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| Saturday, December 2, 2000, Chandigarh, India |
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Phariwallas’ resettlement CHANDIGARH, Dec 1 — Containing their agitation, shopkeepers in Sector 40 kept their shops closed today to protest against the UT Administration’s move to resettle the 300-odd rehriwallas and phariwallas of Sector 22 and other sectors in the land adjoining their market. The shopkeepers continued their dharna and threatened to intensify the agitation if these phariwallas were not removed from there at the earliest. During the course of the agitation, the shopkeepers blocked the road for nearly half an hour and burnt the effigy of the Administration and raised slogans. The commuters were put to some inconvenience. Earlier during the day, a delegation of shopkeepers from Sectors 40 and 41 went to the meet the Adviser to the UT Administrator to press upon their demand to remove these phariwallas from the sector. In a memorandum, president of the Market Welfare Association, Sector 40, Mr Ashwani Kumar, pointed out that rehri markets existed in both these sectors, and hence, allowing second rehri market in Sector 40 was uncalled for. Expressing resentment, they further stated that they had taken the shops in auction at exhorbitant rates, between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 40 lakh. Some were paying monthly rents as high as Rs 30,000. Setting up of another rehri market would adversely affect the business of the shopkeepers of SCO/booths of Sectors 40 and 41. They appealed to the Adviser to intervene in the matter and issue immediate instructions to ensure that rehriwallas and phariwallas did not put up their stalls in the newly alloted place in Sector 40. Mr Kumar said if no action was taken by the authorities, they would not be in a position to pay the Administration annual instalments and lease money. One of the shopkeepers in Sector 40, Mr Sunil Pahuja, pointed out that they were feeling cheated for at the time of auction, they were not informed that they proposed to have another rehri market in the same sector. They suggested that if the Administration intended to accommodate rehriwallas and phariwallas of other sectors, they should allow them space in some newly coming up sectors, where no auction of booths/SCOs had taken place. A copy of this was also given to the UT Administrator, Lieut-Gen (retd) JFR Jacob, and the Deputy Commissioner to initiate necessary action. The phariwallas, selling their goods from here since yesterday, in accordance with the Administration’s decision, did not hold anything against the shopkeepers. “The permission given to us is temporary, so we will move out whenever we are asked to. But till then, we will try to earn our livelihood,” said Mr Partap Singh, president of the old phari market. Most of them did brisk business today, for they were
selling the goods at lower rates. The langar organised by them also attracted crowds. Meanwhile, Ms Ranjana Shahi, one of the MC councillors, pacified the shopkeepers at the dharna venue by assuring them that the MC was making efforts to ensure that the phariwallas did not squat here permanently. She said while the MC was entrusted with the task of removing encroachments, the Administration had taken upon itself the task of resettling the dislodged phariwallas. Source maintain that the authorities need to act fast. As the land in the master plan stands allocated for a temporary day market, if they are not moved out soon, they may later stake their claims on permanent basis in court. Ms Shahi appealed to both parties not to create law and order problems in the area. Police forces were deputed in the area to prevent any untoward incident. Though the residents have been facing hardships in procuring essential commodities from their sector market, they plan to support the shopkeepers. There seems be no end to their problems in the near future as the shopkeepers are determined not to open the shops till the phari market is removed. |
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Newly born abducted from hospital CHANDIGARH, Dec 1 — Shock and disbelief gripped a mother in the afternoon today after her few-minutes-old baby boy was abducted by an unknown woman from the Sector 16 General Hospital here. The kidnapper, a dark-complexioned woman in her mid-thirties, with a shawl wrapped around her, reportedly took the new-born on the pretext of getting him injected, but never came back. Sources in the police said the mother, Rani of Sector 70, had handed over the baby to the kidnapper, thinking her to be a member of the hospital staff. The woman had initially asked Rani’s sister-in-law for the baby, but she had reportedly refused. It took her over half-an-hour to realise that her son had been kidnapped. The baby was born at 1.45 p.m. in the maternity ward of the hospital. Tears were rolling down unconsolable Rani’s cheeks as her relatives narrated the sequence of events. Officials said an inquiry into the allegations were on and the police was on the look-out and all efforts were being made to trace the abductor. He added that the statement of the witnesses present at the spot were being recorded and details of the kidnapper’s identity had been flashed all over. The officer said the possibility of the child being kidnapped by a member of some well-organised gang could not be ruled out. A first information report into the incident, he added, would be registered after the completion of the inquiry. Today’s kidnapping has brought into sharp focus the lapses in the security system in the hospitals. The incident has left the parents of other new born babies full of anxiety and fear. No senior hospital officer was willing to comment on the issue. |
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Tackling striking staff Haryana police
style CHANDIGARH, Dec 1 — For the Haryana police, every thing is fair in the war against the striking employees. In their anxiety to “crush the rebellion”, the cops are allegedly ignoring the directives issued by the Supreme Court while arresting the agitators. In “violation” of the directions, cops in plain clothes have been rounding up, even the bystanders, without preparing the memo of arrest and getting it attested by a witness, maintain sources. This, they assert, has happened more than once. The cops, insist sources, have, in several cases, not even cared to inform the friends or the relatives of the arrested person about his detention despite clear directions of the SC. Denying the allegations, SP, Panchkula, Dr C.S. Rao, says, “Our cops are not operating in plain clothes. Only the CID officials move about without uniform”. The arrest, are, he asserts, being made in pursuance of warrants of arrest. “All legal formalities, including the preparation of memo of arrest, are being met,” he adds. The apex court, in the D.K. Basu versus State of West Bengal case, had in 1996 observed: “The police personnel carrying out the arrest and handling the interrogation of the arrestee should bear accurate, visible and clear identification and name tags with their designations....” The SC had also observed: “The police officers carrying out the arrest of the arrestee shall prepare a memo of arrest and such memo shall be attested by at least one witness who may be either a member of the family of the arrestee or a respectable person of the locality from where the arrest is made.....” The Chief Justice of India, Justice Kuldip Singh, and the present CJI Dr A.S. Anand, had further ruled: “It shall also be counter signed by the arrestee and shall contain the time and date of arrest”. The judges had also directed: “The person arrested must be aware of this right to have someone informed of his arrest or detention as soon as he is put under arrest or is detained”. The court had added: “Failure to comply with the said requirements shall apart from rendering the officials concerned liable for departmental action, also render him liable to be punished for contempt of court and the proceedings may be instituted in any high court of the country, having territorial jurisdiction over the matter”. The reality, however, is different. The terror of the Haryana police, claim sources, is so much that now-a-days none of the “male agitators” stay at the venue of the protest for the night. The fear, sources assert, is “not unjustified”. A senior police official, on the condition of anonymity, says, “Cops from Haryana, during a recent raid, had, by mistake, apprehended two rickshawallas, present at the spot”. He said: “The Haryana police officials come to the police station before conducting the raid but do not tell the name, the number, or the antecedents of the persons to be arrested”. Meanwhile today, in a press note, Ms. Promila Sharma, on indefinite fast, accused the Haryana police of “lifting away all second rung leaders from the venue during the night hours”. The press note added that Ms Shashi Singh, an employee with husband and the son in the Army, was being harassed by the Haryana police for the past three nights. It may be recalled that 13 government employees were initially placed under suspension by the government for the alleged resumption of pen-down strike. The agitation had reportedly crippled the functioning of the government departments and directorates at Chandigarh and Panchkula. Provide care to AIDS patients, says General Jacob CHANDIGARH,
Dec 1 — While it was in 1987 that the first case of AIDS was detected in the city, since then the Voluntary Testing Centre at the PGI has diagnosed as many as 1747 HIV positive cases till November 2000, out of which 120 cases are from the city itself. Till October 2000, 97 full blown cases of AIDS have been admitted to the three major hospitals namely the PGI, GMCH, Sector 32, and the General Hospital, Sector 16, in the city. This year alone, 10 persons have died due to this disease. On AIDS Awareness Day several functions were organised here today. At a function organised by the State AIDS Control Society, the Punjab Governor and Administrator, Union Territory, Lieut-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd), underlined the need for launching a campaign against deadly disease which has infected large number of people in the world. After the inauguration of an exhibition organised, the Governor said that the NGOs should supplement the efforts of the government in changing the attitude and behavioural patterns of people for the success of the National AIDS Control Programme. He said in 1981, when the first AIDS case was detected, nobody had thought that it would become a global problem of unprecedented ramifications. “While the disease was earlier regarded only as a health crisis, today it has become a developmental disaster. If we fail to check its spread it will erode all developmental gains,” he added. General Jacob said that it was matter of great concern that worldwide over a half of the people who were infected with HIV virus were under the age of 25. The UT Administrator said that the complex challenge posed by the disease goes beyond public health raising fundamental issue of human rights and was threatening its development. “There is an urgent need to prevent further spread of the epidemic and provide care and support for those infected by HIV and AIDS,” he added. Earlier, Mr Rakesh Singh, Health Secretary and Chairperson of the AIDS Control Cell Society, informed about the activities of the society. He said Chandigarh was also getting AIDS cases from neighbouring states. He said the society had started seven intervention projects for targeted population besides four other for the general population to create awareness. The society also organised a poster making competition. General Jacob honoured students of Chandigarh College of Arts with cash prizes and certificates. Among the other functions organised in the city to mark the day, members of the Lions Club Rose and the Lions Club Supreme distributed pamphlets among residents of Colony No 5 and labour colony in Sector 31. The Servants of People Society launched its website URL :http:// sps.org.in in which 42 frequently asked questions on HIV and AIDS have been dealt with. The day was observed at the PGI by Ganesh International Movies in collaboration with Model Creators in which students from various colleges and schools took part in the competitions. In a quiz competition, held under the title Know AIDS for no AIDS, Anil Rana from Panjab University got the first prize followed by Kanwar S. Singh, DAV, Nirmaljeet Kaur, GCG, Sector 11 and Yaman Sood, DAV College, Sector 10. MCM DAV College too organsied an essay writing competition. The Principal of the college, Mrs Usha Gupta, in her interaction with students highlighted the role of the students community to educate the people about the disease. A programme was organised by the Department of Psychiatry, GMCH, Sector 32, in collaboration with Gurdwara Shri Dashmesh Singh Sabha Prabandhak Comittee at Daddu Majra Colony. Speaking on the occasion, Prof B.S. Chavan, reiterated on the need to ponder over the fact that the disease has taken the shape of an epidemic which required immediate action. Mr Kewal Krishan Adiwal, Councillor, Municipal Corporation, also urged on the need for creating awareness about the disease. The Song and Drama Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and nursing staff of the GMCH presented songs and skits highlighting the various risk behaviour concerning HIV infection.
SAS NAGAR The Punjab Minister for Health, Mr Baldev Raj Chawla, today called for spreading AIDS awareness among sections like slum dwellers and truck drivers. Mr Chawla, who was speaking at a state-level function on World AIDS Day here, asked the Punjab State AIDS Control Society, which had presented a play on AIDS, to give the message at bigger gatherings and in rural areas. He said there were 33 million cases of HIV positive in the world, 12.2 million of whom were women and children. In India, he said, there were 98,600 cases. In Punjab there were 131 cases and 74 deaths had taken place. Mr Chawla also expressed concern over the alarming number of TB cases. He said there were three lakh such cases in Punjab. The state government alone could not deal with the problem, he said, and urged non-government organisations to pitch in. He suggested that people should adopt one TB patient each for the purposes of treatment, which cost around Rs 2,000. Mrs Mohinder Kaur Josh, Punjab Minister of State for Health, who was the guest of honour, announced Rs 5,000 for those who had taken part in the play on AIDS. A mobile “Mega AIDS Awareness Road Show” was flagged off by Mr Chawla. The van, carrying leaflets and condoms, will distributing these while passing through Ropar, Nawanshahr, Jalandhar via Banga and Phagwara and end at Amritsar on December 3. An exhibition on AIDS was also organised. Dr Rajinder Singh, Civil Surgeon, Ropar, said doctors and paramedical staff had been given training in connection with AIDS clinics had been set up at various places. As many as 12,372 cases had been examined at these clinics and not a single active case of AIDS had been detected. Students from various schools who had excelled in the poster-making and slogan-writing competitions held in November were given prizes. The winners were: Poster-making: Gagandeep Singh (Shivalik Public School) 1; Kanchan Bedi and Pankaj Kaushik (Shivalik Public School and Nav Jyoti Model School) 2; Digvijay and Harkiran Kaur (Gian Jyoti Public School and Shivalik Public School) 3. Slogan - writing: Reema 1; Ajeeta 2; and Pankaj Preet 3 (all from Shivalik Public School).
PANCHKULA As many as 115 cases of AIDS have been identified in Haryana of which 20 are in
Panchkula district. To get rid of this dreaded disease, an awareness drive among the public, particularly the youth, should be launched, said Dr P.M. Jindal, Director-General of Haryana Health Services. He was addressing a public meeting jointly organised by the Health Department and the Haryana AIDS Control Society on World AIDS Day at General Hospital, here today. Mr Jindal appealed to Health Department officials, employees, social organisations and other residents to educate to public about the consequences of the disease. Over 80 per cent cases of HIV are because of sexual relations and 20 per cent are due to blood transmission and infected injections. Prolonged TB to a patient can also lead to AIDS, he said. Dr H.C. Nagpal, Panchkula Civil Surgeon, said that AIDS had spread in African countries about 15 years ago. Only awareness among the public about the disease can help in controlling it, he added. Besides a number of residents, Dr J.M. Chaudhary of Haryana AIDS Control Society, Dr K. Singh, Senior Medical Officer, and Mr Vijay Garg, District Health Officer were also present. The Environmental Society of Haryana also organised a campaign for housewives and girls of Indira Colony, Panchkula. According to the president of the society, Dr D.N. Kakar, a stress was laid on the adoption of the preventive measures, including safer sex. The Panchkula branch of the Family Planning Association of India also observed the day in association with Government College, Kalka. Anu Gupta and Sunil Kumar won prizes in the poster making competition, while Pushpa Rai and Kamala Malik won collage making competition. The slogan writing competition was won by Anu Gupta and Richa Gupta, while Sudesh Kumari and Paarki Mehta bagged the essay writing competition.
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Delay in Panchayat
Samiti’s poll draws flak CHANDIGARH, Dec 1 — No schedule has been announced for the elections to the Panchayat Samiti even after a notification in this context was issued by the Chandigarh Administration nearly two months ago. It may be recalled that the samiti is one of the most crucial set up for the development of villages and has large resources — more than a couple of crores annually — at its disposal for this task. The samiti is presently headed by an administrator appointed by the Administration even though elections for the parishad were held a couple of years ago The elections are a mandatory provision under the amended Panchayati Raj Act. In this context, fresh limitation of wards was carried out and the villages have been divided into 15 wards. Out of these, seven are general seats, while five are reserved for women and three for reserved categories. The general wards are Palsora, Dhanas, Khuda Jassu and Khuda Lahora, Mauli Jagran, Daria, Hallo Majra and Behlana. The women seats are Dadu Majra, Sarangpur, Kaimbwala, Kishengarh besides Raipur Kalan, Raipur Khurd and Makhanmajra — three of the latter have been clubbed as one seat. Maloya, Khuda Ali Sher and Kajheri villages are reserved for the Scheduled Castes. The sarpanches and panches of the villages are upset over the non- announcement of the notification of the poll schedule since the Election Commissioner for Delhi and Chandigarh has yet to arrive in the city to initiate the election process. Meanwhile, four panches have died after the panchayat elections were held last year in January. Another panch resigned after he got a government job. The elected representatives are due to submit a memorandum in this regard to the UT Administrator shortly urging him to issue the necessary directions for initiating the poll process at the earliest. It may be recalled that elections to the UT Market Committee were also conducted after a long period last month. While the panchayats that existed prior to 1966 were allowed to continue till 1973 when the first panchayat elections were held in the new set up, the Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti were constituted on September 1, 1969, under the charge of the then Deputy Commissioner and the District Agriculture Officer, respectively. Sources in the Administration said while no attempts were made to remove the anomaly over the years the practise of appointing officers in place of elected representatives continued. The present “limited action” was necessitated as certain provisions were modified in the Act which make it mandatory that all such bodies should be headed by elected representatives only. The sources said no one really put himself on the job for getting the needful done as it was felt that the area and the number of panchayats was too small to have a full-fledged Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti. At present the authorities face a piquant situation as the fate of 10 members of the parishad, elected in 1996, have not been administered the oath of office. On the other hand the elected members of the parishad say that they have to be administered the oath of office as per the Act, which says that their term of office starts from the day they take oath of office. Meanwhile, a cross section of sarpanches are of the view that the Zila Parishad was an additional burden and would cut into the resources of the villages. In view of the limited number of villages all funds could be placed at the disposal of the Panchayat Samiti which could disburse them and act as a supervisory body on the lines of the parishad and that too at no added burden on infrastructure. In fact, they over the years have been advocating for a two-tier system of governance with the gram panchayat and the parishad only. It had also found favour with the authorities but at the time of decisions in this context the provisions of the Act became a ‘stumbling-block’. Another section were of the view that officers appointed to keep a check on the funds were disbursing them according to their whims and fancies and had kept the constitution of the elected bodies in abeyance for close to 30 years. In the past years there were many instances where the grants were given to certain sarpanches who enjoyed the confidence of the powers that be resulting in lopsided development in many villages, they alleged. The Zila Parishad has a wide range of functions to perform which include promotions of measures to increase agricultural productions, education, rural housing, horticulture, rural roads, promotion of household industries, health and hygiene, besides social reform activities. Meanwhile, Mr Bhupinder Singh
Badheri, president of the Pind Sudhar Committee, has urged the authorities to do the needful at the earliest. |
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READERS
WRITE THE functioning of various Central and State departments has been affected by frequent interference by the bureaucracy. Recently, Dr Nagi, a Professor of the PGI, refused to take charge as Principal-Director of Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) as the post of Secretary, Medical Education, which was also held by Dr V. K. Kak, former Director Principle of the GMCH, was separated just a few days before Dr Kak’s retirement. In every department, the post of Secretary is held by a senior IAS officer who is generally an able administrator with proven capability to run the department. In the Chandigarh Administration also, all departments, technical or non-technical, are headed by senior IAS officers. At times, a senior IAS officer heads eight to 10 departments in addition to his own. In such cases, the functioning of these departments suffers as the Secretary is not able to devote sufficient time to all the departments in his charge. He has to depend on the advice of the officials of these departments and his independent decision-making is affected. This also delays the execution of various plans and programmes due to the unavailability at times of the officials concerned. Sometimes even the grants of these departments lapse at the end of the financial year as these are not utilised. The situation can be remedied to some extent if only persons who have acquired expertise in handling the departments in their charge and who also have a good administrative background, are elevated to such positions. This can be one way of ensuring that the welfare of the public is fully taken care of. A. P. BHARDWAJ Arts council Dr M.S. Randhawa must be turning in his grave on reading the feature, “Arts Council in the dock” (The Tribune, November 29). This is what happens when businessmen and self-seekers get themselves nominated to such bodies. The Punjab Government also cannot escape responsibility for the mess. Leasing out the PAC building to Tara Channel is a gross violation of the council’s constitution. It also amounts to misuse of public office which should invite adequate punishment. The present PAC must be dissolved and the MoU cancelled. A new PAC should be constituted which would restore the confidence of the cultural community which looks up to the Punjab Government for maintaining the sanctity of the place which was set up to promote and preserve the arts in Punjab. PUSHPINDER SINGH Murder of trees The Tribune has caught the Northern Railway and the Forest Department, felling hundreds of ‘mature’ trees near Kalka (The Tribune, November 12). The Tribune’s editorial, the very next day, condemned this act of wanton destruction of the green cover. This should serve as a warning to them. Hypocrisy is so rampant in our country that I have a hunch that some of the officials responsible for this act may be lecturing on environment preservation in schools and other institutions. Before returning to India, I had lived and worked as an urban planner/architect in the USA and Canada for long and I know that if something like this happened there, it would have caused an uproar and evoked a national debate. Many a head would have rolled. Loopholes in environmental laws would have been plugged. I wonder if any notice will be taken of this wanton destruction of trees in the right quarters. JOGINDER JUDGE KHURANA
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Lt-Gen Mann assumes
charge CHANDIGARH, Dec 1 — Lieut-Gen H.R.S. Mann today assumed charge as Chief of Staff, Western Command, Chandi Mandir. Prior to this appointment, he was the General Officer Commanding, 33 Corps in Siliguri. General Mann takes over from Lieut-Gen B.S. Malik, who retired yesterday after putting in 38 years of service. This will be General Mann’s second tenure as Chief of Staff, Western Command. An alumnus of the Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehra Dun and the National Defence Academy, Khadakawasla, he was commissioned into 4 Guards after passing out from the Indian Military Academy in 1961. He also holds the appointment of the Colonel of the Brigade of The Guards. A graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, College of Defence Management and the National Defence College, the General has varied experience, having served with the United Nations Peace-Keeping Force in Gaza as well as with the Indian Peace- Keeping Force during Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka. Besides having commanded a division and a corps in the eastern sector, he served as first Chief of Staff of the Army Training Command on its raising in 1989. After a tenure as General Officer Commanding, Delhi Area, he moved to the Western Command as Chief of Staff in October 1997 on promotion as lieutenant general. He was posted as Chief of Staff, Central Command, in May 1999 and a few months later was appointed GOC 33 Corps. General Mann was decorated with the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 1995 and was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal on the Republic Day 2000. |
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Allotment of
additional PCO CHANDIGARH, Dec 1 — The local office of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has decided to allot more than one STD/ISD public call office (PCO) in the same premises to the existing franchises within the town areas of the Chandigarh Telecom District.
The allotment shall be made as per the registration of the applicant and the condition of unemployment shall not be insisted upon while accepting applications for second or subsequent STD PCOs, the Principal General Manager Telecom (PGMT), Mr R.C. Vaish, said today.
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Rajasthani flavour
at get-together CHANDIGARH, Dec 1 — The flavour of the day was Rajasthani, literally, at the second annual get-together of Dr Ambedkar Master and Novices Association at the Dr Ambedkar Institute of Hotel Management, Catering and Nutrition here today.
The students wore traditional Rajasthani dresses welcoming their seniors to the function.The place was decorated in the Rajasthani style and a Rajasthani meal made to perfection was prepared for the guests. |
CTU bus mows
down cyclist CHANDIGARH,
Dec 1 — An unidentified cyclist died on the spot after being hit by a Chandigarh Transport Undertaking bus near Halo Majra late in the evening today. According to sources, the driver of the bus escaped from the spot. Senior police officials, when contacted, said further investigation into the matter was on. They said the police would proceed in accordance with the law after recording the statement of the witnesses. PGI resident arrested According to sources, a case of the theft under Section 379 and 411 of the IPC has been registered. Woman apprehended Cylinder thief held Motor cycle stolen
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Search continues at Sukhna Lake CHANDIGARH, Dec 1 — Two divers continued to search the depths of the Sukhna Lake after evening strollers reportedly informed the Chandigarh police that a person had plunged into the water for committing suicide.
According to sources in the Police, the search operation continued till late in the evening and will commence again tomorrow morning. The information, they added, was furnished to the police by a PWD employee, Mr
Rameshwar.
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Creative skill in printmaking on display CHANDIGARH,
Dec 1 — Creative skills in printmaking, now on display at the Government College of Art, Sector 10 gallery, showcase the effort of 13 printmakers from Rajasthan who have contributed immensely to promote the medium in the region. The printmakers who are displaying their works in mediums as diverse as serigraph, lithograph, etching-intaglio, viscosity, linocut, woodcut and even digital imaging, are all pursuing their artistic activity at the Jawahar Kala Kendra in Rajasthan. The current exhibition comes across as an ambitious project taken up by the team led by senior artist Vidya Sagar and it is due to be taken to Delhi, Ahmedabad, and Bangalore. The works are dynamic, as art itself, and are set in some kind of abstraction. High level of experimentation is also in evidence. Vidya Sagar’s etching work is mostly black with little streaks of colour here and there. The forms are mainly restricted bounded in simple geometrical structures as triangle, circle, square etc. Dileep Singh Chauhan combines geometric designs with curved forms and creates abstract works. His recent monochromatic and multi-coloured serigraph and etching prints are rapt with textures, and are abstract. Vinay Sharma’s works are all colour and imagination. His serigraph with its geometrical cut-outs lit up by an inner radiance, with images are made meaningful by a focus on coloured forms set in pictorial designs. Mukesh Sharma’s forte are the motifs — natural and faces, each inspiring imagination of the viewer, and unleashing a chain of memories. Another set of promising works has been put up by Deepak Kumar Khandelwal who concentrates on real life objects, and tries to capture the surroundings in his serigraph. For Yogendra, intaglio and viscosity are the favourite techniques and he recreates images mainly from memory, with a dominance of faces. Crowded figurative scenes portraying light and shade in aquatint is the main feature of Gori Shanker’s work. In etching and viscosity works of Naresh Kumar, thicky-outlines works are visible. The works have a lot of focus on skeletons and other caricatural forms. Mohan’s works are all about female faces set in woodcuts and etchings. Manish Sharma’s serigraphs and etching prints are set in ornamental arrangements of the surface, while Raju Saini creates dynamic works in a figurative style. Suresh Gotwal focuses on lino and woodcut. The exhibition, inaugurated by the Head, Department of Fine Arts, PU, Dr D.C. Bhattacharya, will be on view till December 7. |
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PRICE WATCH PANCHKULA, Dec 1 — The sale of geysers, heaters, blowers and other electrical gadgets is yet to pick up with the winter still showing no sign of setting in. Businessmen have begun to feel the pinch and contend that the appliances are cheaper this year in comparison with the last season. There is a marked variation in the prices of branded and locally assembled appliances, the difference being Rs 60 for immersion rods and Rs 200 for heat convectors. Geysers, the most used item during winter, are displayed in most of the shops but there are not many buyers. The prices of branded varieties are Rs 800 to Rs 1000 higher than those of the locally made ones, depending upon the company. A 15-litre geyser of the branded variety costs Rs 3,300. The cost goes up to Rs 3,800 and Rs 4400 as the storage capacity rises to 25 and 35 litres. Instant geysers of one, three, six and 10 litre capacities cost from Rs 1600 to Rs 3000. Immersion rods with the ISI mark cost Rs 300 while the locally made ones can be had for Rs 180 to Rs 210. Different models of heat-convectors of the branded variety differ marginally in their cost, the price varying between Rs 1200 and Rs 1400. One company, however, offers a range of low-cost convectors for around Rs 800. The locally made ones cost between Rs 400 and Rs 700. Room heaters have drawn a poor response from customers. Here again various branded models cost anything from Rs 300 to Rs 600 and the locally made ones cost Rs 250 to Rs 450.
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