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| Friday,
October 13, 2000, Chandigarh, India |
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Political parties’ support
conspicuous by its absence CHANDIGARH, Oct 12 — There appears to be a minimal colour of “outside” political parties in the ongoing campaign for the elections to the Panjab University Campus Students Council, — probably a rare happening in any university across the country. The Congress seems to have lost all ground in the campus “at the official level” with no filing of papers for any of the posts by the National Students Union of India
(NSUI). Another leading national front, the Students Federation of India with Leftist backings, has also till date not named a single candidate. There are, however, “undercover” indications of backings for candidates by national parties “but with old association with the university political scenario”. The Student Organisation of Panjab University has the reported backing of a Congress-affiliated “strong-man” on the campus. The Panjab University Students Union, the Haryana Students Association and the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad combine throws interesting facts, which are surely contrary to the existing party positions in states. The Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, despite repeated denials, has been recognised as a BJP-backed front. The BJP and the Congress are not seen on common political fronts. The HSA has in the past shown support to the Congress. A former PUSU chairman these days is seen among the Congress group outside the campus. On the campus, all political fronts have taken the back seat in the presentation of their assets. A top-level functionary of the PUSU-HSA-ABVP front today asked a fellow student to refrain from mentioning the name of his organisation at the rallies. All contestants were announced to be free from parties and common front partners. Big names have always figured during campaigning, but, at the moment maximum refrain is being maintained to come out openly. Munish Anand, a former president, who came at a press conference won the chair on the PUSU logo. Then he reportedly shifted to the NSUI, and now again is largely being identified as a PUSU promoter. There is, however no denial that front runners are looking for support, even from outside. A former president of the council spoke at a SOPU rally yesterday. Also present were the Haryana Student Union and Himachal Students Association
(HIMSA) presidents. The PUSU-HSA-ABVP front is concentrating on personal contacts scheme.
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Seminar on gender
sensitisation CHANDIGARH,
Oct 12 — A two-day seminar on gender sensitisation got under way at the Sector 26 police lines here today. In the inaugural address, UT Adviser Vineeta Rai highlighted the need for creating awareness on the issue and its strict implementation, particularly among police personnel. She appreciated the steps being taken by the local police in this context. UT IGP B.S. Bassi also addressed the gathering. In his welcome address, Mr Ajay Kashyap, DIG, said the Recruit Training Centre (RTC) had been set up to train cops in keeping with the times, and gender sensitisation was one of the main chapters. He said such modules are an integral part of the basic training course to make it more effective and relevant for the cosmopolitan set-up like Chandigarh. Senior officers of the force attended the module. A series of lectures were delivered by Dr Ranjana Kumari, chairperson, Centre for Social Research, Delhi, Mrs Rita Sharma, Dr Upneet Lalli, Deputy Director, RICA, and Dr Sultana, Centre for Women Studies, Panjab University. |
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School children get tips on policing PANCHKULA,
Oct 12 — Tips on policing for school students is a theory the local police seems to stand by, firmly believing in catching them young to make an impact and creating an impression. This was behind the move of educating 30 Class XI students of Hansraj Public School at the police station in Sector 5, here today. Informing the students about the hierarchy of the police force, the Superintendent of Police, Ms Kala Ramachandran, also spoke on the powers and responsibilities of the different ranks of the police force. The students were explained the process of registering an FIR. Mr Amitabh Singh Dhillon, Assistant Superintendent of Police, explained the students about the procedure followed by the police after registration of an FIR and took them around in the police station. For the boys, a feel of the weapons in the kot in the police station was an experience worth remembering while the girl students were in complete awe as they took a round of the lock-up on the premises. Later followed the “fun part’’ of the educative exercise as the students were posted at various points in the city along with police personnel to impose fine on traffic violators. “It was for the first time that we realised, what a difficult time the cops have while on duty. The violators made attempts to grease their palms and get away with the violation, but were turned away. Taking the challan chits, most of the violators left in a huff,’’ Meenakshi Kohli, a student, said. Another student, Dheeraj Chowdhary, said that he issued challans in the cases where licences and registration cards were not renewed. “I got an understanding of the working of the cops. It was a wonderful idea to take us out and provide practical training,’’ he added. “Patience is a must if you want to become a cop. The public just don’t stop at anything while challans are being issued for violations. Most cases that I encountered were those of helmetless two-wheeler riders and none of them left without arguing for about five minutes. I don’t know how the cops can take all this,’’ contends Anum Aggarwal, who would “love’’ to repeat the hands-on training imparted to them. Hansraj school was the second school after Satluj Public School to be involved in the training programme under which the police has set its eyes upon school children to drive home the point of obeying traffic rules. |
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A nostalgic
get-together CHANDIGARH,
Oct 12 — It was an occasion to cherish for the alumni and students of the Chandigarh College of Architecture as the college observed the annual Le Corburiser Day here today. Former students of the college from all parts of the country and abroad were present. There was an air of nostalgia surrounding the whole campus as alumni were meeting their teachers after a long time recalling their old days. The day started with the inauguration of an exhibition displaying the works of its alumni and the present students. A fully airconditioned computer centre was inaugurated by Mr Sarabjeet Singh Sandhu, Chief Architect, Department of Urban Planning. The other attraction of the day was a cricket match between the students and alumni teams. The old veterans many of them middle-aged, proved their mettle by making the team win the match The team was captained by Mr Subhash Kashyap, Senior Town Planner, Punjab. An “interface” between the alumni and the present students was also organised with an objective to make the present students clear about the options open to them in their profession. Later in the evening the distribution of degrees and awards was done. After this a colourful cultural programme was organised and the day ended with a dinner for the alumni. |
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Jacob’s call to teach slum children CHANDIGARH,
Oct 12 — Slum children of a night school, being run in Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 45, presented a nice show at a function organised in the school here yesterday. They came on stage holding tricolours to sing a patriotic song. It was a dream come true for them as they got a chance to perform on the stage. The function was organised by the Lions Club Chandigarh Supreme, District 321. The UT Administrator, Lieut. Gen. J.F.R. Jacob (retd), was the chief guest. Speaking on the occasion, the Administrator said that it was the duty of all to educate the underprivileged children living in the slums. He took a round of the school and asked the Chief Engineer to get the playground of the school levelled within a month. He asked the club to supply sports equipment for volleyball, football and basketball for the schoolchildren. He said that the NGOs and the Education Department would have to put in more efforts to improve the literacy rate in slums and rural areas of the city. He said that among a population of three lakh living in slums literacy rate was very low and this fact should motivate all to expand activities in the slums. He called on the club to deputs some activists in colony number 5 as it was the largest slum in the city. He said all the NGOs, like Lions Club, should work to make the city 100 per cent literate. |
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‘Say no to crackers’ CHANDIGARH, Oct 12 — Divali can be celebrated without fire-crackers. It is a festival of lights and not crackers. This was a message conveyed by the students of SD High School, Sector 24, while they, holding placards, went through the sector roads to sensitise students and people about celebrating Divali without polluting environment. The rally was organised by the Children’s Alliance for Protection of Environment as part of its fortnight- long campaign “Say no to crackers” launched in the city. As many as 300 children of the school took part in the rally by holding placards with slogans ‘’Divali — call it Deepawali, the festival of lights”, “crackers cause air and noise pollution”, “crackers lead to exploitation of children engaged in fireworks industry” etc. The rally was led by Mr Vishwa Bandhu, Principal of the school, and was flagged off by Mr S.K. Sharma, President of the Environment Society of India. Mr Sharma said that exploding crackers during Divali was against our cultural heritage and it was the duty if all of us to educate the masses to stop this practice. |
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Youth fest
from Nov 21 LUDHIANA,
Oct 12 — Zonal youth festival for students of all women colleges affiliated with Panjab University of the city will be held at Khalsa College for Women from November 21 to November 23. The dates were finalised at a meeting of representatives from various colleges held on Wednesday. Students from nine colleges will take part in the festival. These include the host Khalsa College for Women, Government College for Women, Master Tara Singh College, Ramgarhia College for Women, Guru Nanak Girls College, Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Devki Devi Jain College, Mata Ganga College, Rotan, and SDP College. There will be 25 items comprising dance music, fine arts, home science, quiz, debate, poetry, creative writing and drama. |
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‘CEDTI
should extend franchising scheme’ SAS NAGAR,
Oct 12 — The Principal Secretary, Science, Technology and Environment, Punjab, Mr Rajan Kashyap, suggested here today that the Centre for Electronics Design and Technology of India (CEDTI) should extend its nationwide franchising scheme to other countries. Mr Kashyap, who was inaugurating two 12-week international courses in the field of multimedia and telecommunication for developing countries at the local CEDTI, said since foreign delegates had come for these courses the opportunity to discuss the franchising scheme should not be wasted. Sixteen delegates from Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Kenya, Bhutan, Zambia, Cambodia, Madagaskar, Khazakistan and Botswana, will attend the courses. These have been sponsored by the Ministry of External Affairs under the International Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme. Mr Kashyap said the common language of all delegates was computers. It was a binding force. Earlier there was three Rs (reading writing and arithmatic) of learning, but now a fourth R, computers, would have to be added. He said India was poised for a massive leap in the field of Information Technology. The total number of personal computers in the country at present was 4.8 million and this should increase to 20 million by 2008. Similarly, the number of Internet subscribers was 0.8 million and this should rise to 35 million during the same period. The number of Internet users, he said, was 3.2 million which should shoot up to 100 million. Mr Kashyap said India would need 2.2 million IT professionals by 2008. As it was difficult to meet the market demand, it had been proposed that unemployed engineers should be given a “topping” of IT so that they could be fit to face the world. The Principal Secretary said out of 100 persons in cities only nine had access to computers (the figure for Chandigarh was 11). However, as compared to the world the computer access in the case of India was only 0.1 per cent. Even countries like Mexico and Brazil were far ahead in this sphere. Mr R.S. Khandpur, Director, CEDTI, said the requirement of the computer training had increased to such an extent that the seven CEDTI’s in the country were unable to cope with it. As such, under the recently introduced franchising scheme, 250 authorised centres were conducting CEDTI courses. The fee structure at these centres was much lower than those providing private training. He said the local CEDTI had become financially self sufficient and it was expected that next year the centre would earn a revenue of Rs 14 crore. |
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Notice to MCC for October
16 CHANDIGARH,
Oct 12 — The UT Civil Judge (Junior Division) has issued a notice for October 16 to the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh, through the Commissioner and Executive Engineer (Horticulture), in a case filed by some residents of the city. The residents do not want the defendants to set up stalls of crackers and the other items in the Sector 22 Nehru Park as part of the Divali Mela. The plaintiffs — Mr Mashwinder Singh, a resident of Sector 22, and the others — have filed this suit on the basis of a statement given by the defendants in an earlier case (Mashwinder Singh versus Chandigarh) that the MCC would not convert the park into a commercial site. Railings, drinking-water facilities and toilet blocks are being set up in the park. Mr Mashwinder had earlier filed a complaint against the MCC for constructing public lavatories in Nehru Park. The court had then directed the defendants to maintain the park and refrain from holding political functions and commercial activities there. The plaintiffs also alleged that the defendants had not acted according to their statement given in the court by allowing the holding of a crockery exhibition, Ramlila and Dasehra Mela in the park. |
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Bail plea dismissed in theft
case CHANDIGARH,
Oct 12 — The UT Additional District and Session Judge, Mr R.C. Godara, today dismissed the anticipatory bail moved by Deepak Kohli in a 10-lakh theft case. It was alleged that on the night of September 27, the accused along with his other companions, committed theft of jewellery and other materials from a Sector 15 shop. The counsel of the accused argued that the accused’s name had not been mentioned in the FIR and some of the co-accused in this case had already been released on the bail, so the accused deserved the concession of bail under Section 438 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The Public Procecuter argued that though the name of the accused was not mentioned in the FIR, still his custodial interrogation was necessary to effect the recovery of the stolen articles from him. The judge observed that the accused did not deserve the concession of bail under Section 438 of the Criminal Procedure Code, as the recovery of the stolen articles has yet to be made. It was stated that his name had been mentioned by the
complainant (owner of shop) in his supplementary statement. Sodhi Ram case The UT Additional District and Session Judge, on Thursday granted a one-day interim bail to former Controller of Examination Sodhi Ram in the Panjab University paper leakage case. The accused had filed an application before the court that his daughter was going abroad so he needed interim bail. The judge granted him interim bail of one
day (October 14). Anticipatory bail The UT District Session Judge on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to Sector 20 resident Bhagwan Dass and his family members, in a case of voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon. The complainant, Mrs Manpreet, had alleged that the accused Bhagwan Dass had hurt her with the broken glasses and other family member used to harrass her. An FIR against the accused Bhagwan Das and other family members had been registered under Sections 498-a,324, and 34 of the IPC. |
Happy times for
tipplers CHANDIGARH,
Oct 12 — The festival of lights will be brighter for some privileged liquor lovers of the city. The entry to the first Liquor Festival that will be organised for three days in the Chandigarh Club from tomorrow, will be on invitation only. All tipplers are equal, but some tipplers are more equal than others. The organisers of the event say that about 9,000 persons have been invited for the festival. The organisers say that they are sorry for not being able to invite more persons. “Liquor is being served here. We cannot throw open the bash to all,” they say.
However, the persons who will miss the invitation should not worry. The liquor will be sold at the market price only. However, they will miss bhangra, rap and DJ Nite, besides a chance to taste several brands of liquor without requiring to buy full bottles. |
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Group song
contest SAS NAGAR, Oct 12 — An inter-school national group song competition was organised by the local branch of the Bharat Vikas Parishad at Shastri Model School here today. Mr Baldev Singh Mann, Deputy secretary, Punjab School Education Board, was the chief guest and the function was presided over by Mr Harmeet Kals, an NRI and chief of H.K. Immigration Consultancy, Edmenton, Canada. Six schools participated at the junior level and three at the senior level. Shivalik Public School stood first in the junior category and Sant Isher Singh Model Senior Secondary School was first in the senior group. |
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