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MC largesse for chosen ones
The startling facts were revealed during a query sought by BJP councillor Arun Sood on the floor of the House. Records provided by the MC reveal that the Mayor, Raj Bala Malik, alone got 222 such passes issued in her name against the norm of each councillor being issued five such passes. Other beneficiaries include former councillors, officials, blood donors, gallantry award winners and mediapersons. Leading in the distribution of free passes are a handful of MC officials and employees, whose number is around 50, but records show that this year, 1,105 passes were issued to them. But as per rules, only Class I officers are eligible to avail of this facility. Raj Bala Malik has been given over 50 per cent of parking passes issued under the councillors' category. As per the records, out of 400 passes issued to the councillors this year, the Mayor got 222 passes issued to herself. She also availed of the facility of getting free parking passes under categories for which she is ineligible. Under the MC employees' category, 35 passes were issued to the Mayor and under the former councillors' category, she got 131 passes. Following in the footsteps of the Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor got 11 parking passes -- eight under the councillor category, two under the employees' category and one under the former councillor category. The Deputy Mayor got eight passes under the councillor category and three under the employees' category. This year, the councillors, numbering 35, got 400 passes. As per norms, each councillor is eligible for only five passes, valid for five years. This year, however, the councillors were eligible to get 175 passes against which they got 400. As many as 35 former councillors, who were eligible to get two passes each, got as many as 250 passes. Last year, the General House approved that the councillors of last term would be eligible to get two passes each, which would be valid for three years.
Raj Bala Malik
Goes all-out
MC records reveal that the Mayor, Raj Bala Malik, alone got 222 free parking passes issued in her name against the norm of each councillor getting five such passes.
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Local lads cruise ahead
Chandigarh, May 26 The team have qualified for the pre-final leg of the football tournament after winning the first two legs in Jharkhand and Goa. Now, in Indonesia, the lads from the city will prove their mettle against top teams of Asia to qualify for the final leg to be held in the UK later. “My boys are ready to face the challenge. We are going to face the top-ranking teams and the boys need to work hard to taste the victory. We will emerge winners. I have faith in my boys," said a confident Harjinder Singh, coach of the team. “The team's win depends a lot on senior and experienced players, including Nishu, Samuel, Arjit Ramdin and Salman. “The players are confident and after winning the Indian leg, we are eyeing the Asian cup to qualify for the main leg to be held in the UK," the coach added. A total of 9,000 teams from across the world are participating in the football tournament. The teams after clearing three stages will reach the world cup stage. The local team have cleared two stages and will now vie for the Asia cup before booking a berth in the world-zone competition. “The players are in form. We are putting in efforts to clinch the cup. Though the environment will be different there, being an international event, we are hopeful of defying all odds. We all have been performing well under the guidance of our coach," said defender Nishu and goalkeeper Ramdin.
3 players dropped
Three players were dropped from the squad. Sanjeev S of Bangaluru failed to get an access to his passport as his residential address was changed while Sumit Rathi and Vikram Singh are suffering from chickenpox. “Internationally, the game is different. We hope that the team's performance is not affected as three players will not be able to participate in the tournament,” added Harjinder.
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26 sq-km disputed area not in UT master plan
Chandigarh, May 26 Recently the two departments of the Administration -- the office of the Deputy Commissioner (DC) and the forest and wildlife department -- were at loggerheads over the dispute over the Sukhna wildlife sanctuary area. The Administration then soft-pedalled the issue. A senior official with the Administration said there was no dispute over the land and it belonged to the Administration. The DC's office had submitted its report to the Administration in November last year in response to a communication from the Chief Architect. It was stated in the communication that the issue of ownership of the land under question needed to be clarified immediately to pave the way for the finalisation of the master plan of the city. The DC had mentioned in the report that the land was under the possession of the Administration, but its revenue records continued to be with the Punjab and Haryana governments. The legal department had also submitted its opinion to the UT Administration. It had stated that the area did not belong to the UT and the Administration had no right over it. The forest and wildlife department had strongly objected to the reports. It had pointed out that the DC's office had started the process of declaring the area a reserve forestland under the Indian Forest Act in 1991. The DC was appointed forest settlement officer and he called for objections from members of the public regarding the area. In a letter dated January 13, 1991, the DC's office had informed the Divisional Forest Officer that none of the owners whose land fell under the reserve forest area had filed any objection. The notification declaring it the Sukhna wildlife sanctuary was issued in March 1998. The land was transferred to the UT on March 15, 1963, but was outside the 114 sq km under the revenue records of the UT.
No dispute
A senior official with the Administration said there was no dispute over the land and it belonged to the Administration. The DC's office had submitted its report to the Administration in November last year in response to a communication from the Chief Architect.
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Water pangs drive residents to protest
Chandigarh, May 26 Satpal, a resident of Sector 52, complained that no official of the corporation had visited their area to monitor the water supply situation even after several reminders. Hence, they were left with no choice, but to stage a protest in their area. Water crisis is not just confined to Sector 52, but is prevalent across the city. Similar conditions prevail in other sectors and residents are upset over the non-availability of water in their sectors. Residents of Sectors 2, 16, 18, 19, 30, 35 and 44 have been complaining either about low water pressure or no water supply in the area. The MC Superintending Engineer (Public Health), RC Diwan, said major repair work was being undertaken at the Kajauli waterworks (phases I and II), due to which there was disruption in the water supply to the city. He said following the requests of residents, 200 water tankers had been sent by the corporation to various sectors to alleviate the water crisis. He claimed that by tomorrow, the water supply on all the floors would be streamlined.
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Auction of parking lots MC not very hopeful
Chandigarh, May 26 A majority of contractors have complained of financial losses after the allotment of parking lots. A classic example is the auction of four parking lots in January. The highest bid by a contractor was lower than the successful bid the previous time, due to which the auction was cancelled. The auction of parking lots was held twice and there was a lukewarm response, according to a report. They did not expect an enthusiastic response this time. A senior official said the department was not getting a good response and they were not very hopeful. MC sources said the parking lots to be auctioned again included those of the CMC and the MOH at Sector 17. They were not getting any response as contractors complained that most pass-holders parked vehicles there, depriving them of financial benefit, the sources added. The authorities had withdrawn free passes in the token system for the parking lots of the Sahib Singh shop and the Empire Store at Sector 17. Another senior official said the contractor wanted the authorities to withdraw free passes if the token system had to be implemented so that they did not suffer financial losses.
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MC reacts cautiously to GMADA offer on hoardings
Mohali, May 26 It was just a verbal offer, said Jagdish Shahi, Estate Officer of the MC. “The revenue we get by allotting advertisement sites is nearly Rs 2 crore annually. This is our (the MC) only source of income. So how can we close this source on just a verbal offer,”€ť he added. Earlier, talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Manjit Brar, additional chief administrator, GMADA, said the advertisement hoardings and other display boards all around were a blot on the beauty of the town. ”We should follow the pattern of Chandigarh, where the Administration does not allow advertisement sites. We have offered the MC to take the same amount which they earn from these sites, from us and remove all the hoardings,”€ť said Brar. The issue would be discussed soon as it was a question of making the town a model city, said officials.
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Drama at PU evaluation centre
Chandigarh, May 26 The Senator raised questions over the teacher’s capacity to evaluate answer sheets, causing disturbance in the evaluation process for over an hour. The incident has once again raised questions over the interference of the Senators in the functioning of university and the university allowing people who are not evaluating the answer sheets to enter the centres ignoring the fact that secrecy needs to be maintained. Kamalpreet Kaur, a Punjabi teacher at the Dashmesh Girls College, Badal, Muktsar, who is evaluating the answer sheets at PU alleged that Senator IS Sandhu approached her and starting raising objections over her evaluating the MA Punjabi paper IV, claiming that she doesn’t teach that particular subject and was ineligible to evaluate the answer sheets. “Sandhu started shouting in front of all the evaluators and even called the Head of Department of Punjabi in our college to confirm whether I teach the particular subject or not. To humiliate me he put the loudspeaker-on so that all the evaluators could listen,” Kaur claimed. She alleged that the Senator insulted and misbehaved with her despite she being authorised by the university to evaluate answer sheets of papers II and IV. “I have given a complaint to the PU authorities and demanded an inquiry into the whole incident,” she said. Prof Nahar Singh, head examiner for the second paper of MA Punjabi, Yogarj Angrish, head examiner for the third paper, tired to pacify the Senator and asked him to submit a written representation. Nahar Singh said that politics is being played inside the evaluation centre in the wake of the upcoming Senate elections. “It is unfortunate. Just because Kamalpreet is not Sandhu’s supporter, he bullied her. And that too in the evaluation centre which is intolerable,” Singh said. Meenaki Rathore, another evaluator from the MCM College who witnessed the incident, said that it was shocking for her to watch how a female teacher was humiliated in front of over 200 teachers. Senator IS Sandhu, when contacted, refuted all the allegations and said that it was Kamalpreet Kaur who had approached him stating that being a member of the Board of Studies that finalises the list of evaluators he had struck-off her name from the list of evaluators. “I had come to the evaluation centre just to check whether all the answer sheets of Punjabi-MA II, paper III, option I, have been evaluated as I was also assigned the duty of evaluating the answer sheets," Sandhu said. Earlier, the Senate members from the college constituency were found campaigning for the Senate elections in the evaluation centre disturbing the process, following which PU Vice Chancellor RC Sobti had pulled up such candidates
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Heatwave to continue for next two days
Chandigarh, May 26 The weather office has said the western disturbance over North Pakistan and its neighborhood now lies over Jammu and Kashmir and adjoining North Pakistan as an upper air system. As a result, the heatwave prevailing in the region is likely to continue during the next 48 hours. The maximum temperature on Saturday was 40.3°C and the minimum 27.4°C. The maximum relative humidity was 36 per cent and the minimum 12 per cent. The sky would be mainly clear. There would be some relief for residents as the department predicted that the day temperature on Sunday would hover around 39şC and the minimum on Monday around 26şC. The department predicted the weather to be mainly dry in Punjab and Haryana, with a dust storm or thunder storm with light rain at isolated places, during the next 24 hours.
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Three new PG courses at GMSH likely
Chandigarh, May 26 The NBE course in the Diplomate of National Board is a standardised degree for postgraduates in medicine and surgery. The GMSH already provides such degrees in the departments of gynaecology, paedicatrics, medicine, orthopaedics and surgery. The new seats, two each in three specialities, are in community medicine, family medicine and emergency and trauma medicine. Sources said officials with the department of health in Chandigarh had applied to the Union Ministry of Health. They added that the issue was discussed during a meeting of the Planning Commission in New Delhi on May 24.
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Embezzlement of Rs 3 lakh found
Chandigarh, May 26 It was found that CITCO had not issued any guidelines to prohibit disbursement directly from cash receipts. As a result, expenses of tea and payment towards travelling allowance (TA) in connection with visits of employees to the IOC at Ambala were being utilised from sale proceeds. There was also discrepancy in the preparation of sale summary by the staff at the filling station. The system of cash handling and reconciliation was not in order and the cash of the next shift was being manipulated for adjusting shortage of cash in the previous shift. Employees at the filing station were managing the cash shortage of previous shifts from the next day’s sale . It was also detected that unauthorised credit was being allowed to private persons and there was no clear policy on it. The vigilance inquiry into the alleged pilferage of fuel from the CITCO filling station at Sector 9 found two officials responsible for the missing stock of diesel. Clerk Rajiv
Kohli, whose name figured in the probe, had been transferred. Though the vigilance report recommended departmental action, nothing in this regard had been initiated so far.
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Drive to remove encroachments from road berms
Mohali, May 26 On the second day of the drive, the Mohali Deputy Commissioner, Varun Roojam, today paid a visit to Dera Bassi to check encroachments there. He directed the officials concerned to get these removed immediately. Yesterday, he had visited Sakrulapur, Bajheri, Garaga, Rora and Gharuan villages to take stock of the situation. A 15-day ultimatum was given to farmers to remove the encroachments. "Roads, which were 22 feet wide earlier, have been reduced to about 10 feet due to these encroachments," said Roojam. After the removal of encroachments, the berms would be strengthened with soil and expenses would be borne by encroachers, said Roojam. The DC also held a meeting with farmers and village panchayat to seek their cooperation.
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Power hit at hotline connections in Mohali
Mohali, May 26 The PSPCL has installed hotline connections at the waterworks in Sectors 56 and 57 for giving uninterrupted electricity supply, but the supply of water from these plants gets adversely affected when power cuts are imposed there. Today, the power was disrupted for more than an hour at these two plants. The underground storage reservoir constructed in Phase X was also recently given a hotline connection for pumping water to the nearby areas. But power remained disrupted here, too, even as residents are facing shortage of water. Employees of the water supply and sanitation wing said whenever power was disrupted, the machinery at these plants stopped working and pipes became empty. It took at least half-hour to build up the volume of water in the pipes to create the required pressure. Sources said a letter was written to a senior executive engineer of the PSPCL on April 3 and another one on May 24, requesting him to ensure that uninterrupted power supply was given to the hotline connections in the interest of the consumers, but to no avail. The letter dated May 24 stated that uninterrupted power supply was important for providing adequate water to residents in summer months. Major parts of the town were supplied water from plants located in Sectors 56, 57 and 64. Water pressure got adversely affected due to power failure. On May 13, power remained suspended twice during the day for durations of over an hour. On April 29, power was disrupted for about an hour while on April 28, it was suspended thrice with a duration ranging from 40 minutes to two hours. From April 7 to April 11, power cuts were imposed ranging from an hour to over an hour. Power supply remained disrupted for 10 minutes to half-hour at the Sector 64 plant , but on May 19, a cut was imposed for 1.40 hours and on May 12, for 1.15 hours. The senior executive engineer of the PSPCL denied that power cuts were being imposed on the hotline connections. He said when no general power cuts were being imposed in Mohali, how could these be imposed on hotline connections. Power got disrupted only for short intervals when some faults developed in the transmission lines, he claimed.
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Panchkula police to get 500 fresh recruits
Panchkula, May 26 At present, there are 1,100 police personnel providing round-the-clock security to residents of the district, including towns like Kalka, Pinjore, Raipur Rani and Barwala. The district has a population of 5.5 lakh population and the area is spread over 898 sq km. With fresh appointments, the total strength would be more than 1,600. Out of the 1,100 policemen, about 400 are on VIP duty in Panchkula and also Chandigarh, where the residences of the Governor, Chief Minister and other politicians are situated. About 80 personnel are on PCR duty. The spokesman for the Haryana Police, SAH Zaidi, said the state government had decided to recruit about 10,850 police personnel in the state, keeping in view the rising population and the speedy development taking place in the National Capital Region (NCR). He said a decision had been taken to recruit 10,000 men, 250 women and 600 IRB personnel against vacancies. Advertisements would be published in prominent newspapers within the next two weeks after the finalisation of dates. The shortage of police personnel has made the town an easy target for criminals. All efforts of the police to curb crime seem futile. Be it jewellery shops or banks, robbers have left no place safe and there have been kidnapping cases, too, in the area that shares its boundary with Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh. In a recent daylight robbery, the robbers took away Rs 4.40 lakh from an employee of a businessman residing in Sector 12 after injuring him seriously by pumping three bullets in his body. Earlier, three motorcycle-borne robbers had made a futile attempt to rob a jeweller of Zirakpur who was returning to his house in Manimajra. On July 16, 2010, an eight-member gang, in a daring robbery, had decamped with cash and jewellery worth Rs 15 lakh from a house in Sector 10 after taking 13 members of the family hostage.
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Ex-councillors for sports stadium
Mohali, May 26 Amrik Singh, former councillor, said the representatives had also met Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, former union minister, and Harbhajan Singh Mann, chairman of the district planning committee, to put in efforts to get the stadium constructed in Mohali.
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Gay approaches human rights commission
Chandigarh, May 26 Justice Jagdish Bhalla and Justice Baldev Singh have sought a report on the issue from the home department of the Punjab government through Patiala and Khanna SSPs before July 27, which is the next date of hearing. Simran, who claimed to have been in a live-in relationship with Jaswinder Singh, a resident of Hawarakalan village (Fatehgarh Sahib), for the past three years, alleged that Jaswinder's parents along with their relatives had forcibly separated the couple by kidnapping their own son (Jaswinder) on May 12. “One of Jaswinder's maternal uncles told me that he was beaten up mercilessly by his parents. They have got him admitted to a drug de-addiction centre at Rasulara in Khanna," said Simran while claiming that he had never seen Jaswinder taking drugs. “He does not even smoke”, claimed Simran, while adding that he met several officials in the police department, but nobody came forward to help him. Simran claimed that Jaswinder wanted to marry him and he was going in for sex change at New Delhi. “Jaswinder’s parents thought that our relationship was bringing dishonour to their family so they always used to threaten us,” alleged Simran, while claiming that his parents had already accepted him the way he was. “They have no objection to our relation,” he added. Meanwhile, the PHRC, has already issued directions in the case and a copy of the order has been sent to various officers, including ADGP, IVC, human rights, SSP, Patiala, and SSP, Khanna, for compliance.
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Oldest person in dist dead
Mohali, May 26 “He stayed at Madanpur village at Phase II and had been active,” said his grandson Gurbachan Singh. “An agriculturist, he was the oldest person in the district,” said DPRO Surjit Singh. The
'bhog' would be conducted at Badali village on June 3. — TNS
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Demolition squad beats a retreat Panchkula, May 26 They did not allow the authorities to paste notices on illegal structures at the Manav Colony in the Mansa Devi Complex (MDC), Sector 1. As the news of the arrival of the demolition squad spread, between 500 and 600 persons gathered on the spot. They raised slogans against the DTP authorities. The officials, accompanied by a few police personnel, had to retreat. District town planner Hitesh Sharma said they called representatives for talks to his office at 11 am tomorrow. He said some persons claimed that they had a stay order. He further said the court had granted status quo at the site and no further construction could be carried out on prime land at MDC, Sector 2. Sharma said there were around 150 illegal buildings in the area and about 125 families were living there. He said he now asked the land acquisition officer to move court for contempt-of-court proceedings against those carrying out construction despite status quo. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had order status quo after about 10 persons, who had constructed houses at the colony, moved court against the project to be set up under the Mata Mansa Devi Urban Complex Development Plan. But now, around 100 illegal houses had come up and a few were under construction. According to sources, six-marla plots were carved out by a property dealer and were being sold to the ignorant at Rs 3 lakh per marla. Sharma said notices would be issued to residents of the colony for violation of the Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control Act, 1952. “In case the occupants fail to move within the stipulated time, the illegal structures will be demolished”, he added.
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Hope for those prone to paralytic stroke Chandigarh, May 26 The patient was up almost immediately after the procedure and the hospital stay was short, said Dr Bali, while counting upon the benefits of the new method of treatment. Radial route was much more safe as it decreased the hospital stay, recovery was fast and chances of complication were much less. Particularly in the elderly, it might be the more preferred route for carotid intervention. This was the first case of carotid artery stenting through the radial route in this region, claimed Dr Bali. Generally, they did carotid stenting through the femoral route. This was a reasonably safe procedure in expert hands, he said. However, it might involve some risks like bleeding complication from the groin arterial puncture site and complications due to prolonged bed rest. In the elderly, prolonged rest was poorly tolerated and they might develop chest infection and urinary retention, added Dr Bali. Explaining the disease, Dr Bali said the brain received blood supply via two carotid and two vertebral arteries. Carotid arteries were large arteries which arose from aorta. Most important cause of paralytic stroke was narrowing of carotid artery called carotid artery stenosis. The most common cause of carotid artery stenosis was atherosclerosis, the same disease which caused heart attack, he said. Common risk factors of carotid artery stenosis were high blood pressure, high serum cholesterol levels, smoking and diabetes. Elderly people in seventies and eighties were more prone to carotid artery stenosis. Treatment of carotid artery stenosis was stenting (carotid artery stenting), he said.
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CII constitutes task force
A group of about 30 prominent citizens of Chandigarh, in a meeting held at the office of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)’s Northern Region office, have decided to constitute a task force that will act as a pressure group to improve the quality of life in the tricity and its peripheral towns and villages. Comprising three special groups - to be headed by Gen VP Malik, former chief of Army Staff; Justice SS Sodhi, former chief justice of Allahabad High Court, and Rajan Kashyap, former Chief Secretary of Punjab - the task force would prepare approach and action plans which would be taken up with the governments concerned for implementation. The task force will meet every three months, with the core groups meeting more frequently, to review their progress and decide on the future course of action.
'Mega Nite'
Animation workshop
The British School, Sector 44, Chandigarh, is holding a unique animation summer workshop for children from May 28. The workshop is providing children in the age group 8-16 years an opportunity to design their own 'Toon World.’ The workshop will be conducted under the leadership of Nimesh Sood, a seasoned animation professional.
Faculty development programme
One week faculty development programme, sponsored by the Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, concluded at the Gian Jyoti Group of Institutions. The theme of the programme was “Managing Industry Expectations through Active Industry-Academia Interface”. Faculties from various colleges affiliated to the PTU attended the programme.
Teachers honoured
The Government Teachers Union honoured teachers today for their contribution in a function held at Moti Ram Arya Senior Secondary School, Sector 27, Chandigarh. VK Singh, IAS, Finance-cum-Eeducation Secretary, Chandigarh Administration, inaugurated the function. 40 teachers were awarded for their contribution in the field of teaching during the event. Among the awardees some were retired teachers also.
Prize distribution
Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 37, organised a prize distribution function. Chief guest Chanchal Singh, Deputy Director Education, gave away prizes to the students who excelled in various national and state level activities. Vaneet Nanda, president elect of Chandigarh Chapter of Indian Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Airconditioning Engineers also gave prizes to the students. A cultural show was also organised by the students.
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SOPU’s good luck SMS to CET aspirants irks PUSU
Chandigarh, May 26 Panjab University Student Union (PUSU) leader Sumit Goklaney alleged that SOPU has managed to get the phone numbers of all the CET candidates with the assistance of PU authorities and has been sending SMS to them in a bid to garner support for the student elections to be held in September. “This is illegal. How can PU authorities provide students' phone numbers?” Sumit said. Refuting the allegations, SOPU president Manoj Lubana said that they had arranged the numbers of the students appearing in CET from the coaching institutes. “Most of the numbers have been gathered from coaching institutes. PUSU is just trying to defame our party. Moreover we have the numbers of only a few hundred students, while more then 10,000 students are appearing for the exam,” Lubana said. PUSU leaders demanded that an inquiry should be conducted into the matter and the guilty should be punished.
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Chandigarh, May 26
The free parking passes issued under all categories would be tabled at the General House meeting scheduled for Monday. Records of the corporation show that this year, 2,247 parking passes for four-wheeles, costing Rs 300 each; and 773 for two-wheeler parking, costong Rs 150 each, were issued under all categories.
Star cast of the Punjabi film “Appan Phir Milenge”, including Bollywood stars Gracy Singh and Girija Shankar, were floored by winners of the “Voice of Chandigarh-2011” and “Dancer of Chandigarh-2011” contests of S-4 Trust and Gurukul Vidyapeeth at a 'Mega Nite' at the Tagore Theatre. Even as singers belted out Bollywood numbers and dancers danced to the tunes of folk, classical and western numbers at the cultural extravaganza, Gracy Singh and the film crew enjoyed the event during their one-and-half-hour stay at the jam-packed Tagore Theatre. Gracy Singh complimented, Rinku Kalia, winner of Zee TV’s musical show “Sa Re Ga Ma”, and the CEO of “Sur Wid Taal” project for scouting such wonderful talent. Senior Haryana IAS officer Roshan Lal, who was the chief guest, surprised the audience with an impeccable rendering of an old Bollywood number.