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| Tuesday, January 15, 2002,
Chandigarh, India
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Goods worth
Rs 50,000 stolen Panchkula, January 14 The burglar or burglars had reportedly entered the booths through air vents. A visit to the shops — Mittal Department Store and Grover Collection — showed that the shops had been ransacked. Footprints of the accused were still visible on the suiting material lying on the counter under the vent in Grover Collection. The burglary was revealed at about 7.30 am today when another shopkeeper of the market, Mr Jainendra Gupta, noticed that the iron grill of the air vent of Grover Collections had been removed. He immediately contacted Mr Kailash Grover, owner of the shop. Suiting and shirting material and expensive cloth worth thousands of rupees, besides Rs 1,200 in cash, was found to be missing. Later, proprietors of Mittal Department Store discovered that their shop, too, had been burgled. More than 20 litres of butter oil, several pouches of tea leaves, packs of washing powder and some other material like dry fruits was found to be missing. Rs 1,500 in cash had also been stolen. The police has registered a case of burglary under Sections 380 and 457 of the IPC. |
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Panchkula
to have artificial lake Panchkula, January 14 Highly placed sources informed The Tribune that a
four-member committee had been set up to identify the exact place for
construction of this lake. Other than being a major tourist attraction
in the district, this would also serve the purpose of recharging of
groundwater for sustaining the already depleting ground water table in
the region. Sources revealed that the committee, comprising
Administrator, HUDA, Superintending Engineer, HUDA Circle,
Superintending Engineer, HUDA Horticulture and Executive Engineer,
HUDA Division III, had been set up by the Chief Administrator in
December 2001. This committee was asked to identify probable sites for
developing this lake. It is learnt that there is a proposal to
construct guide bundhs on the upstream and downstream side of New
Ghaggar bridge. The committee has recommended that the piece of land,
approximately four to five acres and surrounded by guide bundhs on one
side and external road on the other side, can be considered for the
lake. The team was of the view that the second option for the
construction of the lake was on the river bed itself, between the old
and the new Ghaggar bridges. This area, they felt, could be utilised
for The total area of the lake would then be approximately 10 acres and the lake, they propose, will have a golf course on one side and external road on the other side, connecting the two bridges. Sources informed that both the above mentioned projects would also help in recharging the ground water. It may be noted that the issue of the declining water table in the district is a major cause of concern. It is believed that at the present rate of fall in the water table and the rate of withdrawal through tubewells, the ground water reserves are not going to last for more than 20 years. The third option for developing the lake is on the area comprising Nadha choe and some existing depression in Sector 23, Part II. However, this site has been thought of as the choe is filled with water only during the monsoons. Thus, the water for filling Lake would have to be diverted from the river. It is learnt that the authorities will now set up an expert committee for finalising the exact location for developing the lake. After a feasibility study is carried out by the expert committee, the work for construction will begin, informed a senior official of HUDA. |
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CHILDHOOD CANCER DAY TODAY Chandigarh, January 14 Once inside, Nishu cannot hold himself anymore and begins to cry for his mother, begging to be left alone. But no one around him seems to listen. The doctor tries to soothe him as she injects Nishu with one chemical after the other, which will give him life. A painful process but there is no option. Nishu and many others like him are suffering from one of the most dreaded diseases of modern times, cancer, and is undergoing chemotherapy at the PGI. Unlike adult cancers where chemotherapy is one of the supplementary treatments, in childhood cancers it is where the treatment starts. The good news being that also unlike adult cancers, childhood cancers are completely curable and the success rate at PGI’s APC is as high as 70 per cent. According to Dr R.K. Marwaha, incharge, Heamatology and Oncology, APC, cancer among children is not as common as cancer among adults or the elderly, but it is certainly not non-existent as was thought earlier, and is still widely believed. “Children do suffer from cancer, the most common being cancer of the blood or leukemia, brain tumors, kidney tumors, lymphoma
i.e. cancer of the lymph-nodes etc. And unlike adult cancers where a large number of environmental factors are considered responsible as the cause, among children the precise cause is not identifiable.” Which is also one reason why there is difficulty in diagnosing cancer among children in the early stages of the disease. The onset of cancer among children could be as young as a new-born but since among children most of the early symptoms of cancer are similar to many other common ailments they are likely to have, cancer remains undiagnosed for months and by the time the patient approaches the doctors for the treatment, cancer is in an advanced stage. But since children respond very effectively to the treatment, they also have a high rate of cure or lets say control. The treatment of childhood cancer is also different from adult cancers, even of the same type. Chemotherapy is central to the control of cancer followed by surgery which also plays an important role in case of solid tumours. “Radiotherapy is used only if considered absolutely necessary since it has a greater chance of causing long-term side effects among children than adults,” says Dr Marwaha. Lack of awareness among parents about the symptoms of cancer in children is one big problem. The other is the huge amounts required in its long-term control. The control of these cancers can cost anything between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh, depending on the kind and extent of the cancer. Bone marrow transplant operation for leukemia patients which has only a success rate of about 40 to 50 per cent costs Rs 9 lakh and one needs a fully matched sibling donor. |
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INTRODUCTION OF PAID PARKING Chandigarh, January 14 The local MP, Mr Pawan Bansal, following a meeting with the Municipal Commissioner, Mr M.P. Singh here today, said he hoped that these concessions would be given. Mr Bansal led a delegation of 12 councillors and the head of the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee, Mr B.B. Bahal, to the MC Commissioner. The team included the Mayor, Ms Lalit Joshi, the Senior Deputy Mayor, Mr Surinder Singh, and the Deputy Mayor, Mr Balraj Singh. The team met representatives of traders and those who work in these sectors and received a mixed response to the introduction of paid parking. The Commissioner said he would talk to the contractor concerned to seek these relaxations. The contractor seems to have agreed on certain concessions and may announce these tomorrow, a day before the bandh. Mr Bansal also urged employers of all establishments in these sectors to pay for the parking fee and passes of employees on the pattern of a leading bank in Sector 17. He said the Congress might also consider reduction in parking charges for employees. He said multipoint tickets and passes would be of advantage to the contractor as well. He said, in this system, those who parked their vehicles at one point would spend less time walking and, consequently, consume less parking time. Meanwhile, traders visited Sectors 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15 here today to gather support for their bandh call. Their leader, Mr Subhash Kataria, said the protestors would also take out a car rally tomorrow. Traders said they were exploring the possibility of approaching the Punjab and Haryana High Court to seek discontinuation of the paid-parking system. The traders said politicians could easily withdraw the 1998 paid parking resolution, on the basis of which, the court had ordered its implementation. After the withdrawal, the direction by the Chandigarh Administration for introducing paid parking would also lose meaning. |
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MC gets
new Chief Engineer Chandigarh, January 14 His appointment will be treated as deputation as Mr Bhardwaj is a UT cadre engineer. The appointment letter says it is for a period of one year and he is likely to join the new assignment tomorrow itself. The present Chief Engineer, Mr Manmohanjit Singh, will join back to his parent cadre, Punjab. Mr Bhardwaj (52) is the senior most Superintending Engineer of the Chandigarh Administration. He joined as Junior Engineer in 1971. He has been assigned the prestigious projects like that of Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, in the past in addition to the maintenance and construction of various other buildings. Prior to this, he had a successful tenure of more than six years as Superintending Hospital Engineer of the PGI. There he handled hi-tech buildings like the new OPD block, advanced paediatric centre, new Emergency complex, National Institute of Nursing Education and various other buildings. He was responsible in planning, designing and execution of these high-tech projects. He has also worked in Chandigarh Housing Board as Executive Engineer and Superintending Engineer and successfully completed major projects like Mani Majra Housing complex, Sector 39 housing complex and Sector 41 housing Complex, among others. He also worked as SDO (Buildings) in the Estate Office and as Assessing Authority and House Tax, Chandigarh. He was given many commendation certificates as token of his meritorious service and was also honoured by the Chandigarh Administration on Republic Day. |
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Badheri is
Panchayat Samiti chief Chandigarh, January 14 While Mr Badheri polled eight votes, his rival got seven. Mr Badheri was supported by the local MP, Mr Pawan Bansal, the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee
(CTCC) president B.B. Bahl, and a former Union Minister, Mr Vinod Sharma, whereas Mr Didar Singh, apart from being supported by Congress panchayat members, had the backing of the lone BJP panchayat member, Mr Shangara Singh. For the post of vice-chairman, the official Congress candidate, Mr Mohinder Singh, defeated his party rival, Mr Hukum Chand, by nine votes to five. The elections were held here today in the BDO office in sector-9. Mr Badheri and Mr Mohinder Singh accompanied by the CTCC general secretary, Mr Sunil
Parti, then visited Mr Bansal and Mr Bahal. The new panchayat chairman then visited Nada Sahib Gurdwara. |
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Chawla elected Cong leader in MC House Chandigarh, January 14 The name of Mr Chawla was proposed by the local MP Pawan Bansal and seconded by all councillors present there. Mr Chawla is considered to be one of the main
strategists of the party and his political acumen is accepted by all groups of the Congress. |
‘Promote
women entrepreneurship’ Chandigarh, January 14 While delivering the inaugural lecture, Mrs Sunaina Mehta, managing director, Graffiti Advertising and Marketing, and Miracle Designs, stressed upon the need of promoting women entrepreneurs. She said that women need to identify viable business opportunities, develop entrepreneurial abilities like risk taking and other business traits before starting a venture. Prof B.S. Rathod, Head of the Entrepreneurship Development and Industrial Coordination Department , TTTI, said that entrepreneurship education needs to be imparted in all streams of education so as to promote enterprise. Dr D.J. Saini, programme coordinator, highlighted the importance of study visits and interaction with successful entrepreneurs in motivation ad training of potential entrepreneurs. He also talked about various business opportunities in today’s increasingly competitive and fast changing economic environment. Mr Satya Pal, manager, SIDBI, highlighted the role of the bank in the promotion of women entrepreneurship and also for other categories of entrepreneurs. |
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KNOW YOUR COUNCILLORS BRIGADIER Sant Singh (retd), Mahavir Chakra and Mention-in-Dispatches awardee, who excelled in military tasks will provide motivation to squabbling politicians in the Municipal Corporation to collectively achieve a goal — public service — as a nominated municipal corporator. His steadfastness to tasks was not limited to military operations but to other fields as well. He was instrumental in getting decorated people free railway passes and inexpensive telephones. Brig Singh (80) has been a hope for over 1 lakh ex-servicemen who elected him an executive member of the Indian Ex-servicemen League, a position which he has been holding for 13 years. He fought with great courage in the Naushera sector in 1949, in Junagarh in 1948 and in many other operations. *
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MS K. Atma Ram was the first girl to be admitted to a men’s college in Lahore, had inter-caste marriage at a time none thought of it, fought during the Emergency Mr Bansi Lal on a moral issue, took to maths study despite opposition and is now fighting for keeping alive the Patiala gharana of music. The 77-year-old new nominated municipal corporator has served in the capacities of Director, Public Instructions of Punjab, Education Advisor to the Punjab Government, vice-chairperson of the Punjab School Education Board. Principals of women’ and men’s colleges in Chandigarh and Patiala etc. She was a member of the Senate and Syndicate of the three universities in the state, Dean Fine Arts Faculty of Panjab University and convener of the board of studies in music and dance for two terms. She is associated with the Punjab Arts Council, Punjab Lalit Kala Academy, Punjab Sangeet Natak Academy, Pracheen Kala Kendra, North Zone Cultural Centre and the core committee of the Chandigarh Plaza Carnival and Triveni Sangeet Sabha. |
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Doorbell
rings, it is Lohri-seeker Chandigarh, January 14 For city residents, there was no respite as they sang “Sunder mundariay” and other traditional songs. This was not all. With dholis, they arrived for swaying wildly to the thumping beat of bhangra in front of the main gates. “It is not only during the Lohri, but also during the Divali, Holi and other such festivals,” said Dheeraj Khanna, a young executive living in Sector 38 West. “Area sweepers, chowkidars including even some of those you have never seen earlier approach your door for collecting money in the name of the festival.” A bank officer, Mr Munish Kaushal, asserted, “The whole day doorbell kept ringing on Lohri as labour kept coming in, seeking some money or sweets. Even at night while we were sitting around the bonfire, dholis came over to collect money.” A housewife, Ms Ritu Luthra, lamented, “since morning someone or the other has been turning up to ask for money or sweets. In this way about seven to eight workers have turned up saying that they were sweepers and chowkidars. It is the same in all sectors as my friends in other sectors told me about the practice.” The ordeal is worse for residents living near the slum areas. “Children from the slums come knocking at the door, singing traditional Lohri songs for collecting sweets, money, rewaris and gachak,” adds Dhruv Narang of Sector 45. “Not only on January 13, the children from these areas kept coming for alms today also”. Another resident of Sector 35, Ms Anju Mahajan, says, “Interestingly the sweepers and the chowkidars are barely visible during the routine days. As the festival season approaches, they all surface for doing their work efficiently in order to collect money.” The children have their own reasons. Says Raghu of Colony No 5, “After collecting a good amount of money, all colony kids will party at night. We will be gathering wood for lighting a bonfire.” |
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Eradication
of lantana weed Lantana camara, commonly known as “Panchphulli” in north west part of the country, is probably a native of South America which was brought to India by a priest as an ornamental plant. Its infestation has now spread to all types of open land in tropical and semi tropical regions of the world. Thousands of hectares of various types of land have gone unproductive owing to lantana infestation. The leaves and seeds are poisonous to cattle and thus have no fodder value. The only plus point in favour of this weed is that it affords soil cover and checks soil erosion. This obnoxious weed is a major cause of concern to the Forest Department. The total extent of infestation of lantana weed is forest land of Himachal Pradesh is to the tune of 1,30,000 hectare. This weed has infested around 55 per cent of the forest land in the lower elevation (elevation <100m) of
H.P. A number of control measures were devised after study and experimentation by the State Silviculture Department. A project was launched by the department to eradicate lantana through manual uprooting and chemical application and subsequent planting of the area with beneficial fuel and fodder species. This includes the method of uprooting where lantana above ground level is first cut and then uprooted from the root system. This involves a high degree of physical labour. Even after uprooting, the root lets in the ground, giving rise to new plants. In this regard, a simple device called “Monkey Jack”, which works on the principle of lever was found to be more effective. Just after the monsoon, when the soil is wet, the Monkey Jack is used to grip the lantana root stock and completely uproot it by giving it a strong jerk. The cost of uprooting works out to be around Rs 7,400 per hectare for an area infested completely with lantana. After uprooting, the area needs to be planted with suitable species like
Bahunia, Purpurea, Amla, Drek, Jamun, Khair, Shisham, Siris, Bamboo, Behera etc. A few shoots that may emerge again next year may again be uprooted similarly. Another method of chemical application was also tried. In this method, on the basis of limited trails conducted, it was found that the application of spray of 9-10 litres/ha of glyphosate kills the weed and it is completely exterminated. The method of application is that spraying of glyphosate solution is done when the weed is in a vigorous state of leafing and flowering. This would be proper in first week of September just after rains have subsided. Second spraying may be done in March/April in the following year, if complete destruction is not accomplished by then. The area so cleared should be taken up under plantation of fast growing species so as to deny growing space for any escaped root suckers. The Silviculture Department has conducted some experiments with glyphosate application at Dhamiana and Dharja which have been found to be effective. There is a further need to conduct a series of such field trials in more lantana — infested areas of the state, feel the officials. It was also envisaged that after spraying the small patches will be cleared of dry lantana for making pits for subsequent planting of fast growing species of trees, herbs etc. |
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YOUNG VOICE PARMINDER Singh Chauhan may secretly harbour the dream of touching dizzy heights of stardom, but he also intends to serve and help his village folk. This young lad from Rajpura has been running two schools under the Chauhan Educational and Welfare Society in two nearby villages of Rajpura for the past five years. Besides imparting education to the poor, these schools are helping in generating employment. There is another side to him. Parminder, a professional bhangra artiste and a budding singer, is also making contribution towards cultural activities by involving villagers. “We as a troupe have performed at various places like Shimla and Delhi, which has given good exposure to our people.” “When art becomes the means of livelihood and a tool for social welfare, it gives the artiste the true happiness,” says Parminder.
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Two killed in
road mishap Chandigarh, January 14 According to reports reaching here, 25-year-old Raja Sondhi and his father Suresh were killed on the spot. They were residents of Sector 61 and on their way from Ludhiana to Chandigarh. Raja’s mother also received injuries, while his wife and son escaped with minor bruises. |
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20 trees face slow death SAS Nagar, January 14 Brushing the environmental concerns under the carpet, the engineering wing has laid gatka around the trunks of the trees before laying the premix. The parking lots were being extended as the existing area in front of shops was inadequate. “We had received several representations from the shopkeepers of Phases 7 and 11 for extending the parking areas,” said a PUDA official. Environmentalists say that in the past the engineering wing of PUDA, while providing new parking areas in Phases 5, 3B 2 and other phases, never cared about the standing trees. Instead of leaving space around the trunks of the trees, premix is laid around the trees. Some trees have dried up. |
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Dharna
before DC’s office Panchkula, January 14 The protesters said, if their demands were not met, they would organise a relay fast. They also met the DC and handed her a memorandum, demanding the withdrawal of house tax, reduction of proposed rates of water supply and roll-back of the hike in cable TV charges. The protesters said the imposition of house tax was uncalled for and it was too high. They said there was no house tax policy in Chandigarh or SAS Nagar. They said the proposed increase in water-supply charges was exorbitant and should not be more than Rs 1.25 per 100 kl and Rs 2 for more than 100 kl. Residents, who had gathered at the district Secretariat, said they would not pay more than Rs 150 per month as tariff for cable TV connections. Meanwhile, the Private House Owners Welfare Association of Sector 11 are also sore at the hike. They said they had decided not to pay more than Rs 150 per connection. The DC, Ms Jyoti Arora, has called various representatives of the associations and cable operators for a meeting on January 16 to end the stand-off. |
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Residents’
demand Zirakpur, January 14 |
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Mauled
cub dies Chhat Bir, January 14 A lion had reportedly eaten up a foreleg of the three-month-old cub and the zoo authorities had segregated the injured cub and was given treatment at the zoo hospital. The zoo authorities revealed that the post-mortem report confirmed the death due to the damaged lungs. |
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Jeewan
bereaved Chandigarh, January 14 |
Remains of another victim recovered Chandigarh, January 14 A statement issued here said that the accused in this case, Lakhbir Singh, alias
Lakha, and Karnail Singh, alias Kaila, who are part of a gang, have been arrested and remanded in police custody for a
day. Amar Singh, a resident of Ropar, was murdered on January 28, 1991. He was working as a chowkidar at the farmhouse of a Raipur Khurd resident, Prem Singh. The motive behind the killing him was stealing an electric motor from the farmhouse by the accused. |
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Held for stealing
cycle Chandigarh, January 14 INJURED:
A Sector 40 resident, Rajesh Kumar, was injured and admitted to the Sector 16 General Hospital after his scooter was knocked down by a Fiat car near a Sector 17 petrol pump on Madhya Marg. The car driver fled from his spot leaving the vehicle (CHC 994) behind. The car has been impounded by the police. STOLEN:
A conductor with the Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation, Rattan Singh, reported that his bag containing six packets of tickets worth Rs 5,800 have been stolen from a counter at the ISBT, Sector 17. A resident of Grain Market Sector 26, Balwant Kumar, has reported that his mother-in-law’s purse containing about Rs 18,000 and some documents has been stolen from his premises. The police has registered cases. VEHICLE STOLEN:
A Patiala resident, Amit Arora, has reported that his Maruti car (PB-60-0036), which was parked near the Government College for Girls, Sector 11, has been stolen. A Sector 32 resident, Anoop Jamwal, has reported that his scooter (CH-01-Q-2737) has been stolen from Sector 35. The police has registered cases. |
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