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Forest Hill resort closes down
Chandigarh, October 13 Within hours of directions from the court, Punjab Excise officials visited the restaurant at the resort last night and seized liquor bottles displayed in the bar. The liquor licence was also cancelled. Officials from the Punjab State Electricity Board visited the resort in the afternoon and disconnected its power supply as ordered by the court. Guards manning the entry to the resort said they had orders from Col B.S. Sandhu (retd), owner of the resort, to close it with the result that facilities in the club were no longer available. Colonel Sandhu was away to Chennai in connection with a seminar today. His son, Mr Devinder Sandhu, when contacted by the TNS said he would meet his lawyers to discuss the future course of action. “We are trying to obtain a copy of the judgement handed down by the high court. As soon as we get a certified copy, we will study its implications and move the Supreme Court,” he said. Mr Rajeev Bajaj, estate manager, said though he was at the court both yesterday and today, he could not get a certified copy of the judgement. “But we have closed down the resort on the basis of press reports about judgement passed by the court. As regards the next course of action, it would be decided by the lawyers. It would remain closed till there is a new development,” he said. The resort, which has several buildings, a sprawling golf course, green lawns, an artificial lake and a water fountain, wore a deserted look today. A group of worried employees huddled together near one of the gates of the club and discussed the scenario. For them, the court order has come as a bolt from the blue. The resort employs around 125 persons, all of whom now face uncertain future. “What will happen to us now?” asked an employee. “Couldn’t the court issue an order for our employment somewhere else? I have a wife and two children to raise. How will I feed them?” Another employee said he had seven children. “Only two of them are married. How will I make both ends meet now?” The court order has been received with mixed reaction by inhabitants of Karoran Gurdhian Singh, husband of village sarpanch Balwinder Kaur, claimed that the resort had proven as a boon for the village. “Who does not like a world-class facility to come up in his neighbourhood?” he quipped. “Land prices in the village have soared ever since the resort came up a few years ago. The land, which was valued at Rs 7 lakh per acre a few years ago, was hard to get even at Rs 30 lakh an acre now. So much development has taken place here. Several village youth had also found jobs at the resort.” He was of the view that the closure of the resort would spell disaster for the area. However, Chetan Singh, a village youth working at a shop, indicated that not many tears are likely to be shed over the closure of the resort. “Only a few youths from the village had been working at the resort. The rest of them were ‘sifarshees’ from somewhere else.” “And late night parties together with noisy disc jockeys had become a nuisance for villagers living nearby. On a few occasions, we took bursting of crackers by revellers at these parties for firing.” Another villager said: “The resort had blocked the traditional entry for villagers to the jungle area for grazing their cattle. Also, a dam built in the area to irrigate agricultural farms had been taken over by the resort management and its water used to create an artificial lake and a fountain. Hopefully, all that would change now.”
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‘Original’ science models available in market!
Chandigarh, October 13 A shopkeeper in Sector 18 disclosed that often teachers place an order in this regard and the working of a model is
explained to the students. Having experience in repairing electronic gadgets, the shopkeepers can create any model — be it energy conservation, industrial pollution, telecommunication or transport system. Some of the readymade working models are at display at the five-day state-level science exhibition, which opened yesterday at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 22. Organised by the State Institute of Education and Department of Science and Technology, over 80 government and private schools are participating in the event. While the organisers claimed that the exhibition tested the scientific, technical and aesthetic skills of the students, a little probing of students at some of the stalls exposed the practice which schools have been adopting to win a prize at these science exhibitions. At some of the stalls students could not explain the simple facts about their model and confessed that the teacher had arranged the model. Costing around Rs 150, students of an ordinary government school had displayed a windmill model. Requesting anonymity, students of another school disclosed that the operative part of their models on science and technology was arranged from the market and fixed on a sheet of thermocol. Showing concern over the wrong practise, a teacher said, “The exhibitions are meant to promote the scientific skills of the students. By feeding them on readymade works we are doing harm to them”. When asked about judging the originality of the model, the Director of the State Institute of Education, Ms Saroj Saini, said the originality of the models would be revealed when the judges pose questions to the students. She said at the time of inviting entries from schools it was clearly mentioned that the entries have to be original.
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Strike by cable operators; transmission restored
Chandigarh, October 13 However, cable transmission was restored at around 7p.m. after the Senior Deputy Mayor, Mr Pardeep Chhabra, stepped in and a compromise between MC officials and the cable operators was worked out. In talks involving the Joint Action Committee of the cable operators, MC officials and the Senior Deputy Mayor, it was decided that a committee to review the ground rent and the Cable Act would be constituted to decide the issue of pending dues of the cable operators before May, 2003. While the Joint Action Committee was assured that the cheques of pending dues deposited by cable operators today would not be presented in the bank, the cable operators, on their part, assured the MC officials that they would help MC the in recovering whatever was due with the cable operators by way of rent after getting a list of defaulters from the MC. Earlier in the day, having given the cable operators a week’s notice to pay up their dues at the rate of Rs 1,000 per month on account of
ground rent pending since May, 2003, the enforcement staff of the MC began the task of snapping the network of wires supplying cable in Sector 37 of the defaulters earlier in the day following orders from the Commissioner. Beginning with Sector 37, the staff proceeded to Sectors 40 and 41 before stalling the drive after cable operators armed with cheques of the amount due to the MC, began showing up at the MC, office in Sector 17. After depositing their cheques, they claimed that the enforcement staff had damaged their property. To lodge their protest, they decided to go on a flash strike and blacked out supply of all channels to the entire city indefinitely. The MC began issuing notices to cable operators nearly two-and-a-half years ago to pay ground rent at the rate of Rs1,000 per month. However, the MC tried getting its dues from cable operators in May, 2003, after which they represented to the then Mayor, Mr Subhash Chawla. While they agreed to pay dues from then on, they demanded the constitution of a committee to decide the fate of rent which was pending.
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TV channels go off air
Mohali, October 13 An employee of a cable network, which covered a major area of the town, said TV channels went off air at 1 pm. The service was restored at 7 pm following pressure from subscribers. News and music channels were not blocked, he added.
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Documentary film makers to fight censorship
In the city for a seminar at Panjab University here yesterday, Roy said that censorship was not confined to film makers alone but to all kinds of artistes. "Anybody just gets up and says a particular film, a painting , a write-up is hurting his sentiments and gets censored, never seeing the light of day. We maintain that this censorship violates the essential rights of citizens and are, now, involving other social groups, including women's rights groups, non-government organisations in our tirade against such censorship," he explained. Through the FFF platform, film directors seek to intervene in this situation by promoting screening of documentaries and short films and generating discussion on the politics and aesthetics of film-making. Formed last year, the FFF was the outcome of a demand at the Mumbai International Film Festival for censorship clearance for screening of documentaries made by Indian film directors. "We challenged this clause introduced by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre on the grounds that no such demand was being made from international film directors and called for an international boycott. However, in the wake of our protest, the clause was withdrawn but in the final list, all political films were kept out. To counter this move, we held 'Vikalp FFF' festival opposite the venue for the Mumbai film festival and screened 60 such films to prove our point," Roy, director of The City Beautiful, a documentary focussing on the lives of a small middle-class colony in Delhi, stated. Last month, FFF, in collaboration with Delhi University, the Jamia Milia University and Jawahar Lal Nehru University, along with various NGOs and artistes' organisations held a month-long discussion to thrash out the censorship issue. "The basis of all film festivals is to allow directors some space where they can show their work, unfettered. Film festivals are supposed to be free from censorship. And, if in our own country we are asked for censorship clearance while foreigners are not, there can be no greater injustice," he rued. The FFF has planned to screen all such documentaries, spiked by the Censor Board, all over the country. "Last year, we showed 64 such films. This year, we are gearing up for similar action. We work on the strategy that we have to speak more, speak louder and speak from all over the country if we want to survive. If that's what the government and Censor Board want, we will give it to them," he maintained.
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HC upholds appointment of consumer forum chiefs
Chandigarh, October 13 While dismissing the petition, the Bench comprising Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi and Mr Justice Mehtab S. Gill, recorded its “displeasure at the total lack of responsibility with which the petitioner, who is a practising advocate of the high court, had moved this court for grant of relief under Article 226 of the Indian Constitution which is essentially an equitable jurisdiction.” Alleging irregularities in the appointments, Mr Harinder Kumar Mudgil, a former president of the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Kaithal, had alleged that the selection process was “politically-motivated” and misused to “rehabilitate the members of the ruling party (INLD)”. It may be recalled that Mr Mudgil had himself applied for the post of the president of the district forum in 2002. However, when his name did not figure in the list of the selected candidates, Mr Mudgil alleged that his candidature was “intentionally, knowingly and wrongfully ignored by the selection committee.” Levelling serious allegations against the Chairman of the Selection Committee, Justice Amarjeet Chaudhary, he alleged that one of the selected candidates, Mr Subhash Chand, president of the district forum at Yamunanagar, was his close relative.
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Admn plans to change city skyline
Chandigarh, October 13 A body called the Chandigarh Perspectives, headed by the Adviser to the UT Administrator, Mr Lalit Sharma, has been formed to suggest what will be the ideal way to handle land shortage. The executive committee of the body is slated to meet this week and the agenda will be discussed by leading architects and town planners of the region drawn from government and private sectors. Whatever little land is available in Chandigarh is in the sectors adjoining Mohali. Continuing with the policy of building single-storey or double-storey blocks will not solve the problem of housing. Once the Administration decides to go vertical, it may ask the Chandigarh Housing Board or invite proposals from reputed builders. Sources said the latter had expressed interest in getting a 100-acre chunk, paying for it and developing it on their own while the Administration would prescribe parameters for the height of buildings, common services, open areas, roads, water supply and power back-up for lifts. The idea to have high-rise residential blocks has come about after Panchkula and Mohali permitted such blocks much to the satisfaction of investors and allottees. On its own, the Chandigarh Housing Board wants to build 10-storey blocks for three bedroom HIG flats, each having a covered area of about 1,500 sq ft. This will require a height of 33 m or 115 feet. At present, the residential blocks in Chandigarh are not more than 37-feet high. Initial studies have brought out that common services like lifts, water supply pumping ducts, cost of maintaining common services become viable only after going seven storey high. The Administration will be studying plans for 10-storey buildings or even more than that. Mr Lalit Sharma said, “We will let the Chandigarh Perspectives give its opinion and then decide what is to be done. And yes, high-rise buildings are one of the key options.” Other members of the body include the Chief Architect, Mr Renu Saighal, Mr M.N. Sharma, Mr Raj Rewal, Prof Aditya Prakash, Mr S.D. Sharma, Mr S.S. Sandhu, Ms Madhu Sarin, Ms Jaspreet Takhar, Mr V.K. Bhardawaj and the Principal of the Chandigarh College of Architecture.
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City can emulate Shanghai in urban planning
Chandigarh, October 13 “We should go in for underground services in a big way which are not only cost effective but also weather-proof and need of the hour”, said Mr Bhardwaj in an interview with TNS. Mr Bhardwaj, who attended a conference of International Association of Brick Structures in the Chinese city, said in Shanghai the Chinese have constructed a network of big underground ducts of 6m diameter for laying lines for water, sewerage, high tension power cables and low tension electricity lines. Maintenance workers use a truck to drive through the tunnel to inspect the services and carry out urgent repairs on the spot. Inspections were carried out twice every day which were mandatory. “Why cannot we adopt a similar system here?” he asks. Mr Bhardwaj said irrigation of lawns and parks was done either through drip irrigation or vapours. Nowhere did he came across the system of sprinkler irrigation or ponding used here extensively. Since Chandigarh was facing a shortage of water, the Administration should consider switching over to more economical means of irrigation, he added. There were no public water posts or taps in Shanghai. Most people carry water bottles to work. Although Shanghai is a megapolis with a population of 16 million, there is no traffic jams on roads. An extensive network of elevated roads called grade separators had been built for high speed traffic to different destinations in and around the city. Chandigarh too can have a grade separator for a 20-km stretch of national highway for traffic coming from Shimla. Another could be built for the traffic coming from Punjab going past Mohali, bypassing Chandigarh. All sites where construction work takes place, even for high-rise buildings, are covered with polythene sheets with the result that nothing is visible from outside. This also prevented noise pollution and dumping of malba. Nobody ferries sand, bajri and cement to the construction sites. The mixing of concrete is done outside the city and then transported to the construction sites through trucks. A similar system can be easily adopted in Chandigarh, Mr Bhardwaj adds. Above all, what impressed him was the introduction of a new work culture. All employees come to the office half an hour ahead of the office time.They undertake warm-up exercises for 30 minutes before entering the offices.
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Pak Rangers visit Taj, Agra Fort
Chandigarh, October 13 On top of the programme was a visit to the Taj Mahal, Other places of interest included the Agra Fort. The Pakistanis flew back to Chandigarh later in the evening. A round of final discussions and approval of the drafts of discussions and decisions taken yesterday are scheduled for tomorrow, before the leaders of the two delegations, BSF Additional Director-General (West), Mr A.K. Mitra, and Director-General, Pakistan Rangers (Sindh), Major-Gen Javed Zia, address a joint press conference
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Navratra mela begins today
Panchkula, October 13 This time, however, the mela will have a slightly different look from previous years’ celebrations with the cultural and devotional programmes slated to be held for two hours daily in the morning and evening. Folk dancers from Mathura, Gujarat, Rajasthan, cultural academies of Panchkula and artistes from district Public Relations Departments would perform during the mela. Earlier, there was no tradition of holding cultural programmes while devotional programme was confined to the evenings alone and restricted to a hall in the shrine. This year, cultural programmes will be held at three different places on the temple complex, according to the Deputy Commissioner, Ms Neelam Pradeep Kasni. These would be held at Lal Pathar, the entrance of the shrine, the meditation centre and the Patiala temple. Also, for the first time, the Administration has decided to ban sale of aerated drinks keeping in view their ill-effects. Another first at the mela will be the permission to set up stalls to sell milk for offering to the Goddess. The members of the shrine board have also decided that offerings made at the altar by way of prasad packets will not be opened. Instead, the priests have been instructed to take entire prasad or give back a smaller packet in addition to whatever the devotees offer. “Our experience has shown that opening packets resulted in a lot of prasad falling on the floor and coming under the feet of devotees. To deal with this, we thought of giving small packets of prasad along with whatever devotees offered at the shrine,” Ms Kasni added. The sale of gold and silver coins and pendants by the shrine board would continue like before. Meanwhile, floors of the temple complex got a last-minute scrub and efforts were on to ensure that the mela passes off smoothly. Shrine board officials spent the day checking and cross-checking arrangements for ‘darshans’ and ‘langar’. Tomorrow, the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, will inaugurate the mela with puja archana. He will later participate in a havan at the ‘yagyashala’ on the shrine premises. A bhajan sandhya will be organised on the evening of October 19, while a Bhagwati jagran will be held on the night of October 20. Giving details about police arrangements, the Superintendent of Police, Ms Mamta Singh, said 13 nakas would be set up for the mela. Magistrates had been appointed for maintenance of law and order, she said. Moreover, six DSPs, 10 inspectors, 103 non-gazetted officers, 165 head constables, 502 constables, 26 women constables and 44 traffic constables will be on duty for the mela besides 23 personnel in mufti.
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Three hurt in truck mishap
Zirakpur, October 13 According to the police, the truck (HR-56-1533) carrying three persons was coming towards Chandigarh when it collided with the other truck (HR-55B-5710) near a petrol pump. The vehicle was loaded with soap of the defence. Two of the occupants — Shiv Kumar of Panchkula and Surinder Pal of Ambala — who sustained seriously injuries were taken to the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh. The third was taken to the Army Hospital, Chandi Mandir, the police said. The injured had to be extricated from the mangled remains of the truck. Traffic on the highway was also disrupted for over an hour following the The police has begun investigation in the matter.
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Bank staff hold dharna
Chandigarh, October 13 A number of officers from various branches of the Chandigarh region participated in the dharna. Mr T.K. Dutta, secretary of the federation, while addressing the rally, demanded a parliamentary probe into the causes that lead to the failure of Global Trust Bank. He also raised questions like the failure of the Reserve Bank of India in taking timely action against the bank when it was aware of the wrongdoing. Mr Sanjeev Jain of the Officers Association also addressed the rally and asked the employees to fight against the wrong policies of the government.
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Husband booked for dowry
Chandigarh, October 13 Man held According to the police, the truck driven by Rajinder of Rohtak allegedly collided with an electric pole on which repair work was going on. The truck broke the cables and dragged them with it. The cables got entangled around the neck of cyclist Vikram of Bapu Dham Colony. The victim was allegedly dragged for over 25 feet causing him serious injuries. He was admitted the the PGI where his condition is stated to be out of danger. A case under Sections 279 and 337 of the IPC has been registered at Sector 26 police station. Thieves held Prem Pal, Assistant Engineer, division No. 2, Sector 9, in a complaint to the police alleged that Dara Singh of Burail village, Gurpal Singh of Sohana and Gujinder Singh of Sector 33 were caught red-handed while stealing iron railing near the taxi stand in Sector 43 yesterday. A case under Sections 379, 411 and 34 of the IPC has been registered at Sector 36 police station. Theft A case of theft has been registered in Sector 36 police station. Scooter stolen A case of theft has been registered at Sector 3 police station. Liquor seized A case under Sections 61, 1 and 14 of the Excise Act has been registered at Sector 31 police station.
Mohali
Six hurt An Esteem car and a motor cycle collided at the chowk. The car, which got out of control of the driver, later hit another motor cycle parked on one side of the road.
Panchkula
Man booked He was arrested on a complaint filed by Islam Chand, a resident of Kalka. In his complaint to the police, car driver Islam Chand had alleged that he was injured when a Scorpio car (HR-03F-0327) rammed into his stationary Indica car (HR-88A-1417) near Anjal Hotel in Pinjore. The Scorpio driver sped from the scene after the accident. He was later produced before a Panchkula court and was remanded in judicial custody. Three booked The three — Sarswati of Dharampur, Jyoti of Damdama and Tota Ram of Pinjore — were booked by the police on the complaint of Mr D.S. Danda, sub-divisional officer of Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam, Pinjore. A case has been registered against them at Pinjore police station. One held The police has recovered the stolen rickshaw from his possession. In a complaint, Muhammad Mustkeen of Uttar Pradesh had said that his rickshaw had been stolen from behind showrooms in Sector 11 on Tuesday night. Assault In his complaint to the police, Sanjeev Kumar had alleged that Kuldeep singh assaulted him with sharp-edged weapons while he was inflating the tyres of his tractor-trailer.
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22-year-old youth ends life
Chandigarh, October 13 His younger sister, Chanda, was washing clothes downstairs when he took the extreme step. Chanda went upstairs for some work and noticed that the door was locked from inside. She knocked at the door but did not get any response. She then informed her mother. They arranged for a ladder and Chanda climbed it to reach the first floor. She saw her brother hanging from a ceiling hook with a nylon string. They informed the police. The police took Rakesh to the General Hospital, Sector 16, where he was declared brought dead. Rakesh was working with a catering service. They were four bothers and five sisters. Rakesh was the youngest among the brothers. Four of his sisters are married. He was living with his mother, sister Chanda and a married brother. Their widowed mother has a job, which she got after the death of her husband. The police said family members of Rakesh refused to conduct a post-mortem.
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Two remanded in police custody
Chandigarh, October 13 They are members of a gang led by Bhim Pattan, the police said. The two had been arrested a month back on charges of murder and stealing vehicles. Meanwhile, Chandigarh Police recovered two luxury cars stolen from the city today after the two provided information in this regard.
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Motorcyclist killed in mishap
Chandigarh, October 13 Jasmer Singh, a resident of Phase 1, Ram Darbar, received serious injuries and was taken to the GMCH, Sector 32, where he was declared brought dead. A case under Sections 279 and 304-A of the IPC has been registered against truck driver Suraj Singh of Industrial Area.
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Theft in Phase IV house
Mohali, October 13 The theft took place when members of the family had gone out to attend a function. They had left the house in the afternoon and returned in the evening. It is learnt that the thieves entered the house from the rear of the house after breaking a grill. They ransacked all trunks and cupboards in the house. The theft came to light after houseowners returned in the evening. The police was informed in this regard. Mr Rakesh Agrawal, SP, said a dog squad and finger print experts were called in to help the police in tracking the criminals.
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1 killed in accident
Chandigarh, October 13 The cart toppled after hitting the road berms and the man fell off it and his head hit the road. The victim, Singh Ram, of Pyarewala village, in Raipur Rani, received serious head injuries. He was taken to the General Hospital, Sector 16, where doctors declared him brought dead.
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Row overshopping fest in Sector 22
Chandigarh, October 13 The Deputy Mayor, Mr Pradeep Chhabra, confirmed the shopkeepers did not have permission to organise the festival. “They applied for permission on October 8 and the Mayor left the city on October 9. Their file is still pending and it is still to come to me. I will see what is to be done tomorrow morning,” he said. Meanwhile, tension prevailed in the Sector 22 market today evening as booth owners of the market complained to the police against the shopkeepers organising the “Shopping Festival” on the plea that they did not have permission for holding the same. There were heated exchanges between the two even as the police was called in to settle the matter. While they alleged that the shopkeepers had failed to produce the permission certificate of the MC, the president of the Market Welfare Association-22, Mr Arvind Jain, said they had deposited Rs 31,000 with the Municipal Corporation for the purpose. He claimed the booth owners were creating a ruckus about nothing.
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BIZ CLIPS
Chandigarh Fashion show: A new range in winter collection was launched at Tommy Hilfiger, Sector 17, on Wednesday. A mini-fashion show was organised at the store where four models — Aprana Kumar, Indrani Das Gupta, Acquin Pies and Montel Davies — displayed the new range. The collection includes biker jackets, graphic hooded sweatshirts and jeans. There are band collars and distress leather jackets also. Attractive long shirts are also available. —
OC
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Chandigarh, October 13
