel, thereby depriving the accused of the
chance to record his pleas. |
Decent farewell to bull CHANDIGARH, June 7 — For some it was fun. But for majority of palledars and labourers working at the Sector 26 Grain Market, the death of a bullock, was like a bereavement in the family.They not only observed a fast but also organised a decent farewell for the bull, which had, for more than two decades, served its masters at the Grain Market well. There were some moist eyes when the body of the animal was covered with a brand new sheet of white cloth. Some placed flowers on it and it was then taken out in the shape of a funeral procession for a burial. A drummer accompanied the funeral procession. “It had given me and my family our livelihood for more than two decades. It never demanded anything back. I feel bereaved,” said a labourer, saying the animal, though old, had not been keeping well for some time. Still the labourers and palledars used to feed it regularly till it died late last night.  |
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Rain disrupts traffic; temp falls CHANDIGARH, June 7 — Heavy rain in the city and its surrounding areas, disrupted vehicular traffic, forced residents to sit back at home, flooded the streets, delayed office-goers returning back home and, resulted in a significant drop in the day-time temperature. The mercury did not rise above the 25 degrees celsius mark. This was 14 degrees celsius below the normal average for this time of the year. Despite such a downpour — a total of 6 centimetres had been recorded by 9 pm — the local meteorological office said this was not even a pre-monsoon
shower. The pre-monsoons had not even arrived over Uttar Pradesh said Mr S.C. Bhan, Director of the local met office. The rain had occurred due to a combination of low pressure build up over North Madhya Pradesh and South Western Uttar Pradesh and its confluence with a western disturbance prevailing over North Pakistan and adjoining Jammu and Kashmir. City residents woke up to a cool morning as rain had started in the wee hours itself. Throughout the day, an intermittent drizzle carried on. Around 4 in the afternoon, the rain started to pour and it carried on in the same vein till late at night. Shopkeepers complained a loss of business during the day, while halwais making samosas and pakoras reported brisk sales. Due to the rain the main shopping centres in Sector 17 and 22 wore a deserted look, while the number of visitors to various offices was low. Later in the evening, water accumulated on the roads and two- wheelers stopped as rain water entered the engine. It was difficult to pedal bi-cycles while local bus service schedules went haywire. Office-goers , who are daily passengers, had to make a trek to the buses parked at designated points in the rain. Women employees had a tougher time in reaching the buses after almost wading through muddy water on the road berms. Passengers alighting at the Inter-State Bus Terminus preferred to stay inside the terminus. Those who moved out to catch a rickshaw or an autorickshaw were fleeced by overcharging. The scene at the railway station was no different. Meanwhile, roadside mechanics, and roadside vendors had to close shop, while the popular Apni Mandi in Sector 45 was a fiasco. At several places in the city, road berms were rendered slippery, making it difficult for those preferring to walk home in pouring rain. Several minor accidents reportedly took place as unmindful of the water on the road, two-wheelers skidded or could not apply the brakes in time on slippery roads. According to sources in the meteorological department, there is possibility of rain for tomorrow also. |
Taxi operators up in arms against F&CC CHANDIGARH, The taxi-operators are up in arms against the volte-face by civic body. First they were slapped heavy charges ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 7, 500 per taxi stand by the House of the MCC at one of its meetings held in January this year even without consulting the taxi-operators. Following the representations by the taxi-operators that the charges were on a higher side, the Finance and Contract Committee(F&CC) decided to review the decision. A few days back, the F&CC, in its wisdom, recommended that the taxi-stands be auctioned. The decision, the taxi operators alleged, had been taken in a hurry and was one-sided. Mr Joginder Singh, President of the Taxi Workers Union, the apex body representing over 55 taxi-stands and 500 taxi-operators, alleged that the decision to auction the taxi-stands would drive the genuine taxi operators out of business. They were ready to pay the reasonable amount as monthly charges, he said, adding that the better course of action for the civic body would have been negotiated monthly charges instead of the proposed auction of the taxi-stands. While calculating the monthly rent, the corporation should follow some pattern like in Punjab and Delhi. For instance, in New Delhi a taxi operator paid Rs 250 per month as ground rent and in SAS Nagar, Rs 60 per month were charged besides Rs 30 per month as parking charges, he added. Another taxi-operator, Mr Pritpal Singh, said besides paying Rs 500 each as road tax, yellow permit fee and authorised fee to the transport authorities, the taxi operators were required to pay taxes to the other state governments bordering the union territory when they entered their area. Since the UT has a small area, they had to shell out money even while going to nearby places like Parwanoo. Meanwhile, the taxi-operators today marched in procession from Aroma Taxi Stand in Sector 22 to the corporation’s office. They demanded review of the proposal to auction taxi-stands. |
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PM makes transit
visit to city CHANDIGARH,
The Governors of Punjab and Haryana, Lieut-Gen JFR Jacob (retd) and Mr Mahavir Prasad, respectively, Chief Minister of Punjab, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, and some of his cabinet colleagues and senior officers of the Punjab Government, including the Chief Secretary, Mr R.S. Mann, and the Director-General of Police, Mr Sarabjit Singh, were among those present at the airport to receive the Prime Minister. After a brief halt, the Prime Minister flew to Leh. |
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The story of an inflated bill and a dead phone CHANDIGARH, June 7 — Two local residents are feeling harassed by the Telecom Department. In the first case Mr Raj Kumar Gupta, a resident of Sector 41 has been slapped with a bill of Rs 35,473 for calls made to destinations which probably he cannot even locate on the map. In the second case, a retired Punjab Civil Service (PCS) officer, Mr Gurdial Singh Fiji, now living in Canada, came here for short while and inserted an matrimonial advertisement for his son's marriage. He even gave a contact phone number of the place where he was staying in Sector 44. The advertisement appeared on May 20 and for the next seven days, the phone remained dead thus effectively stopping anyone from contacting him and wasting his money and effort in placing the advertisement . He claims that he went to the sector 34 exchange to lodge complaints of his phone but to no avail. In case of Mr Gupta, employed with the Accountant-General, Haryana, the department has sent a bill, saying that his phone number 614650 was used to make calls to places like Solomon islands located in the Pacific Ocean. Another 200 STD calls are listed against STD code number 08272 and calls have been made to two numbers. Inquiries reveal that the code is of a small place, Madikeri, in Karnataka. Mr Gupta has STD facility on his phone for the past four years, but he does not have the ISD facility. ''How could the department send a bill for a facility I do not have ?'' he asks. In the list of detail numbers called from Mr Gupta's phone are calls made to Panipat and Rohtak and those are rightly billed. He adds: '' I know nobody in Madikeri or in Solomon Islands.'' Mr Gupta said that he has tried calling up the numbers listed in the detail bill presented to him by the department. There is no reply on the Madikeri numbers while on dialling the Solomon Islands number, the exchange is informs that the number has changed. In the detail bill sent to Mr Gupta, the longest call made to Madikeri lasted 2 hours and 40 minutes. Mr Gupta has made complaints to various sections of the department but no action has been initiated so far. Silent procession
by Sikhs CHANDIGARH, Addressing the congregation, Mr Rajinder Singh, Convener of the Joint Action Committee,
Maj-Gen Narinder Singh and Mr Gurtej Singh paid tributes to those who sacrificed their lives at Golden temple complex or any of other 38 gurdwaras during Operation Bluestar in June, 1984. They criticised the fascist activities of the RSS against minorities throughout the country and demanded a ban on it immediately. They said the
interference of the RSS in Sikh affairs was hurting the Sikh psyche. Maulana Mohammaad Ajmal Khan, Imam and Khatib of Jama Masjid in Sector 20 here, appealed for the unity of the minorities to face the RSS challenge. The congregation passed six resolutions demanding that the Jathedar of Akal Takht get a model of demolished Sri Akal Takht built and displayed at the Akal Takht complex. Another resolution demanded preservation of bullet marks inside the Golden Temple complex, besides demanding immediate release of Sikh
detenues. After the congregation, a silent procession was taken out from the Sector 34 Gurdwara, which moved through different parts of the city before culminating at the Sector 19 Gurdwara.
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Two cops die
in mishap SAS NAGAR, The ill-fated escort Gypsy was coming from Tarn Taran to Chandigarh when the mishap took place. While two of the passengers, Satnam Singh and Jaswant Singh, both constables, died on the spot, four other occupants, ASI Jatinder and constables Kashmir, Jasbeer and Gopal were rushed to the PGI, Chandigarh. The erring driver of the truck escaped from the scene of the accident.
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8 booked for assaulting employer CHANDIGARH, According to police sources, the complainant, Pawan Kumar, reported that the workers, Uttam Singh, Rameshwar, Salig Ram, Manoj Pandey, Surjit Singh, Bhola, Kishen and Bitha Lal, were on strike in support of their demands. Today when he arrived at the factory gate, the agitators blocked his way, got him out of the car and manhandled him. His car was also damaged, he alleged. While the accused fled, a case under Section 147,148,149, 323, 34, 427 and 506, IPC, has been registered at the Sector 31 police station. Girl killed: The driver of the vehicle, Ganesh Giri, a resident of the same village, has been arrested and charged under Sections, 279, 337 and 304 - A, IPC. Suicide bid: One kidnapped: Whisky seized: Janata colony resident Meenu was arrested from Sector 38 and 80 pouches of whisky were seized from her. Similarly, Anand Singh and Dev, both residents of Garhwal, were arrested and 40 bottles of liquor were recovered from them. PANCHKULA Three injured: Liquor seized: Rash driving: Theft cases solved: The police arrested another accused, Sudhish, hailing from Bihar, and recovered a colour television set and Rs 20,000, which had been stolen from a village in Punjab. Acting promptly, the police also recovered a tanker stolen from Dera Bassi from Majri chowk here today. It was handed over to the Dera Bassi police.
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2 cops transferred for misbehaviour CHANDIGARH, According to sources, ASI Nafe Singh and Constable Gurinder Singh were transferred to the VIP Security wing from the traffic police. The orders to this effect were issued by the UT IGP, Mr S. K. Singh, here this evening following an enquiry in the matter by Mr S. S. Randhawa, DSP, Lines. It seems that the duo, who were on duty near the government press traffic lights, had waved down a journalist from a vernacular daily yesterday and had misbehaved with him. They reportedly used foul language against him and did not listen to his pleas that he had taken a U-turn when the light had turned green. He brought the matter to the notice of the IGP who marked an enquiry following a
written compliant. The DSP is said to have recommended action against the erring officials. They have also been served with a censure notice, the sources added. |
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Unconscious man found in bin CHANDIGARH, June 7 — There was a flurry of activity in the police department after someone called up the police control room (PCR) and informed that a body was lying in a garbage bin of Sector 23 in the morning. A vehicle of the PCR was rushed to the spot only to find a Nepali looking person in his early twenties in an unconscious state. He was rushed to the hospital where his condition is stated to be serious. Doctors attending on him are of the view that he had consumed some substance or had taken an overdose of drugs. What has baffled the police is how he ended up in the garbage bin. It is working on the theory that he might have been with some friends, had an altercation, following which he could have been administered an overdose of a drug and subsequently dumped in the bin. Investigations are on and a final picture would only emerge when he becomes conscious and narrates the sequence of events. |
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More cops sought to check robberies PANCHKULA, There was a daylight robbery in Sector 7 and so far no robber has been identified. The miscreants successfully fled the scene in minutes, in spite of the of the police-post situated just 100 feet away. The association urged upon the Haryana Government to take immediate steps to enhance the police force here for traffic and night patrolling as a special case and provide the latest equipment to the police to meet with any eventuality. The local administration should have a proper check over the migrants in the nearby areas to avoid any mishap for the safeguard of the residents of this township. |
An AC-cum-cooler at Rs 8,000 PANCHKULA, June 7 — “Dost Desert Air Conditioner-2000”, is aesthetic and efficient. It consumes less energy. The air conditioner developed by a former Chief Engineer with the Haryana State Electricity Board is more expensive than a desert cooler, but is much cheaper than air conditioner.The air filter does not allow the dust to enter your nose as in case of your desert coolers. The entry of mosquitoes is banned. It is almost noise free. Is a comfort for asthma patients too. The doors and windows can also be kept closed. In the event of a power failure, a half KVA inverter can operate it. It does not emit any pollutant. It rather cools the atmosphere outside. The average cost is Rs 8,000 as against Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000 of conventional air conditioners. The engineer Mr J.N. Sindhwani had developed the model last year. He has modified it and in the new model, instead of an exhaust fan, a blower has been used to limit the size. He claims that the heat exchangers used are non-corrosive and are 500 per cent more efficient. The heat exchangers used are jointless. An insulated tank, which is non-corrosive, will provide insulation to the outside temperature up to 60 degrees, which has been prepared after fabrication of special dyes. The insulated tank will conserve the cooling energy, resulting in higher efficiency. The total load requirement is around 200 watts, as compared to 250 watts of the previous model. This non-conventional air conditioner is a combination of an air conditioner and a desert cooler. It has cost the 60-year-old engineer about Rs 60000. Mr Sindhwani explains that in this system, the hot air from the room is filtered and made to pass through two heat exchangers. One heat exchanger is dipped in water and the other operates with the help of siphon action, which are constantly cooled through of vaporisation. This continuous process cools the atmosphere inside the room. The heat is dissipated in the process of vaporisation and is not released as in the case of a conventional air conditioner. This apparatus, besides providing cooling, will result in energy saving. “If it finds place in government and commercial establishments and homes of our country, 2000 mega watts of power can be saved. This will mean a benefit of Rs 10000 crore in the investment of future power generation”, says the inventor-scientist engineer. |
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Punwire workers continue agitation SAS NAGAR, June 7 — The Punjab Wireless Systems Employees Union, while continuing with its agitation against the management of Punwire to get it declared as a sick unit, today held a protest rally in front of the office of the Udyog Bhawan, Sector 17, Chandigarh. The main leaders who addressed the rally were Mr Sheed Ahmed, Mr Jaswinder Kaur Nagra and Ms HS Mann. Mr Sajjan Singh, Chairman of the employees action committee said Punwire was not a sick unit and sought action against the officials responsible. They said the company was supplying defence equipment. They alleged that the agenda item at the Annual General Meeting of the share holders was passed without their consent. The leaders of the union said due to irregularities committed by certain officials, the employees were suffering. The decision to recommend the company to the BIFR for registering it as a sick unit was a one-sided decision of the management forced on them, they added. Demanding payment of salary to employees since September 1999, the leaders said it was an unfair labour practice and it was illegal not to pay salaries under the Industrial Dispute Act. Starting operations at the earliest, the employees sought quick action against those responsible for the fate of the company and a thorough probe in to the irregularities by the CBI. |
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