IT Chandigarh

CHANDIGARH: The ensuing civic polls in the four corporation towns of Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar have partly brought functioning of the government to a halt, as all the ministers have suddenly disappeared from the Punjab secretariat and are reportedly campaigning for the SAD-BJP alliance candidates in these towns.

Stakes for the ruling SAD-BJP and the dominant Congress opposition are very high, as this is the first trial of strength for them after the assembly polls in February this year when the SAD-BJP combine had just managed to secure a simple majority.

If the SAD-BJP combine wins these polls, the Congress would have a ready explanation that people go with the ruling party especially when it is firmly saddled for four-and-a-half years.

But if the SAD-BJP fails to win, the Congress would describe it as a ‘mandate against the ruling party’ and seek its ouster, especially when the ruling party had won in all the 12 constituencies in the three metros while it was humbled in the lone constituency in Patiala, where the outgoing chief minister was pitted against a light-weight Akali leader.

In this backdrop, a serious drubbing at the hustings would be quite humiliating for the ruling combine. Incidentally, odds are against the SAD-BJP combine in Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar, especially for the BJP.
(more…)

CHANDIGARH: Government activities like sale and purchase of property, registration of death & birth and monitoring of schools and health centres in rural Punjab will re-start from Saturday after a gap of 11 days. The employees of rural development department have agreed to join duty after being off work since July 21 to protest an attack on a block development and panchayat officer (BDPO) in Gurdaspur the same day.

The crisis was handled by chief minister Parkash Singh Badal himself, who on Friday called a meeting with agitating employees a day before they planned to refuse to do election duties for the August 8 municipal elections. Badal directed police to add Section 120-B of IPC (criminal conspiracy) to the case related to assault on BDPO Ranbir Singh Mudhal, and also transferred the investigation to SSP (city) Amritsar Kanwar Vijay Pratap Singh from SSP (rural).

In fact, the chief minister decided to honour the BDPO on August 15 for his effort to honestly conduct auction of a piece of land on the day he was attacked. The agitating employees’ spokespersons Bahadur Singh and Harbans Singh Gill said the government promised to ask deputy commissioners to provide BDPOs security whenever they demanded for discharge of their duties.
(more…)

CHANDIGARH: The man who provided the first crucial clue about the identity of the assassins of the then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh has sought better security to protect him and his family in the wake of death sentence being awarded to two and life imprisonment to three other accused.

City-based Balwinder Singh, an automobile painter by profession, was the first to come forward about the persons involved in the assassination as the vehicle used in the crime was re-painted by him. He had identified the persons from the pictures that appeared in newspapers.

Significantly, Lakhwinder Singh, Jagtar Singh Hawara and Balwant Singh who lived at Kansal village behind the civil secretariat, Chandigarh, often visited him in connection with repairs. It was primarily because of his assistance that the investigators were able to reach Lakhwinder Singh who in turn had spoken about Hawara and others, according to the counsel of the petitioner. Thereafter, the conspiracy and the chain of people involved in it came to be unearthed.

In his petition which came up for preliminary consideration before the division bench of Justices P Sathasivam and Rajive Bhalla on Friday, Balwinder has prayed for enhancing the security provided to him because of increased threat to him and his family following the award of death penalty to two and life imprisonment to three others in the Beant case.

Source: TNS

Mohali: Residents of Mullanpur Gareebdass are up in arms against the patwari of the village who they allege is never in his office. True enough, patwari Harvinder Singh Poli was not at the patwar khana when The Tribune team visited the place today.

A few queries, however, revealed that this was not just another case of absenteeism as the patwari normally chose to operate from the office of one Noor Property Dealer, nearby. The property dealers’ office was closed, but his family, residing on the first floor, said the patwari worked from their place.

When the Tribune team visited the patwar khana at noon today, the patwari was again not in his chair. Baljit Singh, the patwari for Parol village, who shares the room, said Poli had not come to office yet. He gave the mobile number of one Binder, who he said was assisting the patwari.

Further queries revealed that Binder was helping the patwari unofficially and was “attached” to him. When called for the preparation of some revenue papers, Binder offered to get the work done, promising to call back.

When asked where the patwari was, Binder said he had gone to demarcate some land nearby. He reluctantly gave the patwari’s mobile. When contacted, Poli said he was in Patiala.
(more…)

Chandigarh: The Right to Information Act (RTI) may have gathered all the hype, but the Public Records Act of 1993 remains stronger and more potent than the RTI; more importantly, its implementation being critical to the success of the recently-enacted legislation.

<%image(20070804-4807_2.jpg|105|105|)%>

And yet, awareness regarding this Act, that mandates management, administration and preservation of public records of the central government and union territories, remains poor. Ever since it came into force on March 1, 1995, very few states and UTs have been able to implement it, leaving large chunks of public information inaccessible and unavailable under the RTI.

It is this inaccessibility of public information that drives the National Archives of India’s nation-wide awareness movement with respect to the Public Records Act. Through a specially-structured records management workshop that has travelled to all the metros, the national archives are ensuring enactment of this significant Act. Today, their team of archivists was at Government Museum auditorium in the city to conduct the first-ever records management seminar in north India.
(more…)

Chandigarh: With the term of Lalit Sharma, adviser to the Administrator, coming to an end in September this year, the UT wing of the home ministry is learnt to have shortlisted three names for his successor. All three are Punjabis - Kiran Dhingra, Pradeep Mehra and Parvinder Kaur.

All three are 1975 batch officers. Pradeep Mehra has been adviser to the Administrator earlier too.The post was held by officers of the rank of joint secretary earlier. Lalit Sharma continued to hold the post on his elevation to the cadre of finance secretary. Under the same condition, Pradeep Mehra also qualifies, sources said. Mehra has his family based in the city.

Source: TNS

Chandigarh: Bureaucratic hurdles have come in the way of registration of units in Phase II of Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park. Work on the park projects has been delayed by more than a year.The area under the special economic zone(SEZ) has not been formally notified by the Centre yet.

Airtel and Esys have already been sidelined. At least a dozen companies have written to the administration that they be kept out of the area under the SEZ, which in turn has written to the ministry of commerce. Officials, on the other hand, said the projects had been approved and a formal notification was expected any time now.

Vineet Nayyar, managing director of Tech Mahindra, talking to the Tribune on the sidelines of the E-Revolution 2007 conclave, spoke about the “bureaucratic hurdles” that had delayed the project. “We have the work force, but the project cannot take off without formal approval,” he said. Nayyar said certain “persons” who did not qualify for SEZ rules had been left out.

Tech Mahindra and Infosys are the two major players in Phase II of the IT park covered under the SEZ. Nayyar said Mahindra envisaged an investment of Rs 100 crore.This would mean saving Rs 16 crore on account of non-payment of VAT, excise and customs by the company under SEZ rules.
(more…)

Chandigarh: The violence on Panjab University campus triggered several protests today. With both PUSU’s Abhishek Puri and SOPU’s Harpreet Singh Multani having spent the night in the lock-up after the scuffle yesterday, the blame game began once again.

SOPU student activists protested in front of the vice-chancellor’s office against.

They submitted a memorandum in this regard to the VC, which stated that Multani was not at the student centre when the fight began and that he was being implicated in a false charge. The memorandum demanded Puri’s “immediate expulsion.”

Puri said SOPU’s claim on Multani was incorrect. Earlier in the day, INSO activists staged a ‘silent protest’. Sporting ‘no violence’ banners, they walked around the university and then dispersed.

Source: TNS

Chandigarh: Chandigarh, finally, will have its annual akademi awards, on the lines of national awards, presented by central culture akademis. Approving the initiation of awards at a high-level meeting today, the administration decided that each of the three akademis - Chandigarh Lalit Kala, Sangeet Natak and Sahitya - will present these in their respective fields. Applications will be jointly invited by the administration and the akademis.

The akademis will soon be housed in a building along the Madhya Marg. Another major decision pertains to the renovation of Tagore Theatre. The same has been deferred till February next, much to the relief of culture groups, which had nowhere to go in the wake of theatre’s closure.

The Chandigarh Arts Council will give Rs 1.5 lakh to each of the three akademis for the annual awards. For this purpose, the department of public relations and cultural affairs will give Rs 4.5 lakh annually to the council.

The proposal will boost the city’s culture scene. It was also decided that the akademis would set up panels for selecting the best awardees for the purpose. Only those above 35 years would be eligible to apply.

Source: TNS

Chandigarh: A Division Bench, comprising Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice Rajive Bhalla, today issued notice to the UT administration and the SSP over a petition by Balwinder Singh, a prosecution witness in the Beant Singh assassination case.

The petitioner sought directions to the respondents, the UT administration and the UT SSP, for enhancing his security. He averred that security be provided at his residence, even when he was not there.

Balwinder Singh had provided the first clue in the Beant case which led to the arrest of the accused, who now stand convicted.The petitioner also submitted that his wife had died of a heart ailment caused by stress from threats to the family.

The UT administration has provided Balwainder with cops, who accompany him to work.

Source: TNS