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35 structures of top companies razed
Chandigarh, March 14 A team comprising around 20 labourers, four inspectors and four JCBs reached the spot around 10.30 am and started the demolition. The demolished structures included those being occupied by Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), Tata, CITCO, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Pepsi, besides certain others. Some structures housed perishable good meant to be stored away from the habitable areas. The venue was also house to structures of scrap dealers and small traders. The occupants had been given prior notice by the Estate Office to clear the area for construction of the road. A delegation had earlier written to the administration seeking exemption on the grounds that the administration earned a sizeable revenue from it. The administration is learnt to have turned down the request. The team of the Estate Office carried out the drive in rain, which continued throughout the day. The demolition drive concluded around 6.30 pm. A police force of nearly 200 personnel was present on the scene and no untoward incident was reported. The godowns here had come up in gross violation of the Periphery Act. The administration has cleared 200 feet of land on both sides of the road leading to Mauli Jagran and Makhan Majra. The road forms part-II of the road to IT Park. It will ultimately link the airport with the IT park.
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General sets deadlines for IT park
Chandigarh, March 14 The Chandigarh Administration is in the process of setting up of Phase-II of the park. As per these timelines, remaining roads and other related infrastructure in Phase-I ,including the road alongside the Infosys campus would be completed by April 30, 2006. The 13 built-to-suit sites allotted to various category-I and II companies will be built by April, 2007.One year from the date of allotment from the date of allotment from the date of allotment has been given to these companies for construction and occupation . Roads, sewerage, storm water, electricity and electrical fittings including streetlights, horticulture and landscaping work in Phase-II of the IT Park will be completed by May, 2006. Two 66 -KV and a 11- KV electricity lines criss-crossing the IT Park are being put underground. A separate corridor for 220 -KV line has been planned .This work will be executed by the Engineering Department by August, 2006. It is expected that Wipro, Bharti Telecom, Mohindra BT and e-Sys, which have been allotted land in Phase-II, would complete their construction by April, 2007. Creation of housing/service apartments along with accompanying infrastructure in the park would be completed by the Chandigarh Housing Board by November, 2007. A hotel-cum- convention centre would be completed by March 31, 2008. Mr S.K. Sandhu, Secretary Information Technology ,has informed that the Chandigarh Administration was committed to provide plug and play facilities to those companies which cannot afford land. An entrepreneur development centre, measuring over an area of 1.5 acre, would be constructed by the Administration by June, 2007.
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Bhajji plays Holi
with slum kids
Chandigarh, March 14 Coming from various slum areas, the children, between the age group of five to 18 years, were seen enjoying the occasion with their favourite cricketer. They played with colours, “pitchkaris” and enjoyed refreshments and a host of goodies. Senior manager (marketing), Spice Telecom, Punjab, Navdeep Kapur said: “Holi is the festival of colours and in line with his company’s tradition of corporate social responsibility, it was decided to add colour to the lives of these special children by organising an occasion full of fun and enjoyment.” Brimming with excitement, Roshan (14) from Bapu Dham Colony said: “This is the best Holi my friends and I have ever played, with so many colours, ‘pitchkaris’ and with my favourite cricketer, Harbhajan Singh. In fact, I still cannot believe that I celebrated Holi with Bhajji. I hope such occasions are celebrated with us every day!” Harbhajan Singh shared his experiences of Holi celebrations. He remembered how he used to move around on bikes on Holi and play with water, eggs and colours. On his performance, he said everybody had a phase in life when they were not in form but then it too passed. On his being a role model, Harbhajan said it was entirely the perception of public. Holi was also celebrated at Tender Heart School where students participated in events like flower arrangement, rangoli and face painting competitions.
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Cops corner
cricketers’
autographs
Chandigarh, March 14 While mediapersons waited for cricketers in the lobby of Hotel GVK Taj, the players were whisked away under heavy police protection. Coach Greg Chappell, along with his squad, preferred to proceed to the team bus without bothering to speak to the mediapersons. The English players also scurried out of the hotel to board the team bus. Only some fans were lucky enough to get autographs of their favourites. The teams left the hotel around 2.30 pm to board the Chandigarh-Delhi-Mumbai flight that took off at 3.40 pm. Chandigarh Police personnel deployed at Hotel Taj for the Indian cricket team’s security were at it again today. They virtually obstructed mediapersons from performing their duty in the hotel lobby. Journalists were abused and pushed out of the hotel in the name of strict security. However, these police personnel themselves took autographs of cricket stars and also obliged their near and dear ones to get these. Some of the Indian players, including Captain Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble, had left the city last evening to catch a flight to Bangalore from Delhi. Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammad Kaif and Virender Sehwag also left earlier today. Others who stayed back preferred to confine themselves to their hotel rooms. England is on a two-month tour of India to play three Tests and seven One-Day Internationals (ODIs). While the first Test at Nagpur ended in a draw, India beat England by nine wickets in the second Test to take 1-0 lead in the series. The current spirits of Indian cricket team is exceptional and the selection committee has decided to retain the same 15-member squad for the final Test at
Mumbai.
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India well prepared in disaster management: expert
Chandigarh, March 14 Due to scientific advances, India is in a much better position to deal with any natural disaster today than ever before. It is, however, important to point out that a mere warning does not help, it has to be qualified by a degree of threat". Describing the introduction of "Helix" approach to disaster management as an improvement over the traditional 'Cyclic process', Professor Subir Saha, Director, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi - an apex body in the field of architecture, said lot had been done in the field of disaster management after the Latur earthquake and the Tsunami that hit India December 26, 2004, but still more needs to be done to mitigate the affect of a natural disaster in future. An expert in the area of post-disaster reconstruction, Professor Saha was in town to deliver a lecture at the Chandigarh College of Architecture. Talking about the 'Disaster Management Hilex', Professor Saha, who participated in rehabilitation of Tsunami victims and reconstruction in the Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu, said "Disaster management was traditionally handled by the Union Ministry of Agriculture because India was primarily prone to droughts and floods. But after the recent earthquakes and floods, disaster management has been entrusted to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, while retaining floods and droughts with the Agricultural Ministry for reasons best known to the government". The expert felt that 'coordination' that was a core issue in disaster management became a casualty when such decisions were taken. Professor Saha said with the introduction of ''Disaster management" as a subject in schools, the overall preparedness of people to deal with natural calamities would improve. This is all the more important for a city like Chandigarh which falls in the seismic zone and the fault line passes through the city. He said Chandigarh had the highest number of educated population as compared to any other city in the country, so it automatically became the responsibility of the people to regularly perform drills that helped in disaster management. How many times do we perform mock drills for fire, earthquake etc. He explained to say that "it is not only that more disasters are happening now, the intensity and ferocity too is increasing. India is not new to Tsunami, the one that rocked India in the 1900s damaged only 200 boats as compared to the thousands of lives that were lost this time in 2004. This is because the population has grown", he said, adding that in every subsequent disaster the social and economic situation changes, making the impact of the disaster different. It no longer remains cyclic, but assumes shape of a helix.
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Websites of various regiments closed down
Chandigarh, March 14 Sources said following directions from the Military Intelligence, websites hosted by various regiments had been closed down and were no longer accessible. This has been done ostensibly to prevent any classified or sensitive information being brought before the public eye. A number of regiments such as the Poona Horse, Maratha Light Infantry, Grenadiers and Parachute Regiment had set up their own portals. Significantly, while official websites are no longer operational, sites hosted by regimental associations continue to function as they are outside the purview of the MI. These websites carry similar information. Associations are private bodies and also include retired service personnel. It may be noted that a large number of websites exist which give out comprehensive details about orders of battle, troop strength, locations of establishments, holdings and capabilities of weapons and equipment, military history, important appointments and so on. In fact, a lot more details, including those of strategic nature, can be gleaned from private websites than from the lackluster official portals hosted by the armed forces. Besides photographs and maps, satellite imagery of sensitive installations, including ports and airfields, is also freely available on the Internet. Regimental websites were the projection of a regiment's past and present to the outside world and a link with old comrades-in-arms. Besides regimental history, they also carried messages from the Colonel of the Regiment, news on personnel matters like promotions and awards, ceremonies and social events. In the United Kingdom, for instance, there are several websites devoted to a single regiment covering a vast spectrum of their history, ethos, campaigns and other regimental matters. "Information contained in such regimental websites hardly matters and is irrelevant at the macro level," said Col Bimal Bhatia, a former instructor at the army's Military Intelligence School in Pune. "What should be guarded against is the use of such websites for online interaction and exchange of information, but then there are so many other channels for such a thing," he added. According to Mandeep Bajwa, a defence analyst who also runs a military website, such portals are important to project the image of the force and they should come out of its conservative mindset and be more pragmatic. A lot more information on movements and operational matters is available in regimental magazines which are easily available to those seeking them," he added.
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Provisions on pollution control being flouted
Chandigarh, March 14 The SCMC has clearly said only technical people, having “special knowledge or practical experience in respect of manners relating to environmental protection” be appointed as Chairpersons of the state pollution control boards. In terms of appointment of Member-Secretaries, the committee has recommended that the incumbent “should possess knowledge and experience of scientific, engineering or management aspect of pollution control”. However, in the three states, it is either politicians, IAS officers or IFS officers, who have been appointed on the coveted posts. The MLA from Qadian in Gurdaspur district, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, is the Chairperson of the Punjab Pollution Control Board, though the Punjab Government has appointed a technocrat, Mr Malwinder Singh as the Member-Secretary. The Himachal Government has appointed an IAS Officer, Mr J.P. Negi, as the Chairperson and an IFS officer, Mr S.P. Vasudeva, as Member-Secretary of the state Pollution Control Board. Haryana, on the other hand, has appointed IAS officers Mr Samir Mathur and Ms Jayawanti Sheokhand, as Chairman, and Member-Secretary, respectively, of the Haryana Pollution Control Board. Interestingly, while the SCMC also lays down that the “appointment of Chairpersons should be on full-time basis” (not to be given any dual charge). However, in Haryana, the Chairperson is holding a dual charge, along with that of the Secretary, Environment, while the Member-Secretary also holds the charge of Director, Environment. Dr D.B. Boralkar, member of the SCBC and Member-Secretary of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, when contacted by TNS, said a letter had been sent to all three state pollution control boards on the issue of appointments at the top level. In fact, the SCMC through its Additional Director and Member-Secretary, Mr M. Subba Rao, has written to the three states, pointing out that no effort was being made to appoint persons with adequate scientific, technical and legal background, or from environmental field as members of the board, and “these members were being appointed for political purposes, which was leading to ineffective and inefficient functioning of these boards.”
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PPS must shun elitist image, says Governor
Chandigarh, March 14 Lieut-Gen Daljeet Singh, GOC-in-C, Western Command, Chandi Mandir, offered to give exposure to children in various activities at the command to enhance their confidence and commitment. Mr Harnam Dass Johar, Education Minister, Punjab, while participating in a discussion said with a view to making the education system broad-based, the Red Cross and the NCC had been incorporated in school education on compulsory basis. He said special emphasis was being laid to make education a more effective tool to meet the futuristic challenges. Cmdr I.L. Sayal, Headmaster of the school, while giving a detailed account of the activities and achievements said serious efforts were being made to attract more students from the rural and common background and now there were 82 rural students in the school. He said financial position of the institution had also improved and various new innovative measures were being taken to further upgrade the standard of education.
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PSEB fails to clarify
Chandigarh, March 14 Representatives from the PHD Chamber of Commerce Industry and CII State Council said that there were certain discrepancies and other methods used in the Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) for enhancing the unnecessary cost. Mr M.C Munjal, Chairman, CII ,Punjab State Council, said that the Board should take pragmatic steps to conform to the norms set by the Commission, rather than passing on any additional burden to the consumers. Punjab would become an attractive destination for investment only if inefficiencies were removed and quality power was supplied at competitive rates, he added On purchase of power, Mr Amarjit Goyal, Chairman of the PHDCCI, said that the power purchase budget was proposed to be Rs. 3256 crore which was about Rs 811 crore more than the previous year. The Commission must ban purchase of power from costly sources. Further, he said, there was a scope of reducing this by about Rs 900 crore by maximizing generation at thermal plants. He said that debt servicing cost was Rs. 1200 crore, an increase by 20 per cent over last year. Moreover, release of tubewells was an ongoing process and every year connections for 40,000 tubewells were released and subsidy with respect to free supply was not fully compensated by the government thereby burdening the industry. Mr R L Mahajan, Convenor, Power Reforms Panel, CII Punjab State Council, mentioned that only those power costs, which were reasonable and competitively incurred by making optimum use of investments, should be charged from the consumers. He added that the proposed hike of the tariff by 17.7 per cent in the coming fiscal would increase the number of sick units. It was also brought to the notice of the Commission that CERC had reduced the trading margin limit from five paise per unit to four paise per unit and this would result in substantial saving of the purchase cost of power.
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Mercury dips by 6.4 °C in city
Chandigarh, March 14 The day temperature came down by 6.4°C, bringing the temperature down to a cool 20°C. The city received 6 mm rain, while it was 13 mm in Ludhiana. The Met Department forecast a “wet Holi” for the city residents tomorrow, with more rain expected in the region. Officials said more rain was likely in Punjab and Haryana, while there might be snowfall at some places in Himachal Pradesh. The weather was expected to clear up only on Thursday, they added. Meanwhile, residents of Ram Darbar, Phase I and II, have been wading through knee-deep water to reach their houses for the past one week. According to the residents, the MCC had dug up the road in front of their houses to put tiles. However, two months had passed and the tiles had yet to be placed. To add to their misery, rain had caused the pits to fill up with water. Talking to the TNS, Ms Kamlesh, councillor of the area, despite repeated complaints to the MC nothing was being done.
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MC discusses village bylaws with Adviser
Chandigarh, March 14 It was discussed that a blueprint of the villages would be prepared as the "abadi" of each village was different. A final meeting in this regard would be held later. The seven-member committee of the councillors set up to frame the bylaws, had also held a meeting yesterday. According to sources, the committee asked the Administration to regularise the "abadi" outside laldora. The MC officials also discussed the future policy of all commercial activities in the villages like shops. The MC wants to be the deciding authority on the planning of these villages. The bylaws which will be finally implemented will also be applicable on the existing villages under the MC.
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Green car centre of attraction
Chandigarh, March 14 "Basically, I was working on an advertising campaign for my resort, Snow King Resort, Fagu (Himachal Pradesh). It somehow occurred to me to turn one of my cars into a moving advertising hoarding for my resort. After all, isn't advertising all about catching the eyes of the customers? This car is doing just that for me," Mr Dudhani said. While he refuses to talk about the money that he spent on fixing a layer of green grass-like mat on the outer body of his Tata Indica car, he does maintain that it was "lot cheaper" than an advertising campaign would have cost him. "When people see that car, they come to me and ask me about the car and the purpose behind the same. They see the advertising of my resort and ask me about it also. I am happy my initiative is a hit," he claims. Incidentally, Mr Dudhani, whose export-centric unit is located at Mohali, also says that he has been receiving queries from car-owners as to how much he would charge for turning their cars similar to his own.
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Car stickers on consumer rights
Chandigarh, March 14 The first set of stickers was presented to Justice K.C. Gupta (retd), President of the UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, by Mr Pankaj Chandgothia, President of the Consumer Court Bar Association. Justice Gupta appreciated the consumer-oriented gesture of the association and directed his staff to display the stickers even on his official vehicle apart from other prominent places in the Consumer Courts building. Earlier, he released a booklet “Consumer Law Guide” to be distributed free among the general public. The book, written by Mr Chandgothia, describes the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act in simple language. According to sources, there is a serious move to create a third District Forum for the city. This is being mooted to facilitate the disposal of consumer complaints within 90 days as required under the Act. Already, Chandigarh is the only place in the entire country to have two forums.
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Voters views sought on delimitation
Mohali, March 14 According to the notification, which was issued under Section 240 of the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911, voters have been asked to submit their objections and suggestions within 30 days. The objections and suggestions have to be sent to the Principal Secretary, Local Government, Punjab. A copy of the government notification reached the office of the Municipal Council here after the office closed for the day. Elections to the civic body here are overdue as the term of the elected body had expired on November 23 last year. Residents wonder why the government took about four months to invite objections and suggestions from voters after the delimitation of wards had been okayed by the 12-member delimitation board on November 11 last year. Response from voters is generally invited soon after the delimitation of wards is cleared by the board. Out of the 12 members of the board, seven members have the voting right. Five of these members had okayed the proposed draft and only Mr Bir Devinder Singh and his supporter and former president of the Council, Mr Harinder Pal Singh Billa, had raised objections. Mr Bir Devinder Singh had said that he had raised the objections because the proposed draft had been prepared by officials of the Department of Local Government without consulting members of the Delimitation Board. He had alleged that the draft had been prepared in such a way so as to protect certain vested interests. Some wards were prepared in a planned way while no continuity was maintained while delimiting many other wards. Members of the Opposition group of municipal councillors had also raised objections in connection with the delimitation of wards. As many as 31 municipal wards have been created with 13 in the reserved category.
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Brothers sustain burns
Chandigarh, March 14 The victims have been identified as Gurdial Singh and his brother Nilish. They were taken to the Sector 32 Government Medical College and Hospital. Gurdial Singh suffered more than 35 per cent burns while Nilish was discharged.
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Another car recovered from cops
Chandigarh, March 14 About the recovery of another car from the gang of car lifters, in which seven Punjab Police constables were involved, the sources in the police said the car had been recovered from Fatehgarh Sahib district. During interrogation, constable Balwinder Singh disclosed that he had sold the Indica car (PB-27-B-9852) to Sukhjinder Singh of Kheri Bir Singh village in Fatehgarh Sahib for Rs 3.50 lakh. This is the 13th car that the police had recovered from the gang. Meanwhile, all accused were sent to judicial custody by a local court yesterday, said the police.
Held for stealing buffaloes
The police arrested Ram Singh, a resident of Milk colony, Dhanas, on the charges of stealing four buffaloes belonging to Saleem of the colony during the night of February 6. The police said Saleem, the complainant, had earlier lodged a report with the police. It was only later he found that the animals were stolen by Ram Singh and he filed a complaint against him. A case has been registered in this regard. He was produced before a local court yesterday, which remanded him in police custody till March 16.
Mobile stolen
Sarvesh of Sector 7 reported to the police alleging that his Nokia-8800, mobile phone has been stolen from Fun Republic, Manimajra, on Sunday. A case of theft has been registered in this regard.
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Car theft: two cops dismissed
Chandigarh, March 14 In all, the Chandigarh Police had arrested seven Punjab policemen for their involvement in vehicle theft. The Director-General of Police, Mr S.S. Virk, has initiated proceeding under Section 311 of the Punjab Police Service Rules to dismiss all of them. Information is being collected from Chandigarh Police and their units and place of posting was being verified. Earlier in the day, the Operations Cell claimed to have arrested two more members of an inter-state gang of car thieves, busted earlier this month, from Kharar and seized incriminating documents along with fake stamp seals. Sources in the Operations Cell said Jasbir Singh, a typist working near the office of registration authority in Kharar, and a tout, Joginder Singh, on the basis of information provided by gang members arrested earlier by the police. A police officer said the verification of the records seized from the accused could lead them to some officials of the registration authority in the matter.
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Couple booked for duping man of Rs 60 lakh
Chandigarh, March 14 Mr Sandeep Bansal, a resident of Sector 8-B, lodged a complaint with the police that he had given Rs 60 lakh to B.C. Jain and his wife Chander Kala Jain of Sector 35-A to buy a house belonging to the couple. The amount was given in instalments. He said despite repeated requests to complete formalities of the sale agreement, the couple they did not do anything and kept on dilly-dallying. The SHO of the Sector 36 police station said a case of cheating and criminal conspiracy had been registered against the couple under Sections 420 and 120-B of the IPC. He added the police was investigating into the matter and no arrest had been made so far. Mr Sandeep Bansal had alleged that on October 11, 2005, he had entered into a sale agreement to purchase a house belonging to the couple in Sector 46 for Rs 1 crore. On same day, he give Rs 10 lakh as earnest money to the couple, he added. Mr Bansal further alleged that after the agreement was signed B.C. Jain disclosed to him that he was yet to obtain the completion certificate of the said house, without which the house could not be sold. The accused, however, kept asking money from him on one pretext or another and in the process he gave Rs 60 lakh to them. The couple, however, did not keep their word and failed to get the completion certificate, which was mandatory to for sale the house. Fed up with the false promises, he brought the matter to the notice of the police.
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UT gives conversion option to trades
Chandigarh, March 14 A press release here today said that "on the representations of the owners of the premises of the trades which were left out, the UT Administrator reconsidered the ban on conversion from the seven trades and it has now been decided that they should also be covered under the liberalisation of conversion policy without payment of any conversion charges," a press release said. The Chandigarh Administration in a major policy decision had announced on January 17, 2006, the liberalisation of conversion of trade policy for free flow of trades and other allied activities under which the allottee of commercial sites or premises were allowed to pursue any trade except the trade mentioned in New Special Trades in schedule II without applying for conversion of trade and any conversion charges. The policy is applicable to ground floors only and was not applicable in the Industrial Areas, Phase I and II. The seven trades, which were excluded, in the policy included atta chakki, rui penja, scooter/car repair, tent/utensils hire services, meat/fish, halwai shops and dhabas, kabari and automobile spare parts. All those who intend to convert the trade from new special trade category must inform the Estate Officer. However, the migration to these seven trades from other trades of category “A” shall be allowed without any charge with prior permission of the Chief Administrator and would be subject to examination and clearance from environment, health and traffic considerations.
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Cricket Test brings good business for Verka
Mohali, March 14 According to a press statement issued here
yesterday. Verka products were the only items that were sold at the
maximum retail price during the match. Verka products like ice cream,
kheer, gujia and yoghurt were enjoyed by players of both teams and
guests. Only Milkfed had been given the right Verka had also sponsored 100
students from St Stephens School every day who enjoyed the match
sporting Verka T-shirts. Mr Vikas Partap, Managing Director, Milkfed,
said the main purpose of sponsoring such an event was to encourage the
children to participate in sports and also to promote Verka milk
products which were known for their quality.
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Kashmir emporium gets new look
Chandigarh, March 14 The Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Handicrafts (S&E) Corporation, Mr Abdul Rashid Dar, yesterday inaugurated the newly renovated emporium. Besides the Managing Director of Jammu and Kashmir Handicrafts Corporation, S. S. Kapoor, Principal Secretary, Jammu and Kashmir, was also present. Mr Dar said the corporation had decided to modernise its showrooms in a phased manner. The showroom has been computerised and all details of inventory control, billing, inflow and outflow of stocks would now be monitored through computerised system. This was the first showroom of the corporation which has been computerised.
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