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| Tuesday, January 1, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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Jacob greets people Chandigarh, December 31 In a New Year message, General Jacob said that let the New Year promote compassion, love and communal harmony ushering in an era of prosperity and progress. General Jacob said that in the New Year “let us renew our pledge to protect the unity and integrity of our country and work for improving the quality of life of all sections of Society.” |
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City may face power cuts in New Year Chandigarh, December 31 Today’s cold which resulted is excessive use of blowers and heaters, sent alarm bells ringing. The city withdrew about 160 mw of power as against its allocated peak winter load of 137 mw. Immediately the Northern Regional Load Despatch Centre, Delhi, sent a message to cut down power withdrawal and maintain grid discipline. The NRLDC controls and monitors the power load
drawl of each of the states in the region. If the grid fails, it will bring to a halt hundreds of trains across the country and will plunge large parts of the country in darkness. The last grid failure had occurred nearly a year ago on January 2 this year. Keeping in mind the needs of the power grid, some measures have to be taken, well placed sources told Chandigarh Tribune tonight while adding that a final decision is expected tomorrow morning. One of the first steps will be to remove kundis , or switch off the feeders (power lines) on which large number kundis are drawing power. The next step will be to have rotational power cuts. Under this system, the city is divided into 12 zones and power supply is switched off in each zone for a specified time. The cycle in repeated in all the zones thus controlling power
drawl and keeping it within the allocated limits. In the past three days, the city has been overdrawing power. The Administration has the approval of the Administrator, Lieut-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd), to impose a cut as and when required keeping in mind the grid discipline. The Administration is also inclined to issue an appeal to members of the public suggesting better timings to use geysers and blowers. These can be switched on after 11 p.m when the power demand goes down. |
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BJP, SAD keen to avenge defeat Chandigarh, December 31 The December 7 municipal elections returned 13 members of the Congress, 3 each of the CVM and BJP and one Akali out of 20 elected members of the corporation in a 30-member House. The oath-taking of all members was completed today with the Deputy Commissioner, Mr M. Ramasekhar, administering the oath to Brigadier (retd) Sant Singh, who could not do so on December 26 when 28 members became part of the house. The local Congress member of Parliament, Mr Pawan Bansal, is also an ex-officio member of the House. The Congress number of 13 is insufficient on its own for its nominees to the posts of Mayor, Ms Lalit Joshi, Senior Deputy Mayor Surinder Singh and Deputy Mayor Balraj Singh, to easily romp home. The situation leaves them to bank upon nine nominated members . The first Mayoral election meeting of the second House will be presided over by
Major General (retd.) A. S. Kalhon. However, there may be problems for the anti-Congress forces with the CVM supremo Harmohan Dhawan expressing reservations against the BJP strategy, saying mandate seems to be in favour of the Congress despite it being fractured and that it should be respected. He is holding a meeting of his party’s three members tomorrow. The BJP had been able to rope in Mr Dhawan’s lieutenant Devinder Singh Babla whose wife Ms Harpreet Kaur, has been assured support from the BJP-SAD alliance for the post of Senior Deputy Mayor, apparently as a quid pro quo for BJP’s Mayoral candidate, Ms Kamla Sharma, and for Deputy Mayor Rajesh Gupta. Sources in the BJP said if everything went as per its strategy, “anything can happen”. The Congress campaign is being led by Mr Bansal and former Union Minister Vinod Sharma, while former BJP MP Satyapal Jain and local unit President Yashpal Mahajan are working for the success of its panel. The number, however, tells a different story with the Congress having 14 votes requiring only two votes. Mr Bansal has decided to cast his vote. Mr Bansal told the Chandigarh Tribune that he was expecting all nine nominated members to go along with the Congress as the BJP was the party which had been favouring stripping them of their voting right in the house. The MP said that he was expecting a resounding victory as nominated members would certainly respect the mandate given by the people. Unless nine nominated members decide en-mass to vote to one set of candidates, the Congress seems far ahead of the alliance. |
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Second coldest day in city’s history Chandigarh, December 31 Highlights.... * Chandigarh records second coldest day ever at 9.6 degrees Celsius. * Chandigarh, Ambala and Patiala colder than Shimla. * Only the second time day temperature dropped below 10 degrees Celsius. * Conditions to continue for the next 48 hours. * Less fog today meant trains and buses were not very late. * Going by records, all first three record cold days in the city have fallen on New Year’s eve — in 1990 (9.4), 2001 (9.6) and 1989 (10.2). Today’s temperature was 11 degrees below the normal average for this time of the year. On the other hand, the minimum temperature was recorded at 6.4 degrees Celsius which is well within the normal range. This means the difference between early morning temperatures has been little, thus making residents feel the cold more than before. The chill forced people indoors and nearer to blowers and heaters. Shopkeepers reported low sales as shoppers just did not move out. Places selling non-vegetarian food, soups, hot jalebis, pakoras and samosas made brisk sales. A supplier of meat, fish and chicken said in any case due to New Year’s eve parties, sales are high and the weather has added to the upswing. In government offices the attendance was low because of the cold and also it was the last working day of the year, and several of the staff preferred to opt for leave and utilise the day staying indoors. Foggy conditions continued today. Thankfully, the visibility was better today than in the past few days. Later in the evening, the fog started descending. The Director of the local Met Office, Mr S.C. Bhan, explained that the fog had not lifted in the past four days. The overcast conditions were not clouds but was fog, which lifted up to few hundred metres and remained there, thus giving the feeling of clouds to the naked eye. The present conditions will persist for the next 48 hours, he predicts. As the fog was not allowing in any sunlight, Chandigarh (9.6 degrees Celsius), Ambala ( 11 degrees) and Patiala ( 13.4 degrees) were colder in the day than Shimla ( 14 degrees). This despite the fact that Shimla is located at a height of about 7000 feet above sea level. This happened as Shimla had bright sunshine today while fog did not allow temperatures to rise in the plains. In Chandigarh the last time it was so cold was on January 7, 2000, when the temperature was 10.2 degrees Celsius. The same was recorded on December 31, 1989. |
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WTC incident ‘brought out the best’ in Americans Chandigarh, December 31 ‘‘When the excitement dies down, people in America are going to start protesting about being rounded up and constantly questioned. There is a serious apprehension about this among people who are living in America but not Americans.’’added his wife, Inea
Bushnaq, accompanying Professor Engler on this trip to North India. Professor
Engler, who is a political scientist, has been lecturing across the region for the past three weeks along with his wife, visiting various universities and interacting with students and teachers of political science. Professor
Engler, best known for his theory of “The Politics of Oil” (1961), also his major publication, has been now for years documenting the structure, activities and radius of impact of the private government of oil on America and the world’s political economy. Credited with sparking congressional investigations in the USA, probes and reports by government agencies, the Press, television and political action by consumers besides environmental, labour and nationalist movements in many countries, Professor Engler referred to the government of oil as the “first world government”. ‘‘As long as the average American driving on the road is sure that Gasoline is available at the next petrol pump, he is really not bothered how much the interests of the oil companies in the USA are dominating the country’s policies.’’ he said. Stating that the post
WTC-attack scenario had a strong oil dimension to it, Professor Engler felt that the USA had been presented with a wonderful opportunity in terms of having a hold among the oil-rich Arab nations. “Certainly, if one looks at the map, America will not lay pipelines through Russia to reach oil but now with Afghanistan open, we have the right of way.’’ A sharp critic of the politics of oil, Professor Engler’s next work, “The Brotherhood of Oil” (1977), continued the analysis and focused on the counterforces as
environment protection, OPEC and the new economic order of the developing regions. In 1980 he brought out “America’s Energy” which was a collection of reports on 100 years of struggle for the democratic control of resources. Asked whether the CIA itself had engineered the attack on the WTC to gain control of the Arab world, Professor Engler replied: ‘‘The USA has the largest military and intelligence budget in the world, and to think that the CIA is an independent body would be wrong. The CIA does get ‘enthusiastic’, but then comes back to be in line with the government policies.’’ Professor Engler is currently working on the multinational corporation and human rights essays on political reconstruction . ‘‘A lot of work has gone into the collection of information about Arabs in New York. The first Arabs to reach the city can be traced back to the 1840s and, of course, the Arab geographers, too landed in America with Christopher Columbus.’’ she said. Born in Palestine, Inea has been educated in England and translated many works on Arabs. She has collected, edited and translated traditional stories in Arabic into a book of Arab folktales. Her latest venture, “A Community of Many Worlds: Arabs in New York’, is being published by the Syncrase Univ. Press. |
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Cultural hungama to
welcome New Year Chandigarh, December 31 Mr D.S. Bains, Managing Director, Markfed, while presiding over the function, appreciated the efforts put in by the members. Wishing a happy New Year to the employees, he said Markfed would continue to arrange such programmes in future as well to promote cultural activities. These functions provided an effective platform to exhibit talent. Mr Bains also highlighted various problems in storage and handling of surplus foodgrains in the state as well as in the country. There were huge stocks of foodgrains lying stored in the state and these stocks were becoming a financial liability for the state government. The stocks had also adversely affected the financial position of the farmers. The Managing Director said Markfed was all set to enter into a joint venture with an Australian company for providing silos for bulk storage and handling of surplus foodgrains. Markfed had also taken a lead in arranging export of wheat and already despatched substantial stocks from the state and earned more than Rs 200 crore. Speaking about the welfare schemes, Mr Bains assured that all the demands of Markfed employees
would be fulfilled including the pension scheme. He assured that the matter would be taken up with the higher authorities for the implementation of the scheme at the earliest. He also distributed prizes on the occasion. |
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Chandigarh a hot spot
for revellers Chandigarh, December 31 Though ‘Bijuria’ Nigam’s performance in the garment town of Punjab was a success, and the tickets were sold well in advance, Chandigarh was the “place to be in” for some of the tycoons on the New Year Eve. Little wonder, they drove down to the city in polished semi-limousines to twirl around dance floors illuminated by colourful lights on December 31. The effect was there for all to see. Some of the perpetually vacant rooms in city hotels, even guest houses, remained littered with luggage as captains of industries checked in hours before the programmes were to commence. This was not all. Barons from boomtowns all over the region, including Bathinda, Patiala, even Abohar, also arrived. Along with their families. Not only in cars, also in tourist buses that remained parked along the road outside guest houses till the celebrations concluded well past midnight. For revellers from other cities, special arrangements had been made by owners of these guest houses. Rooms were spruced up and carpets cleaned. The tariff, too, went up, along with the excitement. Instead of Rs 300 for an ordinary room, Rs 500 were charged from thrill-seekers. For “executive class rooms with double beds”, Rs 800 were charged which was Rs 300 more than the normal charges. “Why shouldn’t we charge more?” questioned Raghu, manager with a Sector 21 guest house. “After all our tourist season begins with the New Year Eve and ends soon after the celebrations are over”, he said. Revellers do not mind pulling out extra bucks from their wallets either. “The reason is not very hard to see,” claimed a Ludhiana-based computer dealer, Mr Vijay Dutt, soon after checking in a classy hotel in Sector 10 here. “If we can pay Rs 2,200 for cutting foot loose on the dance floors illuminated by crazy lights at the techno beat of bhangra music played by a live band, why should we mind spending another Rs 3,000 on our stay in Chandigarh. New Year Eve is the only time we indulge in ourselves. I think it’s justified”. But what about the programmes at Ludhiana and other cities in the region? Aren’t they worth the money being charged by the organisers? “Oh, they are fine. It’s only that we want to celebrate the occasion in style,” Dutt asserted. Well, folks, Chandigarh or Ludhiana, we hope you had a nice time. |
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Club bids farewell to 2001 Chandigarh, December 31 The evening was full of music masti and dance as audiences were enthralled by Indi-pop and Punjabi songs. The singer Divya and Sanjay Nigam sang foot tapping Hindi and Punjabi pop songs that suited the occasion. Persons from all ages were present and enjoyed the evening surrounded by the festive mood. The club also presented a well choreographed fashion show. The event attracted the young audience and was also well received among the old as it was very well organised. The fashion show really set the trend for forthcoming events. Bobby and Yash Entertainments presented a live orchestra with sizzling music and a combination of old and new numbers from Hindi films. Though the evening was really cold, the audience felt completely comfortable enjoying various events and the bonfire kept the evening going in warm and cosy way. Along with the fun, music and masti, the mouth watering cuisines were served. The whole evening was well received by around 1,500 strong crowd. |
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Home comfort outweighs club glitters SAS Nagar, December 31 A majority of local hotels, as was the case last year, had little attraction for revellers, most of whom preferred to go to Chandigarh. At least three clubs had made arrangements for members and their guests to ring in the New Year with lively music, dance and colour. The prestigious Punjab Cricket Club in Sector 63 had invited DJ Bhanu and Rock Band to make members dance to their favourite numbers. To make children enjoy themselves and leave their parents free to take part in the festivities, a kids’ corner, with a special arrangement of various games, was set up. A variety of cuisine, including Indian and Continental dishes, was the highlight of the gala dinner. The club had also announced a lucky draw with attractive prizes to be won. The Country Club had invited an orchestra from Mumbai to liven up the evening along with two up-and-coming singers, Divya and Sanjay Nigam. A fashion show was also organised in which boys and girls from colleges in Chandigarh took part. Choreography was by Neeraj Kumari of the club. Mr K.S. Cheema, manager (administration) of the club, said fireworks and bonfires were part of the celebrations. The cuisine, he said, included Chinese, Continental and Indian dishes. The Mohali Club had also made arrangements for a DJ. It was the first New Year Eve celebrations at the recently inaugurated club. The club president, Mr Arvinder Singh, said dance troupes from Jalandhar had been invited to entertain members. He said since these were the first New Year celebrations of the club, subsidy had been provided to the members. The cuisine, he said, included Indian and Mughlai items. |
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SPEAKING
OUT SAS Nagar, December 31 People want that the MC should put an end to the menace of stray cattle and improve the sanitation. “The year 2002 should mark a period when the name of the town figures among the clean cities in the country,” says Mrs Manjit Kaur, an NRI from Nairobi, who has settled in Phase 4. She wants that the road berms should be cleaned regularly. Her feelings are shared by Mr Baldev Singh Mann, a resident of Phase 6, who seeks that the civic body should spend more funds on repairing the damaged roads, blocked storm water gullies, broken footpaths and inoperational streetlight. Mr Karnail Singh Mann, a resident of Phase 4, says that the system of redress of grievances of the residents through the complaint centres needs to be strengthened. Voicing his concern about the unhygienic conditions around the villages, Mr Manmohan Singh Langh, councillor, demands that the municipal councillors, irrespective of their political loyalty, should actively be involved in development and maintenance activities in their respective wards. Mr Manjeet Singh, councillor from Phase 3B2, says, “Due to increased vehicular traffic there was an urgent need to widen certain roads”. He demands that the civic body should get liberal funds from PUDA as it was looking after the maintenance of the basic amenities. A better coordination between the civic body, PUDA and other government departments concerned was required. The president of the civic body, Mr Kulwant Singh, says the sanitation would further be strengthened. He promises to build a cattle pond, a gaushala and a office complex of the civic body in 2002. |
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Gate meeting by
powermen Chandigarh, December 31 According to Mr Bhag Mal Rana, general secretary of the UT Powermen Union, the demands of the employees include grant of bonus for the past four years, treating employees of the UT working with the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation on deputation, grant of dearness allowance arrears to daily-wagers, appointment to next of kin of the deceased employees, filling of vacant posts in all cadres and implementation of the PSEB circular and grant of four, nine and 14 years promotional scales to all employees. |
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‘Switchover to freehold good’ Chandigarh, December 31 Besides a huge revenue in the form of stamp duty, the Administration had also seen a considerable increase in the auction price of commercial and residential properties. The Samadhaan anticipated a better market sentiment after this, he said. Intending seller, having long-struck deals in hand, would come out in the hope of getting a fair deal from the otherwise dull market. At the same time, intending purchaser, looking for a further decline, would like to have a hasty bite. |
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Rallies by road,
public workers Chandigarh, December 31 Road workers held rallies in Sectors 38 and 10 and health workers in Sector 4. They are demanding four years’ bonus, treating transferred employees from the Administration to the MC on deputation, grant of HRA and CCA as per Supreme Court order, filling vacant posts and a fixed local travel allowance. The rallies were addressed by Mr Rakesh Kumar, Mr Bal Kishan, Mr Rajinder Katoch, Mr P. Kamraj, Mr Kaka Singh and Mr Ram Lal. |
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3 employees of Tribune retire Chandigarh, December 31 Mr Lalita Prasad, Deputy Manager (Press), served the institution for 35 years. Mr Sher Bahadur Pun, Head Security Havildar, served the Trust for 19 years, while Mr Mani Ram Tewari, Head Daftri, had put in 31 years of service. All of them were given a warm send-off by their colleagues. Prominent among those who attended the farewell function were Mr R.N. Gupta and Mr O.P. Arora, General Manager and Additional General Manager of the Trust, respectively. |
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Tribune employee
bereaved Chandigarh, December 31 |
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221 complaints settled Chandigarh, December 31 |
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Miraculous escape
for car occupants Chandigarh, December 31 |
Vigilance Bureau harassing Syals? Chandigarh, December 31 A.L. Syal, who was presently confined in the Burail Jail, had also filed two secret letters written in Punjabi before the commission which reveal the communication between the Punjab Government and the Vigilance Department. The photocopy of the letters are in the possession of Chandigarh Tribune. The complainant,
A.L. Syal, had filed a complaint against the State of Punjab through its Home Secretary, UT Civil Secretariat and Vigilance Bureau, Punjab, through its IG (Vigilance), alleging human rights violation. Sources revealed that on December 23, 2000, the Vigilance Department, Patiala, had registered six cases against the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the company,
R.K. Syal, Director, A.L. Syal, and others for allegedly cheating and defrauding investors under Sections 420, 406, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC. The Vigilance Department had registered cases on the ground that the company purchased land in various parts of Punjab — Dera Bassi in Patiala district, and Mukerian in Hoshiarpur district — and took money from the public, to purchase land for building hotels, in the shape of fixed deposits. It was alleged that the registery of the land was made at a much higher value than the price that was paid to the owner of the land. The land was left barren and no development carried out. Moreover, no investor has been given right to ownership of the land. On the other hand, the complainant had alleged that the Vigilance Bureau, Punjab, had been entirely responsible for crumbling the financial position and administration of Golden Forest Limited. The complainant also alleged that there had been no sufficient evidence for registering
FIRs. |
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Minor girl abducted Chandigarh, December 31 Theft case: Mr Satish Chander Sharma, a resident of Sector 19, lodged an FIR that one front wheel of his car was stolen on the night between December 29 and 30. The car was parked outside his house. A case under Section 379, IPC, has been registered. Mr Vinod Kumar, a resident of Sector 35-B, told the police that someone broke the ventilator of his SCO, on the December 29 night and decamped with some computer items. A case has been registered at the Sector 36 police station. Whisky seized: The local police arrested Mr Indora, a resident of DM Colony, and seized 12 pouches of whisky from his possession. A case under the Excise Act has been registered at the Sector 39 police station. |
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25 rickshaw-pullers
held, bailed out Chandigarh, December 31 According to a senior police official, the rickshaw-pullers were booked under Section 283 of the IPC, as action cannot be taken under the Motor Vehicle Act which is applicable only to motorised road users. Section 283 of the IPC deals with causing danger and obstruction in public way. The rickshaw-pullers were arrested for pulling rickshaws on wrong side of road or not obeying traffic signals. All the accused were later released on bail. |
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Villagers held for
beating up youth Chandigarh, December 31 As per police sources, Suresh, a labourer, was beaten up by Dalvinder Singh, Bhadur Singh and Charndeep Singh, last night in the village. Suresh’s cycle met with an accident with a scooter on which the three were riding. Following this the trio reportedly beat up Suresh. The victim was admitted to General Hospital, Sector 16. |
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