Chandigarh, June 16
Thousands of commuters of the city and the periphery were stranded this morning as CTU buses went off the road following an impromptu strike by the CTU workers union.

The strike was called to protest the administration’s move to allow plying of air-conditioned buses by Punjab’s private operators in the city.

Office goers, in particular, had a harrowing time as no one was aware of the strike when they stepped out of their houses. Even long distance CTU travellers faced problems as the strike was complete and no buses plied out of the city.

The strike was, however, called off late in the evening after assurances by the administration.

The so-called crisis management of the CTU authorities was also disclosed that nothing was done to mitigate the problems of the commuters, who were left at the mercy of rickshaw pullers and autorickshaw drivers who charged exorbitant rates.

Earlier, the union members, who gathered at 4 am in front of all three depot gates at Industrial Area and did not allow any bus to go out. Consequently, the total fleet of CTU, 417 buses, including long route (150 buses), local (180 buses) and suburban buses (83 buses) went off the roads, leaving the passengers high and dry till the evening.

However, around 7 pm, the strike call was taken back when Pradip Mehra, adviser to the Administrator, gave assurance that the grudges of the employees would be solved within 20 days, said the union leadership.

Giving reasons of taking the step, adviser to the union Bhupinder Singh alleged that despite lodging their protest time and again, the Chandigarh Administration had made an agreement with the Punjab government on June 4 under which the former has agreed to issue 73 permits with 77 trips to air-conditioned buses to private operators.

“The union had information that the State Transport Authority is going to countersign the permits today, To stop them, we decided to go on strike”, Bhupinder Singh said.

“With issuing the permits to the Punjab private operators, the administration would open the pandora’s box as it would open the channel for other states like Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, etc. This will ultimately tell upon the financial health of the CTU, which has already been running into losses. Before the agreement, the CTU used to cover the distance of 39,000 kilometres in Punjab and this exclude the suburban routes but now according to the terms of agreement, our buses can cover only 29,000 kms, including suburban routes”, said Bhupinder Singh.

The union also termed the agreement invalid. “It is clearly mentioned in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 as well as Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, that any inter-state route agreement should be approved by the Central Government”, said the union leader.

The union has also filed a case in this regard in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on April 27 this year and the matter is pending there, added the leader.

Meanwhile, the CTU authorities, which came to know about the strike within no time, were seemed least bothered about the union’s step as well as the public inconvenience.

“No official came to pacify the union members, who held the rallies for the whole day at their depots”, said the union members. It was also said the CTU authorities had inkling of the strike.

CTU director PS Shergill, who met the union leaders in the morning to ask the reason of their strike, went to meet home secretary on the issue only to come back after 4.30 pm.

“Following meeting with us, he again went to the adviser and came back with the assurance on which we decided to call off the strike”, said Bhupinder. 

Chandigarh, June 16
Once again, Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, is in the news.

First, there was acute shortage of certain life-saving drugs, then the unavailability of thyroid kits, and now urea diagnostic kits, required for detection of various kidney-related ailments, have run out of stocks, causing problems for many patients.

A patient suffering from urine-related ailment revealed that he had gone to the hospital today for a blood urea test after doctors recommended him to do so. He claimed that at laboratory, staff technician asked him to come back after a few days as the urea kits were not available.

“I am not well and need the treatment immediately but without the test it is not possible,” he rued. He said he would now have to go to a private lab for the test and shell out more money, besides wasting more time.

Another patient, Rohit (name changed), from Chandigarh faced a similar problem. He said he was also asked to get the test done from outside as the kit was not available. “The hospital administration should make alternate arrangement. A blood urea test costs just Rs 20-30 in the hospital, while private laboratories will charge around Rs 40-50,” he said.

Confirming that the kits had been out of stock for the past few days, a technician revealed that on an average about 40-50 routine urea tests are conducted at the hospital’s OPD. The number of tests is almost the same for patients admitted to emergency and the wards.

Expressing surprise at the unavailability of the kits, a senior doctor at the hospital said the tests were required to assess levels of urea. If level found high, it indicated that the kidneys were not working properly, or that you are dehydrated (have a low body water content). He said the test was necessary for patients suffering from failure or any type of infection.

Chandigarh, June 16
But for the failure of the Punjab Postal Department to publicise its innovative scheme of home delivering some of the finest spices from the South via speed post, thousands of Punjabis could have added more flavour to their meals.

Launched two years ago, the scheme found its first taker today as a city resident placed an order for the spices. Had the department backed the initiative with publicity, Punjabi’s appetite for the distinct Kerala spices would have been fulfilled long time back.

As per the scheme, three spices, pepper, cardamom and vanilla, being marketed under a premium brand, “Flavourit”, can be ordered through the postal department. The Spice Board India is entrusted with the operations of packaging and forwarding. While vanilla is sold in package of 100 gm and 25 gm, pepper and cardamom is available in 250 gm packets.

Explaining the working of the “spicy delivery”, chief postmaster general Prithvi Rajkumar said, "Those who want these spices, can place the order with required charges. Once we receive the order with payment made by the buyer, the requests are sent directly to Kochi spice board through e-post. The ordered items are then despatched the next day for delivery at the desired destination through speed post."

Chandigarh, June 16
Even as the Chandigarh administration gears up to reward the illegal squatters on prime govrnment land by rehabilitating them under its much-criticised rehabilitation policy, thousands of marla house owners are on the warpath once again protesting against its "double standards."

Not amused by the administration's recent much-touted bonanza on relaxations in the building bylaws, the marla house owners again knocked at the doors of the top brass, including UT Administrator SF Rodrigues, today in the hope of getting justice.

Citing architectural laws and set procedures, the Administrator did not commit anything on the genuine long-pending need-based changes. He, however, asked the finance secretary and the DC to "consider any genuine issues raised in the memorandum and sort out the problems taking a holistic view." "We are not asking for the moon as our demand was only the regularisation of the need-based changes on our own land," said Surinder Pal Chauhan, president of the Chandigarh Marla Flats House Residents Welfare Association. In fact, the residents were ready to demolish the changes/alterations, which adversely affected the basic character of the city, he added.

Residents alleged while the administration took shelter under the architectural laws regarding marla houses, the same yardstick was not followed for allowing scores of multiplexes and shopping malls in the industrial areas under the conversion policy.

The association is toying with the idea of taking a tough stand against the political parties in the run- up to the Lok Sabha elections next year.

Chandigarh, June 16
Manvinder Singh came to city yesterday to see his ailing mother in the PGI. This morning he was standing in front of the PGI to get back to his Maloya village. Unaware of CTU bus strike, he kept waiting for an hour. Later when he thought of hiring autorickshaw, he demanded Rs 120 to take him to his village whereas he gives Rs 10.

It is not only Manvinder Singh who had to suffer, but almost all commuters had the similar story. Due to the CTU strike the public of the city as well as peripheral areas had a hard time. The worst hit were the people from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh who did not know how to reach their destinations after they were dropped at Sector 43 bus stand by buses.

"I have an interview at Jalandhar in private radio station. But I think I may not be able to make on time just because of the strike," disappointed Rajiv Thakur said.

It was all smiles on the faces of autowala's who got an opportunity to charge whopping amount from the helpless public. Today they hold monopoly to decide the fares. The rates for commuting from one place to another in the city are usually between Rs 5 and 10 but today they were charging around Rs 30 and 50 and more. "It cost me Rs 80 from my village to Sector 35. It otherwise costs only Rs 10. I need to spend the same amount in evening to return if the strike does not call off," said Ajmer Singh, a resident of Khuda Lahora.

Chandigarh, June 16
The genesis of today’s strike, which put thousands of commuters to inconvenience, lies in the inter-state agreement, signed between Punjab and Chandigarh. The agreement will allow private air-conditioned buses from Punjab to the city.

If implemented, the passengers travelling between Chandigarh and different destinations in Punjab would certainly able to enjoy comfortable ride. But this will give the CTU run for money, which is not ready to take on the aggressive competition. The CTU is yet to procure its fleet of AC buses. Already, around 30 buses are not road worthy and another 50 are in the process of being declared not road worthy.

On the other hand, the private bus operators are already approaching the State Transport Authority, Chandigarh, for countersigning of permits. “We are working the formalities before countersigning the permits of the applicants”, said the STA, Chandigarh, Vandana Dasodia.

Under a reciprocal transport agreement signed between the UT and Punjab on June 4, the air-conditioned and non air-conditioned buses owned and operated by the state transport undertakings of the two states would be allowed subject to counter-signatures on permits.

Regarding the integral air-conditioned buses of the private operators, an agreement has been reached to allow the permits provided it was extended beyond Chandigarh, except in Punjab area. The private operators have been allowed to operate a total of 77 integral buses.

The non air-conditioned buses of private operators having permit before November 1, 1966, will be allowed subject to verification of the original permit and counter-signed by the state transport authority. No bus of the private operator would be allowed on the local routes operated by the CTU.

“ There is loss of revenue under the agreement. But the convenience of the passengers is above everything”, said a senior official. The UT is yet to enter to a similar agreement with Haryana.

As per the agreement, school buses registered in the name of schools or individuals under agreement with schools and plying between Chandigarh and Mohali would be allowed on the basis of countersign only by the state concerned. No other tax fee will be charged for such vehicles by either of the state. This means that montly fee charged by the bus operators from parents should be reduced.

The two states have also agreed that in future only LPG, CNG and battery operated autorickshaws and fitted with metres would be allowed to run after countersign of the permits. The autorickshaw operating between Chandigarh and Mohali would be exempted from tax.

“This is not a generation that wants to be told, this is a generation that wants to participate in opinion forming", says Nikesh Arora, president Google for Europe, Middle East and Africa and vice-president, Google UK. He was addressing the World Editors Forum at the World Association of Newspapers 2008 conference in the first week of June.

“The 1.3 billion people connected online in the world today will rise to, perhaps, 3 billion in the next five years. This will be a great opportunity because content is easy to distribute online.” But talking about the abundance of blogs, which according to him will not last, he foresees the process just like the TV sitcom American Idol, with a small number attracting a large audience and rising to the top.

With 40 million broadband connections in India at present, a conservative estimate puts the number of blogs at one million. We are far behind not only the western developed countries, but even our neighbour China in the number of internet connections and naturally in the number of blogs. But blogs are making news in the country. Celebrities, politicians, bigwigs are increasingly turning to use the platform of blogging to put their point of view, opinion and making communication channel with the eyeball. Big B Amitabh has entered in the arena. Aamir has already one and now mercurial prodigal National Conference leader Omar Abdullah has also started blogging.

US researchers Neil Howe and William Strauss describe it the millennial generation, those who were born between 1982 and 2002. One of the defining aspects of this emerging -- and sizeable -- generation is its collective approach to social issues and the rate at which its members volunteer. "There's a magic combination between people who are passionate about a lot of things on the web, which can act as an engine of social change, and other people (the experts) who live and breathe a particular issue. How do you reach out and build a community around that," asks Joshua Levy, the new managing editor of Change.org.

If you want to do something to change the current situation on any given social issue, you'd go and use Change.org's search engine to find non-profits and peers interested in the same thing. It currently has 2,000 non-profit groups using its site

The project's goal is to enable people with similar interests in specific areas of social change to congregate in one place and to enable them to contribute, share and hash out ideas, both among themselves and the non-profit organisations. Network editor Joshua Levy says the project also turns on the idea of asking a large number of busy people to contribute small chunks of time to volunteer -- just as Wikipedia does. Collectively, time and expertise that's focused on a common goal adds up exponentially.

So much is happening in the West and we, the residents of the Indian sub-continent, vie with each other in vulgar display of money but refrain from contributing something great for the society or community or humanity. The aberrations are there. Such as Imran Khan, the Pakistani cricketer who builds a university after a cancer hospital in his mother’s memory? What about his Indian counterparts?

The project's goal is to enable people with similar interests in specific areas of social change to congregate in one place and to enable them to contribute, share and hash out ideas both amongst themselves and the non-profit organizations. The network editor Joshua Levy says that the project also turns on the idea of asking a large number of busy people to contribute small chunks of time to volunteer -- just as Wikipedia does. Collectively, that time and expertise that's focused on a common goal adds up exponentially.

AnilM@instablogs.com

It may be late information for most who follow the transformations in the Mac web religiously. However, for most, this meal may be well-prepared. With India becoming a hub for all electronics, the greatest revolution of 2007 couldn’t have remained aloof from the kitties of Indian consumers. The large number of iPhone’s currently in India (months before the phone has made its legal debut in the country) tell the tale of what a huge success the Apple Inc.’s creation has been.

After an enormous success of the iPhone, Apple was long in news for the release of its 3G iPhone. The 3G iPhone was the next big surprise awaiting the world, until Apple Inc.'s second-generation iPhone was officially unveiled on the June June by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. The 3G iPhone hit the shelves of Apple and AT&T Inc. stores across the U.S. (and in 21 other nations) on July 11.

The new iPhone revealed, is faster, smaller, and costs tremendously low - not to forget all additional features packed into its sleek little case. But does all the pros and glory mean, you charge out to an Apple store and upgrade your current handset, or buy a new 3G?

Available in two colours, black and white, it backs 3G connectivity - for beginners the 3G here is much faster than the EDGE network that the iPhone previously ran on. 3G loads websites almost four times as fast as EDGE, but is fractionally slower than Wi-Fi, which means the websites will load faster, email will appear quicker, and there will be very few hangs and delays, the original iPhone should have been built on 3G technology.

The second-generation iPhone comes with a built-in GPS. Now you can streamline Google maps with GPS locator, get real-time traffic information and many more such functionalities.The built-in GPS functionality is a sure plus, However, it is feared that the functioning may be accountable for a significant amount of 3G iPhone’s battery life.

Mobileme is another add-on. It gives push email to regular users and synchronises all data from mail, iDisk and address book to all your devices at once. The 3G will come with the iPhone 2.0 firmware, which would offer access to a number of new operating system features, including games and the ability to instal third-party applications using the AppStore in iTunes. The iPhone 2.0 software will be available as a free upgrade for all previous iPhone models.

Nothing comes complete, and when expectations are high, we often presume it to be inclusive. But things do remain left out. Apple has failed to deliver in its new prize - video capabilities, a 32GB model, better camera, more RAM space and the ability to copy and paste. I don’t think these left-outs would even slightly change a purchaser’s mind when the entire package that it is - the 3G iPhone only sells for $199.

For the gadget-obsessed, the choice seems, get to the front of the line at the nearest Apple store and grab the latest, while for more casual users, however, shelling out $199 to replace an iPhone that is less than a year old may not be as easy a decision. Then finally what do you guys think, were you expecting more upgrades here or are you happy with 3G?

Compiled by Bharat Bhushan bharat@bornrich.org <mailto:bharat@bornrich.org> 

Chandigarh, June 16
The education department, Chandigarh administration, started the sale of prospectuses today for centralised admission to Class XI in government schools of Chandigarh for the academic session 2008-09.

Panchkula, June 16
Taking up a revision petition filed against the trial court’s orders, the Additional District and Sessions Judge Shiva Sharma has directed the trial court to consider framing charges against Subhash Mariya, a former principal of DAV College, Sector 10, Chandigarh, and Vijay Kumar, principal of Hansraj Public School, Sector 6, Panchkula, for trespassing and causing damages.

The orders were issued on a revision petition filed by Rajni Thareja, former principal of Hansraj Public School. The petitioner had challenged the order as the trial court had discharged Mariya while directing to frame charges against Vijay Kumar.

Rajni Thareja got an FIR registered against Mariya and Vijay in December 2005. In her complaint, Thareja said she was transferred to a school in Surajpur and did not vacate the official residence. She alleged that both Vijay Kumar and Subhash Mariya, who was manager of the school, were responsible for getting the residence in her occupation vacated by breaking open locks and taking all her belongings in possession without giving any notice to her. The house was on the school premises and she was not allowed to enter the premises, she further alleged. She also claimed loss of thousands of rupees.

The trial court on October 30, 2006, discharging Mariya had directed to frame charges against Vijay under Sections 341, 451 and 427 of the IPC.

Taking up the revision petition, Additional District and Sessions Judge Shiva Sharma directed the trial court to consider framing of charges and held that the trial court had rightly discharged Subhash Mariya for the offence under Section 341 of the IPC but wrongly discharged him of the offence under Sections 451 and 427 of the IPC. Further the judge held that the trial court wrongly framed charges against Vijay Kumar for the offence under Section 341 of the IPC.

Chandigarh, June 16
The UT Administrator today asked senior officers of the Administration to implement CVC guidelines in all departments. This will make governance more transparent, accountable and responsive in checking unethical and corrupt practices in different departments.

This will help in breaking the nexus of unscrupulous elements and bringing about improvements in service delivery systems. The Tribune has been repeatedly highlighting the manner in which the guidelines of the CVC are being flouted in various offices of the administration and its boards and corporations.

He expressed displeasure with the deputy commissioner on the issues pertaining to illegal practices in various cooperative societies. There have been several complaints about misdoings in the office of the registrar, cooperative societies. He made it clear that the concept of cooperatives societies was instituted for the welfare of people.

Reiterating concern over the lack of coordination in different organisations in executing development works, Gen Rodrigues asked the adviser to suggest measures for revitalising the functioning of the engineering and erchitecture departments.