The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

EDUCATION

Public participation in public affairs stressed
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 15
“There are few forums in Haryana that hold deliberations on vital political issues,” said Mr Yogendra Yadav, a political commentator, while addressing students in Panjab University here today.

Mr Yadav is accompanying the Sampurna Kranti Yatra being organised by the Samajwadi Janparishad to spread the ideas of Jaiprakash Narain. He said a majority of rallies and conferences centered around the national capital or Chandigarh. This did not take the message to the masses. The ‘yatra’ aims at creating awareness among people.

Mr Yadav said the ‘yatra’ did not envisage a revolution. The main aim is to contact people and attempt to chain their thoughts. It was wrong to blame politicians for all the problems. All important segments of societies wanted a change, yet they themselves did not contribute significantly in public affairs.

He raised several questions for people to ponder over: “Everyone is bothered about his own community and family, who should bother about the nation?; rich are growing richer and poor poorer, who will raise his voice against this?; Haryana leads in female foeticide, who will stop this?; if politicians are eating away your wealth, why are you sitting idle at homes?; and if only rich run the political affairs who will bother about the common man?”

The ‘yatra’ started on March 6 from Narnaul. Public meetings, discussions and deliberations are being organised at all district headquarters. After passing through Bhiwani, Jind, Kaithal and Yamunanagar, the yatra reached Chandigarh today. The next phase of the ‘yatra’ will cover Ambala, Panipat, Sonepat and Delhi before it concludes at Gurgaon on March 28.

Prof Devindra Singh, convener of the ‘yatra’ gave details of the programme. Socialist Surendra Mohan will join the ‘yatra’ tomorrow.

Woodlands holds painting contest
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, March 15
A painting, colouring and craft contest was organised here today at Woodlands House School.

The contest was sponsored by Camelin for pre-nursery, nursery and LKG students. About 200 tiny tots participated enthusiastically.

The children used different objects like block, sponge, vegetables, cotton, finger, morale camp, etc for the competition.

The paintings were judged according to sincerity, effort, originality, beauty and creativity. Parents' support and help was greatly appreciated.

The Principal, Mrs Vijay Baksh, said organising these contests throughout the academic session makes children work in their peer group recognise their innate abilities, build self-confidence and above all children learn to be ready to compete at this early age.

Prizes and participation certificates were given to the children. To all the participant it was a day of joy and great learning for the little children.

Results:

Pre-nursery-A: Shagun-I, Nehal-I, Aru-III.

Pre-nursery B: Sidhant-I, Arshiya-II, Fanny-III, Consolation - Vishal.

Pre-Nursery C: Nishtha-I, Dinkar-II, Pragun-III, Consolation-Shruti;

Pre Nursery D: Paridhi-I, Trishla-II, Kuber and Rachita-III;

Nursery A: Pankhuri-I, Salooni-II, Nivedita-III, Consolation-Simrat;

Nursery B: Bhavya-I, Apoorba-II, Jayti-III, Consolation-Gagandeep;

Nursery C: Tanisha-I, Akshina-II, Snigdha-III, Consolation- Amit.

LKG: Ifsha-I, Bhavya-II, Sambhavi-III,Consolation- Aryaman.

Students apprised of career options
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 15
The three-day entrepreneurial awareness programme organised by the Regional Centre for Entrepreneurship Development on behalf of the Directorate of Industries, Chandigarh Administration for the final year students of the Government Polytechnic for Women, Sector 10, concluded today. More than 120 students participated in the programme.

The objective of the programme was to build an awareness about the availability of career options and entrepreneurial opportunities.

Mr N.S. Brar, Director Industries, Chandigarh was the chief guest. He urged the students to come forward and avail themselves of the facilities provided by various agencies to set up units and be self-employed. He also gave away certificates to the students.

COURTS

HIGH COURT
Pay petrol allowance to HCS (J) members
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 15
All members of the Haryana Civil Services (Judicial branch), except Chief Judicial Magistrates, shall be paid cash in lieu of 75 liters of petrol every month with effect from April 1, following the disposal of a writ petition filed by a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The petition was disposed of by the Bench, comprising Mr Justice Jawahar Lal Gupta and Mr Justice V.M. Jain, after Haryana’s Advocate General stated that the members of subordinate judicial service, excluding the officer posted as the CJM, shall be provided with the price of 75 litres of petrol per month along with their salary.

Coming down heavily on the state of Haryana for apparently not providing “all those privileges to judicial officers which were available to members of the administrative executive”, the Bench had earlier directed that “either adequate transport should be provided to each officer or a reasonable amount sanctioned by the way of transport allowance so that the officers were able to use their own vehicle and were adequately reimbursed for maintenance and other costs”.

The Bench had ruled: “The case was decided by this court vide its judgement dated July 15, 1997. More than four years have already elapsed. Despite a specific direction that the judicial officers shall be given at least all those privilege which are available to a member of the administrative executive, the needful does not appear to have been done. In the process, the Judicial officers continue to suffer”.

VC’s case for larger Bench

Punjabi University Vice-Chancellor Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia’s petition seeking the grant of anticipatory bail in an attempt to murder case was today referred to a Division Bench of the High Court by Mr Justice Nirmal Singh.

The Bench, comprising Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi and Mr Justice M.M. Kumar, is already hearing two petitions filed by the VC seeking the quashing of two different cases.

Orders reserved on octroi ban

A Division Bench of the High Court, headed by Mr Justice Jawahar Lal Gupta, today reserved orders on a bunch of petitions filed against Punjab Government’s decision to abolish octroi in the state.

In his application, former Municipal Councillor Mathura Dass had contended that the state should not be permitted to implement the decision to abolish octroi till alternate sources of income were provided to municipalities. Claiming that the orders had been passed after violating the High Court directions, his counsel had added that as per the orders the respondents were required to place on record a copy of the decision and were expected to implement the same after obtaining court permission. The respondents had ordered the abolition of octroi from December 1, last year.

Don’t finalise lecturers’ choice

Issuing notice of motion for April 29, a Division Bench of the High Court has ordered that the selection process pertaining to the post of Political Science lecturers in the state of Punjab would not be finalised.

In their petition against the state of Punjab, besides the Punjab Public Service Commission, taken up by the Bench, comprising Mr Justice N.K. Sodhi and Mr Justice Jasbir Singh, Ms Ranjana Gupta and another petitioner had contended that once an advertisement issued in the newspapers had specified that the candidates who had earlier applied were not required to apply again, they could not be denied the right to appear for the screening test.

No ST on pre-June 26 liquor stocks

Our Legal Correspondent adds: Mr Justice Jawahar Lal Gupta and Mr Justice N.K. Sud of the High Court on Friday accepted the contention of wine contractors of the state of Haryana and held that no sales tax was leviable or payable on the stocks of India-made foreign liquor lying with them on before midnight of June 25, 2001.

The wine contractors of the state of Haryana had challenged the demand of sales tax by the Excise & Taxation Department, on stocks lying with them, on the basis of the notification issued on June 26, 2001, and in certain cases, assessments were also framed resulting in crores of rupees as sales tax on the sale price.

In the petitions, it was pleaded that at the time of auction, it was announced that no sales tax would be levied and the demand of sales tax on the stocks was without authority of law as the said purchase was made before imposition of sales tax. The High Court, while accepting the wine contractors’ plea held that “a taxing statute has to be strictly construed. The words have to be given plain meaning. Under the Act, the tax is leviable on the first sale in the state of Haryana, not on the first sale made after the promulgation of the Amending Act.”

It further went on to hold that “the sale of stocks which had been purchased by the petitioners till the midnight of June 25, 2001 in the state of Haryana would not attract the levy under the Act as it would not be the first sale.

DISTRICT COURT
Suit for damages adjourned
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, March 15
A suit seeking recovery of Rs 5 crore as damages, filed by former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir Singh Badal against Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, was today adjourned for reply by a local court.

The counsel for Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Capt Amarinder Singh today appeared in the court and sought adjournment for reply. After hearing the arguments, the UT Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr C.L. Mohal, adjourned the case for April 3.

Mr Parkash Singh Badal and his son had sought recovery of Rs 5 crore as damages along with interest for allegedly defaming them through the publication of “defamatory” advertisements in various newspapers before the assembly elections.

Accusing Mrs Gandhi of being responsible for the “defamatory advertisement”, they alleged that Capt Amarinder Singh got the same published with her active connivance.

Mr Parkash Singh Badal and his son also alleged that the advertisements had wrongly conveyed a message that the Punjab CM had mortgaged the state’s interest in the SYL canal case, besides the future of Punjab farmers, in favour of the Haryana CM in lieu of a gift of 22 acres in Gurgaon worth Rs 500 crore.

Judicial remand: A local chemist, Sudarshan Kumar, who was allegedly acting as a conduit for senior Inspector J.S. Cheema, was today produced before the UT Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr C.L. Mohal, and was remanded to judicial custody till March 28. It was alleged that the CBI had recovered a large amount of Indian and foreign currency from his possession. The magistrate has also directed the CBI to supply a copy of the FIR to the defence counsel.

Bail plea: A bail plea moved by Customs Inspector Arun Kumar Singla, who has been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a corruption case, today dismissed by a local court.

Singla was arrested by the CBI for allegedly having assets disproportionate his known sources of income. The accused had been remanded in judicial custody by a local court.

Adjourned: In a defamation complaint filed against Capt Amarinder Singh by the local unit of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Mr N.S. Minhas, was adjourned for April 22. Meanwhile, the complaint filed by Capt Amarinder Singh, for quashing of the complaint filed against him was also adjourned for April 22 for consideration.

Mr Minhas had filed a complaint under Sections 499 and 500 of the IPC against the PPCC for publishing the poster in various national and regional news paper against Mr Parkash Singh Badal.

Acquitted: A local court today acquitted three Punjab police constables in a case of robbery. The three, Baljit, Rajvinder and Gurdas, were acquitted as the witnesses in the case turned hostile. The case against the three accused was registered under Sections 392, 397 and 411 of the IPC on November 3, 1994.

CULTURE

An expression of divine and sensuous
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 15
This evening at Shantikunj was about a literal celebration of grace and poise. Picking up the thread of tradition, the accomplished bharatnatyam dancers in guru Kanaka Srinivasan and her six disciples needled rhythm and technique throughout the one-and-a-half-hour-long presentation under the UT Administration’s Jhankar series.

The curtain opened to Pushpanjali which had the dancers paying floral tributes to the sound of existence, ‘om’. The latter part of this sequence had its base in the dance form and its techniques. Accompanying the guru were her disciples Nandita, Dharini, Lathika, Radhika, Swati and Sukanya. The young dancers matched their guru in versatility and grace.

The evening progressed to bare nuances of the dance form and its subtlety. The dancers displayed great skill and did justice to the technique of bharatnatyam. The second presentation — ‘ganpathi stuti’ composed by Tulsidas— by Dharini Mathur was about the majesty of Shiv ‘putra’. Set to ‘aditaal’, the item had Dharini making a very sincere statement.

The omnipotence of Shiva featured in the third presentation of the evening which came from the guru herself. Attributed to Lord Shiva, the sequence had Kanaka Srinivasan blending ‘nritta’ and ‘abhinaya’ to viewers’ delight. The item in ‘raga revathi’ evoked tremendous applause. The lyrical content of the item coupled with a devotional approach of Kanaka’s presentation added further delight to the piece.

The pastimes of Lord Krishna and his ‘leela’ formed the content of the fourth item in ‘raga semendra madhyamam’. The piece, presented by all disciples, had a certain ethereal quality to it. It was all about good stances and movements. Next item had its base in Lord Krishna’s habit of stealing butter. In this item, Dharini Mathur once again put forth a good recital.

Kanaka Srinivasan marched back to the stage with a ‘bhajan’ of Meera ‘Tum bin mero kaun khabar le Govardhan Gopala’. In all the elements of dance, the guru was perfect. Her footwork and her ‘abhinaya’ blossomed during the piece, which was followed by a presentation dedicated to the attributes of Lord Shiva. Set in ‘raga Goula’, the presentation from all the disciples made the evening even more worthwhile. The recital concluded with a lilting ‘tillana’ in ‘raga mandu’. The piece saw dancers in perfect unison.

Musical support for the recital came from Shri Ganesh on the ‘natwangam’, Vidya Srinivasan for vocal, Janaki Krishna on the mridamgam and G. Raghuram on the flute.

Combining wearability with practicality
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 15
Jatin Kochhar has come a long way. The going may have been tough for this self-taught designer who studied in Delhi and Mumbai, but with years he has made a mark with garments that have two quintessential elements of design — wearability and practicality. No wonder he is the man behind the personal wardrobes of celebrities like Shahnaz Hussain, Blossom Kochhar and a host of models.

Jatin was in town yesterday for a brainstorming session with students of the National Institute of Fashion Design in Sector 8. And while he assimilated ideas of designers in the making, he also offered valuable tips on how to make the product going at the commercial and creative level. That was when Jatin took time off to talk design, his first passion after his wife...

Being part of the happening fashion circuit, it was worthwhile to hear what he had to say. The conversation took off from the influences for a designer. “As a designer, I have been most enriched by Uttar Pradesh, the hub of patti, mukaish, zardosi and other traditional crafts. Wearability is the most important element in creation. We don’t just sell; we help the customer plan a wardrobe. Because customer is the king, he must go home satisfied that he had made a sensible investment in a certain set of clothing,” said the designer, who is currently working on his summer line.

“We are working on a romantic peasant look this season. Lots of skirts are being created. Denim is back in a big way. Recycled denim garments are also back,” said the designer who caters to middle and upper middle class. His stores house four lines of garments — for school kids, for young professionals, exclusively for men and lastly for the upper middle section.

“As for fabric, cotton crepes, cotton silk is the rage this season and the hottest colours are all shades of pink from lavender to lilac. White and black are constant favourites, though I personally prefer black and blue. In the matter of fabric, I am most comfortable with knitted stuff,” he said.

For Jatin, another important consideration is age. He had no qualms about saying that most people in India were not ready to accept that they were ageing. He said, “I believe in dressing according to age. There is no point in draping something which causes embarrassment. Also I must tell you here that most young girls today cannot handle a saree, cannot even wear one. It’s sad to see this disregard to tradition.”

He talked about the richness of Indian market, adding that it is difficult to establish connections between Western and Indian designs. “Fashion goes on in a circle. The USA does not have a great history. So designers pick up particular cultures every year and experiment with their nuances. In fact, all high-fashion garments that hit the most prestigious of ramps are created in India. For the last 50 years, that’s the way it has been. The Indian heritage was a big hit two years back. Equally fascinating for the westerners is Egyptian, Chinese and Japanese culture.” As for the Indian fashion scene, Jatin said that the industry was only 12 years old, compared to the global market which is 200 years old. “But we are moving ahead in a positive direction.”

While international fame follows Jatin closely, he is concentrating on exploring the local market. With particular interest in Punjab’s phulkari which, he feels, has not been exploited to its potential, Jatin will shortly tour Patiala to measure the scope of phulkari. He added,”I am in no hurry to go international. I would rather dress up Indians than go out looking for buyers.”