 |
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
3 killed as shell explodes in Panchkula
Panchkula, September 13 The police said the tragedy struck the area when two children were trying to extract metal from an unexploded bombshell before selling it to junk dealer. Two of the deceased, identified as Hari Chand (18) and Pradeep (14), were killed on the spot while Sachin (8) succumbed to his injuries at the PGI, Chandigarh. The injured Deepak (5), Dharampal (14), Munna (18), Dev Vati (40), Kajal (6), Aman (6), Markanday (42), Bimla (46), Nisha (11), Abhishek (12) Ankit (7) and Bir Pal (19) were admitted to General Hospital, Sector 6, under serious condition. While the injured Nisha, Kajal and Virpal underwent surgeries for multiple injuries, Markanday lost his right leg. Doctors said the condition of all injured was stable. The district administration has announced to give Rs 1 lakh each to the deceased, Rs. 50,000 to all seriously injured and Rs 10,000 each to other injured persons. According to police officials, the incident spot was near Chandimandir Cantonment and it was apprehended that the unexploded bomb was found by the two victims from adjoining the Ghaggar. A team of the Western Command and the Forensic Lab of Madhuban also visited the spot. Munna, one of the injured, said he was standing in front of his house when two teenagers brought a bomb-like object and started hitting it with a hammer in front of a grocery shop. Grocery shop owner deals in junk as well, he said. Before anybody could stop them, there was a big explosion and everybody in the vicinity was lying on the site bleeding profusely. The majority of the victims were children, who were playing marbles at the open space in front of the shop, he added. Sachin was also playing there. While shop owner Ram Janam was not at his shop at the time of the incident, Markanday Yadav, a security guard at the Panchkula Golf Club, who was sitting on the grocery shop, reading newspaper, lost his right leg in the explosion. Mohan, father of deceased Hari Chand, however, alleged that it was around 10 am when Gayatri Devi, wife of the shopkeeper, called his son to leave some construction material to her house. After a few minutes, they heard a sound of explosion only to find that their son lying on the earth, he said, adding that the junk dealer himself had asked Hari Chand to extract the metal from bomb. Panchkula SP Amitabh Dhillon said a case had been registered under Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Explosive Substance Act against unidentified persons.
|
|
They put lives at risk for little money
Panchkula, September 13 Undeterred by frequent blasts of unexploded bombs, leading to physical deformities, residents of Bhud and Madloi villages in Raipur Rani have found a good earning opportunities in selling the metal extracting from unexploded bombs. In fact, this area is full of examples when people lost their limbs and even lives for a few pennies. A 16-year-old scrap dealer had died in Old Panchkula and another person was killed in the Gate No 4 area of Old Panchkula in 2001 in similar incident. Later on October 2, 2003, two persons were killed and at least two others injured when a misfired bombshell in scrap exploded in a scrap dealer’s shop along the busy Ambala-Kalka-Shimla National Highway. Two Army personel, who allegedly sold the shell to the junk dealer, were also killed in the incident. Two-year ago on June 26, 2007, three children were killed and four others, including two children, injured when a dud mortar shell exploded on the outskirts of the Army firing range at Bhudd Mandlai village in Raipur Rani. After this, in July, Satish Kumar, a resident of Ambedkar Colony, where the blast took place this morning, lost his life in similar incident.
|
|
Rule of dominance
What the rules say Under the house allotment rules, the Chandigarh administration can even cancel the allotment if proved that the existing encroachment had been carried out by the present allottee. The notices are served to the violators under the provisions of the Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulation) Act, 1952, which means the allottee can choose to demolish the structure on his/her own. The next course of action could be to remove the violations and put costs on the allottees.
Chandigarh, September 13 And it takes no time to spot these violations. At Sector 7-B government houses, all the corner house occupants have encroached upon the turns of the V-4 road making it an accident-prone area. To start with, DSP Vijay Kumar has illegally occupied the footpath at one corner while another corner has been fenced with glazed iron grills to add up the private garden of a senior Haryana cadre officer and ex-AEO, UT Estate Office, RS Doon. Both of them have also illegally opened the second gate. Besides this, two Haryana cadre executive engineers, house No. 909 and house No. 904, have also encroached upon the footpath. The boundary walls of both these houses have been extended over to the footpath making the corner as a blind curve. The whole lane from house Nos. 443 to 768 and from house Nos. 894 to 904 have extended their boundaries and have also opened gates illegally. UT former Home Secretary Krishan Mohan and other senior officers residing in the same Sector have also encroached upon a major chunk of the government land either by erecting tents for their security staff or fencing the place to make their private gardens. When contacted, Finance Secretary Sanjay Kumar said: “We are thinking allowing road berms to be used as parking space. But encroachments will hinder the process. This has to be checked on priority.”
|
|
5 armed youths nabbed
Zirakpur, September 13 Acting on a tip off, the CIA wing conducted a raid at the house and arrested the youths, Karan Sharma, Gagandeep Singh, Varinder Pal, Rajinder Singh and Sandeep Singh. SSP, Mohali, JS Aulakh said the youths had a criminal past and were planning robberies. At least two of the youths, Gagandeep and Varinder, are wanted in two separate cases of attempt to murder at Barnala and snatching of a vehicle at Shimla. Earlier in the day, panic gripped Sharma Estate, Sigma City, Zirakpur, when residents of the area found gun-toting cops surrounding a house in the locality this morning.
A neighbour of the youths told The Tribune that the youths had a fight last night and he also heard gunshots. “Today, I saw cops surrounding the house. The youths often created ruckus and had become a headache for the locality,” he added. SP (detective), RK Bakshi said one of the youths, Karan Sharma, who was arrested from Savitri Enclave, Zirakpur, suffered a fracture when he jumped from the second floor of a house while evading police arrest. The police has impounded an Alto and a motorcycle and the vehicle snatched by the youths has also been recovered. Raids are being conducted to nab the other suspects.
|
|
Indians hold key positions in Australian varsities
Chandigarh, September 13 Even the strategic South Asia desk in Australian International Education is handled by a bureaucrat of Indian origin ,Vipan Mahajan, who has roots in Panchkula. The others are in the Department of Education, including Julie Chaudhary of South Asian origin, who visited India in a delegation in July this year. Academics holding key positions include Professor Pal Ahluwalia , now Pro Vice-Chancellor at Magill Campus of the University of South Australia. A Sikh born in Kenya, schooled in Canada, received Bachelor and Master degrees from the University of Saskatchewan before completing Ph.D. from Flanders University in Adelaide, Professor Ahluwalia had been Research SA Chair and Professor of Post-Colonial Studies in the Hawke Research Institute and Director of the Centre for Post-Colonial Studies. In October last year, professor Ahluwalia was appointed to UNESCO chair in Transnational Diaspora and Reconciliation Studies. At Monash University in Melbourne, Associate Dean Research is Professor Mohan Krishnamoorthy. He is also Director BD and Strategy, IITB (Mumbai)-Monash Research Academy. He is from the Faculty of Engineering. Also at Monash, an academic of Indian origin - Professor Tam Sridhar - is Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor and Dean. He is also from the Faculty of Engineering. Both Monash University and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology have collaborations with Indian universities, IITs and research centres. Monash University, for example, has research associations with the Central Leather Research Institute of Chennai, University of Madras, Centre for development Studies in Kolkata, Indian institute of Management, Kolkata, Jadhavpur University and Delhi University. At RMIIT, Dean of Applied Sciences is Professor Suresh K Bhargava, also an IIT from India. RMIIT has number of science research projects with partner institutes in India, including Carbon emission control, purification of water for drinking in Rajasthan by use of affordable nano technology, and also capture of magnesium released in the air in and around coal-based thermal power plants. Besides Arts and Humanities and Engineering, academics of Indian origin also head key departments like Business Administration and computer engineering. The Director of Business Systems and Knowledge Modelling Laboratory School of Business in the University of La Trobe is Associate Professor Rajiv Khosla. Associate Director of Academics at CQ University is another Indian, Associate Professor Pramila Gupta. Her colleague in the same university is Deepa Kandathil Mathews who is the State Recruitment Manager. At Ormond College in the University of Melbourne, the most redeeming features are blend of east and west. It is here philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore is given credence. Dr Rufus Black, Master of this residential college, is ardent Tagore follower. The college specialises in imparting value-based education based on the philosophy of Santiniketan. Besides academics, even the key department of marketing or recruitment of international students in most of the Australian universities is handled by persons of Indian origin. At Swinburne University, Pankaj Arora, who belongs to Ludhiana and moved to Australia less than six years ago, is Regional Team Leader in the Swinburne International while his wife, Gagan, is the Associate Director, International Recruitment. A Mumbai boy Abizer Merchant is the International development Manager for South Asia at the University of La Trobe. And the TAFE wing of the La Trobe, NMIT, has Mohali girl Nimisha Sodhi, as its Compliance Officer in International Office.
|
25,000 flats to make city slum-free
Chandigarh, September 13 The decision was taken at a meeting attended by senior officials, including those from the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB). The board has been asked to prepare a formal proposal listing out the kind of infrastructure which will be provided in the slum settlement areas. It will be sent to the Education, Health and Social Welfare Departments which will be involved in the welfare of slum dwellers and provide staff for these facilities. Sanjay Kumar, Finance-cum-Housing Secretary, who chaired the meeting, said, “The administration aims at providing the slum dwellers with healthy living, besides settlement tenements.” He disclosed that in the process of making Chandigarh a slum-free city, the CHB had been assigned the task of constructing around 25,000 dwelling units of which around 11,000 houses would be handed over to the slum-dwelling families by the end of 2010. However, the CHB would give possession of around 1,100 houses this year. Once the project, with an approximate cost of Rs 1,115 crore, was completed, all identified 23,841 slum families would be rehabilitated in these units, thus making the city-slum free, added Sanjay Kumar. He said in an area like Dhanas, which will have 8,448 houses, there would also come up three high schools and a primary school, two anganwaris, a sewage treatment plant, a grid substation along with two community centres, a commercial belt along the main road, green spaces and religious sites. In the plan for Maloya I, provision for three high schools, three primary schools and four community centres and anganwaris will be kept to reinforce the administration's long-term objective of taking children off the roads. Maloya II will also have two primary schools, two anganwaris, besides the dispensary, vocational training centre, shopping centre and community
centres.
General housing plan
He further said under the general housing scheme, the board would complete 464 houses, including 208 two bedrooms and 256 one bedroom in Sector 49 at an estimated cost of Rs 40 crore. Other than this, the CHB is also constructing 320 one-room flats in Sector 56 under the Dr Ambedkar Awaas Yojana, being implemented on behalf of the Department of Social Welfare. The flats will be handed over by December, 2009. Construction work of 400 units in Sector 49 with an approximate cost of Rs. 12 crore for EWS along with another chunk of 160 houses under the same category would be completed by December, 2009, in Sector 26 (E) at a cost of around Rs. 4.5 crore. Sandeep Kumar, CEO of the CHB, said the board had been entrusted with the task of providing social infrastructure in the settlement areas. Funds to meet the expenditure would be arranged by way of grant-in-aid from the Central Government
and by putting the commercial sites along side to good use. “The board will prepare a detailed proposal under the JNNURM scheme and send it to the UT Administration which, in turn, will recommend it to the Union Ministry for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation for sanction of grant. The remaining part of the cost will be met by exploiting the commercial sites in those areas”, the CEO added. The UT Administration had conducted a survey in 2006 which revealed that 23,841 families resided in 18 slum colonies dotting the length and breadth of Chandigarh. The administration has identified eight locations for housing the slum dwellers.These are: Sector 49; Sector 38(W); Maloya-II; Ram Darbar; Dhanas; Maloya-I; Mauli Jagran I and II.
|
|
UT admn to get new look
Chandigarh, September 13 With the ministry of home affairs (MHA) deciding that after November 16, Chandigarh would revert back under the Chief Commissioner system of governance, a large-scale administration changes are set to take place. The Chief Commissioner will not to be the only new incumbent in the city's set-up as the Central government has already notified the name of Brijendra Singh as the new Deputy Commissioner (DC), who would join the administration tomorrow. Recently, Ajoy Sharma joined as the new Special Secretary (Finance), and Director (Higher Education). Sources said the current Adviser to UT administrator Pradip Mehra, a 1976-batch officer of the AGMUT cadre could be moved to New Delhi. Since he is yet to be empanelled as the secretary to the Government of India, a secretary-level bureaucrat, preferrably from the AGMUT cadre, could take his place. A few months back, there were rumours that Mehra would move to New Delhi in the backdrop of his tug-of-war with UT Administrator SF Rodrigues over latter's controversial mega projects. At that time, there were rumours that both, Rodrigues and Mehra, would be transferred. Rodrigues is slated to complete his tenure on November 16 this year. Not only the new Chief Commissioner and DC, the administration urgently needed a couple of HCS officers as key departments such as director, public relations, director, tourism, director, cultural affairs, and director, industries, had been given as additional charges to these officers. Meanwhile, Ajay Jagga, who was one of the first to send a representation to the MHA for the revival of the post of the Chief Commissioner in December, 2008, said, "The step will go a long way in making the administration more transparent, accountable, people-friendly and approachable.” Punjab Governor was given additional charge of the UT Administrator as a temporary measure during the terrorism days in Punjab. In 1983, the Punjab Disturbed Areas Act and the Chandigarh Disturbed Areas Act were enacted to deal with terrorism. The state of Punjab was put under Governor’s rule and simultaneously, the Governor of Punjab was made UT Administrator and the post of Chief Commissioner was converted into Adviser to Administrator. Later on, when the normalcy returned, democratic government was installed in the state and Governor's rule was done away. However, for Chandigarh, the Chief Commissioner's post was revived and the administrator continued to be at the helm of affairs.
|
|
Workshop on transfusion medicine
Chandigarh, September 13 Nearly 200 delegates and eminent professionals in the field of transfusion medicine participated in the CME. Delegates from adjoining states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, J&K and Delhi, actively participated in the scientific talks delivered by the eminent guest faculty. The spectrum of topics that were covered in the CME included reorganisation of the transfusion setup in our country by Dr Debasish Gupta to ensure supply of quality blood uniformly across the country. Dr RK Choudhury discussed the role of blood usage in certain specific settings like obstetric hemorrhage and neonatal exchange transfusions. Practical issues concerning the set-up of blood storage centres in our country were discussed by Dr Kum Kum Sharma. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Kulbir Kaur discussed the testing strategies for transfusion transmissible infections (TTIs) and Dr Nabajyoti Choudhury discussed the implications of reactive TTI results in a blood donor. Dr Kabita Chatterjee highlighted the planning of such cost-effective facilities and Dr Ravneet Kaur discussed the guidelines for good transfusion practices of blood components. Discussions and deliberations were also held regarding the preparedness of transfusion services during epidemics like dengue fever by Dr RN Makroo and the challenges for transfusion services during disaster by Dr Veena Doda.
|
|
Indo-Kazak team scales Central Asian peak
Chandigarh, September 13 This is the first joint Indo-Kazak expedition, an official statement said. The expedition was jointly led by Lt Col SS Shekhawat and Ilinski from the Central Asian republic. The team reached the Base Camp of the peak (3,300 metres) on August 23 and established three camps on the hill feature by August 27. On September 3, the team left for Camp-III, situated at a height of 5,200 metres, and the next day after nearly 11 hours of gruelling climb conquered the peak. Continuous inclement weather during the ascent as well as Alpine climbing technique used by the teams (not practiced in India during expeditions) had increased the degree of difficulty faced by the team.
|
|
Mind your language
Mohali, September 13 A case in point was today’s official function of the Rural Development Panchayats Department here in which bloomers were noticed on the backdrop of the stage. The function to inaugurate a new building of the department was presided over by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Cabinet Minister Ranjit Singh
Brahmpura. While spellings of several common words, including mantri (minister),
panchayat, shubh (auspicious) were spelt wrong, nobody seems to have noticed the gaffe. “It is unfortunate that such bloomers went unnoticed by the top political and administrative brass of the state machinery,” remarked an official of the department.
|
|||
|
Jasraj wins bronze in film making
Parashanna Gogoi, another Indian artist, won a jury award and bronze in bin instrumental music, while two traditional percussion groups won a bronze and a silver medal. A Karnataka leather puppet group won silver in the shadow play contest, while mask dancers secured a bronze. In craft and visual art, Shabir Mirza won Jury award, while Karnataka Vipin Bhadauria secured a bronze. The cultural olympics will conclude at Jeju island on September 15.
|
|||
|
Jet spreads wings today
Chandigarh, September 13 The flights, 9W 733 (Delhi-Chandigarh-Delhi) and 9W 318 (Mumbai-Chandigarh-Mumbai), will resume regular functioning tomorrow with the five-day Jet Airway strike coming to an end, confirmed Jet Airway Officials at the Chandigarh Airport. Even though, two Kingfisher flights to Mumbai and Delhi are down till 17th September, the end of the Jet pilots’ stir has brought relief for passengers planning both short and long distance travel, andthe airlines ground staff. The airline is already registering bookings for tomorrow. However, local jet officials believe that it will take a couple of days to retain the usual passenger traffic.
|
|||
|
Special train for festival season
Chandigarh, September 13 The train will depart from Chandigarh every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from 14th September till 14th October, and from Allahabad every Sunday, Tuesday and Friday. Booking for the train, which could be done online also, are already open. The train has 17 coaches, including 17 general coaches, 6 second class sleeper, two AC three-Tier coaches and 2 guard break coaches. Major stops of the train include Ghaziabad, Kanpur and Etawa stations.
|
|||
|
CityScope
And then finally on Saturday came the news of Union Home Ministry's decision to strip the Punjab Governor of the additional charge of the Administrator of the UT. For the remaining days, it was the incessant rains that made news as they poured miseries for people and again exposed the Municipal Corporation. Frankly, like I hate mixing pleasure with work and vice-versa, I loathe taking too many issues in one single column, as I feel it trivialises them. But since it was an exceptional week, I'll also make a departure from my habit and take up these varied issues, albeit briefly, in one single go. So starting from the last bit of news first, my reaction to the Union Home Ministry's decision of divesting the Punjab Governor of the additional charge of UT Administrator, while reverting to the old form of governance with a Chief Commissioner at the city's helm, can be best described in these two words - 'Thank God'. I strongly feel that in the present circumstances this is the best bet for the city. Before I write anything further, I'll like to mention here that some readers, in their responses to my columns, have sometimes accused me of being "subtly biased" against Administrator, Gen SF Rodrigues (Retd), presumably because I have written and commented quite a bit against his so-called Mega projects. I can categorically state that neither I hold anything personal against General sahib nor his vision for the city but yes I am certainly against his style of functioning, which many dub as "autocratic", and the manner in which the so-called Mega Projects were handled and resultantly screwed up. While I cannot say much about the tenures of the earlier Administrators as I haven't watched them so closely, the past few years have seen the basic tenets of good governance, primarily transparency and public accountability, being bid a farewell by the Raj Bhawan. Most of the decisions taken during this period were arbitrary and hence created controversies. The restoration of the post of the Chief Commissioner will hopefully put an end to this trend and besides ensuing accountability and transparency, it will also guarantee accessibility, which too was unfortunately lacking under the present setup. The gubernatorial immunity that the Administrator willy-nilly enjoys and the fact that the city, as such, has no political set up leaves lot of scope for abuse of power since the decisions taken at the top level are practically unquestionable. Such an arrangement doesn't auger well for any democratic setup so a change is in the best interest of the city and its people. Now coming to the anarchy that was witnessed on the streets last Tuesday, I really wonder who in his wisdom allowed such a large congregation of people, some estimates say that it was over 30,000, in the heart of the city. If those at the helm had thought that 700 odd policemen were enough to handle a crowd of 30,000 farmers and PSEB employees they would have surely found out by now how wrong they were. The administration and the police cannot wash their hands off their failure to maintain law and order by merely saying that the rallies were "illegal" and held without "permission". The fact that the crowds managed to assemble in Sector 16-17, without being stopped anywhere, is enough to prove how miserably the authorities failed to assess the situation and take corrective steps. Logically, if no permission was granted for the rally, the busloads of farmers should not have been allowed to enter the city and should have been stopped on the outskirts. The UT authorities should have taken help from their counterparts in Punjab to stop the buses at the places of their origin only. Since this was not done and the buses were allowed to proceed to Chandigarh, it also brings out the inaction and complicity of the Punjab police. While protests are part and parcel of any democratic setup, such anarchy should have been dealt with an iron hand, and people, howsoever aggrieved, should not have been allowed to take the law in their hands. What happened on Tuesday was shameful. So, rather than finding excuses for covering up their failures, it will be prudent for the administration to learn lessons from it. On the teachers' recruitment scam, I'll not say much as investigations are still in progress. However, the reported plan of the administration to repatriate DPI, Samwartak Singh, whose name figured in the investigations because of his links with the prime accused, is certainly not desirable. By doing so, the administration will only help him escape action. If Samwartak is involved, he should be dealt with according to the law and not allowed to go back to Haryana. He should be divested of all his work and the functioning of the Education Department handed over to some other officer till the investigations clear him. Since the scam has put a question mark on the recruitment process, it would be worthwhile to scrap it altogether and start it afresh, ensuring total transparency. The recruitment process should be outsourced to some central agency (like C-DAC) and professional as well as academic achievements of an applicant should be the sole criteria of selection. Doing away with the interviews, which leaves a scope for manipulation, would be prudent. Write to cityeditor@tribunemail.com
|
|||
|
Pelf and arrogance reign society
This has reference to the CityScope “Money and arrogance” by Raveen Thukral on September 7. I think our system stinks of favouritism towards the rich and influential. In China, there is misuse of power as well but if someone is found guilty, he is punished by the authorities even if he is well-connected. Comparatively, in India, it is rare that we take stricter action against the influential. I think stricter action must deter others from taking the law into their own hands. Rajan
Implement Lyngdoh panel norms
I was surprised by Raveen Thukral’s unique style of exposing the nexus between the police and those wielding money and muscle power. The reference to the brutal power and influence of the Kharar-based property developer and the subsequent reluctant police action speaks volumes of the degenerating effects of the increasing money power. Rare are the examples of the likes of the senior police official, who sent a heart-touching message to the writer on the day of universal forgiveness. If a small section of the police force takes a positive clue from the article, a process of breeding sophistication, fineness, responsibility, willingness to adhere to the rule book and modesty may set in and turn the otherwise malevolent and unfriendly police force into a public-friendly force. Recalcitrant student leaders who flaunt the wealth of their families and political patronage extended by politicians having vested interests at the time of elections to the student unions of the colleges and universities may be checkmated only by implementing the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee.
Trishla Garg, Panchkula Student
poll a display of money
Raveen Thukral has brought to light the ugly side of the student politics in his article. Reverting to the past, one finds that student politics came into being with the inception of the All-India Students Federation (AISF) in 1930 and during the pre and post-Independence periods, several leaders of eminence emerged on the national horizon who were its members in their formative years. Unfortunately, lately student politics has become a platform for the rogues and rowdies of society who indulge in violence with the sole aim of getting noticed. Money and muscle power have come to play a prominent role even in college elections. The student leaders taking part in college elections are not interested in solving the problems of the student community but are inclined to flaunt the wealth and influence of their parents and political patrons. Unless the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee on students’ elections reforms are implemented, there is little hope of any reduction in the vulgar display of money and muscle power in the university and college elections.
Lajpat Rai Garg, Panchkula Catch the big fish
The author has very aptly described the manner in which people with money and power openly flaut the laws and rules of the land. They are so 'intoxicated' with the 'bottle of wealth' that they show little respect to the rules and regulations. They think they can buy anything, even justice, with the money they have. This is only because our society is corrupt. Thukral has rightly expressed his view that "The feeling of being 'above the law' that willy-nilly creeps into most of the rich people, thanks to the immensely corruptible system that works here, is a matter of concern". It is the "Paisa phek, tamasha dekh" culture that is frequently practised without any fear of the law by the "moneyed people". The beating of The Tribune journalist by a Kharar-based property developer under the influence of "paisa" is an act of condemnation. The Punjab government must justify the provision of "security" to such "rich" people without any reason. Law offenders should be dealt with an iron hand and like ordinary people, irrespective of the position they hold or money they have. Our Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's call for catching the "big fish" is certainly a difficult job, but not impossible. This is a right decision of the Prime Minister because, "corruption flows from top to bottom".
R K Kapoor, Chandigarh Check misuse of police escorts
It is a sad commentary on our corrupt and redundant political, civil and police administrative system as revealed by Raveen Thukral in his article. We admit it with a shame that only the money makes the mare go in India in general and Punjab in particular. Be a student union’s elections or anything else, rich brats do unwarranted acts, indulge in violence, use weapons and get away easily due to the sheer power of money and influence. Sadly, the police remains a mute spectator only, no action is taken as per the law of the land. Spoiled sons of influential bureaucrats repeatedly indulge in violent acts, thrash their opponents with the help of police guards provided to them and manage to go scot-free with the influence of their bureaucrat parents and of course money power. A developer and his hunch men and police escorts thrashed a journalist and his friend, who approached the builder for a complaint for a deal he had with the company. Rather than redressing his grievances, he preferred to get them thrashed as he had the money, connections, influence of the ruling party of Punjab. The police, on its part, just filed an FIR under pressure and the culprits were entertained as guests of the SHO. This menace can only be tackled if the political patronage is done away with and those helping such arrogant violators are dealt with seriously. The police escorts must be withdrawn immediately because most beneficiaries misuse this facility just to terror innocent people and also to get their unlawful activities carried out. If the CM and the DGP don’t act against such violators, they shall be doing great injustice towards society. To respect the sentiments of the public and provide a clean. impartial governance, the Punjab government and police authorities have no option but to rise to the occasion and disown such arrogant violators and take them to task.
Capt Amar Jeet Kumar, SAS Nagar Need to change people’s mindset
Except the mention of an IPS officer seeking ‘forgiveness’, the fury created by students during electioneering coupled with the incident of a scribe being thrashed by a land developer are routine incidents. However, these are going on since the advent of the civilization. We are reminded of the dictum -- might is right -- prevailing since times immemorial. It is being replicated in today’s society, though unfortunately. Earlier, might was exercised for justice. If brazen acts of violence are openly committed during university elections, it is because of the political connections these boys enjoy. In addition, when might go to one’s head, no end come in sight. All acts committed by such elements in any context are deemed correct. University officials and the police become mute spectators. Wealth that brings with it status and arrogance is hardly used to the well-being of society, rather it is flaunted. Suppression and repression become its formal parts. Public memory being short, such incidents go into oblivion with the passage of time and are recalled when a fresh incident occurs. Some simply go unreported as the culprit is well connected. Similar things occurred in the incident related to The Tribune journalist, who was thrashed. A couple of cases came to fore with the report that cry for justice. There is a dire need to change the mindset of such persons, but again the question that haunts the common person is; will it voluntarily come. As long as these sections continue to get the political patronage, it is an uphill task. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launching a crusade to hunt the ‘big fish’ would remain a ‘big challenge’ naturally, as identifying such big fish would be a strenuous task as “Is hamam mein…………”
|
|
Eye operation camp held
Chandigarh, September 13 This camp was a step forward in the efforts of the administration to garner the support of NGOs for its motive to have cataract-free Chandigarh. It was inaugurated by Jean Rodrigues and the Punjab Governor and Administrator, Union Territory, Chandigarh, General S.F. Rodrigues (Retd). Another eye camp was also held at Mauli Jagran by the Lions Club Chandigarh Harmony. According to UT health officials, the patients screened for cataract at both camps, then given a token number before been taken up for surgery at GMSH-16 and GMCH-32. The surgeries would be taken up in batches, informed officials. Additional facilities of OPD services, lab facilities and ECG services were also provided at the camps. The UT Administrator interacted with patients in the camp as well as with NGO representatives.
|
|
|
Doc suspected of swine flu
Chandigarh, September 13 The UT nodal officer for swine flu
H.C. Gera said, samples had been sent to the PGI lab for the tests. “The doctor was treating swine flu patients. He had undergone anti-viral treatment as a precautionary measure,” said
Gera. Meanwhile, the UT health official said the report of five samples collected yesterday was negative.
|
|
|
Ruby Lions Club distt president
Chandigarh, September 13 At a function here, 10 wheel chairs and 10 sewing machines were distributed to needy persons. Holding of medical camps, dental check-up camps, seminars on
female foeticide and drug de-addiction, and marriages of poor girls would be on the
agenda of the club, Rikhy said.
|
PU all set to launch radio channel
Chandigarh, September 13 The venture, which will be manned by youth from nearly 178 affiliated colleges and co-ordinated by the chairperson of the School of Communication Studies (SCS), PU, will cater to Mohali, Panchkula, Chandigarh and periphery villages. The university authorities, however, would provide the technical staff for assistance. The university is also planning to invite suggestions for the name of the channel through its website. “The competition of the channel would not be with the popular FM channels. The idea of the channel is to work for community betterment and in terms of content it would be equivalent to Doordarshan,” said Dr Mohanmeet Khosla, chairperson, SCS. The channel will also include talent hunt shows and phone-in programmes to add multiplier effects to it. A special slot for the senior citizens would be included. Students of SCS will monitor the functioning of the channel, right from drafting scripts to the production work. It will contain 50 per cent social content and rest will be distributed over academics, entertainment, lectures of guest faculties, speeches etc as per the guidelines of the Information and Broadcast Ministry. “The channel is a wonderful platform for the students to hone their skills. We are looking forward to its launch,” said Siddhartha Sharma of MMC II. Though the initial hurdles in the project have been cleared and an Rs 28 lakh already granted for the purchase of equipments, however, the allocation of frequency to the channel and the licence consent is due by the ministry.
|
|||||
|
|||||
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Chandigarh, September 13
For a city like Chandigarh, the week gone by was quite an eventful one, in fact, in journalists' lingo, a newsy one. Monday morning broke with newspapers carrying stories about the teachers' recruitment scam in the Education Department. Tuesday saw Punjab farmers and PSEB employees indulging in an unprecedented and senseless violence in the city, bashing up policemen, torching vehicles, both government and private, and destroying public property worth lakhs of rupees.