The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

No PROs to polish UT, PGI image
By Poonam Batth
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 12 — Two major wings of the government — the Chandigarh Administration and the Municipal Corporation — along with the PGI, are at present functioning without regular Public Relations Officer (PROs).

In the case of the MC and the PGI, the indifferent attitude of the officials is responsible for the delay in “appointment to these posts. In the Chandigarh Administration, the vacancy has arisen” following the death of Sanjay Manchanda on October 24.

In the absence of these officials, the public relation work in all these set ups has virtually come to a stand still. The Chandigarh Administration has two posts of Public Relation Officer (PRO) in the secretariat. While one PRO is appointed on deputation from Haryana, the other is from the UT only. It may be recalled that Mr Vinod Kashyap, who was on deputation from Haryana was almost three months ago repatriated to his parent department. The post has been lying vacant since then though a panel of probable candidates has now been sent by Haryana. The appointment to the post is likely to be made from among these.

The second post of PRO fell vacant when Sanjay Manchanda committed suicide on October 24. The responsibility of the public relations work has now fallen on the DPR, Mr Vivek Atray, who also happens to be Director, Information Technology.

Even the post of Assistant PRO in the MC has been lying vacant for the past two months. The MC has so far been appointing officials on contract to this post. The post fell vacant when the contract of the former APRO, Mr Rupesh Kumar, expired on September 18. No appointment has been made even though the UT Administrator, Lt Gen J F R Jacob (retd) has already given approval for making a regular appointment to the post. The MC House had earlier passed the proposal for the regular appointment of PRO. The interviews for the said post were subsequently conducted on October 5. However, the formal appointment of the selected candidate is yet to be finalised.

The situation is no better in the PGI, where the sole post of PRO has been lying vacant further post few years and the work has since then being handled by Reception Officer, Mr Gurdev Singh. The procedure for appointment to fill this post was started in September , though the results of the same are yet to be announced. Officials, however, maintain that the appointment to the post had been made and the person would be joining in the next few days.

The absence of these officials has been felt by mediapersons who are now forced to approach various officials for information. The press notes issued earlier facilitated better communication between the representatives of the media and the authorities. Since, senior officials of both the Chandigarh Administration and the MC have passed strict orders with regard to who can talk to the Press, most of the officials hesitate to share any information with mediapersons. Infact, one can hardly find any mediaperson in the Press Room of the Secretariat or the room of the APRO. The PR perhaps have their own set of problems.

Officials in all these set ups maintain that the posts are likely to be filled shortly.

Dalai Lama examined at PGI
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 12 — The spiritual leader of the Tibetans, His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, was examined at the PGI by the Head of the ENT Department, Prof S.B.S Mann, for a sore throat, cough and stuffiness of the nose, here today.

His personal physician, Dr Tsetan Dorje, who was accompanying the spiritual leader, in a brief chat with the mediapersons said, there was nothing wrong with the spiritual leader.

Prof Mann, accompanied by Dr Anil Gupta, Assistant Professor, ENT, PGI, examined the Dalai Lama in the out-patient Department for more than 20 minutes amidst tight three-tier security.

Later, he told the mediapersons that the Dalai Lama was having a slight discomfort in the throat. “His Holiness has earlier been operated upon abroad twice for nasal polyps. In our examinations today, we found the nasal septum was slightly deviated towards the left side with a mild congestion in the upper respiratory throat, a sign of mild pharyngitis. Otherwise, there is no visible sign of any polyp in the nasal passage.”

As a precautionary measure, doctors have advised the Dalai Lama not to take spicy, over fried food or apple juice which could possibly lead to acidity in the stomach, thereby giving rise to irritation in the throat. He was prescribed mild antibiotics for 10 days.

For the large number of Tibetans residing in the city, it was an important day as they jostled with each other to have a closer look at their spiritual leader, each of whom, the Dalai Lama obliged with blessings and a handshake. Sonam Phumko, ailing with a serious stomach problem, had come all the way from Ladakh to seek the spiritual leader’s blessings.

The Dalai Lama, on his way to Dehra Dun from Dharamsala was received at the PGI by the Director of the institute, Prof S.K. Sharma and the Medical Superintendent, Dr A.K. Gupta.

In the recent few months the Dalai Lama is the second spiritual leader who have visited the PGI. On April 11 the 17th Karmapa was admitted to the PGI, who was said to be suffering from chest pain.

Resumption of commercial sites: HUDA draws flak
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Nov 12 — The resumption of commercial sites by the Haryana Urban Development Authority for the non-payment of dues came in for strong criticism by the Chamber of Panchkula Commercial Property Owners at a press conference, here today.

They demanded the holding of a Lok Adalat to resolve the conflict arising out of the action being initiated on this front by HUDA, causing unnecessary harassment to the business community.”We will come and give details of all the unreasonable demands of HUDA and they can put forth their front instead of everybody moving court individually,’’ the members said.

The members alleged that resumption was being carried out despite attempts by businessmen to pay all pending dues for the sites which were bought in auction. “We are willing to pay the dues provided HUDA charges on the basis of simple interest rather than calculating the amount on the basis of compound interest,’’ Mr P.R. Chhabra, general secretary, said.

Another member, Mr VK Sood, speaking on behalf of those present said that HUDA was also guilty of adopting a pick-and-choose policy in reducing interest rate since development works had not been carried out in the areas.”I have a showroom in Sector 5 but in the absence of a water connection there are no takers. Who will compensate me for the loss and then pay the exorbitant sum HUDA is demanding,’’ he asks.

The members said HUDA was charging an interest rate of 18 per cent against the approved 10 per cent.”Our demand to see the break-down of the amount they are demanding has met with complete failure. They tell us that we can either pay or wait for our showroom to be resumed,’’ Mr B.B. Kochhar, said.

They rued that in spite of repeated requests they were not shown the break-down chart of amount that was due to HUDA.

Criticising HUDA for not being able to resume houses where commercial activity was taking place, Mr Chhabra said at the time of auction they had been assured by the then Administrator, HUDA, that interest on the principal would be waived for the period the shops will not resumed." From the existing 300, these have gone up to 1300. Then, where is the justification for the resumption of shops,’’ he said.

THE BOTTOMLINE
Naushad’s presence adds colour to Rafi award nite
By Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 12 — It was one of those rare evenings which happen in a lifetime. With none less than the master of musical notes, Naushad Ali, himself present to grace the Rafi Memorial and Award Nite, today’s show could not have been anything less than superbly-enthralling.

Today’s evening was a graceful continuation of the one arranged by the Yaadgar-e-Rafi Society on July 30 in which about 34 singers from all over the northern region had converged at one place to contest for the prestigious Rafi award. It may be mentioned here that the original contest had received about 400 applications from all over the region, and 34 had been finally chosen for performing on July 30 in front of the distinguished jury comprising Ms Geeta Gangahar, Ms Deepa Chibber, Mr B.D. Kalia, Mr B.D. Sharma and Mr Brajesh Ahuja.

This day was hence dedicated to the six winners of the July 30 Rafi Nite : Seema Arzoo and Devinder Kaushik (first in female and male category, respectively) Kamalpreet and Amarjit Singh (second), Manju Arora and R.S. Kala (third). While all other winners were present today, Kamalpreet could not make it on account of her examinations.

When The Tribune caught up with the winners who were rehearsing backstage, they were obviously quite enthused about the whole affair and more so on account that they were being honoured by Naushad Sahib whose name is synonymous with pure classical music. We managed an interface with the artists just before the show began.

Seema Arzoo belongs to Shimla. Although she has been singing since she was a child, her real talent was groomed by Krishan Lal Sehgal, a Shimla-based musician. The interesting part about Seema is her multi-faceted personality. She is approved as a ghazal artist with DD Shimla as also with the AIR where she is also a casual announcer. She is also into writing poetry and Arzoo is her takhallus. She said, “I took up music only in BA I and ever since I am being taught by Chaman Lal Verma, R.S. Shindal and Dr Jeet Ram Sharma. I have also been receiving calls from the TVS Saregama. The young girl has already recorded two cassettes of pahadi songs and another of bhajans.

Devinder Kaushik is based at Panchkula and is a senior assistant with the Punjab government. He has been participating in the nite since 1995 when he was declared second. After that he could not show up too well. It was only this year that this dark horse emerged to become victorious. Kaushik has learnt from O.P. Sehgal.

Amarjit Singh, a personnel officer with Fujitsu, is the sixth time participant in the nite. Four times he has been declared second and twice he has been declared third. “The award keeps playing seek and hide with me, but I am determined to win it.” He has been learning from Prabhjot Bali, and he sings regularly on nites arranged by the music companies.

R.S. Kala, a self-taught singer, is a businessman from Ludhiana. He won the third prize with his beautiful rendering of Maan mera ahsaan on July 30 this year. He has also been featuring in the nite since 1996.

Manju Arora is working as a music teacher with Major RN Kapoor DAV Public School, Ambala. She has recently been selected for the Punjabi Saregama. She said, “I have done my MA in classical vocal and I have been guiding my students into winning awards in music contests at the inter-state level.”

Apart from the awardees, other powerful performances of the evening came from Dinesh Sharma who sang the Naushad song Insaaf ka mandir hai ye. Iftekhar Khan was tremendously lauded for his wonderful performance of the Mughal-e-azam song composed by Naushad, Mohabbat Zindabad. Amarjit Singh also gave a powerful performance of the Naushad song from the film Ram aur Shyam — Aaj ki raat mere dil ki salami le le from the film Ram aur Shyam.

The lyrics of all the 24 songs presented tonight were given by Shakeel Badayuni, and their music was composed by Naushad Sahib. The show was organised in collaboration with the Public Relations Department of the UT Administration and was co-sponsored by NZCC, Patiala. Music for the evening was arranged by Raman Kant.

COMMUNITY

Langh wins municipal council’s byelection
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR, Nov 12 — The byelection to the reserved ward No. 17 of the SAS Nagar Municipal Council was held peacefully here today with Mr Manmohan Singh Langh being declared as winner. He defeated his rival, Mr Kulwant Singh Sabharwal, by a margin of over 900 votes.

The byelection was held after the death of Isher Singh Langh in a road accident. The elections to 23 general wards and four reserved wards, marred by blatant misuse of power and complaints of bogus voting, were held in August.

In today’s election only two candidates, Mr Manmohan Singh Langh and Mr Kulwant Singh, were in the fray. Around 57 per cent polling was recorded at the two polling booths set up in Government Primary School, Phase 7. Apart from the elaborate security arrangements, the Duty Magistrate, Mr Ajeet Singh Longia, was also present on the occasion. Of the total 2,432 votes in the reserved ward, as many as 1,363 votes were polled. The polling staff said the number of votes polled in the first and second ward were 703 and 660, respectively.

Today was the last phase of the elections to the civic body. After being rescheduled for two times due to one or the other reason, the elections were held in three phases. While the elections to 23 wards were held on August 20, the nomination papers for the four reserved wards 1, 14, 17 and 20 were rejected as a result of which the elections to the reserved ward were held on August 29. A candidate from Ward No. 17, Mr Kulwant Singh Sabharwal, who was defeated in today’s election, had approached the Punjab State Election Commission after his papers were rejected by the Returning Officer-cum-Sub-Divisional Magistrate in August. The Punjab State Election Commissioner while quashing the orders of the SDM observed that ignoring the certificate of backward class of Mr Sabharwal was a violation of the election process.

Meanwhile, the race for the presidentship of the civic body today gained further momentum with different groups holding close-door meetings. Persons close to some of the winning candidates said that since the date for holding the election to the post of the president was just three days away, lurement of money to win over the councillors by the prospective candidates could not be ruled out.

The list of the winning candidates in 27 wards is:

Ward No. Number of candidates in the fray:

1 Daljit Kaur
2 Mr Rajinder Parsad
3 Mr Sham Ghanshyam
4 Indu Sehgal
5 Bharat Bhushan Maini
6 Amrik Singh Mohali
7 Manmohan Kaur
8 NK Marhawa
9 Manjit Singh
10 Inderjit Kaur
11 Manjit Singh
12 Surjit Kaur
13 Deep Kaur

14 Gurmohan Ram
15 SS Patwari
16 Prabhjot Kaur
17 Manmohan Singh Langh
18 Phool Raj Singh
19 Raj Rani
20 Tarlochan Singh
21 Kulwant Singh
22 Amteshwar Kaur
23 Harbans Kaur
24 Amrik Singh
25 Paramjit Kaur
26 Najar Singh
27 SS Barnala.

Cong chief's poll peaceful
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 12 — The polling for the post of Congress president went off peacefully at the Congress Bhavan in Sector 35 here today. All 28 delegates cast their votes in the presence of Mr Harikesh Bahadur, who was the Returning Officer.

The polling started at 10 a.m. and was over by 11.30 a.m. Among the first delegates to cast their preference were a former Union Minister of State, Mr Venod Sharma, and a local MP, Mr Pawan Bansal. Mr Bahadur, a delegate from Uttar Pradesh, also cast his vote later on. Mr Harmohan Dhawan and Mr Manish Tiwari were also present to cast their vote.

Earlier, ballot boxes and ballots were checked in the presence of polling agents for Ms Sonia Gandhi and Mr Jitendra Prasada. The polling agents were Mr Sunil Parti, Ms Shreshtha Mehta and Mr R.D. Sharma for Mr Prasada and Mr Subhash Chawla, Mr Surinder Bhatia and Mr R.K. Rathore for Ms Sonia Gandhi.

Cutting across differences, delegates could be seen sharing some light moments after the hectic lobbying that preceded the poll. The hottest topic was the number of votes that the contestants would net.

The only objection was filed by Mr Parti and Ms Mehta. They objected to the printing of serial number on the ballot as it could be used to make out which delegate voted for whom. The objection was registered by Mr Bahadur, who said it would be forwarded to the Central Election Authority, Mr R.N. Mirdha.

Devi Complex needs divine intervention
From Our Correspondent

PANCHKULA, Nov 12 — Muddy water, low water pressure, broken roads, non-functional street lights, blocked sewerage system and neglected parks have become a nightmare for the residents of Devi Complex in Sector 4 here for the past couple of years.

Known to be a sector of VVIP and VIP residents, a number of plots which had been allotted by the Haryana Urban Development Authority are still laying undeveloped. Even owners of the plots which have constructed big houses by spending crores of rupees are feeling to be the victims of HUDA’s indifferent attitude.

Residents of the complex complain about the low water pressure which puts them into great inconvenience. Taps on the first and second floors hardy draw any water. Moreover, the taps draw muddy water which has become a health hazard to them.

Deep potholes have come up on the inner roads in the complex which put the road users to great inconvenience. A light shower is enough to fill the potholes which make the situation worst. The non-functional streetlights aggravate the situation and often lead to accidents at nights. They alleged that the authorities had hardly recarpeted the inner rods since the sector was developed.

Lids of the manholes of the sewers have been stolen by the ragpickers. In the absence of the lids the manholes have filled with waste, garbage and trash which have blocked the entire sewerage system in the area. During rain knee-deep water accumulates on the roads and the resident have to wade through the filthy water to go to their destinations.

The parks, meant for the public use, have been virtually occupied by shrubs and thickets. The iron chairs on which the authorities have spent thousands of rupees have started rusting without any care. The parks have become places of rest for stray cattle. Pigs have have dug deep pits in the parks.

The health centre and the community centre which were inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Haryana are crying for attention and have become hideouts for miscreants.

Cases of skin and respiratory problem have increased in this part of the sector due to massive growth of congress grass, sources in health department revealed.

The HUDA authorities were not available for comments.

Involve women in society’s development
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Nov 12 — Stressing the need of participation of women in the development of the society and the nation, a five-member research team educated villagers on the empowerment of women at Godam village during an interaction session, here yesterday.

The team members, belonging to different states, includes Mrs Sheela Gautam from UP, Ms Basanti Sharma from Assam, Mrs Santosh Chaudhary from Punjab, Mrs J. Takkar from Gujarat and Ms Bharti Rai from West Bengal.

Addressing sarpanches, panchayat members, women’s organisations, anganwari workers and self-help groups, the team informed them about the central and state government social service schemes. The members also inquired about the grant-in-aid being given for various development activities of women.

Speaking to women sarpanches, MP from Bengal, Ms Bharti Rai, said women need to realise their potential as they were the symbol of power. Women thus deserved due respect in society. She also asked women not to believe in superstitions and be self dependent.

Mrs Santosh Chaudhary, an MP from Punjab, addressing the audience laid stress on education of women. She also stressed on the health of women and stated that a healthy woman would be able to produce a healthy society.

The Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.K. Monga, welcomed members of the research team. They also visited Karanpur village near here to ascertain various development projects underway in the village

Awards help to promote ideas, say winners
By Kiran Deep

CHANDIGARH, Nov 12— "Awards mean recognition of our work. These help to promote our ideas and views to a large number of people and to expand our work. We can get more help from the government and other organisations".

These are the views of the seven persons from Asian countries who will get the Commonwealth Youth Programme Awards at the Commonwealth Youth Programme Asia Centre, Chandigarh, tomorrow evening for their excellence in youth services.

The seven awardees are Ms Ng Lai See Grace (Singapore), Mr Kadudun Koralage Kosala Sudarshana and Mr Ahmadu Lebbe Nisabdeen (both from Sri Lanka), Mr Abdullah As-Shakir Ahmed Sikdar and Ms Dali Rani Nag (both from Bangladesh), Ms Hasina Khabhih and Mr G. Karthikeyan (both from India).

The award ceremony will be held tomorrow on the closing day of the workshop on "Conflict resolution and peace for South Asia", jointly being organised by the Department of Peace and Conflict,Uppsala, Sweden, the Institute for Development and Communication, and the CYP Asia Centre.

"Age has nothing to do with the aims and ambitions, the thing required is the will to do something. If you have desire to do something, nothing can stop you. The award means that my work is being recognised by the people and it helps me to promote my organistaion" said Ms Grace, a bankers , who devotes her spare time to social service.

Ms Grace had won a youth award in her country 1997 and had demonstrated commitment, conscientiousness and passion in her contribution towards the youth development at the grassroots level, including in the neighbouring countries. She mostly operates through a self-help group SINDA.

Mr Ahmed said:“The award bring a lot of satisfaction and motivation to work for the needy”. A life member of the Bangladesh Red Crescent, Mr Ahmed has been associated with the Sylhet Judo Academy since 1992 and was elected as executive member of the academy this year. He is specially involved in skill development training programme for unemployed youth. Mr Ahmed is also a founder-member of the National Trained Youth Council and the Vice-President of the Rotract Club of Jalalabad, besides being involved in community development programmes.

Ms Nag said that she had undertaken numerous programme to create awareness about education, income generation through fisheries poultry, dairy farming, tailoring, handicrafts among the youth. She also conducted advocacy programme in reproductive healthcare, gender issues and drug prevention She added that in her supervision 783 unemployed youths were trained and 637 give credit to start small enterprises.

Mr Sudarshana said that he had been working for Sudrarshitha, a youth society and participated in various events such as national health runs, youth leadership camps and local and national youth exchange programmes, training on small enterprises development and cooperative management.

Another awardee, Mr Nisabdeen from Sri Lanka, informed that he had undertaken numerous programmes to provide a platform to peace and national integration in his country and had actively participated in awareness camps, promotion of handicrafts. The awards, which are given for individual contribution, consists of a medal, a trophy and a certificate along with to and fro travel to venue of the awards ceremony. Besides, the activities for which the awards had been given are also documented and publicised.

Mr Karthikeyan said: “The award means promotion of the local NGO.”.He had won the National Youth Awards for 1997-98. He is a founder-president of the International Youth Federation of India and has been actively involved in youth work in various capacities. He has conducted numerous service camps on literacy, blood donation, first aid, national integration and competitions for youth.

"I left a magager's job and decided to work for the helpless youth, who has been joining the militancy because of misguidance. The award gives you recognition and motivation to work for needy people". said Ms Hasina from Shillong.

Ms Kharbhih, a founder-member of Impulse Network, is consultant, designer and journalist. She is working as a freelance journalist for the past nine year. She had an active career and been associated with numerous programs promoting the well-being of the youth. She had organised workshops, seminars,counseling session on adolescent health.

READERS WRITE

Killers on the highway

On October 30, we were going by car from Chandigarh to Ambala at around 4 p.m. As we approached Lalru, a Haryana Roadways bus tried to overtake us even while we were going parallel to a tractor-trolley. It appeared that the driver of the bus thought that we were deliberately not allowing him to overtake us. He cut across our path and intentionally tried to hit our car with the rear of the bus. Our car hit the tractor as we swerved to save ourselves. Had the driver of the bus, who never stopped, succeeded in his evil intentions, I, along with my wife, our only son and his bride of one day (only daughter of her parents) might have been killed. God alone saved us. Such boorish and rash drivers are killers on the prowl in the guise of bus drivers endangering the lives of innocent people. I can only pray that the authorities concerned make such drivers realise that roads are not meant only for bus drivers.

SURINDER SINGH
Mohali

A small voice

Recently I passed through the Sector 17 ‘Matka Chowk’, notorious for demonstrations and dharnas. This time it was a group of ‘Rashtriya Netraheen Sangh’, an association of the blind. However, it was a totally different affair as everyone had taken this procession lightly. There were no traffic diversions, nor the men of the Rapid Action Force. Only a handful of Chandigarh Police men were present and they too played cards, fully aware that these unfortunate men would not turn violent. The officialdom did not care as the demonstrators had no political support either. The most disturbing fact was that our fourth estate, which dutifully carries news about the activities of the VVIPs also treated them with neglect. A day before, demonstrations of ‘CTU employees and Chandigarh Teachers Union had filled the columns of our newspapers but no notice was taken of these men.

In a democracy, it is no doubt the majority that prevails and receives importance. But a minority, however small, has at least the right to be heard, particularly when they happen to be physically handicapped.

LALIT JAIN
Chandigarh

Encroachments

Despite repeated representations, HUDA is sleeping over encroachments in the Sector 7 market. The confusion in the evening is to be seen to be believed. The shopkeepers occupy not only the corridors and verandahs but also the parking area, thus causing great inconvenience to the public. There are frequent quarrels and arguments over these obstructions and the shopkeepers behave in an arrogant manner. All this goes on under the nose of a police picket in the complex.

TARA CHAND
Panchkula

Arbitrary hike

Recently, newspapers published advertisements of a Hindi feature film “Mohabbatein” which was released on October 27 at Piccadily cinema. These advertisements stated that the rates of the tickets for this film had been hiked to Rs 45 for the balcony, Rs 30 for the upper stall and Rs 10 for the lower stall as this was a lengthy film. I would like to ask who has taken the decision to hike the rates of the tickets for this film: is it the cinema management, or the Chandigarh Administration or the Municipal Corporation?

One fails to understand if the rates of the tickets can be enhanced because of a lengthy film, why are these not lowered when a film of a shorter duration is screened. All English films are of less than two hours’ duration, but no cinema hall reduces the rates of the tickets for this reason. Will the authorities concerned care to explain this anomaly?

GURPREET S. MALHOTRA
Chandigarh

CHANDIGARH CALLING

LAST week, in the high-voltage, “Kaun Banega Director- Principal of GMCH” drama, the Chandigarh Administration played “Amitabh Bachchan” and all the newspapers in the city, “ fastest finger first” with reporters trying to beep each other out with the latest

The matter, for present, stands resolved as the new Director-Principal of the GMCH has been appointed. Medical circles, however, are agog with the talks that a certain highly placed administrative officer happened to be the man behind the entire episode.

The gentleman, while admitted to the GMCH during Prof V.K.Kak’s tenure, was not treated with due “reverence” to his position. Reason enough for him to walk straight out of the hospital and pledge vengeance that the Director- Principal would be stripped off his dual charge as the Secretary, Medical Education and Health. The formal order which caused all the confusion and heartburn came, of course, much later from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs but insiders believe that the incident was the precipitating factor. Well, who knows?

His speciality

Can any question really embarrass the celebrity sexologist Prof Prakash Kothari who answers most of the ear-burning queries on the taboo subject of sex and sexuality with perfect elan ? “ Yes,” claims the Head of the Sexual Medicine at the K.E.M.Hospital in Mumbai, the only one in the country for the entire one billion population. “ In the beginning, every time, my mother asked me, beta, which field are you specialising in, I didn’t know what to tell her.”

The eminent sexologist who was here last week in connection with the Kamla Puri Memorial Lecture on sex and sexuality had the audience, mostly comprising students, doctors and social workers, virtually eating out of his hand in a brief but highly informative talk on the subject, leaving people asking for more and more.

Even more interesting was the press conference, which he had addressed a day earlier. Hardly ever does one come across a more interactive and prolonged meet-the-media affair. Naturally, with the world famed sexologist before them, how could the male journalists let go of the chance of finding all about the “ wonder pill” —Viagra.

Birds are here

Migratory birds from distant lands have started landing at Sukhna Lake Last Saturday’s count by the Environment Society of India (ESI) was about 150 birds. They are mainly Gadwall. Others are identified as Widgeon, redcrested pochard, cormorants, coots etc.

With the mechanical desilting operations towards the eastern side of the lake, a number of shallow water ponds have appeared. Sarkanda and nara plants are seen around. Majority of the migratory birds are seen in these ponds.

As usual the Children’s Alliance for Protection of the Environment (CAPE) is holding “Welcome to the birds” near the regulator end of the lake on Saturday December 2 from 9.30 a.m to 1 p.m. On the spot birds identification, quiz, painting, placard (with slogans, song and dance) contests would be held among the children of age groups up to 10 years and 10-15 years.

The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and the Survey of India have been requested to put up exhibitions. The WWF Jammu and Kashmir region has decided to send children from Jammu and Srinagar areas to participate in these festivities.

Tie your seat belts

Now there is no need to go to the markets to get a seat belt for yourself. Thanks to the order which has made wearing of seat belts while driving compulsory, many dealers have brought the facility to the roads. The pioneer in this direction is Mr Harjeet Singh who otherwise owns a shop in the Manimajra motor market. He undertook to sell the seat belts on the Chandigarh-Panchkula road, close to the Durga nursery on this Saturday and Sunday. And the product sold like hot cakes, for obvious reasons, of course.

So while the market rate stands at about Rs 250 per belt, Harjeet Singh claimed to supply the belt of similar quality at Rs 120.

No connectivity

An integral part of the many facilities which are being offered by the commercial banks these days are 24-hour Automatic Teller Machines(ATMs). Customers, however, feel disappointed when even these machines, which promise to provide round the clock facility of deposits, withdrawals, account statements etc. get out of order.

Last week, several complaints were received by The Tribune from the residents who said that the machines in several banks went out of order. It amounts to wastage of precious time and inconvenience especially when the customers go to conduct a transaction through ATM machine after the banking hours or on a holiday.

Banks, however , blame it on telecommunications department. An ATM machine runs on a lease line , ISDN line, V SAT or all three in several cases. These machines go out of order only when the lines go down ,and it is not the fault of the bank, says a bank official. However, in case of banks which avail of more than one facility, the chances of breakdown are less.

While the entire world economy today is relying on good connectivity to be at par with international standards in IT and other spheres, we still fail when it comes to providing such basic facilities. And the sufferer in such cases is the common man.

Smoke signals

The city residents are becoming more and more aware about the cleaner environment. Or it can be said for them that they are becoming more sensitive towards the environment. These assertions hold true if the complaints received by the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee are to be considered.

In a written complaint to the CPCC a resident said that he was facing problems because his neighbour was creating pollution in his house. “My neighbours prepare some fried dishes on every weekend and the smoke enters my house causing inconvenience to me and my family. Please look into the matter,” he said. The authorities of the committee could not do much but wonder about the complaint.

No crackers

This year the Children’s Alliance for Protection of the Environment (CAPE) carried out a fortnight-long anti-crackers campaign in schools. Besides organising rallies, exhibitions and lectures an attractive coloured poster with effective catchy slogans like “say no to crackers, celebrate deepavali with deepmala and sweets.... “was brought out. Its copies were distributed in all schools. The principals of the schools wholeheartedly supported the efforts. On morning assemblies they were seen advising the children to have holiday from crackers.

The campaign has shown good results this year. For example the sound level monitored by the Pollution Control Board, Chandigarh Administration, showed that the sound level was 65 decibels as compared to 90 decibels during the last year. The sale of crackers and number of injuries among children due to firing crackers dropped significantly.

Not implemented

The track record of the “most-prosperous” state of the country — Punjab —regarding the registration of cases under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocity) Act, 1989, has been very poor.

Providing this information at a recent press conference, Mr Dileep Singh Bhuria, Chairman of the National Commission for SCs/STs, said though there was provision for relief and rehabilitation to the victims of atrocities, yet Punjab was the only state which had not implemented these rules. Besides, no compensation is paid to the victims.

Interestingly, Punjab has the highest percentage of SC population in the country at 28.31% as per the 1991 census.

Art & communication

In this age where (pop)ular form of music seems to have taken over every other form, it was a pleasure to attend the two-day presentation given at the local Government College of Art, Sector 10, by eminent Bharata Natyam dancer from Delhi, Komala Varadan.

Komala Varadan, who has established herself not only as a dancer, but also as a painter and a photographer of repute, gave a presentation on “Art and Communication” in two sessions. One was titled “Painting comes alive”, and another “Salutation to Nature”. Among the guests on the occasion were Adviser to the UT Administrator, Ms Vineeta Rai, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying every movement of the dance.

Komala Varadan explained how one form of art (dance) leads to another (painting) and exhibited the slides of her paintings, which reflect almost all dance forms from Kathak and Odissi to Indonesian and Bharata Natyam. Komala gave her dance presentation and later explained the relevance of her paintings, which were all inspired by dance in some form or the other.

Going by the fact that about 2000 students had gathered in the auditorium to see Komala dance, no one could say that classical dance forms have no takers.

Crank calls

The SAS Nagar Police in its effort to spruce up its patrolling and reduce its response to distress calls landed itself in trouble when a constable on telephone duty at the Central Police Station received an anonymous call about some unlawful activity at a Housing Board house in Phase 7 here. Alert cops on duty encircled the house only to see the Station House Officer (SHO) coming out of the house. Soon they realised it was a crank call.

—Sentinel