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| Tuesday, January 22, 2002,
Chandigarh, India
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Visitors need not worry, bhavans can rent out rooms Chandigarh, January 21 Rooms in these bhavans have to be on a concessional basis and tariffs will not match those prevailing in commercial areas. Bhavans have been allotted lands on low rates. More than 40 such bhavans exist in the city. A provision exists for these bhavans to let out rooms. It is just that the illegal guest houses have so far managed to manipulate the visitors alighting at the Inter-State Bus Terminus or at the Railway Station. The Administration will also regulate the tariffs of the rooms in these bhavans. An attempt has been made in a brochure released by the Chandigarh Industrial Tourism Corporation. A small list of such list of bhavans with their tariffs is mentioned under the heading of dharamshalas in the brochure. Non-AC rooms are available for Rs 75 for a night to Rs 200. Rooms with air-conditioners are available for between Rs 400 and Rs 500. Sources in the Administration say it is just that the concept has not caught on as the guest houses have cornered the business. Now the managements just need to streamline things and this business will also help them become financially independent. This will also mean it will be easier for the Chandigarh Administration to monitor and regulate the visitors. Managements of bhavans will have no commercial interest. They will not be inclined to give rooms for shady activities. One of the grouses of residents where illegal guest houses have been flourishing is the visit by women at all hours. Allegations of a clandestine flesh trade racket working within the guest houses have surfaced from time to time and delegations of residents welfare associations of Sectors 22, 21 and 18 have met senior Administration officials in the past two months seeking action against the guest houses owners. The suspicion of anti-national elements easily staying in the city has existed as it is impossible to check all guest houses. The deadline for orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court for these guest houses ended yesterday. Though a large of these have closed down and shifted to neighbouring townships, a section of guest house owners are clamouring for an extension in the deadline. Within the Administration, the view is that the court order has to be respected and no extension in deadlines can be given now . No action was formally initiated by the Administration today. So far the field staff of Estate Office has been asked to keep an eye. |
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Evening Shatabdi from January 26
Chandigarh, January 21 Passengers are making the shift in the travel plans. Railways has informed all travel agents in advance. The departure from here has been shifted to facilitate movement of passengers towards Delhi in the evening. The train, which runs between Delhi and Chandigarh and back, has been extended upto Kalka. It will now terminate at Kalka instead of Chandigarh. On its return journey, it will depart from Chandigarh at 6.20 pm to reach Delhi at 9.40 pm. Sources in the Railways say the original suggestion has been to make the train reach Delhi latest by 8.45 pm as several women also travel alone in the Shatabdi and 940 pm can be late in winter. This has been done to meet the rush of people wanting to reach Delhi later in the day by departing from Chandigarh in the evening and also to provide better connectivity with Shimla. The train used to depart from here around 12.15 pm to reach Delhi at about 330 pm. The timing was odd and since long business travellers had been demanding that the train be shifted to have an evening departure. The real demand for the shifting the time showed up when a third Shatabdi was introduced on trial basis between August 25 and November 17. This train used to depart from here in the evening. The train attracted passengers and the afternoon Shatabdi showed a drop in passengers. People preferred the evening train instead of the one departing from here during the afternoon. Railway divisional authorities had then suggested that the Shatabdi departing from here in the afternoon be shifted to the evening and the third Shatabdi be scrapped as the timings suited no one. The new timing will also help tourists coming back from Himachal Pradesh. All narrow gauge trains between Shimla and Kalka leave Kalka in the morning and the Shatabdi will provide a good connection. On the reverse journey, all trains from Shimla reach Kalka only in the afternoon. The Shatabdi has been extended to Kalka and this will provide for a good connection.  |
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Concern over dwindling numbers of vultures Panchkula, January 21 The workshop, which was inaugurated by the Chief Secretary, Haryana, Mr L.M. Goyal, is being organised by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and Wildlife Department, Haryana here and will also involve officials concerned with the conservation of forests and wildlife. Mr. Tom Macan, British Deputy High Commissioner to India, was also present at the inaugural function. The main issue of discussion between experts from Bombay Natural History Society, UK-based NGO- Royal Society for Protection of Birds, National Birds and Prey Centre, United Kingdom and London Zoological Society will be the decline in population, in spite of their regular breeding. Dr Debbie Pain, Head of the International Research Division of Royal Society for Protection of Birds, said there had to be a regular nationwide monitoring to find out the reasons for such rapid decline in the white-backed and long-billed species of vultures. She also said the coming up of Vulture Captive Care and Diagnostic Centre at Pinjore, would help in this regard. She said since it was believed that birds of “Gyps” species were dying due to a viral infection and this disease could spread to other species of vultures that migrate to the sub-continent during winters. Dr Andrew Cunnigham, from the Zoological Society of London, said a multidisciplinary approach was required for finding the viral infection which was endangering this
species. Meanwhile, Dr Vibhu Prakash, Principal Project Investigator of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) gave a presentation on decline in white-backed and long-billed vultures in Keoladeo National Park at Bharatpur. He said where earlier the vultures used to feed on carcasses, it is the dogs and crows that are consuming the carcasses now. He said it was only the migratory vultures- Egyptian vulture and King vulture that could be seen either in protected areas (sanctuaries) , areas adjacent to these or the areas near highways. He said his study on various reasons for decline had proved that an infectious disease, which led to drooping necks in the vultures, afflicted the vultures and after some time the birds died. He clarified that though decline in raptors across the world was a result of chemical contamination of food, but an infectious disease afflicted vultures. The workshop is a part of a project, “Conservation of Critically Endangered Gyps Species of Vultures in India”, which is funded by Darwin Initiative Fund for Survival of Species, Government of United Kingdom. This three-year project was initiated in September 2001 and involves disease diagnosis of vultures and their captive breeding and rehabilitation. |
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UT parties gear up for ‘supporting role’ Chandigarh, January 21 “Leaders of Chandigarh units of these parties sans the SAD would like to avoid taking sides in Punjab elections on issues like Sutlej-Yamuna-Link Canal, transfer of Punjabi” speaking areas and Chandigarh to Punjab under the Rajiv-Longowal Accord, among others,” top BJP and Congress leaders told the Chandigarh Tribune here today. However, the local unit of the SAD, whose stakes are confined to Punjab only has sought a review of the Supreme Court decision directing the Punjab Government to complete SYL Canal within a year saying that any decision of the court must also take into consideration interest of minorities. The SAD local unit president, Mr Gurpartap Singh Riar, held a meeting of the party which resolved that the SC decision had threatened peace in the state. The party also took umbrage on Guru Teg Bahadur’s “derogatory” mention in the NCERT books and The local unit of the party is taking four or five groups of 25 to 30 members each to Punjab to campaign in the nearby constituencies of Chandigarh, including those of the Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, and the Punjab Minister Satwant Kaur Dhaliwal. The local unit of the BJP, which received a drubbing at the hands of the Congress in the December 7 Municipal Corporation elections, is waiting for a nod from the Central party to be available in Punjab elections. The party at the local level, however, has been indicated to help in Ropar and Patiala districts to shore up the strength of the Punjab unit in the elections. The former Lok Sabha member of the party, Mr Satyapal Jain, told the Chandigarh Tribune that he alongwith other colleagues of the local unit would be going to Punjab, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh for campaigning. The local BJP unit ad-hoc committee member, Mr Yashpal Mahajan, said the manpower to be made available to the Punjab unit would mostly be for organising offices and campaigns. Most of the office-bearers are ready to go to the big poll. The BJP local unit indicated that there was a great demand for Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Home Minister L. K. Advani, Human Resource Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, Consumer Affairs and Food and Supplies Minister Shanta Kumar and Law Minister Arun Jaitley to campaign for BJP-SAD alliance candidates. The leaders admit that the fortunes of Punjab and the UT are intertwined emotionally and they feel at home campaigning in Punjab. The local Congress MP, Pawan Bansal, who has been a member of Rajya Sabha from Punjab apart from having been Youth Congress President of the Unit, is proceeding for campaigning in Punjab from tomorrow and also accepts that there is strong link between politics of Punjab and the UT. He said the local unit had already sent a strong signal in favour of it through recently concluded Municipal Corporation elections. The Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee President, Mr B. B. Bahl, said as many as 100 leaders of the local unit would go to assist the Punjab unit during the elections as per the tradition. The former Akali Mayor, Mrs Harjinder Kaur, has already started campaigning for the elections has chalked out programmes till February 13 for the same. |
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CBSE to conduct joint entrance test Chandigarh, January 21 So far students belonging to different states had to apply separately in different institutes, but now the candidates will be taking the test at the national level. According to information available with CBSE officials here, the 12 states and union Territories are Punjab, Chandigarh, New Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal. These states have about 26 colleges. The possibility of more colleges and institutes joining the examination is not ruled out. Giving details of the scheme, sources said the students would have to take four papers. Paper-I will comprise physics and chemistry. There will be 150 objective-type questions (four options with single correct answer). Each question will carry 4 marks. This paper will be of two-and-a-half-hour duration. Paper-II will comprise mathematics. It will contain 75 objective-type questions (four options with single correct answer). Each question will carry four marks. This paper will be of 75-minute duration. Paper-III will comprise biology. The paper will contain 75 objective-type questions (four options with single correct answer) with equal weightage in botany and zoology. Each question will carry four marks. This paper will again be of 75 minutes duration. Paper-IV will have two parts. It will test the candidate's aptitude. For B.E and B.Tech courses, the candidates will be required to take Paper-I and Paper-II while for B. Pharma course, the candidates will have to take Paper-I, Paper-II and Paper-III. For B. Architecture, the students will appear for Paper-II and Paper-IV. Regarding the eligibility conditions, sources said the minimum qualification for admission to Engineering Degree programmes was plus-two senior secondary examination or its equivalent with a minimum aggregate of 50 per cent marks in physics, chemistry and mathematics. Students appearing in 10-plus-two or equivalent examination can also appear for provisional admission but will not be eligible for admission if they failed in the qualifying examination. Candidates with their date of birth falling on or after October 1, 1977, will be eligible. In the case of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and physically handicapped candidates, the upper age limit has been relaxed by five years. The date of birth as recorded in the certificates issued by the secondary education board or the university concerned would be taken as authentic. The information bulletin and application form can be had against cash payment of Rs 350 for general category. For SC and ST candidates, the same can be had for Rs 175 from the regional offices of the CBSE. The last date for submission of application form in the CBSE office by registered or speed post is March 4.
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Gurpurb celebrated with fervour Chandigarh, January 21 A large number of residents visited various gurdwaras early in the morning and took part in kirtan darbars organised on the occasion. Day-long community kitchens were also organised for the devotees. Long queues were seen outside the langar halls. At many places, social organisations erected tents to serve tea to the people. The police had made elaborate arrangements on the occasion. Most of the gurdwaras were tastefully decorated, the notable ones being those in Sectors 8, 19, 20, 40, 34, 11, 21, and 39. PANCHKULA Gurupurab was celebrated with great enthusiasm here today. Thousands of devotees thronged the gurdwara at Nadha Sahib to pay their obeisance and participate in the community langar. The gurdwaras in various Sectors — 7, 12 and 15 — were also decked up for the celebrations. The Labour Nirman Sangh celebrated Gurupurab at Labour Chowk here today. The members of the sangh decided to donate the eyes of one of their man Birju, was killed in a road accident near Kalka last week. The members of the sangh, along with the family members of the deceased decided to donate his eyes to the PGI eye bank today. Today, the celebrations were organised by the president of the union, Mr Jagdish Kashyap, and other members. A langar was served to the labourers and later a cultural programme was also organised. |
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Police clueless about robbers Kharar, January 21 The robbers had taken away cash and jewellery items and wounded several persons. Seven of the injured have been referred to the PGI Chandigarh. Mr Anil Sood and his wife Ms Summitti Sood, who were badly injured by the robbers are still in the PGI. Mr Rupinder Singh, DSP, Kharar, while talking to Chandigarh Tribune said the police had found some clues and was actively following these. He said raids had been conducted at many places and many suspected persons had been rounded up. He said security had been tightened in these areas and appealed to the residents of these outer areas of Kharar to follow minimum basic requirements of security. He also advised them to hire some watchmen on their own. |
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Nakas at entry, exit points Panchkula, January 21 A large number of vehicles have been reported as stolen during the past fortnight. The police attained some success with the busting of a gang of car thieves and solving at least seven cases of car thefts. The spur in these incidents has alarmed the police. An official press note today stated that the general trend had been that vehicles were stolen during night. The police authorities had decided to plug all entry and exit points by creating nakas, so that the thieves could not escape with stolen vehicles. The Superintendent of Police, appealed to the masses to get registration numbers of the cars etched on windows as a safeguard against theft. He also asked the residents to park vehicles inside their houses and use electronic burglar alarms. |
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Waters of trouble invite epidemic Sohana, January 21 Action by the authorities is awaited. Villagers lament that they are being forced to live with the unbearable stench. Chances of the contamination of the ground water, with the developed areas of Sector 70 and Sohana village being located nearby, are high. Mr Devinder Singh of Sohana complains of dirty supply of potable water. Ringing alarm bells, environmentalists seek an immediate redressal of the problem. Enquires reveal that the sullage of Sector 70 is being dumped in the open as the sewer trunk line of the area has not been laid due to non-availability of land. A pocket of land under a grain market and a gurdwara, is under litigation. A one-kilometre stretch of the sewer trunk line has to be laid to complete the network of sewerage in the area. As a solution, PUDA is pumping the sullage into open fields, much to the annoyance of the villagers. As the volume of sullage increases due to increase in population of the developing sectors, the area of stinking water is also increasing. A tubewell of the Public Health Department is also located close to the cesspool of the sullage. |
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Protest against hike in cable rates Panchkula, January 21 The protestors lambasted the cable operators for increasing the tariff at their own whim and fancy. They said that these hikes in rates were uncalled for. Meanwhile, the City Youth Congress organised a protest march under Mr. Parvesh Patika, City president from the Sector 7/18 chowk to the DC office. They were protesting against the hike in cable tariff, water charges by HUDA and imposition of house tax. The march concluded in front of the DC office. |
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51-member JAF to carry on protest against paid parking Chandigarh, January 21 This was informed here today by sector-17 Traders’ Association president Jagdish Kalra, who was today appointed official spokesman of the JAF. Mr Kalra said the JAF had called a meeting on January 24 to chalk out the next course of action. He said the JAF would comprise 14 members from the traders’ community and 11 from employees of Haryana, Punjab, UT and various banks. |
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Ex-DGP remembered SAS Nagar, January 21 Describing the deceased as an able officer who always made friends, the members of the association said he served the Punjab Police. During his distinguished career of 32 years, which began in 1953 when he joined the Central Secretariat Service, he served in different capacities. He retired from the service in 1984. He had set up the association and remained its secretary for a long period. |
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YOUNG
VOICE Nothing is prettier than nature; love it, says Jagdev Sharma, alias Zags, a 32-year-old businessman running an electronics company for the past 15 years. A lover of the environment, Zags has a passion for trekking, rafting and mobike expeditions. He plans to cover the entire country on motor cycle. He says travelling for weeks on motor cycle is risky, but it is a thrilling and adventurous experience. It gives him peace and mental satisfaction. He opines that Indians are less adventurous than westerners. He desires to travel in deep forest areas and high altitude peaks on his motor cycle.
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Suicide bid by youth Dera Bassi, January 21 The exact cause behind consuming of poison by the youth, however, could not be ascertained and a case of attempt to suicide has been registered by the Dera Bassi police in this regard. |
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Bal Sadan children
have a field day Panchkula, January 21 More than 30 inmates of the sadan, a home for orphans, were arranged to be picked up on the Hop On Hop Off bus from the sadan and brought to the lake. The children had a good time. Peals of laughter rent the air as children enjoyed the various amusement rides. |
Booked for showing porno movie Panchkula, January 21 According to an FIR registered at Pinjore police station, it is alleged that Sohan Lal was showing the film in a house located on the Dharampur road. A number of migrant labourers from Uttar Pradesh were watching the movie. The police has seized the CD player and television set. Liquor seized: The police seized 210 pouches of country-made rose-flavoured liquor from near Suraj Cinema yesterday. Sunil Kumar, a resident of Kharag Mangoli, was carrying the illicit liquor, but dumped it and escaped on seeing the police. Driver booked: The police has booked a truck driver, Sukhchain Singh on charges of wrong parking at a public place and disrupting the normal flow of traffic. His truck (PEC-8019) has been impounded by the police. Two vehicles stolen: A car (HR-03C-3665) and scooter (HR-09-27653) were stolen in two incidents from different parts of the district. The car was stolen from in front of the Sector 11 residence of Mr Bhagwan Singh, while the scooter belonging to Mr Dhani Ram was stolen from Sector 12. In both cases, FIRs under Section 379 of IPC have been registered. CHANDIGARH Two held: Two persons, including a woman, have been arrested from Sector 25 for possessing illicit liquor. Rekha, a resident of Janata Colony, was arrested with 40 pouches of country liquor, while Azad Singh, a resident of Sector 25, was arrested with 30 pouches of liquor. The police has registered cases under the Excise Act. Abduction: A resident of colony No 5, Kalua Ram, has reported that a resident of the same colony has abducted his minor daughter. The police has registered a case. Robbery: Sector 24 resident Sohan Singh has reported that his house was broken into and a tape recorder, clock, video game, saree, juicer-mixer and Rs 700 in cash have been stolen. The police has registered a case. TV stolen: The warden of a Sector-15 hostel, Mr Sugna Krara, has reported that a colour TV has been stolen from the hostel’s hall while the door was left open. The police has registered a case. SAS NAGAR 2 held for gambling: The police today arrested two persons for allegedly gambling at a public place in Phase I here. According to the information available, a sum of Rs 7,000 was recovered from Vinod Sharma, a resident of Phase 3A and Raju, a resident of Kajehri village in Chandigarh. |
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Woman gangraped Chandigarh, January 21 According to the police, the victim, a resident of old Panchkula was proceeding towards the Railway Station with her father on a bicycle at about 10.45 pm. After they crossed Mauli Jagran, they were accosted by four persons on an empty stretch of the road. The miscreants first robbed her father of Rs 12,000 at knife point and also took away Rs 500 from the victim. Later two of them held down her father, while the other two took her a little distance away and raped her. They also threatened her with dire consequences and ran away from the spot after committing the crime. The police add that the victim was able to give them the name of one of the accused. A case under various provisions of the IPC for rape, criminal intimidation, conspiracy and robbery has been registered. |
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Girl booked Chandigarh, January 21 |
IR consultant speaks on management Chandigarh, January 21 Addressing the press after the programme, Dr Murthy said that the issue had specific relevance to IR in the state as most pharma companies were dealing with strained relations and extremist level dissonance in their operations in Punjab, and this had an impact on their long-term intentions for the state. He also pointed out that there was a risk that the unrest in punjab would quickly spread to other parts of the country. Dr Krishnamurthy is chief consultant with the well known IR firm of Sr Mohandas and Associates, with over 20 years of experience in the pharma management field. He was of the view that the Punjab Medical Representatives Association was largely responsible for creating the difficult ground reality in this prosperous and peaceful state. Citing several instances of unpardonable behaviour, Dr Krishnamurthy said that age-old practices which are a part of the basic job description for a manager such as supervision, field working were interfered with by the union. Evening calls to doctors, working after 3 in the afternoon, holding conferences for the doctors — all these were disrupted in a violent manner. He also said that the union office bearers were taking extra-constitutional charge and were becoming the defacto superior authority since all work related-decisions were being taken by them. Drawing parallels with situations in other states where strained and violent IR had led to industries shutting down and moving operations away from the state, he said that the situation in Punjab had taken an unpleasant turn several times. Managers have been gheraoed, abused, insulted outside their homes and at times physically assaulted. Such brutal assaults and domination cannot be part of any fair working conditions, he pointed out. He specifically said that certain managers who were known once to be fearless and straightforward, now fear for their live as well as those of their families. |
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BIZ CLIPS Workshop Chandigarh E-cards Sify.com the leading consumer portal of Satyam Infoway Ltd. (NASDAQ National Market : Sify), is celebrating this Republic Day by offering its users the option of sending Republic Day E-cards to the brave soldiers of the Indian Armed Forces. Users can express their gratitude and appreciation to the soldiers by sending E-cards to a specially created Sify Mail ID — ‘sena_samman@sify.com’. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has appreciated this gesture and consented to receive all E-cards sent by Sify users. To enable Indians across the globe to salute the Indian Soldier, this initiative will be promoted on Samachar.com, the website preferred by most NRIs. The initiative will also be prominent on the Sify Network, using online banners, pop-ups and cross-links. Users can visit the site www.sify.com and send these cards from 20th January, 2002.
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