 |
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
44.2 pc students in city govt schools malnourished; 22 pc anaemic
Chandigarh, June 24 These facts were revealed in a school health report for May by the health wing of the administration. The study was conducted on 10,338 students between the age group of 12 to 18 years in four rural and five urban schools. A whopping 58.6 per cent students in rural schools were malnourished. For the urban schools, the figure was 44.2 per cent. Worm infestation was 31.3 per cent in students of rural schools and 19.4 per cent in urban schools. Dental caries were high in students of urban schools (36.5 per cent) compared to rural students (28.4 per cent). These revelations reflect on the administration’s nutritious midday meal programme, diet counselling and healthcare sessions in schools. Showing concern over the health report, the DPI(schools), S.K. Setia, said, “The situation needs attention. In rural areas, children are undernourished as they are deprived of nutritious food. The midday meal programme is no answer as it is takes care of only one meal in a day. We have no scheme under which students could be provided with fruits, milk and other nutritious eatables that are also cost effective. In the urban areas, junk food, chocolates and cold drinks are mainly responsible for obesity, dental caries and refractory error.” Medical experts say adolescence is a period of rapid growth and there is need to find out the severity of the problem. Poor dietary habits leave children vulnerable to deficiencies.
|
|
UT Police to have new face
Chandigarh, June 24 After talks with the IG, Chandigarh Police, the final draft would soon be sent to the Centre for approval, the UT home secretary, Sanjay Kumar, said. The move for police reforms was initiated following directions by the Supreme Court. The Punjab Government has already prepared its new Police Act and the UT Police Act would see some minor changes to suit specific policing needs. Since the administrative structure of the UT is different from states, clarifications regarding various authorities was sought from the MHA. Once approved, it would define statutory provisions to review the functioning of the police force comprising around 4,000 personnel. The administration had proposed that DSPs of Chandigarh Police be accepted as part of the ''feeder cadre'' to the UT cadre of the IPS. It could not be confirmed whether this issue finds a mention in the draft. An official said there was no link between the Police Act and the promotion of DSPs. Sources in the administration said as per the directions of the SC, state governments had to form a police establishment board for which a panel had to be appointed under the Chief Minister as chairman, DGP as member secretary, Lokayut as member and some retired judges of the high court. But the UT does not have a CM and a DGP. The UT has defined the power and role of each official in the draft. At present, the UT follows 147-year-old Punjab police rules. There is need to focus on traffic management and better crime control mechanism since the IGP, DIG and SSPs are usually on deputation from Punjab and Haryana. Police sources said as per the Punjab Police Act, the law and order wing and investigation wing were separate entities for a better conviction rate. The Act provided for the posting of SHOs with a clean record.
|
|
Life’s Cheap: 3 ventilators lying unused at GMCH
Chandigarh, June 24 However, after conducting enquiries, he admitted that three ventilators had not been used due to a delay in inspection by the company concerned. “This is a wastage of government funds as the machines have been lying unused for several months. There is no check on the misuse of funds,” a faculty member said. About a year ago, a patient had died at the GMCH due to non-availability of a ventilator. Medical superintendent Ram Singh said the delay in the installation of the ventilators was due to a technical fault in the machines as these were imported. Dr Raj Bahadur said the ventilators would be installed soon.
|
|
NIPER student dies under mysterious circumstances
Mohali, June 24 The victim Gaurav Sharma was a resident of New Delhi and a student of medicinal chemistry here. He collapsed in the hostel corridor in the NIPER campus on Sunday night after which he was rushed to a private hospital in Phase IX where he was declared brought dead. The police said Gaurav and his friends had gone out to a party in Phase X that evening and were reportedly drinking. They came back to NIPER at 10.30 pm. Gaurav started feeling unwell on his return and tried to alert his friends. “He was in the corridor and was knocking at a friend’s door, trying to wake others up. By the time his friends opened the door he had fallen down and was gasping for breath,” said police source adding that Gaurav was also an asthmatic. His friends carried him to his room and tried to revive him. They then rushed him to Silver Oaks Hospital in Phase IX where he was declared brought dead. The body was shifted to the Civil Hospital in the wee hours yesterday. Garuav’s mother Prabha Sharma arrived with her younger son Saurabh and her brother from Delhi. The post-mortem was conducted today and the boy cremated late in the evening. Police said the victim’s mother suspected foul play in her son’s death. The mother told the police that her son did not drink and his death could not have been due to over drinking or some other related problem. Police sources said NIPER authorities sealed the boy’s room immediately after the incident to protect it from tampering. A security guard was also posted at the hostel following the episode. Police said they were also investigating other reasons for Gaurav’s death, including his alleged involvement in a love affair.
|
e wild wild web
Yahoo, an internet services company has recently come out with the ymail.com <http://ymail.com/>on the lines of the successful gmail.com <http://gmail.com/>, hotmail.com <http://hotmail.com/>, aol.com <http://aol.com/>etc. to feed the increasing demand of email service seekers in the world. But the romance with emails has its pitfalls too. Richard Philips, a London lawyer was having lunch with Jenny Amner, a secretary at his firm. He accidentally spilled ketchup on his pants. After the incident, Phillips felt compelled to send an email to Amner: "Hi Jenny, I went to a drycleaners at lunch and they said it would cost £4 to remove the ketchup stains. If you cd (could) let me have the cash today, that wd (would) be much appreciated. Thanks Richard." When he didn't receive a prompt response, he continued to pursue the case, including having a colleague leave a post- it note on Amner's desk reminding her of the debt. Then Amner responded by email, and Cc's hundreds of people in her firm: Subject: Re: Ketchup trousers. With reference to the email below, I must apologize for not getting back to you straight away but due to my mother's sudden illness, death and funeral I have had more pressing issues than your £ 4. I apologize again for accidentally getting a few splashes of ketchup on your trousers. Obviously your financial need as a senior associate is greater than mine as a mere secretary. Having already spoken to and shown your email and Anne-Marie's note to various partners, lawyers and trainees in ECC&T and IP/IT, they kindly offered to do a collection to raise the £ 4. I however declined their kind offer but should you feel the urgent need for the £ 4, it will be on my desk this afternoon, Jenny. If this hadn't been on email, it wouldn't have found its way into British newspapers - and into this column. Well , here's what Eliot Spitzer (who had to resign as New York's governor in an unsavoury situation) had to say on the subject when he was the state attorney general: "Never talk when you can nod. And never write when you can talk. My only addendum is never put it in email." However, in this age of web, it is not possible to avoid email communication. Emails have become an integral part of our daily life, whether we like it or not. Is it not better to understand the niceties of this boon of technology? Never forget that a Cc (copy to) has the power to publicly shame someone, whether that's your intention or not. Here's a cautionary tale concerning a president of the China division of EMC - a $10 billion-a-year multinational. One evening in May 2006, the executive found his office locked, which prompted him to send the following email to his secretary: "You locked me out of my office this evening because you assume I have my office key on my person. With immediate effect, you do not leave the office until you have checked with all the managers you support." At some point between composition and hitting the Send key he felt compelled to Cc others in the company. His secretary replied: "I locked the door because the office has been burgled in the past. Even though I'm your subordinate, please pay attention to politeness when you speak. This is the most basic human courtesy. You have your own keys. You forgot to bring them, but you still want to say it's someone else's fault." She in return Cc'd EMC's entire staff in China. The email exchange quickly found its way into China's press and became a source of national debate because the boss was from Singapore - and his behavior stirred up local fears of cultural imperialism. It also managed to touch upon perennially sensitive issues, from gender politics to office hierarchy - whose job is it really to lock the doors? Eventually, the boss felt compelled to resign. David Shipley, Op-Ed page editor of The New York Times and Will Schwalbe, a former journalist in their book "SEND: The Essential Guide to Email for Office and Home" explains the ABC's of Cc's and Bcc's ( and forwarding): Cc : I want you to know and I want the others to know that I want you to know. Bcc : I want you to know and I DON'T want the others to know that I want you to know. Forward : I want you to know and I may want to add something to the original message and I may or may not want the others to know that I want you to know, but if it so happens that I don't want them to know I want you to know I want to take no chances that they might accidentally find out due to a Reply All slip of the finger. anilM is an editor with Instablogs.com: anilM@instablogs.com
|
|
Newly built Zirakpur roads in shambles
Rajiv Bhatia
Zirakpur, June 24 In ward number 13, 14 and 15 around 5,000 people had been waiting for development. These wards consist mainly of the original villages and colonies. The residents of Ravindra Enclave in ward no 14 were discontent over the fact that the roads have not been laid properly. They claim that they have been demanding a proper road since long. “During the rainy season, the road on link road to Baltana village overflows with water coming from Sukhna choe becoming horrendous for two-wheeler riders,” said Joginder Singh of ward no. 13. He also said the park had been incomplete since it was inaugurated before Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections. The residents of ward numbers 13 and 15 were also facing acute problem of power fluctuation. Transformers can not carry the load and trip frequently, claimed residents of these wards. The newly-built roads had broken making it impossible to drive. Owing to the fact that this road was used by heavy transport vehicles, the road should be built properly once and for all said Kamal Dev, a resident of Tribune Model Gram.
Candidatetalk
The candidates of these wards say that it would be their first duty to provide civic amenities. The problem faced by residents would be solved within a short period. The re-carpeting of roads and proper drainage system would be set up in these wards.
|
|
BJP won’t entertain SAD rebels: Tandon
Zirakpur, June 24 Addressing a press conference here, he said the SAD-BJP combine was jointly contesting the municipal bodies elections throughout the state and both parties had resolved not to allow joining of each other’s rebels. He said he had come to know that Sharma had participated in the protest by the party MP Navjot Singh Sidhu. But such protests were open for all as it was for the welfare of the public and anybody could join these, he added.
|
|
Congress MLA demands CRPF deployment
Zirakpur, June 24 Addressing a press conference here, Sidhu said he had written to the Prime Minister, UPA chairperson,
election commissioner and Punjab Chief Minister in this regard. He said there is little possibility of free and fair elections. He added that the Punjab police is working as an agency of the government. He said the Congress is working in unison and development was the main issue. He also said that a vicious atmosphere is being created by SAD-BJP, which is a condemnable issue. Sidhu said whatever development is there in Zirakpur is because of the Congress. He said, “We will have a full inquiry into the case of assault on Suman Bala’s supporter in ward no 10.” He informed that an election rally in support of Congress candidates would be addressed by Punjab Pradesh Congress chief Rajinder Kaur Bhattal on June 27 in Ramlila grounds at Baltana.
|
|
|
Kanwaljit playing dirty politics, says Sharma
Zirakpur, June 24 He added that on June 30 people would stand by his side by helping him win the election with good majority. He also said the election in Zirakpur would be fought with development as topmost agenda. He alleged that the minister is frustrated because of his expected defeat. Had the candidate been sure of his win he would not have gone to extent of roping in the Punjab Chief Minister and party president for canvassing during municipal elections, he added. Sharma said it was really shameful that the minister, who did not canvass during his own assembly election for more than three days, has to beg for votes in the streets of various wards of Zirakpur.
|
|
|
MC to spend Rs 20 lakh on development
Panchkula, June 24 The Haryana deputy chief minister Chander Mohan also witnessed the proceedings of the meeting which started at 3 pm. The 31-member House, which met for the first time after the elections of civic body held on March 30, passed 29-point agenda with unanimity. Ravinder Rawal, who chaired the meeting as president of the house with his deputy B.B. Singhal, proposed to approach the government to issue the identity cards to the councillors in addition to provide mobile phones to them. Barring hot arguments on a couple of issues, the House was able to bring out consensus on majority of points. It was decided that the MoU signed with Haryana Renewable Energy Development agency to install the new energy saving lights replacing the existing ones be scrapped as the committee set up by the council found many shortcomings in the scheme. However, HUDA remained under fire from the municipal councillors who resolved to take up the issue of recovery of rent of Vita booths and hoardings displaying advertisements. Many Vita booths in the city are located in the parks. Though the parks were handed over to the council, HUDA continued to charge the rent of booths, which is otherwise the right of civic body, said the councillors. Similarly, the rent against installing of hoardings and banners at the sites of MC was being charged by HUDA, said the councillors.
|
|
Residents reel under towering threat
Chandigarh, June 24 The failure of the authorities concerned to remove these illegal structures has made some residents serve legal notices to the estate office, municipal corporation and cellular operators. The notice served by a local advocate on behalf of his client Karandeep Singh Rai, a resident of Sector 34, stated that despite the complaints lodged by him with various forums, the department concerned had not taken any action against the persons or companies involved in putting up telecom and mobile tower on a building in his area. While the rules and regulations by the government do not permit installation of such towers on the residential buildings due to safety issues, the activity is still being carried out without any check by the local bodies. Talking to The Tribune, Rai said, “A cellular operator had built a tower on the rooftop of a single-storey building in his neighbour. Besides, emitting unhealthy rays round the clock, it posed a constant threat of cracks on the common wall of the house.” He said his family could not even sleep properly and felt unsafe as the building was constantly shaken by the functioning of the tower. He further stated that besides taking safety measures, he had even served legal notices on the enforcement wing of the estate office, municipal corporation, Vodafone cellular operator and also to his neighbour Ranjit Kaur. The drawings of the tower have been submitted to the court.
|
|
Drug menace grips city
Chandigarh, June 24 Surprised! It’s not only correction fluid, kids and teenagers are now hooking to sniffing adhesive solution (used by tyre puncture shops), eating iodex, gulping down bottles of cough syrup and popping up proxyvon tablets to get a high. Prof P. Khulara, office in charge of the drug de-addiction and treatment centre at the PGI, talking to mediapersons on the eve of the International Anti-drug Day, said, apart from youngsters, even housewives and elderly women are getting addicted to painkillers. However, addiction among girls is still lesser than in the boys. As per data available at the de-addiction centre, almost 2,000-2,500 patients come for treatment every year. The most common drugs used were smack, proxivon, and cough syrup containing codeine. Opioids injections are also becoming a popular choice. "Easy availability of these drugs and lack of control over the prescription of these drugs with poor law enforcement have helped in increasing the menace in the city. It has become a major concern," said Dr Basu, additional professor, psychiatry department. To tackle the menace of drug abuse in Chandigarh and surrounding areas, PGI has planned to implement “roadmap project” to educate people through a nodal agency. The police and education department will be the part of this nodal agency. To commemorate International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, the Narcotics Control Bureau, Chandigarh police and department of psychiatry of the PGI will jointly organise a panel discussion on June 26 at Bhargava Auditorium.
|
|
Haryana akademis honour litterateurs
Chandigarh, June 24 Akademi directors C.R. Moudgil and Dr R.D. Sharma welcomed the chief guest Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Mange Ram Gupta, education minister. The highest Sanskrit literary honour, Maharishi Balmiki Puraskar, was presented to Jainarayan Yatri (77) from Jind. The honour carried a shawl, a memento and cash prize of one lakh rupees. The Maharishi Ved Vyas Award was conferred on Bharat Bhushan Sanghiwal (76) of village Sanghi, while Dr Virender Kumar from Gohana was honoured with the Mahakavi Banbhat Award. Both awards carried prize money of Rs 51,000 each. The prestigious Bhai Santokh Singh Samman of one lakh rupees was presented to Dr Rajinder Singh Bhatti of Kurukshetra. The Sheikh Farid Award and Taran Singh Vehmi Award of 51,000 rupees each went to Dr G.D. Choudhury and Amrik Singh, respectively. Audience greeted Bollywood and Punjabi folk singer, Vinod Sehgal, winner of the Lok Gayak Award. Sehgal also enraptured the elite crowd by presenting a Punjabi song. The Punjabi Akademi had been more liberal in honouring fifteen literary persons in different genres of literature, claimed Akademi director C.R. Moudgil. Kulwant Rafiq, Kabul Virk, Gurdas Palna, Dr Gurdarpal Singh Kesar, Ram Naravinder Kushal and Dr Jiwan Bakshi were presented 21,000 rupees, citation and a shawl each for the best chosen books. Noted story-writers Iqbal Singh, Prem Singh and Joginder Kaur Agnihotri were also honoured.
|
|
Rs 55 lakh for park upkeep
Chandigarh, June 24 At a meeting held under the chairmanship of Kuldeep Singh, the committee accorded approval for landscaping works in three parks of Sector 31 and in the green belt of Sector 7-A. The committee also approved development of parks by installing railings, play equipments and benches in Sectors 19, 2, 5, and 7. Besides, it was approved that the parks in Sectors 45, 20, 8, 9, 10, 11 and in the green belt of
Sector 7 would be provided with hut and benches. MC to shift road gullies
The Water Supply and Sewerage Disposal Committee of the municipal corporation has decided to shift the existing road gullies following widening of V-5 roads in various parts of the city. The decision was taken at a meeting held under the chairmanship of Jagjit Singh Kang. The committee has accorded the approval for shifting of existing road gullies of Sectors 31-C, D and 26, duplex houses in the MHC, Mani Majra, mini markets in Sectors 43, 9, and 42, Kabari Market in Industrial Area, Phase I, and Burail. The committee has also accorded approval for renovation of five toilet blocks in the markets of Sectors 38, 22, 19, 16, 37 and 48.
|
|
|
Sector assn’s elections challenged
Chandigarh, June 24 In the suit, the plaintiff, C.M. Chopra, a resident of Sector 30, has alleged that FOSWAC chairman P.C. Sanghi had been elected for the third time, which was against the rules of the FOSWAC as approved by the general body at the meeting on June 24, 2007 and rule 15.2, which has the approval of the general house and acceptance of DC-cum-registrar of societies, UT Chandigarh. It is further alleged that on April 1, Sanghi had written to the registrar to keep the amended rules and regulations in abeyance. The court, after registration of the case, had issued notice for June 12 to five defendants. The defendants have sought time to reply and the case is now adjourned to July 17. The plaintiff has also filed a stay application regarding not allowing Sanghi to work during the pendancy of the suit.
|
|
|
ISBT-43 parking contractor fined Rs 25,000
Chandigarh, June 24 A news item under the heading “ISBT-43 car park staff fleece motorists” published in these columns on June 20, exposed the contractor for overcharging the users of the parking place. Talking to The Tribune, CTU director P.S. Shergill said, “After we came to know about the matter, we not only warned the contractor but also fined him Rs 25,000. Besides, he was ordered to display all parking rates on a board and put it at the entry gate of parking lot.” “Our station supervisor had warned him a few days back, but the contractor did not stop overcharging. Imposing the fine will deter him and other shopkeepers at the terminus,” Shergill said. “With this kind of stringent and quick action, the authorities can rein in such unscrupulous elements,” said Anil Bhagat, a resident of Sector 46.
|
|
Parked car catches fire, driver escapes unhurt
Chandigarh, June 24 The incident took place at the parking of Leisure Valley in Sector 10. The car driver rushed out of the vehicle before the fire could spread and escaped unhurt. According to the fire department, the incident took place at around 6 pm. The driver saw smoke and flames coming out from the front portion of the vehicle. The fire brigade was informed about the incident and a fire engine immediately reached the spot. The fire officials, led by Gurcharan Singh, managed to control the fire before it could spread.
|
|
Woman on sleeping pills keeps cops on toes
Chandigarh, June 24 According to sources, Manjit, in her 30s, got off the bus in a dizzy state. Someone informed the police control room and the police took her to Government Multi Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, as she was not in a position to tell anything about herself. Manjit was on her way to Nakodar, but somehow reached the city. She was under the influence of sleeping pills. At the hospital, Manjit told the police that she was in habit of taking sleeping pills and by mistake, she took a pill more. The police informed Manjit’s family
members who reached the city late this evening.
|
|
Traffic problems discussed
Chandigarh, June 24 Besides top police officials of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula, Niharika Rai from the Registering & Licensing Authority, UT, officers of the MC’s engineering department and officials of the STA and CTU officials attended the meeting. Chandigarh SSP S.S. Srivastava apprised the CTAC members of the action taken on the minutes of the fourth meeting held in February as well as the achievements of the Chandigarh traffic police.
|
|
|
Book Fest begins
Chandigarh June 24
|
|
Police aggression
It is a shame that the UT police, instead of holding dialogue with the leaders of BJP workers protesting against the recent sharp inflation, used force to repress the movement. It was a peaceful protest that represented the acute hardship of common people and should have been allowed to continue. The UT police should have shown some restraint and let people express themselves. Cane-charging and water-cannoning by the UT police remind the ways of the British. The UT police must recoil from such approach and show some concern while dealing with a situation that would serve the common man's interest. Rajesh Krishan, Chandigarh Readers are invited to write to us. Send your mail, in not more than 200 words, at news@tribuneindia.com or, write in, at: Letters, Chandigarh Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh – 160 030
|
|
|||||
|
One lakh scholarships for needy students
Chandigarh, June 24 S.K. Setia, DPI (S) said, “The scheme is initiated to benefit those students who are intelligent, but, unfortunately, do not have means to continue higher studies. The scheme will be made operational from the month of July this year.” Every state/UT will have a fixed quota of scholarships, which will be decided on the basis of enrollment of students in Classes VII and VIII and number of children concerned. The scheme will provide reservation to different categories of students as per the state/UT norms. However, the total number of scholarships to a particular state/UT may be restricted to the allocation made by the central government. The scholarships will be provided quarterly to the regular students studying in Class IX in government, local body and government-aided schools. The scholarship will be paid from Classes IX to XII for the maximum period of four years. The amount of scholarship is proposed to be Rs 6,000 per annum. Each state/UT will conduct its own test for selecting students to award the scholarship. The state-level examination may consist of two tests, which are Mental Ability Test (MAT) and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). The students must pass both the tests with at least 40 per cent marks in each. For the reserve categories, the cut-off will be 32 per cent marks.
|
|||||
|
Moti Ram School’s recognition withdrawn
Chandigarh, June 24 The discrepancies on the part of the school were found by an education officials’ committee during inspection conducted on June 21, 2007. The school was directed not to run a separate school named J.B. Modern Public School on the same campus, for which no permission from the estate office as well as education department, has ever been obtained. DPI (S) S.K. Setia said in spite of objection, manager of the school was still continuing the admissions under the name of J.B. Modern Public School and issuing different fee slips for both the schools. DPI further informed that in a representation given by school employees stated that the school was not giving them the salary as per the CBSE norms for the last many years, in spite of various reminders. It was the pre-requisite condition for allowing the recognition that the school would pay salary to its staff as per with the government school. The other major discrepancy on the school was that the school had occupied the building without taking completion/occupation certificate from the estate office. School was also not abiding by the policy of 15 per cent reservation for the students of economically weaker section, which was mandatory to all private public schools.
|
|||||
|
‘Time-offices’ to check outsiders at PU
Chandigarh, June 24 There will be ‘time-offices’ at all the three gates of the university. The time-offices will have security personnel who will keep a check on the entry of the outsiders on the campus. Any outsider entering the campus would require depositing either of the documents of his or her vehicle with the security men in the time-office. The committee, which took the long pending decision, included S.S. Virdi, R.K. Sharma, besides others. It is pertinent to mention here that originally the university had decided to install electrically drop gates on the campus to keep a check on the outsiders. But due to paucity of funds, for the time being, campus will have to do with the present manual gates. However, as per the proposal, the outsiders will only be allowed entry and exit from gate number one (adjacent to PGI) whereas the students of the university and the employees will have an access from all the gates.
|
|||||
|
200 take part in rock-climbing
Chandigarh June 24 Chairman of Sports Climbing Committee of Indian Mountaineering Foundation Brig D.K. Khullar, AVSM, was the chief guest. Programme also included principals of various schools and colleges of the tricity. Brig Khullar encouraged the students to learn rock climbing and explained its relevance in improving life style. The event attracted over 200 students from city schools as well as the host college, who not only gained information regarding the sport, but also got an opportunity to try it out themselves under the guidance of professional trainers.
|
|||||
|
Media experts counsel students
Chandigarh, June 24 Shalini Gupta, director, DBGOI said, "The media and hospitality industry is witnessing a boom these days. It is estimated that over 1.5 lakh jobs are available in media industry." Manmohan Singh Kohli, director, Desh Bhagat Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, briefed the audience about the scope of employment in hospitality sector. Ashok Pandit from Doordarshan and Bano from All India Radio also guided the students.
|
|||||
|
Student body to form new units
Chandigarh, June 24
|
|
|||||
| 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 | |
