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March 4, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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Surveillance of history sheeters beefed up Chandigarh, March 3 It is learnt that the top brass of the city police has ordered field officers to "strictly" follow the procedure under the relevant provisions of the Punjab Police Rules (PPR), while keeping tabs on the activities of the bad characters and criminals in their respective areas. The field officers have been asked to fix accountability if any bad character committed another offence. In a recent directive to DSPs and SHOs to pay personal attention to the system of surveillance, maintaining history sheets and personal files, issuing bad characters’ rolls and hue and cry notices. Sources in the police said though provisions under the Punjab Police Rules existed already, the senior officials had expressed displeasure over the prevailing system of keeping surveillance. The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Rajesh Kumar, said keeping tabs on the movement of the bad characters and anti-social elements was part of basic policing. The SHOs were expected to keep track of the bad characters and history sheeters in their respective areas, said the IGP. According to the information available, the section 23.7 of the PPR states that the mode of surveillance should be to keep a watch on the movement of the person concerned. A bad character roll are issued when the person under watch leaves his residence. The Sections of the PPR which govern various aspects related to the bad characters and history sheeters are 23.4, 23.5, 23.8, 23.9, and 23.10, 23.11, 3.11, 3.12, 3.13 and 3.14. The section 23.8 of the PPR states that the initial preparation of the history sheets should be done by the SHO and according of Section 23.10 of the PPR, the custody of history sheets has to be with the SHO. The SHOs have been asked to personally inspect the history sheets.If any person was silent for several years, then his or her name could be downgraded from the history sheet to personal file. If any new criminal has been active, history sheet can be opened. The SHOs have been asked to regularly brief their beat staff about the work being done for prevention of offences. The DSPs and SHOs have been asked to take disciplinary action against the police officials who failed to take satisfactory action. Responsibility should be fixed if any bad character residing in a particular area committed another offence. |
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External
examiners for college practical tests Chandigarh, March 3 The condition will apply to all examinations barring certain where the student strength is less. A decision to this regard has been communicated to all colleges. External examiners have been assigned the job of examination duty after a gap of more than 15 years by the university. The university has taken the decision with regard to improving the credibility of the practical examination and forcing colleges to give more attention to laboratory work. It was detected that in the absence of external examiners, certain institutions ignored the classwork and carried out with name-sake classes. Colleges were not making adequate spending on purchase of the laboratory equipment. The university has decided to send question papers in the practical examination also. This will mean that colleges prepare their students in maximum topics underlined in the syllabus. Also, external examiners will be made special payments for the assignment. Interestingly, the university this time has also announced the proposed dates of declaration of results along with the proposed date-sheets. The results of BA and B Sc I will be declared on June 26; BA and B Sc II on June 28; and BA and B Sc III on June 29. The results of all the three years of B Com will be declared between May 27 and May 31. The examination of the first year in BA and B Sc commence on April 3 onwards and conclude on May 7. The examination for the second years courses will begin on April 2 and conclude on May 7; and the final year examination begin on April 3 and continue till May 8. One common date for examination for all the years in all the streams including arts, science and commerce is April 28. This is ‘a compulsory qualifying paper which the students have to study in the first year of the respective streams. They can, however, qualify in the written examination during any one of the three years of their graduation’. Another important change in the annual examination this year is the addition of the marks of house examination to the grand total of the annual examination. The list will be sent by the university and filled by the concerned teacher in the college and the principal. This is seen as a major time-saving exercise during the preparation of the final list. The university will preserve the record for two years. Marks secured in the two house examination will be clubbed as per the university decision. The examination of the first and third year in the BA and B Sc are scheduled for the morning session. The examination of the second year and the commerce courses will be conducted in the afternoon sessions. The university will conduct the compartment in English examination for the three years on April 1. A special date has been fixed for this examination because more than 35 per cent of the compartment cases are recorded in this subject alone, sources said. The university has decided to set up a total of 97 examination centres. The places chosen for examination include Abohar, Chandigarh, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Jagraon, Jalalabad, Jhar Sahib (Ludhiana), Kamalpura (Ludhiana), Khanna, Karamsar Sahib (Rara Sahib), Kandhala Jattan (Hoshiarpur), Kottan, Killianwali, Amargarh Parao, Badal, Bulhowal and
Chabbewal. |
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Anxiety
over, CBSE exams begin Chandigarh, March 3 “We were confused about the changes to be introduced by the CBSE from this year, but later we were informed by the school authorities that it was only a rumour. After facing the paper today, we can say the question paper this year was much easier than that of the previous year. There was much more choice this time,” said Abhisekh Gupta, a student from Shishu Niketan Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 22. “The questions were easy. The paper has boosted our morale to face other papers,” said Heena Budhwar. “There has been no major changes in the question paper pattern, except for more internal choices this time,” said Ms Indira Dhingra, Principal of Sector 21 Government Model Senior Secondary School. Ms Jagminder from Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 18, said the paper was in the tune with the sample papers that the CBSE had sent in August. The general scene at all examination centres remained peaceful. “With the rumour of changed pattern going around and the magic of World Cup cricket wavering our children’s attention from their books, one can not help getting worried a little,” said Mr Rakesh Gupta, a parent. Admitting that their attention remained divided between the World Cup and final examination, Bansal Sharma and Nishil Kumar, students of Sector 21 Government Model Senior Secondary School, said since we had the schedule for both the World Cup matches and the examination well ahead of time, we prepared accordingly so that we could do revision as well as have a few glances on the TV screen. |
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Six held in assault case Panchkula, March 3 Meanwhile, some eyewitnesses recognised the accused as being wanted in a second case of assault in Kalka. |
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Nihang’s claim
deepens land row SAS Nagar, March 3 The land, which is approximately 14 kanal 14 marla, according to PUDA officials, is disputed and after PUDA acquired this land in 1992, they paid the complete amount to the court. Since there were apparently more than one claimants to the acquired land, the court had to decide on the matter. “But Mr Gurdev Singh has no individual claim on this land and no right to encroach upon it .” The Nihang along with over 50 persons from nearby villages held a press conference today and claimed that the land belonged to the Dera Sumer Singh and a group of persons of the dera still held the ownership of this land. The revenue records were also shown to support their claim. The Estate Officer, PUDA, had on February 27 ordered his anti-encroachment team to demolish the Nihang’s set of rooms and a shed for horses he had built on the land. Most of the structures built by the Nihang were demolished on February 27 except a room which housed Guru Granth Sahib. The Nihang, according to the PUDA officials, had promised to vacate the room by next day. |
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Youth crushed to death Chandigarh, March 3 According to the information available, the victim was coming from Palsora side on his scooter. The driver of tractor-trailer, Satya Singh, fled the spot. A case has been registered at the police station, Sector 39. |
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Ontario
minister opens office Chandigarh, March 3 According to a Press release, the company will provide property and asset management services, investment consultancy, investigation and verification of credentials of business houses and individuals in India and abroad, apart from providing legal services in a host of fields. The venture is being launched by Mr P.S. Tiwana with the legal expertise provided by Mr Jaspreet Singh. They have associates in Delhi and all district headquarters in Punjab and Haryana, as well as in Canada, USA and UK. Mr Clement, while inaugurating the office, said: ‘’The confidential investigation of business houses will go a long way in preventing frauds in business. The company’s thorough verification of individuals will accelerate the cleansing process on the matrimonial front also.’’ |
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Pinjore
civic body to extend municipal limits Panchkula, March 3 The proposal has been finalised by the committee after at least two rejections by the District Town Planning office earlier. The proposal is likely to be sent to the administration later in the week for the final approval. The proposal had been rejected twice earlier on the grounds that the limits were being extended in scattered pockets rather than in continuity; and the boundary of the extended limits had no features to identify the new boundary. Officials in the Pinjore Municipal Committee informed Chandigarh Tribune that they had made a new blueprint after including nine areas in the proposed extended limits in continuity. They said the new limits would be so extended that these were in conformity with the boundary as mentioned in the revenue records. The new limit of the Pinjore Municipal Committee along the Nalagarh road, the Pinjore-Kalka road and the HMT colony will also include
Lohgarh, Dhamal, Vasudevpura, Mohbatpur, Rampur Seori, Takwana,
Milakpur, Surajpur and Bitna Seori. It may be mentioned that as of now Pinjore,
Dewol, Ratpur, Baglana, Dharampur, Ferozepore, Bitna, Rangawal,
Damdama, Nagal Sodhian, Islamnagar, Abdullapur and Manakpur are covered under the municipal limits of Pinjore
MC. With the blockades for the extension of municipal limits now being removed, especially along the National Highway-22 (up to Surajpur village), two resorts, Sahara Resorts and Comfort Inn Resorts, constructed in violation of Section 3 of the Punjab Scheduled Roads and Controlled Areas (Restriction of Unregulated Development) Act, will get a legal approval. These two resorts have come up along the highway in violation of the High Court directions, which prohibits any construction within 30m on either side of road reservation or PWD boundary. The two resorts have reportedly got a stay from a local court against demolition. But with the inclusion of this area within the MC limits, the Punjab Scheduled Roads Act will not be applicable to them. It may also be mentioned that one of these resorts is allegedly running a bar here without any licence from the Excise and Taxation Department. Though the Excise and Taxation Department officials confirm that they have not issued any bar licence to the resort, a visit to the resort shows that a bar has been constructed there and alcohol is being served on the sly. The extension of MC limits is also being seen as an attempt to please the real-estate agents’ lobby, which has reportedly invested huge amount here. Already, as speculation of the proposal getting a go-ahead from the administration is high, the prices of property in most of these pockets have gone up from 10 to 30 per cent. A number of property dealers here have reportedly bought huge chunks of land to carve out colonies, once the limits are extended by the Local Bodies Department. It is learnt that the Pinjore Municipal Committee members had earlier passed a resolution for extending the MC limits, keeping in view large-scale development on the periphery over the past two years. After the proposal to extend the MC limits was unanimously passed by the committee a few months ago, the Executive Officer of the committee was asked to work out the details for extending the MC limits. |
CAs point to lacunae
in Budget Chandigarh, March 3 In a post-Budget analysis seminar organised here today, Mr Girish Ahuja, a renowned author of books on tax structure and fellow of the Institute of Charterered Accountants of India, claimed that as per the amended Section 206 (C), the tax payers would have to collect tax at source even for selling scrap, at the rate of 10 per cent in addition to 10 per cent surcharge. The seminar was organised by the local chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Making a clause-wise thorough analysis, Mr Ahuja said though the Finance Minister had tried to make each of society section of society happy, but some changes in the Income Tax Act would make the life of tax payers very difficult. For instance, he said, government had provided tax exemption up to 100 per cent on royalty to the authors, provided the written material was scientific, artistic and literary in nature. However, they would not get the tax exemption if they wrote in other areas. Under Section 88, he said, the Finance Minister had offered tax exemption on expenses on children’s education up to Rs 12,000 per child for two children. However, the parents would not get any exemption for more money spent on education of their children or had more school-going children. Citing an example of the tax-evading tendencies among companies, he said, the companies were approaching SEBI to clear dividend to the investors before March 31, so that the burden of paying dividend tax could be passed on to the investors. After that period, the companies would have to pay 12.5 per cent dividend tax in addition to 2.5 per cent surcharge. Interestingly, the same companies had approached SEBI last year, he said, to pay dividend to investors before March 31 deadline, so that they could help investors save dividend tax. During the last Budget, the Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, had imposed a dividend tax on investors depending upon their income category. Mr Vijay Khanna, Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, who was the chief guest on the occasion, appreciated the detailed presentation of Mr Ahuja. Mr
T.C. Gupta, Regional Manager, Food Corporation of India (FCI), Haryana, lamented that despite emphasising the need for crop diversification, the Finance Minister had done little to rectify the wheat-paddy rotation. He said that the country was losing more than Rs 10,000 crore in the export of foodgrains, since the export price was about 50 per cent of the procurement price. Further, the FCI was losing thousands of crores in the handling of surplus foodgrains. He said the Finance Minister should have announced to divert these funds to promote the oilseed plantation in the country. It was ironical that the country was importing oilseeds, and was subsidising the export of wheat and rice. Earlier, welcoming the delegates, Mr Manoj Kohli, Chairman of the local chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, said though the Finance Minister had tried to offer relief to each section of society, but there was a need to take bold initiatives as far as the problems of surplus foreign exchange, foodgrains and physical infrastructure were concerned. |
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Admn may decide in favour
of middlemen Panchkula, March 3 The district administration has said they will recommend to the Mandi Board to allow middle- men to sell their produce in the kisan mandis, as leaving the mandis to farmers alone is causing inconvenience to the public. A large number of fruits and vegetables have been unavailable in the kisan mandis , since the Mandi Board barred the middlemen from participating in these mandis. In fact, the administration had also received complaints of a sudden rise in prices of fruits and vegetables ever since the fruit and vegetable vendors were not allowed to sell in kisan mandis. Also, since most of the farmers participating in the kisan mandis belong to the neighbouring areas of Punjab, the middlemen from the district are now being allowed . Meanwhile, a delegation of the farmers today met the Haryana Chief Minister and urged him to intervene by asking the Mandi Board not to allow middlemen to participation in the kisan mandis as they were unable to sell their own produce. It may be noted that kisan mandis are held in Sector 14 and Pinjore on every Monday, Sector 16 on Tuesday, Kalka on Wednesday, Sector 4 on Thursday, Sector 8 and HMT Colony on Friday, Sector 20 on Saturday and in Mansa Devi Complex and Himshikha on Sunday. The Mandi Board reportedly nets in Rs 20 lakh each year as entry fee from farmers and middle- men in Panchkula district alone. |
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Dairy owners meet MC Chandigarh, March 3 The affidavits were demanded after a delegation of dairy owners met Mayor today and requested him to extend the 15-day period to four months for clearing the residential areas of cattle. The notice was served upon the dairy owners by the MC to shift their dairies outside the MC limits by March 7. Mr Subash Chawla, Mayor, said there were at least 300 dairies in these villages. He said the residents of these areas had on several occasions complained to the MC about the dumping of cattle dung in the open on the plea that it provided breeding grounds to mosquitoes apart from spreading foul smell and giving an uncleanly look to the area. He said development works was also affected due to the presence of cattle in residential areas. Meanwhile, sources in the MC said particular lobby in the enforcement wing had a soft corner for these dairy owners due to their vested interests. This delayed the process of shifting of dairies outside the four villages and Mani Majra township, they said. On the other hand, dairy owners alleged the Chandigarh Administration and the MC were not serious to rehabilitate them outside the municipal limits. No scheme had been formulated to compensate them or to provide plots for runing dairies, they said. “Since it has been a traditional practice of keeping cattle in villages, it was very disappointing to shunt us out without ensuring proper rehabilitation”, said a dairy owner. They said they were ready to shift outside residential areas provided they were given plots outside the MC limits to run their business. |
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FAUJI BEAT Brigade of the Guards was raised by Field Marshal Cariappa in 1949, by converting the four oldest infantry battalions of the Indian Army into the Guards. The first battalion to be converted was 1st Rajputana Rifles, which was re-designated as 3 Guards (1 Raj Rif) on September 1, 1949. The first Commanding Officer of the battalion, after its conversion, Lt-Col Bireshwar Nath, and all ranks of the unit presented this silver trophy on November 7, 1951. Brigade of the Guards Regimental Centre was raised at Kota in 1956. It was only then that the officer’s mess came up there. But in 1976, the regimental centre along with the mess was shifted to its present location at
Kamptee. Women officers We had opened entry to women in the administrative wings of the three services in 1992. All of them were granted Short Service Commission (SSC), on their successful completion of training, for a period of five years, which in most cases, was extended by another five years. The women officers have earned praise for their performance in all the three services. On completion of 10 years’ service, these women officers’ will be sent home. The Permanent Regular Commission (PRC) has not been introduced for them, unlike their male counterparts. Since most of these women have acquitted themselves well in the armed forces, there is no reason why the PRC should not be opened for them, but the front-line soldiering should remain a male preserve. But as far as the static establishments in peace stations are concerned, women should not be denied to serve in them as PRC officers. School of Nursing The commissioning of 10 probationary nurses into the Military Nursing Service (MNS), in the rank of Lieutenant by Maj-Gen B. Sadananda, Commandant of the Command Hospital, Chandi Mandir, on February 22, reminds one of the history of this service. Women nurses were introduced into military service during First World War when the European and Anglo-Indian girls were mustered for this job. The Indian Military Nursing Service (IMNS) was started in 1927, with the motto “Service with a smile”. After independence, the IMNS was re-designated the
MNS. Military hospitals are wellknown for the cleanliness of their wards and credit for this to a large extent goes to the nursing officers. The School of Nursing was shifted from the Military Hospital, Jalandhar to Chandi Mandir in June, 1991. A three-year course in nursing is run here. So far 619 pass-outs from the school have been commissioned. — Pritam Bhullar |
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Exhibition
of rare antique watches held Chandigarh, March 3 The watches on display were divided into four categories - watches from Swinging ‘60s, Pre 1920s, Between the wars and post wars, A Hamilton circa 1987, a hunter gold pocket watch, which belonged to Raja Gopal Singh Ji Saheb Bahadur of Chamba , the private label pendant watch from 1900 with 22 K enameled portrait of Guru Nanak Dev, which once belonged to Guru Karam Singh Sodhi, a direct descendent of Guru Nanak Dev or the Universal Geneve piece from 1930, which bears an inscription of the royal family of Gwalior, gave interesting accounts of the time and place. According to Mr Yasho Saboo, President of Heritage Watch Club, these watches were collector’s item and worth a lot of money as they bore historical value and gave an insight into the technicalities of that particular era they belonged to. Mr Saboo said the club planned to provide information on antique watches through seminars, talks and for that purpose it had already acquired an impressive collection of reference books for its library. Appraising the value of antique watches was another service the club aimed to provide. To ensure correct assessment of the market price for such antique watches, the club planned to make a data band in association with the brands. |
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Leaf from history LEAVES from history grow on the tree of philosophy. Without one the other would not be possible, both nurturing a sense of well-being among people. Hoping to guide them through the maze of life, both history and philosophy get inextricably linked with the manner in which a society defines itself today and hopes to chart a way for itself in the future. It was recognition of this linkage that led to the idea of a Polis, the city, in the thoughts of that early socialist, Plato (428 - 348 B.C.), who was reputed to have set up the first university of the western world at Athens circa 385 B.C. Education, in his scheme of things, was an important and life-long enterprise for all those belonging to the ruling and guardian classes in society. Some education was imparted in school, but a large portion of it happened outside the school in the facilities provided by the city. One such facility that later day town-planners developed was the museum. This was designed to be a place to educate town-dwellers by exposing them to information of different kinds. Any city worth its name had to have a museum. What should the museum educate people about? This was not an easy question to answer. In the history of Chandigarh the first suggestion in this regard came from Le Corbusier on April 6, 1959, who suggested a museum that would signify the technological marvels of a science and technology-oriented world. Even while Corbusier was trying to give shape to his idea and struggling to explain it to the Capital Control Board, the high-level advisory committee comprising of P.L. Verma, Le Corbusier, P. Jeanneret, G.R. Nangea, Chief Engineer, Capital, and B.B. Vohra, Secretary, Capital, with M.S. Randhawa presiding decided to have a separate building for the museum to be constructed near the School of Arts in Sector 10. The museum, the committee recommended, was to be of the "traditional sort". Le Corbusier set about designing the building in association with P. Jeanneret, M.N. Sharma and S.D. Sharma. Kulbir Singh was the Chief Engineer under whose supervision the construction took place. Randhawa himself along with a few faculty members of Panjab University undertook the collection of material for display. By 1968 they had one of the largest collections in India of Gandhara sculptures, miniature paintings of the Mughal and Pahari schools and contemporary paintings. Work on the building began in 1962 and immediately got stuck. Apparently museums were not high priority in the agenda of the Capital Control Board. More so since war had broken out with China and in a note dated September 7th, 1963, the board expressed its reservations at assigning resources for such, apparently peripheral, activities while the country was facing a serious resource crunch due to war emergency. The 1960s were a difficult time for the country. Soon after the disastrous and demoralising war with China Pakistan upped its ante vis-à-vis India and began a series of hostilities in the spring of 1965 which culminated in a full-fledged war later that year. The resultant victory, which boosted the morale of the nation, also provided impetus to the construction work going on in Chandigarh. The building of the museum in Sector 10 was once again infused with life. Meanwhile, Chandigarh became a Union Territory on November 1, 1966. The city now had to fend for itself without support from the Punjab government. The bureaucrats now began to see themselves substantially in the role of the "guardians" that Plato had envisaged for his ideal city. Off and on Randhawa even used that word to describe his role in Chandigarh. By 1967 he had even roped in the noted museologist, Ratna Fabri, who had studied museums in America and Europe and had the experience of making display arrangements in the Indian pavilion in the Montreal exhibition, to lay out and display the various exhibits that were being collected for the museum. But resources for peripheral activities like constructing a museum were still hard to come by. Finally on May 6th, 1968, after much effort, Union Education Minister Triguna Sen inaugurated the museum. All the collected items could not be displayed. Some of the galleries were still empty, and the museum was still a small one. But Chandigarh had got a museum for itself. |
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Irate residents block traffic Kalka, March 3 They were protesting against a police official. The traffic remained suspended for about one hour. Long queues of vehicles were seen on both sides of the road. Ms Shashi Bala, a resident of Upper
Mohalla, and others had, in a written complaint, demanded action against the police official. According to Ms Shashi Bala, Mr Sudershan Gupta, Ms Shakuntla Devi and others, the said official had misbehaved with Ms Shashi Bala and her husband Mr Sanjiv Kumar, and also issued threats to them. According to the complainants, a quarrelsome women lives in their
mohalla. She quarrels almost everyday with her neighbourers and the residents feel perturbed due to this. Yesterday, the said police official, came there but instead of taking any action against that women, misbehaved with Shashi Bala and her husband. He also threatened them. Infuriated at the action of the police official, the residents of the mohalla gathered there and sat in the middle of the Shimla-Chandigarh national highway, thereby disrupting traffic. Sensing trouble, the SHO, Mr Isham Singh, rushed to the spot. He tried to pacify the public. The DSP, Mr Rattan Singh, and the SDM, Mr Sushil Sarwan also reached there. Residents relented only when, the SDM ordered the registration of a complaint against the said women and also ordered a departmental action against the police official. The matter has also been brought to the notice of the Superintendent of Police and the Deputy Commissioner. |
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Murder
victim identified Panchkula, March 3 The police had given photos of the victim on the Cable TV and thus the family of the victim approached it today. A post- mortem was conducted and the body was handed over to his family members. The family members told the police that Devinder had gone for work to the dhaba on Friday and had not returned. The mutilated body of the deceased was noticed by a salesman of a liquor vend in Sector 19. |
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MCPI terms
Union Budget as anti-farmer Chandigarh, March 3 A Politburo member of the MCPI, Mr Prem Singh Bhangu said the Budget had been prepared under the prescription of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to push forward economic reforms. Mr Bhangu supported the call for an indefinite dharna to be held here on March 10. The call for dharna has been given by six organisations of farmers. |
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Launch
campaigns to save Sikhism: seminar Chandigarh, March 3 Dr Darshanjot Kaur, Dr Sharanjit Kaur, Prof Prabhjot Kaur, Mr Paramjit Singh (all from the Sikh Missionary college), Ms Harjinder Kaur, President of the Sikh Nari Manch and other speakers focussed on the challenges before the Sikh women. They stressed upon the need to launch awareness campaigns to strengthen the Sikh way of life in a family, prohibition of liquor at social functions and marriages and providing equal status to women at religious places. Meanwhile, the Manch also resolved to launch an awareness campaign to save Sikhism from rituals in the day-to-day lives and implementation of giving equal rights to women to perform seva in Gurdwaras. |
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Workshop
on rainwater harvesting SAS Nagar, March 3 The workshop organised by the Central Ground Water Board, N-W Region, was inaugurated by Dr M.D. Nautiyal, Regional Director of the board. He emphasised the need for rainwater harvesting and artificial recharge to ground water in view of declining water levels in different parts of the state. Mr D.S. Saini elaborated various techniques of rainwater harvesting and results of experiments conducted for artificial recharge to ground water. |
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Cancellation
of case sought Kalka, March 3 A few days ago, the unions held a demonstration. Later, a lady doctor of the hospital made a complaint to the police against the two railway employees alleging that they had threatened her and misbehaved with her. The railway employees demanded that the case registered against the employees should be cancelled and the doctor concerned transferred. |
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READERS
WRITE APROPOS ‘Sex education is must: academicians’ (Chandigarh Tribune, dated January 21, 2003). The utterly preposterous presumption of self-appointed experts on the subject that sex education and contraceptives offer the panacea to all related ills in society has always appalled me. How does anyone who subscribes to these views propose to deal with increase in cases of teenage pregnancies sans any maturity and devoid of any sense of responsibility? The need is to inculcate a proper set of values through example, not encourage and endorse promiscuity. A growing teenager’s emotional turmoil is not so simple as to be interpreted in terms of being merely repressed sexual urges. To these experts, the keen interest shown by youngsters in this subject may appear to be a sign of the liberated times. The detailed training that they seek to equip the kids with is not the answer to their needs. If anything, by such information they are only seeking to encourage promiscuity and absolving them of any sense of responsibility as a mature social being. Europe, America, Scandinavian countries and other developed nations, where they have been encouraging so-called sex education for a long time have only seen an increase in sex-related crimes, certainly not a decrease in it. In these societies, one of the major problems has been that of teenage pregnancies amongst schoolgoing girls. It is a serious problem for such teenage mothers and their parents. The whole idea of illuminating young curious minds in great detail about such a sensitive subject seems ill-founded. This kind of freedom requires a mature mind to handle it. I do not think it is wise to promote and encourage free sex-education through insinuating and titillating advertisements. Children at a tender age are ill-equipped to handle even routine problems. This is too serious an issue to be handled so frivolously. Such advertisements and programmes must not be imposed upon children. If someone seeks specific information, then certainly it should be readily and correctly made available to them. Vivek Khanna Panchkula Protect temple,
gurdwara lands Tucked away in the forested area behind the Sukhna Lake lies Gur Sagar Gurdwara. People congregate here to listen to kirtan in praise of the Almighty. Generous doorways of the Darbar Sahib welcome all. The kirtan holds the sangat mesmerised and enthralled for hours. On Puranmashi nights the prayers go on well into the night. Listening to the kirtan is an experience not to be forgotten. The spiritual vibrations are strong and the atmosphere intoxicating. Adjoining the gurdwara is a school. There is also a beautiful cricket field surrounded by trees. The gurdwara land is under threat of being acquired by the administration as government officials feel temples do not require open spaces. They fail to realise that this very land — the open spaces — invite meditation and provide tranquillity. The same problem is being faced by Kuhni Sahib Gurdwara, near the Mansa Devi complex. The historical temple is situated facing swaying fields of wheat and a mango grove. Recently, sewadars of Gur Sagar Gurdwara had accompanied their sant for relief work in riot-torn Gujarat. Earlier, they had set up langars and relief camps after the state was hit by the devastating earthquake. Yet, temples and gurdwaras are not given the appreciation they deserve. Their lands need to be saved from being acquired as they give succour to the people. The government should come forward to help these temples that promote such selfless service. It could also help in developing this land where sages have meditated and where people have flocked in search of peace and solace. Amrita Singh,
Mansa Devi Complex, Panchkula |
MC clerk held
on graft charge Chandigarh, March 3 The corporation clerk, Rakesh Verma, was caught red-handed while accepting Rs 2,000 from the complainant, Mazid. When the CBI team swooped on the office of the corporation in Sector 17 here, a large of number of persons gathered there. To avoid any untoward incident, Rakesh was whisked away to the Sector 30 office of the CBI. In the evening, the CBI sleuths took the clerk for medical examination to the Sector 16 General Hospital. According to information available, the CBI had received a number of complaints against the clerk for demanding bribe from people residing in houses built for economically weaker section
(EWS) in Mauli Jagran. The clerk demanded bribe to overlook unauthorised constructions in the EWS houses. The complainant had been allotted a single room tenement and had raised a temporary structure on the first floor of his house. Already the complainant had paid Rs 1,000 to the clerk. |
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Rs 27,000
snatched from Army man Chandigarh, March 3 When Colonel Shadra was cleaning his clothes, the youths snatching the money and ran away. KIDNAPPED:
Ms Asha, a resident of Sector 37, complained to the police that her husband, Dharampal, who had gone along with Ritu, alias Preeti, Devinder alias Goldy, and Ramesh Kumar, on February 21, 2003, had not returned home till date. The police has registered a case of kidnapping. SNATCHED:
Dr Santosh Gupta, a resident of Sector 40, complained to the police that a person snatched her purse containing gold and silver ornaments, and Rs 5000 near Rose Garden, Sector 16. THEFT:
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Bank launches new scheme Chandigarh, March 3 Mr Subhash Chawla, Mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, handed over pass books to the customers at a function organised at the Sector 22 branch of the bank here today. Addressing a gathering of customers, Mr Ram Singh, Chief Manager of the bank disclosed that the product is aimed at people belonging to the middle and higher segments. After its successful launch in three cities, including Jaipur, Bangalore and Baroda, the scheme has implemented in all the computerised branches in the Bank. He disclosed that there were about 2,700 branches of the Bank in the country, including 79 in the Chandigarh region. He said the customers would get interest on quarterly basis as against yearly and half-yearly payments by other banks. Further, the account will be transferable free of cost to any of the branches of the bank offering the product. All standing instructions will be carried out free, and benefits given under Section 80-L of the Income Tax Act. Customers will also get a welcome kit containing product profile, an attractive cheque book and a pass book. |
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MARKET PULSE Chandigarh, March 3 Designed by Los Angeles-based TAG Creative Brand Solutions in collaboration with NDTV’ s design team, the new logo retains the connectivity of the letters from the original logo with a stronger, more modern mark. A red dot with a strong and distinct motif has been added in order to tie the logo together while reinforcing the recall from the previous logo. It also communicates NDTV’s core brand values of integrity, credibility, balance and innovation, with added characteristics of energy and passion for quality. Commenting on the concept behind the logo, Dr Prannoy Roy said, “The idea behind the new logo is to maintain continuity with the original logo, while giving it a more contemporary look and ensuring the same works across all media. The new corporate logo is aimed at communicating the core brand values and NDTV’s philosophies as a media house.” NDTV appointed TAG after going through pitches from the world’s top class graphics and design agencies in the world. At least four international companies from different parts of the world flew down to India to make a bid for the NDTV business. Once the basic designs were agreed on TAG’s team in collaboration with NDTV’s design team produced the finished animations.
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THE silver statue of the late Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa, the first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army is the centre-piece in the anteroom of the Officers’ Mess of Brigade of the Guards. On entering the mess, all officers salute the statue.