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| Friday, October 4, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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Tibetan youths target Chinese exhibition in city Chandigarh, October 3 In the ensuing fracas, the Tibetans were lathicharged, in which two of them received injuries. One of the protesting Tibetans while speaking from an undisclosed destination later told Chandigarh Tribune that their protest was against the exhibition, as this was to promote Chinese culture while Tibet was reeling under misery. The recent visit of the Dalai Lama to China for the first phase of talks had not yielded anything, he added. The Tibetans marched into the main hall housing the photographs. Present in the hall at that time were the organisers of the exhibition of the India — China Friendship Association and a few officials of the Chinese Embassy in India. The Tibetans raised anti-China slogans in the hall and were asked by the organisers to refrain from doing so. Heated arguments between the Tibetans and the organisers continued for more than 20 minutes before the police rushed in. In between, the Chinese officials
tried to prevent media photographers from clicking photos. The police was called and cops lathicharged the students. The trapped Tibetans, which included a few women, broke a few glass window panes to escape from the museum. Interestingly, none of them could be caught as they ran off in different directions. Local SSP Parag Jain confirmed that a case of rioting and creating disturbance had been registered under Sections 147, 149, 341, 427 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code against the Tibetans. The SSP added that the police had been given no advance information about the arrival of the Chinese Ambassador by the organisers at this venue. A detailed itinerary about of the Ambassador had been prepared but there was no prior information about this visit by the organisers. The SSP, who had reached the spot within minutes of the incident, was called into a room by the Adviser to the UT Administrator, Ms Neeru Nanda , to issue further directions on the case. Later in the evening the Chinese Ambassador inaugurated the exhibition.
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‘China open to joint ventures in UT, Punjab’ Chandigarh, October 3 General Jacob informed the Ambassador that India and China had common economic interests. He said Chinese companies were welcome to invest in Punjab as well as in Chandigarh in technological avenues and other areas. |
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Now Haryana farmers on warpath Chandigarh, October 3 Four farmers’ organisations and the associations of farm labourers organised a rally at the Matka chowk today in protest against the indifferent attitude of the state and the Central Government to redress their issues. Addressing the rally, Mr Bawa Singh, president, Haryana Kisan Sabha, said: “The state is facing the severest drought of the decade due to the continued neglect of the agriculture sector by the state and the Central Government. Both have failed to invest the in irrigation and electricity sectors leading to fall in production in large part of the state.” He said due to drought for the past two years, rural population was facing shortage of foodgrains, fooder, drinking and irrigation water besides employment opportunities. The water table has fallen Mr Krishan Sarup, its general secretary, said: “By delaying the procurement and negligible increase in MSP, the anti-farmer government has left the farmers at the mercy of traders. It has badly hit the farm labourers and artisans, besides farmers. The government has not even implemented the Food for Work Programme announced about three months ago.” Presenting a memorandum to the state government, the leaders demanded that the state and the Centre should provide compensation at the rate of Rs 3,000 per acre for the loss of fooder and bajra; Rs 5,000 for the loss of paddy and Rs 7,000 per acre for the loss of sugarcane and cotton. The government should provide at least Rs 10,000 as compensation to the families of farm labourers besides low-interest loans, waiving-off old loans, electricity bills and clearance of payment of sugarcane. Farmers also demanded that the MSP should be increased by at least 10 per cent over the previous year’s price and implementation of crop insurance and new yellow cards to the deserving families. They warned the government if the government failed to implement their demands they would be forced to intensify their agitation. |
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Staff shortage but no recruitment in PU Chandigarh, October 3 A recommendation with regard to “no fresh recruitment until re-organisation of the campus faculty” has been made by a committee which met after the university Senate meeting recently. The university is helpless because of a communication from the Union Government asking for no fresh recruitments. Financial crunch is cited as one of the major reasons. Prof R.J. Hans Gill, Dean, (University Instructions) chaired the meeting of the committee. The members included Prof S.K. Kulkarni, Prof S.S. Kumar, Prof K.K. Mangla, Prof R.D. Anand and Prof V.K. Bansal, besides others. The committee was constituted following ‘requests received from different departments for filling up the vacant posts along with justification for filling up the posts’. The departments wrote to the university in response to a letter dated June 4, 2002 from the Deputy Registrar requesting for “proposal for bare minimum need-based appointments to be sent to the office at the earliest for consideration by the Vice-Chancellor”. It has been pointed out that in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Technology only 27 persons are working against the sanctioned 42 posts. There is not even a single teacher of some subjects like physical chemistry, electronic engineering and chemical technology. The Department of bio-chemistry has a working faculty of only 50 per cent of the total strength. The Department of Physics in a letter to the university has sought teachers for the posts of Reader In a separate communication, the Department of Evening Studies has mentioned shortage of teachers of English, commerce, Hindi and Punjabi. There is a big staff shortage which has been further compounded by the lack of government support. In case, the university gets a court order to retire teachers who have attained 60 years of age, the university will be faced with a peculiar situation in handling the classes as more than 50 more teaching seats would fall vacant. Importantly, the committee has recommended that “borrowing of faculty” should be allowed to facilitate adjustment of the existing teachers to be used in places where there is a vacancy. “Why cannot a teacher handing an inter-disciplinary subject not be used for teaching in the other departments?” the committee felt. The Heads of Departments have been asked to look into time-tables once again and ensure that they conform to the UGC stipulations of teaching minimum 16 hours a week in case of Lecturers and 14 hours in case of Readers and Professors. A two-hour relaxation is permitted to Professors busy with research projects. |
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15-yr-old girl raped; uncle, aunt booked Panchkula, October 3 She had trusted her “massi” and “chacha”, who live just 200 yards away from her hutment in Kami village, near Barwala. All her life, she had trusted them, just as she trusted her parents. But both of them conspired against her. Her aunt used to take her every other day, for over 15 days, on the pretext of extending help in the fields, only to “present” her to the uncle. This 15-year-old girl is now pregnant. The incident came to light only yesterday when her family found the truth. After her pregnancy was confirmed late last night, her father lodged a complaint with the Barwala police today. A case under Sections 376, 506 and 120-B of the IPC has been registered against Lachman Singh and Savitri, and the latter has been arrested. The victim is the daughter of a daily-wager in Kami village. She left the school some years ago and used to stay home to help out her mother with her other siblings and household chores. Speaking to the TNS here today, she said her tale of woes began almost two months ago. “One day Savitri (aunt) came to my house and asked for my mother’s permission to take me to her corn fields, a few hundred yards from She said she was scared and did not reveal anything to her parents. “However, the two probably got more confident and Lachman sexually abused her for another four to five times in the next fortnight. However, I soon fell sick and had a continuous stomach ache, which prevented further assaults on me,” she said. The victim fell sick and was bed- ridden for over a month. Her parents, troubled by her poor health, did not take her to a doctor, and instead asked for medicines from various registered medical practitioners and chemists in the area. When her condition deteriorated, they took her to a midwife who confirmed the pregnancy. They continued to give her medicines, as they arranged for money to bring her to the General Hospital, Sector 6, here or to the PGI in Chandigarh. “Yesterday morning I was told that she was in delirium. I went near her and heard her murmur, ‘Savitri would beat me’. I woke her up and asked her why she was scared of Savitri. She then spilled the beans and told us everything,” says her distraught father. The family then came and met the Additional Superintendent of Police, Ms Bharti Arora, this morning, who then asked the Barwala police to arrest the accused. The girl was later taken to the General Hospital, Sector 6, for a medical examination. |
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Sainis
seek Jacob’s help Chandigarh, October 3 The General had gone to the Sector 35 house of the Sainis to offer his condolences this
morning. Family members of Late Cmdr Saini received the Governor at their residence in Sector 35. General Jacob said a bright career had been cut short in the untimely death of Lt Cmdr Saini. The parents of Lt-Cmdr Saini requested the Governor that Dr Promila, who is a doctorate in medicine be brought on deputation or appointed in Chandigarh so that she could look after them in their old age. General Jacob assured them that he would do everything possible to help them within the rules. The father of Lt-Cmdr is a heart patient while the mother has arthritis. The younger son of the Sainis, Flying Officer Ajay Saini was killed in a road accident near Pathankot a couple of years ago. Lt-Cdr Saini is survived by his seven-yr-old son Angad and his 36-yr-old doctor wife Promila. Lt-Cdr Saini died in a midair collision between two Russian-made aircraft. The two aircraft, IL-38 maritime reconnaissance aircraft of the Indian Navy’s “Winged Stallions Squadron” with 12 crew members aboard, collided mid-air in a residential area near Dabolim airport in Goa on October 1. These aircraft were flying in formation during the silver jubilee celebrations of the squadron. |
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Apathy, neglect writ large on
roads in
Chandigarh, October 3 On certain roads craters are so big that vehicles are getting damaged and the road seems like a dirt track of a challenging rally circuit in adventure sports. A resident of Sector 39, Mr S.K. Bansal sums it up ‘‘It seems we are living in a remote village and not in a planned city like Chandigarh.’’ Unfortunately all this happens only in the southern sectors. Pointing out to the road in front of the gurdwara in Sector 38-west, he says ‘‘Can you imagine if the condition of road separating Sectors 8 and 9 is like this. All hell will break loose and the entire official machinery will be working overtime.’’ The Tribune team started its journey from the Dakshin Marg where it turns towards the cremation ground in Sector 25. The condition of this stretch of road is so bad that it needs immediate attention. No repairs have taken place in the last couple of years. The next stop was Sectors 39 and 40. Here the road goes on to meet the outer Dakshin Marg. The road here is more like a rally dirt track. Stones litter the road and speed of a four-wheeler is brought down to no more than 10-15 kmph in second gear. Any speed higher than this is risky. Mr Jarnail Singh, a resident of Sector 40-D says ‘‘Nobody cares this road has been like this for the past two years.’’ The next halt is the road in front of Colony Number V. A stretch of about 400 metres is so bad that it is impossible to imagine as to how people are bearing with it. This is supposed to one of main connecting roads of the city, why is this not repaired and strengthened? asks Mrs Sanjana Singh, who lives in Sector 49 and takes a two kilometer detour everyday just to avoid this stretch and reach her place of work in Sector 40. Just like this awful stretch of road is the road separating Sector 44-C and 45-D. This is almost in the same condition as the road separating Sectors 39 and 40. Stones, craters and almost everything is there except the road. A source says some of these roads are with the Chandigarh Administration while others are with the Municipal Corporation. The MC does not have the money and the Administration is in no mood to takeover the work. In the past the Administration had taken over the work on roads separating Sectors 22 and 23 and also Sectors 21 and 22. Interestingly, a large part of traffic moving in the southern sectors is just crossing over to the nearby SAS Nagar. Despite this fact the ratio to calculate the movement of traffic in northern and southern sectors is the same. Among the other such roads are the one separating Sectors 31 and 32. The small roundabout near the Sector 32 fire station is perpetually broken. The road separating Sectors 47-C and 48-B has vanished and now only bajri (loose stones) remains there. Not to miss the road near the Industrial Area phase II and Sector 31 from where one enters the Air Force stations. The defenders of the sky have to pass through a totally damaged road which gets a bit of patchwork after every few months but never proper carpeting. A water pipeline passes underneath. This needs immediate attention said an Air Force personnel who did not want to be identified.  |
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Mayor’s authority to rent out land questioned Chandigarh, October 3 The ruling Congress leader of the group, Subhash Chawla, and BJP councillors Gian Chand Gupta and Kamla Sharma today had heated exchanges in the Art and Culture Committee of the Municipal Corporation. While Mr Gupta and Ms Sharma said the Mayor had taken an “illegal” decision in out the land, Mr Chawla defended the Mayor saying she had only followed precedents set by her predecessors like Mr Gupta and Ms Sharma. The leaders of the party again engaged in a wordy duel over the Sector 33 community centre’s furnishing and powers of the Art and Culture and Finance and Contract Committees. Mr Gupta alleged that the furnishing of Sector 33 community centre had stopped despite having approved the allocation of funds from the councillor’s fund. When the members were told that the Art and Culture Committee could only take decisions in principle, as it had exhausted its Rs 25 lakh fund, the BJP councillors expressed their dismay. The committee approved more space for a burial ground for Muslims and asked the officials to look for a piece of land where more space could be provided to the community. The committee left the matter of a canteen in Sector 35 community centre on the governing council of the centre. It virtually rejected the proposal of the Chandigarh Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Backward Classes and Minorities Development Finance Corporation’s proposal of making available five rooms in Sector 23 community centre by allowing them space at a rate of Rs 210 per day per room. |
Wildlife photos attract crowds Chandigarh, October 3 Entry to the zoo was free. And this will remain free during the entire week concluding on October 8. On display today were wildlife photographs by Mr Jaskaran Singh Sandhu and Mr A.S. Sodhi. These amateurs had clicked rare photographs and the unending queue of fans spoke about the quality of the snaps. The Irrigation Adviser to the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Bhagat Singh Sandhu, inaugurated the photo exhibition. Among those present on the opening day of the Wildlife Week were the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Mr A.S. Dogra , and members of the Punjab Wildlife Board. The presence of the members of the Wildlife Board showed the interest the members had in wildlife. Dr Vinod Sharma, Chief Warden, Zoos, Punjab, was happy with the massive turnout on the opening day of the Wildlife Week. He said students of schools in Patiala, S.A.S. Nagar and Zirakpur, would take part in a painting competition to be held at the zoo tomorrow (Friday). Open for students in the 10-12 age-group the competition is being conducted by the Science and Technology Department, Punjab, with the help of the Chhat Bir Zoo authorities. |
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Musical fountain at Mansa Devi temple Panchkula, October 3 A proposal to this effect has been made by the Haryana Urban Development Authority and sent to the Sri Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board. An sum of Rs 23. 50 lakh has been estimated for the purpose. The fountain will be 10 X15 meters in size. Some soothing Indian classical music or bhajans in praise of the Goddess will be played once the fountain is installed. Once the proposal is okayed by the board, tenders will be invited from expert agencies involved in making musical fountains. Official sources say this is part of the beautification project of Mansa Devi temple. Other than this, the project to instal four silver doors (kewar) in sanctum santorum of the temple has been approved . Silver artisans from Jaipur have been roped in for the purpose. The work on the doors is expected to be completed before Divali. The temple board has conceptualised these doors having a silver plating and floral carvings and carvings depicting religious signs. A number of silver items donated at the shrine will be used for making these doors. |
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PFA workshop for cops’ awareness Chandigarh, October 3 Various representatives of the police stations in and around Chandigarh participated in the interactive lecture. Meanwhile, the PFA is organising a pet care camp tommorow to commemorate the ‘‘World Animals Day’’ at its centre # 1522, Sec 11 -D from 11 a.m to 2 p.m and from 3 p.m to 6 p.m. All dogs will be administered anti-rabies vaccine free of cost on the occasion. Also a slum camp would be organised from 3 p.m to 4 p.m in Sector 25 whre all animals would be treated free of cost and anti-rabies vaccine would be administered by the PFA vet and a team of volunteers, a press note of the PFA said. |
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Six hurt as truck hits bus Panchkula, October 3 The injured persons were rushed to General Hospital, Sector 6 , where they were given first aid and were later discharged. A case under sections 279, 337 of the IPC has been registered. |
Captain’s purse snatched Chandigarh, October 3 Mr Naresh Goswami, a resident of Sector 22, reported that his brief- case containing Rs 15,000 and some documents was stolen from his residence on October 1. Scooterist injured Held for eve-teasing AMBALA Pistol seized Poppy husk seized The police has registered a case under the NDPS Act. |
CORPORATE
HONCHO MR Vinod Sawhny, a man with a vision and equipped with marketing skills, has just joined AirTel as CEO for Punjab, Haryana and Himachal
Pradesh.Till recently, he was instrumental in building the Spice telecom network in Punjab, which has crossed four lakh subscriber base. Now he has joined its competitor and claims that the Bharti Telecom is going to change the whole telecom market in north India. The strategy is quite simple: ‘‘No price cuts but world-class customer service, latest technology and always introducing innovative value-added services.’’ He says, ‘‘Being sons of this soil, Bhartis understand the psychology of north Indians. Instead of looking for cheap products and outdated technologies like landline phones and WILL, they are shifting towards
mobiles. Only cellular phones have a future in this region and we are here to change the rules of the market.’’ In an interview with The Tribune, Mr Sawhny asserts despite stiff competition from small players, Airtel has made a niche in the market. He proudly says: ‘‘The Airtel, after launching services in February in Punjab, has attained 1,25,000 subscribers without offering lower tariff than the competitors. In Himachal Pradesh, the company has delivered more than 30,000 connections to subscribers within three months of starting the service. Similarly, in Haryana we are spreading our customer base at a very fast pace.’’ A national player in telephony, he says Bharti is determined to take over small players to spread its base. Spice Calcutta has been already taken over by the company. Further, the company has introduced General Package Radio Switching ( GPRS) technology to ensure faster connectivity and data transfer for corporate houses. Since, Bharti is operating in 16 circles in the country, it has introduced seamless roaming throughout its network. Born in Calcutta, Mr Sawhny did his graduation in engineering from BITS, Pilani, and MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur. Later he worked with Godrej for about 10 years, and then with GE Appliances for another 10 years. After that he has worked in the telecom area. A voracious reader of management books, he has a keen sense to observe the market trends. Does he fear coming telecom giants like BSNL and Reliance? No way at all, he asserts.
‘‘By nurturing core competency in cellular operations, Bharti has entered into an agreement with Singtel, a Singapore giant in telecom, to provide best global practices to the customers. Further, BSNL has failed to make a dent, wherever it has entered so far. We are determined to give them a run for money.’’ Asked about his new plans, Mr Sawhny affirms, ‘‘I have always accepted new challenges in life. By taking active support from my staff and customers, I am now determined to make Airtel number one player in the three states. Customers would get the best services at competitive prices, in addition to innovative value-added services and various tailor-made billing options.’’ With conviction, quite visible in his eyes, he declares, ‘‘ Within the next five years, cellular phones would surpass landline and WILL phones, at least in north India.’’
Manoj Kumar |
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SECTOR 22 MARKET Chandigarh, October 3 The prime market, boasting of Rs 100 crore annual turnover, is planning to gift its customers a Maruti car along with host of other white goods on the purchase of goods worth Rs 1500 from jewellers and only Rs 500 from non-jewellery items. The two-phased programme will culminate on November 4. The draw of lots of coupons will be opened on Dashera by elders in the market and one of the senior officers in the Chandigarh Administration. A festival time buyer may be in for a bonanza as each shopkeeper is secretly planning some surprise for the customer. Preparations for the festivities are already under way and the market seems to stand out by painting all 27 shops in ivory colour reminding of a look of the Pink City, Jaipur, where all buildings are painted in pink. One of the active members of the Sector 22-D Welfare Association Arvind Jain said ‘’We plan to give a feeling of Dubai festival to the customer.’’ During the Dubai festival each shopkeeper offers some discount on the sale. The association has engaged an event management company to make it a grand success and reach it out to each household in the city. The city is going to be splashed with banners declaring the golden jubilee celebrations of the prime market whose shopkeepers had regular accounts of the who’s who of the city since 1952. The association is going to bring out pamphlets of programmes to be organised. These will be distributed in parking lots of the city. The event manager is planning to tastefully decorate the market with lights and danglings. Jesters will be present in the market to entertain children. Sensing a shortage of parking space, the shopkeepers are planning to park their vehicles behind their shops and are also engaging an extra number of security guards. Eyeing customer loyalty, the shopkeepers are also planning to invite a few of their famous old customers. The association is planning to decorate the market with flowers, bonsai and carpeting of the entire footpath. It is also arranging for music and crackers during the celebrations. The association has decided to forego its lunch period and Sunday offs during the entire period till November 4. Lots will be drawn on
Dashera, November 2 and Divali. |
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