 |
|
| Wednesday,
May 15, 2002, Chandigarh, India
|
|
||||
|
Traders for
new-look Sec 22 market
Chandigarh, May 14 Shopkeepers in the market have been seeking a change in façade saying the existing one has become outdated and there is a need for change. A memorandum of the Market Welfare Association, Sector 22-D, says shops in this market were constructed in 1952 when India was considered an under- developed nation, however, with the passage of time the needs, requirements and products have changed drastically thus requiring a change in shops itself. Due to rigid building bylaws of 1952 almost all shops in the market are facing resumption proceedings. On the other hand, the city has witnessed several changes. The association in its proposals demands a change in front façade as existing small square blocks of concrete are not required; over all height of the building remains the same; allowing flexibility of floor height; permitting depression upto 4 feet instead of 3 feet; allowing 100 per cent coverage area; no charge of composition fee be levied; use of lifts should be permitted and full three storeys should be constructed. Lastly, the association says the shops have been designated as shop-cum-flats, however, no more than five per cent of people have residences here. The space should be permitted for commercial usage.The association has demanded that the parking area should be handed over to them for maintenance as MC has no funds and no one takes interest. The association has volunteered to spend its own money and sprucing up the area. No permission has been given as the file is shuttling between the Municipal Corporation, Chief Architect’s Office and the Chandigarh Administration. A major argument given by the association is the changes permitted in the last 50 years in other areas in the city — the Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT) is five times its original size and another ISBT has been added in Sector 43; government buildings are changed several times to accommodate more staff due to creation of several new departments; there was no provision for rehri markets, now several such rehri markets have come up to please politicians and many religious places have come up by grabbing land. The association says these people have no role in increasing the tax structure of the city or generated employment.  |
|
PU makes draft to review admission guidelines Chandigarh, May 14 The draft comes up for deliberations under a committee headed by the Dean University Instructions. Some of the members of the committee include Principal
S. C. Marriya, Principal P. S. Sangha, Principal A. C. Vaid, Principal Tarsem Bahia, Mr Satish Sharma and Mr Jarnail Singh and Prof Ramesh Kapoor, Dean College Development Council. It has been pointed out that the examination conducted by the Bihar Intermediate Education Council, Patna, has been de-recognised for the purpose of admissions to various courses of the university. Also students who have ‘passed’ the qualifying examination from the Bihar council should not be admitted. The admission forms will have separate columns for father’s and mother’s names. The name of mother along with the name of the father shall be mentioned in all records. However, in case some students do not wish to declare the name of both parents (or either of mother or father), they may not be insisted upon and
none should be denied admission on this ground. The draft says that when the number of seats is fixed, the total number of students admitted to a particular class should not exceed the seats sanctioned by the university. The “instructions” for admissions reads that to minimise the “candidate suspended” cases, it is suggested that when an admission notice is given in newspapers by respective colleges, it should be
clearly mentioned that the candidates coming from other universities, boards, or councils should bring the migration certificates along with them at the time of admission. It has been pointed out that admissions be carried out according to the schedule approved by the university from time to time. For admission, fraction of marks less than the requisite per centage will not be rounded off to the advantage of the candidate. The university says that “only eligible candidates be admitted to the course concerned. Responsibility for making wrong admissions will lie with the college”. Eligibility certificate will be issued by the university “only for doubtful cases”. In case of any doubt, the candidate will be required to obtain eligibility certificate from PU by filling up the requisite form. No provisional admission will be made without ascertaining the eligibility. “A certificate from each candidate seeking admission to the college to the effect that he was not disqualified by any board must be obtained before allowing admissions”, the draft says. Students who have passed class XII examination from recognised open schools are eligible for admission to first year at the undergraduate level in case their result shows them to have “passed” the course at the open school. A student of any other university who is placed under compartment in first, second or third year from other university will not be allowed to join the next senior class at PU till he clears the backlog. A candidate placed in compartment in class XII is eligible for admission in case compartment is in only one paper; has at least 20 per cent marks in the subject concerned; and should have secured requisite percentage of marks in the aggregate of the examination. The reservation in all colleges will be carried out as per the university regulations. |
|
Shramdan begins
amidst fanfare Chandigarh, May 14 The entire official machinery of the Chandigarh Administration was geared towards making the programme a success with tea and snacks being thrown in for about 700 persons. This even as a proposal to have wet dredging at the lake has been pending for several months now and has not moved beyond the tendering stage thanks to bureaucratic red tape. Without wet dredging the lake cannot be saved, experts in the filed have pointed out time and again. The Centre has sanctioned the money and even clearances have been obtained from the
environment ministry and other relevant departments. Among the officials present at the lake were Mr
L.M. Goyal, Chief Secretary, Government of Haryana, Mrs Lalit Joshi, Mayor, Chandigarh Municipal Corporation; Ms Neeru Nanda, Adviser to the Administrator; Mr
R.S. Gujral, Home Secretary; Mr Karan A. Singh, Finance Secretary; Mr M.
Ramshekhar, Deputy Commissioner; Mr Vivek Atray, Director Public Relations; Mr Ashok
Sangwan, Joint Secretary Home; Mr S.P. Arora Secretary State Transport Authority; Mr Puranjit Singh, Chief Engineer; Mr Krishanjit Singh, Superintending Engineer; Mr
G.K. Marwaha, Chairman, Chandigarh Housing Board; Mr M.P. Singh, Commissioner Municipal Corporation; Mr
S.P. Singh, Other shramdanis who also took part in “shramdan” were 200 police personnel of Chandigarh Police, 150 NSS volunteers from Government College of Education, students from government schools and 100 persons from Chief Engineer office of UT Administration. Among the regular shramdani Mr Shamsher Singh, Mr Sham Lal Singla, Mr Harbans Lal, Mr J.S. Bhogal, Mr Rakesh Sharma, Ms Chandani Sharma, Ms Pushpa Singla, Ms Rinku Bansal, Mr Chirag Sharma, Mr Jagjit
Singh, Mr Raman Gupta, Mr Jagmohan Goyal, Mr Balbir Singh, Mr Dyal Singh Sarpanch, Mr Nirbhay Singh and Ms Sharestha Mehta. In order to attract more people for the voluntary act the Administration has offered two return tickets to Singapore for regular “shramdanis”. It remains to be seen if this will bring in any more people other than the die hard regulars. |
|
Parts of city plunge into darkness Chandigarh, May 14 Eastern parts of the city like Sectors 7, 8, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, Mani Majra and Shivalik Enclave are fed through the Dhulkote grid feeder of the Northern Region Electricity Board. The fault occurred at around 7:30 p.m. Out of the two circuits coming in from Dhulkote, one was restored within an hour, while the second could not be restored till late in the evening. Power engineers on the grid struggled to rectify the fault. The second circuit between Chandigarh and Dhulkote could not take the load thus causing tripping, sources said. Local power engineers then tapped the 132 KV line from Pinjore to meet the emergency and restored power in the entire area after about two hours. Earlier in the morning, a fault in the transformer at the main Civil Secretariat caused a breakdown in the northern sectors but was rectified after about one hour. |
|
Slight drizzle brings relief Chandigarh, May 14 In the evening pleasant weather drew people outside their houses for a walk. |
|
READERS WRITE I WAS working as a teacher in the CBSE-affiliated Shishu Niketan School, Sector 22-D, Chandigarh. After 27 years of dedicated service, I retired on February 28, 2001. However, what I got from the school towards my retirement dues was a bolt from the blue. All that I received was a cheque of Rs 5,738 including house rent and security. This is all the more reprehensible because I was a meritorious teacher all throughout my career as a teacher. In September, 1989, and September, 1995, the Chandigarh Administration awarded me the Certificate of Merit in recognition of my services. I bagged the State Award in 2000 for professional excellence. More important, for the last 10 years, my students have been doing extremely well in the examinations, having secured over 90 per cent of marks. Yet, the school management deprived me of my annual salary increment for the last 10 years. Now that I have retired, all that I would get is Rs 600 as pension every month and about Rs 1 lakh as Provident Fund. Can anyone survive with this meagre amount, leave alone leading a respectable life? According to a report, quoting the Director of Public Instructions (Schools), Chandigarh, a fresh JBT Teacher of a Government School, gets a monthly salary of Rs 7560; a teacher who retires after 27 years of service, should be earning above Rs 20,000 every month. Compare this with my earnings and benefits after retirement. The Shishu Niketan School has done great injustice to me. Rules clearly say that if the schools do not pay State salary scales to teachers, it amounts to violation of CBSE laws and the schools violating the laws would automatically lose their affiliation. As the school management has done gross injustice to me, what would the authorities do now? I appeal once again to the UT Administrator and Punjab Governor, Lieut-Gen J.F.R. Jacob, and all other authorities to sympathetically consider my case and do justice. URMIL SETH,
Chandigarh
No discount The Chandigarh Administration grants 50 per cent discount on fares in CTU buses for local commuting to senior citizens. Surprisingly, however, no such discount is being given on daily passes (for the whole day valid for any route in Chandigarh) on holidays and Sundays. The ends of justice will be met if the authorities sanction 50 per cent discount for senior citizens on passes. Accordingly, the Rs-20 pass may please be made available for senior citizens for Rs 10. TARLOK SINGH CHHABRA,
Mohali
Changing bus routes The change in the bus routes in Sectors 4, 8 and 9 is causing a lot of inconvenience to people, particularly senior citizens, residing in these sectors because of smoke and noise pollution. Previously, the local buses used to ply from Matka Chowk to Secretariat, High Court and then to Sukhna Lake on Jan Marg where there is no residential area. I do not know why the authorities are not using this four-lane road for plying buses. In fact, this route has been specifically planned for plying buses. I, therefore, appeal to the authorities concerned to restore status quo ante by plying buses on the previous routes in the larger interest of those residing in Sectors 4, 8 and 9. RAVINDER TALWAR,
President, Indian Council for Environmental Education Chandigarh
Wrong spellings I feel ill at ease whenever I pass through ISBT, Sector 17, Chandigarh. The two signboards of the Traffic Police — one at the slip road entering the Bus Stand and the other at the roundabout of Sectors 17-22 and 18-21 — spell the word ‘trucks’ as ‘truckes’. Chandigarh, the City Beautiful, is a cosmopolitan city with a relatively high degree of literacy and boards such as this will send a wrong signal about the calibre of Chandigarhians to outsiders and tourists. Isn’t it time for the top brass of the Traffic Police to take note of this and get the spellings in these sign boards corrected? The sooner, the better. Capt JAGDISH CHAND,
Chandigarh |
Admn claims on water supply prove hollow Panchkula, May 14 The problem of low-water pressure plagues two and three-storey houses. Water tanks are also not being filled in some sectors, on the top floors of the houses. Residents belonging to sectors 4, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 18 and 19 and surrounding villages complain that they do not receive water supply for more than two hours a day, both during the morning and evening hours. Mr S.K. Nayyar, president, Citizens Welfare Association, said though the matter had been taken up with the administration from time to time, it had failed to yield the desired results. Mr Rakesh Aggarwal, convener of the joint action committee, Sector 12, said that the residents of Sector 12 were not getting water supply even at 6: 30 am, and even storing water for drinking purposes had become a problem. “There is no action by HUDA to make adequate arrangements for drinking water supply,” he rued. It may be recalled that the authorities had maintained before the onset of summers that the situation of water supply in the township is going to be easy for the residents , with the administration set to provide at least three MGD of water more than the present daily water requirement. Sources in HUDA said that 10 new tubewells would be installed in the township at an estimated cost of over Rs 1.5 crore. Last year, 15 new tubewells had been installed in the township in order to meet the requirement of 17 MGD of water for a population of 1. 75 lakh. This year, the HUDA authorities claimed that they are providing 21 MGD of water to the population of 1.90 lakh. The town has three main waterworks in Sector 1, Sector 8 and Industrial Area. Two others in Sector 20 and the partly developed waterworks in Panchkula Extension are also catering to the needs of Panchkula residents, besides there are 85 tubewells in these waterworks for onward distribution in various sectors. This year, the district administration has also decided to act sternly against those residents who waste water. Already, the Deputy Commissioner has imposed a ban on watering of lawns and washing of cars between 5 a.m. to 9 am. |
|
Societies
made request: CHB Chandigarh, May 14 The societies wanted this so that they could go ahead with the work of getting their building plans sanctioned, a part of which would take a few months, within which time all facilities would be completed. This request was considered favourably by the Chandigarh Housing Board and the UT Administration because it was viewed that this would help in speeding up the work of construction of the flats of the societies and would, therefore, benefit thousands of members who have been waiting for several years for their houses to be constructed. However, to protect the interests of the Chandigarh
Administration and the Chandigarh Housing Board against any litigation, which may arise because of this action, it was decided that physical possession would be given to those societies who agreed out of their own will to give an indemnity bond in which they would indenmify the CHB, Chandigarh Administration and their officers from any claim arising due to handing over possession without the provision of civic infrastructure, V-5 and V-6 approach roads etc. The indemnity bond nowhere mentions that the societies are to agree to take over the land with any kind of encumbrances existing on it, the CHB claimed. It is further reiterated that the submission of the indemnity bond is purely optional on part of the societies. Societies not willing to give the Indenmity Bond can always wait for few months and take the possession only when the land is declared fit by the Engineering Department, UT. |
|
‘Job
reservation for visually handicapped inadequate’ Chandigarh, May 14 Mentioning the problems of total blindness, he highlighted the measures required to be taken for the rehabilitation of such patients . Prof B. S. Chavan, Head, Department of Psychiatry, spoke about the community-based rehabilitation approach for the rehabilitation of mentally disabled patients. He said the number of experts against the number of patients suffering from mental disability is very low in our country. "This necessitates training of the family members of the disabled as well as voluntary workers from the community so that they can take necessary steps for the integration of the disabled with his family and the community at their level only", he said. Dr Preeti Arun from the Department of Psychiatry explained the assessment and management of mental disabilities and rehabilitation. Prof
S. B. S. Mann, Director- Principal, GMCH-32, presided over the valedictory function and distributed certificates to the delegates. Dr Sudhir Kumar, Reader, Department of Orthopaedics, and the organising secretary of the workshop, also spoke on the occasion. |
|
Awareness
programme for rural women Chandigarh, May 14 Welcoming the guests and participants Mr Surinder Verma, chairman of the Citizens Awareness Group said his organisation had already undertaken a number of awareness generation projects in the field of health education, consumer laws and environment by way of seminars and distribution of literature since its inception in December 1994. This was their first camp sponsored by the Chandigarh Social Welfare Advisory Board and its object was to make rural women think about their problems to analyse them and to initiate action to tackle them. Mr A.K. Ranga, Project Officer Chandigarh Social Advisory Board, highlighted the activities launched by the board for the welfare of women and children. He also stressed on the importance of women rights. Ms Suresh Kalra, Dy Director, Adult Education, appealed the audience to put in their best to educate more and more persons in order to eradicate illiteracy and create awareness among the masses about their rights. She asked the youth to take responsibility of educating at least one illiterate person. Dr Ramneek Sharma Vice Chairman, Chandigarh Social Welfare Advisory Board, said the aim of the programme was to create awareness among women and adolescent girls about various important issues related to every day life, like health, legal rights, economic independence, vocational training etc. There are different schemes run by the board for the upliftment of the downtrodden. Other present on the occasion were Dr Dimple, coordinator and Mr S.C. Bhattacharya, cultural secretary from the Citizens Awareness Group and Mr Jagdish Arora from the Adult Education Department. |
|
Building
community hall proves tough for Kannada Sangha Chandigarh, May 14 About 150 families have a plan to build a community hall to keep their culture alive here. They have been pursuing the Administration to allot them a plot but the reply from the Estate Officer, which has asked the Sangha to deposit a sum of Rs 15 lakh for the same, has dampened the spirits of the people of the Sangha. The letter from the Estate Officer, which was received by the Sangha in reply to its application for the allotment of land for Kannada Sangha’s community hall and prayer hall, said that the society trust must have sufficient funds, which include 25 per cent cost of the land and 25 per cent cost of construction. The rate that the Chandigarh Administration has fixed for religious or cultural sites amounts to Rs 5800 per square yard and in accordance the Sangha was asked to submit a documentary proof showing a sum of Rs 15,95,000 in its accounts. “The Kannada community here comprises the service class, mostly in the banking sector and the Air Force and the sum fixed by the Estate Office is beyond our capacity,” said Mr Shiv Ram, an employee with Canara Bank and former president of the Kannada Sangha. “If the Administration had quoted a lesser amount, we would have definitely tried to raise the sum,” he added. The Kannada Sangha is one of the oldest cultural organisations which embraces about 150 families from Karnataka, mostly floating population. “Except for a few families, the Kannada people residing here come only for a short duration as they are mostly employees,” said Mr B D Naik, cultural secretary of the Kannada Sangha. “When some family gets posted here, the first thing it looks for is some kind of association that provides it a chance to meet others from its native place,” said Mr K. Rangaraya, General Manager, Canara Bank. “It would definitely make the newly arrived families feel at home to have a proper place through which they can meet others,” he added. However, it is not only the sentimental value or the feeling of homesickness that has urged the Kannada community to fight for a plot of land. “As we do not have a proper place to organise cultural functions, we have restricted our activities to bare minimum,” said Mr Naik. “And when it comes to celebrating our main festivals like Ganapati festival, Kannada Rajyot Sabha or Ugadi — the New Year for us, we have to run from pillar to post to book a hall at an exorbitant sum,” he added. “A permanent building will help women to organise social functions,” and an opportunity to mingle with the newcomers, catch up with the news back home and do some fruitful creative work,” said Ms S. Kulkarni. |
|
Woman killed in road mishap Chandigarh, May 14 According to police sources, she was trying to cross the road when the car hit her. The car driver, Ajit Singh Shergil, a resident of Patiala, was arrested from the spot and the vehicle (CH-03F-0891) was impounded. As per the police, the victim was rushed to the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, in a PCR vehicle where the doctors declared her ‘brought dead’. A case under Sections 279 and 304-A of the IPC has been registered. The body was sent for post-mortem. In another mishap, Ms Kuldeep Kaur, a resident of Sector 27, who was riding a scooter, was injured after being hit by an Indica car near Kiran Cinema traffic light points in Sector 22 here today. However, no case was registered as the two parties reached a compromise. |
|
MC to get cattle pond for Rs 2 cr SAS Nagar, May 14 However, the SAS Nagar municipal council has said that the rate at which the land was being offered by PUDA for pond was too high. Two acres of land has been offered to the civic body in the Industrial Area here for the purpose. Mr
N.K. Marwaha, senior vice-president of the civic body said the civic body had already deposited Rs 1 lakh with PUDA. The civic body had been asked to deposit Rs 42.54 lakh, which was 25 per cent of the total land cost within 60 days. The issue is being taken up in the general house meeting of the civic body, scheduled for May 15. Officials of the civic body said that the civic body was not in a position to pay a high price for the land. |
|
Traffic
cops challan 3 students Panchkula, May 14 It is learnt that the Traffic Wing of the police had tied up with the school authorities in order to create awareness among the students regarding traffic rules and regulations. It was during this drive that the police challaned two children, who were driving vehicles (HR-03-D-5334) and (CH-03E- 3003). The children did not have the required documents. Later the vehicles were impounded. Another scooterist, with registration number HR-01F-2222, was also challaned. |
Man cheated Chandigarh The case is being investigated by the Economic Offense Wing of the police. A case under Sections 419, 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC has been registered. 3 HURT:
Three passengers of an auto-rickshaw were injured after it was hit by a tractor-trolley near Maloya last evening. The driver of the tractor sped away from the spot. The injured, Paramjit Singh, Ravi and Prem Nath were admitted to the General Hospital, Sector 16. A case under Sections 279 and 337 of the IPC has been registered. DOWRY CASE:
Mrs Anjali Gupta, a resident of Shivalik Enclave, Mani Majra, reported to the police that she was harassed and maltreated by her husband and in-laws for dowry. She was married to Moga-based Dr Ashok Gupta. A case under Sections 406 and 408-A of the IPC has been registered. BURGLARY:
Thieves reportedly decamped with four pairs of gold earrings, two gold lockets, a camera and Rs 5,000 from H.No 1034, Sector 37, yesterday. On the complaint of Mrs Madhu, a case under Sections 454 and 380 of the IPC has been registered. SCOOTER STOLEN:
Mr Jasbir Singh, a resident of Maloya Colony here, reported to the police that his scooter (CH 01 D 5316) was stolen from his residence on Sunday night. A case of theft has been registered. Dera
Bassi Panchkula ONE ASSAULTED:
A resident of Abheypur village, Vijay Chaudhary, was assaulted by unknown persons in Sector 18 market last evening. A case under Sections 324 of the IPC has been registered. |
|
Gang of thieves busted SAS Nagar, May 14 To check whether there was anybody present in a house, the gang members used to knock at the marked houses. If no response came, a member of the gang would throw stone at a window pane to again check any response from the house. The stolen items recovered from the burglars include household goods, motor cycles, cars and cash. The burglars are said to be in the age group of 16 to 20. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
