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Racket pushing minor girls into flesh trade unearthed
Chandigarh, February 27 This is probably the first incident in the city in which a girl had been kidnapped for pushing her in flesh trade. This was discovered during the interrogation of the suspects in the kidnapping of the girl from Hallo Majra on February 7. The alleged racket, believed to be headed by a person known as Dara, was unearthed with the arrest of eight persons, including three girls, one of them from Delhi. The racket involved two waiters of Countryside Hotel of Zirakpur. The kingpin of the racket, Dara, and his girlfriend Arti are still at large. The girl was today recovered from Baltana following the arrest of the girl from Delhi, Kajal, who had bought the kidnapped girl for Rs 50,000. She had paid an advance of Rs 5,000 to Pooja, the seller of the girl. The delivery of the kidnapped girl was to be given today at the Vishwakarma temple in the city. Kajal was arrested when she came to get the delivery of the kidnapped girl at the temple. Kajal’s name figured after Pooja was arrested last night along with others. The brother of the kidnapped girl complained to the police that a photographer of Raipur Khurd, Bhupinder, allegedly abducted her and had raped her for four days. The girl was then taken to Countryside Hotel by Madhu of Indira Colony. Madhu then allegedly got the girl raped by her husband for four days to prepare her for prostitution. Madhu allegedly sold the girl to a resident of Baltana, Jaipal Mittal, and a Patiala resident Kamaljeet. The two took the girl to Shimla and Solan and allegedly abused her for three days. Again the girl was brought to the hotel. The girl was then introduced to Arti, who runs a boutique in the same hotel, her so-called husband Dara, Pooja and Kajal where a deal worth Rs 50,000 was allegedly made. The police is yet to find out if the gang had earlier also abducted girls for pushing them into prostitution. The police has registered a case under Sections 363, 366 (kidnapping) and 372 (kidnapping for prostitution) in Sector 31 police station. Madhu, Kajal, Pooja, Bhupinder, Kamaljeet, Jaipal and waiters of the hotel Varinder Singh and Bhudi Singh have been arrested. Raids at the houses of Arti and Dara in Sector 38 and Baltana went futile as their houses were found locked. A medical examination of the girl and accused was going till the filing of the report to confirm if the girl had been raped by the accused.
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English Greek to UT villagers
Chandigarh, February 27 And the casualty has been proper communication between the different departments of the Chandigarh Administration and the two institutions set up under the Panchayati Raj Act — the Zila Parishad and the Panchayat Samiti. The fact was highlighted in a recent meeting of the Panchayat Samiti. Demanding Punjabi as the official language to communicate with the administration, the 15-member samiti passed a resolution in this regard. The resolution has been sent to the administration for approval. At present communication regarding various projects and schemes undertaken by the administration was being done to the villagers in English. This has been happening in the Panchayat Samiti and the Zila Parishad ever since the institutions were set up. In fact, the language has become a hurdle in creating awareness among the rural population about the provisions of the Panchayati Raj Act. Talking to the Tribune, Mr Didar Singh, Chairman of the Panchayat Samiti, said that the resolution to adopt Punjabi as the official language was unanimously passed. It would improve communication between the members
and the officials of the administration. Some members said that at times when agenda of the meeting of the samiti was forwarded to them, they had to approach
others who knew English. A number of samiti members were not well versed in English. “We do not know about the fate of our demands as their acceptance is communicated in English”, said Shingara Singh, a member of the samiti. Citing an example, Mr Shingara Singh said a few months back the administration gave books on the Panchayati Raj Act, which were written in English. We had to arrange for books written in Punjabi”. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Arun Kumar, said that though he had so far not seen the resolution of the Panchayat Samiti, he would sympathetically consider the demand after examining the relevant legal provisions.
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INTUC leader, 3 others hurt in firing
Panchkula, February 27 The clash between Mr Bawa and Mr G.S. Garcha, a truck union leader, took place when Mr Bawa allegedly staked his claim on the Kalka Truck Union and the Kalka Truckway Bridge following a thumping victory of the Congress in the Haryana Assembly elections. Mr Bawa got injuries in his leg while his PSO Jagpal Rana is stated to be serious and has been admitted to the PGI. Two visitors to the petrol pump, Amit and Jagpal, also got bullet injuries. Garcha, Baljinder Singh, Satpal and Achin Walia have been arrested for allegedly opening fire on Mr Bawa and three others. Mr Bawa, however, alleged that Mr M.K. Sisodia, his two sons and Mr Ramesh Gupta were behind the attempt on his life. Mr Bawa was allegedly followed from the union office where he reached to stake his claim following the change in the government.
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Festival of Gardens concludes
Chandigarh, February 27 Great rush was witnessed today at the venue. The major events held during the three-day festival included flower show, folk dance competition, rose prince and rose princess competition, antakshari, brass and
pipe band contest, road rules test, rose quiz competition, photography competition and on-the-spot painting
competition. About 100 persons were awarded for their performance in the flower show. The major competitions held in this event included small garden with area less than one kanal, medium garden with area over one kanal but less than two kanals and large garden with area over two kanals, arrangement with flowers other than roses, making of
rangoli with rangoli powder and flowers, arrangement with dry flower, with roses,
with fresh foliage, making of gajaras and garlands and potted plants. Fifteen workers of the Horticulture Department were also given honorarium for their hard work and dedication in further beautifying the city. The winners of various categories in the on-the-spot painting competition held here today are Akanksha Sharma-Ist, Kritika-IInd and Abhishek Jindal-IIIrd in the five-eight year category. Anurag Moudgil, Navinder Singh and Arshita Sharma won the first,
second and third prize, respectively, in the 8-11 age group. Similarly, Divya
Shakti, Shruti Bhargav and Anchal Sharma were also awarded first, second and third, respectively, in the 11-14 age category. Amneet Kaur, Neha Thakur and Ankit Awasthi were declared first, second and third, respectively, in the age group of
14-17. Pragati Tirkha and Mehak were also given prizes for their solo dance performance. The results of the antakshri competition held at Rose Garden today are given below: Dheera and Parul, Department of Physiotherapy, PGI, bagged the first prize. The second prize went to Natsaha and Shaveta of College of National Institute of Nursing Education, PGI. The third prize went to Divneet and Deepika of the Government College of Education, Sector 20.
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Aged, youths enjoy at Rose Fest
Chandigarh, February 27 Naturally, they would have made good of the excuse to be out of the house for a full day. No wonder, the Rose Garden was overloaded with Romeos and Juliets, exchanging romantic glances all this day. The pink and red haze of beautiful flowers was spread over the venue. On many points, beautiful girls seem to outclass roses. As the girls fluttered their eyelashes, marvelling at the splendour of the flowers, boys were left in a state of uncertainty. Many of them were figuring out who was more beautiful. The girls too, dressed up smartly, sought some appreciative glances from the opposite sex. Many college students were seen in groups roaming aimlessly here and there, playing pranks on each other. A group of seven boys of S.D. College, were spotted sitting on grass enjoying, sharing some notes of friendships. Maninder Singh liked the flower arrangement very much. But attracting the attention of the girls of course was on the top of their agenda. Bustling with merry-making activities, the festival gave a chance to senior citizens to freshen up. The life-giving flowers revived their hopes and brought back some fun-filled moments. Many elderly people spent a good part of the day in the garden, savouring the warmth of the sun and the festival. Young visitors to the Rose Garden seemed less-interested in sparing a glance at roses in full bloom. They had their hearts elsewhere — in flirting around, eating well and making merry. In the Festival of Gardens, roses were thus a neglected lot.
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Octogenarian who breathes civil aviation
Chandigarh, February 27 “I had joined British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) as a traffic assistant in 1946 and received training in Karachi for three weeks under British Instructor, Mr Gilly Bryan. I still remember what he had said that a time would come when the countries would be known by their national carriers. “I had my first posting in Bahrain from where we used to go by truck every morning to Dubai to facilitate passengers travelling by flying boats. It was the partition in 1947 which made me come to Delhi as my parents were then in Jhang district of Pakistan. I traced my parents to a dharamsala in Hoshiarpur. They had been reduced to penury as they travelled from Jhang to Hoshiarpur in India as refugees. After getting them all necessities, I came back to Karachi, without telling them and worked for a while as I was looking for my missing brother, who was posted in Dera Gazi Khan as Agricultural Assistant. “When I finally moved back to India and started handling reservation and other assignments given to me, the manager of our company proposed my name for Canada because Air-India had pushed us out of market there. London office questioned the proposal as to why a reservation assistant had been sent. Even Canada office was not keen. But two years later, Canada office wanted me to come over and London office, after some reservations, cleared my visit. From 1956 to 1966, the company used to send me to Canada every year as my visits had started producing results. In 1966, I left BOAC and joined Canadian Pacific, which had alliance with Air-India. Soon Air-India became number one and BOAC dropped to the bottom in ex-India flights. Then BOAC wanted me back but I refused,” recalls Mr Nijhawan. “I have seen many ups and downs in the travel industry and was among the first to realise the immigration potential to Canada. It was why I had Punjab on my top priority and opened offices in Jalandhar, Nawanshahr and Ludhiana. We came to Chandigarh only in early ’90s,” says Mr Nijhawan His son, Shyam, feels that civil aviation has become heavily competitive because of cut-throat competition, both in domestic and international market. Travel has become a passion for many in the trade, business, civil services, politicians, sportspersons and cinestars, besides others. “Travel trade has been growing and the customers are becoming more demanding,” he says. “That is why we have started a complete one-point boutique where a prospective travellers gets everything,” says Mr Ankush revealing that it is their fifth centre. Earlier, boutiques are functioning at Lucknow, Delhi (two) and Jalandhar. British Airways may consider Amritsar as its next destination in India after Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.
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Dealing with dynamics of discrimination
Chandigarh, February 27 In focus was her path-breaking book titled "Education and the Politics of Difference" which deals with the dynamics of "discrimination" and suggests ways to guard against consequent "differences" which may spoil the quality of education. Besides featuring Canada's Federal Law of Multiculturalism which bans racial and ethnic discrimination, the book examines biases stemming from various lifestyles. A significant departure from norm, it deals with issues never heeded earlier - like prejudices against students with two mothers or two fathers (as same sex marriages are permitted in Canada). For her part, Ghosh, also the first woman Dean of Education at McGill University, Canada, has set a norm with her book which has a massive potential to influence Canada's equity policy. The expert, in Chandigarh on a personal visit, explains, "The idea is to suggest that some differences make a difference and some don't. Educationists must be able to differentiate. Negative discrimination must be avoided. My theory suggests ways to do that." Clarity of vision makes Ghosh a much sought-after expert in education. Many of her works have yielded significant results, important being "globally women continue to be a minority despite being larger in number; women are earning less despite working harder; homogenization of culture is a terrible trend bothering the emerging economies of India and China." Explaining her studies, Ghosh, also a member of the Royal Society of Canada, says, "I would define a minority in sociological terms. It has everything to do with the possession of power or lack of it. It's ironic that though women are faring better in every academic field, including the sciences, they are holding fewer positions of power than men, and are a minority. Most fall off the career ladder, unable to balance production and reproduction after marriage." Regarding homogenization of cultures in India and China, Ghosh says the trend is being fuelled by media invasion. "Media literacy is absent. Schools don't encourage critical thinking. The result is women in these countries take cultural values spilled by the media as "western" and emulate them. This causes cultural homogenization," says Ghosh, blaming "unscientific teachers training" for the mess. Education, she says, must be seen as a tool for empowerment, not for modernization that drives people away from roots. Though hopeful from Indian education policy, she is apprehensive of its implementation. She was shocked by the results of a study conducted in urban India to find if women were taking profession seriously. "India has seen a spate of professional institutions and of girls enrolling with them. We wanted to know if profession had replaced dowry in Indian marriages but we discovered that most women were seeking professional degrees to improve marriage markets," tells Ghosh, adding, that India had a long way to go before catching up with the emerging knowledge society. "India has no concept of social construction of knowledge. Here education is still defined as transfer of knowledge whereas knowledge has become too vast to be transferred. Now it is constructed," Ghosh winds up.
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What brings you to Chandigarh? I am here to deliver a special lecture on autism spectrum disorder, which is fairly common among the children all over the world. I want to emphasise on the integrated bio-medical and behavioural approach in treating the disorder, in which the children soon after their birth show symptoms of alienation, social discomfort and detachment with even their parents and primary caregivers. Who are most likely to develop this disorder? What can be done in treating those suffering from autism? Autism does not distinguish between race, colour or economic status. But boys are found to be suffering more from the disorder than girls. The symptoms of autism range from mild learning disorder to multiple disorders with highly unusual behaviours. The onus lies on both the parents and the doctors to work together in diagnosing the disorder in time and finding its complete treatment. Can medicines alone treat autism or do we need alternate therapies to find cures for the disorder? In the anthorosophical medical society, the treatment involves both the bio-medical therapies and the behavioural therapies. Music, painting and clay modelling are the important art therapies that play an invaluable role in the treatment of the disorder. — Neelam Sharma
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High hopes from Finance Minister
Chandigarh, February 27 Representatives of some of the major industries in the north, namely steel, textiles, cycle manufacturing and oil processing have their own worries and apprehensions about the forthcoming Budget. The chairman of Winsom Group, Mr Satish Bagrodia, says the industry will gain if the announcements in the Budget improves the economic condition of farmers and labourers. This will not only increase their purchasing power but also promote industrial growth in the region. Mr Bagrodia suggests that the government should cut its wasteful expenditures to extend liberal benefits for the economic uplift of these classes. If the industry is burdened, it will not be possible for them to generate enough resources to face the onslaught of competition at the domestic and global levels, he adds. On the textile sector, he says under CENVAT, the entire production in this segment is being properly taxed and hence there is no scope for bungling. Problems will crop up if exemptions are given to the powerloom sector. The government should take the initiative of reducing duty on textile machinery and raw cotton to 5 per cent from the existing 10 per cent, he suggests. This will help this sector face the stiff competition in the global market. Moreover, the exporters should be given the benefit of the DEPB for some states have put sales tax on exports. Besides, VAT will come into force from April 1. The small scale industries have their own share of problems. The president of Chandigarh Chamber of Industries, Mr Pawan Manchanda, says they are able to get loans from the bank at 13-15 per cent rate of interest. The government should do something in this regard as big industrialists manage to get loans at 10 to 11.5 per cent rate of interest. Another industrialist, Mr Rajinder Mittal, stresses the need to adopt a clear and stable policy to promote agro processing industries in the state. Even the excise tax exemption limit should be raised for the small scale industries, he says. The chairman of the Punjab unit of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr Amarjit Goyal, is of the view that steel industry should be exempted from 8 per cent excise duty. This will ensure uniform prices of steel in all states. The customs duties should also be reduced and more incentives should be offered to the manufacturers. Meanwhile, the wishlist of the common man comprises a check on the prices of essential commodities, controlling inflation by keeping a check on the prices of petrol, the LPG and a raise in the income tax limit. They want lucrative concessions, both in education and health sector. The villagers want a development-oriented Budget with more focus on rural masses. Self-employment activities should be given special incentives.
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Grants to bogus NGOs regretted
Chandigarh, February 27 Justice Jain, who was speaking at inaugural function of the commission, the Association of Students for Human Rights Awareness (ASHRA), said here that it had always been the endeavour of the commission to encourage the “genuine” NGOs. However, the commission cannot collaborate with the NGOs in individual cases. Justice N.C. Jain appreciated the work put in by the ASHRA team including, Bhagwant, Navdeep, Pushpinder, Gaurav, Ravneet, Rubina, Parvarish, Nipun and Namita. The president of the Lawyers for Human Rights International (LHRI), Mr Amar Singh Chahal, termed the police as the “biggest violator” of human rights. He regretted that while bogus NGOs were being given grants by the government, the genuine NGOs were not even recognised by the authorities concerned. ASHRA, a student-managed and independent organisation, is an inspiration to the youth to make a difference by exercising their basic right of speech and expression, the organisation president, Ms Bhagwant Kaur, said. Ms Anu Chatrath, Mayor, Mr OP Dabla and Mr Arvind Thakur, both from the LHRI, were also present on the occasion.
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25 Squadron undertakes difficult tasks
Chandigarh, February 27 As the leaves of history were unfolded during the squadron's 42nd anniversary celebrations here last evening, nostalgia flowed amongst scores of serving and retired officers. A few months ago, an IL-76 of this squadron flying into Dushanbe in Tajikistan at night had to be diverted to nearby Khujjanb airfield, which was equipped with only a rudimentary navigational aid. Despite the odds, the aircrew succeeded in successfully touching down. Presently commanded by Gp Capt S N Mohanty, the squadron, popularly called Himalayan Eagles, has pioneered operations at night to high altitude airfields like Leh and Thoise. It is formulating new procedures to operate in remote dropping zones and hazardous terrain. Prominent among those who attended the reunion dinner were AOC, 12 WIng Air Cmde, T K Venugopal, AOC 3 BRD, Air Cmde S P S Virk, Air Marshal V Puri, Air Vice-Marshal H P Singh, former squadron commanders, Air Cmde D. Kukreja and Air Cmde S P Singh and Wg Cdr Satish Bahtia and Wg Cdr H S Rehncy, who had flown the last An-12 aircraft in June, 1993, after they were phased out.
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Malayalees elated over train extension
Chandigarh, February 27 Mr Benny Thomas, president of the samajam, said, “We have been trying to get this demand fulfilled by the government through various forums. It will boost the tourist inflow to ‘God’s Own Country’ which was otherwise not well-connected to Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh” Absence of a train to Kerala was a big reason behind travel blues of local Malayalees. Mr Thomas said the authorities concerned should keep in mind the fact that the local railway station also needed to be upgraded to accommodate additional coaches.
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City to have ‘dog yard’
Chandigarh, February 27 A formal decision in this regard has been taken by the MC saying “as per bylaws a ‘dog yard’ is required in every city for keeping the stray dogs before and after their sterilisation”. It has started the work to identify a suitable piece of land for the centre and the “yard will be constructed at the earliest.” After sterilisation the animal will be left at the same place from where it was picked. One truck for carrying the dogs will be purchased this year. A sum of Rs 20 lakh has been sanctioned for the yard. At present the sterilisation of stray dogs is being done by two voluntary organisations, the Society for Prevention of Cruelty Against Animals (SPCA) and the People For Animals (PFA). The centres being run by these organisations did not have enough infrastructure to cater to a big population of stray dogs. A retired Colonel said, “People were under the impression that stray dogs should be erased from the face of the localities for a cleaner environment. They were unaware of the fact that if the current inhabitants were removed there would be a flood of new entrants from the adjoining villages”. In a related development, the corporation has sanctioned Rs 20 lakh for setting up two cowsheds. Each of the sheds will be set up on two acres and has a capacity to house at least 1,000 head of cattle.
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Group hails FDI in real estate sector
Chandigarh, February 27 The group said the decision would be a step further to strengthen the infrastructure by attracting foreign investments in the construction and real estate sector. It would be helpful in generating considerable employment. However, the group expressed apprehensions that the step would be of little help to attract FDIs in the field of construction and real estate in the absence of much-required reforms to the obsolete laws and legislations regulating the sector. Red-tapism and procedural hassles at the operational level would nullify the desired outcome of the otherwise pragmatic decision, it added.
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ESIC scheme functions
Chandigarh, February 27 Mr T.R. Gautam, Regional Director of the ESIC, told TNS that a Special Services Fortnight was being organised and would culminate on March 10. During the fortnight, the corporation is organising a programme to educate employers about their obligations and responsibilities under the ESI scheme and employees about the benefits available under the scheme and also
to attend to their grievances. The functions are being held at Jalandhar and Ludhiana.
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Clothes distribution camp held
Chandigarh, February 27
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Property dispute: 3 of Amritsar family held
Mohali, February 27 The complainant, Capt Parminder Singh, a resident of Sector 71, told the police that he had bought property from a retired Colonel Tejinder Singh Randhawa of Amritsar and Rs 12 lakh had been paid to him. The sale deed had been registered also, reported Capt Parminder Singh to the police. However, according to the police, Capt Parminder Singh alleged that Colonel Randhawa along with his wife Sarbjit Kaur, son Tej Singh and one Narinder Singh came to Mohali yesterday and tried to take possession of the sold house forcibly. The police has registered a case against the four under Sections 420, 406, 511, 506, 448 and 34 of the IPC.
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Irritated husband fires at brother-in-law, family
Mohali, February 27 According to the SP, Mohali, Mr Rakesh Agrawal, Chetan Singh, a factory worker in Mohali and an ex-serviceman, today reached his brother-in-law Davinder’s house in Sector 67 here and opened fire at his relatives. The shots hit a wall and the members of the family of Devinder Singh hide themselves in a room after the first fire was shot. Chetan Singh is still at large. According to Devinder Singh, Chetan Singh reached his house when his family was having dinner. As soon as Chetan Singh entered the house, he started abusing him saying his sister Paramjeet Kaur was mad. He then allegedly opened fire at them. Chetan Singh also alleged that Paramjit Kaur was divorced by her first husband because of her behaviour. Chetan Singh has a 5-year-old daughter from Paramjeet Kaur. He had two sons from his first marriage. It was a second marriage for both of them and they had been living a cordial life for the past five years, according to the police.
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AG employee goes missing
Mohali, February 27
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