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Docs to decide on detained man’s mental
health KHARAR The person was declared mentally ill by his family and was confined to a room in their house. He even used to answer the call of nature in the same room. The Kharar police acted today on a news item published in a newspaper on February 8 and visited the village. At that time, he had been taken to PGI in Chandigarh by his family members. The police took Kalwant Singh along when they returned from the PGI. The police recorded his statement, and he was produced before the SDM. Talking to this correspondent in the Civil Hospital, where he was brought by the police as per the orders of the SDM, Mr Kalwant Singh was looking cheerful. He alleged that he was confined to a room, chained by his family, which had declared that he was mentally unsound. He further alleged that this was being done to grab his property. He added that he used to drive a truck earlier. The medical officer, after examining him at the hospital, wrote in his report that he looked fully conscious and had no injury on his body. The doctor suggested that a mental state examination should be conducted by experts in Chandigarh. He was again produced before the SDM. According to police sources the SDM ordered that Mr Kalwant Singh should be medically examined in Chandigarh. His family members claimed that he used to have fits during which he used to beat his family members and they used to tie him only during fits. He was living with his mother and an unmarried brother. |
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Time to rebuild Gujarat:
Saboo CHANDIGARH, Feb 10 — “The whole of Gujarat has become a living symbol of the Gandhian philosophy of working without complaining, exhibiting tolerance and determination — to live with dignity,” observes Mr Rajendra K. Saboo, former President of Rotary International, on his return to the city after visiting quake-affected areas of Gujarat. “We must rebuild what they have lost, not by charity but by giving them back their dignity,” he adds. Visibly shaken, after his visit to the devastated areas of Bhuj, Anjar, Gandhidham and Bhachau, Mr Saboo says: “It is rare to see a human tragedy of this magnitude. We have not seen the nuclear holocaust, but the havoc caused by the earthquake is no less than what a holocaust would bring. “Pain is writ large on the faces of the quake-hit people and is reflected through the drained out emotions, lost smiles and persistent tears. All you get to hear is `woh chala gaya’ (he has gone). “Though people who have gone will never return, children, women, even old men, can be seen digging into the debris to recover their lost belongings”. Mr Saboo reveals that a few RSS people who managed to reach the affected areas for the rescue operations soon after the calamity told him that the only chanting that could be heard in the first few days was , “Ram naam satya hai”as thousands of bodies were taken to the already crowded cremation grounds. Mr Saboo discloses that the worst affected is Bhachau, where 90 per cent of the houses have crumbled and the remaining 10 per cent which are left have also been extensively damaged. Driving past the area, on both sides of the road, no house or even a wall could be seen standing. A 55-year-old Vanraj Singh Jadeja started crying like a child: “Last year we constructed 50 odd houses for the homeless, but today we have become homeless.” While a large number of people residing in this area have been wiped out, very few surviving women and children could be seen as they had moved to safer places. The rich and the poor alike sleep in the tents out in the open. A person who could not control his tears and with a lump in his throat said, “God has brought everyone at par. But is that the way to do so.” In Bhuj, Mr Saboo accompanied by other Rotarians, visited the government hospital, which was completely demolished and could be recognised only from a signboard lying across the debris. He was, however, amazed by the fact that while some houses were standing erect, those adjacent to them had gone down completely. A few other multistorey structures had developed major cracks and had tilted on one side. In a strange case, a woman had a narrow escape as she had gone to a room (on one side of the house) to offer tea to her father-in-law. The rooms, on the other side, collapsed killing her husband and children. In a state of shock, she complained why she did not perish with them. In Anjar, it was indeed heart rendering to see the street where nearly 400 children of a school had perished. The houses and shops lay in debris as a man standing there with a fixed gaze lamented: “Yes, this was my house till a few days back. All I got out of it was the bodies of my three daughters aged 13, 9 and 7 years. Even those, who had their houses intact would not sleep in them at night for fear of another earthquake rocking the area. They would prefer to sleep in the tents pitched on the streets between the houses. Recalling his visit to Gandhidham, Mr Saboo said the top storeys of the high rise building were destroyed in this fairly affluent and upcoming township, which was otherwise relatively less affected. However, the office building of the Chamber of Commerce had completely collapsed. Mr Saboo, who was accompanied by senior Rotarians, Mr O.P. Vaish, Mr Sudarshan Aggarwal and Mr Ranjit Bhatia, said the idea behind the visit was to motivate the Rotarians to further get involved in alleviating the suffering of humanity and to chalk out immediate rehabilitation plans with the local leadership. Keeping in view the vast destruction and heavy losses, the Rotarians suggested that the area be declared income tax free for the next five years so as to revive activity in the Kutch area. This would also encourage new investments in the area. The government should also phase out the recoveries and other dues from the people. Soft loans and waiver of collateral guarantees on the basis of the past track record by banks should be considered favourably and expeditiously. Lastly, the Central Government should declare it a national calamity. According to Mr Saboo, the need of the hour is to examine, how we can convert this tragedy into an opportunity for the future — with provision for better planned township, houses and even villages. The government should come out with a plan by which duplications could be avoided. Emphasis should be on rehabilitation and reconstruction as those living at the moment are “living dead”. Most of them who have lost their kith and kin keep repeating, “Why did I not perish with them.” Mr Saboo fears that soon the devastation at Bhuj and surrounding areas will be a forgotten chapter. Hence, this is the right time to mobilise resources for relief and rehabilitation. Things are showing up, but there is need to further reduce the timeframe between the four R’s — Rescue, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction. Back in the city, Mr Saboo is busy thinking of rehabilitation measures, as it is pointless brooding over the tragedy. The reconstruction of houses and other facilities will take time, so he plans to send family-type tents for immediate shelter or even building temporary inexpensive shelters keeping in view that within few months monsoon will be knocking at the door. Rotarians, according to him, have always risen to the occasion and will chip in with their time, efforts and resources to rehabilitate villagers and reconstruct the townships. A similar effort was made when they adopted and rebuilt Salagaon village in Latur district following the earthquake. |
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Engineering Dept team leaves for
Gujarat CHANDIGARH The team, including masons, carpenters and
JEs, has taken relief material and other materials for the erection of tents in quake-hit areas. Meanwhile, the staff of the Agriculture Department of Punjab has donated one day’s salary for the fund. Dr Mewa Singh Sonar, Director of Agriculture, presented a draft for Rs 9,51,425 to the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal through the Agriculture Minister, Mr Gurdev Singh
Badal. The Indian Council of Social Welfare, handed over Rs 10,000 to the UT Adviser, Ms Neeru Nanda and a similar amount to Ms Kamla Sharma, Chairperson of the Chandigarh Social Welfare Advisory Board. The council also sent an amount of Rs 1,100 to The Tribune. In addition to this, a truckload of woollen material was sent to the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee. It was also decided to adopt five school-going children, who have lost their parents in the earthquake. In a noble gesture,
Kanishka, a Class IV student of St Kabir School, cancelled his birthday celebrations on February 1 and sent a cheque of Rs 1,001 to The Tribune for the quake relief fund. Kanishka appealed to the other children also not to celebrate their birthdays and contribute for the fund. At the Plaza carnival, a counter was set up by the UT Red Cross for collecting donations for the victims. Earlier, Irshad Rehmat Qawal and Party from Malerkotla enthralled the audience. Western dance by Sunil Kumar, mimicry by
Abhimanyu, and songs by Seema, Jyoti Virk, Neeru Sharma and Ravinder Singh were the other highlights of the carnival. AMBALA: NSS volunteers from SD College, Ambala
Cantt, have collected Rs 11,000 from a camp held outside the college for relief activity in Gujarat. The volunteers have also collected blankets and warm clothing. Tomorrow, a team of 100 NSS volunteers will visit different markets and seek donations for quake victims. The volunteers have also expressed keenness in working towards rehabilitation of those affected by the earthquake in Gujarat during the summer holidays. The Swarankar Sabha today handed over Rs 21,000 to the BJP mandal president, Mr Shishpal
Bhola, towards helping in relief measures in Gujarat. Among others, Mr Subhadesh
Mittal, Mr Shivnandan Dhir, Mr Sehgal, Mr Ravindra Dhawan and Mr B.P Chauhan were part of the BJP team. The Citizens Council has decided to adopt 10 orphaned children of Gujarat. The council will take care of their education and other needs, till they attain the age of 18 years. The officials and employees of the district administration have contributed one day’s salary towards relief in Gujarat. Haryana Roadways, Ambala Depot, has handed over Rs 238 lakh for earthquake-affected Gujarat. The amount has been handed over to Deputy Commissioner of Ambala. Ambala Electrical Appliances Manufacturers Association has appealed that people must generously donate towards Gujarat, so that rehabilitation work can start at the earliest. ZIRAKPUR: A cultural show will be organised at the Silver City, near here, tomorrow in the aid of the earthquake victims of Gujarat. Eminent singers, including Mohammad Saddique Ranjit
Kaur, Parminder Sandhu, Kuljeet, Kuldeep Kaur, Bhagwan Hans and Sukhwant Kaur Sukhi and Shehzada Salim will perform in the show. |
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Major Bhatnagar hires
civilian lawyer CHANDIGARH, Feb 10
The court has been adjourned till February 21 after the newly appointed defence counsel, Capt Rajneesh Bansal
(retd), sought time for studying the case. Meanwhile, the original copy of the document being sought by the defence from the witness, Col
G.S. Ranawat, was produced before the court today. The document — a signal concerning the inter-formation movement of certain documents pertaining to the proceedings of Major Bhatnagar’s disciplinary case — had to be obtained from Leh. |
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Lawyers’ chambers mushrooming CHANDIGARH Sources revealed that there were two reasons for setting up the makeshift chambers. First, in the view of the coming elections in March, shortage of the chambers may become one of the issues, and the second, the setting up the temporary chambers has become a prestige issue to show off their strength among different groups in the run-up to the elections. However, different groups of advocates, when contacted, blamed the Chandigarh Administration for not providing any proper solution of the chamber problem. They alleged that as per original conditions of allotment of 108 chambers which took place in 1986, there had to be one allottee and two co-allottees which, were to be decided upon in consultation with the administration. Since then the number of chambers remained but the number of advocates had increased manifold. In the absence of new chambers, they have no alternative other than making temporary chambers in the court premises. Over 300 lawyers had filed applications invited by the Estate Office for reallotment of chambers in 1998. But the Administration had failed to do justice with the advocates, alleged the lawyers. Although the reallotment of the four chambers by the Estate Office in December last year, turned out to be “unsuccessful”, the new allottees were unable to take possession since the chambers were already occupied. The sources revealed that Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today inspected the courts and reportedly objected to the construction of makeshift chambers and directed the advocates to remove the chambers soon. When The Tribune contacted the UT District and Sessions Judge, Mr H.S Bhalla, he said that applications had been invited from the advocates. Meanwhile, the General Secretary of the District Bar Association, Mr Benny Prashad, said that every year about 40 new advocates were joining the district courts but since 1985 the number of chambers remained the same. The advocates had no option other than setting up these chambers. The bar has asked the advocates wanting new chambers to apply to the District and Sessions Judge. |
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Golden Forest CMD in police
custody LALRU The complainant, Mr Faquir Chand Srivastava, had complained that the Chief Managing Director of Golden Forest Company had allegedly cheated him of Rs 1,87,310. The police had registered a case under Sections 406 and 402 of the Indian Penal Code against the accused. Acting on the complaint, the police picked up Syal yesterday and kept him in police custody in Lalru police station for interrogation. He was later produced before a Rajpura court today. It may be recalled that the Punjab Vigilance Department, on various complaints of cheating against the company, had raided its offices at Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Manimajra, Panchkula and Chandigarh on December 24 and arrested eight directors — A.L. Syal, R.K. Syal, Pomila Syal, H.K. Sinha, Meena Syal, Promila Sinha, Lahmbar Singh and Harbhajan Singh Padda — of the company. Other offices of the company at Kapurthala and Lalru, near Ambala, were also sealed by the Vigilance Department on the very next day. |
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Case against Barnala’s family
adjourned CHANDIGARH The statement of one of the witnesses was also recorded in the court. Ms Parveshbir Kaur had alleged that her husband Jasjit Singh, father-in-law, Surjit Singh and mother-in-law, Surjit Kaur had harassed her for bringing unsufficient dowry. The complaint against Surjit Singh Barnala and his other family members was registered under Sections 406,420,498A of the IPC. Meanwhile, in another case two persons, Amarjit Singh and Major Singh, arrested under Section 15 of the NDPS Act, were sent to judicial remand till February 22 by the UT Judicial Magistrate ( First Class), Mr Mahender Singh today. The accused Amarjit Singh, a resident of the Hoshiarpur,was arrested by the city police. About 12 Kg poppy husk had been recovered from his possession. Another accused Major Singh was arrested from the Inter-State Bus Terminal, Sector 17, by the city police and 12 Kg poppy husk, had been seized. |
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Valentine’s Day CHANDIGARH The reason for restless tapping of books on tea-stained tables is not very hard to see. Getting out on February 14 won’t be easy in 2001. Daddies today know all about “love hunters and willing victims”. College or no college. Stay home, away from hooligans, they are insisting. Something has to be done. Real fast. They realise, lest Cupid’s wings are clipped to prevent them from hovering over the university campus. In days of Doordarshan, it was all very simple. The ol’ man knew nothing about “Valentine’s fever”. You could just walk out of the house and sign the warrants of love. The colleges too were open. For you to bunk classes. And ruthlessly capture the trophies of love. Hands down. With slaying eyes and killing smiles. Today, music video channels air “Valentine special programmes” a month before the day. Newspapers too carry cheerful ads, informing parents all about it. Little wonder, love-lorn maidens apprehend that the ancient and honourable excuse of driving down to the PGI for presenting a bouquet of get-well-soon wishes to the chum recovering from appendix operation won’t work this time. “It’s of the old school, too often used,” screams under-grad’ Zubina before heaving a long desperate sigh. “Mama will get suspicious the moment I say I am going to meet Reena in the hospital wearing a lycra top over my new tight fits”. B’day bashes, sports day, blood donation camps, extra classes, project work, pujas and havans in college, returning `History of English literature’ to ma’am at her home — Ummm.... they all sound good. Are effective too. On Sundays and other holidays. Not on St. Valentine’s Day. “I tried bluffing my way to the library last year. Papa didn’t allow. He had read all about molestation, eve-teasing, even challaning by the cops, in the newspapers the previous year,” growls Raveena, a plus two student. “Blood donation camp wouldn’t convince the parents either. After all, you do not lie on a stretcher in a long dress”. Wedding party is a convincing alibi, feels college goer Taseer. You can dress up in velvet gown, apply eye-shadow and blush-on after going in for a cucumber facial. Then walk out of the house without arousing suspicion. “I informed parents about the dream-marriage of a non-existent friend in December last year,” says Taseer, rubbing her dusky hands excitedly. “Now, nothing is gonna stop me”. You can also try going out on the pretext of attending Antakashri, Mehendi and rangoli competitions or for debate, declamation contest, poetry symposium and dance recital. If nothing else works, say you have to pay the examination fee — suggests Taseer, reposing on a comfy sofa in her Sector 10 residence. “Once out, grab as many cards and gifts as you can but remember not to take them home”, she warns. “After all you do not get gladioli in a declamation contest”. |
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FILM REVIEW Boys Don’t Cry (Kiran) is a love story on controversial and unconventional styles of today’s world which bears an artistic magnificence in style and presentation. The slowly unwinding story of relations set in today’s world is a binding show in the second half. A beautiful presentation of a film story is heightened by the fact that it a based on a true-life story. One big fact to prove the worth of presentation is that Hillary Swank as the lead actress (nee actor) has bagged an Oscar for her performance. The story explores the contradictions of American youth through the life and death story of Brandon Teena (Hillary). What emerges from a dust cloud of mayhem, desire and murder is the story of a young American drifters’ search for love, a sense of self and a place to call home. Set in Nebraska in 1993, Teena lands here swaying the local population towards her (portrayed as he). Women are drawn to “him” immensely. The city’s most wanted girl knew the reality that “he was not a he”. “He” establishes himself as a “playful rebel, a sensitive and loyal friend and an irresistible romantic who seduces lonely, innocent and under privileged beauties”. Promised as a Valentine attraction, the film “is a dense narrative touching on many controversial and timely issues — the nature of sexual identity, biology versus sociology in gender constructions and role playing. The film is directed by Kimberley Peirce based on a script by Peirce and Andy Bienen. ‘Billa No 786’ (Jagat) is a drama of adventures in helping the poor. The hero needs fists and surely the number is an ominous help from Gods. Mithunda is the messiah. Manisha and Salim Khan are the producers. The Mithun Chakraborty film has music by Luv-Kush with insignificant long distance runners in public minds. The cast includes Kavita, Mohan Joshi, Kadar Khan, Tej Sapru, Adi Irani, Shiva and Gajendra Chauhan. |
A tale of two villages REHMANPUR (Kharar) The two villages (reportedly bechirag maujen in revenue records) belong to the group of 29 villages which are to be acquired by the Punjab Government for the new township of Anandgarh. It took almost one hour just to locate Devi Nagar as no one seemed to be knowing about the presence of any such place in the area. Reason: the village is almost deserted. The village is known as “bechirag mauj” (meaning a village where there is no light). The fields in the village are owned by residents of other villages. However, there is one Devi Mandir in the village. In the revenue records Devi Nagar is a village with an area of 282 acre. Residents of the nearby villages say that the village was never inhabitated. It is learnt that the entire village except the land on which the temple stands will be acquired for Anandgarh township. Take the case of
Rehmanpur. There is only one large family (now split into four smaller units) which claims to be living there for the last 200 years. The family members say: The village is not bechirag
mauj. Instead they claim it to be the ‘‘smallest village’’ in the region. And their claim is endorsed by the residents of the nearby villages. There are few more houses in the farm land of the village but these are outside the lal
dora, says Sucha Singh, a panch. An official in the Anandgarh Development Authority said, ‘‘In fact there is no red line in both the villages as they are bechirag
maujen. All houses have been constructed in the farm lands’’. However, the family members claim ‘‘Our houses are well within the red line and ours is the smallest village as it has just one family. Rehmanpur has no dispensary, school, telephone or pucca road to the village and there are even no taps in the village. Residents say that the government had installed a handpump earlier but it is not functional. Interestingly, rest of the villages in the area have
functional water supply lines. An elderly woman said, ‘‘Once there was a system under which the teacher used to come to the village to teach’’. When asked when was it, no one seem to be aware of the exact year. They just remember ‘‘it was during Indira Gandhi’s reign’’. The revenue records of the Punjab Government do acknowledge Rehmanpur (Hadbast No. 172) as a village but with no phirni. An official in the Anandgarh Development Authority claimed that the phirni the family is talking about is made by the villagers only and thus is not acknowledged by the government. It is learnt that out of the total area of 282 acres, 279 acres will be acquired by the ADA. |
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Connect dialling from Feb 12 CHANDIGARH The subscribers in Ludhiana will, however be able to get the facility a week later. The company has also revised its tariff rates whereas the new rental rates will be applicable from March 1. The subscribers of Connect (HFCL) will now be able to call areas in Punjab within 200 km from Chandigarh and vice versa by dialling 95. The pulse rate for the cities between 50-100 km will be 120 seconds and for the cities situated between 100-200 km will be 30 seconds. This pulse rate will be uniform throughout the day. “However, the subscribers in Ludhiana will get the facility only nearly a week later, after we develop the software for the same”, said Mr Vijay Kaul, Chief Marketing Officer of the company. Amritsar, Pathankot and Ferozepore will not fall under the scheme . HFCL has also decided to change the structure of rentals. Earlier, there were two user groups. High end users in Chandigarh had to pay Rs 250 whereas low end users here had to pay Rs 180. Now uniform rental of Rs 250 will be charged from all types of users. Similarly, in Patiala and Mohali, uniform rental of Rs 180 will be charged. The company officials said that though the facility of local dialling will be made available from February 12, the new rental rates will be applicable from March 1 only. The CDMA PCOs will have to get the billing table of their machines changed from their vendors for the adjustment of pulse. The company has also launched its “limited mobility” service under which Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) handsets will be provided to the users, which can be used within the city . The call made from these mobile phones will be charged at Rs 1.20 per three minutes, whereas the incoming calls will be free. The handsets which will be provided by Connect only (to be imported from Korea, Japan and the USA) costing between Rs 7,000 and Rs 10,000 are yet to arrive after which the service will start in Punjab and Chandigarh. “The permission of limited mobility and local dialling facility will lead to an increase in the tele-density in the region. At present tele density in Punjab is around 4.5 per cent which we expect, will increase up to 15 per cent within two years”, Mr Kaul said. He also said the company has already crossed the 10,000 subscriber mark and hopes to add nearly one lakh subscribers by the end of the year. “Earlier the target by year end was 60,000 but now we hope to reach a higher figure after the permission for limited mobility and local dialling”, he added. Meanwhile, the BSNL will also start its limited mobility services by April-May this year. |
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19 villages for watershed project PANCHKULA The Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.K. Monga, said the main objective of the project was to improve the productive potential of the project area evolving watershed treatment technologies and community participatory approaches. The project would play a major role in decreasing soil erosion, increasing water availability and alleviating poverty. The villages to be taken up were Badona, Bagwala, Chaila, Dharara, Dulhopur Ganoli, Hangola, Haripur, Khetprali, Natwal, Pyarewala, Raipur Rani, Rator, Shahjanpur, Shahpur, Sultanpur, Trilokpur, Dharla and
Sherjoin. |
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Train link to UP, Bihar sought CHANDIGARH |
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Man dies of excessive liquor CHANDIGARH The deceased was a retired Air Force official. |
Drug peddlers
held CHANDIGARH The two arrested were Amarjit Singh and Major Singh, both residents of Balachaur, Hoshiarpur district. According to police sources, the two had brought the drugs from Lal Batti near Jaipur. The two were apprehended while they were waiting for a bus to their home town. One stabbed Defacement case Two arrested One held with liquor |
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12 hurt in clash between 2 families LALRU Sources said Kulwinder Singh had laid a water pipe across a village road to water his fields. In the mean time Sarabjit Singh, another resident who was carrying a tractor loaded with sugarcane passed over the pipe and was stopped by Kulwinder Singh for the second time. They had a tiff over the issue and the matter was reported to the family members. Armed with sharp-edged weapons, members of both the families clashed in the evening and some of them sustained injuries, sources revealed. Eyewitness said Amrik Singh, Avtar Singh, Naib Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Hernek Singh came to support Kulwinder Singh while Bachhiter Singh, Mewa Singh, Nirmal Singh, Jasbir Singh and Balkar Singh were in Sarabjit Singh’s group. The injured were rushed to Dera Bassi Civil Hospital. Two of the seriously injured persons — Sarabjit Singh and Mewa Singh — were referred to the PGI in Chandigarh. While the rest have been admitted in a local hospital. A case under Sections 324, 325, 326, and 148 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered by the Lalru police. Truck carrying liquor seized SAS NAGAR 5 booked for gambling |
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Their ivory-white fingers gently pass through silky tresses with golden streaks as pretty damsels hold round table conferences in cafeterias, even fast food joints, to discuss the strategies.
