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High-level meeting on plans for Mohali
Mohali, February 25 Sources said a preliminary meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary and attended by senior officers of the three districts on parts proposed to be included in Mohali district, was held on February 23. The MLA, Kharar, Mr Bir Devinder Singh, pointed out that he had proposed the creation of a new district, Ajitgarh Sahib, comprising Mohali, Kharar and Dera Bassi townships and 500 villages from these areas. As many as 81 villages of Mohali, 201 villages falling in Kharar, 151 villages of Dera Bassi, 31 villages of Rajpura and 44 villages of Chunni would form a part of the proposed district. He said another proposal had been submitted by him to create an authority that would develop Mohali and its
surrounding areas on lines of Greater Noida. “This would also be discussed during the meeting. The idea is to have a single-window system for the development of this area,” he said. Sources said the map of Mohali district was, however, yet be finalised and many possible combinations and permutations were being considered. The MLA pointed out in the proposal that Mohali was becoming a hub of major commercial, industrial and residential activities. A large number of multi-national companies were investing in Mohali and Dera Bassi and these townships were expanding. He said it would be prudent to follow the Panchkula example and regulate this expansion by converting the area into a distinct administrative unit. He said since Mohali was the focus of IT companies for setting up of units, it was also the need of the hour to provide these companies with basic administrative and judicial services. The status of a district would also lead to better higher and technical educational facilities. “The new district is expected to be a compact administrative unit, easier to manage than the current divisions. Residents of these areas would not need to travel beyond 25 to 30 km for all administrative and judicial works,” he added.
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Develop, Panchkula, Mohali, UT jointly: Bansal
Chandigarh, February 25 Mr Bansal while addressing a function which was organised to honour him by the Aggarwal Sabha, Panchkula, here today. Mr Bansal opined that on the pattern of the National capital region, Delhi, the Chandigarh capital region should be constituted by, including surrounding areas, so that the development of these areas could be ensured. He said although Panchkula, Chandigarh and Mohali cities had their own political identity, efforts should be made to develop these cities jointly, rising above political considerations. The Haryana State Congress Party, secretary, Mr Vijay Bansal, also spoke on the occasion.
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UT plans package tours covering shrines
Chandigarh, February 25 The possibilities for the proposed packages includes gurdwaras in the region, shrines of ‘devis’ in Himachal Pradesh and trip to Vaishno Devi in Jammu and Kashmir, besides several others. A package can make separate clusters of the religious sites, keeping in mind an easy route map. Confirming the development, Mr J.S. Bir, Managing Director of the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation (CITCO), said, “The concept has different related areas, which need to be worked out to decide upon a feasible plan. We are collaborating with the Department of Tourism and different state governments to devise comprehensive plans”. Following a series of interactions with different travel and tour companies, the administration felt that tourists in the category of those visiting only religious places was a big potential group. Chandigarh has the shrine of Mansa Devi and Nada Sahib Gurdwara as the biggest potential places of religious interest. Tourists coming from outside would definitely like to club their tour with other places in the region to get best returns for their money spent. Mr Vivek Atray, Director, Tourism Department, said “Chandigarh is a focal point for entry into Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and even Jammu and Kashmir. Haryana was also directly connected. This was a big opportunity for the city to devise comprehensive travel packages. Religious tourism was also picking up very fast. The city needs to tie up with the adjoining states and the returns are going to be definitely more beneficial to the tourists, besides, of course the UT”. Mr Bir said, “The tourist packages have naturally to be tied up with the hotel industry to arrange for places to stay. We are working up with different groups, even private parties to evolve package tours. Providing complete information about the rates of stay at different places and booking places, even before one started on his journey, was a facility appreciated by the general public”. Mr Atray said, “We are putting the entire information about the tour packages on the website very soon. The tours can be one, two, three day or even for a week, depending on the interest of the visitors. The shrines of various ‘devis’, including Jwalamukhi and Chintpurni, besides others in Himachal Pradesh can be one of the interesting tours. A package tour covering important gurdwaras in the region can be another. A smaller version of the same could be visiting Darbar Sahib in Amritsar and certain other renowned gurdwaras in near the Holy City”.
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School for slum kids inaugurated
Chandigarh, February 25 No prospectus, no registration, no interactive sessions, enrolments would start just as the session gets rolling. And of course, no fee. A day-boarding, the school will be run by Guru Nanak Vidya Bhandar Trust which supports more than 300 schools in the country. Speaking on the occasion, Sonia Channi, Principal of the school, informed that the school would provide free uniforms, transport, food and text books to the students. She added that the school had been built to take 1,000 students and initially 350 slum children would be enrolled with the help of various city NGOs. The school will have classes from nursery to XII. In addition to the above, the school will have five academic days and Saturdays would be devoted to hobby classes. Free food will be offered to check the high drop out rate and absenteeism. To this end a crèche has also been opened in the school. The students will be required to participate in debates, declamations and other contests. As per Dr Gurpreet Singh, he wants to create a place for the poor where they are taught various knowledge skills so that they have the power to earn. The school will function from the coming session.
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Contests, folk dances regale visitors at Rose Festival
Chandigarh, February 25 At least 450 children lined up for the contest which began around 9.30 a.m. The contests continued till late in the afternoon. Tiny tots, who participated in three different categories for girls and boys, complained about the “oppressive heat” in the pandal. The contests were held in in the age groups of 1 to 1.5 years, 1.5 to 2 years and 2 to 3 years, separately for boys and girls. Mrs Jean Rodrigues, wife of Gen (retd) S.F. Rodrigues, Governor of Punjab and the UT Administrator, inaugurated the competition. Students of St Stephens School, Sector 45, presented a folk dance. Yuvraj Singh won the ‘Rose Prince’ contest in the age category of 1 to 1.5 years. Khusmal was second and the third place was bagged by Manas Gandhi. Kartik Walia was adjudged ‘prince’ in the age category of 1.5 to 2 years. Ishaan Kaushal was the first runners-up and Samarjeet Singh won the prize for the second runners-up. Kritin Sagar was adjudged ‘Rose Prince’ in the category of 2 to 3 years. Yashdeep Singh Yash was second and the third place was secured by Swayam Acharya. Jia was adjudged ‘Rose Princess’ in the category of 1 to 1.5 years. Simran Bajwa was second and the third place was bagged by Shri Anshika. Sanvi Sharma won the Princess contest in the category of 1.5 to 2 years. Ashmeet Kaur Reen was the first runners-up and the third place was secured by Riddhika katyal. Ishita Sharma was adjudged ‘Rose Princess’ in age category of 2 to 3 years. Bani Gulati and Gurleen Rathor were second and third, respectively. The team of Neha Vashishta and Mamta from Government College of Education, Sector 20, won the quiz contest in the colleges category. The team of Gurpreet Kaur and Shweta from the same college was second. The third place was bagged by Shivani Kaushik and Harsimran Kaur of MCM DAV College, Sector 36. The team of Simar Preet Singh and Manu Sagar from Government Model Senior Secondary School, Manimajra, won the first prize in the quiz contest in the schools category. The team of Nikhil Kumar and Vijay Kumar from the same school was second and the third place went to Monia and Manita from the GHS, Sector 26. The festival witnessed a heavy rush throughout the day. The crowd entering from the side of Sector 17 had to stand in a long queue because of the gateway created for the ‘metal detector’. “In case the detector had to be installed throughout the function, the venue should have been manned by certain officials. I have not seen anyone since morning. The passage is too narrow for the heavy rush,” Mr Anil Kumar, a visitor complained. The crowd was appreciative about the Administration having done away with commercial stalls on the roadside dividing Sectors 16 and 17. Mrs Shanti Chaudhary, a resident of Sector 42, said “The festival of roses earlier appeared more of a commercial mela because of stalls which littered the road. Dances from different states staged at different venues drew crowds. The stage at the centre saw the biggest rush. The organisers had done away with food stalls adjoining Sector 17. However, vendors selling small items like ‘pappads’ remained on demand Schoolchildren in uniform, who had obviously bunked classes, was a common sight at the festival. The venue for food stalls in the Leisure Valley was a big hit with the visitors. Delicacies served by the Food Crafts Institute was appreciated by all.
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Rural women's success story to be showcased
Dera Bassi, February 25 And with this, women empowerment will receive a boost with the school tying up with the village self-help groups (SHGs) to act as a "facilitator" to market their products, including embroidery work, soft toys, photo frames and bags, at the international level. "The school plans to exhibit these products aggressively in different countries of Europe and North America so that the international market gets acquainted with it and bring in business opportunities," Mr Jagjit Singh Kochar, CEO of the FTP, told reporters during the course of a media tour to Sirsini and Sangotha villages, near here, today. A craftswoman, Mr Balbir Kaur, who had been in the field for about eight years, told Chandigarh Tribune that there are about 10 SHGs of about 20 members each in the village and every member earned from Rs 40 to Rs 100 per day. Teenagers Simran and Shailee said it was some extra income for them besides hands-on experience in making soft toys and other Phulkari items. Ms Kamaljit Kaur of Sangotha village, a motivator, said since the formation of the SHGs about 50 per cent of the village women had started earning extra money to part finance their household expenses. Her village has two SHGs of 20 members each and they have Rs 33,000 and Rs 50,000 in their "mini banks" to meet the emergency needs of the members. The SHGs took a concrete shape in 1999 when the World Bank teamed up with the Punjab Government to sponsor the Integrated Watershed Development Project aimed at, among other things, training the women in craft and income generation activities, informed Mr Jatindra Sharma, Conservator of Forests and Subject Matter Specialist of the
IWDP (Hills-II). With the aim of involving the grassroots craft sector of Punjab in the mainstream fashion scenario the school linked up with the IWDP project in its withdrawal phase. In fact, noted designers have already interacted with the artisans here and given samples to them to give their products a contemporary look for the international markets, Ms Neera Bhatnagar from the school, said. The linkages with the world not only provide regular employment and social security to these women artisans but also create production hubs leading to overall industrial and economic development. To eliminate the middlemen, the school is signing an MoU with the Integrated Textile Park Limited, Ludhiana, Mr Kochar added.
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Village women make ropes for a living
Panchkula, February 25 The group comprising Gogo, Gyano, Gogo, Banto, Balwinder, Nimbo, Lajjo, Kashmiro, Balbiro, Gejo and Santohi were not allowed to go out and work. But because of poverty, they decided to find a vocation, where they could work from home, and thus supplement the family’s earnings. “Since we had learnt to make ropes from an early age, we thought it was the best skill that we could utilise commercially,” says Gogo Devi. “The government gave us a loan of Rs 75,000 , which we utilised for buying the raw material. Each of us is now earning Rs 1000 a month by selling these ropes, which are used for making ‘charpois’,” she added. Deputy Commissioner, Mr Brijendra Singh, while lauding the efforts of this self-help group, said that it was a perfect example of the success of micro-financing of self-help groups. “Under this scheme, we give loans to families living below the poverty line. We have formed 334 self-help groups in Panchkula, involved in varied economic activities like dairying, ginger cultivation, making baskets and brooms etc. Of these, 232 groups have cleared the first stage and established a revolving fund for carrying on their economic activities. As many as 132 self-help groups have also repaid their loans,” he said.
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Kharar MLA joins residents’ protest
Mohali, February 25 The protesters blocked the roads near the Balongi bridge for about half an hour. Traffic from and to Kharar was adversely affected. Long queues of vehicles were not witnessed for long as an alternative route was adopted by the affected persons. A senior judicial official, whose car with a red light was also not allowed to pass, threatened the protesters for indulging in illegal activities. Earlier, a dharna was staged by the protesters where slogans were raised against the government. Residents demanded that the hike in water and sewerage rates should be withdrawn immediately. The speakers said the government was acting in an arbitrary manner by imposing revised rates on residents. They condemned the hike, saying that it was totally unjustified. Mr Bir Devinder Singh, Kharar MLA, said he was also against the hike and demanded that rates should be on a par with Chandigarh and Panchkula. He suspected the hike to be a part of political conspiracy so that unrest was created in the town. He said he would take up the matter in the Vidhan Sabha on Monday. Mr Amrik Singh, convener of the struggle committee formed in connection with water and sewerage rates, said if the government did not withdraw the hiked rates by March 15, the residents would be compelled to intensify the stir. Among the speakers were Mr Manjit Singh Sethi, Mr Manmohan Singh Lang, Mr Amrik Singh Mohali, Mrs Manmohan Kaur, Mr Sham Bansal, Mrs Indu Sehgal, Mr Sukhdev Singh Patwari, all former municipal councillors, Mr Ranbir Singh Dhillon, president of the Truck Union, Mr Harinder Pal Singh Billa, former president of the Municipal Council, and Mr Balbir Singh, president of the Mohali Industries Association.
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Aruna Asaf Ali Bhavan inaugurated
Chandigarh, February 25 Built on a 250 square yards plot, at a cost of Rs 39 lakh, the bhavan will be used to promote activities which were close to late Aruna Asaf Ali’s heart, including advancement of women and development of children. The Aruna Asaf Ali Memorial Trust is presently working in areas of education for working children, craft, vocational and technical training for boys and girls belonging to weaker sections. A creche for children of working mothers has been opened. Speaking on the occasion, Mr
P.H. Vaishnav, president of the trust, informed that Dr Pragya and Prof Virendra Kumar (daughter and son-in-law of Late Baba Prithvi Singh Azad) had donated their entire land holding at Lalru, to the trust. Famous painter
M.F. Hussain has also donated the entire sale proceeds of his paintings amounting to Rs 15 lakh to the trust. Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Dr Pragya said the lands was donated to the trust as a tribute to her father who was also the founder member of the gaddar party and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Reminiscing days spent with Aruna Asaf Ali, 85-year-old Ms Osima
Raikhi, the managing trustee, revealed that not many people know that Aruna was born at Kalka in a Bengali
family. Speaking on the occasion, the Deputy Chief Minister, assured the trust members that any project presented by the trust would be fully sponsored by the government. The bhavan will, include various facilities like library, reading room, vocational technical training, counselling centre for family disputes, multi-use auditorium, dispensary and medical lab and a
creche. The trust has also taken up activities in a few slum areas where child labour education centres are
operating.
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Admn to collect data on city slums
Chandigarh, February 25 A data bank of over 23,000 slum families will be prepared by the administration. The survey would entail taking fingerprints of the beneficiaries, photographs of the allottee and their families, apart from other personal details of the slum dwellers. The help of NGOs would also be taken by the administration for the exercise. Hectic parleys are being held between officers of the Chandigarh Housing Board and the office of the Deputy Commissioner. Sources in the administration said the specific survey would cover all families going to be benefited under the ambitious plan to provide one-room tenements to all slum dwellers in the city, existing as on date. The tenements would be given on rental basis. As per the surveys in the past, over 23,000 dwelling units would be required to rehabilitate all slum dwellers, who were occupying prime land in 18 slum clusters in and around the city. The land under illegal occupation of the slum dwellers was worth crore of rupees. The tentative cost of 60 acres of land under colony no.5 alone, was worth Rs 175 crore. Earlier, under a special scheme— Licensing of tenements and services in Chandigarh, 1979, the cut- off date for eligibility of allotment under the scheme was December 8, 1996. But since the administration proposed to rehabilitate all slum dwellers existing on date, it had been stated in past surveys that 23483 slums families living in slum clusters would be given one-room tenements on rental basis.
Rehabilitation scheme: The original oustee of the UT villages have lamented that the slum rehabilitation schemes was changing the demography of the city. Alleging discrimination at the hands of Chandigarh Administration, the villagers said the administration was keen on rehabilitating illegal slum dwellers but were not bothered about the rehabilitation of 5000 families, which were uprooted almost 30 years ago. Even the National Commission of Minorities (NCM) had taken cognizance of the issue.
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5 held for mishandling court officials
Chandigarh, February 25 According to the police, the district administration got ex parte order of eviction from the court of Mr Harbhajan Das, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate. When the bailiff and the official liquidator, Mr Risal Singh, went to get the premises evicted, they were allegedly pushed around by the tenants. After arresting five persons under Sections 323, 353 and 147 of the IPC, they were bailed out.
Bar chief disposes
In connection with the Siau murder case, Mr N.K. Nanda, president of the District Bar Association, appeared in the court of Mr MM Sharma to testify that Ms Karnal Kaur, wife of a defence witness, Bawa Singh, had approached him after her husband was allegedly kidnapped on January 8. However, the man had appeared before the court on January 19 for recording his statement. It may be mentioned that two children wee killed in Siau, Kharar, and the trial of the case is going in the district courts here.
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Special trains for candidates
Chandigarh, February 25 In the morning, three special trains will leave from Ambala to Chandigarh at 5:30 am, 6:30 am and 8:30 am. In addition the Northern Railway has also requested the CTU to arrange buses for the transportation of candidates to their respective centres. 127 centers have been set up in the city, Panchkula and Mohali and more than 20,000 candidates are expected to take the exam. A reception cell will also be set up and will be manned by the scouts and guides. An additional ticket counter will also be set up. In the evening, three special trains will operate. These have been specially arranged for the candidates after the examination. At 3 pm Chandigarh to Ranchi via Ambala, Sharanpur, Muradabad, at 4:30 pm a train from Chandigarh to Bhatinda via Panipat, Rothak, Sirsa and at 5 pm Chandigarh to Bikaneer via Patiala, Dhuri, Bathinda. Also the timings of the train II UK Kalka - Ambala have been changed and will remain so till April 9. The train which earlier departed from Kalka at 12:20 pm will now leave at 2 pm. The train will depart from Chandigarh at 3 pm and reach Ambala at 3: 55 pm.
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ITBP absorbs 74 recruits
Chandigarh, February 25 The Deputy Inspector General, BTC, Mr Y.R. Kapoor reviewed the parade and took the salute. In his address, he highlighted the achievements of the force in various fields, spoke about its role and stressed upon the recruits to maintain high standards of professionalism. He also gave away prizes to recruits for outstanding performance during the training period. Constable Ravindra Singh, who commanded the parade, was adjudged the best overall trainee.
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Electronic devices showcased
Chandigarh, February 25 Electronicom is organised by Full Circle Expositions, and was inaugurated by Director, IT, Chandigarh, Mr Vivek Atray. The three-day event, till February 26, show cases the best of national and international companies dealing in electronics and IT hardware products. In fact, IT hardware giant, Logitech is the sponsor of the show. Other than Logitech, LG, Sony, Samsung, Yamaha Audio, Panasonic, Toshiba, HCL, Worldspace, Nakamichi, Hitachi etc are showcasing their range of products.
TNS
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Children's entertainment programme
Chandigarh, February 25 The channel will telecast popular animation and live action series targeted at kids in the 4-14 age group sourced from SpaceToon Media Group's library throughout the week. Space Toon is the only channel to categorize its programmes into10 "Planets" depending on the suitability for particular viewers.
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CII holds workshop
Chandigarh, February 25 This was stated Mr A R Singh, Convener, Labour Laws Reform Panel, CII, Himachal Pradesh State Council, and Chief Executive Officer, Drish Shoes, while addressing participants at the inaugural session of the workshop on ‘Zimmedaari Ki Shakti’, organised by the CII Himachal Pradesh State Council here today. Dwelling at length about the responsibility of the employees towards building a motivated workforce, he said: “Employees also have an equally important role to play. They have to be sensitive to others’ feelings and concerns and understand their perspective”. Mr Suresh Mohan Semwal, motivational speaker from Think Inc., New Delhi, addressed the participants with an insightful presentation. “Excellence in an organisation is achieved by making people a part of the organisation’s value statement, providing a regular feedback to them, encouraging personal quality initiatives and having proper knowledge management. “These are the ways to make sure that everyone is working towards the organisation’s goals in an efficient and coordinated manner,” he said. Over 90 delegates from the industry situated in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh participated in the workshop.
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Electronic devices showcased
Chandigarh, February 25 Electronicom is organised by Full Circle Expositions, and was inaugurated by Director, IT, Chandigarh, Mr Vivek Atray. The three-day event, till February 26, show cases the best of national and international companies dealing in electronics and IT hardware products. In fact, IT hardware giant, Logitech is the sponsor of the show. Other than Logitech, LG, Sony, Samsung, Yamaha Audio, Panasonic, Toshiba, HCL, Worldspace, Nakamichi, Hitachi etc are showcasing their range of products.
TNS
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Vijaya Bank
Panchkula, February 25 According to a statement issued today by Vijaya Bank, forms will also be available.
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