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5 killed, six hurt in mishap near Banur
Banur, October 14 In a state of shock even after several hours of the accident eye-witnesses said the mishap took place after the driver of the ill-fated truck, distracted by the road accident which took place a few minutes earlier, rammed the vehicle into another truck. The eyewitnesses said at least three persons, including truck driver Mohinder Singh, died on the spot, while others were rushed to the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh. The condition of the injured is stated to be critical, yet stable. The first accident took place around 11.30 pm when the driver of a loaded Chandigarh-bound truck (HR-37-5474) coming from Patiala lost control over the vehicle due to the bursting of tyre. The truck rammed into a tractor-trailer coming from the opposite direction, resulting in a blockade. Within a few minutes, the ill-fated truck (HR-68-1830) carrying vegetables from the Chandigarh side met with an accident on the same spot. The truck driver, Mohinder Singh, failed to notice the vehicle coming from the opposite direction as he was distracted by the collided vehicles on the road. Besides driver Mohinder Singh (30) of Budana Khurd village, Sohan Lal (26) of Kehri village and Ram Lal (29) of Budana Kalan village died on the spot. Madan Lal (27) and Jasbir Singh (25), both of Kheri village, succumbed to their injuries on way to the GMCH. They were declared brought dead on arrival. Those injured are Jatinder Singh, Mahavir Singh, Jaspal Singh, Avtar Singh, Nasib Singh, all residents of Kheri village, and Goldy of Budana Kalan village. According to information, all victims belonged to three villages in Panchkula district. A pall of gloom descended on Kheri village as three of the killed and five of the injured persons belonged to this village in Panchkula district. The police has registered a case in this regard. The police added that the bodies had been handed over to the family of the deceased after post-mortem at the Civil Hospital, Rajpura.
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Punjab Secretariat peon jumps to death
Chandigarh, October 14 Giving details of the incident, eyewitnesses said Bela Ram, posted as peon in the office of the Punjab Financial Commissioner situated at the fourth floor of the secretariat building, climbed over the parapet. For 15 minutes, Bela Ram kept leaning on the parapet as his colleagues and policemen on the ground floor shouted to stop him from jumping. Some of his colleagues on the fourth floor made attempts to pull him back, but were met with resistance as he threatened to jump immediately. Hoping that Bela Ram would change his mind, they waited only to watch him jump to death. One of his colleagues ran to catch hold of him as he began staggering on the parapet. However, it was too late and Bela Ram slipped through his hands, said an eyewitness. Police sources said it was around 5:30 pm when Bela Ram jumped. He suffered severe head injuries and is believed to have died on the spot. He was shifted to the Sector 16 General Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead. Bela Ram is survived by his wife and six daughters. His son-in-law, Santosh Kumar, said he had come to meet Bela Ram in the secretariat when the incident occurred. The police sources, while quoting the colleagues of Bela Ram, said he was upset for the past some days. The police has initiated the inquest proceedings under Section 174, Cr.PC.
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Children falling prey to Kawasaki
Chandigarh, October 14 Described first by Dr Tomisaku Kawasaki in Japan in 1967, the diagnosis of this condition rests solely on the recognition of a pattern of clinical features which appear sequentially as there is no laboratory test or imaging study which can confirm the diagnosis of Kawasaki disease. To this end, a special session on this disease is being organised on October 29. Talking about the disease, Dr Surjit Singh, Additional Professor of Paediatric Allergy and Immunology and the organising secretary, said if the treatment was not administered within the window period of 10 days, then it may lead to serious heart ailments and in some cases even cause heart attack among the children. He added that the disease was fully curable if treated
within 10 days. At the PGI out of the 80 children, who are undergoing treatment for the Kawasaki, around 40 are from Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula while the others are from nearby areas. According to Dr Surjit Singh, the disease is found to be more common in children hailing from upper middle-class families and a similar pattern is observed in other countries like Japan where the incidence of the disease is maximum. Talking about how fatal the disease can be, Dr Surjit Singh said a small proportion of the patients can die immediately but others, if diagnosed in time, can be treated through intravenous drugs which in case of children upto two years may cost Rs 15,000 and for those above six years it costs around Rs 30,000. Dr Surjit Singh said the disease was more common in children below five years of age. In addition to a special session on Kawasaki disease by Dr Tomisaku Kawasaki himself, the third National Conference of Rheumatology Chapter of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics will be held on October 30 in which distinguished speakers from abroad will participate.
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Trial run for train link to Ludhiana
Chandigarh, October 14 After pooja, the officials inspected the track for proper curves, elevation and other technical details. A number of trial runs would be conducted before the 47.5 km long section between Chandigarh and Morinda was commissioned on October 31. The remaining stretch of around 65 km between Morinda and Ludhiana will take some more time as the process to acquire land at some places had been delayed. The work on the rail link had begun in October 2000 with “bhoomi poojan” at Industrial Area, Phase I. At Chandigarh Railway station arrangements have been made to accommodate 18-coach trains. The platform No. 2 and No.3 have been extended to accommodate a 24-coach train. The platform No.4 and No.5 would be 525 metres. The rail link will provide a shorter and direct link between the city and Anandpur Sahib. Once operational, the Railways would divert the diesel multiple unit (DMU) Ambala - Chararu Takrala via Chandigarh.
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Developing women’s lobbying skills for their good
Chandigarh, October 14 Around 30 representatives from the states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Chandigarh are attending this programme. The objective of the training is to build capacity of NGOs and other organizations to lobby state legislative assemblies and other stakeholders who influence policies regarding women. WPC is also on the look out to form its state chapters, which can further prioritize issues to lobby with their respective state governments. The WPC will be visiting nine states across the country for this. Ena Singh said that lobbying needs seven key elements such as leadership, identification of issues, effective communication, action change, lobbying within the organization, different components of skills as in team spirit within the organization and creating an impact. She said that the WPC’s used the above-mentioned elements as a tool to lobby with the state stakeholders to influence the government and other agencies to be gender-sensitive in policy formulation. In addition, Ms Singh was also of the opinion that “the decline of the female sex ratio will further marginalise gender equality in the decision making process.” Introducing the concept of lobby training for the two-day programme, noted activist and academician Dr Pam Rajput of the Maya Foundation, Chandigarh, stressed on using the collective “WE” instead of “us vs. them” while communicating with the stakeholders. A delegation of participants later in the day met Chief Minister of Haryana, B S Hooda and presented a memorandum to him highlighting issues of the state which need immediate attention and policy changes. The WPC is a year old and has about 250 members across the country. It is a membership based national network of women’s organisations, civil society groups, trade unions and different federations, which support and believe in gender equality. Presently it is working for three issues: 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures.
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Kyrgyz Republic looking for tie-ups
Chandigarh, October 14 Addressing mediapersons here today, Mr Kadyraliev said that he was in Chandigarh to meet Haryana Governor, Dr A.R. Kidwai, and state Chief Minister B.S. Hooda to seek cooperation in joint ventures in industry, tourism and agriculture. Mr Kadyraliev said that both the regions could start an exchange programme for teachers and students. Asked about the investment potential of Kyrgyz Republic, Mr Kadyraliev said that his country would welcome investment in small-scale, medium-scale and food processing industries. He said his country could also export electricity to North India on cheap rates. “We are already selling power to Russia and parts of China,” he added. In the evening, Mr Kadyraliev attended a reception organised by Anmol Rattan Sidhu, secretary general of the Indo-Kyrgyz Friendship Forum.
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Passing Thru
What are the prime areas of concern for the Indian Development Foundation (IDF)?
The IDF has three prime areas of concern, including health, education and development. All three areas are pivotal for India’s development and the role of the social organisations is of paramount importance in complimenting the government efforts. The IDF will focus on tuberculosis, HIV-AIDS, cancer and blindness.We are also concerned with the low female literacy rate of 54.16. We have earlier worked as the Indian Leprosy Foundation. Why was the Indian Leprosy Foundation (ILF) closed down? It was never closed down. The ILF has been christened as the IDF. When the IDF was launched in 1982, the number of leprosy patients in the country was as high as 40 lakh with a prevalence rate of 60 patients per 10,000 population. With efforts by the government and the NGOs, the number of patients has come down to less than three lakh. What are your areas of action in the city? We conduct programmes in schools educating students about issues related to health, education and development. We have completed our programmes at Mt Carmel, Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, St Mary and St Stephen’s. — Sanjeev Singh Bariana
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Protest against hike in water, sewerage charges
Mohali, October 14 The protesters raised slogans against the council president, the Minister for Local Bodies and the Punjab Government and demanded immediate withdrawal of the hike. They said the agitation would be intensified if the government failed to concede to their demand. The councillors said the proposal in connection with the revised water and sewerage rates was cleared at the General House meeting held on July 29. They said only seven councillors raised an objection against the proposal which was ultimately cleared by the council president, Mr Kulwant Singh, and his supporters. The rates were being revised for the second time during the five-year term of the elected body. The water and sewerage rates in Chandigarh and Panchkula were comparatively lower than Mohali even when more development had taken place at both the places. Members of the JAC, comprising the Consumers Protection and Grievances Redressal Forum, People’s Welfare Society, Phase III B 1, Pensioners and Senior Citizens Welfare Association, Mohali Welfare Society, Phase VII, and Welfare Action Committee, Phase VI, condemned the civic body for giving a green signal to the government’s directions in connection with the revision of water and sewerage rates. JAC members said the hike was unjustified as residents had already paid development charges. Moreover, the council had failed to supply adequate water to the residents. There were certain pockets in the town where residents living on the first and second floor accommodations had to carry water in buckets from the ground floor. Even the quality of water was not satisfactory. Sewerage lines remained choked in various localities and residents had to get them cleared by spending money at their own level. The Mohali Industries Association (MIA) has also criticised the council for the hike in water and sewerage charges saying that the hike was “illogical and unwarranted”. The hike in sewerage charges would be a big blow to industrial units reeling under the burden of competition, rising raw material prices and increase in power tariff. The MIA said though council had hiked the rates, it was doing nothing to provide civic amenities in the area even when industry was contributing by more than 80 per cent to the income of the council.
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Quake-hit buildings safe: report
Chandigarh, October 14 Reliable sources said that a report had been submitted to the Chief Engineer with regard to the loss suffered by the Badminton Wing in the Sports Complex of Sector 42 and toilets in UT Guest House. Minor cracks were reported. No major concern had been shown at the safety of the city buildings.The structures at both the places did not consist of the load- bearing nature. They were merely frame structures, so they developed certain cracks during the quake, a senior official said. The official said it was worth pointing out that the majority of the construction in the city conformed to the Bureau of Indian Standards specifications under IS 4326 and Code 13920.”We have been very careful about the volume of the columns and the specifications of ductile joints, which are according to the prescribed safety standards”, he added.
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The green brigade of City Beautiful
He's blessed with a green thumb. It took a sweaty walk in the sun at the peak of summer for 63-year-old Dewan Singh to realise where his calling lay. That was almost 10 years back. Today, his name has become synonymous with greenery in the Industrial Area and at most religious places of the city where he has planted almost 5,500 trees over the years.
He has nurtured each of them with care and seen them grow from plant to tree, providing succor from the sweltering heat in summer and the freshness of greenery on cold winter days. "While I was walking down to my unit in the Industrial Area one day, I realised that the were few trees and far between. There was no respite from the blazing sun and no shady tree enroute. On that day, I realised my mission in life. Since then I have been planting trees in open patches of land and along roadsides," he says. His "greening" story began with converting a piece of land in the heart of Phase II of Industrial Area into a garden. "We removed four trucks of congress grass, levelled the area and planted 250-odd trees. The garden was such a success that some benches were installed and today, evenings are such a pleasure at this place," he says. While he has no expertise in making saplings, Mr Dewan Singh emphasises that all the plants need love. "I dig out small offshoots from the main tree truck, replant them into discarded empty milk packets and take care of them till they find their roots. Once they begin to breath easy, I find a suitable location to plant them," he explains. With his business being taken care of by his sons, Mr Dewan Singh devotes every waking moment to his plants. Zipping around on his Kinetic Honda looking for plants which can be "cultivated" to trees, he's a busy man especially since some NGOs have woken up to the unconditional service he is providing to the city. "There are a number of NGOs who take saplings from me to plant in schools and villages of the city. I give it to them free of cost and see it only as an extension of my mission. In fact, three years back I was diagnosed with cancer. Now I am fine. My family believes it probably had something to do with the selfless service to the plants that the disease vanished without a trace," he holds. He's open to supplying saplings of the traditional trees of peepal, shatoot, jamun and deh he has planted at a number of places on the condition that they are well looked after. "I must ensure that they go into the right hands. As a precaution, before giving away any plant, I go and see for myself the area where the sapling has to be planted. I have to be satisfied that the plant has a future in the area," Mr Dewan Singh quips. It's all a labour of love for him. He wants nothing in return — no recognition, no thanks for a cleaner and greener city. Mr Dewan Singh is only striving to provide shade to a weary traveller on a hot summer day. If "his" trees are doing that, his mission stands accomplished.
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Beauty of thorns
Nature has wild ways of manifesting beauty, be it through the ethereal multi-hued, sweet scented blooms or through hardy and full of thorns cacti. If you want to learn the lesson of how to thrive in scarcity and smile through a prickly cloak then enter the world of cacti and succulent plants.
Condemnation by vaastu experts be damned these thorny beauties have a lot of admirers in City Beautiful, who like to adorn their gardens only with cacti and succulent plants. “A cactus is much more beautiful than a rose or any other flowering plant,” says Brig C.S. Bewli, Director, Survey of India, Chandigarh, for whom tending to his cactus garden is more of a passion than a hobby for the past 10 years. Brigadier Bewli, who is also the president of Chandigarh-based National Cactus and Succulent Society of India, has over 400 species of cacti and 100 succulents in his Sector 36 residence. Armed with a degree in engineering, this Army officer goes euphoric over euphorbia milii hybrid flowers blooming in his garden as he shows his priceless collection of mammaliary clumps, ferocactus, gymnocalyciums, adenium, jatropha and rattles off one name after other apart from giving important gen on those. He has even penned poems on cactus. For him the love for cacti was not a love at first sight as “till 10 years ago I had no fondness for this plant” but a casual visit to a cactus show in the city turned his indifference into a lasting passion which saw him becoming a member of the cactus and succulent society and serve as its secretary and president, too. He has also been involved with the holding of the annual show in the city for the past 10 years besides winning a number of prizes. “Seasonal plants cause a lot of tension if you have to go out of station for a few days. The untended seasonal foliage may wilt whereas cacti might greet you with a flower so that way the tension of taking care of these plants is very less. But taking care of cactus is a delicate work one can not leave it on gardeners,” says Brigadier Bewli, who likes to tend to his prized possessions himself and spends almost all his free time with his plants. “These need little water but from spring to autumn, which is the growing season, one must water the plants. In rainy season extra water has to be drained out as these plants do not like wet feet. Apart from this sandy, coarse soil is required and proper potting technique and potting mixture is essential for the good growth of plants. Extra care is needed because most of these species are not indigenous (most of the species are from West Asia, Africa, South America and Madagascar) and care has to be taken to make these exotic plants adapt to the local climate,” says this avid fan of “thorny” ways of nature.
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Official apathy sounds death knell for trees in Sector 47 Vishal Gulati
A
number of trees in two pockets of greenbelt in Sector 47, Chandigarh, are dying a slow death due to the callousness of the authorities concerned. The threat is posed by the stagnating water.
The greenbelt from Sector 39 to Sector 47 has been developed by the Forest Department to improve green cover in City Beautiful. In Sector 47, the plantation of poplar, shisham, kikar and other species was carried out in 2001. In some of the pockets the survival of plantation is very good, especially in Sector 42. The threat to green cover in Sector 47 has left environmentalists worried and demanding that the Forest Department should take immediate measures. “Under normal conditions, the plants in a waterlogged area do not grow well. Technically, the condition is called physiological dryness, especially if the area also has high mineral salt concentration along with adequate water. In spite of the availability of water, the leaves show wilting. Under waterlogged conditions, the roots of the plants do not respire. The consequence is less active transportation of minerals and soil sap,” says Prof R.K. Kohli of the Centre for Environment and Vocational Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh. When asked how serious it is for the trees, he says it may lead to wilting, especially if the root system is not deep. In case of long trees, the roots are deep. The situation may be tolerable in that case. For instance, the eucalyptus trees were planted by Tipu Sultan to treat the marshy character of land in Mysore. It all depends on the soil properties and texture. “Of course, small plants and grasses will not be able to grow in a waterlogged area and it becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other pathogens,” he adds. Dal Chand, guard of the Sector 47 greenbelt, says the waterlogging problem started after the construction of a road along the belt. Scientists of the Central Ground Water Board say the percolation of water in that area may be negligible due to clayey formation on the surface. Draining through pumps is the only alternative in such cases, they say. Mr S.K. Sharma, president, Environment Society of India, argues that every year a plantation drive is carried out in the city, but there is no provision to ascertain the survival rate of the saplings. He says a proper census of trees should be undertaken.
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30 more transformers installed
Chandigarh, October 14 It has been seen in the past that during the peak of summers and winters there had been a considerable rise in the number of complaints pertaining to transformers running into trouble. The existing strength of approximately 1300 transformers in the city was found to be little less than the required. Reliable sources said the department had given a requisition of at least 50 more transformers of 15 MVA capacity. The demand was based on the requests for new permission on their existing connections by city power consumers. The number of electrical gadgets, including air conditioners and water and room heaters, had increased. The official said the actual increase in the load was much higher than the visible demand because a large number of consumers did not inform the department about the new electricity services they were using at their homes, particularly geysers, air-conditioners and heaters. The Electricity Department would be adding at least five more vehicles to its existing strength to address the consumer grievances before the end of the year, the sources added.
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Only 10 pc get revised pension, lament seniors
Mohali, October 14 The association expressed gratefulness to the Punjab Government for granting 50 per cent of the minimum pay of revised pension scales, but pointed out that hardly 10 per cent of the total pensioners got the benefit. “Low-paid pensioners do not get any benefit at all. Highly paid pensioners having a revised pay scale of Rs 18,600-22,100 and above are the only ones who are benefited. It is a mockery with 90 per cent of the pensioners,” stated a press note issued by the association on Tuesday. The association demanded that a notional fixation of pay of pensioners should been done first and then a revised pension be calculated as per the existing rules.
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Kyrgyz Ambassador meets Governor
Chandigarh, October 14 He urged Mr Saktanbek to set up their industrial units in Haryana, particularly in industrial towns, including Faridabad, Gohana and Gurgaon. Mr Saktanbek assured him of a prompt action in the matter. Mr Anmol Rattan Sidhu, Additional Advocate General, was also present.
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Ban on smoking hailed
Mohali, October 14 Parmdeep Singh Bhabat, president, and Deepak Rohela, vice-president of the organisation, who had been working for the cause for the past many years, said a large number of young persons in Punjab and Chandigarh were taking tobacco products and spoiling their lives. They asked the youth to give up the habit of smoking and taking drugs and eat a healthy diet, as they were the future of the country.
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Sarpanch’s body found
Panchkula, October 14 Ram Niwas leaves behind his wife and children. The body of the deceased has been handed over to the family after a post mortem was conducted at the General Hospital
here. OC
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Panchkula resident wins trip to Singapore
Chandigarh, October 14 During the contest period (August -September 2005), any person who bought any service/product or paid their Connect bill at Planet Connect outlets across Punjab, had to just fill a coupon to participate in the lucky draw.
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Badal releases book Chandigarh, October 14 It would prove to be a milestone in the Punjabi literature, he added. Mr Gurdev Singh Badal, former Punjab Agriculture Minister, Dr Gurdarpal Singh, Mr Amardeep Singh, Mr Surjit Singh and Mr Jasbir Singh were present.
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GCM-11 student hurt in attack by rival group
Chandigarh, October 14 Giving details of the incident, police sources said the incident occurred around 11 am when five students belonging to a group came to the college hostel mess and attacked Sukhpreet Singh. A Sector 39 resident, Sukhpreet was sitting with his two friends when he was attacked. The assailants armed with swords and rods inflicted several injuries on Sukhpreet, but did not harm his friends. The police has registered a case of attempt to murder under various sections of the IPC on the basis of a complaint by Sukhpreet. Sukhpreet alleged that Hardeep Singh, Varinder Singh, Monu, Sushant and Moppi had attacked him. The police said Sukhpreet is an active member of the Government College Students Union and the assailants belonged to the other students’ organisation. The UT police had earlier booked Sukhpreet on the charge of assaulting some students belonging to the other faction.
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