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Banned crackers on sale in
Mohali SAS Nagar, October 24 However, for the stall owners the list of banned crackers which was given to them along with the permission to set up stalls by the SDM does not mean much. “These are things which are selling the most and have the maximum profit margin.’’said a stall owner in Phase VII. When contacted, the SDM said he would take a complete round of these stalls tomorrow to see if anyone was selling banned crackers. ‘‘But the problem arises as the cracker sellers are not aware that these are banned. In fact, before giving permissions, these people should be properly educated about the decibel limits and the limit of explosive that a cracker can contain before it is sold,” said Mr M.L. Sharma, SDM, Mohali. |
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Cracker sellers blowing apart safety norms Chandigarh, October 24 Each cracker seller is required to keep 25 sand bags at the sale site. Smoking inside and near the shops is prohibited. The display of crackers on footpaths, too, is banned. The minimum distance between two stalls should be 15 metres, as per the terms and conditions of the licence for selling crackers. But the reality is different. Go to any market and you will witness crackers being sold, against the norms, on folding beds covered with white sheets, casually placed on footpaths in front of the shops. The norms regarding the minimum safety distance are also being violated. One can barely squeeze ones way through two folding beds. The sellers are also flouting the norms by not keeping water tanks of at least 200 litres capacity at the site. Worse, boards with “smoking strictly prohibited” warning are also missing. The rules also say that there should not be any naked or loose electric wire inside the shops, and the kiosks should have separate entrance and exits. Besides this, no other business should be conducted. But, none of the conditions are being followed. Even though no major incident of fire has been reported in the recent past, dense black smoke had enveloped the Sector 19 rehri market in the early 90s after cracker stalls had caught fire. Interestingly, the police and Fire Department officials are expected to carry out an inspection of the site before the licence is issued to the applicant.
Licence, on the condition of anonymity, however, confirm that none of the officials had ever visited the spot. Denying the allegations of carelessness on part of the authorities, a senior officer in the Fire Department says: “The applicants apply for the licences at least seven to eight days prior to actually setting up the stalls. At the time of applying, they assure us that all conditions would be complied with, but later on they back out of the undertaking”. He asserts: “Whenever a violation comes to our notice, we write it down on the licence of the defaulter so that it becomes hard for him to get the same the next year”. No matter what the authorities claim, the fact remains that crackers are being sold in violation of the safety norms. |
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4 booked under Explosives Act Panchkula, October 24 It is learnt that the SDM conducted a check in Sectors 4,5,16, 14 and 21 to see if the banned crackers were being sold and fire safety measures taken by the dealers. The SDM reportedly showed his displeasure with the rush inside the temporary kiosks set up for the crackers in Sector 16 and asked the dealers not to allow too many people inside. Meanwhile, the Raipur Rani police has booked three persons — Mohan Lal, Ishwar Mahajan and Ajay for selling crackers without obtaining a valid permit from the administration. All three persons were booked under Section 9 B of the
Explosive Act and 13 and 114 of the Explosive Rules. In Kalka, the police booked Pal, a resident of Balmiki Colony, for selling crackers from a residential premises and without obtaining a permit from the authorities.
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Students propagate anti-cracker message Chandigarh, October 24 NSS volunteers led by Mr P.L. Sharma, programme officer, went around the streets of Dadu Majra colony carrying banners with anti-cracker messages to generate awareness about the ill effects of crackers. The Principal of the school, Mr Karam Chand, thanked the PTA president and other staff for their co-operation. At a similar function, “No cracker week” celebrated by Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 21, concluded with the Principal, Ms Indira Dhingra, highlighting the ill effects of bursting crackers. Mr Surinder Sharma, Vice-Principal of the school, urged the students to take a vow not to burst crackers. Earlier, the Eco Club under the guidance of Ms Seema Suri, in charge of the club, took out a rally in Sector 21. The students carried placards and sensitised the residents about harmful effects of crackers. |
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200 students hold rally Chandigarh, October 24 The ill-effect of crackers were highlighted by students, who raised slogans against noise pollution.
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Divali celebrations with special children Chandigarh, October 24 Students of Classes V and VI distributed gifts and sweets among, the physically and mentally
challenged children and interacted with them. The Executive Director of the school, Mr Jasdeep Kalra, and Principal, Ms Jagjit Sekhon, accompanied the children. |
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Schools celebrate Divali Panchkula, October 24 A diya-making competition was also organised in which Sat Priya stood first, Shweta stood second and Nitika Garg stood third. St Soldier Divine Public School:
DAV Senior Public School, Surajpur:
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Spreading message of safe Divali through kites Chandigarh, October 24 Wishing a happy Divali to the students, Dr Sehgal highlighted the negative impact of crackers on environment through his specially made kites. Using pictures of celebrities to drive home his point, Dr Sehgal pointed out a number of ill-effects of crackers. Dr Sehgal’s name was entered in the Limca Book of Records for making miniature kites. His bunch of eight kites could pass through the eye of a needle. He has also won the Punjab State Award — 2003 for the protection of environment through his art works. |
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Kids dress up in Ramayana
costumes Chandigarh, October 24 The programme started with a ‘Ganesh
Vandana’. Children were dressed up as Lord Rama, Raja Dashrath,
Lakshman, Ravana, Meghnath, Kumbhkaran, Hanuman, Sita, Kakaeyi, Kaushalya and
Vibishan. Group dance on Punjabi pop was also presented by students. Participants were given certificates. |
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Poster-making contest Chandigarh, October 24
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Children call on Governor’s wife
Chandigarh, October 24 The children also presented her with handmade artistic candles made by them. Ms Verma appreciated their skills and hoped that the school would encourage budding artists in their respective fields. The children also presented a cultural programme. They enjoyed breakfast with Ms Verma and received sweets.
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Governor greets people Chandigarh, October 24
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Medical camp
at school SAS Nagar, October 24
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Employees
withdraw threat Chandigarh, October 24 The federation said the Adviser to the
Administrator, the Finance Secretary and the Chief Engineer had called
in representatives of the federation and assured time-bound
implementation of demands. In view of these assurances the federation
has withdrawn its decision. |
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Right time to make
officials happy Chandigarh, October 24 Interestingly, banks, hotels, insurance companies and other private companies have purchased gifts like mobile handsets, crystal glasses, cookies, packs of biscuits, branded imported liquor packs worth lakhs of rupees to present to their “special clients”, government officials, and journalists. The marketing divisions of the companies are also using the occasion to offer gifts to their esteem clients and “selected” officials that matter in offices and the corporate sector. Says Mr Sahil Jain of Trends Exclusive at Hotel Shivalik” “The new trend this year is to buy imported silk flowers and trees. These have been imported from Russia, France and Canada. There is a heavy demand from the corporate sector and individuals to buy these impressive plants.” He claims that the price range of these plants varies from Rs 400 to Rs 30,000. One could a get a flower stick for Rs 75, flower bunches for Rs 275 and silk flower trees in lily, roses and mix variety for Rs 1,500 to Rs 30,000. Mr Gautam Mehra, Business Manager, Ebony Retail Stores, claims that people are buying jewellery, diamonds, dry fruits and costly crockery as well in beautiful gift packs to offer on the occasion of the festival of lights. The price range of the gift could vary from Rs 250 to Rs 10,000. A senior official of leading manufacturing unit in SAS Nagar disclosed that they were “forced” to give costly gifts like jewellery, dry fruits and imported painting to officials of the Departments of the Industry, the Excise, the Income Tax and others depending upon their importance. “It was the right time to make them happy”, he added. An official of the Punjab Government on the condition of anonymity, disclosed that some of the senior officials have already gone on leave and are sitting at their home to collect Divali gifts. They usually get cases of imported whisky, decoration items, dry fruits and sweets.” A shopkeeper in Sector 7 claimed that he usually buys sweets and dry fruits worth thousands of rupees from the employees of these officials after Divali at discounted price. Interestingly, number of companies and public relation companies are in touch with the “selected journalists” of print and electronic media’ to “know their personal choice” of Divali gifts. An official of a PR company, said: Whether you like or not one cannot avoid it.” On the positive sides, some of the companies and traders are using the occasion to gift books, sweaters, bicycles and reading material to the children of underprivileged section. The SOS Children’s village at Rajpura has already appealed to the corporate sector and individuals to help the children on the eve of Divali. The Avon Cycles has already announced to donate bicycles to the students of slum colonies patronised by the Theatre Age, a local NGO. |
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Jeweller surrenders stocks
worth Rs 90 lakh Chandigarh, October 24 Though the survey was carried out few days ago, the income tax officers were tallying the stocks with the account books. The IT Department has also recovered an accounted income of Rs 25 lakh from a Sector 26 shop, Buyer’s Den. It may be mentioned that to reduce the deficit in the collection of income tax, sleuths of the Income Tax Department, North-West region, are conducting an intensive survey at business establishments in the city. Recently, an accounted income of Rs 60 lakh was surrendered by Regal Shoes in Sector 17. Another survey was conducted at Kala Emporium in sector 11 and Uphar Saree Centre in Sector 17. However, the details of the survey were not available. Sources said more surveys were in the pipeline in the coming days, as business establishments in the city were under the watchful eyes of the IT Department.
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HC asks police officers to probe human trafficking Chandigarh, October 24 The directions are significant as several cases of human trafficking, some allegedly involving theatre and film artistes and even pop stars, had recently surfaced. On Thursday also, the Delhi High Court granted interim anticipatory bail to Daler Mehndi in a similar case. This is not all. Way back in 1996 the nation woke up only to be told that a tragedy had occurred on the shores of Malta. About 290 innocents had lost their lives in a ship wreck. Majority of them were Indians trying to immigrate on the “basis of assurances by persons indulging in illegal manpower export”. Taking serious view of such cases, Mr Justice Amar Dutt of the High Court had earlier asked the authorities concerned to explore the feasibility of using the print, audio or the electronic media for educating the masses about the pitfalls of the trade. Giving details, Mr Justice Dutt had added, “The authorities should consider the advisability of taking steps for educating the masses after consulting the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Labour. The possibility should also be explored to prevent the middlemen from making unwarranted profits by regulating the recruitment and letting everyone know about the demands send by different countries for skilled and unskilled labour”. Little was, however, done. Another petition was subsequently filed by Jaswinder Singh and others against the states of Punjab and Haryana. The petitioners had alleged that “unscrupulous elements” were fleecing the innocents by accepting heavy payments on the promise of lucrative jobs abroad. Arguing before the court, counsel had alleged that the police was not taking any action against the offenders as they were influential. The cases, they claimed, should as such be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation. After going through the documents and hearing Punjab’s Deputy Advocate-General Mansur Ali, Mr Justice Mittal asserted, “It would be in the fitness of things if senior Punjab and Haryana officers were directed to conduct an inquiry into the matter”. Disposing the petitions, Mr Justice Mittal asserted, “directions are issued to Punjab’s ADGP (Headquarters) and Haryana’s IGP (Headquarters) to look into the allegations made by the petitioners and other similarly situated persons involved in the scandal, besides the racket of luring the youngsters with lucrative jobs abroad....” The judge concluded, “The inquiry shall be conducted by the two officers personally. After holding the inquiry, the officers shall take action in accordance with the law against those involved in the commission of the offence, if any”. |
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Enforcement staff under fire Chandigarh, October 24 The Member of Parliament, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, has also expressed concern at the policy of the enforcement staff. Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, the Chairman said they had been receiving a lot of complaints against the enforcement staff. Two months back the committee had decided to initiate stringent measures. A decision taken by the committee two months back to make Sector 17 free from encroachments had not been implemented by the enforcement staff, he added. Certain complaints about the enforcement staff accepting bribe from “rehri” and “pheri walas” in the Apni mandis had also come up. “The ward of the councillors, who spoke against the enforcement staff in the committee meetings, was targeted by the enforcement staff. The enforcement staff spread a wrong word that it was being done at the instance of the area councillor”, said one of the councillors. Several instances of encroachments which had been taken up at the General House in the past had not been removed. A decision to make Sector 17 encroachment free had not been implemented by the enforcement staff, he observed. The Member of Parliament, Mr Pawan Basal, said dual measure of checking the encroachments and allowing the poor people to earn their living within the social system was required. He said pavement vendors all over the world were allowed to do business but within certain parameters. He opined that accountability of the officers concerned should be fixed by the corporation. Instead of fixing targets, the enforcement staff should be allowed to regulate the “rehri” and “pheri walas.” He supported the right of the councillors to reduce fine of challans issued by the enforcement staff. Mr Pardeep Chhabra, a councillor from Sector 22, said despite orders of the corporation, the menace of “rehri” and “pheri walas” was prevelant in Sector 17. After 6 pm there was no check on the vendors who squatted in the corridors in front of the shops. “Some of the vendors also talked about paying money to the enforcement staff “, said the councillor. |
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Suicide case takes new turn Panchkula, October 24 Earlier an Excise and Taxation Officer at Chandigarh, Ms H. Brar, was booked by the police on charges of abetment to suicide, after the victim’s father had accused her of harassing him. A case under Section 306 of the IPC was registered at the Chandimandir police station. Senior police officials, while confirming the fresh statement given by the victim’s wife, Suman Kansal, said she has stated that certain people wanted to hide the family feud and that her husband was disturbed because of this family feud. The victim, along with his five brothers, was running a mattress manufacturing unit in Ram Darbar, Chandigarh. It was around 11 pm on September 25 that a police constable spotted a scooter (CH-01S- 3066) parked along the highway. When he could not spot anyone in the dark, he went ahead and reported the incident at Nadda Sahib police post. It was then that a police team led by ASI Mahinder Singh rushed to the spot, and about 300 yards from the highway, in the wilderness of the hillock along the road, they spotted a charred body of Neeraj Kansal. Neeraj’s father, Ram Kumar, had alleged that the victim was upset after appearing on his date before the ETO, Chandigarh, along with his elder brother, Mukesh as the ETO, Ms Brar, was demanding bribe from him. |
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Zoo authorities to seek white male tiger Chhat Bir (Patiala), October 24 The zoo authorities are in touch with other zoos of the country for getting a white male tiger, about six months to one year older to her. The authorities have approached zoos at Nandankanan, Delhi, Aurangabad and Lucknow, which have a good number of white tigers. Apart from this, the authorities have also planned to breed only white tigers at Chhat Bir to have its own White Tiger Safari. This would help in tackling the inbreeding among tigers here. Mr Kuldeep Kumar, Zoo Director, said the construction of the new enclosure for the tigers was being considered by the authorities. |
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Scooterist injured in mishap SAS Nagar, October 24
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One arrested for committing thefts Chandigarh, October 24 The police claimed to have recovered one air conditioner, VCR, mobile phone, camera, tape recorder, gas cylinder and two wrist watches from him. Four cases of theft relating to Sectors 26, 34, 39 and Mani Majra police station have been worked out with his arrest. Rinku was today produced in the court of Duty Magistrate Chandigarh, which remanded him to police custody till October 27. The police said it was trying to apprehend his other two accomplices. |
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Mishap victim succumbs to injuries Lalru, October 24 A resident of Baldev Nagar, near Ambala, Mohit was injured after a Maruti Esteem car (CH-03-3884), heading towards Ambala, rammed into the motor cycle (PB-03K-6138) that he was riding on the Chandigarh-Ambala highway near here. The body was today handed over to the family members of the victim after a post mortem examination at the Civil Hospital, Rajpura. The driver of the car reportedly sped away from the scene and the police has registered a case under Sections 279, 304-A and 427 of the Indian Penal Code. |
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House collapse: one booked Zirakpur, October 24 Resident of Ram Darbar in Chandigarh, the contractor has been booked under Sections 304 and 427 of the Indian Penal Code by the Dera Bassi police after the Inspector General of Police marked an inquiry into the matter on October 18. |
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Held for misusing LPG cylinder Chandigarh, October 24 The police said Joginder Pal, proprietor of M/s Anju Industries, Plot No. 146, Industrial Area, Phase I, was arrested on Wednesday for using a domestic cylinder for commercial purpose. A resident of Kajheri village, Jasbir Singh, was allegedly caught while pilfering gas from the cylinder in Sector 44C yesterday. The two have been booked under the Essential Commodity Act. One hurt:
Theft:
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Theft in temple Chandigarh, October 24 It is learnt that the thieves entered the temple through an open window. A case has been registered on the complaint of a temple priest, Mr Bihari Lal. It may be mentioned here that a person was caught red-handed stealing ornaments of idols barely a month ago in the temple. |
Prayas building to house IT companies Chandigarh, October 23 About 35,000 sq feet of space spread across four storeys of the building will be used up to house the IT companies. The ground floor and the first floor will continue to be used for running a place for disabled children. Convergy’s is one of the company which will be located in the building. Another major company will be a computer manufacturing company which will set up its IT enabled services unit and its back-office operations here. The Secretary Information Technology, Mr Karan Avatar Singh, yesterday issued directions to the Chief Engineer to spruce up the place to meet the needs of the IT industry. Besides these two companies, there will be space for two or three more companies which will have similiar sized operations. Normally, these companies should have been housed in the built up space offered in the IT park. Already, the DLF has signed an agreement with the Chandigarh Administration to develop a corporate office complex. The DLF will develop about 6 lakh sq feet of office space by approximately investing Rs 100 crore in the next few years. The project is for providing built up space in the Information Technology Park in Kishangarh village located on the north eastern tip of the union territory. The Chandigarh Administration will be a 11 per cent partner in the joint venture. This will take about two to three years to develop and by that time these companies could not have waited. The requirement of space is immediate. The Prayas building was shortlisted as the present occupier, the Government Medical College and Hospital
(GMCH), Sector 32, is going to vacate it. A decade ago, the GMCH had started from this building while its own was under construction in Sector 32. The GMCH is paying about Rs 2 lakh as monthly rent to the Chandigarh Administration. The rent is expected to be doubled when the IT companies move in. The cost of additions including air-conditioning and laying of new facilities will be recovered from the rent. The Prayas building is already connected with the optic fibre cable network of city thus it will be another plus for the IT companies. At present there is small centre for IT companies in the Punjab Engineering College but this does not have so much space to house companies which want more space. |
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Panel to maintain industrial sectors SAS Nagar, October 24 The decision was taken during a meeting convened by the Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce, Punjab to deliberate upon the hurdles being faced by IT
entrepreneurs in the township, early this month. Stressing that the town need a complete facelift in order to raise it to an international standard township where IT giants can be encouraged to invest, it was pointed out at the meeting that in case the municipal council or other local authorities involved in development of the township are unable to maintain the industrial sectors here, these should be denotified from the jurisdiction of the council and handed over to the industries associations for maintenance. It was also pointed out that since the local municipal council did not have any representative of industrial sectors, it was imperative that proportionate representation from industrial sectors be inducted into the council. It was noted that many of the IT projects could not be undertaken due to building bye-laws of the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) which do not allow construction beyond a certain height. However, it was clarified by PUDA that the Managing Director of the respective developing agencies are competent to decide the floor area ratio with respect to their project requirement. The meeting was attended by the local SDM, Mr M.L. Sharma, municipal council chief, Mr Kulwant Singh, the ACA PUDA, here Mr Yashvir Mahajan and Mr H.B. Garg, Executive Officer of the council. The council was told to immediately augment water supply in industrial areas and ensure proper street lighting and repair of roads in the Industrial Area Phase VIII and Phase IX. The local administration and PUDA was asked to remove encroachments like the Jhotte Kutt Colony in Sector 71 and another
unauthorised colony in Phase VIII Industrial Focal Point. The committee constituted under the chairmanship of the Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce includes the MD, Punjab Infotech limited, the MD, Punjab State Industrial Export Corporation, the Director, Local Bodies, Punjab, the DC, Ropar, the President, municipal council the Chief Administrator, PUDA, the President, Mohali Industries Association and the Director, Industries, Punjab will held a meeting to ensure the maintenance of the industrial sectors in the town. |
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Savour the ambience and the food Chandigarh, October 24 Speaking to mediapersons on the occasion, Mr Harmohan Dhawan, said with Mehfil-2, the place now offered a complete dining out experience under one roof with something for everyone in the family. Apart from a vast array of cocktails and mocktails with tickling names like Green Lady, Green Lagoon, Sparkling Lagoon and Green Goddess, Mehfil-2 also specialises in kebabs and Indian delicacies which are an all-time favourite with
Chandigarhians. Mr Dhawan said city residents do experiment with other cuisines but their hearts beat only for butter chicken, “dal
makhani” and “shahi paneer” and that was the main reason for opening this section. He says with this the concept of Gourmet Mall was complete as it now had a restaurant, a bar, a multi-cuisine restaurant, an ultra-modern ice-cream parlour and a bakery that specialised in cartoon character cakes for kids. Ask him what makes it different from the scores of other eating joints in the city and pat comes the reply that ‘‘we guarantee real value for money as the prices are very reasonable and competitive. Apart from this we offer an atmosphere for all those who like to savour the ambience as well as the food’’. The group plans to open a similar joint at Sarabha Nagar in Ludhiana by next year. |
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Road show organised Chandigarh, October 24 |
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