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| Wednesday,
July 4, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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Man washed away in the Ghaggar Panchkula, July 3 Meanwhile, the traffic on the Ramgarh-Barwala road remained jammed for over three hours today due to the accumulation of water on the road. A heavy downpour in the catchment areas of Himachal Pradesh put the road users to inconvenience. The office-goers and schoolchildren found it difficult to reach their destinations on time due to the jam. |
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No light ahead for BBA students Chandigarh, July 3 The only course which should follow the BBA in the natural hierarchy is the MBA. There is no exclusive reservation for BBA students in the department. They compete with students from the arts, science and commerce backgrounds. Even if a section of these students was adjusted, it would still leave out scores of them without a fair option for a PG course in an alternative stream. The biggest handicap is in calculation of marks to be put on the merit list before admissions. If a student has Economics, English or any other option at the graduation level, the admission committee adds the marks in the subject, where he is seeking admission separately, to the total. In addition, additional weightage is added for students who have done honours in the particular stream. A senior official in the Economics Department said that the students had the economics option in only one year of their BBA course so they would not be given additional weightage. The Chairperson of the Public Administration Department said that students who were seeking admissions on basis of their graduation degree in BBA would not get any additional weightage. They should have known the fact before they opted for the course. Prof K.K. Mangla, Chairman of the University Business School, said that there was no special reservation for students of the BBA course in the MBA Department. “The subject was introduced a little in a haste. Option of future studies of these students have been poorly worked out”. Jaswinder Singh, who passed out of the local DAV College, said, “We cannot make it in economics and we cannot do English. Even the course The degree was thought off as a prelude to an MBA.” Ravinder Singh, another student, said, “The PU has limited seats in the MBA course. Naturally, all cannot fit in. One of the nearest avenues was GNDU, but, there were no enough chances. The department student should be given a little weightage for subject marks in the alternate courses where they sought admission for postgraduation.” Ashok Goyal, another student, said that there had been a manifold increase in the number of applicants for the course but the PU had made no efforts to increase the seats in the MBA course which seemed unjustified. After starting the BBA courses, a corresponding change should have been made in the total number of seats. The problem was compounded by the fact that the course content had significant portions relating to the MBA studies. Hardeep Singh, another student, said that the subject had an “inapt faculty for the course specifically. Also there was negligent availability of books related to the course in market.” Harjeet Gill, also from DAV College, said “After BBA, I was confused in figuring out a possible path I could follow for future studies.” |
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Report says hospital staff dumped the body SAS Nagar, July 3 According to the report which has been forwarded to the state health authorities, the body was wheeled out of the hospital on a stretcher by a Class IV employee and a watchman on the night of July 14. Sham Shunder, a patient of asthma, was admitted to an indoor-patients’ ward of the hospital by an acquaintance on the night of June 10. A passerby found his body on a road divider near the hospital on June 15. The victim had left the hospital on June 11, a day after he had been admitted. He had revisited the OPD of the hospital on June 14 to get treatment for an eye ailment, according to an OPD slip that the police had found in his pocket. Besides the OPD slip that had ‘Gentamycin’ written on it, a diary and Rs 2.50 had also been found in the pocket. A bag containing Sham’s shoes, biscuit packet, pyjamas and PGI card was found at a distance from the body. The local police also seized the hospital records of the patient. The Civil Surgeon of Ropar, Dr R.S. Saggu, refused to comment on the inquiry report. He said the report had been sent to the Joint Health Secretary. Sources in the state Health Department said, as per the inquiry report, a pharmacist had found Sham in a bathroom attached to the indoor-patients’ ward of the hospital. Taking him to be an alcoholic, the Medical Officer directed the staff on duty to take him outside the hospital and leave him there. When he was dumped on the road, he was alive, but died shortly afterwards. The watchman, Ram Din Upadhay, then informed the doctor of Sham’s death. Sources said the Medical Officer who had been named in the inquiry report was Dr M.S. Chahal, but Dr Chahal denies this. He said he had
even checked his records to make sure that he had nothing to do with the incident. However, the findings of the inquiry are contrary to the version of the police officials. In a statement given to the police, Mr Sanjeev, brother of a woman patient who had been kept in the same ward, had said that he had seen two employees of the hospital wheeling Sham on a stretcher towards the gate of the hospital at about 8.15 am on June 15. This contradicts the inquiry report which says that the patient was alive when he was dumped outside the hospital on the night of June 14. The Station House Officer (SHO) of the Phase I police station, Mr R.S. Sohal, said the police would base its report on the interrogations of four employees of the hospital. Out of these employees, the police was yet to interrogate the pharmacist and the watchman. If there was a case of death due to negligence, it would be referred to the district law officer for legal opinion. The situation
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SPECIAL STORY Chandigarh, July 3 The project, forwarded by the Punjab Government to NABARD would benefit over 2 lakh inhabitants spread across these 163 villages. As part of the scheme 69 deep bore tubewells would be sunk in. Besides this water would be drawn from the Bhakra Main Line (BML) Canal enabling supply of drinking water for eight hours every day. The schemes would cater to the requirements of population 15 years hence (2016), which is estimated as 30 per cent more than the present population, said projections made by NABARD. The scheme would be completed by the March, 2004. The operations and maintenance cost of the schemes after completion was proposed to be met partly from the water charges to be levied on consumers and partly by the state government. It had been proposed to levy a charge of Rs 10 per month per household from community taps and a sum of Rs 50 per month would be levied for each private connection. The project included constructions of new water work structures, installation of pumping machinery, construction of overhead storage reservoirs, laying of new distribution pipelines and necessary buildings. All gram panchayats had reportedly agreed to provide required land for setting up of water works station, free of cost. According to sources in the NABARD, an important feature of the project was a plan of “greater” involvement and participation of village panchayats and the local community in the execution and operation and maintenance of the schemes. The bill collection would be carried out by the Punjab Public Health Department (PHD). It was expected that the water tariff would be gradually increased to cover the entire operation and maintenance expenditure in tune with Government of India guidelines for such schemes. The project envisaged to raise the per capita water supply to 70 litres per capita per day which was way above the norms of the Government of India which stipulated supply of 40 litres per capita per day
(LPCD). The 163 villages suffered from water deficiency as the per capita supply was much less than the minimum requirement of 40
LPCD while the underground levels had steadily fallen in the past few decades. The increase in the water quota was taken so that individual house connections could be given on demand and cattle population was taken care off, said an official in the Punjab Public Health Department (PHD). The project covered 109 villages in Patiala, four in Fatehgarh Sahib and 19 villages in Ropar, respectively. Additional distribution pipelines would be laid and smaller sized lines would be replaced with bigger one. The PHD would be responsible for day-to-day monitoring of the schemes included in the project. In case of any major break down at the water works or the main supply lines, the PHD would carry out the required repair to restore the water supply. The total financial outlay of the drinking water supply project had been worked out to be Rs 23.97 crore. NABARD, under its Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), would be giving assistance to the tune of Rs 21.57 crore and the rest would be borne by the Punjab government. The main benefits from the project would be in the form of improved health and hygiene, savings in time spent for collecting water, gender development, increase in farm and non-farm production besides improvement in milk yield of cattle. During the implementation period the project was estimated to generate non-recurring employment of 8.15 lakh man days. |
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300 posts
of teacher cleared for UT Chandigarh, July 3 The Administration will initiate proceedings to appoint teachers, sources said, while adding that the process would start within the next two weeks. All that was required was a proposal from the Education Department, this was to be cleared at various levels before an advertisement would be placed in newspapers. Meanwhile, the MHRD has not accepted the proposal of the Chandigarh Administration to also allow posts of office staff in schools. This has to be kept on contract or shifted from surplus staff of other departments. Clearance of the 300 posts will mean the shortfall of teachers will be met. At the moment the Education Department is facing a huge shortfall as several of the city government schools have been upgraded while several new streams have been added. More pressure has been created for posts as the Class XI and XII have totally been shifted to schools. Initially the MHRD had rejected the proposal, however, the UT Administrator, Lieu Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd), intervened and personally met the Union MHRD Minister, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi. Last week the Union Expenditure Secretary cleared the financial aspect of the posts thus paving the way for the sanction. |
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Disappeared
woman returns, alleges assault SAS Nagar, July 3 The woman is fighting a legal battle with her relatives over her right to the property of Dasaundha Singh Trust that was formed by her grandfather. The property is worth over Rs 400 crore. Talking to mediapersons at the Phase X residence of her family friend, Ms Aneel Kaur, Jaslivleen said, “After I moved in as paying guest in a Phase 3-A house here, I was given some intoxicant by my landlords. On June 29, when I tried to escape from the house, some persons, including a police constable and a woman police constable, overpowered me and took me to the Phase I police station where I was beaten up.” She said, “The following afternoon, I was taken to the PGI and admitted to the psychiatry ward there. My hands and legs were tied and I was regularly given sedatives. I was not even allowed to answer the call of nature. Ms Aneel Kaur said, “I was first informed about the disappearance of Jaslivleen and then that her landlords had found her. The circumstances under which she went missing and was later found in the PGI were suspicious.” Jaslivleen said the CBI was investigating the case of the killings of her brother, father and mother over “the property dispute”. However, the police said someone had called them up to say that a mentally unstable woman was creating nuisance near Madanpura Chowk. The woman was referred to the PGI by doctors in the Phase VI Civil Hospital. The personnel in the Phase I police station denied that the woman had been assaulted there. |
Govt staff strike
on July 25 Chandigarh, July 3 A press note issued by Mr Charan Pal Singh, assistant general secretary of the coordination committee, said the decision about general strike was taken at the convention of the confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers and All-India State Government Employees Federation held on May 27 in Delhi. The convention also decided to hold a countrywide strike on July 27, urging the government to stop contractarisation, casualisation of jobs, abolition of vacant posts and to fill all vacancies. The confederation also urged the government to stop privatisation and downsizing of government establishments and retrenchment of employees. It also demanded amendments of labour laws. The committee also decided to participate in the convention of all Central Government employees and workers and all Punjab state employees to be held on July 8. It also decided to observe a protest day on July 18 by staging dharnas and gate meetings in all Central Government offices in Chandigarh. |
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FAUJI BEAT Chandigarh, July 3 With a General Court Martial (GCM), the most common type of military trial, having an average duration of about three months, the cost of a trial can be around Rs 18 lakh. And this does not include the cost of pre-trial procedures such as court of inquiry, recording of summary of evidence and related administrative actions. Given the official estimates that about 25 to 30 trials take place in a Command zone every year, the Army could be spending between Rs 19 to Rs 23 crore annually on conducting
court martials. In most cases, the presiding officer of a GCM is a Colonel, with the other four members holding the ranks of Major or Lieutenant-Colonel. The Judge Advocate and the prosecuting officer are generally of the rank of Major or Lieutenant-Colonel. With the average salaries of officers of these ranks ranging from Rs 25,000 to over Rs 30,000 according to their seniority and grade, the average monthly salary bill of the five court members, the Judge Advocate and the prosecuting officer can be Rs 2 lakh. Added to this are the TA/DA of the officers as court members are deputed from other stations. About Rs 85,000 goes towards the salaries of the escort officer accompanying the accused, generally a Captain or a Major and guards. Normally two armed guards are on duty on a rotational basis. Then there are clerks deputed for the trial. The Judge Advocate, prosecution and the defence are entitled to a clerk each to help them type and maintain documents. Besides a runner, there is an administrative party, headed by a JCO or NCO to attend to the needs of the court when it is in session. This accounts for another six or seven persons. The prosecution is also entitled to engage a civilian lawyer of its choice. The expenses involved in engaging a civilian lawyer, which includes his fee and TA/DA besides
accommodation, etc, is borne by the government. This comes to at least Rs 15,000 a month. As for the accused his salary as well as board and lodging, and the salary and TA/DA of his defending officer have also to be taken into account. He also incurs additional personal expenditure on a civilian lawyer. No trial can be held without examining witnesses who have to be summoned from different places, and the expenditure on their travel, salary for the duration of their deposition and TA/DA can be considerable, especially in the case of senior officers. Another aspect to be considered is that additional responsibility has to be given to other officers to look after the work of officers deputed to conduct the trial. Besides manpower costs, functional costs can be considerable. Electricity, stationery, refreshments, vehicles and fuel, maintenance of the court premises and furniture and other sundry day-to-day expenses add to the costs. |
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Insanitary conditions
highlighted at khula darbar Panchkula, July 3 This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner, Ms Jyoti Arora, while taking up the problem complaints of residents at the ‘khula darbar’ of the district administration organised at the community centre in Sector 10, here today. The residents highlighted the growing insanitary conditions and the inadequate facility for draining out rain water from the roads. Law and order and the scope of improvement were also discussed with the residents’ welfare associations. Ms Arora also directed the officials to take up complaints of bad roads and erratic electric supply in the Industrial Area on a priority basis. The president of the Joint Action Forum of Welfare Bodies, Mr
R.P. Malhotra, put forward a proposal of allowing residents to erect gates at the entry and exit of sectors to guard against thefts. He said that the long-pending demand for a community centre in Sector 2, 8 and 12 had been shelved though the residents felt the need for such centres in the sectors. The president of the Sector 12 association, Wg Cmdr Ratta (retd), said that the proposal of converting the nullah running from Sector 2 to 12 had been hanging fire for one reason or another, while a similar nullah in Chandigarh had been transformed into Leisure Valley. The
four-laning of the national highway was also taken up at the darbar as also the encroachment by the Madrasi colony residents and the need for a state library in the city. The darbar which began almost an hour late on account of a programme of the Chief Minister in the city, seemed jinxed with heavy downpour preceding the darbar timing. Consequently, not many associations could attend the darbar or put up their complaints before the administration. Lack of adequate publicity was another reason for the poor response to the darbar organised to redress grievances of the public and seek immediate answers from officials concerned to them by providing a common platform. |
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Sohi
dead Zirakpur, July 3 Sohi complained pain in the chest and collapsed when he was talking to workers in a stone crusher unit near here at about 1.30 p.m. He died on the way to the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, in Chandigarh. A product of Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26, Chandigarh, Sohi remained president of students union. Later he joined the Congress. He is survived by his parents, wife Sheelam, and two sons. Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Finance and Planning Minister, and other senior Congress leaders, including Mr H.S. Hero, a former President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, Capt Amarinder Singh, President of the PPCC, Mrs Praneet Kaur, MP, and Mr Deepinder Singh Dhillon, treasurer of the PPCC, Legal Cell, expressed a shock on his death. The cremation will be held at Bartana, near Zirakpur, tomorrow at 12.30 p.m. |
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Pastor
Mohindra Dass dead Chandigarh, July 3 The deceased was associated with many national and international Christian associations in different capacities. He was ordained as Pastor in 1997 in First Baptist Church, Sector 44. He had authored ‘The Eternal God’ and ‘Prajapati’. Born at Monlgomery (now in Pakistan), he studied in Amritsar and Batala. He served as Principal of ITI, Quadian, Gurdaspur and later as a supervisor instructor in the Punjab Engineering College here. |
FENG SHUI TIPS Different colours in different rooms can create a lot of peace, harmony and happiness in a home. Personalised interior decoration with Feng Shui is very important in the selection of colours. Care should be taken when combining different colours. In olden times every room of a house had a different colour — from kitchen to the verandahs. These days, normally, all houses have one colour paint in the whole house. Sometimes, I have seen even the toilets having the same colour as the rest of the house. Personally speaking, there is nothing seriously wrong in having just one type of paint in a house/apartment. If one is very serious about the luck and happiness of the household, I suggest one should have different colours for different rooms. Toilets are a very important part of the house or the apartment. White is the best colour. There are a few colours which should be avoided in each of the corners of a home. I am going to tell you about a few colours which are to be avoided in a particular direction. Never paint a “south” room of your house black or blue. In the north section never have yellow or beige. In the eastern sector never have white. Harshna Address your Feng Shui queries to: |
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Social
worker
honoured Chandigarh, July 3 A press note issued by the Deputy District Cabinet Secretary said Mr Monga had also been nominated as District Chairman of the International Association of Lions Club 321F by the District Governor, Mr
D.K.Sood. |
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Tripura
State Rifles interview today Chandigarh, July 3 A press note of the Chandigarh Police says that the aspirants should present themselves at the ground with original certificates, letters of testimony and two passport-size photographs each. The posts include those of general duty man, operator, auto technician, radio technician, engine fitter and band player. |
Police ‘trying to hush up’ cheating case SAS Nagar, July 3 The sarpanch, Kaka Singh, along with Vashisht, who had also been cheated by the Shimla-based family of the inspector, said an FIR registered against the inspector and his family members had been sent to the Senior Superintendent of Police, Ropar, with a recommendation of cancelling the FIR. It was only after they met the SSP, the case has been referred back to the SP (Detective). Talking to media persons, Mr Vashist said he had also been cheated of Rs 5.27 lakh by the family of the ITBP inspector after he was engaged to his daughter. A brother of the inspector, Sat Pal and his wife, Meenu Devi, both constables in Himachal Pradesh police, were involved in the cheating, he alleged. He said when he had gone with another victim of the family to Shimla to identify a member of the suspect’s family, he was seriously injured in an attack. Vashist alleged that he had been implicated in false cases. He has written letters to the Director-General of Police, Shimla and the Director-General of the ITBP seeking action against the inspector’s family. |
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Criminal
case against scooter dealer Chandigarh, July 3 It is alleged that the company started a scheme of monthly draw where a large number of people would deposit Rs 800 per month and participate in a draw of lots for an LML scooter . After more than two years, the draw was discontinued and the firm closed the shop in April. The FIR has been registered under Sections 406, 420 and 120-B of the IPC against the proprietor, Mr C.H. Chattwal, a retired PCS officer. The case has been registered on the complaint of Mr Shishu Pal Singh, a resident of Kharar. He has alleged that he had paid 27 instalments of Rs 800 each till March this year. However, he was neither given a scooter nor was the money refunded. Earlier, two other city residents had urged upon the UT Inspector-General of Police to take action against the accused. Mr Sikander Singh, a resident of Sector 27, and Mr Ravinder Singh Paul, a resident of Sector 45, had alleged that the dealer had duped them of Rs 2,55,500 and Rs 3,00,000, respectively. The two had said that they had invested the amount with the dealer who later disappeared. The two had claimed that they paid the money through cheques. In their complaint they had alleged that the dealer had promised them an interest at 16 per cent on their investment. However, after a couple of years the dealer closed the shop and stopped paying the interest amount. The principal amount was also not returned to them. It may be recalled that following the closing down of the company in April, the case was handed over to the Economic Offences Wing of the city police. |
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Woman duped of gold ornaments Chandigarh, July 3 According to an FIR registered under Sections 420 and 34 of the IPC, Mrs Krishna, a resident of Sector 37, alleged that she met the duo near the S.D. Mandir, Sector 37. She said that the duo asked her to hand over her gold chain and earrings to the sadhu who would purify them. However, when she handed over the ornaments to the accused, they fled. One arrested:
Arjun Shah was arrested on the charge of having stolen a briefcase containing Rs 24,000 from the house of Mr Lalit Shah in Kajheri village. The money has been recovered from the accused and he has been booked under Sections 457, 380 and 411 of the IPC. Vehicle theft:
A Maruti car (CH-01J-0305) was stolen from the Sector 15 residence of Ms Sangeeta Malik on the night of July 1. A scooter (PB-24-1871) was stolen from the Sector 45 residence of Mr Mohan Singh on the night of June 27. In both cases, FIRs under Section 379 of the IPC have been registered. Two held: Kimti Lal and Vijay were arrested from different parts of the city and 30 bottles and 10 pouches of whisky were seized from them. They have been booked under different sections of the Excise Act. |
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