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GMSH doctors lead patients to pvt labs
Chandigarh, March 31 An investigation conducted by this correspondent today revealed that certain doctors, specifically in the surgery and medicine departments of the GMSH, were referring the patients to private diagnostic centres for tests even though the test facilities were available at the hospital. There have been some verbal complaints against a few other departments. At 9 am, this reporter posed as a patient and got an OPD card made (CR No. 201003341010) for the medicine, surgery and orthopaedic departments. At the medicine department, she met Dr Vinay Ved Vyas. After waiting for almost over an hour, she was able to consult Dr Vyas for pain in lower abdomen. Following a brief physical examination, the doctor advised her a “whole abdomen CT scan” as a first of a series of tests required. While Dr Vyas prescribed certain medicines on the OPD card, he scribbled the name of Superb MRI Centre, Sector 8, on a blank slip of paper and wrote the test “CT abdomen whole” before signing it. He then called a certain Dr Jindal, believed to be working at Superb MRI Centre, on the phone with the request that he “take care” of the patient. A quick visit to the hospital’s CT scan centre, which is outsourced to a private operator, revealed that the same test is available at a cost of Rs 3,830 compared to Rs 6,000 charged by Superb MRI Centre. The reporter then went to Dr NK Kaushal in the surgery department with a complaint of pain on the left side of the stomach. The doctor advised her an ultrasound. While making a note on the OPD card that an ultrasound test was required, the doctor scribbled the name of Prime Diagnostic Centre, Sector 8, on a piece of paper, following which he appended his full name (Dr Kaushal), initials (NK) and the name of the hospital (GH-16). The test costs Rs 150 at the hospital and Rs 400 at Prime Diagnostic Centre. When contacted, the president of the local chapter of the IMA, Dr Zora Singh, said it was unethical for doctors to promote private diagnostic centres by naming them in prescriptions. “Doctors cannot ask patients to get tests done from particular labs,” he said.
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Discretionary Quota
Chandigarh, March 31 However, at the same time, there are a substantial number of allottees under the quota who had either transferred their property or sold it much earlier. The list includes some ministers, civil servants and police officers. The fate of allottees who got the same done by some manipulation or otherwise was still not clear. The board issued a public notice regarding this on March 17. It has taken hundreds of allottees run from pillar to post and innumerable representations from individuals as well the CHB residents’ federation to finally get it through. CHB chairman Mohanjeet Singh said: “People had been facing many problems and we had been getting representations in this regard. So, it has now been done in the interest of public.” The change will allow the original owner of a house under the quota to transfer it after five years of its physical possession. Houses in the discretionary quota fall in the category of those allotted by the UT Administrator to handicapped persons, handicapped in war, war widows, leading personalities in various fields and sportspersons, among others. It was argued that even if the house was allotted to someone under the discretionary quota, the owner should have independence to decide about its ownership. He had been allotted the house on merit and might have genuine reasons, even monetary, which forced him to dispose of his
property. However, if the house had been allotted under the discretionary quota for someone with special needs or the deserving, he should not dispose of the property merely for financial gains, argued an official.
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City tops development index
Chandigarh, March 31 Ironically, however, even though Chandigarh has one of the lowest sex ratios in the country at around 777 females per 1000 males, it figures number one in the gender development index (GDI). The HDI is the average of indices for three parameters -- a long and healthy life, adult literacy rate and decent standard of living. Chandigarh has scored first position in long and healthy life and in decent standard of living (0.785 and 0.901, respectively) and third in adult literacy rate by clocking 0.684 in the index. The same figures apply to the GDI, according to a National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) report. Chandigarh had scored 0.784 against the national average of 0.577 in HDI, and 0.763 against a national average of 0.590 in the GDI. This has been made possible due to the persistent efforts made by various wings of the UT administration over the last decade, a statemenmt issued by by the administration
stated. Besides, Chandigarh has topped the list in economic participation and decision-making power with a score of 0.715. The report stated that there was more enrolment in medical and engineering colleges in Chandigarh compared to the rest of the country. There was also an increase of 85 per cent in the index of power over economic resources, it said. The report further stated that over the last decade, there had been an increase of 11 per cent in the gender empowerment measure (GEM) and the city ranked 13th in the country. Chandigarh has been put in Category-I on the basis of gender empowerment measure with an index value of 0.715. The city is also first in index of decent standard living (0.901) and index of a long and healthy life (0.765).
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PU placements go kaput
Neha Miglani Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 31 The appalling placement scene in certain new departments offering professional courses, coupled with staff shortage and poor infrastructure, while otherwise charging higher fee compared to other departments, provoked 150 students -- led by the PUCSC and supporters of SOPU -- to protest today. In the newly launched University Institute of Applied Management Sciences (UIAMS), where students pay a staggering Rs 4.5 lakh for two years, less than 20 per cent students (28 out of 186 students) have been placed with just three weeks left for the final exams. The UIAMS is at present being headed by the Dean University Instructions (DUI) who has been given additional charge since February, which incidentally happens to be a crucial period for determining placements. Sources say that the UIAMS was established to compensate the loss of NRI seats in all departments, which had been a major revenue source. But while the university is managing to make money, a majority of students enrolled in the department are finding themselves at a dead end. “What is troubling students is that most of them are already qualified professionals such as doctors, engineers, etc. who are doing MBA in specialised courses, and are worried about placements,” a student stated. In the newly opened UIHMT, there are 60 students with only two full-time faculty members. The classes are held at the Institute of Hotel Management, Sector 42, and the PU. While the infrastructure is yet to be fully developed in the university, 60 students enrolled in the department are paying Rs 59,000 every year. “The institute has just started and the infrastructure will develop,” the UIHMT director, Prof LK Bansal, said. Students of bio-medical sciences, another new department, were equally vehement during the protest. “Leave aside placements, even the brochure has not been prepared. There is no assistance from the university,” a student said.
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Inspection to check school-bookseller nexus
Chandigarh, March 31 Despite the administration issuing orders against recommending a specific bookseller or uniform shop, many schools not only continued to direct the students to their “favourites”, but even allowed them to open temporary sale counters in the school. The special inspection team, which was constituted today, will start the inspection process from tomorrow and issue on-the-spot notices to erring schools. The department has also decided to withdraw its recognition from the culprits, who have allowed sale counters in the schools. “We had issued the orders early this year and barred them from forcing their students to buy their books and uniforms from a specific shop. These schools were asked to provide a detailed list of recommended books and display the uniform on notice board. They, however, didn’t bother to our directions and continued minting money. We have got a lot of complaints and will start our inspection from tomorrow,” said a senior official of the education department. The private schools, however, seem to be in no mood to comply, as a member of the Independent School Association reacted: “Their own schools recommend books and uniforms, but they don’t check it. There are only a few prominent booksellers, which provide books recommended in our schools so in a way we are just helping the parents. It may be recalled that reacting to the complaint of a local social activist the UT administration had barred schools from forcing kids to buy their school material from a specific shop. Even the Central Board of Secondary Education has directed all its affiliated schools against the practice.
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Focus on psyche of prostitute
Chandigarh, March 31 Despite much of the elements of drama not inherent in the story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, depicting the psyche of a prostitute and abuse of women, director Amal Allana had sculpted a theatrical spectacle employing perfect professionalism and innovative embellishments in all departments of the production. As detailed in advance, the play revolves around an innocent young girl
Erendira, who unintentionally threw a burning candle, as a result of which the huge mansion belonging to her grandmother, a former prostitute is turned into ashes. The grandmother, wishing to recover her loss begins to prostitute her granddaughter. Meanwhile, Erendira falls in love with a prospective customer named Ullasi and she exhorts to kill her grandmother. Having failed to poison, grandmother Ullasi finally kills her and rushes back to Erendira to accomplish the dream of running away with
Erendira, as committed earlier. To his surprise she had already left
Ullasi, the trait Erendira, now a seasoned prostitute, obviously inherited from her grandmother. Narratives dominated in the otherwise racy play structured in the Rajasthani ambience, has the undertones of violence, brutality, sexuality and vulgarity and the creative confrontation between text and performance in multiples were sometimes not matching. Though nothing was left to the curiosity and imagination of the audience, but the fusion of realistic and magical elements, elegant costumes and musical kept the audience spellbound. However, if edited suitably, the thematic content production level could be augmented.
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Now, single window for vehicle registration
Chandigarh, March 31 The STA is all set to offer all these facilities at a single window. STA Secretary Vandana Disodia said infrastructure for introducing the single-window system was being put in place. The fully air-conditioned building will be equipped with a generator in case of a power failure. “The objective is to make things convenient and faster for people by computerising and bringing under single window all 11-odd services being rendered,” Disodia said. Infrastructure, including the desktop computer, laserjet printer, inkjet coloured printer, digital camera, electronic signature pad, fingerprint scanner costing around Rs 13 lakh have been purchased. The proposal draws strength and outlines from a study conducted by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, which assessed that the STA needed to use information technology (IT) in its functioning and avail itself of the benefits of information and communication tools to bring about paper-free office culture and render efficient service delivery. Disodia added that the STA had applied for a new transport series for Chandigarh. The Government of India has allowed separate series for different states and UTs. It will facilitate registration of transport vehicles, issue of registration certificates and permits under one roof, the task being currently performed by the the Registering and Licencing Authority
(RLA).
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Nepalese delegation visits MC
Chandigarh, March 31 Mayor Anu Chatrath along with other councillors received the delegation and MC additional commissioner PK Sharma gave an introduction about the functioning of the corporation to the delegates. Pokhara Mayor-cum-executive officer Tilak Paudel told councillors that the city was famous for its scenic beauty, with mountains, lakes and gorges being a major tourist attraction. He said 80 per cent of the population of Pokhara used septic tank and total length of roads was 425 km.
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Protest against police inaction
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 31 The family alleged that even after the lapse of over two weeks, the police had not arrested any accused so far. The protesters dispersed after giving an ultimatum of two days to the police, saying that they would be forced to launch an agitation to get the police moving. Salim Dar, father of a 15-year-old girl, alleged that Furkhan of his neighbourhood had abducted his daughter on March 14. Furkhan lured the girl and later married her in connivance with his family members and friends. A local priest solemnised the marriage at Burail village the same day without their knowledge or consent. Furkhan, in his mid-20s, is an embroidery worker. Dar alleged that the marriage was performed by showing the girl as a 20-year old. Showing a school-leaving certificate of his daughter, Dar claimed that she was only 15 years old. The accused also presented the girl as an orphan, he added. The matter was reported to the police, which registered a case under Sections 363 and 366 of the Indian Penal Code in this connection. Police post-24 in charge Harminder Singh said the police was making efforts to trace the girl and was gathering evidence against those involved in the case. He said a team would be dispatched to Uttar Pradesh to conduct a raid on the native village of the accused. A police officer said the other team had sought police protection from the Punjab and Haryana High Court and had been claiming that the girl was major.
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MC forms women cell to take up plaints
Chandigarh, March 31 In the absence of a proper mechanism, women were unable to register a formal complaint in such cases. The committee was announced during a Women Empowerment Committee meeting under the chairmanship of Dr Pam Rajput. The members decided that the cell would also cater to the grievances of women belonging to any strata of society beside their own employees. During discussion, the members pointed out that the number of sexual harassment cases was on the rise but there was no platform to solve such case amicably. They also discussed the issue of increase in domestic violence and decided that a series of workshop on domestic violence would be organised to make women aware about their rights and legal assistance they could avail. They suggested that in order to check the rising crime against women in colonies, they should meet the IGP on the issue. The committee also decided to adopt a colony in Sector 25 for promotion of health and education for women. The committee would adopt the colony for nine months from April to December and visit it on April 2.
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Overseas flights likely from October
Chandigarh, March 31 According to Suneel Dutt, director, Chandigarh airport, expansion work is in full swing and it will be rounded off by this year. He maintained that the air traffic from and to Chandigarh airport had multiplied by around 400 per cent since 2006. Eleven flights operate daily from the airport, which is becoming very busy. He added that the rush was going to multiply further once the international flights started operating from here. There was a great demand for flights to European and North American countries, as people had to fly to Delhi to take flights for further destination. Given the number of people who travelled abroad from the region, there would be a continuous demand on the airport and it was gearing up for the same, he pointed out. Dutt said bigger aircraft like
Boeing 737, Airbus 300, etc would also start operating from the airport soon. Currently, the Chandigarh airport belongs to the Indian Air Force and the Airports Authority of India, the agency responsible for operating airports in the country. The latter has only been operating the civil terminal here. The work on the Mohali side, also known as Chandigarh International Airport, was also going on at a fast pace and the outer boundary wall has been completed. That airport would cater to the needs of people of the entire region, including most parts of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. The airport Director said the instrument landing system (ILS) of CAT-I would be installed by September after receiving formal clearance from Air Force authorities. The other expansion included creating of cargo hubs and night parking, for which a patch of 2.5 acre was awaited from the Indian Air Force authorities. He said the next focus would be on small airlines, which would carry passengers to Dharamsala, Shimla and Dehradun. He said once complete, Chandigarh would be one of the most modern and best airports in the country.
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Punjab govt approves new urban estate
Mohali, March 31 The urban estate was today approved during an authority meeting of the Grater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA). The urban estate has been strategically planned along a 200-ft wide road planned for the upcoming international airport. The reserve price for the residential plots would be Rs 12,000 per sq yard, meaning that one kanal plot would cost Rs 60 lakh. The scheme comes after a gap of 10 years. Last time, the authority had floated the controversial Sectors 78 to 80 housing scheme. Prospective candidates feel that GMADA should price the plot at lesser rates as the plots are to be allotted through draw of lots. It would give opportunity to genuine plot holder to secure a plot. The experience of the buyers with private builders in mega projects has not been pleasant. Recently, GMADA is learnt to have finalised the loan deals of Rs 1,200 crore with financial institutions. The funds are required to pay the land acquisition cost of Rs 1,000 crore and another Rs 200 crore for the development works. Confirming the move, a senior official said the scheme is likely to be floated by mid April. The land acquisition proceedings under Section 6 have already been completed and land compensation is to be paid. The authority has already issued a public notice to the landowners to give their consent on the land-pooling scheme in the next one month. The land is being acquired for mix land use along the 200-ft wide road proposed to connect the international airport with the Zirakpur-Patiala and the Chandigarh-Kharar highways. The project land falls in Bakarpur, Kishanpura, Matran and Chachu Majra villages. Around 4,000 residential and commercial sites had been carved out for the mix land use belt. But at least 50 per cent of these would be exhausted if the landowners go for land pooling. GMADA is watching the interests of the landowners as the evacuees are being offered Rs 1.5 crore an acre or the land-pooling scheme wherein the beneficiaries get 930 sq yard residential plot and 121 sq yard commercial site. The town planning department has proposed a 30-metre green buffer between the road and commercial belt along the main road. The residential area would be behind the commercial belt as is in the existing urban estate. From the architectural control angle, the stakeholders in commercial sites would be allowed a height of up to 120 metres and the access between the villages would be through underpasses. The land use has been planned keeping in mind the nature of activity that would come around the airport.
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Morning car wash banned
Mohali, March 31 Public health officials said those violating the orders would be issued notices followed by fine of Rs 500 on repeated violation. Unlike last time, when the ban was also during the evening hours, this time the ban has been imposed during the morning hours only. —
TNS
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March hasn’t been this hot in decade
Meteorological department officials say that the day temperatures are expected to hover between 35 and 36 degrees Celsius in the coming week with no sight of either rain or clouds. The average temperature during March was 32.4 degrees Celsius, which was five degrees above normal keeping in view that 28.5 degrees Celsius is considered normal during this month. The last time the temperatures came close to this year’s average was in 2008 when the average temperature was recorded at 31.7 degrees Celsius, which again was three degrees above normal and the highest since 2000. Even so, the average temperatures hovered at 28.5 degrees Celsius between 2004-2008. The main reason behind the unusual heat this month has been due to a decrease in the western disturbance activity resulting in scanty rainfall and snowfall, says met department director Surinder Pal Singh. Since there was no strong western disturbance, the heated air in plains remained stagnant, causing a rise in temperatures. The highest temperature in March in Chandigarh’s history was on March 31, 1971, when it recorded 37.8 degree Celsius, he added.
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Power cuts round the corner
Chandigarh, March 31 Though there are no scheduled power cuts as of now, a rotational power cut scheduled will be worked out in due course, sources said. The rotational power cuts will be inevitable as the city has an assured supply of 184 MW and the peak demand in summer last year crossed 300 MW. Last year, the Chandigarh administration was able to get a supply of around 265 MW from various sources, including short-term purchase agreements and power sharing with power surplus states of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. Chandigarh, with an area of 114 sq km, does not have any source of power generation. Given its importance being the capital of Punjab and Haryana, besides the administrative headquarters of the UT, the administration has a tough task meeting “round-the-clock” demand for power in “VIP areas”. With thousands of new residents inhabiting the southern sectors, particularly in group housing societies from Sectors 48 to 51, the demand is set to soar. Last year, several sectors in Phases II and III had reeled under power cuts.
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Water panel approves work worth Rs 59 lakh
Chandigarh, March 31 The meeting was convened under the chairmanship of Vijay Singh Rana and attended by committee members and officers of the municipal corporation. The committee recommended agendas including estimate for construction of road gullies in the main bazaar near Burial village, estimate for shifting and re-construction of new letter box type road gullies due to widening of V-6 road in Sector 15 A and B, estimate for providing additional road gullies on V-4 road and adjoining parking in Sector 19 C and D and estimate for providing road gullies and manholes in Shastri Market, Sector 22. Besides, a detailed estimate for construction of toilet block in the green belt of Sector 40 C, estimate for providing additional road gullies and manhole in Sector 36 B, estimate for providing additional road gullies and manholes in Sector 23 D and estimate for renovation of one toilet block in Maloya village, near bus stand, were also recommended.
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Low water pressure on upper floors, already!
Chandigarh, March 31 This is due to a steady increase in water consumption and low rainfall recorded in the first quarter of the year. In a bid to assure city residents, officials in the Chandigarh municipal corporation claim that this year they will take extra precautions in advance to avoid misuse of water so as to ensure uninterrupted supply to residents. Residents are already feeling anxious seeing low water pressure in March with demand for water set to increase in the coming months. Usha, a housewife residing in Sector 45, said with water consumption on the increase, residents of upper floors were being forced to bear the brunt of water shortage. She expressed concern that the consumption of water would significantly increase by the time summer sets in. Geetika, another housewife residing Sector 50, said every year the authorities assured that there would be no shortage of water in summer. However, it was the same old story every summer. She said while the authorities had initiated precautionary measures to avoid wastage of water in the morning hours, the true test would be if water supply stayed uninterrupted during summer. According to official records, the demand of the water in the city is 100 MGD (million gallons per day) against an availability of 87 MGD. The city receives 67 MGD supply from the Kajauli works, while 200 tubewells in various parts of the city provide 20 MGD. Officials say they have installed nine more tubewells and four boosters to increase the water supply. Superintendent engineer, public health, RK Goyal said they had made arrangements to increase the water supply to the city.
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Hotel Shivalikview
Chandigarh, March 31 In a classic case of misplaced priorities, the hotel, which was once promoted as a budget hotel, is now set to foray into a largely private domain by starting a nightclub. “When there already are nightclubs and discotheques in the city where is the need for a government-run hotel to venture into this arena. The thrust should be on providing better hospitality services, which has been CITCO’s trademark rather than venturing into clubbing,” said a UT official. The Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Corporation (CITCO) has already started a discotheque, Glassy Bar, at Kalagram at the cost of Rs 6 to 7 lakh and has a state-of-the-art sound system and flooring complete with disco lights. However, it is rarely being put to use,” said an insider. Besides, the renovation work in the basement, ground floor and the proposed addition of two new restaurants are under fire from the employees with some even writing to the UT Advisor about the discrepancies in the proposed project. However, home secretary, who is also the chairman of the board of governors of CITCO, he said: “In this era of competition, we have to upgrade our hotels to match with private players.” About employees being unhappy, he alleged: “They have been instigated by those who were once in the shopping arcade and now their shops have been closed for renovation.” It has been over a year-and-half that the shops in the shopping arcade were vacated in the name of renovation and the corporation is running into a loss of nearly Rs 10 lakh per annum in terms of rental of the shops. Finally, the execution of the first phase of renovation work is going to kick-start on April 5. A letter to this effect was released by the department recently. While the CVC guidelines clearly spell that tenders cannot be split for the same work, the corporation, without bothering about this, has done the same. It is believed that this is being done to accommodate a local contractor who has already been barred from carrying out work at Sukhna Lake. Even the idea of constructing new restaurants with the other two existing ones not making considerable profits is not going down well with employees. More importantly, while the corporation is still not being able to make arrangements for a backdoor entry for its employees, as is prevalent in other hotels, the authorities are now even going to do away with the lone parking lot that is used by hundreds of employees, who commute on bicycles and two-wheelers.
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Officials review preparations
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 31 To review the preparations of the UT administration in this regard, Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RGI) Dr C Chandramouli was in the city recently. He convened a meeting with UT Adviser Pradeep Mehra in which Director, Census Operations, Bindhyeswari Negi, Deputy Commissioner-cum-Principal Census Officer Brijendra Singh, Assistant Estate Officer-cum-Urban Charge Officer Hargunjit Kaur and officials of the census department took stock of the situation. The RGI explained the usefulness and hierarchy involved in the NPR and sought the corporation of the administration in this regard. The Adviser assured full support to get the task completed within the stipulated time frame. Already 63 masters trainers consisting of lecturers/assistant professors have been trained by the Census Directorate on March 16- 18, who will form the core training team in the city for onward training to enumerators and supervisors drawn from various institutions.
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Bidda joins as MC chief engineer
Chandigarh, March 31
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Councillor’s nomination cancelled
Fatehgarh Sahib, March 31 Ashok Sood had trailed Naresh then and would now take over as the new councillor. Talking to mediapersons here today, Sood said he had filed objections at the tribunal against nomination papers of Naresh. Sood had stated that a case was registered against Naresh Kumar for embezzling funds from land of the municipal council and hence he did not qualify to contest elections. The tribunal heard both the parties and delivered decision in favour of Sood. On June 30, 2008, former MC president Naresh Kumar defeated Sood by a margin of two votes.
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Bacchus lovers swarm vends
Chandigarh,March 31 A majority of popular brands were available at almost 50 per cent of the original price. Meanwhile, 201 of the existing 217 liquor contractors have applied for the renewal of their licences. These include 52 of the 65 country liquor contractors and 149 of the 152 of the Indian Made Foreign Liquor contractors. The new contractors could apply till April 8, sources said. — TNS
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Tribune manager retires
Chandigarh, March 31 He was given a warm send-off by Assistant General Manager (Circulation) Rajeshwar Chopra and his colleagues. He lauded his services to the institution. A farewell party was also arranged in his honour on the office premises.
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Tribune employee retires
Chandigarh, March 31 He was given a warm send-off at a fairwall party organised by his colleagues at the Chandigarh Press Club. Naresh Kaushal, Editor, Dainik Tribune, and Varinder Walia, Editor, Punjabi Tribune, among others lauded Naveen’s services to The Tribune Trust. Naveen has the honour of working with half a dozen editors, including founder editor of the Dainik Tribune.
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Beopar Mandal Polls
Chandigarh, March 24 Expressing concern at the increasing crime trend in the city, he demanded immediate stepping up of the security in the market with installation of CCTVs. Sanctioning of soft loans to the traders, checking illegal sales, professional legal assistance, representation of CBM in major bodies of the administration and construction of the Beopar Mandal Bhavan in the city were other issues highlighted in the manifesto.
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Rs 40 lakh approved for new parks
Chandigarh, March 31 As per the proposal, the MC would develop 10 new parks in rehabilitation colony, Sector 56, green belt in Sector 42-C and D, green belt near petrol pump and V-3 road in Sector 56 and green belt in Sector 39-A and B. The committee also approved Rs 17 lakh for installation of play equipments, multi-play equipments in the Sector 33 park and in green belt in Sector 20-A and B and Sector 33-C and D. Besides, the committee approved fixing of benches in parks, green belts of Sectors 20 and 33, Mauli Jagran Complex, Sector 35-A and Sector 45. Meanwhile, in another meeting of the electricity committee, members approved the agendas of around Rs 8 lakh for installing lights in various parks and green belts of the city. Interestingly, the committee approved Rs 9 lakh for the installation of play equipments, multi-play equipments in two different parks of Sector 33 only, whereas in some sectors, this facility is still not available.
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Attendance Shortage Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 31
On the issue of holding back roll numbers of 250 students of evening department, the authorities today softened their stand and permitted 53 students to appear in the first exam provisionally on Thursday on a payment of Rs 250. The others students, who did not get the permission, staged a protest by blocking the road outside boys’ Hostel No. 3 in the evening. The leniency of the authorities in cases of attendance shortage each year has led PU to overlook the norms of the University Grants Commission (UGC), which mentions the mandatory condition of attending 75 per cent lectures out of the total lectures delivered. On the flipside, the students allege that the teachers have not been taking classes, but this aspect is not even being reviewed by the university, which has now constituted a seven-member committee comprising of teachers of the evening department. In the other major incident today, hundreds of students of the University Institute of Applied Management Sciences (UIAMS), University Institute of Hotel Management and Tourism (UIHMT), University Institute of Legal Studies (UILS) and Institute of Bio-Medical Sciences protested for more than five hours in Vice-Chancellor’s office. They even tied the hands of the security persons at the gate to break open the lock. Meanwhile, as many as 30 students of University Institute of Legal Studies (UILS) today expressed their discontentment on the schedule of re-appear examination. Within two weeks of the announcement of the result of odd semesters, the date of re-appear examination (April 10) has been announced. “Even before our re-evaluation result is out, how are we supposed to know whether we should sit in re-appear exam or not?” questioned a student of LLB final semester. The students have given a representation to the department director and the Students Council.
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Inspection to check school-bookseller nexus Chandigarh, March 31 Despite the administration issuing orders against recommending a specific bookseller or uniform shop, many schools not only continued to direct the students to their “favourites”, but even allowed them to open temporary sale counters in the school. The special inspection team, which was constituted today, will start the inspection process from tomorrow and issue on-the-spot notices to erring schools. The department has also decided to withdraw its recognition from the culprits, who have allowed sale counters in the schools. “We had issued the orders early this year and barred them from forcing their students to buy their books and uniforms from a specific shop. These schools were asked to provide a detailed list of recommended books and display the uniform on notice board. They, however, didn’t bother to our directions and continued minting money. We have got a lot of complaints and will start our inspection from tomorrow,” said a senior official of the education department. The private schools, however, seem to be in no mood to comply, as a member of the Independent School Association reacted: “Their own schools recommend books and uniforms, but they don’t check it. There are only a few prominent booksellers, which provide books recommended in our schools so in a way we are just helping the parents. It may be recalled that reacting to the complaint of a local social activist the UT administration had barred schools from forcing kids to buy their school material from a specific shop. Even the Central Board of Secondary Education has directed all its affiliated schools against the practice.
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Three teachers transferred
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 31 Ripjot Kaur, the teacher who left the papers in the exam control room from where they went missing, has been shifted to Government Senior Secondary School for Girls, Sector 20, for her alleged callousness. The two teachers- Vinod Sharma and Pradeep Kumar had a scuffle at a staff meeting to find the papers. The duo has been “punished” for not maintaining the decorum of the school and putting the entire teaching fraternity to shame. The action comes as a delayed response of the UT education department over the matter of the answersheets having gone missing from the schools premises and the teachers fighting over it.
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Class X exam on April 26
Mohali: The Punjab School Education Board has announced the date for Class X examination under its tri-monthly test system. The exam will be held on April 26. The board authorities said submission of application was allowed by April 15. — TNS
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City school signs MoU with UK Academy
Chandigarh, March 31 Principal of The British School, Mona Shri Sethi, said the MoU was school’s initiative to add global dimension to its curriculum. A delegation from Leigh Technology Academy, UK, visited the school.
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80 students donate blood
Chandigarh, March 31 The camp, which was organised in the memory of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev saw participation of 80 students. The chief guest honoured the first blood donor. Later, the key speaker of ABVP, Sunil Achresh Rana, who is state secretary of the Punjab ABVP and guest of honour Devender Kumar, a professor of law department, also participated.
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Chandigarh, March 31