 |
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
PG Accommodation Chandigarh, September 20 Chairman of the Federation of Sector Welfare Associations Chandigarh (FOSWAC) P.C.Sanghi, along with presidents of the Resident Welfare Associations of Sector 18 and 19, Sunil Chopra and Rajiv Moudgil joined hands with the police during the inspection. They had in all found 114 PG accommodations, which were not in accordance with the guidelines. As many as 1,233 boys and girls are living in these PGs, which were bring run illegally. The SHO of the Sector 19 police station said they would prepare a detailed report of the violations and submit the same to his senior officials for action. The SHO said not all violations come under the purview of the police. They would, therefore, thoroughly examine the violations before initiating any action. He said it was found that owners of the houses had given their accommodations on rent to other parties, who further run paying guest accommodations there. Sources in the police said miscreants were taking advantage of the loopholes in the systems and were also hand in glove with the police as well as estate office employees. They added that many violators claimed that they had submitted the servant and tenant verifications report at the e-sampark centres. In some cases, police officials had accepted the forms in back dates to save such violators from legal action. During the inspection of a 1-kanal house in Sector 21-D, the police found that 60 boys were staying in 27 rooms. The boys were sleeping on 2 feet wide beds. The owner lived in Yamuna Nagar and had rented the house to a Sector 18 resident, who runs the PG there. Sources said rough estimates suggest that such unscrupulous elements were making crores of rupees by evading taxes. They were charging anything between Rs 2000 to 4000 from the paying guests. The UT administration had issued a notification on September 5, 2006, regarding the paying guests accommodations. As per the rules, the minimum useable area for one paying guest should be 50 sq feet with adequate provision of a bathroom. They should display the list of the paying guests, give proper bills of the fee charged from them and provide parking space for their vehicles in the house. Sources said even the properties of the violations could be resumed for violating the rules.
|
|
Land Compensation Chandigarh, September 20 In fact, what has irked the affected farmers the most is the fact that the lands in question were adjoining each other. The different awards for the land ran counter to the principle of justice that lands of the same village should have identical land compensation, Mam Chand Rana, a former Maloya sarpanch and one of the affected farmers, asserted. On Friday, the administration announced the award of Rs 30.5 lakh per acre for 167 acres of prime fertile land in the village. The total land compensation after adding the solatium and interest would come to Rs 50 lakh per acre. And this was far below the Rs 88 per acre (Rs 55.22 lakh per acre plus solatium and interest) announced a couple of months ago. UT farmers have been on a warpath with the administration for several years over low land compensation. It is alleged that while the administration acquired land for
However, the lack of a clear-cut land acquisition policy left much to the whims and fancies of the officials.This, coupled with the lack of political control over the bureaucrats, left the farmers at the mercy of the all-powerful bureaucracy. On February 26,2009, the Lok Sabha passed the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2007, and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007, which took care of the land compensation rate concerns and rehabilitation problems of the farmers.However, the Bill fell through in the Rajya Sabha. Even during the run-up to the May 13 Lok Sabha elections various contesting candidates, including Congress' Pawan Bansal, who is now Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources, had promised land enhanced land compensation, preferably Rs 4 crore per acre. Meanwhile, Ramvir Bhatti, chairman of the disciplinary action committee of the BJP, alleged that Bansal had miserably failed to safeguard the interests of the UT farmers.
|
|
Nari Niketan Case Chandigarh, September 20 Irked over the issue, it has decided not to attend the proposed meeting called by the Trust on September 22 and has also raised questions on its intentions. The proposal of the Trust to form a six-member committee to work out a “roadmap” for the upbringing of the child till the age of 18 and lifelong care to the mother has annoyed senior officials of the UT administration, who see this as an attempt to unnecessarily complicate and bureaucratise the issue. Significantly, in a letter sent to the Trust yesterday, the administration has expressed doubts over its intentions of taking over the responsibility of the victim. “It appears the Trust is backtracking from its earlier commitments made in apex court,” the letter states. The letter also states, “The ponderous reference of drawing up the roadmap is a poor substitute for actual assumption of responsibility of looking after the mother and the child. Nor can be the responsibility of motherhood and childcare be delegated to a committee, however high sounding it might be.” The letter has also asked the Trust officials to come to Chandigarh. What has also irked the administration is the unilateral move of the Trust to form the committee which includes, Director PGI, Dr KK Talwar, Director Social Welfare, Amandeep Kaur, Home Secretary, Ram Niwas, Lawyer Tanu Bedi, Joint Secretary National Trust and Joint Secretary Child Welfare and Women Development of GOI. Interestingly, neither any consent was sought from the administration for forming the committee nor from the Chandigarh-based members. When contacted, Dr Talwar said no consent was sought from him. “My office did receive a letter from the Union Social Welfare Department informing me that I had been made a member of some committee but it had no details and I have no clue about it,” he added. Ditto said the other officials of the UT administration.
|
|
Ambitious tourism projects fall flat Chandigarh, September 20 Launched with much fanfare in Khuda Lahora, the rural tourism project has fallen flat. Home Secretary Ram Niwas called the failed project a “highly impractical implementation of an immature vision”. He said, “Why will anyone travel to villages in Chandigarh when he has better opportunities in the neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab if the tourist wished to travel to the rural scape?” The Union Territory had several ambitious projects following the return of senior officials from several foreign trips. One of the famous foreign dreams was cruise boats at Sukhna Lake. The project had to be shelved because the lake did not have sufficient water to allow cruise trips, which our officials should have known before announcing. The UT announced “special cards” that would allow concessions at tourist places. The UT also announced a failed ambitious project of tourist cops and a batch of cops was actually trained. Another idea from foreign borrowing was an open-air cafeteria at different places. Another ambitious project that had hit the dust was the ‘bed and breakfast programme’. The programme had also to be shelved because instead of helping tourists it had become kind of a parallel hotel industry for local entrepreneurs who functioned without following the UT norms. The cycle tourism projects, too, did not deliver the expected results. The ISBT and Sukhna have 10 cycles each. In absence of poor guidance counters, staff and poor signboards to facilitate tourists, majority of them don’t prefer the cycle rides.
|
|
Admn floats tenders for more such projects Chandigarh, September 20 Home Secretary Ram Niwas said, “We have received a grant of Rs 12.5 crore for different projects in the city. Projects have been identified, decided and tenders have been floated for new additions at Rose Garden, Sukhna Lake and Hotel ShivalikView.” Beautification of Sukhna Lake tops the UT agenda with separate allocation of funds for the entrance, regulator end and the island. The UT has started the process of adding 800 more rose varieties to the Rose Garden, which is higher than the existing number of varieties and the project is expected to be completed by October end. Besides creation of a children corner, the garden fountains will also be upgraded. In a separate project, the fountains of Sector 17 are all set to have a new lighting system. The municipal corporation will handle the project. Giving details of more projects, Ram Niwas said,
“A project of Rs 3 crore has been cleared for the Botanical Garden, which will very shortly house medical tourism huts, meditation huts and tree houses.” Hotel ShivalikView will have several new facilities. Niwas said, “Tenders have been invited for a sky restaurant, which will be built at a considerable height over the existing structure to give a bird’s eye view of the city environs. The hotel is all set to house a swimming pool and also a rain forest theme restaurant.” The city will be hosting the first crafts mela on the pattern of the Surajkund mela near Delhi from October 24 to November 2 that will host exhibition by over 500 artists.
|
|
PU admits lapse in filing IT returns Chandigarh, September 20 “It is not the TDS but lapse on the part of filing some IT returns that has brewed the controversy. After getting the news reports, we had made a two-member committee which found out the lapse,” revealed a senior official. Confirming this Vice-Chancellor RC Sobti said, “Contrary of what was being publicised, we had made all deductions as per the rules. In a departmental inquiry it was revealed that some IT returns were not filed that led to this confusion. We shall take the necessary measures very soon.” The Income Tax department initiated the survey acting on a tip off that PU authorities had not cut TDS from the salaries of several heads of departments and payments made to various contractors over the past two years. According to rules, a deduction of two per cent towards the TDS from the privately run mess and canteen in the university is mandatory on the part of the registrar and as per the IT officials the university had failed to provide any documentary proof of such deduction for the past two years. “Even if they (university authorities) say that returns were not being filed, it is surprising that the practice continued for about two years without anybody taking a note of it. If we find the allegations about the lapse in deduction true a notice would be served to the university,” said a senior IT official.
|
|
Cashing in on 'hurt sentiments'
I'm sure most of the readers would have noticed the news, published earlier this month, about Punjab and Haryana High Court quashing the complaint filed against Bhajji for hurting religious sentiments by his Ravana jig in a reality show. The court had also imposed a cost of Rs 10000 on the complainants, advocate-cum-chairman of Global Human Rights Council, Arvind Thakur, and spokesman of Punjab Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Vinod Singh Bhardwaj. However, the contents of the detailed judgment, which were made available only sometime back, may have missed the eyes of many readers as they were not widely published. I reproduce below some parts from it, published in a section of the press. Justice Mahesh Grover, in his 19 page judgement, had termed the complaint as frivolous and baseless and ruled that Bhajji's Ravana act could best be described as a parody and no criminality could be attributed to it. The judge ruled, "If the facts of the case are to be seen, what apparently was sought to be suggested was a light hearted entertaining piece of visual. It was meant to create humour and was to be seen as a parody of a mythical situation. The act attributed to the petitioner can at best be seemed to be a caricature of a situation or a parody and it sought to have been accepted in the manner in which it was sought to be presented and not by attributing any criminality to it". The judgement further said, "it cannot be said he had acted with any deliberate intentions of hurting the religious sentiments of any person and in any eventuality, he was merely acting in a programme which might have been scripted by someone else who does not find any mention in the complaint". Significantly, Justice Grover also cautioned the lower judiciary by stating that such frivolous complaints should not be entertained. He noted, "a magistrate who issues the process of summoning is cast with a serious duty to examine the complaint in its earnestness and then decide whether an offence has been made out or not. He cannot lightly set the criminal process in motion, which is again a serious affair subject an individual to the criminal process. An onerous duty is cast upon the court to scrupulously examine the contents of the complaint and then record its satisfaction. It should essentially enable to distinguish between the genuine complaint and the one which is masked to extract undue mileage in terms of publicity or sensationalism". This judgment reminds me of last year's Delhi High Court order quashing the cases that were registered against renowned painter, MF Hussain, for painting "obscene" picture of Hindu goddess. In the judgment Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul had stated, " India 's new Puritanism, practiced by a largely ignorant crowd in the name of Indian spiritual purity, is threatening to throw the nation back into the Pre-Renaissance era. Criminal justice system should not be used as an easy recourse to ventilate against a creative act". While I'll not like to comment on the role of the judiciary in such cases, even though both judgments talk about not allowing criminal justice system as an easy recourse to ventilate against a creative act, the role of the self styled guardians of spiritual purity who file such cases is surely questionable. Frankly, they are no different from those ignorant and intolerant people who get incensed by someone dressed up as a revered spiritual leader of a particular community or by some cartoons or those who go digging cricket fields to disrupt matches. The manner in which most of these cases are filed and the profile of those who do them, one can easily say that they are done to surely extract that "undue mileage in terms of publicity or sensationalism" the High Court referred to. Thanks to this sensationalism, the Bhajji-Jassi jig, which otherwise would have gone unnoticed got unnecessary publicity just like the complainant, who too got his 15 seconds to fame. Incidentally a case was registered last year against city based artist, Viren Tanwar, for displaying nude paintings at an exhibition at Alliance Françoise. Ironically, while the exhibition was held in other cities too, including Delhi, no objections were made there. It created a controversy only in the city after the case was filed and the complainant was again Arvind Thakur. And when Mona Singh visited the city recently, Arvind Thakur and his cronies were chasing her with the court notice, disrupting
her event, even when the High Court had stayed the proceedings against Bhajji in the same case. If this wasn't for cheap publicity, then what? In these challenging and tense times, tolerance is the answer to peaceful existence and not rabble-rousers, who for their own vested interests rake up issues that lack substance and seriousness. Freedom of speech and expression is guaranteed in the Constitution so every Indian has a right to use it. Any attempts to stifle them in the name of 'hurting sentiments' and for seeking cheap publicity should be condemned. Write to cityeditor@tribunemail.com
|
Death of industrialist Batra’s servant Chandigarh, September 20
Though a case of trespass and attempt to theft has been registered against the victim, his wife Geeta has alleged that her husband died after being beaten up by Batra and his family, raising doubts over the incident. However, Naresh Batra, owner of Batra Cinema, had denied the allegations terming them as baseless. Batra had alleged in his complaint that Ashok had trespassed into his residence with the intention to commit theft on Friday night and got injured after jumping from the first floor. The police had registered a case under Sections 448, 380 and 511 of the IPC against Ashok on a complaint of Batra yesterday. Ashok was reportedly declared dead on arrival at the Government Multi Specialty Hospital, Sector 16, a little before the registration of the case. The matter got highlighted today when Geeta, along with her relatives, accused the police of being biased in the entire episode. The family alleged that Ashok was badly beaten up before he died and insisted on seeing his body. After much persuasion the police agreed to show them the body in the mortuary. Geeta told TNS that the body bore several injury marks. There was a deep wound on her husband’s forehead, his nose was bleeding and there were several bruises on his chest and other parts of the body. She alleged that the police had not been paying heed to their pleas for the past two days and did not record their statements. Ashok took his wife along to Batra’s residence to meet his friend Devi, who is a servant there. He went inside leaving her there around 10.30 pm and after about an hour he was brought out of the house in a profusely bleeding condition, said Geeta holding her one-year-old daughter in her lap. A police vehicle rushed him to the hospital, but did not take her along, ignoring her requests to accompany her husband. Geeta further alleged that her husband had quit the job on August 16, as he was not being paid his salary. Refuting the allegations, Batra maintained that Ashok had trespassed into his house, scaling from scaffolding at the backside of the house. He managed to go to the third floor where his daughter, who had return from the USA a couple of days ago, was staying. She raised an alarm and Ashok ran away. He knew that the third floor was unoccupied. “When I saw him he was reeking of alcohol and his eyes were bulging out. Nobody touched him. He ran away and climbed down to the first floor terrace of the servant quarters from where he jumped and got injured. He was not bleeding. He might have suffered some internal injuries. When he was rushed to the hospital he was breathing,” Batra said. Batra further stated that he called up the present employer of Ashok and also informed the police about the incident. The police checked him and also sprinkled water on him before taking him to the hospital. “Around 1.30 am the SHO came to my residence and said Ashok had died and took my statement,” he added. When asked about delay in the post-mortem, the SHO of the Sector 19 police station said they were waiting for the victim’s father to come from Uttar Pradesh. He said further action would be taken on the basis of the postmortem report.
|
|
Bad weather delays flights Chandigarh, September 20 The flight landed in the city at around 12.15 pm instead of its arrival time, which was 9.15 am. Airport officials stated that the flight was delayed due to bad weather conditions. Nita Ambani was in the city to watch the performance of Reliance-I team, which was playing for the 16th JP Atray Memorial Cricket Tournament held at the Cricket Stadium, Sector 16, here. Tournament organising secretary Sushil Kapur said, “She was stranded for about three hours in the air and she was so excited about her team that she called me twice to know the match score.” Meanwhile, private jet of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, Punjab, and three other private flights of different airlines namely, Kingfisher, Go Air and MDLR, also bore the brunt of bad weather. However, a senior airport official confirmed that these flights were delayed due to bad weather conditions and nothing went wrong on the part of airport authorities.
|
|
‘Endoscopy can treat pancreatitis complications’ Chandigarh, September 20 Prof Bhasin deliberated upon the role of endoscopy in managing these life-threatening complications. Explaining the procedure of endoscopy, he said, “A small tube (called stent) is placed in the duct of pancreas by a complex procedure called endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and this helps in relieving abdominal pain as well as treating life-threatening complications of pancreatitis.” Earlier, these patients had to be treated by surgery for these life-threatening complications. But after this procedure, the patient can easily be sent home on the same day without complications. He and his group have been doing this complex procedure successfully for the past 15 years. Dr. Naresh Bhat, chairman of gastroenterology, Columbia Asia Hospital, Bangalore, discussed the tricks of doing a successful colonoscopy. He described the common problems faced by endoscopists and their solution while performing colonoscopy, which was an essential tool to diagnose cancer of the large intestine. Prof R Kochhar, organising secretary of the course and president of Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy of India gave a talk on management of strictures of the esophagus, stomach and colon. He said ingestion of acids for suicidal intention was a very common cause of strictures of esophagus and stomach. He showed videos on the new technique of balloon dilatation of acid induced gastric outlet obstruction, which he claimed could be successfully done even in sub-acute phase. Talking about the capsule endoscopy, Andrew Shim, CEO of capsule endoscopy-manufacturing company (IntroMedic) from Korea, described the technical aspects of development of this technique. He elaborated on the future developments in the field, which included robotic capsules, which could be controlled by remote buttons to stop bleeding and remove small tumors from the intestines. The last session was devoted to the new technique of endoscopic ultrasonography. Dr Mandhir Kumar from New Delhi described how this technique could be used for diagnosing different stages of cancer and to guide treatment endoscopically. He said the PGI was the first hospital in North India to have acquired this equipment. More than 250 delegates from all over the country attended the
|
|
Fuel bill trouble for PU VC Chandigarh, September 20 Taking cognizance of the documents procured by them under the RTI Act, Krishna Kumar and Davinder Singh have asserted that while on the one hand, the Vice-Chancellor observes no-vehicle day, on the other hand, he is blatantly misusing the public funds as the petrol bills of his officials cars havegone up to Rs 28,000. “According to documents provided to us by the university, we found that his fuel bills had run into thousands. The highest spending month was October, 2006, when the fuel bill of the VC’s car was Rs 28, 286. Similarly, from August, 2006, to July, 2007, just one car consumed fuel at an average of over Rs 20,000 per month. Is it justified?” said Krishan Kumar. “It’s not just the fuel bills but even the number of his cars is also objectionable. The VC has two Ambassadors at his disposal. One, which cost the university about 5 lakh, is for his use while the other to be used in emergency. Notwithstanding, he still needs a Corolla,” added
Davinder.
|
|
Silky Avasthy of Ludhiana adjudged best student advocate Chandigarh, September 20 Erudite Judges, including Justice MMS Bedi and Justice Surya Kant of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and Justice Varinder Singh of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court judged the finals. Apart from their judgments and comments, the judging panel also pointed out errors and gave valuable suggestions regarding actual courtroom procedures. Addressing audiences, Justice Varinder Singh said, “Prosecution has to demolish the wall of the defense and erect its own wall on that platform.” Justice Surya Kant critically appreciated the efforts of contestants, who tried to bring home their point and gave valuable hints on the actual procedure of a criminal trial. Justice MMS Bedi emphasised on the need of effective and brief cross-examination of witnesses. He said, “Once you have made a point, do not lose it. The distance between suspicion and proof ought to be travelled by the prosecution.” The University Institute of Laws, PURC, Ludhiana, emerged victorious and bagged a cash prize of Rs 18,000 followed by NUALS, Kochi, Baba Farid Law College, Faridkot, and Institute of Laws, Nirma University, Ahmedabad. Silky Avasthy from PURC, Ludhiana, was adjudged the best student advocate and the team from NUALS, Kochi was handed over the Spirit of Surana Award, while the Best Memorial Award was given to the team from Nirma University, Ahmedabad.
|
|
Awareness session on income tax Chandigarh, September 20 The session was for students in and around Chandigarh to understand at a macro level the impact of income tax collections on the economy of India. Arvind Tuli, a chartered accountant, apprised young students of the impact and implications of the Indian direct taxation. Geeta Gulati, Integrity and Citizen Law Chair, Yi Chandigarh Chapter, said: “Yi is initiating a series of sessions with young professionals on awareness of income taxes with an aim to contribute to nation building and help youth make government accountable. Yi would further take the initiative to other colleges to spread as much awareness on income tax and pledge to be responsible citizens,” she added.
|
|
National conference on accountancy begins Chandigarh, September 20 Uttam Prakash Agarwal, all-India president, ICIA, announced this while inaugurating the two-day national conference on “CA-Core of Global Economy - Practice and Innovations” which began here yesterday. Agarwal said the focus of the institute had been on the brand building and positioning of the profession across the globe and added that the Institute had recently signed mutual recognition agreement with The Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales, UK, and CPA, Australia. He said ICAI members could become member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales by passing only one paper and could become member of CPA, Australia, by passing only two papers. Earlier, after qualifying Chartered Accountancy in India, a person had to undergo full procedure of three year again for becoming a member of these universities, he added. The ICAI president said at present as many as six lakh students were undergoing chartered accountancy course in India out of which about 4,000 students were from Chandigarh. He said there was a sea change in the joining pattern of the course and more female candidates were opting for this course. The Institute has 141 own information technology training centres at various branches across the country. Balwinder Singh, member of the Accounting Standards Board (ACB) said today’s global economy required increased attention to the issue of corporate competitiveness and there was a need to adhere to international trade rules, combined with more rigorous consumer demands. He said the horizon of the profession and its extent had gone much beyond the traditional areas and there was a shift in the roles and responsibilities of professionals.
|
|
Partap is Bar Council head Chandigarh, September 20 Partap Singh and Dr Vejinder Singh Ahlawat were declared as the chairman and vice-chairman of the Bar Council, respectively. Interestingly, only they had filed nominations for the respective office and were thus selected unopposed. Rajeev Kaswan has been appointed as the secretary of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana.
|
|
|
Mayors chair meeting Chandigarh, September 20 According to a press note, Sharma gave a brief overview of the working of the MCC, including sanitation system, water works, electricity and other functions of the civic body. During the meeting, the 74th amendment to the Indian Constitution was discussed in detail. Chaudhary said it should be implemented in all corporations to empower the public representatives for their perfect role in all-round development of the country.
|
|
|
e wild wild web The Internet is something which everyone has access to these days. It is a crucial part of our society. It has changed how we communicate and interact with each other. In fact it has become the vital medium. The number of Internet users is increasing day by day. People visit websites for information, entertainment and news. With just a mouse click, they can get any information on any subject they want to know. However, once we gain more technology, we too begin dealing with those who use this technology for criminal reasons. We are much better equipped to invent the technology than we are in dealing with the criminals which spring up as a result of the new technology. Millions of people have made themselves vulnerable to identity theft as well as putting their future academic and professional prospects at risk by recklessly posting personal information on the Internet, Britain's privacy watchdog had warned two years ago. Internet users used to comfort themselves by thinking that to become victims of the pirates of the Web, they had to frequent the online porn circuit or respond to an e-mail from the widowed wife of the former central bank governor of Nigeria. The idea was that one had to do something naughty to get caught in the wrongdoers’ net, or at least go for a late-night stroll in the rough end of town. But the conceit has become untenable. Google today has about 3,30,000 websites listed as malicious, up from about 150,000 a year ago. McAfee, the maker of antivirus software, reported that fans searching for Hollywood gossip and memorabilia faced a high risk of getting caught up by online bad guys. India is no exception. Reckless searches on the Net for Bollywoord heart throbs such as Aishwarya Rai may land you in the trap of spammers. Perhaps cybercops will respond more aggressively to Internet threats as they spread to the more wholesome parts of the Web, like police forces that leave crime alone in the poor parts of town but snap into action when it seeps into middle-class neighborhoods. Law enforcement agencies warn that although you can and should take common sense precautions, this crime cannot be prevented. The most important step you can take is to be prepared. Don’t take chances with your identity. It’s your most important possession. Another looming problem with the W3, a lawless frontier, is that from behind their bedroom doors, more than 1 out of every 10 teenagers has posted a nude or seminude picture of themselves or others online - a "digital tattoo" that could haunt them for the rest of their lives, according to a survey conducted in the USA. recently. Aside from the nudity, the survey also found that at least a quarter of the young people polled had posted something they later regretted, made fun of others or created a false identity online. While teens are spending more and more time on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace - with 22 per cent saying they check their sites more than 10 times a day - they don't seem to be aware of the long-term personal havoc they could create with a click of a button. And their parents generally have little idea about what their children are up to, the poll found. The survey polled 1,000 teens and 1,000 parents to gauge how much time young people are spending on social-networking sites, what they do when they're on them - and whether their parents know. In another research it has been found that a third of young people have never read privacy policies on social networking sites and do not understand how they can manage their personal information. Yet an overwhelming 95 per cent of those questioned said they were worried about websites using their details to target advertising at them or to pass on to other websites or companies. Some social networking sites have already begun using information from their members to link up with major companies and well-known brands. Facebook is facing a privacy backlash from its members, who have complained about a new advertising strategy that automatically broadcasts what a user has bought on external partner sites to their family and friends. The Internet users forget that a "blog is for life" and can leave a permanent electronic footprint. "If you don't think you'll want it to exist somewhere in 10 years' time, don't post it." A recent post on the Google blog says that with more and more kids going online, whether to connect over social networking sites, mingle in chat rooms or play games, it's become increasingly important for families, schools and service providers to work together to ensure that the younger generation understands their responsibilities while they explore the virtual world. According to a recent study, by the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in the U.S.A., in patterns and trends in online child victimization, the past few years have seen a 6 per cent increase in reports of kids providing images and videos of themselves when asked by online acquaintances; sending naked photos of themselves through text messages ("sexting"); and cyber-bullying. This new trend underscores the need to educate our younger users, their families and teachers on ways to create and enjoy safe online experiences, added the blog. “We're doing our part by working with child safety organizations and law enforcement around the globe to spread positive messages about life online. For example, in mid-September, we're launching a global training program on YouTube to help teens teach other teens about these issues. This is just one step among many that we're taking to help create a generation of responsible digital citizens”, concluded the statement by the Google on its blog.
|
|
Multi-purpose camp at old-age home Chandigarh, September 20 Medical teams from Grewal Eye Institute, Chandigarh, and Dr Kalra’s Dental Trigon, Panchkula, examined over 300 patients during the camp. At the camp, around 142 patients were given medicines. Awareness was spread on various health issues like AIDS, drug de-addiction, female foeticide and sanitation. Patients were apprised about various welfare schemes of the government, including filing applications for yellow and white cards, Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana Loan and old age pension. Over 450 persons attended the camp.
|
|
|
Dissidents a trouble for all parties Panchkula, September 20 At Kalka, while the defection of Vijay Bansal, a prominent Congress leader, to the Bahujan Samaj Party on Friday is being seen as a major setback to the prospects of ruling party candidate to be announced within a couple of days, the new development has brought cheers in the camp of Pradeep Chaudhary, INLD candidate. Chaudhary, hailing from Gujjar community with 15,000 in the constituency, can reap the benefits in case Vijay Bansal is fielded by the Bahujan Samaj Party. Practising its social engineering, the BSP, fielding Bansal, a former confidant and poll manager of four times MLA Chander Mohan, from the area, was expecting to make a big dent in the vote bank of the Congress. Bansal, claiming to have support of the Mahajans and the Brahmins, with the 7,200 votes polled to the BSP during last parliamentary elections, can prove to be a dark horse for the party. Similarly, Bhagat Singh, who attained the fame for saving the city main market from demolition, is under great pressure from his supporters to contest the elections, come what may. In case, the Congress decides to field any other candidate, the ruling party candidate will be cornered by its own dissidents only for the benefit of others. The situation in Panchkula is no different where the INLD high command was yet to come over the crisis in the party emerged following the announcement of a newcomer Yograj Singh. The announcement of an outsider as its candidate by the Congress can also lead to a revolt in the party as the local leaders have time and again raised their voice against any such move. Though a long queue of locals, including Rajinder Kakkar, city president of party, Shashi Sharma, Amitabh Singh Chandel and Ravinder Rawal are leaving no stone unturned to get the party ticket, the names of Kuldeep Sharma, working president of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee and DK Bansal, sitting MLA from Ambala Cantonment, both outsiders, were being quoted as front-runner. The situation in the BJP was also seemed to be marred from dissidence as a particular faction was absent fron the party office when its candidate Gyan Chand Gupta addressed his first conference in the town today.
|
|
Justice Harbans S Rai dead Chandigarh, September 20 He is survived by his wife Amrit Rai and two sons Hardeep Singh and Randeep Singh Rai.
|
|
DSE schemes to revive dead scrips Mohali, September 20 Stating this at a press conference here today, Brihaspati Tripathi of the DSE said the two schemes were the amnesty scheme and the New Deposit-Based Trading Membership (NDBTM) scheme, which would help the exchange expand the trading membership network. The Amnesty scheme had been integrated to revive trade in all inactive scrips. The scheme would waive the full amount of reinstatement fees as well as the processing fees. The NDBTM had been put in place to expand the network of the trading membership of the exchange and had got a fairly good response. This would help the exchange expand the base brokers. It would allow brokers to extend the benefit of online and efficient trading to investors across the country. Tripathi said the DSE had also entered into an agreement with Financial Technologies (India) Ltd and IBM Technologies.
|
|
Bunny visits Tribune Model Gram
Zirakpur, September 19 He said like his late father, he would always be available for the service of the residents of this contituency. He said in future, he would take initiative to make area-vice social and self-help groups for the solution of the problems in the area and these group would act as an efficient feedback channel. — TNS
|
|
Mass marriage ceremony held Mohali, September 20 Items worth Rs 40,000 were given to each couple. Ujjagar Singh Wadali, MLA, and Mr NK Sharma, chairman, District Planning Committee, Mohali, Kulwant Singh, former president, MC, Mohali, blessed the newly-wed couples. Families from Mohali, Ropar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Patiala, Panchkula, and Ambala district attended the function. The society has so far arranged around 200 marriages and it was its 10th annual function.
|
|
Abhey Chautala convenes party meeting Panchkula, September 20 Aggarwal, when contacted, confirmed his meeting with Chautala. He said he had put before the high command issues related to the party workers’ reservations, and now he would work for the interests of the party. Meanwhile, BJP candidate Gyan Chand Gupta, who held his first press conference after his name was announced for Panchkula seat yesterday, said his party would contest the election on the issue of price rise. The prices of essential goods had shot up during the Congress regime. In Haryana, the development was restricted to only selected areas like Rohtak, he said. The comments of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the land release case were enough to indicate that all was not well with the state government as well as the bureaucracy, he added.
|
|
Electrocuted PSEB man dies Zirakpur, September 20 According to information, Bhagwan Singh, a lineman with the PSEB, had gone to repair wiring in Badal Colony, Zirakpur, on August 28, where he received an electric shock and fell on an iron gate. The sharp edges of the gate pierced his stomach, leaving him seriously injured. He was rushed to a private clinic, where he got stitches. He was then sent home. It was after two days that Bhagwan Singh felt severe pain in his stomach and the doctor referred him to the GMCH-32, where a gangrene infection was diagnosed in his stomach. After getting operated upon twice for the infection, Bhagwan died at the GMCH today. After the post-mortem, the body of the deceased was handed over to his family. A probe into the matter is on. Bhagwan Singh is survived by three children and a wife.
|
|
CityScope Letters This is in connection with Raveen Thukral’s article “The wind of change” published in Chandigarh Tribune on September 14. Amidst talks of the Punjab Governor being relieved of holding the additional charge of the Administrator, Chandigarh, from November along with reviving the post of Chief Commissioner, it is sincerely pointed out that why not the Union Government instead of reverting back to the same old practice of appointing a senior IAS officer as the Chief Commissioner, considers sending any non-bureaucrat and non-political person as the Administrator/Lieutenant Governor of the city. The city already boasts of having a huge machinery of hierarchy of bureaucrats. If one more senior bureaucrat is posted here, it would make no difference as the “babu culture” would continue to prevail. There is also an urgent need to review the present administrative structure, as it is not able to live up to the expectations of its residents. The need of the hour is to dispense with the present deputation policy, wherein officials from Punjab and Haryana are drawn in a pick-and-choose manner. Hemant Kumar, Ambala City Cops’ inefficiency a shame
September had been quite an eventful month. There was never such a strong reaction of the people and the press towards the functioning of the Administrators of Chandigarh, as it was during the tenure of Gen Rodrigues (retd). The vox populi became so strong that the Union Home Ministry decided to strip the Punjab Governor of the additional charge of the Administrator of the UT. A few days ago farmers and PSEB employees ransacked the city in order to get their demands fulfilled. The reaction of the police to handle this event was more shameful than the act of agitators. Whatever may be the grievances, no one is supposed to damage public and private properties to exhibit their anguish. The way the UT police tried to cover up its inefficiency to deal with such situation is deplorable. The teachers’ recruitment scam is also awful. Such officials should not be allowed to hold any charge and strict action must be taken against such officials to deter others. Capt Amar Jeet Kumar,
SAS Nagar
Residents yearn for change
Raveen Thukral’s article gives rise to a new perspective that is to have a legislative Assembly for the city on the pattern of Puducherry or Goa. The people of Chandigarh have been yearning for a “change- a change that is in best interest of the city and its people.” People have been wary of the Punjab Governor continuing as its Administrator. The much touted “mega projects” also got screwed. As a result, the system did not augur well with the residents. The teachers’ recruitment scam was also read with great anguish. It is probably the time that one should ponder over the alternatives of the governance of the city. Elevating its status to a responsive, democratic and representative legislative Assembly should be
mooted by all parties by rising above their partisan interests in claiming Chandigarh and let it remain “the city beautiful”
in true sense. Satish Chandra Sharma Chandigarh
Divest DPI (S) of rights
I agree with Raveen Thukral that by repatriating Samwartak Singh, the DPI Chandigarh, to his home state Haryana, the administration would only help him escape the action. It would be better if he were divested of all his rights and the functioning of the education department should be handed over to some other official. It would be in the interest of all concerned if the recruitment of teachers known as jobs-for-cash scam was scrapped altogether and some central agency was engaged to complete the recruitments afresh on the sole criterion of merit. However, I don’t agree to the writer’s views that interviews should be done away with. The writer deserves appreciation for highlighting the inept handling of the agitation organised by the BKU-affiliated farmers and employees of PSEB. The mayhem created by the protesters was unprecedented. It is not difficult to bring culprits to book, as some enterprising photojournalists video graphed the incident. Trishla Garg
Panchkula
Admn fails in its duty
The article by Raveen Thukral was like a CD that showed the way the events followed in the week that passed. While the rains and the news of the restoration of the Chief Commissioner's post for Chandigarh delighted the hearts of residents of the city, the shameful acts of violence and “goondagardi” shown by the Punjab farmers and employees of the PSEB were shocking. The blame for such senseless violence surely goes to the Chandigarh Administration, which failed in its duty to protect the lives and property of the residents of the city. The news that the city will soon get rid of the "Governor's" rule is most heartening and welcome. This is a right step taken by the Centre as the people of Chandigarh will now have easy access to the Administrator. I feel happy with the thought that the “good old days” will once again be back. Now there will be no “shameless rallies” and the people will live in peace. RK Kapoor
Chandigarh
Welcome change
The residents of Chandigarh have finally heaved a sigh of relief after their long-felt need for the change in the administration of
Chandigarh has been fulfilled. The last two-three years saw Chandigarh as a failed UT from the law and order point of view where umpteen unsavory trends set in with focus on parochialism, hooliganism, physical torture of police officials by agitating farmers in the heart of the city and mega projects coming under the surveillance of the vigilance officials to name a few only. Development became causality and autocratic and aristocratic self-rule overtook the canons. The change is welcome in so far as the old experience
of listening to public grievances closely and speedily by the Chief Commissioner is concerned and where the administration remained above board. Gurmit Singh Saini Mohali
|
Music fest at Strawberry Field Chandigarh, September 20 Appreciating their effort, Adity Dua, who presided over two such mornings said children participated with zeal and the most delightful thing was to see them enjoying the musical mornings.
|
|||||
|
|||||
| 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 | |
In this season of ICC Champions Trophy, cricketers, both of present and past, are making news off the field too, at least in this city. While Yograj Singh, a former test cricketer and actor, is back in news with his decision to bat on the sticky field of politics as an INLD candidate for Panchkula constituency, the short tempered Bhajji recently got a clean chit from the Punjab and Haryana High Court for his 'Ravana' jig with Mona Singh.