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| Saturday,
April 12, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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Confusion
over bank holidays
Chandigarh, April 11 Bankers have been showing a circular of Punjab National Bank, which says that April 14 has been declared a public holiday under Section 26 of the NI Act. It refers to a circular of December 13, 1994, and says if the Central Government itself notifies a day as public holiday under the NI Act, then there is no need to wait for the state government's notification. The Chandigarh Administration today clarified that April 14 was a holiday but it was not classified under the Negotiable Instruments (NI) Act, 1881. Bankers said a notification from the Chandigarh Administration was not required to announce a closed day. Going through the list of holidays in Chandigarh, April 15 (Tuesday) was already classified as a holiday under the Act and banks in Chandigarh would close that day. A few days ago the Chandigarh Administration said April 18 (Good Friday) was a holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act but it was withdrawn through a notification issued last night. Senior officials of the Chandigarh Administration’s Home Department said under instructions from the Union Ministry of Finance, only 15 holidays in a calendar year could be classified as holidays under the NI Act. Chandigarh had already circulated a list of 15 holidays, including three national holidays on January 26, August 15 and October 2. Besides this the usual two bank holidays are on April 1 and September 30. So would banks open on Monday or not ? Administration officials said “We can only say it is not a holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act.’’ But the Chief General Manager (Chandigarh), Reserve Bank of India, Mr D.P.S. Rathore, said RBI would not open on Monday.  |
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$3,500,
jewellery stolen Chandigarh, April 11 The theft was noticed only when the occupant of the house, Mrs Santosh Bala, returned from her office last evening. The burglars left behind Indira Vikas Patras worth Rs 60,000. The gold jewellery is valued at around Rs 60,000. An official at the Industrial Area police station said a case of theft was registered last night after receiving a call from Mrs Bala. Talking to TNS, Mrs Bala, who works in the office of the Principal General Manager Telecom (PGMT), Chandigarh circle, said on Wednesday evening she had gone to her parents’ house and did not return home that night. The next day she returned only in the evening after attending her office. An uncle of Mrs Bala, who had gone to attend a marriage at Hoshiarpur, had recently come to Chandigarh with his family from the USA. “The US dollars and expensive clothes stolen by the burglars belonged to my uncle”, said Mrs Bala. |
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Rich prisoners call shots in Burail Jail Chandigarh, April 11 In this jail, the influential undertrials call the shots. At times, where poor prisoners have to go without food if they miss their breakfast, the privileged and the influential sit back and enjoy the best of facilities. It may be mentioned that this is all in violation of the orders of the Supreme Court which directs against any discrimination among undertrials lodged in jail. Talking about the B-Class status for certain prisoners, the apex court observes, “It was a pampering process much abused by officers and in class culture, obnoxious to the Constitution. Equality before the law cannot co-exist with those with affluent background being looked after with luxury and solitude and lowly indigents being treated as pariahs inside the prison.” In this jail, however, these words do not seem to apply. Out of 550 undertrials, over 90 per cent are poor and discriminated against. Chandigarh Tribune investigations reveal that many rich undertrials are enjoying the facility of servants, normally an undertrial himself, to prepare food and they even enjoy healthy interactions with relatives out of office hours. They have the access to pizzas, liquor and whatever they like in connivance with the security personnel deployed inside the jail. On the other hand, those belonging to the poor strata have follow the jail rules. They are
provided meal twice a day, breakfast and dinner, as per the jail manual and ‘channa with gur’ in the afternoon. If any undertrial is unable to take breakfast then he has no
option but to wait till the night for dinner. Bringing down the curtain on the practice of some prisoners being more equal than others, earlier the Punjab and Haryana High Court had quashed the provisions of the Punjab Jail Manual, dividing prisoners into Classes A, B, and C after holding that “there cannot be any classification of convicts on the basis of their social status, education or habit of living”. The order is significant as influential undertrials and convicts have reportedly been “languishing in luxury” in some jails. Otherwise also, a graduate or an income tax payee gets bedding, kitchen facility, milk and dry ration. A servant is also provided for four or five persons. When contacted, the Jail Superintendent, Mr D.S. Rana, said, “The authorities is complying with court directions, as the B-Class facility is being provided to an undertrial after the court directions. It is the duty of the state counsel to oppose the undertrial plea to grant them B-Class facility in the court. Mr Rana also said convicted prisoners were being provided the B-Class facility after they got a permission from the IG (Prison). Talking about the High Court order, Mr Rana added “The jail authorities had sought the UT Legal Remembrance opinion over the matter and he had informed the authorities that the Model Burail jail was not made party in the case therefore those directions were not applicable in this jail”. |
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TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE Chandigarh, April 11 Sources say these sales were made to Shiva Air Conditioning, a fake firm created with the purpose of cheating the taxation authorities and evading tax. Kirloskar, using the fake firm as a front, effected bogus sales of Rs 1.14 crore and Rs 1.26 crore in the financial years 2001-2002 and 2002-2003, respectively, thus evading a massive amount of tax. Talking exclusively to TNS, Deputy Excise and Taxation Officer, UT, Mr Inderjit Singh Sandhu, said if Kirloskar did not pay tax by the scheduled date of May 7, the department would impose a heavy tax penalty on them. The penalty could range between 25 to 150 per cent of the tax amount assessed. Interestingly, until the time the scam came to light in June 2002, an Amritsar-based Kirloskar dealer Harjinder Singh had been cheating the Excise and Taxation Departments of UT and Punjab by billing sales in the name of the fake firm, Shiva Air Conditioning, which never existed. The report of the Excise and Taxation Officer (ETO), Mr R.P.S. Walia, who conducted an inquiry establishes that Kirloskar had been making regular sales to the original firm of Harjinder Singh until the time the first surprise inspection of the Kirloskar premises was held on June 4, 2002. Until then, Harjinder Singh was showing negligible sales in the accounts of his original firm. While no sale was shown in the records of Amritsar Air Conditioning between 2001 and 2002, a sale of just Rs 64,000 was shown between 2002-2003. Actual billing was being done in the accounts of the fake firm. The inquiry officer, with the help of the Taxation Department, Amritsar, established the following frauds by Harjinder Singh in connivance with Kirloskar: (i) The taxation authorities, Amritsar, in their September 27, 2002, communication to UT confirmed that Shiva Air Conditioning never existed at MM Malviya Road, Amritsar. (ii) It confirmed that sales tax number (21046713) used by Shiva Air Conditioning actually belonged to some other firm. (iii) Shiva Air Conditioning was not registered. Statutory “C” forms shown to Kirloskar by this fake firm had actually been issued by the Taxation Department, Amritsar, to Seema Glass House, whose business stood closed as per official records. (v) The fake firm had no bank account. It was issuing drafts to Kirloskar from the account of one Hira Lal, who is untraceable. While an FIR has been lodged against Harjinder Singh in Amritsar, Mr Baldev Sachdeva of Kirloskar Copeland, when contacted, expressed ignorance of any tax demand notice served upon the firm. “Our Pune office must have received the notice,” he said. |
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DD plans to check rivals SAS Nagar, April 11 Not many know that Doordarshan still has a whopping 93 per cent share of the Indian TV watching audience while the other channels like Aaj Tak and the Star group barely have 2 to 3 per cent. And this is what Doordarshan plans to focus on in their advertisements. ‘‘A beginning has already been made,’’ said Dr. S. Y. Qureshi, Director-General, Doordarshan, New Delhi. He was here today for the inaugration of a two-day workshop on female foeticide organised by the Institute for Development and Communication at SAS Nagar extension centre. ‘‘We have started out first set of advertisements on Doordarshan focusing on our viewership of the Iraq war. We touched a comparative all time high with 11 million viewers for our prime time news.’’ ‘‘Our coverage of the Iraq war has been appreciated by our audience. People tell me that we have been totally natural, a thing even BBC cannot say about itself this time. For example, instead of focusing on the celebrations in Baghdad after the US victory, our correspondent also showed the other side of the coin, of people weeping that they have come under foreign rule,’’ he said. Focusing on viewership is one way of getting to both the audience and the sponsors. But obviously DD has some more points to make vis-a-vis the other channels. ‘‘What about the concept of a 24-hour news channel? What the other channels are doing is repeating a three-hour tape after midnight with just a few additions here and there, that too only if something big happens in the night. But do you know that Doordarshan is doing their post midnight news all through the night live with fresh news readers?,’’said Mr Qureshi. But what about the slickness and the picture quality that goes with Star and Aaj Tak? ‘‘We are aware of these problems and if cable operators do not let us down the way they have done over the last few years, our picture quality will be as good as any other channel. DD has been on the receiving end of cable operators whom we are not promoting in any way. So they don’t promote us. Look at the way Sony TV send over 250 cable company representatives to the World Cup. It's all in the game. But being a government organisation we have to work within our limits and certain rules,’’ he said. And who is funding the advertisement campaign? ‘‘We don’t have a specific budget for the campaign but we have tied up with the Indian Express through a unique barter system. They will carry out our advertisements and we will give them that much money’s worth air time. There is no cash inflow-outflow and we have our ads placed. We are also trying to tie up with other newspapers on similar lines, said Dr Qureshi. |
12,000 quintal wheat arrives in Sec 26 Chandigarh, April 11 Initially, during the first week of this month, the arrival of wheat was slow in the local grain market. However, it picked up during the past couple of days.
Daljit Singh, Mandi Supervisor, told TNS that 12,000 quintals of wheat had arrived till today. Yesterday, the official figure was 11,112 quintals. On the other hand, in the Sector 39 grain market, there was no sign of wheat arrival. Children were seen playing cricket in the market. An official of the local Market Committee said that the Sector 39 grain market was being used as an additional space during the time when the main grain market was hardly left with any space to further accommodate the wheat arrival. In
Sohana, the purchase of wheat started today, after a span of 15 years. Mohan
Lal, a commission agent, said that the Punjab Urban Development Authority had acquired 4.5 acre of market land in the mid 80s of the last century. Subsequently, the Punjab Government had banned the purchase of wheat in this market. "However, we appealed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the decision of the state government. Finally, we won the case and started purchase of wheat after 15 years”, he
added. Punsup, a state-owned procurement agency, today, purchased 200 quintal of wheat through the commission agent Mohan Lal and 40 quintal through Ranbir Singh, another agent. Only two commission agents are operating in this grain market. In the Sector 20 Grain Market of Panchkula (Haryana), a total of 1000 quintals of wheat was purchased by
Hafed, a state-owned procurement agency, by today evening. The secretary of the local Market Committee, Mr
A.N. Sethi, said that the arrival of wheat started from April 8 but at a slow pace. “It is likely to pick up in the next couple of days”, he added. In Dera Bassi the scene was almost the same. The Mandi Supervisor, Mr Sucha Singh, said that only 220 quintals of wheat had arrived so far in the market. However, the grain markets of Amlala and Samgoli were yet to witness any arrival of wheat.
Sucha Singh further said, “85,000 quintals of wheat is expected to be purchased by the FCI in Dera Bassi as compared to the last year’s purchase of 78,000 quintals”. Figures of wheat arrival Grain Market Quantity (in quintals) Sector-26 12,000 Sector-39
0 Sohana 240 Panchkula 1000 Dera Bassi 220 Amlala 0 Samgoli 0 |
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‘Holistic strategy needed
to counter foeticide’ SAS Nagar, April 11 Setting the tone of the workshop was, however, the inaugural session during which Mr Y.S. Ratra, Chief Secretary, Punjab, made a presentation focusing on some of the efforts undertaken by the government to combat the problem. Earlier the Chief Secretary had also inaugurated the workshop with the Chief Minister, once again failing to keep his appointment at SAS Nagar. Dr Pramod Kumar, Director, IDC, introduced the theme to the audience stating that solutions to a problem could be as effective as the identification of the problem and, in this case, the problem of decline in the sex ratio in the region has been wrongly identified as merely a problem of female foeticide. ‘‘Trying to understand forms in isolation is not enough. The gender problem has to be read in its totality.’’he pointed out. Dr S.Y. Qureshi, Director-General Doordarshan, New Delhi, highlighted the role of the electronic media in spreading awareness about the problem. Dr Erma Manoncourt, Deputy Director, UNICEF, New Delhi, in her presentation pointed out that there was a need to learn from the various efforts of the past and move forward with new solutions. ‘‘We have to derive a mechanism by which we can reach the family where all decisions regarding the family are taken. We have to reach not just the converted but also the unconverted.’’ she said. Ms Rupan Deol Bajaj, Principal Secretary, Health Services, Punjab, gave an overview of the present status of the Health Department’s efforts to deal with the situation in every district keeping in mind the cultural specificity of each area. Ms B. Bhamathi, from UNFPA, New Delhi, talked about female foeticide from a population development perspective and the policy implications therein. She pointed out that community and region-specific studies were required to design meaningful and focussed interventions.The workshop will continue tomorrow.
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First heritage hotel in region Ramgarh (Panchkula), April 11 The heritage hotel, which is the first one to come up in Haryana, promises regal hospitality while offering the most modern amenities. The retreat resonates with a glorious 350-year-old past and promises to take its guests back in time by recreating an ancient ambience, where the true Rajput tradition will unfold at each step. The fort was built by a scion of the Chandel Rajput rulers of Central India, Kushal Singh, around 1650 AD. He had come down to Ramgarh from the Himalayan state of Bilaspur . Ramgarh was one of the 34 sovereign Cis-Satluj states of Punjab. The Ambala District Gazette of 1886 mentions the state of Ramgarh as one of the three states that survived unscathed during the anarchy prevailing in the region in 1760’s . This was also one of the states that bitterly opposed the British and in 1849, when Punjab was annexed by the British, the powers of this state were greatly reduced. “However,” says Mr A.S. Chandel, a scion of the Chandel dynasty and proprietor of the now converted retreat,” the ravages of time had played havoc with the fort. The family, instead of abandoning it like many others, continues to live here , renovating and reconstructing the glorious past . The sheer economics of maintaining this fort left us with no option but to convert it into a retreat,” From the residential suites to the restaurant and the coffee shop (serving vegetarian food and non-alcoholic beverages only as our tradition does not allow otherwise, reasons proprietor Mr Chandel), the retreat hopes to rope in tourists visiting the lower Himachal destinations. A museum of ancient weaponry, a photo gallery in the 400 metre long tunnel within this fort, an antique shop, a spa with jacuzzi, an indoor swimming pool, and a curio shop are the other attractions here. A corner for kids with a playhouse and a library for kids, are also being set up. Five vintage cars owned by the Chandels — 1948 Humber, 1952 Vangaurd, 1938 Cetron, 1941 Morris and 1939 Austin — will be offered to guests for joyrides. A sun dial made in 1751 and a 37-foot door (the country’s highest wooden door) at the entrance of the fort only add to the splendour. For an adventurist, a small air-conditioned tree house has been perched atop an old banyan tree. This tree house has an attached bathroom and a tea/coffee maker and a television set has also been provided. Other than this, 18 luxurious rooms with floral frescos on the ceilings and aulas (traditional earthen lamps meant for lighting) recreated with POP borders add to the ambience of each of these rooms. The rooms have been categorised into five categories — historic, classic, vintage, royal and imperial — in ascending order in terms of space and facilities offered in each room. |
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Psychoanalysing your personality Chandigarh, April 11 The manual provides detailed information about Somatic Inkblot Series (SIS) images, their historical development, psychometric properties, reliability and validity. It also includes a series of statistical scoring systems with normative data to supplement the insights derived from the phenomenological case history method. “The principle of SIS lies in the adage that a healthy body is the base for a healthy mind,” said Dr Dubey. “Through this system, we try to understand the personality of a person by judging his reaction to a series of images of human body and form,” he explained. The book contains about 62 images which, according to Dr Dubey, were shortlisted from 10,000 images compiled from different countries in Africa, the USA and Milano, among others. According to Dr Dubey, the manual will be valuable to a broad spectrum of people, right from a layman to professionals. “The manual has proved particularly helpful in people’s inter-personal relationships, assessing one’s ego and aggression level, insecurity complex and, most importantly, assessing their team spirit. “The techniques described in the book have been used by many industries,” he said. Dr Dubey is a Professor in the Department of Business Management, Panjab University, and his association with Dr Cassell goes back more than a decade when the two scientists met in Australia. Dr Cassell is a top-ranking psychiatrist of the USA in projective psychology and tele therapy.He has written several books, including “Body Symbolism” known for interpreting human imagery. While releasing the manual General Jacob said application of somatic imagery had proven to be far-reaching and of international significance. Currently, a complete data bank was being developed where individuals from various SIS centres around the world may submit data and access information via modern or facsimile communication. Mr R.K. Saboo, Chairman, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, welcomed the chief guest and said the book was going to be of tremendous help to the people who were under stress and strain, especially those who had got a suicidal tendency. Dr P.K. Vasudeva, president, Chandigarh Management Association, and Principal Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Dayanand College of Communication and Management introduced the chief guest and the authors and said the SIS had been found successful in assessing certain important areas such as inter-personal relationships, ego and self image and healthy body imagery. |
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Devotees participate in nagar kirtan Panchkula, April 11 The councillors from Ward No 26 and 27, Ms Seema Chaudhary and Mr Pawan Mittal, received the ‘sangat’ in Sector 2. Meanwhile, Ram Navami was celebrated at Sri Sanatan Dharam Vrindavan Chandra Mandir, Sector 12. A religious discourse by Sri Aseem Goswami Van Maharaj was held and the ‘abhishek’ of Lord Rama, Sita and Lakshman was done.
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BJP warns of cholera
outbreak Chandigarh, April 11 A former Deputy Mayor, Mr Kanhya Lal Sharma, in a statement said many residents of Palsora Colony were suffering from cholera due to the unavailability of safe drinking water and unhygienic conditions prevailing in the area. |
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2 victims of mishap critical SAS Nagar, April 11 ASI Jaswinder Singh, ASI Sukhdev Singh, Mr Amandeep Singh and Mr Paramjeet Singh, were on way to Chandigarh from Samrala when the accident took place. The police today registered a case against the driver who is absconding. However, the truck has been impounded. All four occupants of the car were in an inebriated condition when the accident took place. The doctors in the nursing home conformed this. The condition of ASI Jaswinder Singh and Mr Amandeep Singh, a fisheries officer at Samrala, is said to be serious. Mr Paramajeet Singh, is a Tehsil Welfare Officer at Samrala. He and the other ASI Sukhdev Singh received minor injuries. |
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DEBATE City Beautiful's most prominent water feature, Sukhna Lake, is in danger. Readers of Chandigarh Tribune are invited to send in their views not exceeding 150 words on the subject along with a passport size colour photo for publication in the newspaper to: Save Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh Tribune, Sector 29-C, Chandigarh.
Silt excluders probable solution Have silt excluders as installed in canals to save the Sukhna Lake from the formation of silt. Canals originate from rivers, which carry a large percentage of sand and silt, but these have been effectively tackled by providing “silt excluder” at the head-regulators. Resultantly our canal systems have been running quite efficiently for more than a century without any problem. Silt excluders are based on the principle that heavier matter flows into the lower level of the current and if this is trapped before entering the regulator, silting problem can be minimised. Likewise, by providing silt excluder upstream and flushing out the silt-laden water through some channel, existing or proposed, to the Ghaggar river, the perennial problem of silt-deposit can be solved. J.K. Mago, Panchkula |
3 ‘smugglers’ hit police team, SHO hurt SAS Nagar, April 11 The incident happened when SHO Ramandeep Singh, along with ETO Mr Shalin Walia and Excise Inspector, Kuldip Singh, were manning the YPS naka when they saw a Tata Safari coming from Chandigarh and signalled it to stop. The vehicle was occupied by three persons. The driver, instead of stopping the vehicle hit the police party hurting the SHO and even hitting a police Gypsy standing nearby. The vehicle was immediately chased by SI Gurinder Singh, along with a police party till Kharar where they were able to catch up with the vehicle. But the three persons stopped the Tata Safari and ran away. The vehicle was impounded and the police seized 3000 packets of locally-made liquor and 12 cases of foreign liquor from the vehicle. The SP, Mr Harcharan Singh Bhullar, said a case of attempt to murder had been booked against the three persons along with relevant sections of the Excise Act. Sources said three tyres of the vehicle were found to be flat which was a result of the police having opened fire but the police denied this stating that the tyres were found to be flat due to rash driving by the driver. The police was on the lookout for the three persons. |
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Two held for robbery Chandigarh, April 11 An official said interrogation of the suspects revealed that they had robbed a milkman on the road leading to Sector 25. In another incident, a scooter-borne youth snatched a purse from a woman at the Sectors 18 and 19 traffic junction here this evening. The purse contained Rs 1500 in cash, an ATM card and documents. |
ASI suspended for demanding bribe Chandigarh, April 11 Sources said the ASI had been suspended after the CBI forwarded the case to the SSP. The victim, Mr Ranbir Singh Cheema, alias Rana, had approached the CBI after the ASI demanded a bribe from him. The CBI reportedly sent a witness, along with Mr Cheema, to confirm the facts of the case on April 3 last. While the ASI had asked for Rs 3000, the deal was finally settled for Rs 2000. An amount of Rs 500 was paid in advance to the ASI in front of a CBI official. However, the case was referred to the Chandigarh Police. |
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Chain, cash stolen Panchkula, April 11 ONE INJURED: Jagminder Singh, a resident of Dhanas village, Chandigarh, was seriously injured when his scooter (CH-03Z-7957) was hit by a truck (HR-37-1967) near Chandimandir. The police has arrested the driver of the truck Mohan Singh. AMBALA SEVEN HURT: As many as seven persons were injured in a road accident near Dhurkala village here today. The accident occurred when a Tata Sumo coming from Kurukshetra collided with a three-wheeler near the village. The injured — Sukhbir, Ashok, Rinku, Baldev, Sonu, Bindra alongwith the driver of the three wheeler — were admitted to the local Civil Hospital. The police has registered a case. PRISONER SAS NAGAR Man robbed: A resident of Phase VI was robbed of Rs 50,000 and registration papers of a car by three youths here on Tuesday. In a complaint to the police, Mr Kamaljit Singh Kalra alleged that the persons had come to his house on the pretext of getting the registration copy of the car that he had sold some months back. The youths were made to sit in the drawing room. Mr Kalra said they asked for a pen to sign some documents. Since the pen was lying in his briefcase, which contained Rs 50,000 in cash, he brought the briefcase to the drawing room. The youths then asked for water. They escaped with the briefcase and the registration documents as soon as he went into the kitchen. Mr Kalra alleged that the youths had parked their getaway car on the highway near the house. He alleged that some youths had been trying to contact him on the phone for the past many days. A case has been registered in this regard. |
Can Asia to challenge Canadian rules Chandigarh, April 11 Stating this during a press conference at a local hotel here today, Mr Brownstein, a Canadian attorney, that this retroactive applicability of Bill C- 11 was likely to affect almost 200,000 applicants globally and India shared a large percentage in the affected lot. |
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Bygone era recreated by Art Karat Chandigarh, April11 Asha has recreated the styles made popular by four screen goddesses, Madhubala, Meena Kumari, Suraiya and Nargis, ranging from the delicate variety favoured by Nargis to the elaborate ‘jhumkas’ and ‘rani haars’, a trademark of Suraiya. To keep the essence of the era intact, Art Karat has generously used ‘kundan’ and ‘meena’ work for its latest collection. Besides, a huge collection of bangles, Art Karat has also created a ‘kalgi’ which can be worn over the turban by bridegrooms or used as an armlet, a broach or a neck piece, depending on the occasion. Curved in real stones, the ‘kalgi’ is available for Rs 16,000. Asha, the driving force behind Art Karat, has created a wide canvas of traditional and Western designs, catering to different income groups. Her creations are available from Rs 1,000 to Rs 30,000. A trained gemologist and recipient of the Award for Excellence in 1989 by the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, Asha’s designs have been highly acclaimed in ‘Monsoon Wedding’ and ‘Devdas’, two successful Bollywood productions. |
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