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| Sunday, February 3,
2002,
Chandigarh, India
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PU may sell prime land Panipat, February 2 At a recent meeting of the committee formed by the PU to find ways and means for the commercial exploitation of the prime land, a majority of the members were of the view that since the returns from them were meagre, the university could dispose of the property. The sum earned by the university could be deposited in a bank and scholarship for the poor and meritorious students could be instituted from the interest from the bank deposit in the name of the grateful alumni, who had donated the land to university years ago, it was pointed out. Besides netting a substantial amount for the university, which had been under pressure from various quarters to raise own resources, this would also perpetuate the memory of the donors in whose names the scholarships would be stated. However, one of the members opposed the selling of land terming it as a “disrespect” to the
donors, according to sources. In fact, a team of the university comprising the PU Registrar, Mr Paramjit Singh, Prof Charanjit Chawla, Prof Bal Krishan and the Deputy Director (Estates), Mr S.C. Malhotra, visited the city to examine ways to raise maximum resources from the six acres of prime commercial land in the Industrial Area here. A part of the covered area had been rented out to the State Bank of India(SBI) at a monthly rent of Rs 10,000. Currently, returns from commercial property are meagre. Besides Rs 10,000 as rent from the SBI, the university was getting only Rs 600 as rent for the six shops in the cheap Hall Bazar in Amritsar. The other prime commercial properties at Shimla and Dalhousie are reported to be in a state of neglect. During the visit of the team here, the hiking of the rent to Rs 20,000 per month and construction of residential accommodation for the SBI staff on vacant land after taking loan from the bank were also discussed. The committee is now scheduled to meet on February 9 at which the representatives of the bank and the Hall Bazar shopkeepers have also been invited for negotiations, the sources said. The university could hardly use the commercial land for any other purpose like the opening of the regional centre since no colleges at the four places are affiliated to it. Moreover, there is fear of encroachment on the prime land as the industrial activity had picked up around the commercial property and the prices shot up in recent times. The PU had set up a committee to suggest ways for commercial utilisation of the land last year under the chairmanship of the Registrar. Besides Professor Chawla and Prof Bal
Krishan, the other members of the committee are Mr G.K. Chatrath and Dr R.D.
Anand. |
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Workshop on
technology transfer Chandigarh, February 2 The
workshop is aimed at documenting and disseminating transfer of
appropriate technologies to rural areas. Inaugurating the workshop, Mr
Yash Pal Mahajan, Chairman, Board of Governors, TTTI, highlighted the
role of TTTIs and community appropriate technologies to rural
areas. Prof S.K. Chopra, Head of Rural Development of TTTI, briefed
the workshop participants about the progress of community polytechnics
in the country. Mr B.K. Bhadri, Education officer, GOI, Ministry of
Human Resource Development, New Delhi, spoke about the GOI support to
the scheme of community polytechnics in the country. |
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Fun, frolic and admissions
Chandigarh, February 2 Inaugurated by Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Finance Minister of Punjab, the main attraction of the day at the fest was the fancy dress contest. Children came dressed as pundits and gods and goddesses and saw participation of over 50 students. While stalls of eatables were thronged by students and parents alike, South Indian dishes were an instant hit and remained full all through the day. In addition, the students put up working models on the necessity of conserving the environment, the message of the exhibition being planting more trees and checking the chopping down of trees in the forest belts.
Meanwhile, the premises of Tender Heart School, Sector 33, came alive when tiny-tots, accompanied by their parents, flocked the school on the first day of admissions today. It was an admission test with a difference with the school authorities adopting the playway method of selection. Though the parents stepped in with apprehension writ large on their faces, it was fun all the way as they saw their little ones dancing to lilting music. *** The Employment Officer, Panjab University, Mr Vinod Sharma, delivered a talk on``Career Opportunities in various fields’’ for students of the science stream at Government College for Girls, sector 11, here today. He spoke of the various post-graduate and professional courses being offered by the Panjab University and other institutions. He interacted with the students by answering queries about the scope of different courses and career books available in the market. The Principal of the college, Ms Vijay Lakshmi, was also present. 
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Kriti wins painting contest Chandigarh, February 2 Kriti won the first prize in the category 1 which was meant for students of classes I and II. The theme for this category was “Holi, Pongal or Sankranti”. As a winner, Kriti received a personal computer and certificate during a colourful function organised at Hyderabad on January 29. The competition which was open to students from classes I to VIII was held initially at the school-level in its preliminary round, gradually moving on to the city level and then culminating at the national level. The competition was organised by Global Trust Bank in association with the Rotary Club. |
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Inter-college contests conclude Chandigarh, February 2 Prof Nirmal Singh, Dean Students Welfare, Panjab University, presided over the quiz competition in the morning session, while Dr Kamla Sood, former Principal, Government College, Dera Bassi, presided over the afternoon session of poetry recitation contest. The following are the results of today’s events: Quiz contest: MCM DAV College, Sector 36, 1, GCM College, Sector 11, 2 and GCG, Sector 11, 3. Recitation contest: Gurmanjot Kaur from SGGS, Sector 26, 1, Rajan Vishal from the SDC, Sector 32, 2 and Asad Naqvi from the PEC, Sector 12, 3. The trophy went to SD College, Sector 32. |
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HIGH COURT Chandigarh, February 2 Challenging the orders of suspension, Dilbag Singh, the Sarpanch, had contended that the MLA managed to get him suspended on flimsy grounds on October 31 last year following his refusal to cooperate with the legislator for getting the panchayat land transferred. He had added that the MLA, bent upon getting him removed, got a show-cause notice issued by the Deputy Commissioner alleging the issuance of residence certificates to two student for admission to an engineering college. Giving details of the case, the counsel for the petitioner had claimed that the Sarpanch had refused to forward the land-transfer case to the authority concerned for approval after he came to know that the price being offered by the MLA was far less than the market price. Going into the background, he said 17 acres, three kanals, and seven marlas, were required by a Trust, set up by the MLA and his family. After hearing the counsel for the petitioner and going through the documents, the Bench, comprising Mr Justice Jawahar Lal Gupta and Mr Justice N.K. Sud, also issued notice of motion to the Haryana Government and other respondents for April 22.
Mystery shrouds man’s disappearance Mystery continues to shroud the disappearance of Pritam Singh, a resident of Gurdaspur district. Even though his father, Bhan Singh of Narpur village, is claiming that Pritam Singh was arrested by the police on December 13, 1998, the cops are denying the allegations. In his petition filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court for holding of an independent inquiry into the incident, along with the registration of a criminal case against the culprits, besides compensation, Bhan Singh has alleged that Batala’s Superintendent of Police, along with other cops, raided his house before arresting him and his son. Expressing apprehensions regarding his son’s elimination by the police in a fake encounter, he has further alleged that till date the cops have not informed him about Pritam Singh’s whereabouts. Arguing on the petitioner’s behalf, his counsel said several representations had been addressed to the IGP, besides the Home Secretary and other officials, but Bhan Singh was not getting justice. The police, on the other hand, is claiming that Pritam was never arrested, kidnapped or killed by them. In his reply submitted in the high court, Batala’s DSP Jaspreet Singh Sidhu said Pritam Singh was not even wanted by the police in connection with any case registered by them. He added that Bhan Singh and several other residents were arrested in connection with a case by the police under TADA on December 21, 1998, but Pritam Singh was not taken into custody. After going through the habeas corpus petition and the reply, Mr Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel of the high court today fixed April 4 as the next date of hearing in the case.
Corporation seeks directions to govt A government corporation has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking directions to the government itself for taking action against the accused who had allegedly caused loss to the exchequer. It claimed that action was not being taken due to the approaching elections. Taking up the petition, Mr Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel of the high court today ordered that a copy of the petition filed by Punjab State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited should be forwarded to the Punjab Chief Secretary after holding that the plea “spoke volumes about the government’s functioning where a government corporation had to file a petition to force the government to listen to it”. Delivering the verdict, the judge observed: “This is a matter to be sorted out at the government level. I am not inclined to give any directions in this petition. Dismissed”. In its petition, the corporation had sought directions to the Punjab Government and other respondents for investigating a case registered at a police station in Ferozepore district and recover paddy allegedly lifted by a mill. The counsel for the petitioner had added that on January 13 the corporation’s District Manager came to know that a rice mill had forcibly lifted Punsup’s paddy stock worth Rs 1 crore following which the Deputy Commissioner concerned was informed. The FIR in the matter was, however, registered with great hesitation only on January 16. He further alleged that even though a case under Sections 409 and 34 of the IPC, besides under the provisions of the Essential Commodities Act, was registered, no action was taken by the police due to political reasons and the approaching elections. He said if the paddy was not recovered, the corporation was likely to suffer a loss of Rs 1 crore. |
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DISTRICT COURTS Chandigarh, February 2 Compensation for minors Two minor children, including a two-and-half-year old girl and a three-year-old boy, were on Saturday granted a compensation of Rs 10.71 lakh by a local court in an MACT case. The two were granted compensation as their father, mother and brother were killed in an accident in Ropar in 2000. Acquitted A local court on Saturday acquitted four city residents in a case of assault and criminal intimidation. The four — Harmail, Daljit, Bhag Singh, Pritpal Singh — were acquitted as the complainant and the witness in the case turned hostile. The complainant, Ajay Kohli, had alleged that the accused had forcibly entered his house and beaten him. The police had registered a case on April 10, 2000, under Sections 147, 149, 323, 308 and 506 of the IPC. Shootout case A local court on Saturday adjourned the district court shootout case till March 1. It was alleged that the shootout took place on July 6, 1998, when the accused, Harvinder Singh, involved in the murder of Harjit Singh, was being produced in the local court. It was alleged that the supporters of the accused, Harvinder Singh, had fired shots at the victims’ supporters when they raised slogans against the Punjab police. The city police had arrested 18 persons under Sections 147, 148, 149, 307, 338, 353 of IPC and 25, 27, 54, 59 under Arms Act. |
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501 cases settled
in Lok
Adalat Panchkula, February 2 The adalat was held under the chairmanship of Dr
S.K. Kapoor, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr Kamal Kant, Chief Judicial Magistrate, and Ms Aradhana Sawhney and Mr
P.K. Yadav, Judicial Magistrates. Mr R.S. Virk, Member Secretary, was present on behalf of the State Legal Services Authority. Mr Kamal Kant,
CJM, informed that cases relating to the Motor Vehicle Act, accident claims, Minimum Wages Act, Payment Wages Act, Shops Act, Factories Act and civil suits were settled in this Lok
Adalat. A total compensation of Rs 19,43,000 was awarded by the court of Dr
S.K. Kapoor and Mr H.S. Bhangoo from the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, while settling the claims under the Motor Vehicles Act. A fine of Rs 94,270 was also recovered in various cases. The last Lok Adalat was held here on October 20 and of the 829 cases taken up, 457 were disposed of. |
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Mending society through theatre Chandigarh, February 2 The first play of the evening, titled “Udhali hoi kudi”, written by Kapoor Singh Ghuman and directed by Jagjit Saini, brought alive the painful days of Partition. It featured stories of women uprooted on account of division of the land. Kartar Kaur is married to a Punjabi has to finally abandon her home and hearth after the political masters decide to “reunite Muslims of India with their kin back in Pakistan.” The play also focuses on Salma, who is also forced to leave India. She, however, does not make it to her home. Instead she land up with the police personnel, who exploit her thoroughly. “Jangi Ram di haveli” was Gursharan Singh’s satire on the modus operandi of the political leaders who wish to wrest power. It progresses with a great punch and finally exposes the wily politicians who grind the masses to fill their coffers. The play culminates with a message of rebellion against the dead political set up, which serves no good. “Luk vich fase pair”, also a Gursharan Singh’s play, is about how the routine takes a toll on social relationships. It features characters, who are continuously dissecting others by sitting in their judgment. It also attacks the bureaucratic set up, where power remains centralised to the disadvantage of citizens. Finally through his characters, Gursharan Singh makes a wish that of a socialistic society, where equality rules the roost. |
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Comfortable with English, making waves in Punjabi Chandigarh, February 2 Though he is more comfortable speaking English, Surjit says he has passed an ‘O’ level course in Punjabi which makes him confident enough to try his hand at writing lyrics for their albums. “With help from friends, I have been actively involved in writing lyrics for our songs,” he says. “This is the first time I have set foot on the soil of Punjab and the feeling is great,” says Surjit while addressing mediapersons. “We all (five members of the band) are planning to come back in April again for a Baisakhi tour,” he says. Other members of the band are his four brothers, Mukhtar Sahota on lead keyboards, Raj Sahota on tabla and dholak, Parkesh Sahota on percussion and Vijay Sahota on keyboards. Sahotas came around as a professional rock band in 1987 with their first album “Giddah Pao”. The idea to form a band came to their minds after Surjit and his two brothers, Parkesh and Vijay, won the National Festival of Music for Youth contest organised by BBC in 1986. “We caught attention of many music companies and recorded our first album soon thereafter.” he says recalling their early days. They were invited to perform in the Royal Albert Hall in London. Though since then the band has come out with seven more albums, only two of these reached the Indian audience. “Because of piracy and other problems we restricted our albums to the international market only,” says Surjit. But after the hit of “Teri meri gall ban gayi”, the band has cut their new album “Dil vich tu vasdi” specially for the Indian market. The album also has two Hindi tracks. These numbers are a sort of trial for Surjit who would like to work as a playback singer in near future. Surjit has received a few offers to sing for Hindi films, but he is waiting for the right chance to come through. Till then it is experiment time for the Sahotas. They are toying with the idea of doing an album in collaboration with some other singers like Apache Indian. |
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FILM REVIEW Director Vikram Bhatt’s films have always been eagerly awaited by movie buffs. His latest offering ‘Raaz’, presented by Tips and Mahesh Bhatt is a fast-paced psycho-thriller — it entertains and has bright prospectus at the Box office. Vikram Bhatt has certainly matured as a director after ‘Ghulam’ and ‘Kasoor’. He has shown remarkable maturity as director in this suspense thriller. ‘Raaz’ is a story of a young couple. They are on the brink of a divorce. They decide to give their marriage one last chance and go back to Ooty. Ooty and their dream house turns out to be a nightmare. Their house is haunted. There seems to be a link between their crumbling marriage and the
hauntings. What is the reason of these hauntings? Who is haunting them? This is what remains to be seen in ‘Raaz’ ..... Though the film is a Dino Morea starrer and he has performed well, it is Bipasha Basu who steals the show with ‘her fine performance. Ashutosh Rana, Malini Sharma, Anang Desai, Vishwajeet Pradhan too perform well. The songs penned by Sameer and set to tune by Nadeem Shravan, stand out. Amit Saxena’s editing, Gappa Chakraborty’s art direction and cinematography by Pravin Bhatt are the other highlights. Vikram Bhatt deserves credit on a well-made film. So does Mahesh Bhatt who has written the story. *** Meghna Gulzar makes her debut as a director in Jhamu Sugandh’s ‘Filhaal’. The film is about the borrowing of a womb. Sushmita Sen plays Shia, an ambitious achiever who becomes pregnant. Pop singer Shaan is her singer lover. Tabu and Euphoria-fame lead singer Palash Sen and Sanjay Suri impresses in their roles. The main assets of ‘Filhaal’ are Meghna Gulzar’s self assured direction, national award winner Tabu and Sushmita Sen’s fine performance. This film has an unconventional storyline and the exotic locales of South Africa. Anu Malik is the composer working on ‘Filhaal’ score which has nice compositions. Gulzar has penned the beautiful lyrics. Manmohan Singh’s photography is plus point of the film. D.P. |
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Musical evening at Kala Bhavan Chandigarh, February 2 The programme started with a bhajan “Sukh ke sab hai sathi” sung by both Arif and Mansoor who then rendered another duet “Hum tere sahar mein,” a ghazal with Arif playing tabla and Mansoor on harmonium. |
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Bhatti to release book today Chandigarh, February 2 The book has been written by Harbans Singh Virdi who has a number of books on Sikh history to his credit.
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