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Airport modernisation on the anvil
All set for
Chandigarh, September 23 Presently the airport gets a power supply of 100 KW. An additional supply of 300 KW has been sought. According to sources, the permission has been granted in principle and a meeting of the officials concerned has been held. A mini substation would be required at the airport to provide the additional electricity. Operational power should be provided in about a month. The additional power would help with the further expansion of the airport. Not only would the building become air-conditioned making the stay of the passengers more comfortable, but would also help facilitate night flying at a later stage. Many airlines have complained about the lack of night flying facilities at the airport. This is one of the reasons why many airlines don’t come to the city. The power would also be used for construction work, which would soon be taken up for renovation and expansion of the current building and, at a later stage, for the construction work for the proposed international airport. Talking to TNS, airport controller Mr Suneel Dutt stated, “We have asked for additional power supply from the UT and the same should be provided within a month. It will help improve facilities at the airport.”
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BSNL Colony is ‘Hanera colony’
Mohali, September 23 The colony residents, most of whom are BSNL employees, have been without
electricity for the past six months. They are depending on candles for light after sunset and putting up with the scorching heat of the summer. Not only that, residents of the “Hanera colony” are still to get water connections in their houses which has added to their daily ordeal. There is a lot of resentment among the residents as they have been facing hardships for the past many months. Even though power has not been provided for the past six months, water was made available about a month ago in two taps provided on the ground floor outside the housing complex. Earlier, they had to use water for drinking purposes from an underground tank. An employee of the BSNL who lives in the colony said on condition of anonymity that the colony was popularly known as the “Hanera colony” in the area as it remained dark inside the entire complex. Residents were managing by using candles. The occupants of each house were being sent a water bill for Rs 195 even when water was not being supplied inside the houses. He said that they were being asked to apply for power connections at the personal level. He said that 15 per cent of the basic pay was being deducted as house rent allowance from the salary of BSNL employees even when the required facilities were not being provided to them. Ms Meena said her family had moved to the complex in March and till now they were living without power. Water for drinking purposes had to be carried from the ground floor up to the fourth floor in buckets by the residents which was a big task. There was a water tank on the premises from where water had to be pumped up to the overhead tanks for being used in the bathrooms. Each family had to dish out Rs 150 by turns to buy diesel to run the generator set daily for pumping up water to the overhead tanks. With this amount the generator could be run for about only an hour and the overheads tanks remained empty most of the time. Another resident, Usha, questioned as to why the employees had been asked to shift here when the work had not been completed in the complex. She said they were happier when they were living in rented accommodation. Onkar Singh, a student doing BCA from a college in Landran, said that he had to go to some other accommodation to study in the absence of power supply to the area. He said that there were 28 houses in the complex out of which 22 were occupied. While the Executive Engineer and the SDO of the Punjab State Electricity Board could not be contacted for comments despite several efforts, the PUDA official concerned said that water was provided only at one point in the colony and further supply had to be made by the department owning the colony.
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Sec 17 SCO owners told to pay Rs 1 cr for additional floor
Chandigarh, September 23 The compounding fee has been calculated at the current market price on the basis of the last three auctions, attracting protest from the owners of the commercial property. Sources in the Estate Office revealed that there were around 80 such buildings — both 2-bay and 3-bay showrooms — where the additional floor had not be regularised so far. The notices were issued when some of the owners approached the Estate Office for issuing of occupation certificate. “As a result of the dispute over the exorbitant compounding fee, the transfer of ownership of such prime properties was not possible as the necessary document like completion certificate and occupation certificate was not being issued by the Estate Office,” said the owner of an SCF in Sector 17. The issue was also raised at a recent meeting between the UT Administrator and the Chandigarh Beopar Mandal. Inquiries reveal that most of the SCO sites were sold in the late sixties and the allottee got the building plans approved as per the then existing architectural control. Apart from four permitted floors, a mezzanine floor between ground floor and the first floor was added by the traders. In 1970, the rule was amended as a nominal fee of 10 paise per sq ft was levied for the extra floor. Taking benefit of the nominal charges, the allottees converted the mezzanine floor into a regular floor. In 1993, the Supreme Court decided the compounding fee at Rs 20 per sq ft for extra covered area — which came to around Rs 28,000. Defending their logic, the allottees point out that the issue has been pending for 25 years. Apart from harassment, the issue had badly affected the sale and purchase of the sites. The extra floor added by them was mostly occupied by the tenants who were giving nominal rent. In most of the cases, the tenants and allottees were in litigation and it was not possible to recover the exorbitant compounding fee from the tenants.
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4 PG students attacked in Dera Bassi
Dera Bassi, September 23 Sources said the incident occurred when at least 15 youths, allegedly led by Gaurav Sularia, a student of the Sri Sukhmani Institute of Engineering and Technology, attacked Navdeep and Hanish, also students of the SSIET, with sharp-edged weapons, iron rods and lathis around 9.30 p.m.Two visitors — Jaswinder and Gurpreet — were also injured in the attack. They have been admitted to the PGI, Chandigarh. Before fleeing, the attackers took away certain valuables, including their mobile phones, a gold chain and Rs 15,000. The mobile phones of the guest house owner, Mr Vijay Kumar, and another person were also allegedly taken away. Eyewitnesses said before a police team, led by the local SHO, Mr Navdeep Singh, could reach the spot, the attackers fled from the scene. The provocation for the attack could not be known.
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Continuing to improve since the start of the $ 43,575,000 Golf ACOM International at Ibaraki in Japan, city’s Jeev Milkha Singh sank in six birdies in his impressive four under 67 card to move up to the tied sixth spot at the end of third round today. The seasoned Indian pro, who started at the tied 24th position, now has a three-day total of six-under 207 and has a chance to finish in top five as he stands five shots behind leader Mamo Osanai. Jeev fired birdies on the second, fifth and 10th holes in his flawless front nine to make the turn at three-under. The Indian’s return journey, however, was not as smooth and he hit a bogey on the 12th and recovered to fire birdies on the 15th and 16th.
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What brings you to the city? I am here to launch the F Spirit exclusive store. But I am completing taken in by the beautiful architecture and well laid out town planning of the city. Chandigarh is not another small city, but it is now the most important market in North India. You have recently launched the women’s line in Van Heusen. How is it doing? Van Heusen women’s line has been launched only in select towns in the country. It is a premium line of women western wear. Three years ago we had launched the Allen Solly women wear, which is doing very well. Going by its success and the high growth on women’s formal western wear market (30- 40 per cent), we decided to launch the Van Heusen women’s clothing. How big is the readymade branded men’s wear market? The brands under the Van Heusen and Allen Solly brands command a 25 per cent share in this segment. We have now also launched another line of shirts by Van Heusen, which is for youth and this will help us increase our market share. — Rajmeet Singh
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Chaos rules city-Panchkula road
Chandigarh, September 23 Throughout the day, chaos prevailed at the intersection, as workers of the Public Health wing of the Municipal Corporation dug a portion of the road for maintenance. They had to repair all underground services, including water supply, sewerage and storm water pipes. Though barricades had been erected on all sides of the dug-up portion, no advance signals were displayed to suggest diversions for motorists coming to the city from Panchkula. As a result, traffic moving from Panchkula towards Chandigarh virtually came to a standstill at one of the busiest traffic intersections. The movement, if any, was at a snail’s pace. Among the worst hit in the morning were school children and office-goers who, in the absence of any advanced intimation, could not take any alternative route. Much to the annoyance of the motorists, no traffic cops were posted there to manage the traffic. Though the repair work started yesterday, no diversion plan or alternative route was suggested to the road users. Looking at the volume of the traffic, the road is the main link between Chandigarh and Panchkula, besides serving as part of the national highway for Himachal-bound traffic from various parts of Punjab and adjoining Haryana areas. “Traffic cops watched and did nothing to help the stranded motorists. In such a situation, the cops should divert traffic on alternative routes at the railway intersection and also at the CTU workshop T-junction”, said Mr Mukesh Kumar, who had to wait for over 30 minutes to cross the traffic junction. Most of the motorists assailed the Municipal Corporation as well as the Engineering Department of the Chandigarh Administration for not issuing notices to inform public about the closure of certain portions of busy roads for urgent repairs. “If they can issue public notices for power and water supply shutdowns, why not about closure of roads?” asked another motorist. In such situations, the Engineering Department officials should intimate the traffic police in advance. A visit to the spot showed long queues of vehicles on all roads merging at the traffic junction. Mr Mehar Singh, who runs a transport company in Sector 26, said the movement of trucks coming from Panchkula was worst affected. As a result, trucks were parked along the road coming from Panchkula, further compounding the problem.
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Shrine draws devotees as Navratras begin
However, once inside, the public made a lot of noise everytime darshan were closed to “accommodate” a visiting dignitary. The public, standing for long hours in queues, was provoked into an argument everytime a VIP settled down inside the shrine to pay obeisance.
Panchkula, September 23 Colourful as usual, the first navratra saw people thronging to the temple to pay obeisance to Mata Mansa Devi as chants of “Sanche Darbar Ki Jai” rent the air. The young, the old, people of all age groups and from all walks of life began pouring in at the shrine since early morning even as stalls along the roadside readied for the rush. The three bhandaras, too, ran langars for the public, keeping quality controls in mind while teams of the Health Department took food samples for testing and issued instructions to parshad vendors to keep food items covered. Meanwhile, Ms Asha Hooda, wife of the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, was among the first people to visit the shrine and paid her obeisance. Speaking to mediapersons, Ms Hooda appreciated the elaborate arrangements made by the Sri Mata Mansa Devi Puja Sathal Board for the navratra mela. She said basic civic amenities like water and sanitation facilities had been provided for the convenience of the public. Ms Hooda and other members of her family performed yajna and puja at the yagshala situated on the premises of the temple. Giving details about the arrangements, Deputy Commissioner Brijender Singh said additional buses would be plied for the devotees for various destinations during the navratra mela. He said the shrine board had also arranged different bhajan sandhyas and cultural programmes for entertainment of the devotees. He said adequate security arrangements had also been made for maintaining better law and order during the mela by the Haryana Police. Duty Magistrates had also been deputed, he added. Among others who paid obeisance at the shrine included MLA from Kalayat, Ms Geeta Bhukkal, secretary, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, Ms Brij Rani from Panipat, while Superintendent of Police, Mr Balbir Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr Parveen Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, Sri Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board, Mr H.S.Pannu and other senior officers accompanied Ms Hooda during her visit.
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Markets all decked up for Navratras
Chandigarh, September 23 If you still haven’t savoured the flavour of festivity, just drive down to the Sector 17 or Sector 22 market. You will feel inexplicable excitement with so many showrooms showcasing the festival collection, stylishly and glamorously. In fact, you get the inkling of being at an impressive travelling fair the moment you find a place to park your car in the crowded Sector 22 marketplace. Look around and you will find pillars in the corridors decked up with streamers stitched out of fine silk in merry hues, coaxing you to cut holes in your pockets, instantly. “Right from clothing and accessories for men and women to pressure cookers and frying pans, you can buy almost everything at discounted prices during these auspicious days,” says Suhail, who runs his own kiosk in Sector 22. “This is not all. You stand the chance of taking home gifts and prizes. What else can you ask for?” In any case, the gift and chunk jewellery shops across the city have also made special arrangements for the “Navratri Utsav”. “For these deeply religious and auspicious days, we have miniature idols. Right for you to adorn nice little temples in your houses,” says Raman of The Jewels, a gift shop in Sector 11. “You can also pick up dainty glass bangles and other articles associated with the season.” And then, most restaurants and eateries across the city are offering “fast” food for all those who want to stay away from everyday food during the festival. “From fruit or shakarkandi chaat to banana tikki and even sabudana kheer, the festive menu is endless,” says Sharanjeet Singh of Gopal Sweets with outlets in Sectors 8 and 35. He adds, “The food is served on banana leaves. And then, you do not have to worry about the purity of the foodstuffs. For, cooks all the way from Delhi prepare the dishes separately with special Sindhi salt. The stuff is not very expensive either. You can get the thali for as less as Rs 75.” Time to step into your shoes and make the best of the shopping season!
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Shopping festival inaugurated
Chandigarh, September 23 The festival, which offers attractive prizes on purchases will be open till November 18. The association president Arvind Jain said a draw of the purchase coupons will be held on November 19 for three Toyota Innova cars, motor cycles and other household items. This is in addition to the draw which is taken out daily. The festival is not just to promote business but will also promote many welfare activities, Mr Jain said. With the support of the Department of Tourism, PGI and Chandigarh administration, special registration and help desks have been set up to disseminate awareness about blood and organ donation. The festival includes a blood donation camp along with the celebration of Chandigarh heritage day and the World tourism day . Customers will be entertained through cultural programmes by eminent artists, Mr Jain said.
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Ramlila scenes enacted at Matka Chowk
Chandigarh, September 23 Passersby and the motorists were a surprised lot when a particular scene featuring demon king Ravana was enacted at the chowk, which used the Himalayas as the backdrop. Inmates of the Leprosy Home also enjoyed the Ramlila. Suresh Bakshi, director, said such scenes would
be enacted at different places in the days to come to draw the public to the Ramlilas
at night.
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Talks on improving conditions in prisons
Chandigarh, September 23 Experts called for a complete change and a whole new thinking on how people are to be punished for crimes. Among suggestions which cropped up during various presentations and discussions was the need to go in for an alternate system to imprisonment for certain minor crimes, like introduction of probation and community service for the offenders. The workshop, held at the Institute for Correctional Administration, here, was organised to discuss the draft national policy on prison reforms, which aims at improving physical conditions in prisons, condition of prisoners, correctional administration aspects, development of prison personnel, modernisation of facilities. Calling for reforms in the judicial system and the need for having more judges, experts also suggested that NGOs and lawyers play a more proactive role in provision of legal services. In his inaugural address, Mr Justice J S Narang of the Punjab and Haryana High Court spoke about the need for prison reforms and discussed various ways and methodology to go about it. Calling upon the need to look into the mindset of the person committing a crime, he also recommended that children and juveniles be kept of regular prisons. An overview of the draft National Policy on Prison Reforms was given by Dr B V Trivedi, Assistant Director of the BPRD. The physical condition of prison in Punjab was discussed by Mr A P Bhatnagar, Advisor, Prison Department, Punjab, while Mr Vijay Pratap Singh, an IPS officer from Amritsar highlighted improvements in the administrative system in Amritsar prison. Deputy Director, Institute of Correctional Administration, Chandigarh, spoke on the need for gender sensitisation in prisons and discussed the needs of women prisoners. She also made a presentation on alternatives to imprisonment. Former Additional Director-General, Prisons, Punjab, Mr B S Sandhu, talked about the issue of staff development for prison reforms. Two former prisoners, Nishan Singh and Mandeep Gaur, gave their experiences of their stay in prison.
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Combatised pharmacists wait for justice
Chandigarh, September 23 CRPF subordinate officers in the combatised pharmacist cadre are at a disadvantage vis-à-vis not only non-combatised pharmacists in their own force, but also those in other Central government organisations as they are no promotional avenues for them once they join the force in the rank of assistant sub inspector. The Fifth Pay Commission had recommended that adequate promotional avenues be created for combatised pharmacists on the same pattern existing in the railways or CRPF general duty cadre. Though the recommendation was reportedly accepted by the CRPF and its Directorate-General had sent a detailed report in this regard to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the matters continues to be pending. A number of affected pharmacists have collectively sent a legal notice to the Home Secretary, CRPF Director-General and the Director Medical, CRPF, this week, seeking removal of disparities and grant of promotional avenues. Combatised pharmacists are those who wear the CRPF uniform and undergo regular service training, including weapon training, firing, drill and field craft, in addition to be proficient in their own trade. They are also required to undergo field posting and accompany troops during operations. Non-combatised pharmacists, on the other hand do not undergo service training. According to CRPF sources, there are about 350 combatised pharmacists in the CRPF and they have been continuing in the same rank for as long as 16-17 years.
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Villagers of Nubra Valley visit Rock Garden
Chandigarh, September 23 The excursion will provide the Buddhist followers from Ladakh region an insight into the Buddhist culture prevalent in other parts of the country, with a view to amalgamating the people of the remote region into the mainstream. The group went around popular tourist places in the city like the Rock Garden, Sukhna Lake, Rose Garden and shopping malls. This is their first exposure to the world outside the largely barren confines of mountainous Ladakh. The group was flagged-off from Partappur on August 18 by the Commander, Siachen Brigade, Brig Om Prakash and will terminate there on October 5 after visiting other places like Delhi and Agra and glimpsing world heritage sites like the Red Fort, Qutab Minar, Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri.
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Lab results depend on staff efficiency: technologists
Chandigarh, September 23 Association state secretary Pankaj Kaul has favoured the formation of a medical technology council to help
regulate and implement programmes like quality control. Medical laboratory technologists are
graduates or postgraduates with super-specialisation in their respective fields and doctors are no match for them, he has claimed. He has also claimed that a large number of paramedical institutes have mushroomed in the region, offering diplomas and degrees in medical laboratory technology, but
lacking adequate infrastructure and qualified staff.
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Wild growth irks Sector 43 residents
Chandigarh, September 23 A number of instances of thieves taking shelter in the wild growth have been quoted. Snakes and wild insects have been sighted in the wild growth, according to Mr K.K. Sharma, secretary of the Residents
Welfare Association, Sector 43-B. The dumping of ‘malba’ by hotel sites facing the main road has added to the woes of house owners. According to a resident, Mr Surinder Dhundia, the association has been writing to the Horticulture Department for the last three months. The association has pointed out that three buffaloes have died in the wild growth. After spending lakhs, they are being deprived of a clean and crime-free environment, says Mr Sharma.
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Motorised rehris: panel for raising age for licence
Chandigarh, September 23 It has also been proposed that the applicant should be a resident of Chandigarh for a minimum of three years. The issue of licence is also expected to be resolved with the proposal that the licence for a three-wheeler should be made valid for the rehri too. The rehris would be permitted to stop only on V-5 and V-6 roads. These proposals will be coming up for discussion in the forthcoming house meeting on September 29.
— TNS
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Slum kids take part in painting
Chandigarh, September 23 The competition was held for two categories — one for the age group of 6-10 years and the second for 11-16 years. More than 100 school children participated in the competition. The coordinator of the competition, Mr Malay Chatterjee, Executive Director, HUDCO, said that the competition was organised especially for school children from slum areas to commemorate World Habitat Day.
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Clarification
Mohali, September 23 There was no intention whatsoever to harm Mr Amrit Lal’s reputation in the news item. If any such impression was created by the item, it is regretted.
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Cops question kin of deceased
Mohali, September 23 The body of Sajjan Singh, who is suspected to have been murdered, was found lying at some distance away from the village last morning. His face was badly smashed. He had left the house on the evening of September 21 without telling his family where he was going after he received a call on his phone. It is alleged that he was heavily drunk at that time. When he did not return home, his family members looked for him but his body was found in the morning near Khane ka Wara village. The police rounded up Harinder Singh and Rajinder Singh, both sons of the deceased. It is learnt that another relative of Sajjan Singh was also rounded up for questioning, though the police denied this. The police suspects that the Sajjan Singh was murdered and later his body was dumped away from the village. The police is working on different theories to crack the case. The role of some women behind the murder could not be ruled out as the deceased was alleged to be a womaniser and a heavy drinker. This had resulted in strained relations with family members. The police had registered a case under Section 302 of the IPC in this regard against unknown persons as family members did not suspect anyone. Nor they had any property dispute with somebody.
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Man injured in midnight attack
Panchkula, September 23 Thirty-year-old Shivkaran, the manager, closed down the institute in Sector 11 at 11 pm and proceeded to his motor cycle in the parking lot. Without the slightest provocation, three boys sitting in the parking area, in their early 20s, allegedly began passing comments on him. He, in turn, retaliated by going up to them and asking them the reason for their vitriolic attack on him. At this, the boys began beating him up. In the scuffle that followed, he managed to ward off attacks by two boys but fell down when the third boy hit him from behind. Once he was down, all three boys began kicking, hitting and punching him till be passed out, leaving him in the parking area. A passerby took a badly injured Shivkaran to the General Hospital, Sector 6, from where he was referred to the PGIMER. Badly bruised, he ended up with a deep cut under one eye, a bleeding second eye and a fractured nose. His father, Mr RM Jerath, said that they were informed past midnight about the incident and rushed to the PGI from where he was discharged today. No police case has been registered so far because Shivkaran is not in a position to give his statement to the police.
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Two more held in Varun murder case
Panchkula, September 23 With this, the total number of accused in the police custody has gone up to four while the fifth accused in the case, Sandeep, is still at large. Police sources said they were trying to track him down by contacting his various friends and relatives. The other two boys, Manish Puri and Arshad have been in judicial custody.
— TNS
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Two hurt in accident
Panchkula, September 23 According to information, residents of HMT, Subhash Nagar Colony, Pinjore, the scooterists were riding their way to home from Panchkula. The car driver reportedly sped away from the scene leaving behind the scooterists critically injured. The police rushed the injured to General Hospital, Sector 6, from where they were referred to the PGI , Chandigarh. The police has started investigating the matter.
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Two held for selling stolen sewerage pipes
Chandigarh, September 23 A police official at the Sector 34 police station disclosed that Nirmal Dhillon, working on the laying of sewerage pipes at a housing board colony in Sector 47, had lodged a complaint that 44 pipes were missing from the site. Investigations by the police revealed that the pipes had been sold to Subash Garg, owner of the Bhagwati Sanitary Store at Burail. At least 33 pipes were recovered from the shop and a case under Sections 380 and 411 of the IPC was registered.
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Biz Clips Furniture division: Godrej Interio is targeting a Rs 50 crore turnover from its furniture division in the Chandigarh region this year, said Mr Anil Munjal, Senior Sales Manager, here today. He said the company had a 40 per cent share in the organised sector in the furniture segment and enjoyed leadership status in the market. The turnover of the company was Rs 30 crore during 2004-05, he added. — TNS New vehicle: Mahindra & Mahindra today launched a new variant ‘the MaXX Maxi Truck’ here. The truck has been launched keeping in mind the emerging trends in the small four-wheeler cargo market, Mr Vivek Nayer, Vice-President, Marketing, M&M Auto Sector, said here. — TNS Energy drink: Mr Roberts, Marketing Director, Phantom Energy Drinks, Austria, and Mr Parween Vats, PV Beverages Private Limited, today relaunched the international Phantom energy drink here.
— TNS |
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