The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

Students await PU nod
Annual exam in environmental studies this session
By Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 29 — Undergraduate students are facing anxious moments of uncertainty, awaiting a formal Panjab University nod for conduct of annual examination in the compulsory subject of environmental studies.

A speedy decision is sought, allowing students to be ‘mentally’ prepared and the colleges to be prepared as well for the examination. Late decision has been one of the excuses in the past when the examination was replaced by simple attendance of minimum lectures.

The university has proposed an examination for this session. The decision comes up before the university Syndicate and later the Senate for approval. Meanwhile, college principals, in a special meeting in November, are likely to show their apprehensions on the issue. “Quick action and announcement of decision for this year is expected at the earliest, as is evident from loads of calls from students and parents,” a Fellow said.

Unanimous decision of a special committee has sent clear signals to students to be prepared for a written examination in the current academic session. The committee comprised Dean Sciences, Principal Budhiraja, Prof Charanjit Chawla, Prof R.K. Kohli, Principal A.S. Bedi and Ms Vijayalakshmi, among others.

The committee proposed a written examination of 50 marks, comprising objective-type questions. The one-hour paper is proposed to be computer-checked. One grievance in the past has been non-payment of special dues to principals and teachers. Principals have been recommended Rs 2500 and co-ordinators Rs 1500, while teachers are to be paid Rs 250 per lecture. One grievance has been non-payment on this account.

One interesting question pertaining to the issue, said a senior fellow, was that on what account was fee charged over the past three to four years been spent. The charges had been as high as Rs 120 to Rs 180 per student.

The paper faced opposition right from the beginning. A Supreme Court judgement made the paper in environmental studies mandatory in all universities and institutions in the country. Barring PU, there is hardly any news of any university making an effort in this direction.

A committee was constituted in 1995 by the former Vice-Chancellor, Prof T.N. Kapoor, under the chairmanship of Justice Kuldip Singh. The university Syndicate approved the committee decision to introduce the subject. Sources said “hurried preparation of the syllabus text saw students facing problems”.

The examination in 1996-97 unofficially put the figures of passing students at five per cent. The result was never declared officially. A simplified book was introduced and Rs 10 was charged from each student as special fee.

Next year also, colleges had to arrange for special lectures. A 50-marks paper was proposed but was never conducted. “There seems a lack of interest at the college administration level,” the Fellow said. A three-member committee said the examination came as a surprise to many and needed to be relaxed. Required lectures to seek the subject certificate were increased to 16.

This time the university was making best efforts to decide the future of the course, a committee member said. Topics related to the course include environment, land, forest, wildlife, water, atmosphere, society, habitat, energy and pollution.

Girl kidnapped in Panchkula
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Oct 29 — Eleven-year-old Paramjit Kaur, alias Pammi, a student of Class VI of Government School in Sector 7, was kidnapped from her residence by her neighbour, Vishal Kumar, on October 14. A report in this regard was given by the girl’s father, Mr Hazoor Singh, here today, and a case under Sections 363, 366 A of the IPC was registered.

Narrating his ordeal to locate his daughter, Hazoor Singh said Vishal was working as a tailor and was his immediate neighbour in Raily village. He, along with his 18-year-old wife, Manju, often invited his daughter over to their place and played with her which was not approved by him.

However, their relations turned sour when Vishal took his daughter to watch a Ram Lila show one night. A truck driver, Hazoor Singh, returned that night at 11 pm and was told by his wife that Pammi was away with the couple.

He said he approached Vishal the next day and made no bones about the fact that he did not approve of the couple taking his daughter out. “I went to the extent of saying that he should not have any interaction with my child. He accepted whatever I said but did not take kindly to my disapproval. However, I did not expect him to go to the extent of kidnapping my daughter,” he informed.

On October 14, Pammi left her house in the morning for school but did not return. “Both I and my wife searched for her in the entire village, hoping she had decided to stay back at a friend’s place after the school. Not finding her anywhere, I casually checked the neighbour’s house and was surprised to find it vacant,” Hazoor Singh rued.

It was then that the parents realised that Pammi had been kidnapped and made all efforts to look for her at all places frequented by the child. When all else failed, they reported the matter to the police. “They must have kidnapped her on the pretext of taking her out. All we know about him is that he hailed from Jammu and had been working as a tailor,” he said.

Sources said Vishal was most probably not married to Manju who was another member of a larger gang active in the kidnapping of children. Also, the photograph attached to the ration card showed an additional family member in a child who actually belonged to the neighbours. “He was a cheat and everybody knew of this though his activities were confined to petty matters. we did not expect him to take such a step,” Pammi’s father explained.

Meanwhile, the police raided the house of the accused and found the room vacant except for a bed.

The Superintendent of Police, Ms Kala Ramachandran, said the child was mentally unsound and efforts were on to trace the three-wheeler used by the couple to move out of the village. Only after this search, police parties, would be sent to trace the couple and child.

Two drug peddlers of Ferozepore booked
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR, Oct 29 — In a breakthrough which could lead to uncovering of a clandestine network of supplying narcotics in several states of the northern region, the local police has laid its hand on two conduits of Ferozepore district of Punjab. The two youths are a part of the network of drug peddlers involving foreign nationals.

Being on the lookout for the middlemen in the illegal trade, two police teams led by Station House Officer (SHO) of the central police station intercepted a Maruti car in which the suspects were bringing a consignment of smack, weighing around 90 grams. The consignment was meant to be distributed among drug addicts.

Initially, the local police was tight-lipped about the prized catch and the senior officials of the local police feigned ignorance about the arrest of the two youth. After consistent pursuance the officials hesitantly gave information about the youths.

A case under the NDPS Act has been registered against Mehar Singh and Surjit Singh, both resident of Ferozepore.

Though the other possible linkages to the network of drug peddling were being kept secretive by the officials, sources said the two youths were coming in car ( PCQ 2531) when they were intercepted on the basis of tip-off given by an informer. Another persons, Rajinder, who was accompanying the two suspect was arrested but released later after his involvement in the trade could not be established. The suspects told the police that they had allegedly brought the consignment from an African women, Suzan, who resided in Phase 3B 1 here.

On the basis of the information a team led by a Deputy Superintendent of Police searched the house of the woman but without any success.

It may pertinent to mention that a few months back residents of the locality where the woman lives had informed the police about her activities. The police had then searched her place but without success. Then a youth of the locality, who was addicted to drugs, had reportedly confessed to the police about procuring his dose from the women.

Sources said the women was let off after being questioned. The police would procure arrest warrant against the women through proper channel.

When CRPF held rebels at bay
By Amarjit Thind
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, Oct 29 — It was 32 years ago that men of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) manning posts in the Jampui Hills (Tripura) held more than 150 armed Pakistani-trained rebels at bay.

Four persons — Company Commander Surendra Kumar Madan, Lance Naik Lakhan Lal, Head Constable Ram Dhari Pandey and constable Ram Nagina Yadav — were awarded the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry in 1968. The constable was given the award posthumously.

Narrating the sequence of events, Mr Madan said 38 Battalion of the CRPF was deployed in the Jampui Hills bordering Tripura and the Mizo hills. This area was undemarcated at that time and was flanked by East Pakistan. Most of the area was dense tropical forest with hardly any communication or approach routes and was largely uninhabited by tribesmen.

The battalion established three posts on the border from where Mizo and Naga rebels went to training camps in the jungles of Chittagong. They were trained in guerrilla warfare by the Pakistani military for creating unrest in the southern states.

The rebels resented the setting up of the posts which were on the way to their camps. On the morning of October 30 information was received that a 150-strong party of tribesmen, reportedly led by Laldenga, then president of the then outlawed Mizo National Front, armed with mortars, bren guns, machine guns and LMGs, was advancing towards the company headquarters at Chamanu.

The next day the post was attacked by the rebels with 3. 5 inch mortars, grenade launchers and semi-automatic weapons. Undeterred by the fierce attack and the lack of any weapons other than .303 rifles and LMGs, the men under the command of Madan held their positions and fired back at the enemy.

The attack, which lasted for three hours, saw the intruders retreating in the face of stiff opposition. Laldenga subsequently rose to become the Chief Minister of Mizoram.

Mr Madan recalls that when the information was passed on to the battalion HQ, orders were received from the IGP, Tripura, that reinforcements were being sent, but a strong section should be sent to intercept the enemy. “Instead of carrying out a possible suicidal mission of intercepting the intruders, I took the decision to defend the post,” he added.

The men were informed of the exact position and asked to move to the bunkers and trenches with full ammunition. As dawn broke the first mortar fell on the post from across the river. The rocket missed post number 2 by 2 metres but managed to damage it. Another fell near post number 1.

“Since we did not have mortars, we had to rely on grenade launches. It was at that time that we realised that most of the grenades failed to burst since they were vintage.” The enemy meanwhile managed to advance to just 30-40 yards from the post. Twice the rebels tried to charge, but were pinned down with accurate LMG fire. At this time a mortar shell fell on post number 1 seriously injuring Ram Nagina Yadav and three others, he added.

Seeing that it was a stalemate, “I along with six others crawled through a nullah and managed to reach an area to the rear of the attackers. When we opened fire, the enemy thought that reinforcements had arrived and hastily retreated taking their dead and injured with them,” he recalled.

Cine lovers throng city theatres again
A tale of two releases, advance booking and long queues
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 29 — Heavy rush at the local Piccadily and Nirman theatres featuring Mohabbatein and Mission Kashmir indicates that cine-lovers are thronging theatres again. The theatres had witnessed lean time following invasion of the audio-visual scene by the satellite television channels.

Tickets commanding premium as high as Rs 100-150 at the two theatres clearly point out that happy days are back for the film industry.

Anurag, a DAV College student, said that he could not manage ticket for the night show yesterday for Mohabbatein. He came in the morning and could not get the ticket even after the second show started. "I will not go without seeing Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan on the screen", he said.

At both theatres tickets have been booked in advance till next Wednesday. Long queues can be seen at the advance booking counters of these theatres daily.

Mr Kashmiri Lal, Manager of Nirman theatre, said that tickets in advance booking had been sold till Thursday. He said there was no hike in tickets' prices unlike a neighbouring theatre.

Mr Kashmiri Lal said that “a print cost Rs 11 lakh in Chandigarh. The earnings above the price are shared between the producer and the theatre, but the losses are borne by the theatre alone”.

A view widely shared by a cross- section of viewers was that “simultaneous release of two ‘nice’ movies will have a negative effect of one of them”.

A show handler in Piccadily said that “in the immediate long run, which means after just a couple of weeks, the real picture of the winner among the two movies will emerge”.

Shruti Khanna, a local student, said that “I am a great Hrithik Roshan fan but this product has failed to live up to my expectations. It lacks clarity in the emotional personality of the lead hero. Even Jackie Shroff looks wasted. I liked Sanjay Dutt as a father which was not approved by my friends”.

Neha Singh, another local student, said that she was satisfied with Mohabbatein but the storyline could have been terse and the show a little shorter. The setting was beautiful which reminded me of my school.

The initial rush has given strong signals of the movies running longer. In the city, however, the gentry has a strong hand in deciding the future of stars and directors. “I know the luck will see the winner sail through the present tough competition but qualitatively both the directors deserve a round of applause. Let the best win”, said a movie-goer.

Munish Sharma, who has seen both releases, feels a little let down. “Amitabh Bachchan looks extra stone faced than necessary and the fun and frolic on the campus look unconvincing. The mission seems unclearly spelled out going by the end in Mission Kashmir. Maybe, I expected more going by other releases in the past”, he added.

Readers write
Tree felling sans mercy

The Panchkula branch of the Haryana Vidut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) has apparently earmarked a certain amount in its annual budget for felling what it considers “hazardous” trees. To justify the allocation of this money, they religiously follow the routine of chopping trees regardless of whether these are hazardous to the nigam’s operations or not, and whether the tree is on a private property. The owners of such trees, of whom I am one, and the environmentalists are dismayed by this attitude of the HVPN.

A few years ago I planted a sapling of Chinar in my garden. This famous tree from Kashmir is generally not grown in the plains of India. Dedicated labour enabled me to nourish it into a tree, perhaps the only one of its kind in Panchkula and possibly in Haryana. A few days ago, labourers from the HVPN climbed the wall of the backyard of our house and mercilessly chopped the whole tree from top to bottom. Had they informed me in advance, I could have got the top portion of the tree pruned in a proper way. Is there no law in our country which makes it obligatory for agencies like the HVPN to seek the permission of the owner before cutting a tree? I call on the environmentalists and tree lovers of Panchkula to ask the HVPN to inform the owners of trees before chopping them off.
Mohit Raina
Panchkula

CSD stamp

I would like to draw the attention of the government to the fact that apart from the serving and retired defence personnel and their families, other citizens also buy items from the Canteen Stores Department (CSDs) shops of the Ministry of Defence, violating the rules. Even shopkeepers buy their requirements from CSD shops to earn higher profits. I urge the government to take immediate action to ban this obnoxious practice. Defence authorities should stamp all items sold through the Canteen Stores Department.
Capt Jagdish Chand (Retd)
NAROLA (MANDI)

Forest Department

This refers to the report “Kids to be shown forest areas” (Chandigarh Tribune, Oct 4). I wish to state that surprise visits by Lt-Gen J. F. R. Jacob have not made any difference to the working of the Forest Department. For example, Mr H. S. Johal, Director and Chief Wildlife Warden, said in the report that schools interested in taking children to forest areas during the Wildlife Week’ (Oct 1-Oct 7) would have to inform the Forest Department well in advance. He said this when only three days were left for the ‘week’ to end. Moreover, private schools were closed for Dussehra holidays.
Mohit
Chandigarh

“The Cherry Orchard”

While I hold nothing against the views of the reviewer of our play “The Cherry Orchard,” what hurts me is the writer’s concept of critical analysis. We were amateurs, trying to do our best. The reviewer from Chandigarh Tribune did not take the trouble of talking directly to the caste of the play. Six of the nine actors and actresses in the play had appeared on the stage for the first time. They had spent nearly five months trying to learn the art and craft of theatre. They not only had worked without payment, but also spent their own money in commuting etc.

I strongly feel that we should encourage such new entrants in theatre who take a small step in the right direction. This will encourage them to go forward and inspire others to participate in such creative endeavours.
Teena Virk
Chandigarh

Chandigarh Calling
Horrible traffic jams

Chandigarh last week witnessed horrible traffic jams of the kind one had only heard about. A colleague took nearly one hour to drive his car from The Tribune to his house in Sector 44. One reason was that more people were out on the roads visiting one another with Divali gifts. But the real culprit was the absence of road sense. Nobody, just nobody, knows, leave alone follows, the simple rule about how to negotiate a roundabout. In place of waiting for a few minutes before entering the circle so that those who are already in can come out, everybody rushes in, leading to inevitable logjams. At places one or two vehicles stall, worsening the situation.

Few people were in Divali spirit; most were ready with their fists to settle disputes. Policemen tried, but were unequal to the task. After all, it is not possible to station four constables at every roundabout.

What happened one day before Divali was only a trailer. It can become an everyday occurrence, like in Calcutta. The police must wake up and start educating the public that the rule of “someone coming from the right having the right of the way” is absolutely essential at roundabouts. The stop signs that the traffic police put up at trijunctions some time ago are even more compulsory at roundabouts. Dismantling these beautiful landmarks and replacing them with traffic lights is no solution. Traffic lights only slow down the traffic. All that is needed is adhering to a very simple rule, which is used all over the world except in India. Is someone listening?

Out of order

Telephone services may be improving in cities like Chandigarh and Panchkula but things continue to be primitive in the neighbourhood of these modern townships. Take Ramgarh for instance, which is only 7 km from Panchkula. It boasts of a telephone exchange which is connected with Chandigarh and Panchkula (you can make a local call to these places from Ramgarh). But at 8 pm everyday, something happens and you get a recorded message that “lines are out of order, please dial after sometime”. The fault gets rectified only the next morning at 8 am. If this happened only once in a while, it could be considered to be a genuine fault, but since lines go to sleep every night, there is something fishy going on. Local people allege that telephone exchange employee deliberately tinkers with lines before they leave Ramgarh to go to their villages and set these right on coming back the next morning. Recently, when there were four consecutive holidays, the lines dutifully remained down for four days.

And you thought that corporatisation will improve things? The nomenclature may have changed but it is the same men, folks!

There is more. From this exchange, you cannot get connected to any mobile telephone unless you happen to have an STD connection Howzzat?

Immortal music

With growing awareness about art and aesthetics, Hindustani sangeet is gaining wide popularity notwithstanding the baneful challenge of pop, rock, fusion and what have you and the strength of the electronic media.

Indian National Theatre take hope from these trends and will present their 23rd annual Chandigarh Sangeet Sammelan on November 3, 4 and 5 at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. There will be two evening sessions, each featuring two artistes and a morning session on the last day which is a Sunday.

INT have secured the acceptance of Acharya Goswami Gokulotsavji Maharaj, who is not only high up in the spiritual world but is considered a vocalist of great merit cast in the mould of the legendary Ustad Amir Khan of Indore.

Another notable personality who will grace the stage on the last day is Shruti Sadolikar Katkar — no stranger to the discerning listeners of Chandigarh — who will regale them with her rich rendition of morning ragas.

“Living toys”

In the midst of the colourful candles , decorations and toys that were being sold in various markets before Divali, there were some unusual “living toys” for sale too.

Brightly coloured chicks — painted in shades of pink, red, purple, green, etc — were being sold for Rs 10 each. There had earlier been reports that these tiny creatures were being painted in fluorescent colours to attract buyers in some towns of Punjab. Now they made an appearance in our city too (see photo on top of the page by Parvesh Chauhan).

But as curious onlookers and prospective buyers crowded around the man carrying a basketful of these chicks on his cycle, little did they realise that these “living toys” do not live long. The paints that are used to colour these chicks contain toxins that result in the death of these chicks within a few days !

N. L. Dosajh

Dr N.L. Dosajh, a former Guest professor of the PGI, is one of the few doctors in the world on whom the International Academy of Behavioral Medicine, Counselling and Psychotherapy, has conferred the “diplomat status”. With this status one is free to practice in his discipline anywhere in the world.

Located in the USA, the Academy is a multi-disciplinary professional association dedicated to the pursuit and recognition of excellence and advanced clinical competence throughout the world.

A letter that Dr Dosajh received from the Academy last week says: The Academy’s Diplomats are the most prominent practitioners in the world who have made extraordinary contributions in the areas of behavioral medicine, counselling and psychotherapy.

Dr Dosajh has devised a new technique for the treatment of schizophrenia by combining Eastern and Western psychotherapies. In this technique yoga, pranayam and meditation of Eastern therapies are combined with Western techniques of psychoanalysis, analytical psychology and psychosynthesis.

On the basis of this combined technique he presented a paper at the 75th session of the Indian Science Congress for which he got Swami Parmanand National Lecture Award. He continued his work on this technique and published his book on psychotherapy.

Lack of planning

What can be the outcome of lack of planning on part of the administration while allowing stalls on public places during Divali ? The result was witnessed in SAS Nagar as the festivity was marked by traffic chaos in markets of the town.

While the stalls had been allowed right on the roads leading to the markets, the permission for allowing the stalls for sale of firecrackers was ambiguous. No specific sites in open spaces in front of the markets had been earmarked.

No live performances

The October 23 function at the Chandigarh Press Club which featured a galaxy of stars from all over the country was well-received. There were a number of singing sensations regaling the local crowds, the best among them being the South Indian singer Usha Uthup, who scored over others on the factor that she was the only one performing live that day. She recreated the musical magic of almost three decades on the stage, by singing Kishore Kumar numbers on the one hand and her own hit songs on the other. Rest of the singers, including Hans Raj Hans, Shankar Sahni, Karan Jasbir and Bhuppi, were only moving their lips to the tracks which were running in the background.

Although the show met with success, and pleased not only the local crowds but also UT officials — Adviser Vineeta Rai, Income Tax Commissioner Ashwani Luthra and IGP B.S. Bassi — one only wished that the singers had brought out their real talent by giving live performances on the stage, instead of getting support from ready tracks.

Plug this one, please

Every now and then one comes across advertisements on TV and radio stressing the need for conserving water. These advertisements should have some effect on government departments as well. While people generally are vigilant against the wastage of this precious gift of God to mankind, government departments do not appear to be adequately concerned if the scenes of water leakage from main government supply lines at various spots in the city are any indication.

The Municipal Corporation does not normally act on its own to plug these leakages or rectify the supply line faults unless the matter is splashed in newspapers. A case in point is the leakage from a water supply line in Sector 44-B (near H. No 1251). The leakage seems to be large as water gets accumulated at a spot on the road in the morning and the evening when the water pressure is adequate. And this has been happening for the past one month or so. Will the MC act at least now?

Convocations

Reporters covering the PGI beat have been rather busy for the past one month or so. While there have been a host of continuing medical education (CME) programmes by various departments, including hepatology, pulmonary medicine and obstetrics and gynaecology the institute also had its first convocation after almost three years on October 12. The convocation naturally was a big affair, with the Union Health Minister, Dr C.P. Thakur, as the chief guest. The institute wore a spruced up look with recarpeted roads and replaced manhole covers. With a very busy Union Minister as an important guest, the solemn function started late and finished well beyond the scheduled hour.

On the other hand, the Government Medical College and Hospital convocation last week was a short and sweet affair. It started dot on time and was thankfully over within an hour.

Women dominate

The Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department organised the AICC RCOG 2000 conference last week. Interestingly, the CME programme was somewhat different from those organised by other departments in the PGI, at least in one respect. The RCOG 2000 seminar had about 250 delegates, out of which maximum belonged to the fairer sex. Even the lecture theatre where most of these conferences take place, wore a different look. There were arrangements of flowers to brighten up the dull and businesslike ambience.

The lady gynaecologists, in their silk sarees and suits, seemed to brighten up the otherwise cut and dried affair. So very different from the Orthopaedics CME held almost a month back, which was an all-male affair, with just one woman delegate from down south. In any case, it seems fair considering there are hardly about half a dozen women orthopaedics surgeons in the country.
—Sentinel

COMMUNITY

“Make Chandersinghnagar Uttaranchal’s capital”
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 29 — The migrants from Uttarakhand region residing in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh today demanded that Chandersinghnagar be made the capital of the new state of Uttaranchal. This was demanded in a seminar on the Expectations and role of Uttarakhand migrants in the proposed state.

A proposal for all-India manch of migrants from Uttarakhand was accepted by all the speakers. A resolution was passed, a copy of which would be sent to the Chief Secretary of the state. In the resolution, it was demanded that experts and administrative officers from Uttarakhand residing in other states be appointed in the new state.

The main theme of the seminar was the role of migrants in the development of the new state. Speakers emphasised that industrialists and capitalists should invest in the new state. Various speakers called upon experts to chalk out plans for the development of the state.

The speakers further said the all-India manch of migrants should act as an advisory committee for the government of the new state. It was emphasised that the focus in the new state should be on eradication of the corruption, modernisation of horticulture and agriculture, dairy farming and cottage industry.

Cong poll: setback for ruling group
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 29 — Even as the race for electing the president of the local unit of the Congress hots up, the territorial election authority released a list containing the names of 25 delegates late last night.

Most of the party starlwarts and their supporters have been camping in Delhi for the past few days, trying to get their supporters elected. Various names are doing the rounds in the political circles of the city. Initially, the ruling group made claims that they would garner a majority of the seats, but their claims proved hollow, with all the other factions of the unit also having an impressing showing.

A perusal of the list shows that it is a “setback” for the group in power and the combined strength of the opposing groups outnumbers that of the ruling group. Those elected include five supporters each of Mr Harmohan Dhawan and Mr Manish Tiwari and four of Mr Venod Sharma, besides nine from the Pawan Bansal group. The name of one delegate was reportedly included at the behest of certain senior Congress leaders of Delhi.

The three former presidents of the TCC — Mr Venod Sharma, Mr Pawan Bansal and Mr Sham Lal Gupta — are permanent members. This takes the number of delegates to 28.

According to sources, those elected are Mr B. B. Behl, who was the president of the local unit, Mr Subash Chawla, Mr Ram Pal Sharma, Mr Dharamvir Manchanda, Dr Mohammad Khalid, Ms Kulwant Dhaliwal, Ms Lalit Joshi Bhardwaj, Mr Param Pal Matharoo, Mr Surinder Bhatia, Mr Chaman Lal Sharma and Mr R. K. Rathore. Others include Mr Sunil Parti, Ms Shreshta Mehta, Ms Bhupinder Kaur, Kulbhushan Gupta, Mr Devinder Singh Babla, Dr O P Verma, Mr Vijay Pal Singh Dimpy, Chander Mukhi Sharma, Mr Kewal Arora, Mr Ravinder Pal Singh Pali and Mr J N Shastri.

These members will be delegated for the election of the Pradesh Territorial Committee Members. They will not only elect the local unit president, vice-presidents and the treasurer, but will also vote for election of the All-India president, if these are held, on November 11.

Kin all praise for Canadian Govt
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 29 — “I am glad something has happened at last. The investigations will bring out before the world what had led to the Kanishka Crash in 1985.’’ This was Mrs Amarjit Bhinder’s, wife of Air India’s co-pilot, S.S Bhinder, instant reaction to the arrest of two Canadian Sikhs, who have been charged with murdering 329 persons in the bombing of an Air India Jumbo jet near Ireland.

Satwinder Singh Bhinder was among those killed aboard in the fateful AI flight 182, which went down off the coast of Ireland on June 23, 1985 following a bomb explosion. “With these arrests, my prophecy has come true as right from the beginning, I was convinced that the plane had been blown up. This major breakthrough on the part of the Canadian Government will put to rest the speculations about the crash,’’ says Mrs Bhinder.

She is all praise for the Canadian Government for the time and money in spent investigating one of the biggest mass murder cases. “The credit goes, both to the government and the Canadian police who pursued it for 15 long years and spent millions of dollars even though they are not bound to do so,’’ says Mrs Bhinder. However, the authorities should now ensure that they are given severest punishment in accordance with law, which may only be some form of relief to kith and kin of the victims.

Similar views were expressed by her son Mr Asham Deep Singh Bhinder, who too is happy that at last the guilty have been booked for the heinous crime. “Though it has been a long wait of 15 years for us, but then it is better late than never,’’ he says. “We only hope and pray that the charges are proved and the guilty are punished accordingly.” Asham Deep, who is all set to become a commercial pilot, is busy getting his conversion for the Indian licence. A B com graduate from Chandigarh, he has just received his commercial pilot’s licence from America. “Right from my childhood I nourished the desire to become a pilot like my father and even after the tragedy, I pursued it wholeheartedly,” he adds.

“My daughter Jasleen too wanted to fly, but gave up the idea sensing up fear of flying after the crash, says Mrs Bhinder. She is now married to a pilot working in Singapore Air Lines. “The going has not been easy all these years, as the children were small then. But I have always tried to lead a life that he would have wanted us to if he was alive, adds Mrs Bhinder. He wanted quality education for children and a decent standard of living. Even though the incident happened 15 years ago, it seems as if happened yesterday only.

“He was out of this world, wonderful husband and a loving father who always made time for us despite his rather busy routine,’’ recalls Mrs Bhinder. I have always felt his presence and he has always guided me. S.S Bhinder, who was a Squadron Leader in the Indian Air Force before joining Air India was keen that his family gets to see the world, which may not have been possible in the given constraints of the services. “He was very intelligent and was doing well in his job. This was perhaps one of his last flights as a co-pilot as he was going for his conversion as a commander,’’ she informed. He had also done his Masters in Marketing Management from Jamna lal Bajaj, Mumbai, even though it had no bearing on his present job.

Mrs Bhinder, who now works as Manager of Air India’s Chandigarh office ( in charge of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh), feels that all this has been possible because of the help from her organisation, relatives and friends. She now suggests that security should be further beefed up so that such tragedies costing innocent lives could be averted. Even Asham feels that the authorities investigating into such crashes and hijacks should not hush up matters, rather they should share the important findings so that the others learn from these mistakes and do not repeat them. This will surely prevent accidents in future.

Mr Bhinder’s younger brother, Mr K.S Bhinder, working as Deputy Executive Engineer, PWD B and R, Punjab, is also of the view that “those arrested should be taught a lesson. They should possibly be hanged for killing 329 innocent lives by allegedly planting a bomb aboard flight 182. He recalls that the family was totally shaken, with the death of the “gem of the family.’’

S.S Bhinder’s old mother, Mrs Parkash Kaur, also feels that the guilty should bear the consequences of law.

Seminar by Lions Club on IT
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 29 — With an objective to create awareness about the latest in information technology among members of the club, a seminar on information technology was organised by the Lions Club in collaboration with Wintech Computers in Hotel Regency here today. The seminar covered all topics starting from basics of the computers to Internet, e-commerce and latest developments in the field of software.

Mr Vivek Atray, Director, Information Technology, UT Administration, while speaking on the seminar talked about the policies of the government and latest developments in the city like laying of optical fibers, erection of towers for better communications and the Internet Service Providers. He also gave reference of the city’s own website “www.chandigarh.nic.in” and said that the portal could be beneficial for all irrespective of age and class.

Lion Dr NK Grover, District Governor, 321-F, was the chief guest and he spoke about the importance of I.T. and the use of Internet for a Lion member. He also called upon the members to utilise their knowledge for various social service projects by coordinating with various Lions Clubs in developed countries.

Ms Archna Kaushal, Assistant Technical Manager of Wintech Computers, spoke about the world wide web network and Internet. She also described in detail the features of Lions International site on internet.

Earlier, Lion Rajinder Bansal, presiding officer delivered the welcome address and stressed the need of IT for the Lion members. Mr Sanjeev Sahni, Area Manager of Wintech Computers, also spoke on the occasion.