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| Tuesday, August 22, 2000, Chandigarh, India |
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Chaudhary for restoration of democracy CHANDIGARH, According to Mr Chaudhary, more pressure needs to be exerted for the restoration of democracy in Fiji. Working groups had been formed in the country to build public opinion in favour of democratic process. In his opinion, internal vigilance was necessary for the survival of democracy. ‘‘ The lesson learnt from Fiji is that a multi-racial democracy is fragile and there were forces within the country which need to be watched. Mr Chaudhary said that people in Fiji are not happy with the military regime as it conspired with the coup leaders. Presently on an international mission to build opinion in favour of restoration of democracy in Fiji, he said that his mission would conclude with a meeting of Commonwealth nations on September 15 in New York. The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Committee will submit its report before September 15. The committee has been entrusted with the job to look into the situation in Fiji. Terming his meeting with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee as ‘‘very encouraging’’, Mr Chaudhary said he would again meet him and the Union Minister for External Affairs, Mr Jaswant Singh, before he heads back to Fiji. His visit to India is the third to any country — Australia and New Zealand being the other two — since his release following the coup. Mr Chaudhary will also be visiting the United Kingdom as part of his efforts to bring back democracy in Fiji. Elaborate security arrangements were made at the airport where senior officials of Chandigarh Administration, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana Government were present. |
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Telephone exchange
fails again CHANDIGARH,
The problem has been persisting for the past nine days and senior engineers of the Department of Telecom are pressing for an inquiry so that the exact cause is pinpointed in order that similar failures in trunk exchanges are documented for future references, say sources in the telecom sector. All outgoing STD and international calls from a station are routed through a TAX and same is true for incoming calls also. The most agitating factor for the MoC and engineers of the DoT may be that the equipment supplier, French firm Alcatel had also been unable to locate the fault and correct it. Alcatel engineers are still working in isolation and local engineers are not being told anything about trouble shooting in case such a problem recurs. All this is also resulting in an unaccounted loss of revenue for the department and loss of face. At the local level, detailed investigations into the failure are already on. Till a date, a large number of STD and ISD calls originating from Chandigarh are being routed through Ambala, Jalandhar or Shimla trunk exchanges and alternative links have been created through the optical fibre cable (OFC). This can, however, work as a temporary and emergency arrangement to act as a back-up for brief period and not take the entire load of calls from Chandigarh. Last evening, when calls originating from Chandigarh overloaded the Jalandhar TAX , the authorities there had shut down the Chandigarh STD and ISD call traffic as their own subscribers were hit, a source informed. The same source added that a large volume of international calls originate from the Jalandhar secondary switching area (SSA). Thus they could not afford to let it suffer at the cost of the Chandigarh traffic. Today , the local TAX, after functioning at a partial load for more than 24 hours once again failed before noon, at the time when business and official activity picked up thus pushing up, the call traffic. The traffic was routed through Ambala and Jalandhar but congestion prevailed as subscribers struggled to get through and engineers worked to revive the TAX. Locally, the connectivity of mobile phones was affected and a recorded message ‘‘ this route is busy, please dial after some time’’, was heard by subscribers. Sources said efforts are on by Alcatel to make the TAX work but the problem of it failing is recurring. |
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SAD youth wing chief,
others booked SAS NAGAR,
The case has gained significance as Kang is supposed to be close confidant of the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal. The police has registered the case seeing the serious condition of the victim, who was referred to the PGI, Chandigarh, from the Phase 6 Civil Hospital. While giving statement to the police last evening, he fell unconscious and the doctor attending to him had declared him unfit for giving the statement. The Akali leader along with his supporters allegedly barged in a polling booth in Ward no 11 at Sant Isher Singh School in Phase 7 after the polling ended. The activists then allegedly manhandled the polling agent, Mr Ravinder Singh. The entire event was recorded by a video cameraman officially positioned at the polling booth. The attack was also allegedly led by Devinder Singh Pappu, a leader from Sirhind, Paramjit Singh Kahlon, the party candidate, Jagdeep Singh, a son of a former minister, Randeep Singh Cheema, Gursewak Singh and 25 other unidentified supporters of the SAD. Sources in the police said a case under Sections 148, 149, 323, 427, 452, and 506 of the IPC had been registered against the leaders. However, no arrests has been made till late this evening. Meanwhile, three cases of bogus voting during the poll have been registered against seven different candidates. In Ward no 22 the case has been registered against Om Parksh, Raj Kumar and Jagdish for impersonation on a statement given by the Presiding Officer concerned. In Ward no 21, three persons - Avtar, Barinder and Balraj - have been booked for bogus voting on the statement of a polling agent of the ward. In the third case, the SAD candidate from Ward no 11, Paramjit Singh Kahlon, has been booked for allegedly tearing off a ballot paper. Development works high on their
agenda SAS NAGAR,
Mr S.S. Barnala, who won as an Independent candidate from the ward no. 27, says he would stress upon the other elected members of the council to set up a gaushala near the town so as to control the stray cattle menace. Giving responsibility of developing the green belts and parks to one agency instead of two agencies — the civic body and PUDA — is also on the agenda of Mr Barnala. Mr Bharat Bhushan Maini, who won from the ward no 5 by defeating his nearest rival Mr Nand Kishore by a margin of 617 votes, says: “My priority will be control of menace of jhuggi dwellers in Phase 2 bordering the slum areas of Chandigarh” Mr Amrik Singh, who defeated his nearest rival Mr Baldev Singh from the ward no 24 by, perhaps, the highest margin of 1142 votes continue with his development works. To stop shifting of the main bus stand from Phase 8 to Phase 6, proper disposal of garbage and proving basic amenities to the residents is also on his agenda. Interestingly in the results of the 23 wards declared yesterday by the Returning Officer (RO) at least 12 former Municipal Councillors have been successful in retaining their seats. A Congress-supported candidate, Mr Manjit Singh, who defeated his nearest rival by 206 votes, said he would work for the upliftment of the poor and even development of the town. Mr Sham Shyam, who won by 567 votes from the ward no 3, says ; “I am not inclined towards any political group. I will work for the upliftment for the trading community and voters of my ward”. Ms Indu Sehgal, a former Municipal Councillor who won from the ward no 4, promises to fulfil her promises. In the evening the winning candidates of the ward no 26 and 27 — Mr Najar Singh and Mr S.S. Barnala, respectively, went from door-to-door thanking the voters. Meanwhile, the screening of nomination papers for the reserved wards no 1, 14, 17 and 20 — elections for which are scheduled to be held on August 29 — was held today. For the ward no 17, SAD candidate, Isher Singh was left in the fray after other nomination papers were rejected by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO). It, however, could not be ascertained whether the SAD candidate was elected unopposed. For the wards no 1, 11 and 20 the number of candidates in the fray are 10, 4 and 13, respectively.
Independents’ role
to be crucial SAS NAGAR, The Sarb Hind Akali Dal (SHSAD) today claimed that at least 12 winning candidates had their outside support and it would play an important part in electing the president of the civic body. Talking to mediapersons, Mr Prem Singh Chandumajra, former Member of Parliament, said the Badal Government had to face defeat in the council election due to its anarchist policies. He said hooliganism was witnessed in the yesterday’s elections. On the question of electing the President, Mr Chandumajra claimed that his party would say in the elections but denied to give names of the probable candidates. He said the final picture would be clear after the results of four remaining wards were declared on August 29. Mr Hardeep Singh and Mr Charanjit Walia, both senior leaders of the SHSAD, said at least 15 winning candidates enjoyed the support of the party. Mr S.S.
Barnala, who won from the ward no. 27, believes that at least nine former municipal councillors who had again won would be the pressure group in formation of the elected body. A similar scenario was visible in the last elected council also. Another section of former councillors believe that the ruling SAD government might try to assert its point or keep up pressure on the president to remove him on one or the other point as had been done in case of the former President H.S. Billa. The final picture, however, would emerge once results of all the wards was
out.
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UT suspends sale of
lotteries CHANDIGARH,
The distributors of lotteries in the Union Territory, who had earlier been granted permission by the Administration, have been specifically ordered to suspend the sale of lottery tickets immediately. These distributors had been earlier permitted to sell the lotteries of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland in Chandigarh. The sale of tickets in the city and the social impact has been taken into consideration by the Chandigarh Administration following various reports about the malpractices in the sale of lotteries. The sales tax evasion on account of an illegal sale of lotteries due to the complex dynamics of the business also weighed upon the minds of the authorities, according to sources. The Administration has decided to evolve an effective mechanism for controlling the sale of illegal lotteries and to increase the sales tax revenue before the operation of lotteries is allowed again, a press note issued by the Administration said. The Department of Excise and Taxation will formulate various programmes and take necessary measures to ensure that the sale of lotteries take place in the city in a planned and organised manner. Guidelines and procedures will be evolved to ensure proper regulation and monitoring of the lottery trade, the press note said. Besides this, instructions are being issued to the Police Department to take suitable action to ensure that underground sale of lottery tickets and other related illegal practices do not start as a result of this temporary suspension of organised lottery business. |
They have never been on a sticky
wicket CHANDIGARH,
It all started in 1969 when 21-year-old Glenn Turner was in Bombay at a function and met this beautiful Indian college-going girl who was there with her parents. Her father
Sqn. Leader J.S. Gill was then serving Air India and was flying the Kiwis from London to Bombay. The rest is history. Sukhinder who was studying at Sophia College, left for the USA on a scholarship for her Bachelors degree in history and political science and got married to Turner just when she started doing her masters degree. Now she is running her second term as Mayor of Dunedin, the largest city in New Zealand. “Oh! There were major problems at home regarding our marriage and specially from my father who thought that I was setting a bad example for the rest of the family. Moreover, in the early 70s these things were not done at all,” says Sukhinder. “But my mother decided in my favour and we were married in 1973. I left my education in the USA and decided to travel with Glenn on his tours around the world and later had a family.” But did you feel that you were leaving your education for family life? “Not at all, in fact at some point I think I had already decided that living life was much better than trying to find it in books. So I just let life take over and went on to have children.” The Turners have two children, a 23-year-old daughter and 20-year-old son. Glenn followed his career as a professional cricketer for 16 years and later retired from the game. He served as Director of the Otago Sports Trust for 10 years . Now he works as a TV commentator, does some coaching for the New Zealand team. But how did Sukhinder end up in politics of New Zealand? “I had been on the Board of Trustees of my children’s school and was involved actively in the politics of education. Then one thing led to another. I had rather strong views about what was happening around me and of course my degree in politics was a big encouragement. I became a Councillor in 1992 and have been in mainstream Municipal politics since then.” Sukhinder has been elected as the Mayor twice and has been at the forefront of various policy decisions local bodies take in New Zealand. You have come to your country after almost seven years, how do you feel? “Well I had been very busy in New Zealand and this was a welcome break indeed. I am very relaxed here but trying to keep myself abreast of all that is happening around me. I read about the civic polls in Mohali today and the way lawlessness prevailed during the election of the councillor. But I was not very surprised. I have spent 18 years of my life in India and know how the system works. Elections to local bodies in New Zealand is a rather streamlined process and the Councillor and Mayor are elected through postal voting systems.” How does Glenn feel in India? “I am very comfortable with the Indian way of life. I find loongi the most comfortable house dress. I like Indian food and can cook some typical Indian dishes rather well. In fact we in New Zealand have a curry of our own.” How does he react to match-fixing in the game of cricket? “Look betting in sports is legal in New Zealand but there are some limitations involved which many people do not adhere to. So it is a rather negative thing. But I also feel that dishonesty at the team’s level can be controlled but at the individual’s level it is not possible. If someone has decided to play wrongly or into wrong hands, there is no way you can stop it. Then there is also the question of pressures these players are under and I think that the media has a big role to play in this. If a young vulnerable player is told day in and day out that he is very good, I feel anyone can lose his or her balance. I have been there on the top and, believe me, it needs a big concerted effort to keep one’s head on one’s shoulders.” |
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Website for local
youth CHANDIGARH,
“The site will bring a whiff of fresh air in the flooded dotcom world”, asserts Akhil, who conceived and developed the site. The website which targets the 13-33 age-group aim to provide various fun-filled services to the youth of the city. “I have tried to provide and integrate almost all services of the Internet on our website which are generally used by the youngsters”, asserts Akhil, who is also the CEO of the venture. “Everything, from online dating, chatting, sending love messages or flowers or even accessing astrological predictions and super relevant web search is available on the site,” he adds. Though the formal launch of the portal is slated for the month-end, it has already started attracting traffic and numerous net-buffs have signed up for its membership. “There are thousands sites for the youth, but none of these is local in perspective,” says Preeti, an Internet buff. “The website even has a ‘Lovology’ section wherein advice is provided to the surfers on this topic”, says another regular at the cyber joints. Interestingly, about a year ago Akhil did not know anything about the Internet. “Today I own many websites designed by me”, claims the 21-year-old computer buff. The team behind the project consists entirely of students from PEC. The site caters to the serious students also. One can avail of discounts on various courses by premier computer and coaching institutes. To top it all, there is a ‘agony aunt\uncle waiting’ section to pull you out of your miseries. There is also a personal homepage section and also a graffiti wall. It also has a search engine which combines the searching capabilities of a number of popular search engines like Yahoo, MSN, Lycos, Infoseek and Alta Vista Directhit, etc. The zealous team behind the project plans to take the city by storm by launching the portal. “Negotiations are on and agreements are underway with some big players in the field”, claims Akhil. |
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BSP rally for women’s quota CHANDIGARH,
Shouting slogans, the activists assembled at the Parade Ground and marched in procession to the Chandigarh Housing Board Chowk. The procession was flagged off by Mata Bishan Daee, mother of BSP supremo, Kansi Ram. After protesting at the chowk, a delegation led by BSP president, Mr Mata Ram Dhiman, submitted a memorandum to the UT Administrator for onward transmission to the President of India. The memorandum, while demanding 50 per cent quota within the 33 per cent reservation for women in the Women Reservation Bill, which is going to be introduced in Parliament, hoped that the step would bring about a revolutionary social change.
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17 dowry deaths reported daily in
country CHANDIGARH,
Incidentally, 90 per cent of the rape cases are not even reported given the fear and stigma of social ostracism attached with them. As a matter of fact, it is a common police practice to label the victim as a woman of easy virtue. Coming back to the actual figures related to crimes against women, Chandigarh, like the rest of the country, is showing an alarming rise every year. Though the police tends to link it with the rise in population, the fact is that the figures show a trend which is disturbing for most of the social scientists and activists. In India, there is a crime against woman committed every six minutes. A breakdown of the figures reveal that a woman is raped every 47 minutes, another is kidnapped or abducted every 44 minutes while a third is subjected to cruelty by her husband or her relatives. On an average 17 cases of dowry deaths are reported every day. Incidentally, here we are not even referring to the hidden crimes which are reflected in increasing use of sex determination tests to abort female
foetus. The non-government-organisations (NGOs) working in the area have found that the practice is quite widespread and not limited to specific communities. However, social activists feel that the crux of the problem existed in the fact that there was a total devaluation of the values in society and that matrimony is more the matter of money. Moreover, the gender-based violence against women have crossed all religious, cultural and regional boundaries. Experts say in a modern city like Chandigarh, the increase in violence against women is indirectly linked to consumerism and liberalisation. According to Mrs Sheila Didi, a leading lawyer and a social activist, most of the dowry related cases are fuelled by unreal aspirations “Add the barrage of advertisements and the get rich quick schemes. This leads to the gap between the aspirations and their fulfillment which is being reflected in increased violence in human interaction. As far as rape and molestation is concerned, advertisements use woman’s body to sell anything from cars to soaps. All this has an impact on social behaviour,” she adds. Most of the social activists blame opening up of the electronic media and liberalisation to the escalation in thee crime against women. According to Mrs Amrita Kohli, chairperson, Helping Hand, the opening up of the electronic media especially to the private companies have led to a spate of programmes based on sex and violence. However, deficiencies in law enforcement require urgent correction, feel social
activists. To reduce the instances of violence against women, stringent punishment is necessary,” they add. And as the I.G. Police, Mr Bhim Sen Bassi, says rather than blaming the police, an attempt has to be made to bring about a social change which will result in the upliftment of their status in the society.
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Man arrested for stealing
purse CHANDIGARH,
According to police sources, Kishen Lal reported that Pirthi had stolen his purse from the grain market. He was caught red handed and handed over to the police. A case under Section 379, 411 of the IPC has been registered. Man assaulted:
A case under Sections 323, 506/34 of the IPC has been registered and Subash Sharma has been arrested. Cars stolen:
Sector 32 resident P.M. Gupta, reported that someone had stolen his car, CHOIB 2000, from his residence, which was found abandoned in Sector 26 later on. Cases under Section 379 of the IPC has been registered. Stereo stolen from booth:
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Food institute to have
hotel CHANDIGARH,
The training hotel will serve two purposes — it will supplement the public requirement of more hotel accommodation in the city as well as will provide sufficient training facilities to the students. Bhoomi Pujan Ceremony was performed at the institute here today for the hotel. Mrs Vineeta Rai, adviser to the Administrator, Chandigarh, soleminised the Puja for 15 minutes and set on the construction striking the spade on the earth. Later on she also planted a tree to mark the occasion. The Applied Hotel Crafts Training Centre will be a 24 room training hotel attached to the institute providing first hand experience to the students. It will also give exposure to the faculty on modern hotel functioning. The building will cost about 1.86 crore and total project cost, including interiors will be Rs 2.55 Lakh. The hotel will be managed by its own regular staff which will be recruited shortly before the completion of the hotel building, and the students of the institute will be given training under the able guidance of the teachers. Eventually a health club, and a swimming pool will also be
added. Room tariffs and the rates will be reasonable catering to the middle class segment and executive of the companies. Mrs Neeru Nanda, Chairperson CITCO and Chandigarh Housing Board, Mr MP Singh, Home Secretary-cum-Chairman Food Craft Institute were among those who attended the function. |
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Traders: simplify
ST assessment CHANDIGARH,
The delegation put forward matters which included ownership and transfer of the industrial plots and sheds as per the lease deed agreement, regularity of the industry advisory committee meeting, simplification of sales tax assessment cases in Chandigarh by way of self/summary assessments, establishment of specialised
SSI. branch of the bank as per the Kapoor committee in Industrial Area and disbursal of the national equity fund and technology upgradation fund by SIDBI. According to the
honorary secretary of the chamber, Mr Naveen Manglani, the Administration has assured that the matters will be considered and the problems will be resolved soon. |
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