The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

Long queues for filing IT returns
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARHJune 27 — All roads seem to be leading to the local DAV College these days. With just three days left for filing of the income tax returns, the number of assessees thronging the college, the venue chosen by the Income Tax Department for accepting the returns, is increasing with the each passing day.

A visit to the college today revealed that hundreds of the income tax payers queued up to file their returns. The maximum rush was at the Ward No 1(7) and the Ward 1(9) where hundreds of assesses waited for hours to file the returns in a rather sultry weather. Outside the college there were traffic chaos with hundreds of vehicles parked haphazardly without any traffic police personnel in sight.

People had to wait for hours for their turns. Mr Tirlok Singh, a Navodaya Vidyalaya employee, who had been standing in the queue for over one hour, said he would have to wait for about two hours to file the return.

Similarly, Mr Subhash Chander, a Punjab Forest Department employee, who was there to file the department return, said it took

more than two hour to file the returns.

However, persons, who had come to know their PAN numbers were really inconvenienced. First they had to stand in the queue for hours to know PAN. Then they were supposed to wait for their turn at the other queues for filing the returns. While a substantial number of persons were not lucky enough to know PAN, others had to return disappointed.

Mr Gurdev Singh, a CTU employee, who had applied for PAN in 1997 was one of the lucky persons to get it. He alleged that he had already spent over two hours for getting PAN. Now he wanted to file the return only tomorrow which meant he would be wasting another couple of hours. The department could have made such arrangements where the information about PAN and the filing of return were possible at one counter.

Department officials highlighted that if a persons wanted to apply for PAN along with the return he could do so at the college itself. However, applications of PAN only would be accepted at Sector 17 only.

The Commissioner of Income Tax, Mr Ashwani Luthra, informed that till yesterday over 83,000 persons had filed their returns.

What a blend of talent and apathy!
By Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH June 27 — It could have been just another in the series of shows organised everyday. But there was a lot about it which left strong impressions on the mind: some comfortable ones which reaffirmed man’s faith in labour and perseverance, and some very uncomfortable ones which underlined the deep sense of alienation which the society unintentionally practices against the less-fortunate ones (if one could say that).

Had the latter part of the observation not been true, the cultural show organised by the blind here today at PU’s English Auditorium would surely have witnessed a stronger gathering than just about 20 men around, over half of who were blind themselves.

The occasion was Helen Keller’s birth anniversary and the show was a celebration of the same by the Netraheen Jagriti Sangh, Haryana. There was excitement in the air this morning as about 20 blind men gathered at the auditorium to take part in the show which was to include contests in singing, poetry and speech. It seemed this day meant a lot to all of them, as Amardeep, president of Sangh, said: “This is the only joy we wish to share with the world. Also, this is the only way we can tell the world that we also have fractions of talent in us.”

The words stayed through the show. They were there when the hall witnessed Haryana’s Social Justice Minister Rishal Singh light a lamp in front of Helen Keller’s portrait; and they were still there when just about 12 blind men were left in the hall to `hear’ their friends perform.

A dominant feature of the show, however, was the determination of organisers, the compere, Mr Gurdev Singh, and the three blind judges, to keep the show going. The show began after the departure of the Minister who accepted the charter of demands forwarded by the sangh and who cared to sit through while Rajesh Kumar from Panipat sang a ghazal. His performance was followed by a Haryanavi ragini by Ram Pal.

The two performed with style and were awarded Rs 100 each by the Minister. Interestingly, both the blind performers had composed their own songs.

Rajesh, an M.A. in music from Kurukshetra University, also accompanied all the contestants on the harmonium. This happened after the musicians, supposed to play with the singers, left before the performance began. Even those requested to adjudge the show did not turn up. While the two blind judges — Murlidhar Soni from Panchkula and Mahavir Yadav from Ambala — were there, the third judge was appointed when the show started. He also happened to be blind.

The show started with 16-year-old Rohit performing a ghazal. He was followed by Rajesh Kumar, Ram Mehar., Ram Pal, Ishwar and Dalbir. The contestants from Haryana were exceptionally good at their folk song performances.

As for the closing ceremony, it was performed by Haryana MLA, Mrs Veena Chibber, after the Haryana Minister called for the purpose declined the invitation on account of some urgent work.

The closing session of the cultural function organised by Netraheen Jagriti Sangh was chaired by Ambala MLA Veena Chibber. She also gave away prizes to winners in various categories. The results in the order of merit are:

Sugam sangeet category: Rajesh Kapoor (Panipat), Rampal (Panipat) and Rohit (from Ambala).

Folk songs: Ishwar Singh (Ambala), Ram Mehar (Panipat) and Puran Chand (Kurukshetra)

Declamation: Robina (Chandigarh), Kiran Kumar (Karnal) and Gulab Singh (Ambala)

Poetic recitation: Kiran Kumar, Ram Bhagat (Ambala) and Kulwant Singh

Later, Mr Gurdev Singh, a school teacher from Ambala, who also compered today’s programme was given a special prize for his social welfare activities.

HUDA begins issuing resumption notices
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA June 27 — The Estate Office of the Haryana Urban Development Authority, Sector 6, has began issuing resumption notices to all houses with illegal backdoor entries since these are in violation of HUDA guidelines. The process began with notices to residents of Sectors 2 and 4 violating these guidelines. These notices are being issued following a survey of the constructed houses of the city by various teams of the anti-encroachment staff formed for the purpose.

These teams were assigned the task of identifying houses with unauthorised backdoor entries and submission of a report for the same. Having completed this, the department initiated the process of issuing resumption notices to all erring residents.

Officials of the Estate Office contend that the problem of backdoor entries has grown in proportion owing to a lenient stance adopted by them which necessitated the issuance of notices. They add that previous experience of such drives has shown that after warning most house-owners close these openings though the doors are back in place after things have cooled down.

This drive will also put an end to the business of selling bricks, bajri and sand from residential areas which is being carried out in violation of all norms. Most of the houses on the road running through Sectors 8, 9, 10 and 11 have put up boards announcing the availability of the construction material which is stocked on the road berms of these sectors. The house-owners find it convenient to load the trucks of customers from their residences rather than opening shoplets elsewhere.

However, this has long been a nuisance and trucks parked on the remain road have proved to be a traffic hazard. Inspite of regular drives by the department concerned, the boards and mounds of sand and bajri have reappeared at the same place within weeks. The present drive of issuance of notices aims to check this as well.

Should Chandigarh have an international airport ?
By Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH June 27 — "Yes" , says the Administrator of Chandigarh, Lieut-Gen JFR Jacob (retd), maintaining that the existing terminal in the city should gradually be expanded and developed into an international airport as it would be capital intensive project. The present airport has a sufficiently long strip to facilitate landing and taking off of bigger aircraft like Airbus 320.

"All we need to do is expand and refurnish the existing terminal building, make it bigger with enough room for immigration and customs clearance. Otherwise, the terminal is fully equipped to take care of international traffic. I am sure by now x-ray machine at the security counter must have been repaired and put in use," remarked General Jacob in a recent interaction with Chandigarh Tribune.

The Administrator also wants that initially, the city should offer more services in the domestic sector, including hopper service to Amritsar. He maintains that Jet Airways may soon introduce Boeing 737 aircraft on the Delhi-Chandigarh sector by replacing the present ATR aircraft.

The views of General Jacob are corroborated by experts in aviation industry as well as businessmen, bureaucrats, technocrats and other frequent air travellers.

CITIZENS' FORUM

In the region comprising Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir, Chandigarh has emerged as a major education, health care and cultural centre. Besides, it has the regional headquarters of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Punjab, Haryana and Delhi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI).

With a five-star hotel coming up here in the public sector, the Chandigarh Administration is keen on developing it as a convention centre, besides using the vast open green spaces in the periphery of this planned city to have a world class botanical garden and herbal research centre and a golf course to attract foreign tourists in general and the Japanese in particular.

Chandigarh can also serve as the starting point for pilgrimage tourism with numerous historic places of worship dotted within its 250-km periphery.

We invite the city's enlightened citizens to give their views on this vital issue. They are requested to send their views, in not more than 400 words, along with a colour passport-size photograph to Chandigarh Tribune, Sector 29-C, Chandigarh.

The views will be serialised soon.

— Editor

Mr Alan Briggs, who recently took over as General Manager, South Asia, British Airways, in a recent informal chat with Chandigarh Tribune, also feels that Chandigarh will make an ideal international airport.

"Twentysix per cent of the total air passenger traffic from Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) is from Punjab," he says.

According to the Airport Authority of India website, nearly 1.3 crore international passengers used international airports during 1998-99. Of these 37,91, 973 used Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Going by the statistics of the aviation industry, as many as 26 per cent of these passengers belonged to the Punjab and Chandigarh market, meaning thereby that nearly 10 lakh passengers travelled from the region to New Delhi or vice versa.

Going by these figures, if on an average an air traveller from Punjab or Chandigarh spends about Rs 2,000 per air trip to travel from home to the IGIA in New Delhi or vice versa, the money spent would come to a whopping Rs 200 crore which the air travellers from Punjab spent either to fly out of New Delhi or reach their destinations in Punjab after travelling abroad.

Besides, this big amount, the loss of man days or man hours is also grossly very large. Even if one trip to Delhi costs 24 man hours, Punjab has been losing substantial man power in just seeing off or receiving their relatives and friends from the IGIA, New Delhi.

With these statistics, the claim of Chandigarh for an international airport is significantly strong.

A look at the figures of other international airport makes interesting comparison. For example, from Raja Sansi international airport, the number of international passengers was only 19, 979 which was 0.15 per cent of the total international passengers. Similarly, Lucknow had only 820 international passengers during the entire year (0.01 per cent), Patna had 6,278 (0.05 per cent) and Trichy 65,455 (0.51 per cent) while Agra had just 3,222 (0.02 per cent).

In fact top 10 international airports of the country -- Mumbai (37.45 per cent), Delhi (29.36 per cent), Chennai (13.44 per cent), Calcutta (4.73 per cent), Bangalore (1.10), Hyderabad (1.41 per cent), Thiruvananthapuram (6.41 per cent), Ahmedabad (1.09 per cent), Goa ( 1.50 per cent) and Calicut (2.18 per cent) account for 98.68 of the total international passenger traffic.

Chandigarh is placed in the same category of airports which have facilities for landing of Airbus 320 aircraft i.e. aircraft with a capacity of 150 to 170 passengers each. Also in the same group are Agra, Patna, Coimbatore, Trichy, Jaipur, and Varanasi which are Customs airports with limited international operations. If several other stations can be granted the status of international airport with the same landing facilities, why not Chandigarh.

Like most of these Customs airports with limited international operations, Chandigarh also has Very High Frequency Omni Range (VOR) and Distance Measuring Equipment (DME).

What Chandigarh needs is perhaps High Intensity Runway Lighting (HIRL) and Instrument Landing System(ILS).

An important thing that goes in favour of Chandigarh is the availability of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) at the rates much lower than both Indira Gandhi International Airport and Raja Sansi International Airport. Here in Chandigarh it is Rs 3.99 per litre cheaper than that of IGIA. The ATF at Raja Sansi Airport is Rs 1.75 per litre cheaper than IGIA.

For domestic flights, the aircraft operating on the Delhi-Chandigarh sector can make up for revenue loss on account of low passenger traffic by ATF purchase here. This is a major factor which is being considered by the management of both Indian Airlines and Jet Airways to introduce a direct Mumbai-Delhi-Chandigarh-Jammu flight to exploit the maximum potential of the domestic sector. A normal Boeing 737 carries seven to eight tonnes of ATF.

No dismissal of Farooq ministry ‘yet’
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH June 27 — Mr Mukhtiar Ali Naqvi, national secretary of the BJP, has ruled out the demand for the dismissal of the Farooq Abdullah Government in the wake of passage of resolution approving state autonomy by the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly yesterday.

Talking to reporters here today, Mr Naqvi said the the time had not come to dismiss the government as it was just a resolution by the Assembly and it will take a long time before it was implemented. The Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of the country and this resolution will help separatist forces, he asserted.

Terming the resolution as a “political move” to misguide the people, Mr Naqvi said if the pre-1953 status was restored it would create another Pakistan within the country. In fact, there was an urgent need to reconsider the special status of the state under Article 370 which had helped the militant groups to raise their ugly head.

Denying that the resolution had Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s tacit support as claimed by Mr Abdullah, he said necessary clarification would come from Mr Vajpayee, who was out of the country.

He denied his reported remarks on cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin’s apology in the match-fixing case, saying that all he said was that there was no need to “politicise” the issue since an inquiry was already on.

Answering a question on change of guard in UP he quipped that the clear-cut position would emerge after the coming of the results of the panchayat elections.

Later, speaking at a function organised by the BJP in connection with the “Remember Emergency and Strengthen Democracy” topic at Lajpat Rai Bhavan, Mr Naqvi came down severely on the Congress for its role in the partition of the country, the imposition of Emergency, Operation Bluestar, and 1984 riots. The forces , which were bent upon making J&K another Pakistan, should be dealt with an iron hand.

Prominent among those who spoke were Mr Des Raj Tandon, Senior Deputy Mayor, Mr Dharam Paul Gupta, local president of the BJP, Mr Gurpartap Singh Riar, local SAD president, and Mr Onkar Chand, Secretary of the Servants of the People Society.

Several of the persons and their family members, who were detained under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) and Defence of India Rules(DIR) during Emergency, were honoured by the party.

COMMUNITY

Squash bottle for Rs 2, ketchup for Rs 2.50 !
By Ruchi Bhandari and Amandeep Kaur

CHANDIGARH JUNE 27 — A luscious bottle of squash for just Rs 2 and a bottle of delicious tomato ketchup for Rs 2.50! Sounds too good to be true, but one can indeed avail of the unbelievably low-prices offered by the Community Food and Nutrition Extension Unit, Sector-23.

This unique institute is being run under the aegis of the Central Government for the past 30 years. The unit also runs two week-long cookery courses at very nominal charges. The registration fee here is just Rs 5, which suits every pocket.

The main objective of this institute is learning while preparing. Apart from this, it strives to create awareness among people regarding food processing. And it is a great hit, given the number of applicants in the courses.

Food processing is necessary since fruits and vegetables are a plenty in this season and could be processed to be used in various forms like jams, pickles, ketchups, sauces etc throughout the year.

According to Mr N.P. Jain, assistant technical adviser, “Here we also impart technical training to the rural people from the city and its periphery and impart knowledge on how to process fruits and vegetables while preparing sauces, jams etc.”

“The unit has employees for conducting the courses in which the students are told about methods to process fruits and vegetables and the proportion of colours, chemicals, and essence to be used. While the chemicals and essences are provided by the unit, the raw material is brought by the participants. Here participants are made to prepare themselves under the technical guidance so that they can be made aware of the techniques and able to prepare the same at homes also,” he added.

CTCC executive panel to be formed soon
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH June 27 — An interim Executive Committee of the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (CTCC) will be formed soon that will function till the organisational elections of the party are held in November, said the observer for Congress Organisational election, Mr Harikesh Bahadur, here today.

Mr Bahadur, a former MP, was here in connection with the Congress election. He said: ‘’ To look into the complaints of any bogus membership, a scrutiny committee will be formed to verify the list of primary members and active members.’’ Mr Bahadur said that workers who are attached with the people and are working at the grassroot level will be given preference in the party.

He stressed that people with criminal backgrounds will not be allowed to become primary members. When asked about the ongoing debate autonomy in the J&K assembly, Mr Bahadur said it was too early to comment.

Meanwhile, the meeting of Congress workers with Mr Bahadur was marred by a slight skirmish between the CTCC President, Mr B.B. Bahl, and Mr Harmohan Dhawan. The latter alleged that Mr Bahl’s supporters have been indulging in loose talk against him (Mr Dhawan). This was clarified by Mr Bahl by saying that the people being referred to by Mr Dhawan were not his supporters but were infact doing anti-party activities in the previous elections.

A memorandum signed by 40 party workers was submitted to Mr Bahadur alleging that bogus members have been enrolled while the list of primary and active members have not been published, thus, nobody could file objections.

The Congress spokesperson, Mr Rajeev Sharma, said that the 40 party workers , who signed the memorandum were present in the meeting today but they never spoke a word on the issue and nor have they filed any objection till the last date that was yesterday.

A press note issued by the Congress late tonight said that a total of 64,950 primary members and 2550 active members have been enrolled. Mr Bahl assured that the condition in the Congress constitution of allowing only primary members with two years standing to enroll as active members will be tackled amicably in consultation with the party high command.

World Disaster Report today
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH June 27 — The year 2000 version of the World Disaster Report is scheduled to be released from London tomorrow. The book is published every year by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The report will be simultaneously released by the Red Cross units throughout the world tomorrow and following days. For the Punjab unit of the Red Cross, the report will be released subsequently by the Punjab Governor and the UT Administrator, Lt-Gen (retd) J.F.R. Jacob.

A veritable store house of information, the document, in paperback, provides details about disasters that hit the headlines in the preceding yea. The report also provides exhaustive information about the response mobilised by the Red Cross and the relief agencies to combat their impact.

The report this year focuses mainly on public health disasters. The 240 pages book is priced at $ 25.00. The report also raises the question regarding where the resources will make more differences.

Published annually since 1993, the report brings the latest trends, facts and analysis of the world's ever growing emergencies and crisis. It draws together the latest facts, statistics and thinking on all aspects of contemporary emergencies and their effect of growing millions of vulnerable people worldwide.

According to experts, the book is an indispensable information source and reference work with detailed case studies for those searching for strategies and tactics in the face of disaster.

The 2000 edition examines chronic public health disasters, including a comprehensive study on AIDS in Africa, From Diseases to Disaster. The report also assesses and targets public health response. A detailed chapter on Chernobyl has stunning information that cancer is still rising, 14 years after the disaster. The report also charts Kosovo's long road to recovery.

The book, in details, discusses the steps towards an international disaster response law besides a related database. There is a detailed overview of the 1999 international federations operators.

Mahila agents told marketing tactics
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH June 27 — “Canvassing the investors at a proper time and appointment of new agents, especially from slum and rural areas, can give big boost in the collection of small savings.’’ This was highlighted by the Director, Health Services, UT, Dr Joginder Singh, while presiding over day-long training programme organised by the National Savings Organisations, Government of India, Punjab and UT, and the Directorate of Small Savings, Chandigarh Administration, at Sector 22 Polyclinic today.

During the programme, the agents were apprised of the latest amendments in the past few months and imparted training to compete with the fast changing competitive market. Mr Mohinder Malhotra, Regional Director, National Savings, Punjab and Chandigarh, explained the objective of starting Mahila Pradhan Bachat Yojna, (MPKBY). The idea was to create self-confidence amongst the housewives to supplement their income by proper utilisation of their time. He pointed out that today there were nearly 2 lakh MPKBY agents throughout the country.

Mr M.R Khurana, Reader, Economics Department, Panjab University, explained in detail the latest market techniques to the agents, which will help increase their clientele and collections. Mr Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal, District Savings Officer, UT, revealed that there were 130 mahila pradhan agents, of which 40 agents attended the programme. The net collections in various small saving schemes during 1999-2000 in UT was Rs 71 crore and the contribution of mahila agents was Rs 2 crore, he added.

Illegal use of oxytocin prohibited
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH June 27 — The Director of Animal Husbandry of the Chandigarh Administration has prohibited the illegal use of oxytocin, a Schedule-H drug, on cattle in the Union Territory.

According to a press note of the Administration, as per Section 12 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, the use of oxytocin on cattle is an offence. Further, oxytocin is Scheduled-H drug which is only sparingly used on human beings.

Dairy farmers have been using this drug indiscriminately to make the cattle give milk faster. By using this drug, contractions in the uterus of the animal take place causing pain and agony to the animal. This also destroys the reproductive system causing them to dry prematurely.

The misuse of oxytocin, the note said, has also adverse effects on the human health. It causes harmonal imbalance on consuming milk produced through the use of the drug. It may even dilate the cervix for premature delivery, decrease the progesterone level causing menstrual disorders and impotency in males.

The note further said the decision to prohibit the use of this drug has been taken by the department following the guidelines received from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Home gardening tips

* There is no place in the home garden, indoor or outdoors, where you cannot put a plant. The only thing is to see the suitability of the species. Did you ever imagine placing plants in the kitchen? Gone are the days when kitchens used to be smoky. The gadgets have made these smokeless to let the gardener in.

* In the kitchen, anything and everything is food-related. Be careful to display the plants seldom attacked by insects or diseases.

* The selection of species also depends upon its hardy nature. The heat and tarka fumes etc are adverse conditions for plants. Try to select a spot away from the cooking range.

* Select a place that gets diffused but good amount of light and air circulation.

* Do not display high-growing plants in the kitchen. Placing a Chinese orange plant is a temptation, but it is too big for such locations

* Use syngonium, money plant, zebrina, tradescantia, saxifraga, setcresia and asparagus etc for ornamental display.

* Place ornamental chillies, coloured capsicum, cherry tomato and ornamental kale or coloured cabbage. Such plants add colour to the otherwise dull place. Occasionally the shreds of kale or cabbage can be used to give colour to the salad. You can also display selected herbs that can also be used for flavour in preparations.

— SATISH NARULA

CRIME

2 booked on fraud charge
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH June 27 — The police has registered a case against two city residents on the charges of fraud and forging documents to sell a three- wheeler to another person.

According to police sources, Nand Lal, a resident of Sector 26, bought an auto-rickshaw from Kajheri colony resident Girija Shanker for Rs 37, 500. While the money was paid in full the accused and his friend, Sat Pal alias Billa, but did not give him the papers of the vehicle, CHV 1112, and one day he forcibly took it from his residence while he was away.

The three-wheeler was taken into possession by the police and upon verification it was established that the papers of the same were forged. A case under Section 420,46,468, 471,120 - B, IPC, has been registered.

Theft case: Mr Sandeep Gupta, a resident of Sector 43-B, reported that someone has stolen gold ornaments besides Rs 6, 000 in cash from his house while he was out of station. A case under Section 454 and 380, IPC, has been registered.

Seven held: The police has arrested seven persons - Gopal, Harnam, Rashi Pal, Joginder, Harpinder, Lakhwinder and Ram Birj - all residents of Palsora on the charges of apprehension of breach of peace. A case under Sections 107 and 151 of the Cr PC has been registered.

One held : Suresh Kumar, a resident of Sector 22, has been arrested for creating nuisance while under the influence of liquor and booked under Sections 34,5 and 61 of the Police Act.