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Flash Flood at Dhanas choe
Chandigarh, August 17 Unaware that his struggle was being telecast on national television, Sushil Kumar struggled for life at the PGI, but died. The victim, who worked at the stock exchange in Sector 17, his friend Suresh, a resident of Dadu Majra, and another friend Sushil of Sector 24 were going on a motorcycle towards Dhanas village at about 4.30 pm. They decided to cross the Patiala ki Rao choe through the causeway connecting the PU forest area with the village. The choe was overflowing at the time. The moment they approached the choe, the flow of water increased and the motorcycle broke down. They fell down and Suresh was swept away. However, he managed to land on an islet nearby. Sushil of Sector 24 swam to the road along the choe. Sushil Kumar, however, kept holding on to the bike which got entangled in a grill. He continued to stand there even as the volume of the water kept increasing. An eyewitness, Shanu, told the Tribune that he tried to rescue Sushil Kumar, but he wouldn’t leave his bike. “I returned after the water flow increased further. I kept telling him to follow me, but he refused. Later, an autorickshaw pulled over and the driver offered to rescue him with a help of a rope. The rope was thrown at him and he tied himself with it, but just as the onlookers tried to pull him out, he left the grill and was swept away. “As he was still tied to the rope, he was not washed away. He struggled to keep above the water,” Shanu said. After over two hours, he was rescued by fire brigade cranes that reached the spot after an hour. He was rushed to the PGI where he was kept on a ventilator, but he could not be revived. “After getting information, we immediately called the fire brigade and electricity department officials who cut off the supply to the lines overhead the choe,” the additional deputy commissioner, I.S. Sandhu, who was supervising the rescue operations, said. A motorboat was pressed into service to rescue Suresh, but before it could reach, he was saved by villagers. This is not the first such incident. Four days ago, two motorcyclists were swept away at the same spot. However, they managed to swim to safety. Sushil Kumar is the third person to have drowned in the city this
monsoon.
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Flood gates of swollen Sukhna opened
Chandigarh, August 17 Though officials claimed that the water was being released in a controlled manner to avoid flooding downstream, there were reports of low-lying areas around the choe being inundated. UT officials at the lake said advance information had been given to the Haryana and Punjab irrigation departments as the choe winds its way through Panchkula and Zirakpur before joining the Ghaggar. Sources in the engineering department said due to heavy rain in the catchment, the level in the artificial lake had been rising regularly. Two of the three radial gates had been opened as the increasing water pressure could threaten the lake. “We had to open two gates to allow excess water to flow out. By late evening, the inflow of water had lessened,” the officials said. The water level in the lake is a matter of concern for UT officials. Additional water has brought in more silt. S.P. Malhotra, a former Haryana chief engineer, however, said silt was not a problem. More water meant that the engineering department need not remove silt as the lake was full to the brim. Over the years, the capacity of the reservoir had been increased from EL 1,160 ft to EL 1,163 ft. On July 11, the water level was 1,156 ft and
on June 30, it was 1,153 ft. Since then, the level had remained around EL 1,160 ft. Though the water level near the radial gates has risen by more than 5 ft, the level is actually monitored near the watchtower. Officials maintaining a record of the water level revealed that since 2002, the level had not touched the 1,162 mark. Records reveal that the average flow of water into the lake from 1958 to 1978 was 7,370 acre ft while in 1999 it was 1,870 acre ft, which was 25 per cent of the average of 20 years. In 2006, it was only 736
acre ft. G.S. Dhillon, a hydrologist, said the gates were installed in the late 50s and were of old design. These had to be operated manually and needed regular maintenance. He said these should be replace with gates that could be operated electronically.
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Unlawful Leasing
Chandigarh, August 17 The committee, comprising officials of the IT department, has been asked to submit its report within a week. “Based on the findings of the committee, the course of action would be decided,” the IT director, Manjit Brar, said. In a preliminary inquiry conducted by the department, it had been found that certain non-IT companies had been allowed by the real estate developer. Earlier, the department had issued a notice to the DLF, seeking a status report on non-IT activity being allowed by it. However, the DLF had denied the allegations. Sources in the department revealed that under the Chandigarh Sales of Sites and Allotment Rules, the built-up space could be leased out to only those companies that dealt with IT and IT-enabled services.
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There’s no shortage of coins: RBI
Chandigarh, August 17 Top official in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) informed TNS that though they have increased the supply of coins in the market by over 17 per cent as compared to last year, they had been receiving complaints of coin shortage. "We then found that a number of shopkeepers, who had been regularly taking coins from our own counter at Chandigarh, were not giving these coins to their customers. They continued to offer sweets for change. It is yet to be ascertained if they are the ones who are selling the coins to unscrupulous elements for the intrinsic value of metal in the coins," said the official. According to the RBI, coins worth several crores were circulated in the states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh from January to June this year. In fact, the apex regulatory bank has further increased the coin supply in the market during the past three months. The RBI says that they have been regularly organising coin melas, where the public can exchange notes for coins. "We have also put into operation vans in the region, so that the coins can be sent even to the currency chests in far-fetched areas," said the official. "In May, we supplied 126 lakh coins worth Rs 2.25 crore, in June 174 lakh coins worth Rs 3.15 crore and in July we supplied 97 lakh coins worth Rs 1.82 crore. Thus, there is no reason why there should be a shortage of coins in the region," informed a top official in the RBI regional office. He added that they were now trying to examine if the coins that were being collected from the RBI counter or the 356 currency chests in the region, were being misused. It is alleged that the cupero-nickle coins (which have copper and nickle) are being siphoned off from circulation for the high value metal in them. Since the price of these metals has shot up over the years, the coins are allegedly being melted to extract the metal. It is also alleged that the coins are being used as washers in machinery, for making shaving blades and for artificial
jewellery.
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When moon was eclipsed
Mohali, August 17 Talking to The Tribune, Dr Tejbir Singh Sandhu of the department said: “The eclipse began at 1.06 am and the moon started slipping into a dark shadow. It reached maximum at 2.40 am. It ended at 4.15 am and at the same time, the sky got cloudy. But we were lucky we could observe the whole event.” He added that when the eclipse was around maximum, the moon appeared reddish instead of black. The earth’s atmosphere scatters blue light and allows more red light to pass through it, which falls on the moon to give a reddish look during a
lunar eclipse. “During lunar eclipse, when it is completely dark, it provides a rare opportunity to watch if any meteorite strikes on its surface. Cooke's team has observed 65 such impacts since 2005,” said Prof P.S. Goraya of the department. The team added that the next lunar eclipse would take place on February 9, 2009, but it would be the penumbral type. “Lunar eclipse doesn't have any significant effect on geophysics phenomena as tides, earthquakes, but astrologers say they have great effect on human luck,” added Sandhu. The eclipse was photographed by Dr Sandhu using a digital camera attached with a
binocular.
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Influencing Justice
Chandigarh, August 17 The police is convinced that the money was to be used for trying to influence a public servant, but its erroneous delivery at the house of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur led to the discovery of the alleged attempt. It was at Justice Nirmaljit Kaur’s behest that the police was called in on Wednesday evening. Acting on the complaint of her peon, the police started investigating the attempt to leave behind the money by law officer Sanjeev Bansal’s clerk. Initially, the police was looking into Bansal’s claim that the amount was part of the earnest money meant to be delivered at the house of a property dealer with a similar name. But after preliminary investigations, the police seems to have gathered circumstantial evidence that points at a possible attempt by the law officer and others to use money to influence certain people. It is believed that the police is currently working on a theory that Bansal was engaged by a Delhi-based businessman, Ravinder Singh, to reportedly influence proceedings in a criminal case. The police is scrutinising call details of the law officer. Police sources say investigations are on and a statement on the role of the law officer and others would be made only after it has gathered concrete evidence. The police will have to clarify its stand on the investigations fast as the matter has already become a subject of much speculation in the legal circles. The allegations of attempts to influence the course of justice are not unknown to the Bar and the Bench. It is not the first time in the history of the Punjab and Haryana High Court that such allegations have surfaced.
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IAF to help set up SU-30 school in Malaysia
Chandigarh, August 17 The IAF team comprising pilots and technicians is in Malaysia for two years on their invitation to train their pilots, weapon system operators and maintenance staff for the smooth induction and operation of the Sukhoi aircraft. This follows the signing of a protocol between the Indian and Malaysian governments in December last year at Langkawi in Malaysia and is seen as a major development in Indo-Malaysian relations, according to an official release. The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal F.H. Major, is proceeding on a three-day official visit to Malaysia on August 18, where he is slated to meet the Malaysian defence minister and the RMAF Chief for discussions on a wide range of bilateral issues comprising defence cooperation. Amongst other RMAF bases, the Indian Chief will also visit Gong Kedak airbase in north-east Malaysia, which is home to the IAF team. Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the IAF had conducted ground training on MiG-29 aircraft for close to 100 personnel of the Malaysian Air Force in October 1994. Air Force-to-Air Force cooperation with Malaysia also received a boost with the first high-level Air Staff talks between the two air forces which was held at the IAF headquarters in New Delhi on August 4--5. The talks covered issues that included professional exchanges, Su-30 training courses, logistic support and air exercises. The strengthening of bilateral relations with Malaysia is indicative of the IAF’s efforts to seek closer ties with its neighbours in south-east Asia.
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Ex-servicemen rue raw deal
Mohali, August 17 Hitting out at the pay panel report that had ignored ex-servicemen, Sohi said: “This decision would affect the quality intake for the forces and many more serving persons may opt for release from service for better ventures. This may be a turning point for the worse for country.” “We face great risks and work under very odd and tense conditions, in tough areas and face long family separations. As many as 12 per cent of army men do not come back home safe and get meager compensation of casualties. No resettlement on early forced retirement of a trained manpower is a gross neglect by government,” he said. “It is a cruel joke on saviors of national integrity and sovereignty. We will show ex-servicemen voting effect in next elections,” added president ex-servicemen (PBORs) J.S. Kumbrah.
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Punjabi film legend Bhag Singh dead
Chandigarh, August 17 Born at Gujranwala in Pakistan, he later graduated from SD College, Ambala Cantt, before joining the public relations department, Punjab, and retired as deputy director. Honoured with the state and national awards, he had brought the great Punjabi actors like Gurdas Mann, Mehar Mittal into the limelight. He had lived for the Punjabi performing arts and the love and admiration of his friends and disciples, says his daughter Banno Pandita. “Hamein bhi neend aa jaye ham bhi so hi jaayenge/ Abhi kuchh bekraari hai sitaro tum bhi so jaao” were the last words penned by his close friend Qateel Shefai, which Bhag Singh uttered before going into the eternal sleep, disclosed Banno. Dr Swaran Singh, chairman, Punjab Arts Council, hailed Bhag Singh’s personal contribution for making the folk and contemporary theatre more meaningful and socially relevant. Actor Mehar Mittal, touched by the benevolence and helping attitude of Bhag Singh, recalls how the latter guided him to accomplish his innate aesthetic potential. “After he directed my first play ‘Ladla’ and later my film on the same theme, hits like Walaiti Babu, Teri Meri Ikk Zindadi, Lambardarni, Kade Dhup Kade Chhan, and many other saw us at the pinnacle of glory,” said Mittal. Close associates like Gurdas Mann, Jaspal Bhatti, Dr Surinder Sharma, Vijay Tandon, Kamal Tewari, Vijay Kapur, Kamal Arora, C.S. Sindra, Mohan Bhandari, Bushan Dyanpuri and others expressed grief. He is survived by wife Kamla Bhag Singh, daughters Banno Pandita and Barkha Bali. The cremation will take place tomorrow at 11.00 am.
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Bank staff strike to hit customers
Chandigarh, August 17 As a result of the two-day strike, cheques that were deposited in banks on Saturday will be cleared only on Thursday. Those who deposit their cheques on Tuesday (the only working day between the two-day strike) will be cleared only on Friday. Though banks made enough provisions by loading their ATMs to their maximum capacity today, there is a cap on the money that can be withdrawn from the ATM on a given day. What has made the matters worse is that the strike has been called after a long weekend. Friday, being Independence Day, was a bank holiday. Rakshabandhan fell on August 16. Though this was not a holiday, banking transactions were slow as people were busy in festivities. It is learned that on an average banking transactions worth Rs 200 crore take place in the tricity each day. Two days of the strike will mean that transactions worth Rs 400 crore will be affected. It may be noted that All-India State Bank Officers Federation, with members of the SBI and its associate banks, have announced a nationwide strike for Monday to oppose the merger of associate banks with the State Bank of India. Only the SBI and its seven associate banks will remain closed tomorrow, but transactions would be affected as SBI is the largest bank. The strike call for August 20 has been given by the All-India Bank Officers Association.
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Villagers honour Capt Kanwaljit
Mohali, August 17 The village has gone down in history as having the maximum number of rich persons after the Punjab Government gave Rs 1.5 crore for every acre
of land it acquired for the establishment of an international airport. Captain Kanwaljit Singh said development should be an unending process. “The process would, however, include the lowest of economic categories also. The aim is to bring about development which reduces the gap between the rich and the poor,” said
the chief guest. He said the Punjab Government had created history by getting the best possible deal to the farmers who gave up their land to the government for the international airport. He said the government had managed to convince the Centre to increase the MSP of wheat, which had benefitted Punjab farmers the most. He said Markfed was taking many steps to market vegetables being grown by the farmers. He announced that from October 1, Bhai Kanhaiya Insurance Scheme would be launched in the state. “For a payment of Rs 1,246 per annum, medical insurance worth Rs 2 lakh would be done,” he said.
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Reliance to launch Big TV
Chandigarh, August 17 Well placed sources informed The Tribune that the group is also set to spend over 100 crore for its advertising and promotional campaign. Big TV will offer 200 channels, including 25 movie channels. Apart from interactive features around areas like cricket, news, Bollywood and music, Big TV will offer a host of gaming applications. A senior official in Big TV said the company had deployed latest technologies that would enable them to offer over 200 channels with digital quality audio-visual experience. “We will also be offering over 25 movie channels," he said. "We believe that the market penetration of the DTH is low because of inertia on part of the customers which is a result of the poor quality of offerings from the present operators. We are confident that given our state-of-the-art digital platform and a bouquet of offerings, we will be able to convince a significant proportion of customers," he added.
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Shirdi Sai Samaj Tussle over control of management
Chandigarh, August 17 Committee president Ramesh Kalia and vice-president Anil Khurana have alleged that former members P.N. Goyal and Vijay Kumar have been harassing them and trying to disrupt the routine affairs of the temple. They say Kumar, former president of the committee, and Goyal, former vice-president, have illegally been posing as office-bearers of the management to misuse funds being donated by people. “They resigned long ago as members of the committee but are still threatening us and filing baseless complaints with the police and other administrative authorities to take control of the committee,” says Kalia. However, Goyal claimed that he was the legitimate president of the committee. “We are the real members and these people have refused to accept this. The matter is with High Court and has even given a judgment in our favour. The ultimate decision will be taken by the court only,” said Goyal.
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Amarnath Row
Chandigarh, August 17 Representatives of various social and religious organisations of the city like the Hindu Parv Mahasabha, the J&K Welfare Association, the Shiv Parvati Dal, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal participated at the meeting. The ongoing people’s agitation in Jammu for the past around 50 days was discussed at the meeting. The representatives called for reallotment of land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board. In this regard, nationwide yatras were being taken out to raise awareness on the agitation. A similar a yatra, which started off from Jammu, will reach Chandigarh on August 19. A public meeting in this regard would be organised on August 20 at the Parshuram Bhawan, Sector 37.
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Greatest Olympian of all time Beijing Olympics 2008 will be remembered forever as a memorable chapter has been written in the history of Olympics by Michael Phelps who is now holding 14 gold medals -- more than any one in the Olympic Games. For the last 36 years, no one believed that Mark Spitz’s seven gold haul from 1972 Munich Olympics could be overtaken. But on Sunday, Phelps grabbed his eighth gold in Beijing that has made him the most decorated Olympian of all times. He will be remembered not just because he has won more gold medals than anybody, but in the way he has actually won under tremendous amount of pressure. Not only the United States is proud of its illustrious sportsman, but the whole world is applauding his outstanding achievement. Dilbag Rai Readers are invited to write to us. Send your mail, in not more than 200 words, at news@tribuneindia.com or, write in, at: Letters, Chandigarh Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh – 160 030
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Simran, Raghav make a mark
Chandigarh, August 17 The competition was part of the final phase of various competitions organised by Chandigarh Library Association in collaboration with St John’s School. Giving details, Jaspal Kaur, general secretary, CLA, told that the main objective of organising these books and library related activities is to bring awareness among the school and college students, their parents, teachers and the general public about the value of library oriented education. In today’s programme, about 1,150 participants representing different schools and colleges and other institutions, including a large number of parents and teachers of the tricity, took part in nine competitions namely cartoon making, slogan writing, essay writing collage making, bookmark making, book jacket making, handwriting, caption and essay writing competition. The results: - Handwriting- English: Category II 1 Hargun Kaur, 2 Soumya Sharma, 3 Anmol Singh Kataria Handwriting- Hindi: Category II 1 Preet Kamal, 2 Jasleen Kaur, 3 Nisha Bhatnagar Handwriting- Punjabi: Category II 1 Simranjeet Kaur, 2 Ramandeep Kaur, 3 Ranjeet Singh Handwriting- English: Category III 1 Neetu, 2 Mahima Anand Sharma, 3 Jashandeep Kaur Handwriting- Hindi: Category III 1 Sugandha Shukla, 2 Diksha Rehal, 3 Nirmla Devi Handwriting- Punjabi: Category III 1 Nirmla Devi, 2 Gagandeep Kaur, 3 Diksha Handwriting- English: Category IV 1 Dipna, 2 Kanika Sharma, 3 Himani Sharma Handwriting- Hindi: Category IV 1 Sandeepa Rahi, 2 Jeeti Rani, 3 Jyoti Handwriting- Punjabi: Category IV 1 Harneet Kaur, 2 Navjot Kaur, 3 Himani Sharma Handwriting- English: Category V 1 Shilpa Kaura, 2 Parveen Malik, 3 Dr Rajinder K. Singla Caption Contest: Category IV 1 Divya Kaul, 2 Sandeepa Rahi, 3 Himani Sharma Caption Contest: Category V 1 Vandna, 2 Sheenu Walia, 3 Sabeena Chadha Cartoon Making Contest: Category I 1 Pranav Aggarwal, 2 Pujita Saini, 3 Sonia Salwan Cartoon Making Contest: Category II 1 Mannat Chawla, 2 Gaurav Aggarwal, 3 Yashika Gupta Cartoon Making Contest: Category IV 1 Taranjeet Kaur, 2 Mankirat Kaur Poster Making Contest: Category II 1 Gaurang Agarwal, 2 Preet Kamal, 3 Khushinder
Dhaliwal Consolation - Pragun Vinayak Poster Making Contest: Category III 1 Tsewang Lama Poster Making Contest: Category IV 1 Mankirat Kaur, 2 Sarabjeet Kaur Poster Making Contest: Category I 1 Simran Sidhu, 2 Raghav Banati, 3 Jashkaran Bookmark Making
Contest: Category I 1 Harman Singh, 2 Vanshika Srivastava, 3 Saharashvir Brar Consolation - Charan Kamal Bookmark Making Contest: Category II 1 Easha Saini, 2 Simleen Kaur, 3 Poorva Bookmark Making
Contest: Category III 1 Sachin Rahi, 2 Shubhankar, 3 Shubham Tyagi Book Mark Making
Contest: Category V 1 Satnam Kaur, 2 Sheenu Walia, 3 Vandana Slogan Writing Contest: Category V 1 Satnam Kaur, 2 Jagjit Kaur Gill, 3 Spinderjit Kaur Slogan Writing Contest: Category II 1 Gursimran Kaur Sehgal, 2 Puneet Kaur, 3 Manpreet Kaur Slogan Writing Contest: Category IV 1 Kanika Sharma Slogan Writing Contest: Category I 1 Harman Singh, 2 Vedant, 3 Amitoj Singh Slogan Writing Contest: Category III 1 Vanshdeep, 2 Sukhdeep Rawat, 3 Rajat Jongra Collage Making Contest: Category I 1 Parth Chopra, 2 Shivan Mittal, 3 Amanpreet Kaur Consolation - Ridhiman Kaur Collage Making Contest: Category II 1 Akanksha Sharma, 2 Shatakshi, 3 Ishrat Cheema Collage Making Contest: Category III 1 Preeti Mehra Collage Making Contest: Category IV 1 Kanika Collage Making Contest: Category V 1 Sheenu Walia, 2 Satnam Kaur
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From Schools
Chandigarh, August 17 Government Model Senior Secondary School held a cultural programme to mark the Independence Day. The event started with speeches by students of class XII, followed by singing of patriotic songs. A primary student danced to the tunes of “Rang De Basanti”. Students of St Anne’s Convent School celebrated the occasion by hoisting the national flag. Students presented a dance performance laying stress on the fact that peace rules the day where reason rules the mind. The school organised drawing, painting, speech, dance competitions based on patriotic themes. Divya Public School also marked the day by hoisting the national flag. Freedom fighters were remembered through speeches delivered by students and teachers. Patriotic songs were also sung and poems were
recited. At Government Model High School, Sector 29-A, children took part in a cultural programme. Sweets were also distributed among children. The students of Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 37 celebrated Independence Day by hoisting the national flag. The principal inspired the PNB, Sector 37, branch manager to adopt four fatherless children. He vowed to take care of their education for the next four years. A cultural programme was also presented by the students. At senior wing of Satluj Public School, Sector 4, the programme started with flag-hoisting ceremony and followed by cultural programme, including patriotic songs, declamation contest, solo singing competition, solo dance competition, fancy dress competition and patriotic play. The day was celebrated with great enthusiasm by students of Government Model Denior Secondary School, Sector 46 D. Competitions like fancy dress, slogan writing, poetry recitation, rangoli, quiz, were held.
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Kids showcase drawing talent
Chandigarh, August 17 Children in the age group of 5-10 participated in the colouring competition whereas those in the age group of 11-15 took part in drawing and colouring competition. The winners will get gifts and certificates in the prize distribution function to be held on August 23.
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PU to start MPhil for defence officers
Chandigarh, August 17 Prof R.C. Sobti, vice-chancellor, PU, will inaugurate this programme tomorrow at 10.15 am at ICSSR Complex, in the university. Prof S.K. Kulkarni, dean, University Instruction, will deliver the welcome address. Major General G.G. Diwedi, SM, VSM, Head Doctrine Branch, will also address the gathering. According to Dr Rakesh Datta, professor & coordinator, Centre for Defence and National Security Studies, Panjab University, Lt. General J.K. Mohanty, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Army Training Command, will preside over the function.
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