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June 5, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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Admn to weigh all LPG cylinders Panchkula, June 4 The administration has decided to check the supply by Bharat Gas and Hindustan Petroleum to dealers. The gas agency owners have been asked not to take supply of the cylinders, being supplied by the two above mentioned companies, till these are first checked by the Weights and Measures Inspector. There are a total of 10 gas agencies in the district. Deficiency in services provided by these agencies have irked residents from time to time. Sale of underweight cylinders in the township is more of a rule than an exception, alleges a Citizens Welfare Association. It may be noted that last week residents of Sector 18 here had detected six underweight cylinders being sold by delivery men of Aashirwad Gas Service in Sector 16. Earlier, too, cylinders supplied by a gas agency in Sector 8 were found to be underweight. The residents maintain that delivery men of the agencies do not carry any electronic weighing machines. The mechanical weighing machines used by the delivery men are mostly defective, complains Mr S.K. Nayyar. It is mandatory for the delivery men to carry the weighing machines and weigh the cylinders while supplying, if so demanded by the customer. It is also alleged that the delivery vehicles of certain gas agencies go from door-to-door so as to increase the sale of refills. Though officials in the Department of Food and Civil Supplies maintain that it is mostly the delivery men of agencies in Baltana (Punjab) who are indulging in these mal practices, residents allege otherwise. The use of domestic cylinders for commercial purposes is also going on unabated in the township. A large number of eateries in Sector 7 and other joints in Sector 10 and 11 are allegedly using domestic cylinders. Officials admit that there is a misuse of domestic cylinders and maintain that they are making regular checks in order to curb this. |
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2 women
lawyers lose licences Chandigarh, June 4 The Chairman of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana, Mr Anmol Rattan Sidhu, said the enrollment committee of the council had made a recommendation to the Bar Council of India (BCI) in this regard under Section 26 of the Advocates’ Act. Ms Kulwant Kaur, practising in the High Court and the District Courts at Chandigarh had allegedly concealed certain facts at the time of making application for the licence. Action was taken against her on the complaint of her husband, Mr Prem Nath. Ms Seema Shridhar, another advocate whose licence has been cancelled, had obtained licence from the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana about four years ago, said Mr Sidhu. He added that acting on a complaint filed against her that she had started a boutique in Sector 19, Chandigarh, the matter was referred to the disciplinary committee of council. After recording evidence, it was found that she had stopped practising at the Bar and was instead running a boutique. She had admitted it before the police. Therefore, the council had cancelled her licence and directed her to surrender it to the Bar, along with her identity card, he said. Mr Sidhu also clarified that rules regarding renewal of licences of advocates had not been yet approved by the Bar council of India (BCI). He added that the Secretary of the council, Mr C.M. Munjal, had visited the office of the BCI in New Delhi in this regard. According to him, members of the BCI were of the view that a uniform policy, applicable to entire India, needed to be formulated and hence the matter had been deferred by the BCI. Mr Sidhu also informed that as per the direction of the BCI to the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana, no applicant could be given advocate’s licence without producing attendance certificate as it was mandatory for applicants to undergo regular classes. |
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Govt puts 4,000 jobs on the line Chandigarh, June 4 Sources said the HSMITC officials had sought the advice of the Labour Secretary of Haryana on the decision to close down the corporation. Sources said this was just a formality and if the advice did not come by, the government’s decision would stand valid. After the completion of a Rs 1,700 crore World Bank funded Water Resources Consolidation Project (WRCP), the Finance Department had stopped funding the HSMITC, which, then, began running in loss. The department had been giving it Rs 2 crore per month before the project was discontinued. Another Rs 800 crore project with the World Bank funding did not materialise, following which, the state government decided to shutdown the corporation. Meanwhile, the employees who are facing retrenchment say that the corporation has not adopted a proper legal procedure in ordering the shutdown. No person got a prior notice of expulsion. The employees say that undue policies favouring farmers caused the financial loss. The chairman of the Joint Action Committee of the HSMITC, Mr N.D. Dua, said the employees had not been paid for the past three months. He also said the policies of the corporation and the government were responsible for the situation. The Managing Director of the corporation, Mr S.C. Jain, said the employees had no choice but to leave the department, as the case file had already been sent to the Secretary of the Labour Department. He said: “If the Secretary does not reply before the June 31 deadline, 3,916 employees will have to go.” Regarding unpaid salaries, he said he had discussed the matter with the Finance Secretary and the Principal Secretary of Haryana. He said each employee had been served notice of expulsion and asked to sign it. The employees would get provident fund as per rules. |
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Civil defence machinery set in motion
SAS Nagar, June
4 The Deputy Controller of Civil Defence-cum-SDM, Mr Darshan Singh, said a meeting of officials related with the civil defence machinery had been called on June 7. A retired Home Guard Commandant, Mr Gurcharan Singh Bhoparai, has been deputed as the Chief Warden. The town has been divided in to 75 sub-sectors with two wardens for each sector. The basement of the Punjab School Education Board complex in Phase VIII had been identified for being at a central place of the town. “We are looking for more such shelters”, said Mr Sadhu Singh, Superintendent, Civil Defence. The town was notified as a civil defence town by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in 1999. The town along with four other towns of Punjab had been included in the list of civil defence towns. While Batala and SAS Nagar had been notified as category I towns, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur and Patiala had been put in category II towns. These were 10 other civil defence towns in the state. Describing the town as a strategically important place due to its proximity to the Air Force base on its south-east and some other defence installations, an official of the Civil Defence Department said the place was an important industrial hub with some units catering to the needs of the defence forces. A control room would be set up at Government Primary School, Phase IIIB1 here. The authorities had identified at least four public buildings — the Punjab School Education Board in Phase VIII, Government Senior Secondary School in Phase IIIB2, the PUDA office complex in Phase I, and the building of the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research in Sector 67 — where the air raid sirens and hooters were to be installed. Besides, air raid sirens in four factories are already functional. As per the norms, for a population of 25,000 would be provided by the Home Guards. The Chief Warden, Deputy Chief Warden and the sector wardens had been deputed. A direct telephone link to important places and vital installations through simultaneous broadcasting facilities (SBF) would be linked with a regional civil defence control centre (RCDCC) at Ambala.  |
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Topping
exams has been a habit with Arshdeep Chandigarh, June 4 Daughter of a doctor couple, Arshdeep says: “My parents have been the inspiration behind my hard work. Their support has helped me sail through the various entrance examinations without ever feeling the pressure.” While excelling in academics has been a convention, Arshdeep has made a mark in the cultural field as well. An awardee of the National Talent Scholarship in Bharatnatayam since 1994, she has given performances at the PGI and the Tagore Theatre as well. However, realising that dance and study could not go together if she wanted to be a performer in the medical stream, she let go of her passion after attaining first position in a three-year diploma course in Bharatnatyam. Dispelling the mindset that co-curricular activities cannot and do not gel well with academics, Arshdeep participated in cultural programmes while increasing her certificate tally by participating in every competition, academic or cultural. She says: “My parents are very proud of my achievement and I can proudly say I owe my success to their encouragement.” |
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Sacred Heart girl ranks 5th in PMT Arpita’s father said his daughter had been inspired by her mother, Dr Vanita Gupta, who is the Head of Dermatology Department, General Hospital, Sector 16. She had aspired to be a doctor since her childhood. |
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READERS WRITE THIS has reference to your report regarding the fake degree racket for obtaining advocate licence (Chandigarh Tribune, May 13). I would like to bring it to your attention that this racket has assumed serious proportions today. As far as I know, since 1987, 30 to 40 per cent of candidates have obtained licence from the Bar Council on the basis of fake degrees. It was never a practice with the authorities concerned to verify the authenticity and genuineness of these degrees. Consequently, many people obtained licence on fake
degrees between 1970 and 1980. In Punjab and Haryana, many advocates have been practising in small courts without valid credentials. But the Bar Council seems to be helpless because of politics and other extraneous considerations. In fact, the racket in this field would be much bigger than the one in the Punjab Public Service Commission. Advocates practising with fake degrees is not new. But there are also those doing their job coolly even without holding the professional licence. The problem is acute in Delhi. It may be recalled that during the agitation against supercop Kiran Bedi’s style of functioning, about 20 advocates were caught in Delhi’s Tees Hazari courts complex for practising without valid licence. A large number of ex-servicemen, who obtained degrees while in service, are presently holding licence to practise in courts. No verification has ever been done and a majority of them are apparently holding fake degrees. One reason for this is the mushroom growth of institutions offering LLB degrees through correspondence courses. These commercial houses are there everywhere, even in small towns. A major fall-out of the proliferation of these institutions is the falling standards in legal education and the rapid decline in the noble profession. Newcomers in the legal profession are much below their competence. The authorities do not seem to bother about professional ethics and these fake advocates act as middlemen for pursuing negotiations to their logical conclusion through unfair means. It is time this racket is busted with the attention it deserves. There is need for a thorough and impartial probe into the racket by experts of proven integrity and competence. This is necessary to restore the people’s confidence on the sacred legal profession. RAJINDER
PERSHAD, Ambala
Neglected road Despite our best efforts, we have failed to get our street road
metalled. The road is in a deplorable condition and we are unable to make use of this road. Even though all other roads are
metalled, roads in our street are a neglected lot. A few months back, we had approached the Sarpanch of our village, Rattangarh (adjacent to Ambala City), in Ambala district to do the needful. However, he has not kept his promise. Perhaps he feels that this work would be done by the municipality after the village comes under its jurisdiction. Facing heavy odds, we knocked the doors of the Deputy Commissioner. He had promised to do the needful promptly, but little has been done in this regard. We do not know the fate of our request. Having failed to get the work done by the authorities concerned, we finally approached our Member of Parliament, Mr Kataria. People also paid liberally to level the road by putting soil and made a drain on one side, as advised by the Sarpanch. We appeal to the authorities once again to expedite the long-standing project as it would be difficult for us to use this road once the monsoon sets in. Dr S. SHARMA,
Ambala City
Continue the practice Reports suggest that Panjab University is planning to withdraw the facility of allowing women to take examinations privately. Such a step, if implemented, will be unconstitutional and against all principles of natural justice. Why punish women like this? It is wrong to think that private candidates affect the overall results of the university. It is rather the other way round. Experience suggests that women or girl candidates show better results. It is not possible for our rural girls to attend regular colleges and pay hefty fees for the correspondence courses. In fact, along with those belonging to defence and handicapped categories, Panjab University has also been encouraging women candidates to take examinations privately. Poor girls from rural and remote places will be deprived of education, if this facility is peremptorily withdrawn. I appeal to Panjab University authorities to continue the practice of allowing all girls, at least in humanities up to MA level, to take the examinations
privately. CAPT S. CHAUDHARY, SAS Nagar
Chandigarh’s birthday This has reference to the discussion about five birthdays of Chandigarh (April 8). Different views have been expressed in the feature about the city’s development by officials in various spheres of activity — formulation of basic plans, designs and uniformity in house building, roads, government buildings etc. All the dates as mentioned may be correct, but those are historical facts for the coming generations to know how and when this beautiful city came into existence after surpassing so many hurdles. I may name that period as pregnancy or maternity days of the city to come. The fact is that the authentic day of Chandigarh’s inauguration is October 7, 1953 by the first President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad. To confirm this date, I had to turn the pages of my personal diaries which I have been maintaining since my college days of 1935. I am now 85 years. It will not be out of place to say that I got inspiration to maintain personal diary on a day-to-day basis from Mahatma Gandhi with whom I was associated during his Punjab Harijan tour in 1935. According to my diary of 1953, I was working in the Railways at Shimla at that time. Mr S.S. Mahant was the Operating Superintendent of the Ambala-Kalka-Shimla section with headquarters at Shimla. He was then required to supervise the operations in Railways during the President’s stay. I was asked by him to start the functioning of a railway goods branch there. Over 100 wagons carrying coal, building material, foodgrains etc. were stranded at Chandigarh and Chandi Mandir stations, waiting for operational facilities. I stayed for about a week here, brought all the concerned records from Chandi Mandir, arranged labour for offloading and conducted deliveries to the people concerned. I started new account books with nil opening balance from October 8, 1953 for the purposes of balance
sheets. H. K. L. OBEROI, Chandigarh
Alternatives to growth Every upcoming town needs a sizeable section of population to maintain the vital essential supportive services in running a town. The two-and-a- half lakh slums, which consist of over 25 per cent of the nine lakh population of Chandigarh, are providing such services and Chandigarh cannot survive without them even for a few days. Chandigarh’s architects in the late 60s did not plan such vital dwellings for economically weaker sections. Even today official planners have hardly any answer for the future when
Chandigarh population will double with economically weaker sections in slums growing to over five lakh. More than 80 per cent commercial buildings have been resumed or are under resumption and more than 50 per cent old residential buildings are without completion certificates because of impractical, illogical and stringent bye-laws and the adamant attitude of the present set-up in the garb of Le
Corbusier. Instead of comparing Chandigarh with our century-old urban cities, our growth and planning should be compared with international cities like Singapore and so on — those which have grown tremendously in a short span of time. The solution lies in abolishing old obsolete bylaws and creating satellite towns with multi-story dwellings for economically weaker sections. These should be linked with an effective transport system to Chandigarh. This will not only replace slums in Chandigarh but also help introduce real estate multi-story schemes at the same sites. Sanctioning individual plots on horizontal pattern won’t help. The need of the hour is for social scientists, urban planners and architects to rise to the occasion and explore alternatives to develop Chandigarh. Otherwise, the day is not far off when there will be total chaos. ASHOK BANSAL, Chandigarh |
Painters approach before deadline Chandigarh, June 4 As if preplanned, a large number of painters descend upon parking lots all over the city at about 10 am, armed with paint boxes and adhesive tapes. They approach drivers as soon as they alight from their vehicles, which is not all. They also reach offices and factories where they expect to find a large number of customers. For everyone, it is convenient. After telling painters what kind of letters they want on the plates, drivers leave for their offices after paying advance to painters. They return after finishing their work to find the plates painted in white and the numbers in black (or as they desired). The best thing about the transaction is that painters are not charging much for the job. For repasting numbers on scooter licence plates, they charge only Rs 50. For the same job on cars, the charge is Rs 30 to Rs 50 or more, depending on the style and the size of letters you want. “I was tense that I would have to waste my precious office-time to get the plates repainted,” said Dinesh Kathuria, business executive in a multinational, “but today, I got a pleasant surprise to see painters approaching customers and charging nominal rates for the job. I just handed over the money to one and returned during lunch break to see the job done.” A government employee, Mr Sumedh Singh, said: “The boys, this time, are doing a good job. A few years ago, during a similar drive, a number of inexperienced persons had taken up paint jobs, with embarrassing results. Now, at least, professionals are doing the work.” |
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PUDA “harassing”
ex-serviceman’s wife Kharar, June 4 She has written that she applied for a plot (125 square yards) in Sector 76-80, Mohali, in defence quota in December, 2000 by depositing Rs 41,875. In March, 2001, PUDA issued a letter of intent stating that she was successful candidate. She was asked to deposit Rs 62,813 within 60 days and bring a certificate from the Director of Sainik Welfare that she was the wife of Sub Inderjit (retd) and she had not received any plot/house in any part of the country under this scheme. She has alleged that the letter of intent was lost and she fulfilled all formalities for getting a duplicate letter but they harassed her and finally she was told that duplicate letter could not be issued and they were going to cancel her plot because wife of a retired personnel was not entitled to apply in defence quota. The matter was taken up with the then EO, Mr Chander Gaind. He said the deposited money would be refunded as she could not get the plot. However, when the case of refund was put up before the AEO, he refused to refund the money, saying that she would get the plot as she was fully entitled. The case was forwarded to the PUDA head office, Sector 17, Chandigarh, legal branch, for its view. She has written that since January 2002, her husband has visited the head office many times. He was told in January that she would get the plot as she had deposited 25 per cent of the total amount but she did not receive any reply. On April 19, 2002, her husband personally met the Chief Administrator and he instructed the Superintendent to forward the file to him. On May 27, 2002, her husband contacted the Superintendent and got the reply that their case file had not come to the head office so far. She has urged the Chief Minister to look into the matter. |
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Telephone
bills Chandigarh, June 4 |
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Shramdan
concludes today Chandigarh, June 4 The closing function will be held tomorrow at the Regulator end of the lake at 7 a.m. The Adviser to the UT Administrator, Ms Neeru Nanda, will be the chief guest. Meanwhile, this morning employees of the Verka Milk Plant, SAS Nagar, employees of the IDS infotech and students of the DAV senior Secondary School, Sector 8, participated in the Shramdan. Besides this 50 regular shramdanis also carried out the
task of lifting silt. |
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Seminar
on eco-tourism Chandigarh, June 4 The seminar is being organised by the Chandigarh Tourism Department, CITCO and the ITFT, Chandigarh. The seminar will consider means and ways for involving local communities to develop a concept of friendly visitor and host community. It will also highlight methods and techniques for planning management, regulation and monitoring of eco-tourism. The seminar will be inaugurated by Adviser to the UT Administrator, Ms Neeru Nanda. It will be preceded by an eco-tourism quiz and an eco-tourism slogan contest which will be inaugurated by the Secretary Home and Tourism, UT, Mr R.S. Gujral. Meanwhile, Ms Lalit Joshi, Mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, today inaugurated ‘Green Week’, a programme organised by the Hotel Association of Chandigarh, as part of the World Environment Day celebrations. |
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Theft in Fire Dept: statements recorded Chandigarh, June 4 The committee called as many as 10 witnesses and recorded their statements to match their statements with their statements given earlier to another inquiry committee headed by the Additional Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation, Mr Ashok Vashishth. The House committee has had several sittings and is inquiring into the complicity of Fire Department officials in terming certain items as condemned and giving them to ‘kabaris’ without including the items in the auction. The committee in its last sitting had included two fresh witnesses — one who repaired the broken lock and the store keeper. |
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Awareness
camp for rural women Chandigarh, June 4 Most women pointed out to the organisers that they faced problems in securing Schedule Caste certificates and widow pensions and no hearing at any official level was given to them. Aimed at encouraging and involving rural women in identifying problems and working out solutions, the
resource persons at the camp informed them of various welfare schemes run by the social welfare board and department for their benefit. |
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Kidnapped
girl found Chandigarh, June 4 |
Three houses burgled Chandigarh, June 4 Scooter stolen Mr Anju Raj Sukhija, a resident of Sector 11, Panchkula, reported that his Kinetic Honda scooter (CH-01-B-2783) was stolen from an underground parking lot in Sector 8 here on Monday.
Minors arrested The police arrested two minors, Amit and Santresh, on charge of stealing a gold necklace, a pair of gold earrings and a silver ring here on Monday. The stolen items were recovered from their possession. The two had allegedly stolen the items from the house of Mr Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Indira Colony, on May 30.
Accident Car of Mr Gurdip Singh, a resident of Sector 39, was reportedly damaged after it was hit by a Maruti van in Industrial Area, Phase I, on Monday evening. However, no injury was reported. A case under Section 279 of the IPC has been registered.
One arrested Rakesh, a resident of Dadu Majra colony was arrested for playing satta at a public place. Rs 1,500 were recovered from his possession. He was booked under various sections of the Gambling Act.
Liquor seized Sanjiv Kumar, a resident of Una district, was arrested by the police under various provisions of the Excise Act and 50 pouches of liquor were seized from his possession.
Purse snatched In broad daylight two scooter-borne youths snatched purse of a woman in Sector 10 here on Tuesday. According to police sources, Ms Mithlesh, a resident of Sector 29, was returning home along with her son on a scooter. After reaching at a petrol station in the sector, her son asked her to wait by the roadside and he himself entered the petrol station of refueling of the vehicle. At this point of time, two scooter-borne youths (both wearing helmets) came there and escaped after snatching her purse. The purse contained Rs 300 and some documents. A case has been registered.
Suicide attempt Mina Devi (30), a resident of Mauli Jagran Complex, allegedly tried to end her life by setting herself ablaze after pouring kerosene on her body on Tuesday afternoon. She was admitted to the PGI with 70 per cent burn injuries and her condition was said to stable. The police has registered a case under Section 309 of the IPC. She has been married for 12 years and is mother of three children.
Child injured Panchkula Two arrested The police has arrested Dharam Singh and Surinder Kumar in a case of dowry harassment from Ferozepore in Punjab. Ms Pinky Sharma had alleged that she was tortured by the accused and a case under Sections 406, 498-A, 323, 506 and 120-B of the IPC was registered against them. While Dharam Singh has been released on bail, the other accused has been remanded in police custody till Thursday. |
Showroom allottees await amenities SAS Nagar, June 4 As a result the owners of the commercial sites, who have already raised structures on the sites, are waiting for the last one year for the engineering wing to provide the sewerage connections, streetlights and approachable passage to the showroom. Says Inderjit Singh Walia, owner of a showroom, “I paid Rs 73 lakh for a showroom and have already paid two instalments. My requests to the officials of the engineering wing to do the needful have gone unheard.” Enquires reveal that the engineering wing has not bothered to extend the existing sewerage line by a few metres to enable the owners of the commercial sites to use the facility. Mr Ajeet Singh, another allottee, lamented that no tenant was ready to hire their accommodation as there was no approach to the showrooms. The plight of the owners of the bay shops, who bought the sites in an auction, was equally bad. In a recent auction, PUDA sold more bay shops in the area. Irked by the response of PUDA, the allottees have moved the court. |
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23 commercial sites auctioned Chandigarh, June 4 The corporation could, however, draw solace in selling commercial sites for the first time in Mauli Jagran after repeatedly feeling to hold auctions. Another consolation for the corporation is that all property on sale was sold much above the reserve price. But with 146 sites remaining unsold, the corporation might be pushed into a financial crunch as it was hoping to earn additional Rs 13 crore from the sale of property after the Chandigarh Administration effected a cut in the grant-in-aid. The corporation could sell only one of the six SCOs for Rs 1.02 crore against a reserve price of Rs 84.53 lakh in Mani Majra and could not attract any bidders for those above 2 crore reserve price in the same area. A dhaba site in Sector 39 was sold for Rs 16.21 lakh against a reserve price of Rs 14.63 lakh. The highest bid was received for the shop number 237 in Sector 39-B. It was sold for Rs 18.55 lakh against a reserve price of Rs 17.55 lakh. Eight of 69 sites in Mauli Jagran, mostly booths, were auctioned at reasonable prices above the reserve price. |
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Chandigarh, June 4
