Panchkula, October 26
Five months after Deepak Rai Sagar, a property dealer, was kidnapped in the township the local police has now decided to treat the case as one of murder. Filing a reply in the court of sessions judge SP Singh opposing the anticipatory bail application of the three suspects, the police stated on the complaint of Sagar’s family members Section 302 IPC has been included in the FIR.

Following this the court dismissed the anticipatory bail plea filed by the three suspects.

It was on June 1 this year when Sagar had gone to meet Vinay in Maheshpur village in his Skoda Octavia car and did not return home.

Earlier on September 17 a Panchkula court had granted interim bail to the suspects - Vinay Kumar, a resident of Panchkula, and two business partners of Sagar, Rajesh Thapar, a resident of New Delhi, and Brajesh Kapur from Gurgaon.

In their application the three petitioners contended though they joined the police investigation nothing incriminating was found against them. Even a polygraph test was conducted upon them, they said in their application.

It was on September 8 when additional district & sessions judge Shiva Sharma dismissed an application filed by the police seeking permission to conduct a narco test on the suspects.

Chandigarh, October 26
An ex-Armyman was killed in a road accident after being run over by a vehicle near Mullanpur here tonight. In a separate accident, a pedestrian was crushed to death by a speeding truck in Manimajra on Sunday. In another incident, a woman was injured in a road accident.

The police said the ex-Armyman was identified as 47-year-old Mukhtiar Singh of Hoshiarpur village near here. He lost control over his motorcycle, which got skidded. He fell on the road and a vehicle, which was coming from behind, ran over him. He was critically injured and was rushed to the PGI, where he was declared dead on arrival.

In another accident, a pedestrian was killed after being hit by a mini-truck (HR 58 1702) near Bank Colony in Manimajra on Sunday. The truck driver sped away from the spot after the mishap. The victim was rushed to Sector 16 Government Multi-Speciality Hospital in a critical condition where he died. The police arrested the truck driver on the charges of causing death due to rash and negligent driving.

Similarly, Aditya Pandey of Mohali lodged a complaint with the police, alleging that the driver of a Jeep (CH 04 A 7383) hit his car near Hallo Majra Traffic Light Point on Sunday afternoon. His mother Suniti Pandey was injured in the accident and was admitted to Sector 32 government Medical College and Hospital. A case has been registered.

Panchkula, October 26
While Panchkula SP Amitabh Dhillon has asked DSP Virender Singh to conduct an inquiry into the death of a jhuggi dweller, Hira Lal, the cops suspected to have tortured him have begun exerting pressure on the victim’s family to lay the blame on a contractor.

“The police has been persuading us to blame some contractor for my husband’s death”, alleged Phoolwati, Hira Lal’s widow.

Hira Lal had died on Saturday morning at his jhuggi. His family members and relatives alleged cops from the Sector 14 police station tortured him on the night of Diwali when he was standing near three others who were playing cards. Hira was under the influence of liquor and when the cops tried to search his pockets with the intent to rob money, Hira resisted only to attract their wrath, she alleged.

The post mortem report of deceased also mentioned injury marks on the body.

When the TNS team visited the family today, Phoolwati along with her two children was sitting in an open space near her jhuggi surrounded by many other women from the vicinity who were consoling her.

“It was yesterday when a ‘saab’ accompanied by around one dozen cops came and asked us to cremate the body. He also assured us that following the cremation we would be provided some compensation and our grievances would be recorded at the police station,” said Phoolwati.

“Things, however, were totally different when, following the cremation, we arrived at the police station”, she said. “The cops present there asked us to tell the name of a contractor saying Hira Lal had died because he was injured when a stone fell on him while working for the contractor”, she said.

“Hira Lal was a daily wager and never worked for any contractor”, she said. The neighbours also rebutted her allegations against the police.

Kamlesh, who lives in the nearby jhuggi, said “policemen asked us to name a contractor responsible for the death of Hira Lal so that some compensation could be arranged for the family”.

Sector 14 SHO Inspector Aman confirmed the victim’s family members and other labourers met him after Hira Lal’s cremation yesterday. However, he denied any of the cops asked them to name any contractor for the death of Hira Lal. “Instead, the labourers themselves were telling me Hira Lal was injured while working with a contractor”, he added. DSP Virender Singh, said he was told by a labourer that Hira Lal died after a stone fell on his foot and he was injured. He, however, could not explain how a foot injury proved fatal.

Mohali, October 26
In a move aimed at checking encroachments by various religious establishments on public land worth crores of rupees in Mohali, the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has allotted land to six religious institutions in the city. The allotments have been made after a gap of several years.

Plots measuring 1,000 square yards of land have been allotted on leasehold basis at a rate of Rs 6 per sq yard per annum after screening the applications received last year. All applications were scrutinised by a meeting of GMADA’s executive committee held last week.

“Though no allotment of land more than 1000 sq yards has been cleared, the lease money would be Rs 600 per sq yard per annum”, said a GMADA official.

Those who have been allotted land include Gurdwara Guru Nanak Darbar, Sector 66; Durga Mandir Sabha, Sector 64; National Pasmanda Sikh Foundation, Phase 3B1; Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Sector 69; Chief Khalsa Dewan, Sector 48; and Sri Sanatan Dharam Mandir, Sector 48 C.

Each allottee has been asked to deposit Rs 1.61 lakh within 90 days from the date of the letter of intent being issued. Apart from the application money of Rs 45,000, a nonrefundable security of Rs 2 lakh will also have to be deposited.

In an effort to check misuse of the sites, GMADA has decided that the ownership of the land as well as building constructed would continue to vest with GMADA, and the site allotted would not be used for any other purpose.

The allotments have been made to check construction of religious buildings on illegally occupied lands. The GMADA has received a number of applications from various social organisations.

Chandigarh, October 26
The move to restore the post of Chief Commissioner for Chandigarh will gain momentum during the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the city on November 3 with the local unit of the Congress deciding to take up the issue with him.

The Congress sees Prime Minister's visit as the golden opportunity to give a final push to the decision to revert back to the old system of Chief Commissioner, which had already been taken by the Ministry of Home Secretary (MHA) in principle.

"We have already sought time from Dr Manmohan Singh and the issue of the restoration of Chief Commissioner's post will be high on the agenda. In fact, various acts of omission and commission of the Chandigarh Administration, headed by Punjab Governor SF Rodrigues, who also holds additional charge of the UT Administrator, on the mega projects front will also be brought to the notice of the Prime Minister,” Pardeep Chhabra, media coordinator for Pawan Bansal, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources, said here today.

Congress sources said with Rodrigues’ role allegedly coming under scanner in the allotment of land for the mega projects, the party would impress upon the Prime Minister to delink the posts of the Punjab Governor and UT Administrator.

This coupled with the slugfest between Rodrigues and UT Adviser Pradip Mehra over mega projects provided enough ground for the revival of the Chief Commissioner’s post, which was scrapped in 1984 in the backdrop of militancy in Punjab, the sources said.

In the wake of the passage of the Punjab Disturbed Areas Act and the Chandigarh Disturbed Areas Act in 1984, Punjab was put under Governor’s rule and the Punjab Governor was made the UT administrator.

The Prime Minister’s city visit seems to be perfectly timed for the Congress as the Governor’s terms expires on November 16 and a decision from the Prime Minister’s Office has come before that. Since Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had already opposed the delinking of the posts of the Punjab Governor and the UT Administrator, the local unit of the Congress wanted to “put the record straight” before Dr Manmohan Singh, the sources said. Even Pawan Bansal, during his recent press conference against Rodrigues, had claimed he would take up the matter with the PM as the final decision was to be taken by him.

Chandigarh, October 26
The city’s Kalagram will very soon have professionally well laid out surroundings on the pattern of New Delhi’s ‘Dilli Haat’, home secretary Ram Niwas said here today. Overwhelmed with the response to the ongoing crafts fair, he added, “We will soon work out the details of a professionally laid out campus with special emphasis on residency facilities as well”.

Currently, exhibitions are held in several ‘bhavans’ violating the estate office's terms and conditions of allotment.

Niwas said, “There are small exhibitions going on at various places all over the city throughout the year in different ‘bhavans’. Instead of these fairs to be spread out Kalagram can be worked out as the central place for different exhibitions”. “We have initiated the process of identifying possible subjects for exhibitions like Phulkari, Rajasthani, Marwari and Gujrati, besides others,” he added.

It is worth mentioning that the ambitious project was approved at a NZCC governing body meeting held in Jaipur in July 2008. It had been planned that the sprawling complex would have an airconditioned handicrafts market, the state-of-the-art indoor auditorium and classrooms for students on the pattern of ‘Dilli Haat’.

The project, to be executed by the Chandigarh Housing Board, was supposed to get its building plans approved by the UT estate office, sources said.

Situated on a strategic highway, the sprawling complex already has the requisite infrastructure including the sculptor park, outdoor auditorium and a restaurant run by the Chandigarh Industrial & Tourism Development Corp (CITCO).

Said a senior official: “We’re looking into the possibility of erecting certain permanent structures to give a distinctive look to the entire Kalagram. There is scope to work out permanent theme models like rural settings, dance floors, workstations for folk artists and lecture arenas, besides others”.

The venue will also witness dance and theatre festivals attempting to showcase talent from different parts of the country on a common podium. Instead of stray performances, Kalagram will attempt to hold events for a wider participation.

Chandigarh, October 26
It seems that the Chandigarh Administrator, Gen S F Rodgriues, is not satisfied with the report submitted by a team of councillors of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, who had gone on a study tour of the three Municipal Corporations of Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara in Gujarat. He had sent back the report, prepared by them, with the directions to the MC commissioner to give his comments, before it is considered by the administration.

It may be mentioned that 12 councillors, led by Mayor Kamlesh, went on a week-long study tour of Gujarat to study the basic civic amenities and their special projects. The report is yet to be tabled in the house for 
its approval.

Interestingly, the report covers all those services, which the corporation had started long time back as their pilot projects or some proposals are such, which are not in the jurisdiction of the corporation.

On the issue of garbage, the team suggested that there should be door-to-door garbage collection. Other suggestion includes proper monitoring of solid waste disposal system and setting up of a bio-medical waste plant in the city for the proper disposal of the hospitals medical waste.

Strangely, the city already has a garbage processing plant which is considered as the pilot project of the country for which door-to-door garbage collections was started more than two years ago. All major city hospitals have facility of insulators for the disposal of bio-medical waste of the city.

Councillors also recommended night sweeping in the city. It may be recalled that when three mechanical sweeping machines were purchased by the medical health officer department, the house cleared the project on the plea that with less manpower, they could do cleaning in the city at night also.

The report also suggested the expansion of the activities of the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) by having projects like housing for slum dwellers so as to get the land of the corporation vacated from dwellers for its proper utilisation.

Interestingly, despite the repeated directions by the administration to the corporation authorities to levy property tax and maintenance charges of water tariff for getting timely subsidy from the Central Government on the existing ongoing projects, nothing has been done by the corporation authorities in this regard till date.

How the corporation could look for new projects under the JNNURM scheme in the future is a big question mark. Besides this, the work of the housing is under the Chandigarh Housing Board and not under the corporation.

A proposal of refresher courses to fire officials and recruitment of fire personnel from fire academy has also been proposed by the councillors. Surprisingly, councillors have not bothered about the backlog of the fire department, which have been filled by the deputationists, even though the trained personnel are available with the department.

Senior officials remarked that the report clearly depicts how serious the MC councillors were during their study tours that they have made recommendations of such works, which were already being implemented in the city.

Chandigarh, October 26
With the winters on the threshold, the ambience in the morning at the First Chandigarh National Crafts Mela was cozy, attracting the various age groups, especially NRIs, foreigners and housewives, to explore the beautiful ethnic mela.

The third day kicked off with numerous performances by folk artistes, who have come from all over India.

One of the attracting features of the festival sky dining, where one can board the flight and enjoy the sumptuous food at the height of 164 feet. It was opened today for the general public. With a ticket worth Rs 500 per person, a good number of people were turning up to enjoy the food mid-air.

The Food Court has been one of the most happening segments of the mela. With so many states, sharing a common platform, the food court is offering multiple cuisines with a special emphasis on their regional food. Wazwan, a special Kasmiri food stall, is offering various non-vegetarian dishes. According to Sadeek, in charge of the stall, “The response in Chandigarh is far better than Delhi. We are offering seekh kabab, goshtaba rice, rista rice and many more but roganjosh is selling like hot cakes”.

With the Punjab Tourism’s too many dishes on its menu like fish tikka, gur ka halwa and many more, Atul Sethi, supervisor from the Punjab Tourism, says, “The demand of Amritsari kulcha chana and Amritsari ladoo is very high among all dishes. To prepare it, we have got chefs from the famous Lawrence road in Amritsar”.

Adjacent to it is the Haryana Tourism stall which has something for all on its platter. The mouth-watering jalebi is being loved by all. To add a feather to its cap, the organisers have roped in Gohana’s famous jalebi. One piece of Jalebi weighs 250 grams and it is prepared in pure desi ghee.

Today’s musical evening began with a competition "Voice of Chandigarh" which was inaugurated by UT Finance Secretary Sanjay Kumar. Students of seven colleges participated in it. All college-going students of the tricity enthusiastically participated in the competition. The major attraction of the evening was the doses of laughter by a participant of the Laughter Challenge Rajeev Malhotra and the cultural performances presented by students of the ITFT. 

Mohali, October 26
Even as the Mohali municipal council rejected the move of the government to implement a substantial hike in water and sewerage charges at the general body meeting held here today, Kharar MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu condemned the Punjab government for interfering in the matters of the civic body.

The department of local government had directed the municipal council to implement the revised water supply and sewerage tariff with immediate effect.

A copy of the notification received by the civic body office stated that in partial modification of the notification dated July 29, 1994, the government had rationalised and revised the user charges/tax in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 62 A (2) of the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911, (as amended in 1994) and a direction was given to all municipal councils and nagar panchayats in the state vide notification dated May 2, 2003, to implement the revised water supply and sewerage tariff with immediate effect.

The revised charges of water supply recommended for domestic consumers for 2007-08 are Rs 3.80 per kilolitre per month.

The flat rate recommended for five marla houses is Rs 100 per month per connection, Rs 105 for five marla and up to 10 marla and Rs 140 for over 10 marla but less than one kanal.

The charges recommended for domestic sewer connections are Rs 70 up to 5 marla per connection per month, Rs 105 for five marla and up to 10 marla and and Rs 140 for over 10 marla but less than one kanal.

Residents are currently paying Rs 1.80 per kilolitre per month for the supply of water and Rs 15 per seat per month as charges for sewer connections as per the government letters dated November 22, 2000 and April 26, 2001.

The directions of the government regarding hike in water and sewerage charges were rejected outright and no arguments followed on the agenda item of the meeting, which was attended by 12 councillors and the Kharar MLA, who is an ex officio member of the civic body.

Members of the opposition group, who wanted to vote-out the Congress-backed president of the council, were not present at the meeting barring two councillors.

While Kuldeep Kaur Kang was present throughout the meeting, Usha Rani joined the meeting later. There are 31 elected representatives in the council.

The issue of power supply being disconnected by the Punjab State Electricity Board to the two-kanal house in the municipal complex in Phase V was put up as a table item.

The house was informed that a sum of around Rs 1.47 lakh was outstanding as power bills were not cleared during the time when the house remained occupied by former Deputy Commissioner HIS Garewal.

A sum of around Rs 12 lakh was outstanding as rent when the house remained occupied by Garewal. The council has asked the government to clear the pending dues.

Talking to mediapersons, the MLA said councillors who had not attended the meeting today were not interested in the development of the town. The agenda of the meeting was not a political one but items related to employees of the civic body and the proposed hike in water and sewerage charges were to be discussed.

If they were not bothered about the development of the town they should not have become councillors, he remarked.

The MLA said he could not understand why Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal interfered in the working of the civic body.

If he wanted to become the president of the Mohali council, Congress-backed president Rajinder Singh Rana would happily vacate the chair for him, he said.

He added that opposition councillors would not be able to vote out Rana and all their efforts in this regard would prove futile.

Chandigarh, October 26
With just a week to go for Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s visit to Panjab University, preparations have kicked off in full swing on the campus.

The Vice-Chancellor’s office has dispatched letters to faculty members and staff for their confirmation at a special convocation on November 3.

Keeping in view the tight security arrangements during the visit, PU authorities have planned to allot seat numbers to 1,200 guests, including dignitaries, faculty members and other guests. To include student participation, nearly 100 department representatives (DRs) will be present.

An illustrious alumnus of the university, Dr Singh will be awarded a doctorate in law degree in the special convocation.

Besides, the foundation stone of the ultra modern multipurpose auditorium will be laid.

“The auditorium is a brain child of RK Saboo, trustee-chairman of Jan Seva and HK Dua, Editor-in-Chief, The Tribune. They suggested the concept of the auditorium during the visit of former Vice-President, Bhiron Singh Shekhawat in PU,” said Prof RC Sobti, Vice-Chancellor, Panjab University.

Spread over seven-acre and with a cover of 74,674 sq ft, the multipurpose auditorium can accommodate 2,500 persons. A smaller hall is also planned with a capacity of 600 persons.

The total area on all floors will be 2,68,190 sq ft and the hall will also contain a cafeteria, board room-cum-conference area and exhibition area. Hydraulic chairs will be the feature of the auditorium.

According to the architectural draft of the hall, it will also contain one-level basement parking in addition to surface parking. Provision of a maintenance office (1,580 sq ft), a separate green room for ladies in addition to a green room for gents, control room, waiting room and a VIP room will also be there. Architects have kept a provision for expansion of the auditorium.

SD Sharma and associates, Chandigarh, have designed the multipurpose hall for the university voluntarily. “Experienced professionals will be given the task of constructing the hall and once the foundation stone is laid, tender will be floated to invite a national firm. The multipurpose hall will be a green building with all modern facilities,” said the VC.

Chandigarh, October 26
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Panjab University has been confirmed. An alumni of the varsity, Manmohan Singh will visit the campus on November 3 and is expected to stay there for an hour, according to Vice-Chancellor RC Sobti.

The PM will inaugurate the Rs 50-crore multipurpose auditorium and attend the special convocation.

Though the PU administration had remained tight-lipped on the PM’s visit all this while, preparations for the same were evident on the campus.

“The PM will also be awarded Doctorate in Law degree by the university,” the VC said.

Mohali, October 26
Manav Mangal Smart School, Mohali, was awarded certificate of appreciation at the national-level CBSE science exhibition held at Bal Bharti Public School, New Delhi.

Over 200 schools from across the country took part in the exhibition. Earlier, the project had been shortlisted out of 100 schools, which had participated at regional-level exhibition in Green Land Senior Secondary School, Ludhiana.

Prizes were given away by Anshu Vaish, Secretary (education), ministry of human resource and development, Government of India, and Vineet Joshi, chairman of CBSE.

According to director Sanjay Sardana, the project was based on the simple scientific principle of law of conservation of energy. The project was prepared for producing electricity for gyms with a treadmill and cycle on which members of a family could exercise to remain fit.

The project was a working model and it was shown that electricity up to 250 watts could be produced during a single workout for 30 minutes per day by one family member.

Therefore, if two members would workout for 30 minutes each for one year, they could produce electricity up to 182.5 KW, which would suffice the average monthly consumption of a family, which was 150KW to 180KW.

The students who worked and presented the project were Siddharth Chauhan, Harkiran Kaur Waraich and Vinarmjot Singh. They received Rs 3,000 cash prize and a merit certificate each.

Chandigarh, October 26
The National Wage Boards for Working Journalists and other newspaper employees had hearing session today. Representatives and unions of The Tribune, Indian Express and other newspapers appeared before the board. Hearing session will be conducted tomorrow also.

The principal grievances of the journalists and non-journalists were that they were not being given even the minimum wages fixed by the Government of India and the state government. Also, the wage board recommendations made by the last board and accepted by the Central Government with minor modifications had not been implemented.

In pursuance of demand from various associations, unions and federations, the government constituted two separate statutory wage boards. One of the boards was set up for the purpose of fixing and revising rates of wages in respect of working journalists and the second wage board was set up for fixing and revising wages for non-journalist newspaper employees.

The board for fixing of revising wages in respect of working journalists include three members, representing employers in relation to newspaper establishments and three members, representing working journalists. Likewise, the board for non-working journalists has representation in the same manner.

The boards collect feedback from stakeholders. The stakeholders and owners of press are given oral hearing to represent their respective causes before the board. 

Chandigarh, October 26
The annual conference of the International Medical Sciences Academy, organised by the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, in association with the Chandigarh Chapter of International Medical Sciences Academy, concluded here yesterday.

The theme of the conference was advances in medical sciences, wherein faculty from India and abroad deliberated on various aspects of advancements in medical sciences. A total of 250 delegates attended the conference.

On the first day, four scientific sessions were held. Dr B Sesikeran, director, Nutrition Foundation of India, Hyderabad, spoke on nutritional and lifestyle changes for maintaining good health.

In the second scientific session, Prof KK Talwar, director, PGIMER, Chandigarh, highlighted the risks involved in coronary artery disease among the young. He warned that cardio-vascular diseases would be the leading cause of death by 2010 and suggested lifestyle measures and treatment options.

He added that the incidence of coronary artery disease among the young in the West was 5 per cent, as compared to between 20 and 25 per cent in India.

Chandigarh, October 26
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the state of Haryana to allot works for recarpeting or repair of 17.5 km stretch from Pinjore to Maranwala (Baddi) on the NH-21A within two weeks.

The directions are expected to come as a relief to industrialists based at Baddi-Barotiwlaa-Nalagarh, as the stretch is considered the lifeline for the industry.

The stretch has reportedly not been repaired for the past three years and was causing major inconvenience to commuters as well as industrialists of the area.

The Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Mahesh Grover, passed the orders on Monday, while hearing the petition by BBN (Baddi, Barotiwala, Nalagarh) Industries Association.

The Bench passed these orders following the submissions of the Haryana government that they had initiated the process of allotment of tenders for the repair of the 17.5 km stretch.

Chandigarh, October 26
In a bid to preserve its inherited property, Panjab University AC Joshi Library will have a heritage room on its premises where 100-year-old furniture, originally from Panjab University, Lahore, will be at a display.

The furniture, which is of great aesthetic and historic value, was earlier kept in the United Services Club Chalet, a defence building in Shimla built during the British rule.

In the building, two rooms were devoted to Panjab University library and the furniture was brought here from Panjab University, Lahore.

Students in the AC Joshi Library read an old book of historic value and; (right) a 100-year-old table, which was brought from Panjab University, Lahore, after Independence. Tribune photos- Vinay Malik

Later, after Independence in 1947, these cupboards and tables were brought from Lahore to Shimla, which are now preserved by AC Joshi Library.

Besides, another proposal is in the pipeline for the preservation of ancient books and manuscripts currently being kept in the library. The idea is to make rare documents available in the public domain for study.

According to the proposal, the library plans to convert nearly 20,000 books of immense historic value into e-books.

Additionally, a re-print of these old books, with prior permission, will also be produced. The proposal is being drafted under the aegis of chief librarian, Dr VK Anand.

“The proposal will have a dual objective. The conservation of the old books and manuscripts will be done through publishing a re-print and converting them to e-books. This would not only benefit the readers but even the university will economically gain out of the activity, because of the royalty which the university will get,” said Dr VK Anand.

In the first phase, about 800 books have been selected out of 20,000 for reproduction. These documents contain rare collection of diaries, memoirs, manuscripts and biographies, which are not available in the market anymore.

Chandigarh, October 26
While the colourful crafts and diverse folklore arts kept over 70,000 visitors in rapt attention during the second day of on going Chandigarh Craft mela at Kalagram it was a captivating spell of Bharatnatyam dance by Padam Shri Bharatnatayam exponent Devayani who hogged the limelight.

The French danseuse credited with significant contribution to the internationalisation of Bharatanatyam in it pristine form and glory commenced her recital with an invocation in laudation of the Lord.

She presented Alarippu in calm contemplation as worship by temple dancers before stepping into the major element “Varnam”.

Based on raga karaharpriya, she brought alive the essence of the composition “Mogha mahinem Indha velayli”.

She executed this abhinaya part with eloquent body gestures and facial expressions. The first padam composition showing devotional love to Lord Shiva was followed by “Thaye Yashoda.”

Devyani was, however, at her best in the concluding thillana as she addressed and devoted her dance to Lord Shiva in the joyous spirits and a prayer in Sanskrit.

This refers to the CityScope “Time to walk the talk” (October 19) by Raveen Thukral, He seems perturbed over the Supreme Court’s judgement that has reversed the Punjab and Haryana High Court decision in the Nari Niketan rape case.

However, now that the judgement in the case has been pronounced, it is time to ensure the well-being of both the mother and her to-be-borne child. But then the question is how will the safety be ensured?

Mr Thukral has rightly observed that whosoever takes the responsibility of the child and the mother remain committed to the cause and not forget about it once the issue is out of public glare. Therefore, is important to find such an agency.

As regards the slugfest going on between the administration and the National Trust, Delhi, it is clear that the trust is adopting escapist policy. Javed Abidi offering her a package of cash and insurance is a well-planned tactic.

Chandigarh administration’s affidavit filed by Anupam Gupta goes a mile extra in undertaking to provide a job as per qualification and marriage of the child. Both the parties are not concerned about the child carrying the stigma of being an “illegitimate child”.

Chandigarh, October 26
The ambitious Education City project of the Chandigarh administration in Sarangpur Institutional Area today was witness to the bhoomi pujan and foundation stone laying ceremony of the Chitkara Educational Trust here today. The Punjab Governor and UT Administrator, General (retd) Dr SF Rodrigues, presided over.

Rodrigues said the project had been conceived and was planned as part of the continuing endeavour to create a knowledge society by enlarging the scope of public-private partnership.

Referring to the success of partnership initiative programme in different wings of the city, Rodrigues said over 250 NGOs had joined the endeavour and 13 private education institutions signed MoUs with government schools for sharing knowledge and infrastructure facilities.

About 1,200 parents have adopted children from slums and other vulnerable areas and took the responsibility of making them useful citizens.

Dr Madhu Chitkara, general secretary of the Chitkara Educational Trust said the project provides Chitkara Educational Trust with an exceptional opportunity to offer, a unique array of programmes in various streams of education and management curriculum that will prepare our graduates for booming job markets in India and contribute directly to economic development in North India.

Senior officers, including Ram Niwas, Home Secretary, Brijendra Singh, Deputy Commissioner and Samwartak Singh, DPI (Schools) attended the function.