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P’kula Gymkhana Club manager held
Panchkula, July 7 The vigilance team, led by inspector Madan Lal, arrested Kaushal and Virender from the club at Sector 6 here around 9 pm. Kaushal was allegedly demanding bribe from the contractor, Harjit Singh, for not issuing a notice to him. Vigilance officials maintained that Kaushal was threatening Harjit that he would issue a notice to him for a few faults in the pool. Kaushal had threatened Harjit a number of times. Finally, Kaushal told Harjit that he would not be issued a notice if he paid Rs 20,000. Harjit filed a complaint with the vigilance office past afternoon and they laid a trap. Sources said after collecting money from Harjit, Kaushal gave it to Virender for keeping it in safe custody. Then, vigilance sleuths nabbed them both. Later in the night, they registered a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Kaushal and Virender on the basis of Harjit’s complaint. Meanwhile, Kaushal’s wife Promila said her husband was falsely implicated in the case. She added that her husband had unearthed a case of corruption at the club, in which a bartender, Karan Singh, was first transferred and later suspended. She added that her husband was paying the price for it. She alleged that Karan was behind this conspiracy. When contacted, HUDA Administrator Rajender Kataria, who was also looking after the club, said he has no idea about the vigilance action.
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No Estate Officer in MC for last four months
Chandigarh, July 7 As a result, the hearing in the cases are being deferred regularly as the violations are on the rise. On Tuesday, the hearing of 12 cases relating to bylaw violations had to be deferred once again as there was no official to take decision against the violators. The MC building branch became headless after the transfer of former MC Estate Officer TP Phoolka four months ago and the UT Administration has still to issue fresh orders to assign this duty. MC Additional Commissioner Lalit Siwach expressed his inability to take any action against the violators till the Administration issued orders to the EO. The MC has been sending reminders to the Administration in this regard. MC
records show that five reminders were sent to the Administration in the last four months, requesting it to appoint the EO as the work of the wing was suffering. MC Commissioner Prerna Puri had also written to the Administration, but no action has been taken yet. MC records show that the estate office branch had served hundreds of notices to building bylaw violators. Over the last four months, neither has any fresh violation notice been served nor action taken against violators.
Toothless MC?
Even after finding major faults in the Uppal housing project the MC has failed to issue a resumption notice to the company. In May, the then UT Deputy Commissioner-cum-MC Commissioner Bijender Singh had directed the estate office branch to issue a notice to the company.
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Estate office, police play blame game
Chandigarh, July 7 The local land acquisition department maintain that they have time and again passed the orders for demolishing illegal structures, but claim that it is the unavailability of the police that has been preventing them from carrying out anti-encroachment drives. However, the police authorities differ saying that they were not being properly informed. “Lack of coordination is there, but it is not on our part,” said UT SSP Naunihal Singh. Land Acquisition Officer Tilak Raj said he had issued demolition orders to several illegal structures in Dadu Majra, Dhanas, Khuda Alisher and Sarangpur, all of which border Chandigarh, in April. “We have also sent the list containing the orders and location of sites to the police in April. But we are yet to get any reply from the police and this has been causing delay. During any demolition process, the presence of the police is necessary,” he said. Interestingly, the UT SSP denies having received any list. “We have not received any list. Why can’t they simply pick up the
phone and talk to us about what needs to be done?” he asked. “For any such work, which involves so many departments, coordination is very necessary. If you want the force or security on any particular day, you have to contact us to set the things. We have to see so many things and many a time we are unable to spare even a single constable on any given day,” he said. Estate Office sources said thousands of demolition orders have been pending for years. “These orders have also resulted in several unscrupulous officials of the department to extract money from those against whom these orders have been passed,” said sources.
325 demolition orders issued
Land Acquisition Officer Tilak Raj said about 325 demolition orders were issued in April. In Khuda Alisher, the number
demolition orders were around 80. These orders were issued to the house owners of Madho Colony. In Dhanas, the entire marble market is said to be unauthorised. Most of the structures, being constructed
along Sarangpur-Dhanas and Dhanas-Dadu Majra, are also reportedly illegal.
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Big leap in modernisation
Chandigarh, July 7 The police had been sanctioned the vehicle 10 months ago and it was today that the vehicle was finally inducted in the police fleet. Costing Rs 54 lakh, the LATC was inspected by Inspector-General of Police PK Srivastava, along with several senior police officials, at the police headquarters in Sector 9 today. All senior police officials then rode the LATC to the Sukhna Lake, following which they went to the Raj Bhavan, where UT Administrator Shivraj Patil inspected the vehicle and expressed his satisfaction. “This is a bullet-proof, explosive-proof, next-generation vehicle, which will act as a great force multiplier. The vehicle provides all-round protection in the event of a terror attack. Six commandos, armed with assault rifles and machine guns such as AK-47s, self-loading rifles or the more sophisticated Heckler and Kotch MP-5 pistols can fight a group of terrorists from inside the vehicle, which is resistant to bullets,” said Sanjay Chaudhary, manager (defence sales), Tata Motors Limited, which had built the vehicle. These vehicle could be used to transport commandos to the premises of a spot of terrorist attack, he added. The vehicle also had a roof-mounted turret for medium machine guns and eight ports, where commandos seated inside could place their guns and fire at terrorists in a protected environment. “We have inducted the vehicle to equip the force
to carry out anti-terrorist operations. We have the Mumbai attacks in our mind, where terrorists entered hotels and buildings. In such a situation, these vehicles will help in deploying a crack team,” said Srivatasva. DIG Alok Kumar, SSP Naunihal Singh, SSP (Traffic) HS Doon, SP GS Grewal, DSP (Traffic) Vijay Kumar, DSP (Lines) Jagbir Singh and DSP (Headquarters) Ashish Kapoor were the officials who inspected the vehicle.
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Institute director, warden booked
Tribune News Service
Rajpura, July 7 The accused students have been identified as Akaju Dubey, Dev Ashish, Manoj Tiwari, Vishal Pandey, Ashok Gushant, Aditya Prakash, Ravi Parkash, Anand Mohan, Sanjay Kumar, Himanshu Tripri, Amrit Raj, Nitish Kumar, Ashok Rajan, Chandan Kumar, Avinash, Abhimanyu, Anand Parkash, Mohan Kumar Purshottam, Dheeraj, Piyush, Guddu Kumar, Himanshu, Gautam and Batish Kumar. The police said a case under Sections 302, 323, 148, 149 and 120-B of the IPC had been registered against the accused. Many students and college staff members have been rounded up. Himanshu was killed in a clash involving student groups from Himachal, Jammu and Kashmir and Bihar. The students fought over a mattress that went missing on Tuesday night. The police said students from Bihar got upset after a student suggested that their rooms should be checked. A clash ensued at night and both groups received injuries. The college authorities allegedly did not inform the police and the situation turned ugly when some boys threw bricks and stones the next morning. Himanshu received fatal injuries. The police said no arrest had been made in this regard so far and efforts were on to nab the accused.
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25 pc rise in radio cab fare from next week
Owing to spiralling fuel prices, radio cab operators had been demanding a hike in the fare for the last few months and had recently also held a meeting with the UT Administrator to hike the fare to Rs 20 per km. Sources said the Administration had asked private radio cab operators to increase their fleet to a minimum of 50 cabs in view of the growing demand for cabs by residents and tourists in the city. “There are currently only two radio cab operators in the city. The radio cab fleet is expected to soon rise to 100,” officials added. Col VS Dhillon (retd), managing director of Tricity Tours and Travels, which is one of the two cab service operators, said the per km fare in both Haryana and Punjab had already been fixed at Rs 20 per km and that they had proposed the same rate for Chandigarh as their cabs were also transporting people to neighbouring cities of Panchkula in Haryana and Mohali in Punjab. “Although we are yet to receive information about the proposal being cleared by the UT Administration, we will introduce the new rates as soon as we receive official intimation,” he said.
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MC favours retirees, deputationists
All five key posts of executive engineer (XEN) in the public health wing have been filled by deputationists from Punjab, Haryana and the UT administration, reveal MC records. In the road wing, deputationists hold all three posts of XEN. Of the 19 subdivisional officers (SDOs) in the public health department, one is a deputationist, current duty charge (CDC) has been given to 12 and six are regular employees of the department. In the road wing, of the nine posts of SDO, eight employees are holding CDC and one is on deputation. In both wings, eligible candidates for posts of XEN and SDO are are waiting for promotion since 1996. MC chief engineer SS Bidda stated in the General House meeting that as the process of recruitment and promotion rules had not been finalised yet, cases of promotion
of a majority of employees in all departments were pending. A classic example of preference for deputationists was recently seen in the public health wing, when a panel was sought from Punjab for filling a single vacant post of XEN. The Punjab Government sent a list of three employees to the MC, as per norms. Interestingly, rather than posting one official on deputation, the MC selected two officials from the list, demoting its own employee, who was holding CDC of XEN since 1998. Similarly, after the repatriation of RK Goyal to his parent cadre of Punjab, posts of Superintendent engineer, public health, is lying vacant. Rather than considering its own eligible candidates from the public health wing of the MC, a panel for filling the post was being invited from Punjab. In the road wing, of the 30 posts of junior engineer (JE), five have been filled by deputationists from the UT administration, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and five by direct recruitment, while the rest are lying vacant. Eleven employees of the department, who fulfil all criteria for promotion to these posts, have been denied an opportunity. As per service rules, a seniority list is prepared by all MC wings, which details employees whose promotions are due, those who will retire in the current year and the number of vacant posts.
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Building bylaws outdated
Chandigarh, July 7 While resident welfare associations and social organisations cry foul over the deficiencies in the building bylaws, no attempt seems to have been made to incorporate people’s suggestions in the same. The height of the boundary walls of the
marla, kanal houses and the cooperative group housing societies is a case in point. The UT Administration allows boundary wall up a height of nearly six feet in the residential premises. In case of commercial establishments and institutions, there are no different rules though relaxations are given on a case-to-case basis. However, in specific cases, including where slip roads pass from behind the houses, the owners had been allowed to increase the height of the boundary wall. With no clear-cut policy on allowing the increase in height, officials’ discretion rules the roost. While the officials dithering on formulating a clear-cut policy on the issue, residents are up in the arm against what they call outdated bylaws. “The six-feet boundary wall in the residential premises, particularly in the cooperative housing societies in Phase III Sectors (Sector 48 onwards), is illogical and the UT Administration should amend this rule in public welfare,” said Satish C Sharma, general secretary of the Chandigarh Social Welfare Council. Since the Phase III Sectors are surrounded by illegal slums, security concerns seem to be paramount as a majority of the societies are surrounded by open spaces from all sides. Official sources conceded that rules governing the height of the boundary wall seemed to have lost their utility and needed a fresh look.
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GMSH nurse refers discharged patient to PGI
Chandigarh, July 7 The incident, which dates back to June 9, came to the notice of the authorities when files were being scrutinised for the monthly meeting of referrals and deaths committee held in the hospital last week. Puneet, a patient suffering from neurological problem, was admitted to the hospital on June 5. It was noticed that a nurse had written on Puneet’s file “to be referred to PGI”. However, the file did not bear any such remark by the doctor treating the patient. When further inquires were made, it was revealed that the patient had actually been discharged from the hospital on June 9. The nurse, however, told the inquiry committee that she was instructed to do so by the doctor. The doctor, on the other hand, told the committee that he had asked the nurse to discharge the patient. The authorities, however, have asked the doctor concerned to explain the reason for not marking his instructions in the file of the patient. Last year on July 23, Bulbul, a patient, was compelled to deliver her baby in the OPD leading to the death of her newborn as she was asked to undergo diagnosis tests by paramedical staff instead of by doctors even though she was undergoing labour pains.
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Wards of police personnel rewarded
Chandigarh, July 7 nspector General of Police PK Srivastava rewarded 275 students to encourage them for their future. Rs 20.5 lakh and two laptops were distributed among students.
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Panel formed to monitor dumping of garbage
Chandigarh, July 7 This was decided at a specially convened meeting to assess the functioning of the garbage processing plant and the dumping ground at Dadu Majra chaired by MC Commissioner Prerna Puri. It was also decided to strengthen the garbage inspection system and ensure its effective supervision. At the meeting, area councillor complained that the garbage was dumped in the dumping ground rather than the plant due to which residents face foul smell problem in the area. She alleged that plant is not taking whole garbage sent to it resultantly the dumping land has been filled. It was also decided to strengthen the garbage inspection system and ensure its effective supervision. The MC will install CCTV cameras at the garbage dumping site and at the entry gate of the garbage processing plant to keep a check on unauthorised dumping of garbage. Representatives of the garbage processing plant argued that as per the MoU signed between the MC and the plant, the wastes, including construction waste, hospital waste, slaughterhouse waste, drainage silt from villages, waste generated from vegetable and fish markets, big hotels is to be directly sent to the dumping ground. The representatives said they were making provision for an additional hot air generator. It was decided that to ensure effective supervision, the garbage inspection system would be strengthened.
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Mohinder is Rotary Club’s chief
Blood donation camp
Around 133 employees of Reliance on Thursday donated blood in a special camp organised by the Blood Bank Society of Government Multi Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, at the DLF, IT Park.
New joint registrar
The UT Administrator has appointed Rahul Gupta as joint registrar, Cooperative Societies, to assist the registrar.
‘Triveni Day’ celebrated
Government High School, Sector 32-D, celebrated ‘Triveni Day’ on Thursday by planting saplings banyan, peepal and neem. JS Ahluwalia, member of the school management committee, was the chief guest on the occasion. Children also presented a cultural programme.
Saplings planted
To mark Triveni Day, Orchid eco club of Gurukul Global School, planted saplings. Orchid eco club is an initiative of Gurukul Global School towards combating degradation and damage done to environment by human beings. ‘Orchid’ aims at creating awareness among students about the conservation of environment. The school also announced formation of the Interact Rotary Club. Chief guest Saravjit Rai, president, Rotary Club, planted saplings. He was accompanied by principal Aruna Bhardwaj and managing director Parveen Setya.
Forms available at Suvidha Centre
Shiromani Akali Dal joint secretary and chairman of the District Planning Committee NK Sharma today termed the Congress party as the biggest enemy of Punjab stating that it always created hurdles in the progress and prosperity of the state. After reviewing the ongoing development works at Kandala village, Sharma said the Congress had always opposed the development work in the state. He said works initiated by the SAD-BJP government were stalled by Capt Amarinder Singh after coming to power in 2002.
Placement drive
Sahibzada Ajit Singh Group of Institutions (SASGOI) has recorded 100 per cent placement of MCA students of the 2010-batch. All 104 students have been placed in reputed organisations of the region. The detail of all companies is available with the head of the department of the institute. Dr JS Dhaliwal, chairman, SASGOI, said the students were hired by companies, including Affiliated Computer Services of India Pvt Ltd, Ananya Infotech Pvt Ltd, Ani Web Designs Pvt Ltd, Bebo Technical Education Services, CS-Soft Solution Pvt Ltd, Dell, Drish Infotech Ltd, HCL CDC, Chandigarh, IDS Infotech Ltd, Micro Cell Systems Pvt Ltd, Multisoft System, NIIT,Chandigarh; ONGC, Dehradun, Seasia Consulting, Stellar Edge Solution Pvt Ltd and Technorite Consultants Pvt Ltd.
Suman adjudged best cadet
Suman Kumar Dey, a BCA student of Gian Jyoti Institute of Management of Technology, Phase II, Mohali, won the best cadet prize. In the best cadet competition, Suman won a gold medal. He was adjudged the best cadet based on his performance in firing, general knowledge, drill, interview, group discussions and written test in service subjects. Another cadet Manjit Singh, a student of BCA, secured the fourth position in shooting competition.
Complaint against contractor
A tree plantation drive marked the ‘vanmahotsava’ celebrations at DAV
School, Sector 8. Students took out a rally, in which around 100 students participated. Besides, students of primary classes recited poems and made posters. An essay writing competition and a declamation contest were also held.
— TNS
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Non-declaration of results
Chandigarh, July 7 Last year, the NCTE cancelled course’s affiliation following which the university had moved the High Court against the NCTE’s decision and was granted permission to conduct the exam of students admitted before the disaffiliation of course. Though the exams were conducted smoothly, the university has not declared the results till date. Students alleged that despite promising the declaration of results on Monday, the authorities had failed to do so. Meanwhile, the Panjab University Student Union (PUSU) today submitted a memorandum to the Vice-Chancellor, requesting him to revoke the hike in fee.
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Pvt schools fail to apply afresh for recognition
Sumedha Sharma Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 7 According to a directive issued by the UT education department in March, it is mandatory for all private schools in the city to apply for fresh recognition by filling a self-declaration-cum-application form for grant of recognition of school within three months of the date of implementation of the Act. The recognition, to be granted by the UT education department, will be allowed on the basis of a self-declaration form. The six-page form has also been uploaded on the department’s official website. Despite this, a majority of schools have not submitted forms till date. “These were suppose to do so latest by June, but barring 10-odd schools, none applied so far. As per the directive, all schools were to apply, whether recognised already or having their recognition or renewal under process. The Act came into being in February. Though all postulates were not fully implemented, 15 per cent of the admissions were done under it. We will issue a directive to schools again,” said a senior official of the department. According to the Act, schools established before the implementation of the Act were supposed to give an undertaking, giving information about details of the school, the nature and area included, whether the school was being run in its own building or a rented one, total area, built-in-area and total income and expenditure during the past three years, along with certain other details.
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Decks cleared to build houses for EWS families
Mohali, July 7 The Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has a pending project to construct 2,000 houses for residents of Jagatpura colony. In a recent meeting of GMADA, chaired by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, it was decided that each of the private builders would be asked to construct EWS houses in part of the pocket reserved for the purpose and handover the same to the government free of cost. Explaining the decision, sources said if a private builder had reserved 5 acres for EWS housing, he would now have to hand over the flats constructed on 3 acres to the government and sell the remaining in the market. In the past it had been seen that the builders were not raising EWS flats on the land reserved for the purpose. Chief Administrator of GMADA Saravjit Singh said the beneficiaries would be given such flats on lease for Rs 1,200 per month. The flats constructed by private builders would be handed over to the government. The decision applies to all urban estates across the state. In the past, GMADA had been delaying construction of 2,000 EWS houses in Sector 57 and 66 for want of funds. An area measuring about 15 acres in Sector 66 was identified for the construction of these houses and it was also decided to use a small pocket in Sector 57, which was lying vacant for the construction of group houses. A sum of about Rs 90 crore was needed for the construction of EWS houses.
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Assault case: Attackers yet to be arrested
Panchkula, July 7 The FIR was lodged against Pankaj, son of Sudesh Rani, under Sections 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. Complainants Pankaj Chaudhary and Sarthak, residents of Harmilap Nagar in Zirakpur, had stated that the accused, Pankaj, along with 12 youths, had alighted from a white Innova car and attacked them at a Sector 10 market on Tuesday night. The accused were armed with rods and sticks. The incident was fallout of some old rivalry between Pankaj Chaudhary and the assailants.
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GMADA to give Rs 4.35 cr to MC
Mohali, July 7 Sources said the amount would be passed on to the corporation tomorrow, most probably through cheque. This would help the civic body to start work on roads and providing amenities in Matour and Madanpur villages. These works were lying pending due to shortage of funds. Additional Commissioner of the corporation Parveen Kumar Thind said following the HUDA pattern it had been decided in principal that GMADA would also give 50 per cent of its income earned through building fee, extension fee, scrutiny fee and late fee to the civic body. The decision was taken at a meeting held with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on June 9, which was attended by senior officials of the district to discuss various development works. The decision would become effective from April 1, 2008, and GMADA had decided to pay the outstanding dues to the corporation. GMADA earned about Rs 2.25 crore annually from various fees collected from residents. The annual income of the corporation was about Rs 40 crore out of which Rs 32 crore came from VAT. The civic body had planned to spend Rs 32.51 crore on development works during the current financial year and the amount was not adequate to properly carry out maintenance work in Mohali. The erstwhile Municipal Council had been demanding over the years that the development authority should give a share out of the income earned by GMADA from various kinds of fees collected from residents.
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University failed to deal with staff crunch, alleges PUTA
Chandigarh, July 7 In the letter addressed to Vice-Chancellor RC Sobti, the association has highlighted that skeletal staff, which might eventually lead to the depletion of education standards, was running many departments. According to the association, the department of chemistry has only 12 regular teachers against the sanctioned posts of 47. Similarly, the chemical engineering department of the Institute of Chemical Engineering, is being run by 20 teachers against the sanctioned posts of 44. The department of zoology has been left with six faculty members against the sanctioned posts of 14. In the department of economics, there are only nine teachers against 18 sanctioned posts. In the department of Sanskrit, there are only two regular teachers against the sanctioned positions of nine. With the retirement of another faculty member, the department of physical education will soon hit the troubled waters. Only four teachers will be looking after teaching and research against the sanctioned positions of 15. In the department of evening studies, there are only 30 teachers against the sanctioned posts of 46. “The situation of arts and social sciences departments is no better. While there is an annual increase of about 5 to 10 per cent in the number of seats every year, the faculty strength reduces considerably. At present, 60 per cent of posts are lying vacant or being managed by the guest faculty. Every year, senior faculty members retire, but the university fails to replace them. In the current scenario, the guest faculty outnumbers regular teachers who are annoyed over not getting the UGC stipulated benefits. We talk of competing with other central universities, but with staff crunch, how can one do it?” questions PUTA member Manjit Singh.
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Chandigarh, July 7
Chandigarh, July 7
Mohinder Pal Gupta was appointed president of the Rotary Club of Chandigarh at the CII on Thursday. Gupta said the club, which was chartered in January last year, would be working to combat the menace of drug-addiction among the youth. He said the club would adopt Kaimbwala village for its all-round development.
Mohali Deputy Commissioner Varun Roozam said various forms required to be attached with different applications to be submitted in the DC’s office would now be available at the Suvidha Centre located on the ground floor of the DC’s office. He said private contractors selling forms outside the DC’s office were fleecing people. 
In his complaint to MC president Ravinder Rawal, Panchkula MC vice-president BB Singh alleged that contractor of Sector
10 had not been addressing complaints of residents for the past one month. Residents had complained about the non-functional streetlights in the area. BB Singh said the contractor should be directed to listen to the complaints of residents.
Plantation drive