Punjab-born man wins election in Finland

Punjab-born people have won elections in the US, Britain and Canada but in a first of its kind, a Punjabi has won a provincial election in Finland.

Ranbir Sodhi, 42, a night-club owner in Vantaa province adjoining Finland's capital Helsinki has become the first Indian to make it to the council of governors of Vantaa.

Originally hailing from Dhuri town in Punjab's Sangrur district, 200 km from here, Sodhi achieved the distinction of being the first and only member of Indian origin to make it to the council of governors during recently concluded elections, his media agency said here Thursday.

Sodhi has been elected on a Social Democratic Party (SDP) ticket. SDP is a leading party in Finland. He has been elected for a four-year term to the 67-member council of governors from 627 candidates.

Sodhi, who resides in Hiekkaharju city in Vantaa state, will represent the fourth most populated city of Finland with over 190,000 residents.

"This is yet another milestone for Indians, especially the Punjabi community which comprises nearly 200 families in Finland. Having been elected to the Finland legislature is a dream come true for me," Sodhi said.

Vantaa has the biggest international airport in Finland and caters to Helsinki city.

He said that his priority would be infrastructure development in Vantaa.

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Curtains go up on Chandigarh's renovated Tagore Theatre

The curtains have gone up in the much improved renovated Tagore Theatre, a prominent cultural focal point of the region.

The exteriors and interiors of the theatre have gone through a comprehensive makeover, though the original design has not been tampered with.

Extensive use of glass has been made in the entrance, the ceiling and the walls leading to the main auditorium.

"The inner structure of the theatre was completely dismantled to reconstruct the basement, auditorium, lobby, backstage, seating steps and projection room boxes, and 330 seats have been added by changing the direction of the stage to house nearly 900 comfortable chairs," Namita Satnam Singh, consultant architect said.

"It (the theatre) will certainly rejuvenates the theatre and art and culture of the city," Neelam Mansingh, eminent theatre director from this region, told IANS.

"It was a big challenge to renovate the Tagore Theatre and I am happy that the outcome is quite satisfactory," said Mansingh who also teaches at Indian Theatre department at Panjab University and has directed 35 plays in a career spanning over 30 years.

Tagore Theatre was constructed in the early 1960s and was in dire need of renovation. It remained closed for almost a year for renovation work.

"Glamour is an essential part of theatre and these two complement each other. Now the uptodate facilities will certainly add new life to theatre activities in the region as Tagore Theatre not only caters to Chandigarh but also to Punjab and Haryana," Umesh Kant, eminent theatre personality from Chandigarh, told IANS.

"Closure of Tagore Theatre for over one year certainly hampered our work as I had to stop my theatre workshops as we had no other good venue for our performances. However, it was necessary, as change is an essential cycle that enriches our life," said Kant, who is attached to theatre since 1976 and has directed and produced around 30 plays till date.

A modern power-saving lighting system and a fully automatic stage control system have been installed at Tagore Theatre.

Better sound reinforcement system, video projection system, fire detection and fire fighting system and a new air conditioning plant have also been added.

"I have performed at Tagore Theatre countless times and various times we had to make do with substandard light and sound systems. Facilities available in Delhi and Mumbai were far better than here. But now the new additions have made the theatre at par with any other theatre of the country," said Ranjan Sehgal, a young theatre artiste based here.

"Many of my contemporaries have moved to metro cities in search of better avenues and support system. But now with the opening of such a theatre in our own city we do not need to go anywhere. In fact it will certainly attract big production houses from other states to the city," Sehgal said.

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Accused in PFA Act cry foul

While UT administration refuses to give up its crusade against adulteration even in cases that go back many years, the accused cry foul as many litigations filed before 2003 are falling flat following a court ruling that UT's Food Health Authority (FHA) until then was not authorized to impart training to food inspectors.

With 50 persons booked under the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act walking free in the last few months, sources said, "While there are more than 550 cases pending in the districts courts against hoteliers, restaurateurs, grocers and department store owners booked in 2003, the same clause that came to the rescue of those acquitted will apply to the rest."

After a trial court had observed in 2003 that FHA was not authorized to impart training to food inspectors, UT moved a criminal revision petition in the court of additional district and sessions judge, which upheld the earlier verdict in March 2008 based on a notification issued by the ministry of health and family welfare in 1982.

Not ready to let go of those already booked, Manjit Singh Bains, director, health services-cum-food authority, Chandigarh, said, "The ruling is based on a technical ground involving food inspectors' training, but samples fail on the basis of tests conducted by analysts. We will be filing appeals against the recent acquittals and have written to the law ministry to regularize inspectors' training. This will help in pursuing pending cases in the trial court." He added that inspectors were also given requisite training in 2003 from recognised centres in Punjab and Haryana.

Unhappy with UT's insistence on further entangling the accused in litigation hassles, advocate Sunil Kumar who regularly contests PFA cases said, "The court's order will impact all cases filed before 2003. However, UT's move seems to be purely aimed at harassing the accused who have been coming to courts regularly for the last so many years. Most of them in the end are either acquitted or discharged."

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Underprivileged children in Chandigarh find a home

There is good news for the underprivileged children of Chandigarh. The Union Territory administration Monday inaugurated a residential and vocational centre to rehabilitate street children.

Aimed at uplifting street children, orphans and other underprivileged children, the Street Children Home and Vocational Training Centre was inaugurated one day prior to Diwali by Gen. (retd) S.F. Rodrigues, administrator of Chandigarh.

"Any child between the age group of 5 to 18 years who works on the streets, single parent children needing special care or protection, children displaced due to natural disasters, orphans, handicapped or children having the impact of HIV/AIDS on their family would be eligible for admission in the centre," Amandeep Kaur, director, social welfare told media persons.

The centre is spread over four and a half acres and can accommodate 900 children.

The centre has been divided into administrative-cum-educational block, vocational training block, three residential blocks, library-cum-recreational hall, music room, computer training centre, medical units, gymnasium and a playground.

"Out of the three residential blocks, the two blocks are meant for males and one is for female inmates. Each residential block is equipped with the facilities of dinning hall, kitchen along with a caretaker's residence. Special arrangements at ground floor have been made for handicapped children," said the spokesperson of the administration.

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Chandigarh's Beant Singh memorial finally opens

A memorial to Beant Singh, Punjab chief minister who was assassinated here in 1985, was finally inaugurated Wednesday after an inordinate delay in its completion.

The memorial and the Chandigarh Centre for Performing and Visual Arts were inaugurated Wednesday by Gen. (Retd.) S.F. Rodrigues, administrator of Chandigarh who also interacted with Jaswant Kaur, wife of the late leader, on the occasion.

There is an immediate need to make the Beant Singh memorial a functional and vibrant project and to highlight the ideals and the cause for which he laid down his life, Rodrigues told mediapersons.

This project must be developed further in an integrated and harmonious manner and we need more public participation for realizing our true objectives and the concept visualized before raising this memorial, he said.

Beant Singh was assassinated on Aug 31, 1995, by a suicide bomber. The memorial project was announced a few months later.

The Chandigarh administration and the Punjab government contributed funds for the construction of the memorial but the project kept on getting delayed.

The memorial includes a library building, an open-air auditorium, a lecture hall, a conference hall, a committee room, a reading room and water fountains and houses the Centre for Performing and Visual Arts.

Plans are on to beautify this place and many more features will be added in the next phase to attract more tourists here, said a spokesperson of the Chandigarh administration. (IANS)

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Rodrigues flags off mobile clinic bus

As part of the Gurta Gaddi Diwas celebrations, Punjab Governor and UT Administrator General S F Rodrigues (Retd) inaugurated a medical camp and flagged off a fully-equipped AC mobile clinic bus today. The bus was launched by the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Sewa Society at IMA Bhawan in Sector 35.

Accompanied by Jean Rodrigues, the Administrator went around different wards in the city, interacted with the members of the medical team and took stock of the facilities being provided in the hospital.

Rodrigues said they were in the process of synchronising healthcare services by pooling the existing resources and integrating the medical network available at PGIMER, General Hospital and the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, to ensure access to quality healthcare in the region. The Medicity is in an advanced stage of planning which will be equipped with super-speciality services with research facilities and 100 beds for chemotherapy and dialysis patients to help our goal of providing free treatment to the poor patients, he said.

General Rodrigues asked the Home Secretary to constitute a team of officers and management of the Guru Granth Sahib Sewa Society to coordinate endeavour to boost medical services in the region and reach out to people who cannot come to hospitals for treatment.

H S Sabbharwal, General Secretary of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Sewa Society, highlighted its goals and said that the fully-equipped AC mobile clinic bus with latest eye and dental equipment will conduct five camps in a week in rural areas within a 40-km radius of Chandigarh. He said the society has given 12 stretchers each to PGI and General Hospital, Sector 16.

There is a plan to start angiography and angioplasty facilities and the poor patients will be given free services, he added.

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Punjab, Haryana people spend more on health, less on insurance

People in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh set aside a huge part of their annual income for health expenses, but spend very little on health insurance, according to a survey released Tuesday.

The survey, jointly carried out by economic research institute National Council of Applied Economic Research and Max New York Life Insurance, found that "in Punjab, for an average household income of Rs.77,325, the annual health expenses are Rs.34,729, which is 44.9 percent of the income".

"Similarly, in Haryana and Chandigarh, the annual expenses on health care are 40.9 percent and 59.4 percent of their respective annual household incomes," Rajender Sud, director and head of agency distribution, Max New York Life Insurance, said here.

The survey covered 342 towns and 2,000 villages across 23 states.

The total health insurance penetration in India is only 1.2 percent, whereas in the US it is 84 percent of the total population, the report said.

Chandigarh ranks third among the 23 states participated in the survey.

Punjab and Haryana stood at ninth and 19th places respectively in the health insurance penetration rankings.

"With the growing incidence of diseases due to changing lifestyle, health insurance is recognised as one of the primary protection needs for all the family members. It should be an essential aspect of financial planning of every household," Sud said.

"According to the World Health organisation findings, in India, seven in every 100 will have diabetes problem and 21 in every 100 will have blood pressure problems by 2025. By 2010, 60 percent of the world's cardiac patients will be Indians. Such facts make the health insurance of utmost important for every Indian," he added.

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Chandigarh: A bird sanctuary in the heart of a busy city

In the heart of a bustling residential neighbourhood here exists a bird sanctuary - where at least 50,000 parrots dwell.

Every morning, residents of the posh Sector 21 - one of the busiest areas of the city with over 25,000 people - wake up to the chirping of these parrots and other birds that live in the City Bird Sanctuary.

"With the rising tall structures in urban areas, slowly birds are losing their habitat. However, this sanctuary within the posh locality sets a precedent in how birds and human beings can co-exist," said Rohit Ruhella, an environmentalist based in Chandigarh.

Ishwar Singh, conservator, forests, and chief warden, wildlife, told: "The posh locality boasts of a canopy of green cover, and birds, particularly parrots, have made it their habitat. The forest department officials took notice of this fact and marked 2.9 hectares as a bird sanctuary in 1998.

In Chandigarh, around 180 species of birds are found and most of these species have made this sanctuary their habitat, including owls, sparrows, mynahs and pigeons. However, parrots form the majority.

"Around 50,000 to 60,000 parrots are living in the sanctuary and its adjoining areas," said Singh.

The sanctuary is governed by the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Visiting times are from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and no weapons, explosives and chemicals are allowed inside. Some of the area comes under the adjoining government school, but still it is regulated under the wildlife act.

"We have not done anything to bring any bird here as they have themselves chosen this as their habitat. It was quite exceptional as out of 1,900 parks in the city, the birds chose this area," said Singh.

"One more exceptional thing about this sanctuary is that you will find scores of birds sitting on eucalyptus trees - normally a very rare sight," said Singh.

The forest department has also ensured that the residents of the area enjoy nature's bounty and has made cemented tracks and sheds inside the sanctuary, which also doubles up as a park.

The noticeable thing in the sanctuary is the height of the light posts, which are not higher than three feet.

"Birds also have their own lifestyle and breeding cycle and the presence of lights can disturb them and even force them to leave the sanctuary. So we installed short light posts here," said Singh.

Some residents resisted and demanded the setting up of tall light posts in the sanctuary but due to the timely intervention of the forest department, the problem was taken care of.

"Most people living here are nature lovers. The birds act as a biological alarm clock in the morning and wake us up!" said Monica Sethi, a resident.

Deepak Kothari, another resident, said: "It is a rejuvenating and soothing experience to stroll in the sanctuary early morning."

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Website to dissuade smokers launched in Chandigarh

An anti-smoking website was launched here on Wednesday, a day ahead of smoking being banned in public places across the country, an official said here.

"The smoke free website is the first of its kind in India. It will certainly help for the better implementation and enforcement of the smoke free guidelines in the city," a spokesperson said.

The city was officially declared "smoke free" July 15 last year.

Ram Niwas, home secretary, launched the website http://chandigarh.tobaccofreeindia.com.

"Regular review meetings will be held for mobilising the smoke free initiatives in the city. Chandigarh is acting as a role model for other states in the country and we would take all the necessary steps to sustain this position," said Ram Niwas.

The website contains all the guidelines which are to be followed by tobacco shops and dealers, educational institutes, private and public offices, hotels, clubs and restaurants, said Niwas.

The Chandigarh administration has been assisted by Burning Brain society, a non government organization (NGO) based in Chandigarh, in building the website.

"Our endeavour is to make this city cent percent smoke free in the real sense. The launch of the website has rejuvenated our drive," Hemant Goswamy, chairperson of Burning Brain society.

He said the website will make people aware of their rights and any violation could be reported through this website.

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Chandigarh goes polybag-free, amidst mixed response from society

Initiating another environment friendly step, the union territory of Chandigarh has imposed a complete ban on the use and sale of polythene bags in the city with effect from Oct 2.

The notification in this regard was issued July 30 by the department of environment under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

"The orders have strictly banned the use, storage, import, selling, transportation and disposal of polythene and plastic carry bags by any person in the city. No shopkeeper, vendor, wholesaler, retailer, trader or hawker can use polythene anymore," a senior official told IANS.

People here have to switch over to other eco-friendly alternatives of polythene bags and there are stern provisions of punishment for the violators, pointed out the official.

"At this juncture of time, polythene is the biggest hazard for our environment. This ban was the need of the hour as they interfere with the fertility of land, maligns our ground water and are the biggest threat for both flora and fauna," said Rohit Ruhella, president of Environment Awareness Society among Youth (EASY), a non-government organisation.

Moreover, this ban will add new life in the dying small-scale industry of paper bags and jute bags, said Ruhella.

However, there are people in the city who have termed this ban on the use of plastic as illogical and irrational decision of the administration.

"This is just a publicity stunt of the administration and this decision cannot survive for long. Normally a plastic bag used by shopkeepers cost anywhere between Rs.1 to Rs.5, but jute or paper bag costs at least Rs.7," said a member of Chandigarh Plastic Manufacturers' Association on the assurance of anonymity.

"The administration has taken this decision hurriedly, ignoring the interests of traders and common persons. This move can also enhance inflation, as the traders would increase the commodities costs to cover up the increase cost of carry bags," said Raghuvansh Singh, owner of a Verka milk booth here.

He added: "We are facing a lot of trouble in our business as very few people bring their own bags and till now we have not found any alternative to the plastic bags".

Violators of this act can be given rigorous imprisonment extended up to five years or fine of Rs.100,000 or both depending on the extent of violations.

For the habitual violators, an additional fine of Rs.5,000 per day shall be imposed and there are provisions of imprisonment up to seven years depending upon the violation, stated the official.

Besides, packaged commodities including milk products and grocery items have been exempted from this Act.

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