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June 24, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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27 law graduates booked Chandigarh, June 23 The case was registered after the secretary of the bar, Mr C.M. Munjal, sent a list of the suspects to Mr Parag Jain. The council had conducted an inquiry into the case for three months before going to the police. Mr Munjal, on May 31, had asked for a criminal investigation into the fake degree affair by an officer not less than the rank of SP or DSP. Sources revealed that the law graduates who have been booked by the police had applied for the license of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana during 2000-2001. After conducting an inquiry into the case, the enrollment committee of the bar council found that the applicants had procured “fake” law degrees from Bundelkhand University, Jhansi, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kanshi, and Magadh University, Bihar, through unfair means. Sources informed that the first fake degrees scandal came to light three years ago when the enrollment committee of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana found out that many of the fresh graduates who had submitted degrees of Lucknow University had submitted a forged attendance sheet before the enrollment committee in order to get the council license. Thereafter the members of the bar council had passed a resolution that the documents submitted by
each graduate for the council license should be verified from the respective universities. Investigations revealed that many of the students who had applied for the license were not enrolled with the universities and had procured “fake” degrees. It was also found that other students who had procured fake degrees had failed in the Law examinations or were facing unfair means cases. List of the 27 "Law graduate" who have been booked by the UT police — Hem Chand, Harjit Singh, Wahid Khan, Manoj Kumar, Virender Singh, Gurmeet Singh, Kewal Krishan, Meena, Darshan Singh, Sushil Kumar, Narender Kumar, Lalit Mohan Singh, Surender Pal Singh, Dalbinder Kaur, Rajiv Mahawar, Vidya Bhushan, Harish Kumar, Daulat Ram Sharma, Jaswinder Singh, Kulwinder Singh, Man Mohan Singh Sodhi, Harpreet Singh, Amit Bansal, Ajay Kumar, Surinder Kumar, Deepak Walia and Harinder Pal Singh. |
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PWD-BSNL row snowballs Fact file * Widening of Mohali-Sirhind road delayed due to dispute over costs for shifting of underground telephone cables and poles. * BSNL asks PWD to pay Rs 56 lakh for damaging underground cables on Mohali-Kharar road and disruption of services in Mohali and neighbouring areas. * PWD asks BSNL to shift telephone poles and underground cables at its cost. * Work on 14 km Sohana-Landran-Chuni stretch comes almost to a standstill. * The monsoon likely to delay the project further. Chandigarh, June 23 While BSNL has asked the PWD to pay Rs 56 lakh for damaging the cables and disrupting its services, the latter has alleged that the delay in shifting of cables and poles by the former has resulted in delay of the completion of the Mohali-Sirhind road project, especially on the 14 km Sohana-Landran-Chuni stretch, by June 30, 2002. BSNL had reportedly approached the Kharar court to get a stay on the widening of road but the court, claims PWD officials, has declined to give a stay order. However, the dispute has caused harassment to thousands of telephone subscribers as well as commuters on the Mohali-Sirhind route. Mr K.S. Bhinder, Executive Engineer, PWD (B&R) Mohali, says, ‘‘We had asked the Principal General Manager, BSNL, Chandigarh, to shift 40 telephone poles, which are likely to be an hindrance in the free and safe flow of traffic on the widened road, but without any result. Rather it has asked us to pay Rs 56 lakh for the damage to the cables. The Punjab CM had instructed the department to complete the work on a priority basis, preferably before June 30, but we are unable to complete the project.’’ Referring to a letter of the Union Ministry of Surface Transport, Mr Bhinder claims that the utility services relating to the Telecommunications Department are to be shifted at their own costs. Regarding the allegations of damage to cables, he says: ‘‘We have excavated land up to only one feet in depth and 6 metre in width on either side of the existing metalled road. According to government guidelines, BSNL should have laid down underground cables at a depth of 1.5 meter and at the end of the PWD road to provide for its widening in future. In this case, BSNL has clearly flouted the guidelines.’’ However, Mr K.K. Sarangal, General Manager, Telecom, Mohali, blames the PWD contractors for the damage to cables and subsequent disruption of services. “The existing cables have been cut into pieces at several places. These are beyond normal repairs and would have to be changed. We have sent the estimates to the officials concerned and the payments are still awaited.’’ BSNL officials pointed out there was no provision that the telephone companies should shift the cables at their costs. Even the state electricity board, they said, charged from the Municipal Corporations for shifting electricity poles.
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Kin raises doubts on safety of surgical procedure Chandigarh, June 23 Although doctors in the PGI state that this procedure is like any other procedure not free from complications, this is the second death which has come to light in which the family members of the deceased have categorically stated that their patient was fine till this procedure was performed on them, minutes after which death occurred. Some months back, a city-based bank officer had in a written complaint to the PGI Director alleged that his wife had died while this procedure was being done on her. Talking to The Tribune, relatives of a Government College lecturer Amarjit Gulati, who died at the PGI two days back, have stated that she looked fine and was talking till the time the procedure was carried out on her, minutes after which she died. Hurrying to add that they do not want to allege anything against anyone in the PGI, Amarjit Gulati’s husband Mr Gurdeep Singh Gulati, however, feels if the procedure had not been carried out on her, she would have been alive today. On the other hand, some of the senior residents who have worked in the PGI emergency before explain that although this is a routine procedure followed in patients who come to the emergency in a state of shock and none of the patients who have not survived have died due to the procedure. ‘‘Many of the patients, who come, to the emergency due to a problem, are in a state of shock and very serious. They might talk and look fine but most of their talk is incomprehensive and management of their blood pressure is of utmost importance to try and save their life. Once we know that the blood pressure is not improving, we have to find out how much fluid the body can take, for which this procedure is done. It is as safe or as risky as any other procedure. Most of the deaths occur not because of the procedure but due to the problem they have come to the emergency with,’’ says a resident doctor at the PGI. ‘‘I believe that whatever the doctor on duty does is for the good of the patient, and attendants or relatives should not interfere or read more into the matter but here she was at the PGI since 11 in the morning and by 4.15 pm she was alright. She was talking and making plans for the next day. Her blood pressure remained low and we were asked by the doctor on duty if this procedure be done on her or not and we had to sign some compliance papers. We did that and they tried the procedure first on one side but since the first time over it did not seem as if it was done properly, the doctor told us that they would try it on the other side after an hour. Which they did and within minutes of their starting that procedure, she died. It was shocking,’’ said the deceased’s husband. Doctors, however, agree that this blind procedure which involves the insertion of a guide wire in the sub clavicle region in order to gauge blood pressure has to be done by someone who is well practiced in it otherwise the chances of complications arising out of the procedure can increase. But they reiterate that in both the cases which have come to light in which sudden death has occurred, it cannot be due to this procedure. |
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Raveena leaves
crowd asking for more Chandigarh, June 23 However, it was less of Raveena Tandon magic and more of Mika's energy that spilled on the venue for the high-profile entertainment evening. Raveena was there, but only for two sequences. Dressed in a red jacket, she could manage a strong welcome, which could not however last long simply because she was on stage for very short periods of time. She was first seen for a sequence from David Dhawan films — kisi disco mein
jayen, ahkiyon se goli maare, and for a change sheher ki ladki, the number which took Raveena to the zenith of glamour. The second time she made an appearance was for the two happening numbers from
Aks. So where she first danced away to the haunting tunes of Yeh raat...later she assumed a better form with the loud Sukhwinder Singh song Ve yaaran da koi nai ...News has it that she was sneaked away from the venue after this sequence, thus leaving the expectant crowd in the lurch. Many people from among the gathering kept shouting Raveena's name. The actress did not, however, turn up. The gap was, however, filled by Mika, who added some energy to the show by delivering his high-powered numbers — right from Sawan mein lag gayi aag and Ishq brandi chad gayi to Gabru and a medley of songs. With his strong gyrations he set the stationary crowd into motion. Kashmira Shah could also not deliver much. Chunkey Pandey was a stranger for the crowd. On the contrary, comedian Raju Srivastava cracked some interesting jokes for the gathering. The show was however not managed well as the VIP entry was closed at about 7.45 pm. Many people who had valid passes for the show kept standing outside the gate, requesting for entry. |
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These days lot of employee associations of different departments of the Punjab government, boards and corporations are holding protest marches and rallies everyday at Sector 17. They are protesting against the state government’s decision to disinvest in various corporations and slash down their allowances. Interestingly, one or other organisation holds dharna at Sector 17 bridge market in the afternoon everyday, and then marches towards Secretariat to hand over a memorandum to the Chief Minister. On their way, they create traffic jams and are stopped at Matka chowk by the police. And then usually the OSD of the CM comes to take the memorandum. Now according to reports, the Chief Minister has made special arrangements for the employee unions that his OSD would come at the place of dharna itself to get the off-repeated copy of the memorandum. The union leaders seem to be quite happy with the arrangement as the protests are expected to continue for many days. Smart move Like politicians some of the government and corporate officials have also developed a taste to deny their statements issued to the press if these do not suit them. Mr S.S. Kohli, Chairman, Punjab National Bank, who was recently in the town, to attend a state-level bankers meeting of Haryana, was approached by the CII to interact with the local SSI units in the evening. Interestingly, while moving from the banker’s meet, he remarked: ‘‘I already know the agenda of the meeting. They would just make complaints and ask for loans. But I can do nothing for them.’’ Even at the meeting, when asked by an old industrialist about bank ombudsman’s role to redress the customers’ complaints, he said, ‘‘Instead of approaching the bank ombudsman, you should try to resolve the matter with bank branches. You may approach him or parliamentarians, but we know how to deal with them and what kind of reports have to be sent to them and to Parliamentarians. You have only one way to deal—to make settlement with us.’’ Then judging the presence of newspersons, he said smartly: ‘‘I hope you won’t write about it, if you write, I will deny the statement tomorrow.’’
Repeated orders of the SAS Nagar police to streamline traffic on the roads along which apni mandis were held have fallen on deaf ears of the residents and those selling items in the mandis. Even the boards saying that those parking their vehicles on the roads would be challaned are thrown on the ground to make space for parking of vehicles.
Summer ailments The summer brings with it a large number of ailments — gastroenteritis, common cold and other viral infections. With this also come along a number of alternate therapy camps each offering treatment the natural way. So the Ayurvedic system of Kerala, the reiki masters, naturopaths and magnetotherapists had a field day with the ever-increasing number of people catching these seasonal ailments. Seeing the new-found love for these alternate systems of medicine, certain organisations organised special camps. Recently, Sood Sabha, Panchkula, organised a reiki healing camp at Sood Bhavan for three weeks. As many as 70 people on an average reportedly participated in the camp each day. Other than this, various private reiki masters too seemed to be a lot in demand. One particular reiki master in Mansa Devi Complex maintains that he was receiving as many as 30 patients suffering from common cold and gastro each day.
No free takers Strange as it might sound, people generally do not attach any significance to services being offered free of charge. A glowing example of this fact is embodied by a senior retired bank officer, Mr A.S. Indoria who has started a small-scale information technology unit in SAS Nagar. Mr Indoria, who sought voluntary retirement from service to start this unit, is offering computer training free of charge to those who cannot pay the fee. Apart from that, the institute is also offering tuitions in Class XII to the poor and the needy who have no money to attend regular school. After starting this venture, Mr Indoria wrote as many as 10 letters to voluntary organisations in the city as also to all the social welfare departments of Punjab, Haryana and UT. No response, however, was forthcoming. Not even a single query came. He only received some private queries.One must be wondering if some response would be forthcoming if a hefty sum in the shape of fee was slapped!
Noisy joints There are not too many good eating joints in the City Beautiful where one can have a meal in peace. Almost all of them, including many of the government-run ones too, insist on providing patrons with live music accompaniment. Unfortunately the music is invariably quite run down. The live performers, many of whom are also music teachers in reputed schools, create a distracting noise that hampers comfortable discussions over a food tray. Maybe the time has come for the regular patrons of these restaurants to demand that the practice of providing music accompaniment to dinner be discontinued.
Name, please? Many people who have enough money to squander Rs 40 on a cup of coffee object to being called by their names by shop boys. One of the more pricey coffee shops in town is inadvertently alienating many patrons by insisting that they provide their names at the service counter. The boys at the counter then shout out the name when the order is ready. This is presumed to be a friendship-inducing gesture with the customers, but there is a set of customers who bristle at first having to give their names and then being called out by their names. Perhaps the coffee shop should consider giving a numerical identity to the order rather than ask people for their names before serving them coffee.
MS section The new manuscripts section which opened at the Government Museum and Art Gallery in Sector 10 is worth a visit. Despite having heard of a large number of documents that have been widely used to recreate the history of Punjab and the Sikhs, one gets to see these rare documents from up-close. Most of these manuscripts have been put on display for the first time and are also not available in any of the major art galleries in the rest of the country.
Ex-CM bus service Regular travellers in Roadways buses towards Punjab have been baffled. A bus has its destination as Lehragagga-Chandigarh — Lehragagga written in Punjabi. Everything is fine till you notice a small piece of information written in English “Ex-Chief Minister city bus service”. Well, it means nothing to the common man. But Lehragagga is the home town of former Punjab CM Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal. Not a bad advertisement for the former CM. Imagine, if all bus services to home towns or constituencies of former CM carried this information then buses will be good means to remember Mr Beant Singh, Mr Surjit Singh Barnala, Mr Parkash Singh Badal and Mr Harcharan Singh Brar. But do members of the public really want all this ?
Tree ‘triveni’ The sprawling 16-acre Kalagram Complex of the North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC) located on the Chandigarh-Panchkula highway, now boasts of plants that are associated with our cultural heritage. The most attractive feature of this conservation exercise is a traditional “triveni” consisting of bodh, peepal and neem saplings, created at the entrance of the campus. It has gained remarkable height in about nine months. The other species that were planted are, rudraksh, bel, mahua, gular, kanak champa, kadamba, camphor, maulsari Buddha’s Coconut, mango, sita, ashok etc. On the left fringe areas of the Kalagram campus a medicinal park is being created. Saplings of five species have been planted so far. A “triphla” group of plants —Harar, bahera and amla will adorn this park. All these plantations will not only make the campus green but create awareness about the glorious cultural heritage of the country. The ESI is supporting these exercises.
Student politics Panjab University student politics really needs to grow up. In the recent students agitation at the university where residents of a girls hostel were demanding that their warden be removed, the hostel residents went on record saying that they had not invited anyone of the university student bodies to participate or help in their agitation. ‘‘They are here for their own reasons, we have a set of genuine problems and a single demand, we are in no way to be blamed for having politicised the matter,’’ said one of the agitating residents of the hostel.
Brush with police The day the city police whisked away the agitating students, the PU girls had their first taste of police handling, and it showed. “We were dragged by the women police, two of us even got hurt. This is not done. This is no way to behave,” said one of them at the hospital. On the other hand, their male counterparts having had more than enough experience of being “in and out” of police hands, the male friends of the agitating girls played a very different role—protecting them from the police.
Hunger strike What constitutes an unbroken hunger strike? No one in the city seems to know. Neither the police nor the agitating students who were following one of the most popular methods of agitation since Gandhiji, was sure of whether once the agitating students had been hospitalised, the strike is broken or not. The city police kept saying that technically the hunger strike had been broken, the students kept insisting that since they had refused to be administered glucose drips, their hunger strike continued.
VC’s support Even as the Panjab University teachers placed themselves starkly in opposition to what the students were demanding, the most creditable was the positive role played by the Panjab University Vice-Chancellor. Constantly saying that he will only take a decision after the committee constituted for the purpose takes a decision, twice he visited the students in the hospital, once in the middle of the night. At one stage he even offered to sit on hunger strike with the students and at another point, he stated: “Mein in bachchon ke liye jaan bhi dene ko taiyaar hoon..”
The city vigilance sleuths are having their first taste of what the Punjab vigilance men have been busy with the past few months now. On a complaint, city vigilance men roamed around the PGI trying to find out more information about the candidate who had topped the MDS entrance exam of the institute and try and find out if she really deserved to be the topper!
Bored stiff Old habits seldom die. Particularly when the habits concern your avocation. Little wonder, a large number of Punjab and Haryana High Court employees are coming to the court premises everyday even though the vacations are on and just three Judges are holding the courts. Clad in their casual best, the employees reach the premises at about 10.30 a.m., meet their counterparts, and then chat over a cup of tea before leaving at about 2 p.m. Their justification: “What do we do sitting at home?” —Sentinel |
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PUDA denies report Chandigarh, June 23 An official release said a meeting was held with private colonisers recently to convey that the development of illegal colonies would invite stern action. The colonisers were, however, informed that a suitable policy for the regularisation of such colonies would be formed in accordance with the urban development laws. |
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Martyrs’ kin
honoured Panchkula, June 23 Family members of seven of these martyrs, belonging to Panchkula and nearby areas, were today honoured after the prayer meeting at Gurdwara Singh Sabha, Sector 7. Mr S. K. Monga, Managing Director of the Power Generation Corporation of Haryana; HPSC Member Pardeep Chaudhary, SDM,\ M.S. Yadav, Mr R.P. Malhotra, President of the Welfare Association, Sector 8, Mr D.P.S. Badhwar, Secretary, Zila Sainik Board, were present on the occasion. Capt Harpal Singh, father of Major Harinder Pal Singh, who sacrificed his life fighting militants in Jammu and Kashmir on April 13, 1999; Mr H.G. Lall, father of Dy Commandant Joy Lall of the ITBP, who attained martyrdom on May 30, 1999; Wg Cdr H.L. Ratta, father-in-law of Capt Deepak Guleria of 3 R.R. Sector Headquarters, who died on June 18, 1999; Lt Col J.S. Kanwar, father of Maj Sandeep Shankla; Dr Ved Vrat Sharma, father of Maj Rohit Sharma; and Mr D.S. Sandhu, father of 2nd Lt Rajiv Sandhu, were honoured on this occasion. |
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‘Sniffing Papa’ a family reunion Chandigarh, June 23 To get a closer view of the author's world and his perspective in handling the theme, the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi today organised an interaction with Mr Badhwar at the Chandigarh Press Club. The evening was all about author's musings — right from his inspiration behind the work to his justification of the various characters in the work, which mainly derives from the the central character Papa, a person feudal in approach and highly critical of the British systems. The story is set in two locations ie. Punjab and Raipur. Born as he was in Ujhani, Uttar Pradesh, Mr Badhwar has utilised his knowledge of the region to weave the cycle of fiction. In order to acquaint the gathering with the element of the novel, Mr Badhwar also read out passages from the work. The work has been executed with great literary finesse and blended with a crisp, satirical humour to keep the boredom of story telling at bay. Earlier, Maj Gen Himmat Singh Gill (retd), chairman of the akademi, introduced the author, who took his masters in history and political philosophy from St Stephen's College, New Delhi and then went on to graduate from New York's Columbia School of Journalism, where he also won the Henry Taylor award. He lived in the USA for 19 years writing for several American newspapers and magazines, including a six-year stint as a senior investigative reporter for internationally-syndicated columnist Jack Anderson. He was also the brain behind Newstrack and Face the press programmes. Introducing the novel and the author, Gen Gill said, "The story is about a person who is feudal, yet liberal in approach. I must say that the author's description is fabulous. He has written straight from the shoulder." As the stage was handed over to Mr Badhwar, he concentrated more on reading from the book that putting forth his own view about the work. As he rightly said, "A work of fiction works at many levels. Everytime I describe my own work, the description sounds different." Calling his novel more offbeat than mainline, Mr Badhwar said people had started relating with the characters in his work. About the title, he said, "The central character is a composite of many characters I have known of that age. The book begins with the death of Papa. A disjointed family has finally come together at his death bed that lies in his chamber of perfumes, where the family members can sniff the past, the present and the future. Hence, the title.” Finally, Mr Badhwar seems to have
succeeded in realising his own saying: "A book must make music with readers." |
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City temp drops by 4° C Chandigarh, June 23 The monsoon is estimated to take 10 to 15 days to reach the city from the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh, according to the Meteorology Department. The maximum temperature came down to 37° C from a high of 41.4° C yesterday. The maximum temperature is likely to rise to 38° C tomorrow. The sky is likely to be mainly clear with possibilities of thundery development. |
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Fire destroys wood, car Panchkula, June 23 In another incident, a Maruti car was completely burnt under mysterious circumstances late last night in Sector 9. The car had been parked outside a house in Sector 9 last night. The reason for the fire is alleged to be a short circuit. |
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54 pc turnout in ZP poll Chandigarh, June 23 The counting of votes will be done tomorrow in an election that has two factions of the Congress in the rural unit fighting each other. While 2302 voters turned out for the Zila Parashid poll, 2301 exercised this franchise for the post of panch. As many as 914 female voters cast their votes and 1,388 males exercised their frenchise. The election for the post of panch is being fought between Prem Singh-supported Sohan Singh and an independent Pal Singh. |
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Unidentified body Chandigarh, June 23 |
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Held for possessing fake currency
notes Chandigarh, June 23 Fraud case Poppy husk seized Two arrested Mr Krishan Lal, a resident of Sector 21, Panchkula, reported to the police that his scooter (CH 01 W 6714) was stolen from Sector 32 here on Saturday. A case of theft has been registered.
PANCHKULA Liquor seized As many as 48 bottles , 24 pints and 150 nips of illicit country-made liquor were seized. The liquor belonged to Ranh Singh, who fled away after leaving it behind. A case under different sections of Excise Act has been registered. One arrested Theft in house Stereo stolen |
‘I want to play meaningful roles’ Chandigarh, June 23 Though the celebrity arrived two hours late, the crowd was not discouraged. The contestants for the saas-bahu lucky draw pushed each other to get their names registered. Narayani wears an Amartex-designed white lacy suit for her role as the sister of the main character “Tulsi” in mega-hit serial “Kyonki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi”. Narayani portrays different characters in serials like “Koi Apna Sa”. “Kyunki Saas Bhi ...” has bagged her a number of projects on the small screen. “At present I am busy with serial “Piya Ka Ghar”, which is going to be released in October on Zee,” she said, snatching time in between signing autographs and posing for cameras. Besides doing a couple of add campaigns, she has also featured in a music video by Manmohan Waris. |
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