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| Saturday,
June 1, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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Marble traders get first jolt Chandigarh, May 31 About 80 sheds which served as offices of marble traders, saw mills, pot sellers, fruits sellers, including a gas agency, were removed. However, marble and timber traders have been given time till tomorrow to remove their goods. The SDM, (South), Mr Gyanesh Bharti, confirmed that time had been allowed to these traders. All sheds and structures removed today were located in Sector 51. The sheds located on the other side of the road (in Sector 52) have not been touched as the land in this Sector is yet to be acquired. However, notices for violations under the Periphery Control Act have been issued to even these traders. Once the land is acquired these sheds will also be removed. Interestingly, a liquor vend and an ahata located right next to the demolished sheds in Sector 51 were left untouched. Sources reasoned that as the land for the vend had been given on lease by the Municipal Corporation. The biggest gainers in today’s effort of the Chandigarh Administration are the group housing cooperative societies. Land allotted to these societies was under unauthorised occupation of the marble dealers The market could have been removed about 15 days ago, but traders produced a stay order of the Supreme Court in which the court had restrained the Chandigarh Administration from taking any action against the marble market till a certified copy of the Punjab and Haryana High Court orders was received by the Administration or the traders. The High Court in its judgement on April 30 had dismissed the plea of the marble traders.
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16 trucks owned by Langah aide seized SAS Nagar, May 31 The trucks were being runby Chandigarh-based Sher Singh Shera, who is at large. A delux bus being plied under the name of Deol Transport Cooperative was also seized today from Ropar. Six buses of the transport company being run by Ajay Pal Singh allegedly on behalf of the minister have already been seized. Sources in the vigilance department said they received an information that the trucks had been hidden in a massive crater at Tangori village. After seizing the documents of the trucks, the vehicles were driven to the Phase 8 police station. The vigilance bureau is investigating a case of disproportionate assets registered against the former PWD minister. Questioning of the people close to the minister has reportedly revealed that the money collected through unfair means had been invested in the transport business. Two persons, Dolla and Ajay Pal Singh, who were virtually the "caretakers" of Deol Transport Cooperative, during interrogation said around 25 buses of the former minister were being run under factitious names. The route permits were arranged by the minister and the profit was regularly collected by him. The sources said the buses were running on different routes in Punjab. The ledger books of the transport cooperative society with signatures of the minister have already been seized by the Vigilance Department. The sources said the modus operandi of the former minister was to invest money in different trades in name of his touts. |
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Football magic bypasses city Chandigarh, May 31 Residents of Panchkula are, however luckier as the world cup is being telecast in the township thanks to the enterprise of individual cable operators. Ten Sports a company that holds telecast rights for the event wants more money for providing link. Siti Cable is the main agency that beams the signal to sub-operators across the city will have to payments to be channel for getting signal. The sub operators provide connections to individual subscribers on the payment of monthly charges but all subscribers are not redy to pay more for the sake of football matches. A meeting between representatives of cable operators and Siti Cable officials is scheduled for tonight where it will decided if operators will pay more for the world cup or not. About 40 per cent of the residents were ready to pay more but there could be no telecast unless payments is made by all subscribers, said an operator. Interestingly, if Siti Cable buys link from Ten Sports it cannot pick and choose which operators it will beam the channel to. It is either the entire city’s operators or none of them. So the entire lot of cable operators will have to agree to the new charges. There is no system by which cable operators in one sector can pay to Siti Cable and get the link, he said. Siti Cable has already written to the operators that they will have to pay an additional amount of Rs 30 per connection. The monthly charges will then go up to Rs 160 per connection. Over and above will be the expenses on maintenance of SAS Nagar: For soccer fans here, the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) today showed the opening match between France and Senegal on a large 54” screen in the PCA stadium. A spokesman of the PCA club said the facility was made available for members of the club. Meanwhile, the unresolved matter over the payments between cable TV operators and Ten Sports, a channel broadcasting the Football World Cup, did not hamper the telecast of the opening ceremony, and the first match of the World Cup was seen by residents of SAS Nagar. They were luckier as the first match was being telecast in the township, thanks to the enterprise of individual cable operators. |
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Country’s top schools to open branches in city Chandigarh, May 31 The four schools are: Saint Xavier's, Mumbai; Delhi Public School; Rai School, Delhi; and Guru Nanak School, Delhi. One of the tops schools, Delhi Public School, was not keen on coming on its own, but was ready for a collaborative effort. The school has tied up with the Heritage Educational Society headed by the local MP, Mr Pawan Bansal. All other schools have come in direct, barring the DPS. Official sources clarified that joint ventures are permitted under the policy. Thus the entry of the DPS cannot be viewed as wrong as the Heritage Educational Society and the DPS have a proper and a satisfactory agreement. Initially, when the Chandigarh Administration had invited applications it had said it would accept those schools which opened their branches. This was later changed to include schools that opened their branches in collaboration with some local societies. This change was allowed as several top schools did not want to open more branches as it added Meanwhile, Mr Bansal admitted that he was heading the society and the husband of the Congress General Secretary, Ms Ambika Soni, was also part of the society. He assured that the DPS, Society, Delhi, will have full control over the school. Once the school is established, the chairman of the DPS Society, Delhi, will be its chairman and the same will be true for vice-chairman of the Chandigarh school. Three other members on the board will also be nominated by the DPS. And members of the local heritage society will not be part of the board. The schools will have 20 children in each class who will study for free and their entire expense will be incurred by the school. Meanwhile, sources in the administration said the schools will not be allowed to charge any amount of fee. A mechanism will be developed to ensure that the fee was not sky high. Originally the administration had planned to give weightage to people who were running schools in residential areas. This was, however, overruled on the argument that it would mean giving benefits to people who indulged in illegal activity. Areas to be allocated to four schools
School
Site
Area Delhi Public School Sector 40-C 6 acres (approx) St Xavier’s, Mumbai Sector 49-B 5 acres (approx) Rai School, Delhi Sector 48-B 5 acres (approx) Guru Nanak School, Delhi Sector 46-D 5 acres (approx)
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Ban tobacco ads, says
association SAS Nagar, May
31 The president of the association, Ms Amteshwar Kaur, said at a press conference on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day here that nearly 10 million persons died each year throughout the world due to the tobacco habit. She said the theme for this year’s No Tabacco Day was Tobacco-Free Sports and the slogan was “play it clean”. The theme seeks to highlight the dangerous association between tobacco and sports. While sports enhance healthy living, tobacco impedes sporting excellence and health. While welcoming the ban imposed by the Supreme Court on smoking in public places, she said the directions were not being implemented strictly and smoking at public places was still quite common. She said the aim of the association was to create awareness about the ill-effects of tobacco and drug use. The association had selected 10 villages around SAS Nagar for creating awareness in this regard. Medical check-up camps would be organised and counselling provided. The message would be spread through schoolchildren. She said sometime ago PAU, Ludhiana, had collected data from five villages which indicated that 66 per cent of children studying in classes IX and X were using drugs. The others were abstaining from drugs due to religious reasons and not because drugs were harmful. In the evening the association held a function to distribute prizes among winners of various competitions held during the year in which nearly 1900 students from 20 different schools participated. An exhibition of the prize winning paintings was also held. Ms Seema Jain, Deputy Commissioner, Ropar, was the chief guest. A number of functions marked No Tobacco Day in educational institutions of the city today. At Government High School, Sector 40, the NSS Director of Panjab University, Dr C.L. Narang, informed the students and teachers that maximum number of deaths, cancer problems of liver, lungs and asthma occur due to tobacco. He added that it was the duty of the teachers to make the students aware of the ill-effects of tobacco. The officiating head of the school, Ms Ravinder Gulati, also spoke on the occasion. Students of Government High School, Sarangpur, marched through the village, educating the public on the ill-effects of tobacco. The rally was flagged off by Dr S.K. Sharma, president of the Environment Society of India. The Headmistress, Dr Brij Shukla, launched a tree plantation drive on the school campus. A vermiculture unit was also started at the campus by the Triveni Eco Club along with the help of the Environment Society of India. In Government College, Sector 46, the president of the UT Employees Welfare Association, Mr Ram Avtar, called upon college employees to shun smoking. Later, employees took an oath not to smoke. This was followed by burning of bundles of bidis and cigarettes. Volunteers from various departments of the PGI participated in a rally. The rally which was flagged off by the PGI Deputy Director Administration, Ms Meeta Rajivlochan, was organised by the PGI branch of the Indian Public Health Association. Dr Inderjit Walia, its president, and Dr J.S. Thakur of the Department of Community Medicine, PGI, addressed the participants on the occasion. Anti-tobacco volunteers committed themselves to make the PGI a smoking-free zone. They pledged to work actively and with greater enthusiasm towards this nobel cause in order to make the institution a better and healthier place to work and serve. Meanwhile, the Department of Community Medicine, PGI, also organised a special poster-making competition at the Civil Dispensary, Sector 38. This dispensary runs adolescent clinic twice a week and the aim of the competition was to create awareness among the schoolchildren about the hazards of tobacco. More than 100 children participated in the competition. The competition was inaugurated by Dr M.P. Minocha, Director, Family Welfare, UT. He exhorted the children to work for a tobacco-free society and appreciated the overwhelming response to this activity. Dr J.S. Thakur briefed the children about the objectives of such programmes and theme of the year. Earlier, Dr Balbir Singh, Medical Officer, welcomed the participants. The Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan in association with the UT Sports Department organised a ‘youth run for tobacco-free sports’. The run was
flagged off from the cricket stadium, Sector 16, by Mr Labh Singh,
Director of the sangathan, Punjab and Chandigarh, in the presence of
the District Sports Officer, Mr J.S. Negi, Mr K.S. Bharti and Mr G.S.
Bajwa. More than 100 participants also took an oath that in the
interest of promoting better health and society, tobacco and
tobacco-related products would not be promoted.  |
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Looking behind the smoke screen THE whole world observes May 31 as No Tobacco Day. According to latest reports of the World Health Organisation (WHO), tobacco is responsible for millions of premature deaths worldwide. Almost eight lakh persons lose their lives every year, worldwide, due to tobacco use. Smoking one cigarette reduces life of a person by 11 seconds. Tobacco users have double the risk of heart diseases, 10 times the risk of lung cancer and several times the risk of mouth, throat, oesophagus, pancreas, kidney, bladder and cervix cancer than a person who does not smoke. Tobacco users report two to three fold higher incidences of brain stroke and peptic ulcer than non-smokers, a two to four fold more risk of fracture of hips, wrists and vertebrae and a two fold increase in the risk of developing cataract. In India, around 60 per cent men and three per cent women are smokers. Most of the tobacco users use ‘bidi’. Fifty per cent men and 30 per cent women in India are in the habit of tobacco chewing. There are 18.4 crore tobacco users in India, out of which four crore are cigarette users, eight crore ‘bidi’ users and six crore ‘gutkha’ and ‘jarda’ users. Tobacco companies spend over $16.5 million on manufacturing and promoting their products and these companies are now targeting developing countries for the sale of their products. Dr Deepinder Singh, Assistant Professor, Lord Mahavira Homoeopathic College, said a study conducted by the National Institute of Aging, Maryland (USA), states 15 per cent of tobacco users become impotent by the age of 40. He said passive smoking was even more harmful. “Children of parents who smoke have low birth weight, are more likely to be mentally retarded, have more respiratory infections, less efficient pulmonary functioning and higher incidence of chronic ear infection than the children of non-smokers,” he said. A recent survey conducted by the Children Environmental Health Center, Cincinnati (USA), revealed that passive smoking affected the memory of a child and decreased his ability to read, understand and reason. Dr Ramesh, Medical Director, Eye Bank, Mansuran, said the agent causing addiction to tobacco was nicotine, which was as addictive as heroin. It was immediately absorbed through the mouth, nose and lungs and stimulated the brain. It gave a feeling of temporary activeness, but wanes out rapidly. “To get that feeling again, the addict gets compelled to take tobacco again,” he said. Dr G.S. Wander, chief cardiologist, Hero DMC Heart Institute, said to mark No Tobacco Day, the HDHI and the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) would start the first anti-tobacco clinic-cum-counselling centre of the region from May 31. He said the services to addicts would be provided by a team of experts. “We will provide services to people of all age groups who want to quit smoking, twice a month. The concept of anti-smoking clinic has been borrowed from America, where such clinics and counselling centres have drastically pulled down the number of smokers,” said Dr Wander. Dr Shailendra Kumbhkarni, who will be counselling the addicts at the clinic, said 70 per cent of addicts want to give up smoking and 30 per cent try for this every year, but only two to three per cent succeed. He said, “When one stops smoking, levels of dopamine and noradrenaline, which trigger good feeling, alertness and energy, go down. And one feels withdrawal symptoms and lack of pleasure and as a result one lights another cigarette to be relieved from withdrawal symptoms. |
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Dept without regular head for five months Chandigarh, May 31 After the retirement of the last Chief Town Planner, Mr HS Bhogal, the meeting of the departmental promotion committee (DPC) has been postponed twice during the past five months for reasons best known to the officials concerned. Sources in the Punjab Housing and Urban Development Department said political strings were being pulled to run the department. An official in the Town and Country Planing Department, related to a cabinet rank minister , is reportedly playing an important role in this regard. Interestingly, the Department of Personnel had cleared the name of the eligible candidate in January this year after the departmental promotion committee (DPC), headed by the then Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, gave its recommendations. The case was even cleared by the previous Chief Minister. But the orders of the Department of Personnel were never implemented. Sources in the Department of Personnel said the DPC, which met in December last, had recommended the name of a Senior Town Planner (who retired in February this year) on the basis of seniority— completely ignoring the government instructions of filling the post of the head of department strictly on the basis of merit-cum-seniority. This was pointed out and rectified by the Department of Personnel. The official, who is currently holding the charge of the CTP, retires in October and his successor retires in March next year. Sources said certain officials are ensuring that the departmental promotion committee should be delayed so that the department could be “run on proxy” till their retirement. Enquires revealed that the government instructions on the promotion to the post of the head of department under the amended provisions of the Punjab Civil Services ( General and Common Conditions of Services) Rules, said an officer with a grade of outstanding would supersede the officer with grade of very good. Moreover, for the promotion to the post of the head of department, names of five candidates should be called, and out of these three names should be shortlisted on the basis of grading to select a candidate. The sources said the “interested” officials on knowing about the decision of the Department of Personnel, reportedly got a note issued by senior officials of the Housing and Urban Development to previous Housing and Urban Development Minister, Dr Upinderjit Kaur, objecting to the decision. It is learnt that a retired town planner, who works with private colonisers, also influenced the decision of the department in selecting the CTP, as it suited private colonisers. Incidentally, the Housing and Urban Development Department has already constituted a committee to investigate the licences which had been issued to private colonisers by the department in December last year. The Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, Mr Rakesh Singh, was not available for comments. The personal staff of the Secretary said he was busy in meetings. The sources said another meeting of the DPC, which was to be held yesterday, had been postponed as the Department of Personnel had put a hold on holding the
DPCs. |
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CM to chair meeting of temple board Panchkula, May 31 According to sources, the meeting will discuss the shifting of the venue of at least one of these langars and regularising the venue of another one. It may be noted that as of now three langars are being organised on the temple premises — one near the Patiala mandir, another near the entrance to the sanctum sanctorum, and the third on the encroached land over the nullah near the rear entrance. It had earlier been decided to either shift or close these langars as leftovers litter the whole area. While the venue of one langar was shifted to the Patiala temple and the other two were stopped by the then Bansi Lal government, the langars started again after the fall of his government. The board meeting will take up the matter of regularising the langar on encroached land over the nullah near the rear entrance and finding a suitable venue for the langar being held in the precincts of the temple. One of the agenda items relates to the construction of a dharamshala on the Complex. It may be recalled that the Chief Minister had laid the foundation stone of the dharmshala during Navratras. The issue of starting work on the musical fountain and the proposal for having a cancer hospital will also be taken up. |
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Fake note pops
out of ATM Chandigarh, May 31 When Praveen Bansal went to a bank in Sector 14 for depositing the money just withdrawn from an ATM, he was told by the authorities that a Rs 500 note was fake. Mr Bansal went back to the bank from where he had withdrawn money using ATM card. There he was asked to write an application before handing over the note. |
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Villagers asked to undertake thikri pheras Panchkula, May 31 The order has been passed by the District Magistrate, and states that there appears apprehension of damage to public life and property. It states that the gram panchayats will be held responsible for the patrolling in their respective jurisdiction. It further states that Sub-Divisional Officer, Panchkula, Kalka, Block Development and Panchayat Officer, Pinjore, Raipur Rani, Barwala and Morni will ensure the regulation of requisite patrolling by village panchayats. Meanwhile, the Federation of Welfare Associations, led by its president Brig R.S. Sharma, has asked the administration to educate people on civil defence and nuclear warfare in the wake of tense situation between India and Pakistan. |
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Bansal meets Sector 18 residents Chandigarh, May 31 Mr Bant Singh, a former president of the society, while welcoming Mr Bansal requested him to impress upon the Administration and the Municipal Corporation to solve the acute problems of service lanes, among others, on a permanent basis. Giving assurance that the problems will be discussed with the authorities concerned, Mr Bansal explained the difficulties of the Administration and the MC in maintaining the infrastructure involving the basic civic amenities of the sector. Mr C.L. Punj, a former president of the society, and other members also attended the meeting. |
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Paper samples sent for quality-check SAS Nagar, May 31 Sources in the Vigilance Department said paper worth Rs 25 crore was purchased from private paper mills by altering the terms and conditions. It was alleged that a heavy commission was pocketed by former Education Minister and officials of the board in the supply of the paper. |
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400 more take part in shramdan Chandigarh, May 31 The Vice-Chancellor of Panjab University, Prof. K.N. Pathak, the Registrar, Mr. Paramjit Singh, the Dean, Mr. V.N. Tiwari along with the 50 other employees also took part. Similarly, 60 students of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 47, and 50 students of Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 46, also did their bit. The SGPC (sub-office) under the command of Mr Amarjit Singh also took out silt from the bed of the Sukhna Lake and sent 75 volunteers. All particapants were served with cold milk supplied by a local dairy. |
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Fest of sandwiches, rolls Chandigarh, May 31 The snatch-a-bite snacks are for those in a hurry or those interested in a simple working lunch over a cup of tea/coffee. Yes. The quick snacks double as meals, too. Of course, there’s no bar for a group of youngsters or a family to experiment and try the items. In fact, the hotel plans to make the delicacies found most popular during the festival a permanent feature. And there’s a likelihood of Chandigarh boys and girls giving it the thumbs up sign - that’s because the dough-based stuff on offer is not purely western or alien in concept. It’s a fusion with our Indian regulars. So, it’s not just a chicken roll/sandwich. It’s a chicken tikka roll/sandwich. Then there are mutton boti rolls/sandwiches, or those fille with panir tikka or cheese tomato or nutrine keema or mushroom masala. The only indecipherable item is probably the coleslaw. It is a salad of cabbage with mayonnaise sauce and cream and garnished with tomato slices. All these confectioneries are made inhouse by their specialty chefs, says Man Mohan Singh, chief executive. In fact, he adds, they have been supplying these items in the city to companies for some years and, now, realising the market for these quickie meals in the wake of the coffee house culture, they decided to cater them at their restaurant. These goodies are also available at their franchisee joint, Diner Seventeen, in Sector 17. |
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MC releases pigs Chandigarh, May 31 After Sunday, pigs could only be released with the payment of the feed charge, a corporation spokesman said. The release of pigs, came after the House decided a one-time waiver on the feed charge as an exception but not as a rule. The corporation had decided to release pigs on the condition that the pig-owners gave it an affidavit that they would not bring the animal back to the city. |
Two injured in road accidents Chandigarh, May 31 A pedestrian, Mr Ram Gulam, hailing from Gaunda Jamshedpur in Uttar Pradesh, was hit by an unidentified vehicle while he was crossing the road near Picadilly chowk last night. He was admitted to the PGI with severe injuries. A case under sections 279 and 337 of the IPC has been registered. In another incident, a cargo truck (HR-37-6199) rammed into a car following which its occupant, Mr Paramjit Singh Gill, a resident of Central Road Moga, sustained injuries. The accident occurred at the transport chowk traffic light point this afternoon. The injured was taken to a private hospital for treatment. The police has arrested the truck driver, Kuldip Singh, a resident of Nabha. He was later granted bail. A case under Sections 279 and 337 of the Indian Penal code has been registered. Theft incidents Mr Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Indira colony, Mani Majra, complained that thieves broke into his house and took away jewellery and cash. He, along with his family, was out of station when the incident took place. In another incident, a ceiling fan, a colour TV, a sewing machine were stolen from a booth in Sector 22 sabzi mandi. The booth belonged to a resident of Dadu Majra Colony, Mr Shamshad. The police has registered separate cases under Sections 457 and 380 of the IPC. Assault case Car stolen A case under Section 379 of the IPC has been registered. SAS NAGAR Assaulted In another case, Ms Tejinder Kaur, a resident of Phase IX, was allegedly assaulted by four persons, Sati, Aman, Balwinder and Ramneet. A case under Sections 332, 324 and 452 of the IPC has been registered. |
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Gas agency owner booked Panchkula, May 31 According to information available, Mr Vikas Bindal received a gas cylinder in the morning from the gas agency, and on weighing it, found that the cylinder weighed only 28 kg. It may be noted that the weight of an empty gas cylinder is 16. 100 kg, while a filled cylinders weighs 30. 300 kg. Angry at being cheated, he discussed the matter with shopkeepers in the Sector 18 market. The residents then decided to stop the delivery vehicle of the gas agency and then weighed the cylinders being supplied to consumers. All six cylinders off loaded from the delivery cart of Aashirwad Gas Agency were weighed and it was found that all cylinders weighed between 25 to 26 kg. The owner of the gas agency was summoned and the police was informed. Later, a case under Section 420 of the IPC was registered against the owner of the gas agency. It may be noted that this is not the first time that a gas agency in the township has been found to be selling underweight cylinders. However, with officials allegedly turning a blind eye to such malpractices, the problem is far from curbed. |
Hoteliers resent Admn’s move Chandigarh, May 31 The local tourism industry opines that the order will almost create every second commercial building of the town into an unplanned hotel. The association while placing the facts has said the reserve price and sale price of hotel site in Chandigarh has always been higher by 30 to 40 per cent of the average price of general use site. In 1995 a 292 square yard hotel site was auctioned for Rs 1.35 crore, while another site having an area of 332 sq yards earmarked for general trade was sold for Rs 87 lakh. Quoting the prices of recent auction the association said the hotel site fetched an average price of Rs 75,000 on per square yard basis. Recently a hotel in Sector 17 was charged close to Rs 50 lakh to convert its site from general trade to hotel site. With permission to use upper floors into lodging areas, the city will be like Paharganj where kind of illegal trades thrive. Moreover, this is against the principle of natural justice as hoteliers have paid hefty premiums for purchasing the sites. |
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