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| Thursday,
September 6, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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Day of fun, frolic at schools Chandigarh, September 5 Addressing the gathering, he asserted, “Teachers have more influence on students than their parents. They should work towards making them better citizens”. He said the respect for the teachers was, sadly, declining in the society with each passing day. “This disturbing trend should be checked and improved at the earliest”, he suggested. Praising the work done by city teachers in the field of education, he stated, “Various private and government schools have brought laurels to the Education Department all because of the hard work and dedication of their teachers”. National awardees since 1991 were also honoured by the UT Education Department. Seven teachers were presented state awards. Three others were given commendation certificates. A cultural programme was also presented on the occasion. The programme began with Saraswati vandana. Gujarati folk dance was also presented by the students. Music teachers of different government schools of the city presented a group song on the occasion. The Mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh, Ms Harjinder Kaur, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr M. Ramshekhar, the Director Public Instructions, Mr D.S. Saroya and the District Education Officer Ms Brahmjit Kalia were also present on the occasion. Principals, headmasters, teachers and students of various UT schools were also present on the occasion. Students, meanwhile, were seen presenting flowers, cakes and other gifts to their favourite teachers in Chandigarh, SAS Nagar and Panchkula. The Day was celebrated with enthusiasm by the students and teachers of DAV Model School, Sector 15. Teachers presented group dances, songs and a skit on Teachers Day. Manipuri dance was presented by school students. Students of St Stephen’s School Sector 45, presented various cultural events as a part of Teachers’ Day celebrations. They presented Western
and pop dances for entertaining the teachers. Students from Classes II to X participated in the function. A parody on ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ was also presented by students. Fusion western dance was presented by senior students. Classical dance and bhangra were the main highlights of the functions. Students managed everything by themselves and honoured their teachers by presenting various items. Students of Sector 21 Manav Mangal High School arranged various competitions for their teachers. Teachers competed with each other and students managed the competitions and judged the winners. They arranged ‘Tol Mol Ke Bol’ and musical chair competitions for the teachers. The Principal of the school, Mr Sanjay Sardana, laid emphasis on the role of teachers. He gave away the prizes to teachers who had emerged winners in various competitions. Students of Classes IV to X participated in Teacher Day celebrations organised by Sector 47 Mount Carmel School at LECMA 3 BRD. Various competitions, including needle work, paint the face, salad decoration and sandwich making, were held for the teachers. Teachers also participated in treasure hunt and ads quiz. Students presented a cultural programme for the teachers. Teachers were also given gifts as a token of appreciation . Students of St Xavier’s Senior Secondary School, Sector 44, presented a cultural programme which included Ladakhi dance, western dance, monoacting, songs and a skit. A basketball match between senior girl students and women teachers was also organised. While senior boy students played a match with men teachers. In both the matches students emerged as winners. Five teachers of Sector 7 KB DAV Centenary School were awarded by the school management as a part of Teachers’ Day celebrations. The teachers included Ms Anuradha Jairath, Ms Jyotsna, Ms Nishi Malhotra, Ms Anupama Joshi and Ms Poonam Arora. Two special prizes were announced by the school Principal for Ms Ramandeep and Ms Indu Khanna. Teachers presented colourful items. Different dances, songs and a play were the main highlights of the items presented by the teachers. The chief guest for the function was Mr Justice D.V. Sehgal. The prize distribution function was organised in Prince Model School, Sector 47-D, Chandigarh on the occasion of ‘Teachers Day’. A cultural programme was also presented by school students on this occasion. Students of Blue Bird High School, Panchkula, organised a cultural programme which included wide variety of items like solo dance, qawali and group dances. Satluj Public School, Panchkula, celebrated teachers day with great fun fare. Students acting as teachers handled the classes for one period. Teachers’ were given prizes and certificates for their performances. Students also presented a colourful cultural programme. Nav Bal Niketan Model Middle School, Sector 20, organised a cultural programme as a part of the Teachers’ Day celebrations in collaboration with the Lioness club Chandigarh- Panchkula 321-A2. The club honoured teachers including, Ms Rukmani Sharma, Ms Sunita Khanna, Mr Swarn Singh, Ms Sudesh Kapoor and Ms Swati Kapila. The president of the club, Ms Shashi Ahuja, gave away the prizes. Golden Bells Public School, Chandigarh and Sohana, celebrated Teachers’ Day on September 4 and 5. Students delivered speeches in the honour of teachers. Junior students recited poems and arranged a variety programme. Various games and competitions were organised on the occasion. The Principal of the school, Ms Gurjit Bawa, highlighted the role of teachers in building the nation. Students took charge of the total administration in the school at DAV Public School, SAS Nagar. Cultural programme was also arranged , games for the teachers were the main attraction of the day. The day was celebrated with enthusiasm at Gilly Flower School, SAS Nagar. The Principal, Jaswinder Kaur said the teachers should give their best to their students. They should practise what they preach. Various competitions including story telling, drawing, poetry recitation, card making and slogan writing were held at Col V.R. Mohan DAV Public School, Dera Bassi. Students played the role of teachers. A prize distribution function was held at Government High School, Khuda Ali Sher. The programme was organised by Mr Onkar Chand. Meritorious students and students who excelled in athletics meet were awarded cash prizes ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 1,000 by the Integrated Industech Services. An Art and craft exhibition was also organised in the school. Students were given trophies by the Manager, State Bank of Patiala, Mr Raman Zakhmi. Students presented a cultural programme on the occasion. A cultural programme was presented by students of Chaman Lal DAV Senior Secondary Public School, Sector 11, Panchkula, as a part of Teachers’ Day celebrations. AMBALA The morning assembly was conducted by teachers and a special programme was presented by Ms Kavita Malhotra, Ms Manpreet Kaur and Ms Updesh Kaur. Under the value education programme, Ms Sangeeta Bhatnagar presented a bhajan. Sumit Kumar and Archana of XII B and Jaspreet Kaur of XII A played the role of Principal, Vice-Principal and Headmistress, respectively. The Principal, Dr O.D. Sharma, in his speech, highlighted the importance of the day through anecdotes from the life of Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan. Ms S. Kharbanda and Dr Sunita Rathore, coordinators of the vidyalaya, compered the programme. Teachers’ Day was also celebrated with enthusiasm at Convent of Sacred Heart. PATIALA A cultural item was presented by students and teachers of Narain Public School. A bravery award was given to Angadjot Pal Singh, who had saved the life of a drowning child. The Budha Dal Senior Secondary Public School Principal, Ms H.K. Sandhu, while talking to this correspondent, said her school students were enthusiastic regarding today’s celebrations. The students of the school managed the working in different classes, apart from holding various skits and dance shows. At Atma Ram Kumar Sabha Senior Secondary School an awareness programme was carried out by the traffic police. The Principal, Mr Umesh Verma, lauded the enthusiasm shown by the students during the programme. Ms K.B. Arora, Principal of SDKS Shakuntla Senior Secondary School, said the students presented her a bouquet. Dr Bhagat Singh, Principal Secretary, Higher Education and Languages, laid the foundation of a new block at Government Girls College, Patiala. |
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Camps, contests,
discussions mark the day in colleges Chandigarh, September 5 Goswami Ganesh Dutta Sanatan Dharma Colleges organised a brief interactive session among students and teachers of the college. During the session, emphasis on preserving the qualities of teachers was emphasised. Tributes were paid to Dr S. Radhakrishanan, a former President of India, in whose memory the Teachers’ Day is celebrated every year. The Principal of the college, Dr A.C.Vaid , highlighted the contributions made by teachers. Students of MCMDAV College, Sector 36 were in a festive mood on the occasion. Apart from celebrating the Teachers’ Day, students tried their hand at preparing dishes. The Dev Samaj College for Women, Sector 45, held a one-day NSS camp. It also organised other functions on the occasion. A talk on eye care and eye donation was delivered by Dr K.L. Passi of Bharat Vikas Parishad. Welcoming the chief guest, the Principal of the college, Ms V. Bhargava, spoke about the importance of Teachers’ Day. Students of the Food Craft Institute here organised a function to mark the Teachers’ Day.The Principal of the institute, Mr Alok Shivapuri, said students were nominated as teachers and the Principal. They took over the lab and academic functioning of the institute for the first half of the day. The NSS unit of the Government College of Education, Sector 20, organised an on-the-spot essay writing competition in which 114 students took part. The judges for the competition were Mr R.S. Yadav and Ms Lalit Sharma from the State Institute of Education and Ms Sarabjit Kaur from the Government Senior Secondary, School, Sector 20-D. The NSS units of the Government Post Graduate College, Sector 46, in tandem with the History Society of the college, organised a declamation contest on the “Role of Teacher in Modern Society”. Major D.P. Singh, Principal of the college, spoke on the occasion. The Dev Samaj College of Education for Women, Sector 36, organised a cultural programme to mark the Teachers’ Day. The Principal of the college, Dr Satinder Dhillon, said NSS unit of the college also organised a panel discussion involving both students and teachers. The Raja Ram Mohan Roy Institute of Vocational Studies organised a cultural programme. The chief guest of the function was Mr Harjit Inder Singh Grewal, Special Secretary to the Punjab Government. The Principal of the institute, Dr Neelam Satsangi, dwelt at length on the activities of the institute. |
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Teachers wear black badges Jalandhar, September 5 Speaking at a state-level Teachers’ Day function to honour teachers at the local Desh Bhagat Yaadgar Hall here today, he admitted that though there was no dearth of qualified and experienced teachers, the state was legging behind in the field of education. He expressed his concern over the increasing pressure on students to perform well. “We will have to adopt modern techniques of learning to decrease pressure on the students,” he said. Mr R.S. Sandhu, Secretary, Education Department, said the state government had prepared a comprehensive plan to impart elementary education to all students by 2003, primary education by 2007 and education up to the middle standard by 2010 to students falling in the age group of 6 to 18 years. The Punjab State Teachers Award in the form of a certificate of commendation, a cash incentive of Rs 5,100 and a shawl, were awarded to Mr Amarjit Kumar and Mrs Kiran Kanta (Moga), Mrs Satnam Kaur (Patiala Cantt), Mrs Gurmeet Kaur, Mr Jaswant Singh and Mr Ranjit Singh (Ludhiana), Mr Vir Singh (Jalandhar), Mr Krishan Kumar Kalia (Kapurthala), Mrs Balbir Kaur, Mrs Parminder Kaur and Mr Niranjan Singh (Patiala), Mrs Sarabjeet Kaur, Mrs Gurmeet Sekhon and Mr Balbir Singh (Amritsar), Mrs Kanta Devi, Mr Harnek Singh and Mrs Rajinder Kaur (Sangrur), Mr Gurbachan Singh Saini (Hoshiarpur), Mrs Balwinder Kaur and Mr Rajiv Kamal Singh (Gurdaspur) and Mrs Amarjit Kaur (Ropar). PHAGWARA: The move of the Union Government to saffronise education came in for criticism at a rally by college teachers who went on a two-period strike on the occasion of Teachers’ Day which was observed as “save education day.” Speakers flayed both Punjab and Central Governments for their anti-teacher and anti-higher education policy. The unwarranted hike in fees was also condemned. GURDASPUR: Teachers and students of the Beant College of Engineering and Technology wore black badges and observed “black day” on Wednesday. They also held a dharna and condemned the attitude of the Principal and Deputy Registrar. They demanded their immediate transfer and burnt effigies. AMRITSAR: Endorsing the call given by AIFUTA, the Guru Nanak Dev University Teachers Association observed Teachers’ Day as “grievances day” in protest against the non-implementation of the revised pay scales. A dharna was also held. Hundreds of angry B.Ed unemployed teachers burnt copies of their degrees in protest against the government’s apathy. They marched wearing black badges. President of the union Sanjeev Kalia said despite 70,000 vacancies for teachers, 35,000 qualified teachers were still unemployed. Reports of Teachers’ Day celebrations were also received from Faridkot and Nawanshahr. SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh University Teachers Association (HPUTA) observed Teachers’ Day as “grievance day”. The function was presided over by Prof V.D. Kaushik, president of HPUTA. Teachers expressed resentment over the non-implementation of package given to them by the HRD Ministry and the UGC. They stressed the need for time-bound promotions, adequate research grant as per UGC guidelines, super-selection grade for professors and improvement in working conditions. Meanwhile, the Indian Institute of Advanced Study organised a symposium on “Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishanan: Tradition, education and national integration.” The institute felicitated Dr S.R. Mehrotra, former fellow of the institute and formerly professor of history at HP University. NAHAN: Mr B.S. Saini, Mr Tej Parkesh Semwal, Ms Vatsala Panday and Mr Uttam Singh Gill of Poanta Sahib, Mr Surat Singh Chauhan and Ms Indira Chauhan of Shillai, Mr Kuldeep Singh Rana of Dadahu, Mr Ramesh Sharma of Rajgarh, Mr Badhur Singh of Kupvt, Mr Alok Katoch of Bankala, Mr Ramesh Sarak of Deothi Maghgaon, Mr Sita Ram Chauhan of Amboya, Mr Darshan Singh, Naiani Dhar, Mr Kuldeep Singh Mssarwala, Mr Hari Ram Shastri of Koti Boanch and Kumari Yarfen of Tibetan School Bhuppur were honoured on the occasion of Teachers’ Day. SONEPAT: The Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, has said the government was making all efforts to make Haryana a leading state in the field of education. He assured every type of facility would be extended to heads of universities and educational institutions for raising the standard of education. The Chief Minister was chief guest on the occasion of Teachers’ Day celebrations here. He also gave away prizes to meritorious students and educational institutions. Mr Chautala said government had introduced a new sports policy to give a fillip to sports. The Chief Minister awarded gold and silver medals to 12 students — Shifa, Sonal Sharma, Govind, Pawan Kumar, Shilpa Mittal, Priyanka, Navneet Kaur, Subhash Goel, Manju, Sangeet Kumari, Vijay Kumar and Ghanshyam. SIRSA: Teachers and students in different parts of this district celebrated Teachers’ Day by donating blood.  |
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Strike off, but ferrying kids won’t be
smooth Chandigarh, September 5 However, the real impact will be felt only on Thursday. Today, a large number of schools were closed or the functioning was curtailed on account of Teachers’ Day. About 75 buses, more than 15 years old, would go off the road as the Private Bus Operators Association had agreed to call off their strike and comply with directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Now the problem being faced by operators was to arrange for buses less than 15 years old. Initially, some routes of buses would be clubbed to accommodate children in other buses. Children would have to be picked up earlier than usual and dropped later than usual in the afternoon. This arrangement would continue till the phased-out buses were replaced, sources said. Meanwhile, some school bus operators were in schools were in the process of contacting tourist bus operators, who had offered their buses during a meeting with the Chandigarh Administration. Annual permits were required to ply in neighbouring SAS Nagar or Panchkula. Some parents might prefer to drop and pick their children for few more days to beat the confusion. The same sort of confusion had prevailed yesterday, which was the last day of the strike by private bus operators. Buses owned by schools were plying and parents had no idea if the bus picking up their child was owned by the school or by the operator. Operators were also careful of not making any haphazard arrangement as this could end up spoiling their market and credibility. The president of the association , Mr Manjit Singh, said, ‘‘We have told our members to make arrangements and everyone is trying at his own level.” He however, admitted that the problems would be faced next morning. |
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UT to computerise water, power bill
collection Chandigarh, September 5 This is aimed at curbing pilferage of revenue and meeting the shortage of staff, besides providing for a ready reckoner to all officials on details of bill collection. There are about 1.86 lakh power consumers in the city while there are 1.24 lakh water consumers here. A decision in this regard was finalised at a meeting of the senior officers of the engineering wing of the Administration and the Municipal Corporation yesterday, though the MC will have to get the same approved from the House. While water bills are issued by the MC, the power bills are issued by the Administration, however the mode of collection will remain the same, sources said. Giving details, the Chief Engineer, UT, Mr Puranjit Singh, informed that the bill receipts which are being presently issued manually or punched by obsolete cash collection machines will now be issued through computers. All the consumer needs to do is to mention his or her account number, following which the payment will be received by the cashier in accordance with the amount flashed on the screen and issue the receipt carrying all details. Mr Puranjit Singh further disclosed that RCC, which is making these computerised bills will feed the floppy of the concerned area in the cash collection centres for collecting the cash due from the consumers. Further, the payment of these bills by cash or cheques will be segregated and payment by cheques will be punched only when the said payment amount stands cleared by the bank. A proposal in this regard had been sent by the RCC almost two months back, but the officers have now decided to implement the same. A total of 17 computers have to be set up at these cash collection centres to implement the scheme. While 10 of these are to be purchased by the Administration, seven are to be made available by MC. One time cost of making the same functional will be anything between Rs 15-20 lakh. The same is likely to become functional in two-three months once the
MC gets a clearance from the House and the equipment is procured.
The issuance of cash receipts through computers will, besides reducing the waiting period of the consumer, also increase the efficiency of the staff. Each cashier, who handles about 200-250 bills per day manually at present will now be able to handle 400-500 bills per day with the help of computers. The cashiers will no longer need to fill cash registers or count the cash every day. It will reduce transmission of voluminous data and cumulative figures of the collections during the day will be available at the touch of a button. This will also help check the misappropriation of funds, in many cases, which was being reported earlier in some cases where receipts were issued manually. The pattern will be the same as followed by the Punjab State Electricity Board
(PSEB) in two districts of Punjab — Ludhiana and Patiala. A senior official of electricity wing said that keeping in view the fast pace of cash collection, the collection timings may also be enhanced. At present, the bills are received between 9 am to 1 p.m. He further disclosed that the Administration had earlier introduced the Electronic
Clearance System, where a consumer has the option to pay the bill amount directly through his bank simply by filling in a form stating his account number and that the said amount be debited in there. As many as 1,200 consumers have opted for it. |
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Basic content of foreign policy unchanged: Salman
Haider Chandigarh, September 5 Dwelling mainly on these
questions, India’s former Foreign Secretary and country’s High
Commissioner to UK, Mr Salman Haider, in a laboured and roundabout
manner talked at length about perceptible changes in foreign policy,
the basic content of which, he maintained, remains unchanged. He was
delivering the P.N. Haksar lecture at the Sector 19 CRRID here this
evening. Mr Haider said a number of issues which earlier did not
appear on the agenda of any UN conference were now being discussed .He
referred to the conference on racism being organised in South Africa.
In some of the conferences, India had been participating at the
highest level. He said that one of such conferences was inaugurated by
Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao, the then Prime Minister. Mr Haider said it was
paradoxical that India which was the first to raise the issue of
racism at the United Nations was being represented at the South
African Conference by a junior delegation. Why was the senior
leadership staying away. The agenda of the conference, he said, had
been hijacked by the Arab-Israel conflict. Another pertinent point
made by him was India’s cold shouldering of the recent escalation of
violence in West Asia. There has been hardly any strong reaction from
India on the developments in West Asia. Even the visit of Mr Yasser
Arafat to India was of little help though maintaining that it did not
mean that India was turning a blind eye to the developments in West
Asia. India’s changing role as a global power was not the recent
development. It was Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru, he recalled, who visualised
India as a global power. The world has been adjusting rapidly to
India’s nuclearisation. A new hope of cordial relationship with a
super power like the USA was visualised following the visit of Mr Bill
Clinton to India though for some time prior to that visit, the USA had
been keen on improving its relations with India. Mr Haider maintained
that the Agra summit was a failure as no agreement could be reached at
its end. In the Indo-Pak relations, he said, there have been certain
sacro-sanct issues. He said it was customary both for India and
Pakistan not to do any hostile propaganda against each other after
each summit or talks. There was feedback that understanding was
reached on nine issues but eluded on one issue because of which all
went haywire. He was optimistic of the next round of talks in the USA
later this month. He said it was not India as a bully in South Asia
but the relationship between India and Pakistan which was a major
hurdle in the way of SAARC becoming effective. While answering a
question he said India had never held back or subverted any written
agreement with any country though India was known for negotiating
excessively which at times made people suspicious. Earlier, Mr
Rashpal Malhotra, Director, CRRID, in his address of welcome talked
about the background of the Indo-Pak summit in Agra. Among those who
attended today’s lecture,on the second day of the weeklong series,
were Prof R.P. Bambah, Maj-Gen Rajendra Nath, Brig R. Kumar, Prof P.N.
Dhar, Prof Andre Beteilli, Dr Charan Singh Lohara, Dr S.K. Mangal,
Prof B.L. Abbi and others. Tomorrow there will be two lectures, the
first at 11a.m. and the second by Prof Satish Chandra on religion and
the state at 5 p.m. |
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Mohali to have super deluxe luxury
hotel SAS Nagar, September 5 Located adjacent to Yadvindra Public School, the hotel complex would also house an international-level convention complex and other related facilities. The policy would govern various parametres related to the allotment and construction of the hotel. Sources in the authority said only reputed companies running four or five star deluxe category hotels in metropolitans would be allowed to bid for the hotel site. The authority was moving ahead with the project on the basis of a market assessment study conducted by a private consultant, CB Richard allis. A known architect, Mr DB Doshi, who has been engaged by PUDA to plan the City Centre, has visualised hierarchal development in the entire Punjab, originating from Chandigarh and SAS Nagar. The location of the hotel at the gateway to Punjab would be an important landmark. With this in mind, Mr Doshi has envisaged the City Centre as a place with an international level convention complex, sports and heath facilities and bio-technology facilities. An official in the authority said: “We wanted to see if the project was viable keeping in mind the present scenario. We want to know whether the town was a favoured destination for tourists at this point of time”. To eliminate the non-serious parties, a pre-qualification criteria would be adopted before floating technical and financial tenders. Though the final policy was yet to receive the nod of the authority, the cost of the land is reported to have brought the allotment price to Rs 3750 per sq yard — the reserve price of one-kanal residential plots in the new sectors in the town. However, after three years of allotment the bidding rate would be enhanced at a rate of 9 per cent per annum on non-compound basis. The hotel site would have to be developed in two phases — five acres in each phase. Activities beyond commercial activity like recreational, sports and heath facilities and bio-technology facilities have been planned for the City Centre, said an official. A period of five to six years was likely to be fixed to complete the hotel. As per a draft policy, the hotelier would have to construct a minimum of 125 standard luxury guest rooms. It would have all the other standard facilities in a four star hotel like banquet hall, conference hall, two multi-cuisine restaurants, coffee shop, bar, swimming pool, business centre, health club, beauty parlour and a shopping arcade. However, the president of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Chandigarh,. Mr Manmohan Kohli, said the increased occupancy in hotels in the area was linked with mega events. At present the average occupancy rate of hotels in Chandigarh was less than 55 per cent. Around 1,500 rooms were available in hotels in the region. In his opinion the authority should concentrate on creating business for hotels. He said the present problems afflicting the hospitality business in the region should be kept in mind before planning new projects. |
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Cable subscribers
to pay more Chandigarh, September 5 Shamir, an employee of Citi Cable, said they had increased the subscription following pressure from channel owners. He said Sony Channel had suspended relaying its programmes to various cable operators. He said proprietors of the channels had been demanding a steep hike in the fee. “Cable operators have nothing to do with the increase in the subscription, whatever increase in fees has been made will go to the channel owners”, Shamir said. While the Star Sports and ESPN will be charging Rs 16 more from this month, the Star package as a whole has increased the subscription by Rs 28.50 per connection. In the case of Zee package, the increase per connection per month will be Rs 26 more than what the residents had been paying until now. Discovery and Animal Planet channels have hiked the fee by Rs 6.25, whereas, the DD Sports will charge Rs 5.90 per month. Basic (Service Provider) will charge Rs 22 more per month from its subscribers. Cable operators, however, admit that some of the channels have not increased their subscription. Residents are, however, reluctant to bear the additional burden caused by the hike in subscription. Some of them are contemplating to surrender the connections. The cable operators, however, argue that the reluctance to pay a little more subscription by the residents is only temporary reaction. They would gradually agree to pay additional subscription after some time, said one of the cable operators. |
Cops inept at tackling cyber crime Chandigarh, September 5 Lack of knowledge about cyber crimes and provisions for booking the accused under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act is proving a major constraint for the police force in the region. In spite of the fact that regular refresher courses are regularly being organised — both for the Punjab Police and Chandigarh Police — there is no stress on making the cops “computer literate.” Well placed sources in the Punjab Police and the city police today conceded that they were not prepared to deal with the nuances of cyber crime. Interestingly, sources in both departments said it was only after an offence was committed that the police was informed. They are, however, inadept in policing cyber crime as is evident from the two cases of cyber crime registered in the region. It was yesterday that the first case of cyber crime was registered in Chandigarh. This was, however, the second case of cyber crime registered in the region — the first one being registered in Ludhiana in October, 2000. According to the FIR, registered under Section 66 (2) of the Information Technology Act and 380 of the IPC, it is alleged that a local concern, Techno Noble India Limited, illegally down-loaded confidential information from the FTP server of IGSP Inc, USA, after the contract between the two firms was cancelled on August 21. The accused had allegedly made at least 15,000 attempts to log on to FTP server in America. The US- based company had given a contract to their subsidiary firm here, IGSP India Private Limited, which in turn had given the sub-contract to the accused firm, TNIL, for sending jobs for medical transcription. It was after the contract was broken between the two firms and the password to the main server was changed, that the accused firm allegedly tried to log on to the main server in order to get vital information. However, no arrests were made. Interestingly, the police say that it is only after certain ambiguities in the case have been cleared that they will arrest the accused. The same was the case of the first case of cyber crime in Punjab. It was after deliberating on the nuances of the Information Technology Act, 2000 for almost 10 days that the Ludhiana police had registered a case against unknown persons. The netizens there had created a pornographic website that had cast aspersions on the lifestyles of wards of a number of top guns in Ludhiana. A case under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act had been registered on the basis of an application submitted by four youth. The complainants, children of the creme-de-la-creme of the city, had alleged that a controversial website, www.freevote.com, was displaying fabricated pornographic information about a number of people from Ludhiana in different webpages under derogatory categories. Even in this case, the police had failed to pin- point the accused. This in spite of the fact that the XXXII All India Police Science Congress, held at Chandigarh in November, 2000, had emphasized that the need of the hour was to enroll policemen with intellectual capacity to understand information technology — cops who could excel at apprehending how cyber scams were being committed. |
Long wait for driving licence seekers Chandigarh, September
5 A delegation told The Tribune that this practice had been continuing for the past one week. Officials of the department, however, expressed their inability to issue licences to them as they do not have any smart cards. Mr Chander Shekhar, an HCS officer, says that they have been facing a difficulty for the past seven days. He revealed that they had already placed an order with the Tata Infotech but had not received the smart cards from the company. He, however refuted the allegations that all persons desirous of getting driving licences were getting disappointed. He asserts that all persons had been issued temporary licences by the department. The temporary licences are issued on the application forms. It is only the regular licence seekers who are facing some difficulty. Mr Chander Shekhar is, however, hopeful of receiving smart cards from Tata Infotech within a couple of days. Once the cards are received by them, the entire system would be back to normal. |
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STATE OF ROADS Chandigarh Most of the potholes have turned into craters and it will not surprise anyone if a two-wheeler overturns here some day. Some of the regular visitors point out the difficulties they face in manouevering their vehicles, particularly two-wheelers, on this road. “My scooter has started rattling in a few months”, says Shivani whose office is located here. Ever car drivers complain of frequent flat tyres. During the rains, the condition becomes worse as the potholes turn into cess pools even after a small shower. Poor visibility at night has also caused serious accidents in this area. To add to the woes of the motorists, the roads are not even cleaned properly and regularly. Hotels and shops in the market have taken up with the authorities the poor upkeep and maintenance of the roads since it affects their business. The customers have often to wade through mud and slush. Those who visit the area for one purpose or the other, often complain that they are splashed with mud by passing cars. The road near the entrance to the parking area and at the exit point has almost vanished. Haphazard parking has done considerable damage to the road berms. A senior official of the B and R Wing of the Municipal Corporation attributed the poor condition of the parking area to the lack of funds although estimates had been approved. All that they are able to do is to repair the potholes and the patchwork does not last long. |
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Subscribers to get new phone directories Chandigarh, September 5 Addressing a press conference, Mr Vaish said the directory, corrected up to April 30,2001, would be given to the subscribers on the production of the last paid copy of the telephone bills. The directories would be available at the Sector 17 and Sector 34 telephone exchanges, besides the exchanges at Phase IV in SAS Nagar and main telephone building at Panchkula. These will also be available at the Kharar,Zirakpur and Dera Bassi telephone exchanges. And the subscribers of smaller exchanges can get their directories from the respective telephone exchanges, he informed. The BSNL has also decided to provide telephone connections to awardees of President’s Police Medal for gallantry under the non—OYT special category. No registration fee, installation charges and rental will be charged from the officer, he said. Similarly, the BSNL has enhanced the rebate to the subscribers owning their telephone instruments from Rs 250 to Rs 500, he added. |
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Seven employees found absent Dera Bassi, September 5 The minister reached the office of the BDPO at about 9.05 am and found Mr Preet Inder Pal Singh (BDPO), Mr Sukhwant singh, Mr Mahesh Kumar and Mr Pradeep Kumar (all JEs), Mr Baljit Singh (clerk) and Ms Pal Kaur (peon) absent from the duty. Soon after entering the office, the minister impounded the daily movement register and found these employees absent. Later, while talking to mediapersons, Mr Sujan Singh said the absent employees had not maintained the movement register. He said the absentees would be served show-cause notices. They would be given sufficient time to file their replies. Strict action would be taken against defaulters, he said. According to sources, some of the panchayats had complained to the minister that a majority of the employees remained absent from duty. It is learnt that some of the panchayats have also alleged that the officers were misappropriating funds. Meanwhile, Mr Preet Inder Singh, BDPO, clarified that he had been to Chandigarh to attend a meeting called by Mr Vinod Bhalla, OSD of Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Finance and Planning Minister of Punjab. Mr Sukhwant Singh, JE, had gone to Patiala to submit a report on Rural Development Funds in the office of the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development), said Mr Singh. He further said that Mr Baljit Singh, clerk, who had been nominated an administrator for the development work in Baran village, was on duty, while Ms Pal Kaur was on duty at a meeting called by the Deputy Director Women Cell at Chandigarh. |
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Direction to civic body in harassment
case SAS Nagar, September 5 Earlier the department had ordered chargesheeting of the two employees, Bhupinder Singh and Suresh Kumar, both junior assistants, under sub-section 8 of the Punjab Civil Services ( Punishment and Appeal) Rules, 1970. The orders to issue the chargesheet had been given on the basis of an enquiry conducted by an official of the department. But the employees appealed to the government citing a judgement of the Additional Director-General Police, Human Rights Commission, and said they had been absolved of the charges by and commission in the case. The department has asked the Executive Officer to take an independent decision at his level. Meanwhile, the development in the case has once again raised questions about the absence of a forum at the level of the civic body. A complaints’ committee in the civic body, which was to be constituted for the implementation of the Supreme Court’s judgement on sexual harassment, has so far not been made. At least half of the members of the committee headed by a woman have to be women.. In July last year, the heads of departments, Deputy Commission-ers, and Sub-Divisional Magistrates had been asked by the Personnel Department, Punjab, to constitute such a committee. The authorities concerned had been asked to involve representatives of non-government organisations ( NGOs) or some other body — familiar with the issue of sexual harassment — in order to prevent any possibility of any undue pressure from senior officials. Not only the committees, the concerned officials are supposed to provide appropriate working conditions, generate awareness of the rights of female employees and make provisions in conduct rules regarding prohibition of sexual harassment. In the local civic body at least four alleged cases of sexual harassment have come to light. |
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Open power connections, plead residents Chandigarh, September 5 The meeting expressed concern over the delay in releasing power connections to residents who have built their houses with hard-earned money. As power was a basic necessity of modern life, the associations felt it was time that the Punjab Government formulated a policy to grant power connections to residents who have built their houses outside “lal dora” in these areas. It was pointed out that the Haryana Government and the UT Administration had already formulated policies to grant power connections to people who had raised houses in the periphery of Chandigarh. The meeting stressed upon the need for granting the status of notified area committee to Nayagaon and Kansal as the population of village panchayats of Karoran, Chhoti Karoran, Janata Colony and Kansal had already crossed the 50,000 mark so that the area could be administered and controlled in a better way. The people’s genuine demand for NAC status had been hanging fire for a long time now despite repeated assurances by politicians. The residents appealed to the state government to take an immediate decision to grant NAC status to Nayagaon and release power connections on priority. |
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Revision of electoral rolls from Sept
13 Panchkula, September 5 Stating this here yesterday, the Deputy Commissioner, Ms Jyoti Arora, said the process of door-to- door verification of electoral rolls, addition of new eligible voters, exclusion of deceased voters and preparation of various lists would be held from September 13 to October 12. She said the draft publication of electoral rolls would be published on November 24. Person could submit their claims and objections between November 24 and December 10. She said the claims and objections would be disposed of on January 9, 2002 and electoral rolls would be published on January 31, 2002. She said 320 enumerators had been appointed for this purpose and the special training would be imparted to them on September 5 and 6 at Mini Secretariat at 10.30 am. She added that the enumerators of Panchkula tehsil and Kalka would be imparted training on September 5 and 6, respectively. Ms Arora further said a meeting of representatives of all district units of political parties would be held on September 7 at Mini Secretariat, Panchkula, in this regard. |
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Milk plant plants trees SAS Nagar, September 5 Dr B.M. Mahajan, Managing Director of Milkfed Punjab, inaugurated this function by planting a sapling on the premises. In his address on the occasion, he stressed the need for keeping the environment pollution-free. Mr S.K. Sharma, General Manager of the plant, said all operations of the plant were eco-friendly and the unit had also applied for receiving an ISO 14000 certification for environment management. Mr Baldev Singh Chakkal, Chairman of the plant, said more than 1,000 saplings of neem, teak, palm and amla would be planted in ‘Vanamahotsava’ and milk producers were also being motivated to plant more trees. The board members who were present on the occasion included Mr Raghpat Rai, Mr Narinder Singh, Mr Gurnek Singh and Mr Rajwinder Singh. |
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Fault hits water supply Chandigarh, September 5 The Chief Engineer, Mr Manmo-hanjit Singh, when contacted, admitted that there was no water supply to these areas from 6 pm to 8 pm due to a fault in the manifold of the pumping set machinery. Due to timely action of the staff on duty, the air locking problem was rectified and supply was restored. For the benefit of the consumers, the supply timing to this area was extended by another hour till 10 pm. Water tankers were also pressed into service in this area. Officials further claimed that even as pumping from Kajauli waterworks remained suspended from 9 am to 5 pm for undertaking repair work, the supply to most other parts of the city was by and large normal today. The SE (Public Health), Mr Swaran Singh, when contacted, said the welding of the leaking portion in the hyder pipeline had been completed and pumping had been restored by the evening. Hence, the supply would be normal by tomorrow. Residents of Sector 18 continued to complain about the flow of muddy water from taps and criticised the MC authorities for their callous approach to the well-being of the general public. One of the residents questioned the authorities and said, “Are we paying for dirty water?’’ |
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Concern over muddy
water supply Chandigarh, September 5 Mr Deepak Rai Walia, President of the New Kuteer Coop Group Housing Society, stated that water was so muddy that a thick layer of mud had collected in the underground storage tanks used for supply of water to the residents. For the past couple of days the supply of water had been highly erratic and the water pressure was so low that it was difficult for the residents to meet even their bare minimum needs. |
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Boy bitten by monkeys Chandigarh, September 5 The boy was attacked while he was on his way to his house in the CPWD Colony in Sector 7-C from the market. He was carrying a polybag in his hand. While talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Nitin said on seeing the monkeys he rushed to a nearby house, but the scared house-owner also shut the door without allowing the boy to enter. Nitin was later medicated for anti-rabies. Mr Sunil Soni, father of the victim, said the simian family had become a cause of concern for the residents for the past over five years. Five residents of the colony had been bitten by these monkeys during the past one month, he said. “The simian family has become a menace. They enter houses and takes away eatables,” complained Mr D.S. Doad, general secretary of the Residents’ Welfare Society. |
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Punwire workers get
support SAS Nagar, September 5 |
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Bear dies of nose cancer Chhat Bir, September 5 According to zoo officials, the bear was suffering from nose cancer, but veterinary doctors reportedly could not diagnose the disease in time. The animal had also been taken to Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in Ludhiana many a time, but the experts had failed to confirm the disease. The bear had been brought to the zoo from Dharinder Bhramchari Ashram in Jammu a couple of years back. Mr R.K. Luna, zoo Director, confirmed the death of the bear due to excessive bleeding from its nose. He said the animal was buried today after the postmortem examination was conducted at PAU in Ludhiana. |
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Lensmen awarded Chandigarh, September 5 |
Police clueless in Pankaj murder
case Panchkula, September 5 After registering a case under Sections 302 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 25 of the Arms Act with the Chandi Mandir police station on the complaint of Mr Karan Singh Rana, father of the deceased, the police had started an investigation but had made no headway so far. Mr Manoj Yadav, SP, said the police was in continuous touch with the police of surrounding states and was making all possible efforts to nab the culprits. Pankaj, son of a hotelier, was shot near the new Ghaggar bridge near Sector 25 on Monday night. The deceased was reportedly fired upon twice by three unidentified marooncoloured car-borne youths after stopping his Indica car. The police had also found cartridges from the car and the postmortem examination conducted at the General Hospital in Sector 6 had confirmed the death due to bullet injuries. A bullet had pierced the chest of the deceased. |
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Cash, gold jewellery stolen from house Chandigarh, September 5 Cash worth Rs 6,500 and a gold locket were stolen from the Sector 27-C residence of Mr Krishan Singh yesterday. A case under Sections 457 and 380 of the IPC has been registered. In the second case of burglary registered in the Industrial Area police station, 14 boxes of Shikakai soap worth Rs 13,792 were stolen from the premises of the distributor, Mr Sukhdev Chand. A case under Sections 457 and 380 of the IPC has been registered.
Car stolen A Maruti car ( CH-01M- 6635) was stolen from the Sector 44- B residence of Ms Gurmohinder Kaur on the intervening night of September 3 and 4. A case under Section 379 of the IPC has been registered. Sham Lal was caught red-handed by the police while stealing a bicycle from Sector 17 last night. A case under Sections 379 and 411 of the IPC has been registered.
Man assaulted Mr Rajinder Kapoor has accused Sopan Kumar and Om Prakash both residents of Sector 34, of assaulting his father-in-law in the Sector 34-A market late last night. A case under Sections 324 and 34 of the IPC has been registered. One held: An employee of a gas agency, Rajendra Giri, was caught red-handed while stealing LPG cylinders. A case under Sections 379,420 of the IPC and under Section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act has been registered.
SAS Nagar Three booked: The local police has booked three persons on charge of kidnapping a minor girl of Phase 9 here on Tuesday. According to information, a case under Sections 363 and 366 of the IPC has been registered against Gurdas, Raman Kumar and another unidentified person on the basis of a complaint lodged by the mother of the girl, Usha
Rani. |
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PGI MS receives
threatening letter Chandigarh, September 5 According to information, Dr Anil Kumar Gupta received the letter, written in chaste Urdu, yesterday. The letter reportedly threatened him with physical elimination before
Divali. The letter, allegedly written by some Mushtaq Ahmed, does not mention the address from where it is posted. However, the police say that the letter was posted from the city itself on September 3 and received on September 4. It also mentions that Dr Gupta would be eliminated like his parents. It may be noted that Dr Gupta’s parents were murdered in Jammu on July 8. It further says that the sender is now in Mohali, six km from Dr Gupta’s residence, and waiting for an opportunity to strike. However, police sources have ruled out any linkage between the murder of Dr Gupta’s parents and this letter. They are working on the theory that this could be a handiwork of an aggrieved employee in the
PGI. |
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Dowry case:
two arrested Panchkula, September 5 Booked under Sections 406 and 498 of the IPC following a complaint by Ms Chhavi Bakshi of demand by her in-laws for dowry, the father and son appealed in various courts for anticipatory bail which was rejected. Last week the two had surrendered in the court and their bail application came up for hearing today. After being rejected yet
again, the two were taken into police custody. |
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